Sorry for my bad English.
A new chapter, hooray. Some action is in this one, hope you enjoy it.
-Sir, I bring some news. -The hooded woman spoke to the man sitting in the center of the tent.
Around him, were some of his elite warriors. Two men and two women. Two of them were standing behind the big boss' chair, one was sitting on the ground sharpening the blade of his desert sword, and the last one was merely leaning against one of the pillars with his arms crossed.
-Tell me. -The one sitting said.
-A team of huntsmen in training was seen in the desert among an old man. It seems they are looking for something.
-Whatever they are looking for is not a concern to us. -He said. -Just get whatever they have.
-Yes sir.
With that, the hooded girl, accompanied by some of her allies, went after the team and the professor.
The digging did not get the results team STRK was expecting.
First, they found a stick of old dynamite, then they found some pots but nothing worthy, followed by an old rag which smelled pretty bad.
As they continued to dig for more clues, Sally wonders if archeologists have to go through this in their excursions.
-Any luck guys? -Sally asked her friends.
-Nothing. -Unicorn answered throwing away a small Anubis statue.
-I don't think I'll even catch a cold like that. -Koro answered throwing a strange-shaped rock in a random direction.
-Sorry. -Ryan answered, surprising his teammates by getting a whole carriage old of the sands.
-Patience, young ones. -Papyrus said while using a small brush too, what else, brush the sand. -I knew from the beginning this was not going to be an easy trip. We must have patience and stay determined in the goal.
-He was not panicking before because of the sand submarine? -Koro whispered to Unicorn who just shrugged.
The quiet girl's attention was then directed to the old carriage Ryan had just gotten out of the sand. At first, she thought a little about the carriage, being not the first time Ryan took something from the ground.
The blackout in Beacon was a fun day.
Then she notices something.
-Professor, how long have you been looking for that tomb? -Sally asked.
-It makes a year already. -Papyrus answered. -All the research brought me to this exact desert to find the tomb and solve the mystery of what happened to Thantan-Ka!
-Right, sandstorm. -Koro said taking his head out of the hole he was digging. -Say, what did you will gain with that expedition?
-Only a place in the story of the archeologist community. -Papyrus answered. -I shall be remembered as the one who solved a thousand-year-old mystery and thus, becomes a legend! But do not fret, I shall mention you all during the writing of my autobiography.
-So, no money? -Koro asked.
-Actually, those who discover something never seen before are rewarded with prizes like a medal and a lot of money. -Sally answered. -Or else, he would not be able to pay for our assistance.
-They pay? -Ryan asked.
Sally was about to make a joke until she notices her partner eyeing the carriage.
-Hey Uni, something interesting in this carriage? -The team leader asked.
However, before Unicorn could give her answer, Sally's eyes widened and she sidestepped just in time before a fireball hit her back.
-What the? -Ryan asked before he let out a high pinch scream before dodging an arrow coming to his head.
-We're under attack! -Koro shouts turning to the direction the arrow came from.
More arrows came down and Koro pulled his katana to repeal the incoming projectiles. The blade of the katanas clashed with the arrows, and none of the arrows hit Koro.
Sally was able to dodge the arrows aimed at her while Unicorn just pulled out her shield to block and Ryan, he was running around and screaming like a crazy person while Papyrus was hiding behind the carriage.
-Desert bandits! -Warned Papyrus.
A black blur lurked around the sand and moved to behind Koro, who was not caught with his guard down and blocked a strike from a katar. The exchange looks with a guy who covers the lower half of his face before the blades start to collide and make sparks.
Sally was about to aid her teammate in battle when she notices another blur coming right in her direction. Acting quickly, she pulled Head'n Tail, her guns, and used the handle of one of them to block the stroke of a dagger. Holding the blade was a skinny man with rabbit ears who seemed to be abusing his caffeine, his eye was even twitching.
-Heeheehee, I found a nice catch today. -He spoke in a way that Sally could only describe as a creep.
When comes to Unicorn, she heard a warcry from behind and rolled away to dodge the strike from a claymore whose she knew she would not be able to block. The moment the blade of the claymore made contact with the ground, part of the sand around was spread around, and the big bandit was standing in a crater.
When the rain of arrows ceased, Ryan took a peek from behind the carriage, where he joined Papyrus to take cover. However, once again he let out a cry as he was forced to dodge the explosion coming from a grenade throw in their direction. Taking Papyrus by the collarbone, he leaped to behind to dodge more grenades being thrown at them, they all explode lifting the sand around them. Once the cloud of smoke was cleared, he notices a man holding grenades who also was covering the lower half of his face.
-Mr. Forest. -Papyrus called from above. -If you are going to engage this bandit in combat, I advise you to put me down.
Once Ryan pulled Papyrus, he lifted him above him, holding the doctor with his arms. Gently putting the old man down, Ryan turns to the bandit, not wanting to fight but knowing he needs to protect the doctor.
Koro was already trading blows with the katar-wielding bandit, sparks flowing everywhere around them. Despite having just one arm, Koro was able to hold himself quite well.
The bandit, who was expecting an easy kill, changed tactics and kicked sand on Koro's face, blinding him for a moment. The bandit then aimed the point of the katar against the ninja's neck. To his surprise, Koro's scarf wrapped around his wrist. He tried to attack with his other katar, only to a cut behind his knee stop him and made him lose his balance. He felt his arm being pulled and was thrown away while spinning in midair. The bandit fell roughly on the sand. But once he hit the sand, he threw two small knives against Koro. Still, with his eyes closed, he blocked both knives with his katana, the blade now a small size.
Sally had to back off as the rabbit bandit keep swinging his dagger against her. Chuckling evilly mixed with craziness, the rabbit bandit did not stop his attacks but was confused as to why Sally was not full of cuts yet.
-Why can't I hit you?! -Asked the rabbit bandit.
Sally herself was already fast with her reaction speed but combine with her semblance, which allows her to see three seconds in the future, she could easily dodge before the attack starts.
So she aimed one of her guns and shot at her opponent, who barely dodge the bullet, and with a turn, aimed the dagger against Sally's neck. The brunette was not going to be taken by surprise by that move. She was able to lean back and dodge the blade of the dagger and shot at the bandit again. The rabbit man was quite fast himself, so Sally knew that from now, she would have to make every shot count.
Unicorn rolled away again to dodge the incoming strike from the claymore, then she jumped as the big bandit swung his huge sword horizontally. Unicorn then jump to the left as the big man now swung his claymore vertically. Despite being able to use the big weapon, the man was breathing heavily while Unicorn watched him with her face clearly showing little interest. He growled in frustration and went to continue his non-stop attacks.
Ryan could only run and scream as the grenades keep coming, exploding in his trail as he run from the explosions. Going from left to right, he was making the bomber thief upset with not only the fact he was able to dodge the explosions but also his screams were getting on his nerves. He decides to throw three grenades at Ryan, he digs on the ground before the explosions could get him. The sand cleared and the bomb bandit was surprised to see a hole where the grenades explode.
Koro keeps clashing with his opponent despite the lack of vision. The katana and the katars keep spreading spark as the metal clashed. The bandit decide to gain distance and leaped away, only to Koro press a button in his katana, changing the color of the blade from grey to yellow and putting it in the normal size. With a vertical swing, he shot a yellow arc at the bandit who was taken by surprise and was not able to dodge in time. The arc hit him, electrifying him. Once the electricity ceased, he got only time to see the sole of Koro's old sneakers before it hit him right on the face. The bandit rolled back as Koro gave a jump and while in midair, threw kunais at the fallen bandit. At first, the bandit thought Koro missed when the kunais only hit the sand around him until he notices the red colors of the kunais. A second later the kunais exploded.
Sally had to admit the bandit with knives was good but he still was not able to land a single cut on her, aura or not. He aimed at her neck, and Sally dodges. He aimed at her left knee and Sally dodged. He aimed at her right shoulder and Sally dodged. After a while of attacking and failing to land a single hit.
-Grrr... why can't I hit you?! -The bandit asked as the fatigue start to get on him and Sally took advantage of this. she aimed her copper-colored gun against him and while he was able to dodge at first, was too tired to dodge a shot on his belly, followed by one on his forehead. Sally spun and shot his feet and then gave three shots on the middle line of his upper body. She finished by aiming her two guns against his chest and pulling both triggers at the same time, the shot send her opponent flying back.
Unicorn notices that all her dodging was getting on the huge bandit. His breath was heavy and he was sweating. And yet, he roared and brought his huge sword down with a vertical swing.
*Pump!*
The claymore came down and to the bandit's surprise, the shield flinched just a bit despite the enormous strength behind the attack. He tried a horizontal swing only to Unicorn block with her sword.
*Pump!*
Then he lost his opponent. Unicorn was once in front of him and then just disappeared. Looking back, he notices the black-haired girl standing with her back facing him. Feeling his rage boiling for being underestimated, he gave one last roar along with another attack before feeling a cutting pain on his belly, followed by more around his body. He let go of his claymore, letting the huge sword fall on the sand before he fell to his knees and fell face-first on the sand.
Finally, it comes to Ryan. Confused at first, the bandit just thought the hole may have been opened by the explosions of the grenades. So when he went to help his comrades, he did not expect a pair of hands to come from below and grab his ankles. He was even more surprised when the hands pulled him down, leaving him buried in the sand until his neck. Ryan dig himself out of the hole right next to him and patted the dirt out of his clothes.
The bomb bandit was about to open his mouth when a red kunai suddenly landed in front of his head. It exploded right in front of his face, covering the whole front of his head with soot. Ryan frowned and turn to his partner.
-He was already defeated.
-Just to make sure. -Koro commented and look at the female members of his team. -It seems that everyone was able to deal with their opponents.
-Yeah, we did our best. -Followed by Sally.
-Our best? -Koro asked with an eyebrow. -Babydoll, if I was using my best, I could handle all of them with one arm.
-You have only one arm. -Ryan deadpanned.
-Your point? -Koro asked.
-Wait. -Sally said. -Who shot those arrows?
-You better have a good excuse to return to me without anything taken from those kids. -The leader spoke to the hooded girl, not happy.
-They... proved to be more skilled than we thought. We had to-Argh!
Her sentence was cut off by the cup her leader was using to have his drink crashing on his subordinate's forehead.
-You know there's nothing I hate more than excuses. -The leader said to the girl, iron in his voice. -Go back and take at least one of them down. Our tribe shall not receive this kind of humiliation from any huntsmen, less yet than in training.
-Y-yes, sir.
With that, she left.
End of the chapter.
Next one they will be back to the exploration right after they start some interrogation. The bandits were not a idea from the begining but I thought the team STRK should have more enemies to face besides grimms.
That's all folks, see you next time.
