Author's Note: I'm so sorry this is late. It's a funny story actually. I had this all typed up last weekend but it ended up being roughly 1.5 times the size it currently is, so I had to spend extra time figuring out what I could cut for next chapter without losing the pacing too much. Hope you enjoy.

It didn't take the scouts long to make their way to the other campsite, but it still felt like eternity. Everyone was on edge; wary looks constantly being thrown at their surroundings for any sign of the monsters.

But they didn't appear. The entire trip to the edge of the other troop's site ended up being painfully uneventful.

However, any relief that fact might have brought them was extremely short-lived once they got a clear view of the campsite. The recruits could only stare in shock at what looked like the results of a furious hurricane; utilities were overturned, tents were torn and broken and gear was scattered everywhere. It was a disaster.

Their commander tensed at the sight. "Stick close and keep your guard up," he told them before cautiously entering the campsite.

Teemo gripped his blowgun tightly as he followed, staring at the destruction around him with wide eyes. It was an unnerving sight, seeing the place so still and silent. Carefully, he avoided the places where the earth had been churned up, as well as the discarded weapons and – most disturbingly – the patches of dried blood.

Next to him, Davis tensed, swinging his weapon towards a sudden movement. A small lizard skittered away from under the edge of an overturned container.

"What could have done this to a full squad?" he asked quietly.

Teemo had no answer. "Nothing good," he was forced to admit.

Behind them Milli frowned. "But where is everyone? If they left, why didn't they contact us? If they're dead, where are the bodies?"

The two boys froze at the unpleasant thought. Ideas, each more horrifying than the last, swarmed them until Roxanne broke them out of their stalled state. "That's what we're going to find out."

Up ahead Commander Rodney stopped their advance as a disturbance caught his attention. His dual blades came whipping out as two figures emerged from a semi-upright tent.

"Don't attack!" one of them shouted.

Cautiously, the Commander lowered the blades as he recognised their uniforms.

The one who had spoken saluted, while the yordle leaning heavily on him tried to sluggishly follow.

"Private Rex and Casey of unit 12, sir."

The yordle veteran nodded to them. "Where's Commander Springer?"

Casey – the darker-furred yordle – winced as he tried to support his own weight. "She's dead sir."

Commander Rodney drew in a sharp breath. "What happened?"

"We were attacked by several creatures. Large, canine-esque, dark-grey scales. Never seen anything like them here before."

Rodney and Roxanne exchanged looks but didn't say anything.

Rex adjusted his comrade's weight on his shoulder as Casey continued, "Not sure what happened to the others but I saw Commander Springer go down just before I was knocked out. When I came to, no one was here but Rex and I."

At the rugged yordle's look, Rex took over. "I was on patrol on the west flank. Never saw a thing. I got suspicious when I wasn't relieved and headed back to camp where I found it in the same state you did. I found Casey under a collapsed tent but he was the only one. Once I got him patched up we looked for the communicators to contact you, but they were all damaged in the fight. That was the night before last. We've been waiting here for Casey to heal enough to move before we were going to head to your group. But it seems you found us first."

"We were attacked by the same creatures," Roxanne told them.

The Commander ignored they're surprised reactions. His eyes narrowed as his thoughts churned.

"Private Casey, can you make the trip to the Sablestone mountains?"

The dark yordle nodded, pulling his weight completely from his companion (though his hand did go to the wound at his side). "I won't slow us down."

"Good. Then we'll head back to Bandle as fast as we can."

Dawn was just peering over the horizon when Commander Rodney finally deemed it safe enough to rest. Many of the recruits collapsed in thankfulness, adrenaline having long worn into exhaustion. Within minutes all of the recruits were sleeping deeply. All, that is, except Teemo.

Laying on his side on one of the salvaged sleeping rolls, the cream-coloured teen just couldn't seem to shake the underlying nausea needling at his consciousness. No matter how tired his body was, his thoughts kept turning to the strange beasts that had attacked them. The ones that had killed Lieutenant Corin, Lieutenant Darren, Kade and almost an entire scout troop. What were those creatures? Were they still following them? He didn't know but it seemed that answer wasn't good enough for his brain.

Tired of the uneasy loop coiling inside his brain, the yordle deliberately forced his thoughts to his family and friends back in Bandle City. As he wondered what they were up to and recalled fond memories of them, Teemo soon found his breaths deepening as the alluring edges of sleep started to pull at his consciousness, only for soft voices to rouse him again.

He soon recognised them as Roxanne and the Commander. His curiousity peaked, he listened in.

"-don't understand how they could have tracked both groups so fast. It doesn't make sense for beasts to be that selective," he heard Lieutenant Roxanne say.

"I know," Commander Rodney agreed. "Something is not right with all this. I've never encountered anything like those creatures before. I've heard tale of something similar living in the Ironspike mountains. But that's well up north, there's no way they could have made it this far by themselves."

Roxanne sighed, pulling her hands through her dark hair. "I'm starting to doubt they are acting on their own," she admitted softly. "It's suspicious enough that some never-before-seen creatures attack both groups in rapid succession. But what really concerns me is the fact that they targeted our radios. No beast is that smart. I don't like it."

The old commander sighed. "There's not much we can do. No one knows about the pass, so as long as we can make it back there in time we should be okay. Until then, the best we can do is keep our eyes and ears open."

"What do we tell the kids?" the tan female asked.

"Until we know more, we don't tell them anything. Without enough information to go on it would just worry them unnecessarily."

"If you're sure," was Roxanne's dubious response. With a sigh she stood up. "I'm going to get some sleep while I can. Wake me for the next watch."

As she walked away, Teemo felt a cold dread settle in his chest. Somehow, he doubted he was going to get any sleep today.

As the evening descended on them, the small team of yordles moved on. With the possibility that they were being followed, the Commander had decided it would be better to travel at night (when they were all alert) and rest during the day.

Thankfully, they didn't have that far to travel. Despite the fact that the training was meant to last a month, the campsites had all been carefully set to only be (at most) a couple of days out from the mountain pass.

However, only a day out from the pass familiar howls sounded behind them. A chill settled over the group as they froze.

"We have to move!" Commander Rodney spoke urgently.

The recruits began to move again, but Casey stopped their Commander before they made had it far. "Sir," the injured scout said. "I request you leave me behind. I'll only slow you down."

"We don't leave troops behind," Lieutenant Roxanne said firmly, but the dark yordle just shook his head.

"With all due respect, I don't think you'll make it without some interference. Better for one of us to not make it back than for all of us to be taken out." His gaze lingered on the young recruits before he met the old commander's gaze.

"You know what you're asking for?" was all the grizzly yordle said.

The muscles in Casey's jaw tightened as he nodded resolutely.

"Very well. Good luck soldier."

"But-" Davis tried to cut in.

"Troops move out now!" Commander Rodney cut him off and reluctantly the recruits did.

Rex turned to his friend, pain evident in his face. "Are you sure about this? I can stay too."

Casey just gave him a lop-sided grin. "Go. Protect the yordlings. Isn't that why we're here in the first place?"

Grief tore at the grey yordle's heart as he nodded. "It's been an honour serving with you."

He only looked back once.

Rumble was rummaging around through the junkyard, looking for pieces to help him complete his latest project – a small-scale self-sustaining engine that he was hoping to finish before graduation. Considering all that had happened recently, he was content to take his time; enjoying the solitude found amongst the mounds of unwanted things as he looked for items he could add to the 'collection' (or as Tristana referred to it as – junk) that he had been steadily amassing behind his workshop.

Many people had asked him why he went to the junkyard instead of buying the items new (to which he usually answered that he was good enough to work with it instead of brainlessly forking out money for over-priced and limited items). The truth was, his parents couldn't afford it. Yes, he and Ziggs occasionally got to mess with some of the inventions the hazel yordle's dad brought home. But the two had grown up usually having to scrounge up the parts for themselves.

This junkyard in particular was his favourite. It always had plenty of potential items and was relatively close to his workshop.

The blue yordle's quiet solitude was broken when a pair of fancy shoes stormed into vision as he was checking piston parts.

"Oi Rumble!"

The short teen was immediately on edge, twisting to face Connor. Almost instantly, his eyes darted past the haughty teen to his four friends before he became conscious of the pile of junk at his back. Amber eyes narrowed: so that's how he was going to play it.

The pretty-boy continued, "I never did repay you for punching me in the face the other week."

Rumble sneered at him. "Nothing you didn't deserve."

"We'll see if you still feel that way after we're finished with you."

If Connor was hoping to intimidate the blue yordle he was sorely mistaken as the boy burst out laughing.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" he taunted them. "You couldn't do damage to a puff pastry with your delicate, manicured hands."

The boy's smug look turned into an ugly scowl as the five yordles drew close. "I'll make you eat your words."

"Careful," Rumble jeered as he fell into a defensive stance, "you might break a nail."

Ziggs looked up in surprise at the knock on the door, before glancing at the clock. As expected it read 11:15. Turns out time hadn't suddenly jumped wildly since he'd last checked the clock 5 minutes ago.

So who was trying to get his attention this late at night?

Grumbling, the hazel yordle made his way to the door (he swore if it was Cam forgetting her keys again he was going to leave her out there for the night), only for his jaw to drop in surprise at the sight that met him.

"Hey," was all Rumble said to the gaping boy, seemingly ignoring the multitude of cuts and bruises that covered his body.

Ziggs pinched his eyes shut as he let out a long breath. "You should come in."

The two teens quietly made their way past the hazardous stacks of junk in the hallway to the kitchen. There the brown-furred yordle quickly shoved the project he'd been working on to one half of the table before going to grab the med-kit. He briefly thanked his mum for restocking it. Between Rumble's fights, Ziggs' failed experiments and on occasion, Tristana's brash nature, the med-kit had seen a lot of use. Still, as he turned back, the boy couldn't help but feel this was one of the worst times he'd seen his friend.

"Thanks," Rumble said softly as he eased himself down into one of the chairs. "I didn't want to worry my ma."

"Probably lucky everyone else is in bed then. News would have spread like wildfire," Ziggs joked handing the blue boy some antiseptic and an icepack. A frown invaded his face as he looked over the damage once more. "So who was it this time?"

Rumble snorted, "Who do you think? Connor and his friends jumped me at the junkyard."

Ziggs grimaced. "They sure did a number on you."

The shorter teen winced as he cleaned out his split knuckles. "You think this is bad. They look worse."

His friend raised an eyebrow. "Worse than a wrench sticking out of their head?" he gestured to the object in question, lodged behind the steel-blue yordle's wide ear, unsure how to even go about removing it.

Finally he decided to just go for it. "Hold on, this'll hurt," he warned.

"Well," Rumble said mollified. "Maybe just as bad. They-Ow! Fuck!"

"Sorry," Ziggs wasted no time pressing a clean cloth up against the wound as his other hand went searching for the bandages.

"Sis alrigh'," the injured boy slurred as the pain slowly receded.

Satisfied with how the head wound was wrapped, the hazel yordle tried to determine what was the next priority.

"Ribs?" he asked but the shorter boy just shook his head.

"Bruised but not broken," he said as he finished wrapping his hands.

Nodding, Ziggs moved on to disinfecting the gash on Rumble's cheek as he commented lightly, "Maybe next time, don't punch Connor in the face at school."

The teen's answer was to immediately scowl. "Not a chance. He called Trist a whore. There's no way I was going to let him get away with that."

Anger rose within Ziggs (he hadn't been aware of that piece of information) before he pushed it back down. "You know Trist can take care of herself."

"I know! I know," Rumble turned away, pulling the icepack up to his blackeye as an excuse not to look at his friend. "But that doesn't mean I can't be angry. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same in my situation."

Probably, Ziggs admitted to himself before trying to tackle the heart of the problem. "Yeah but there's a big difference between how I view Tristana and how you do."

A violent blush overtook the other boy's face as he stuttered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Cue eye roll. "Dude, Teemo and I have known for years. Why do you think we used to tease you about it?"

"It's that obvious?" A wide grin stretched across the hazel yordle's face but before he could say anything Rumble cut him off. "Yeah ok, it's that obvious."

"So, you ever going to tell her?"

"No," was the soft reply, Rumble's eyes fixed on the table.

"Why not?" Ziggs asked in exasperation. "If you're nervous about telling her, I can help you practise." To prove his point, the brown-furred teen grabbed two roughly-spherical parts from his project and stuffed them down his singlet before striking a pose.

"Hi I'm Tristana," he pitched his voice high. "I'm a strong, independent woman. Oh, hey Rumble. You look like you have something to tell me – perhaps pertaining to your feelings about me?"

Rumble snorted. "That's your impression of Trist?"

"Hey give me a break! I've never impersonated someone before," Ziggs turned his sad eyes on his friend, but it didn't have the desired effect when one of the bowls he was using slipped down with the sudden movement. "Woops, there goes one of my boobs."

The blue boy let out a small bark of laughter before wincing as it aggravated his ribs. "Ow. Look Ziggs. Thanks for the offer but it's alright. I've never had any intention of telling Trist."

"How come?"

Ziggs' green eyes were wide with curiousity but no judgement. So, for the first time, Rumble opened up about the feelings he'd had for their friend for so long.

"Because she's amazing and courageous and caring. She doesn't care what someone says she can and can't do. She'll just do things because they're the right thing to do and because she wants to make a difference. Not just for this town but for the world too. She gets so passionate that her eyes shine with optimism. She's beautiful and amazing and I'm… not. I'm the yordle that doesn't get along with anyone. Who's almost been expelled because I've been in that many fights. Whose teachers call 'a waste of potential' because I won't conform to what they want me to be. She deserves better."

A heavy silence fell over the pair. In the background the clock ticked away, vocalising the passage of time. At the table Rumble wouldn't meet Ziggs' eyes.

"Well you know," the hazel teen started tentatively. "I think you're selling yourself short – pun totally not intended. Sure, you get into lots of fights and yeah, you do have a bit of a temper and you're right the teachers do get up you a lot."

Rumble sent him a glare but the other boy just ploughed on.

"But you know what, they get up me too. In fact, I probably have a worse track record with them than you do. Besides don't girls love bad boys – hey maybe I should go with that angle – right back on track. What I'm trying to say is: you guys don't think any less of me because of all that, so why would we think any less of you?"

"Thanks Ziggs," the blue yordle said softly, his shoulders shedding some of the tension they'd been holding.

The yordle grinned, "And just so you know. My offer for practising still stands."

Rumble chuckled. "It's ok. Trist is busy trying to become a Commando. She's not interested in a relationship at the moment anyway."

It was an obvious excuse, but Ziggs knew that was as much as he was likely to get tonight. With a frustrated breath he let it go. "So, have I shown you what I'm working on?" he asked brightly.

I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while. I've said in the past that relationships in this story are complicated and this is one of the reasons why. Because even though Rumble's obviously had a crush on Tristana for a while he refuses to say anything about it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it (I'll be honest, Ziggs kind of took over my chapter and I enjoyed every minute of it).