WN: Heh.. heh... HAHAHAHHAHAH! MUHEHEHEHEHHEH! HEHEHEHE-*Passes out*
...
Where am I? Is this Fanfiction? Why am I... *sees chapter* there we go. Sorry, YangfromYin here. Dark passed out from excitement. We'll be okay... I think.
*mumbling* This is why you don't make deals with demons.
Disclaimer: Song is Kill em All by Ox
Year 2: The Beast Runs Loose
Azure's POV
"-ke up."
Five more minutes.
"Azure, get up."
I feel something hit me in the head and I jolt up. I look around and realize I was in my Grimm Studies class... or the classroom anyways. I turn to see Rex looking at me. "You slept through half the class."
I roll my eyes. "I didn't sleep well last night. Besides, Augustus gives such boring information."
He stares at me. "I'm sure professor Scarlett will overjoyed to hear your opinion on his teaching and his position."
"You tell me, when will I ever need to know the bone growth patterns of a fucking beowolf?"
"In the test next week."
I flip him off. "We both know that was not what I meant."
He looks away. "Have you actually seen a Grimm before?"
I laugh. "Like I would ever leave the safety of the capital cities. The closest I've ever been to in the wilderness was on the transits to Vale and here."
"Then you can't truly understand what we're meant to fight."
I scoff. "And I suppose you had some great, profound revelation at the hands of Grimm?"
He closes his eyes. "When I was younger, Mom and Dad took us out to an outlying village while on business. We met an off-duty Huntress. Then a pack of Grimm attacked the town. She simply took up her weapon and walked out to meet them. As soon as she started fighting, she ceased to be a person. She was an envoy of Death itself dancing across the battlefield. I was never more terrified... or exhilarated. Once you see what a Grimm can do, it changes everything."
"Well, one revelation I will never experience, then."
Rex pulls me to the side the next day. "What do you want?"
He shows his scroll, with a location called Eversnow Forest marked. I look at him. You know that doesn't answer anything.
(We're going to Hunt this weekend.)
"What are you talking about?"
"I looked over the Sanctum handbook. Third year students, plus those with permission from the headmaster, can take low-risk Grimm suppression missions to bolster their grades, and receive a small budget to help cover any costs occurred. I figure you didn't want to trek through the swamps, so I got permission for the other option for us."
WHAT THE HELL REX? WHY DID YOU THINK I WOULD WANT TO DO THIS?
(You need to understand why we fight. You have two days to prepare.) He walks off.
Asshole.
(I can hear that.)
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO!
"Fucking damn it, it's cold here."
Rex stops walking. "Last time I checked, this was the Eversnow Forest. Cold should be expected."
I look around to see a thin layer of snow covering the area. "Not that much snow actually..."
"I'm not the one who names the places."
"Just find us a fucking Grimm already."
(Considering that they're attracted to negativity, I''m certain they'll find us if you keep complaining.)
You're just brimming with snark today, aren't you, you son of a bitch?
"I'm going to point out that isn't really an insult to me, considering that is an accurate description."
My retort was cut off by the sound of growling. Huh, you were right about the them finding us thing. I was already drawing out a pair of daggers as I turn to the source of the growling.
A trio of beowolfs walk stalk towards us. (Not a lot of bone plates. Probably only a year or two old.) I look at him.
"Not so stupid sounding now when you can estimate their strength at a glance."
I ignore him and charge the left wolf. As it attempts to swipe me, I go into a slide and slash across the beast's chest. Once I pass underneath it, I turn to face it, only to be surprised that it simply turned around to face me despite the wounds it received.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rex slice the head off one of the other two. "They're not people. Disable and kill shots only. Wounding it will only piss it off."
I return my focus on my target and wait for it to charge. As it lunges for me, I jump over and flip in the air. While upside down, I toss my dagger into the back of it's neck. The beowolf collapses and I reclaim the blade.
Rex is fighting with the last one, slicing it at the elbow and removing the arm. Another slice causes it to collapse without the support of its front legs. He stares down at it before running his sword through the beast's skull.
"I thought you said this was supposed to be lifechanging?"
The growling returns, even louder. I look around and see a much larger group of beowolfs circling us.
"They sacrifice the youngest and most foolish in order to trap us here. That is how little damage we did to the Grimm."
I barely hear Rex respond. I was caught in the gaze of the pack's Alpha, unable to tear myself from the unyielding red eyes. My every instinct screams at me to run, but my feet were planted to the ground. I felt utterly helpless as it began to pace towards me.
There is a reason we have been sealed away inside the Kingdoms. Why so many villages simply disappear without warning. The Grimm will not hesitate to kill us all and we could never strike them all down. They are the true predators of Remnant, and we are their prey of choice. What could I poss-
(AZURE! SNAP OUT OF IT!) A trio of gunshots smash into the Alpha's mask, the last piercing through and slaying it. (We are Hunters. Let's show them how we Hunt.)
I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding as my heart slows down. "I am going to slice all your throats out!" I rush forward and leap. My heel lands in my targets eye causing it to rear up as I flip off. I stab into the monster's heart and it falls.
(Azure, move left!) I immediately dive to the side, barely missing the claws of another beowolf. I throw a blade and it lodges in its shoulder. It roars in response and I impale the roof of its mouth with the next toss. I grab the dagger in the shoulder and slice the hand off of the next.
Rex fires and kills that one. I reclaim my other dagger and Shift to him, already slamming my blade into the back of a beowolf's neck. "You have a plan?"
He gestures his head to one of the taller tree's. "Sniper nest. I'll play bait."
"And leave you with all the risk?"
(I can take the hits, you can't. Best option available. Do you trust me?)
I almost instinctively reply no when I hesitate for a fraction of a second. I did trust him. Despite all the pain trust has caused me, he's slipped past my walls and I rely on him. I'm scared again, but for a whole new reason. But that can wait until we go back to Sanctum.
Yes. I Shift to a branch and ready Slumber.
Rex's POV
With Azure safe I turn back to the Grimm. I point Invention. 4 of 13 fired. I fire at two of the weaker beowolfs, killing each with a single bullet. Primed for fun.
The wolves closed in. I stop a slash with my blade and then kick up, nailing it in the chin. This forced the weight of the claw off my sword, which struck and claimed the beast's life.
But now I was surrounded. I closed my eyes to focus on my Semblance, but I hit a wall.
The Grimm don't think, at least not in a way I can comprehend. I was surrounded by an foul blackness, filled with hate.
(Rex!) I shift my focus onto Azure, and an image appears. I look down to see myself in the circle of Grimm. A beowolf lunges at me from behind, only to be centered in a crosshairs and dropped from a round from Azure's rife. I open my eyes again, replacing the view I received from Azure. A group of the wolves charge at once.
I wait until they converge on each other. "Perfect." I fire, my burn-Dust round striking the beast in the middle, igniting its fur. With the other two so close, it quickly spreads to them. I retreat as the flames bring the three to their knees.
When the next charges, I fire a round that managed to hit in the eye. 5 rounds, then reload.
I fire at random targets, scoring another kill and wounding several of the rest. (Cover me!)
In a rehearsed movement, I pull a new clip from my stores between two fingers. Popping the clip, I catch and replace it with a small twist of my wrist.
The movement took barely more than a second, but seconds are deadly in a fight. It was long enough for another wolf to leap for me, only to be sniped down by Azure.
Quickly, Azure continues to fire as soon as she gets a clean shot. Not long after, I hear her cursing. (Reloading!) Several beowolves move towards her tree. They can't reach her, but the whole point was to take pressure off her performance.
Pumping a bit of excess aura into my legs, I spring towards the Grimm and decapitate one before the others notice. One of this group was a lot bigger, almost certainly the beta of the pack and the soon to be Alpha. It lunges for me and I catch it with the flat of my blade. Wincing under the force, I hold my stance and reinforce my arm with aura.
The momentum of the attack carries the beta further towards me. A slight twist of my blade, and the edge starts cutting into it's arm, fueled by the attack. As the beast's head drew close, I bring my gun up and place the barrel under his jaw.
"Dethroned." I pull the trigger twice and it collapses. I turn to face the rest of the pack. With their leader and the clear second killed, there was a milld form of confusion among them. I fire and kill another beowolf. A quick glance at the two dozen corpses showed they had already lost a third of their numbers.
A new source of growling appear. I turn to face a quartet of ursai. Damn it, we took too long.
I fire a pair of shots, but they are deflected by the thicker bone plates. Seeing the lack of point in using a gun, I return it to my jacket and charge. The ursa rears up before slamming his hand downwards. I raise my sabre in a two-handed block.
It makes contact, and the force knocks me to the ground, sliding away from the beast. On reflex I grab at the ground to stop myself, and end up nabbing a handful of loose soil and snow.
Azure fires and her shot pierces the ursa's mask, her rifle doing far more damage than my pistol could. Another of the ursai charge me. I wait for it to near before throwing my hand of dirt and snow into it's face. I dive away as it stumbles, trying to deal with the temporary blinding I gave it. It rears up and I thrust, piercing it though the chest.
It falls forward toward me. Crap. My blade catches on something and I am forced to dive away from the corpse without it.
A beowolf attempts to take advantage of my disarmed state. I meet it with an aura fueled kick to the head. The neck turns to an unnatural angle and the beast drops silently.
I smile briefly before I feel something slam into my back. I go flying, only to be stopped by a tree. I feel something crack and I fall to the ground. Why do I feel so numb?
I can't stand up, and a dark haze begins to creep into my sight. I could hear the faintest echos of a wolf howling, before it all goes dark.
?
Deep in the cave, a pair of eyes opened. Quickly adjusting to the darkness, their owner stood up and began to walk. Outside was a forest, wreathed in shadows. Beasts of hatred wandered between the trees, searching.
The wolf howled before charging forth. It was time to hunt.
?
Azure's POV
I could only stare in shock as the ursa slammed into Rex, sending him flying into a tree. He landed in a crumpled heap and barely moved. Shit!
A growl drew my attention back to myself. The beowolves were circling my sniper's nest, but they thankfully couldn't reach me this far up the tree. I point my rifle at one and fired.
The bullet smashed into its mask and shattered it, sending bone fragments everywhere. I aim for the next when I hear chuckling. What the?
Rex stood up. Then he just started laughing. Most of the Grimm turn towards the sound.
Yeah, no way that
You can hide from the best
I'm a mess
I'll body anything that takes a breath
On my left is a pile of bodies
Bigger than myself and
On my right there's 100 scared souls
Screaming help
And they scatter trying to get away
But they 'gon meet the end today
Cuz ain't no way that they ever
Had a chance to contend with me
Cuz see I kill 'em all I K, K, Kill 'em all
It's either me or them
And my blood ain't bout to spill at all
Cuz I'm the hunter not the huntee
And for a enemy I guarantee that
They don't want me
There's something just a little different
Bout how I run things
Maybe it's the way
I turn my enemies to lunch meat
Or maybe it's the way
I smash everything in front of me
They don't want it
I do it so easy it's funny, G!
I'll turn a vet into a wannabe
And do it to the death
I put them in their final scene. Hey!
Rex's hands glowed with aura, but quickly changed to only cover his fingers, ending in tapered points. When a beowolf charged him, he met it head on, moving to the inside of its swipe and thrusting his fingers, no his claws, into the beast's eye. Another wolf attempts to strike him from behind as the body of the first drops. Rex turns with a slash, claw meeting claw. A quick followup slash strikes the wolf in the throat. He casually flicks his wrist and sends Grimm blood flying. He pounces and slays another beowolf before looking up and howling.
He then turns his attention to the ursa that had tackled him. He lunged forward and clawed downward, only to be stopped by the bone plates. The ursa attempted to bite him, but he dashed backwards before jumping on the beast, clawing wildly. Eventually, his slash slides down the ursa's skull and dug into its vulnerable neck.
I realize that I had been staring without contributing anything to the fight.
The last of the ursai attempts to attack him, but as it raises a paw, I shoot it directly between the eyes, leaving only the last seven beowolves to finish off.
Rex turns to look up at me, and I finally notice his eyes. They were alight with fury, but there was no sign of rationality. Worse, there was no sign that he recognized me. He was looking at me like another threat.
All of a sudden I felt a strange sensation in the back of my mind and suddenly became utterly terrified. He tilts his head before a beowolf slashed at him, forcing his attention away.
The fear disappeared and the sensation faded until it was barely noticeable. I watched as Rex killed the beowolf that attacked him before his claws faded away. The next scored a blow to his right side, and I watched in fear as his jacket and shirt tore and bleeding flesh was revealed. If anything, Rex only got more pissed.
Yea yea yea yea
I K, K, Kill 'em all! I K, K, Kill 'em all!
Yea yea yea yea
I K, K, Kill 'em all! I K, K, Kill 'em all!
[x2]
I can see the fear in their faces
And hear it when I come outta
The box to leave 'em faceless
It almost makes it strange for me
To break them bones
But nah I break so many that it's basic
They tell me have mercy
I hit 'em with a flurry
Show 'em the dark side
And give 'em hell's fury
Now show me somebody
On the planet to handle that
And I'll show you a body that's open
Just like a sandal back
Candle wax, that's how I melt them down
My aim is flawless, I never mess around
Move at perfection's pace
Taking out these clowns
In other words you against me
Then you going DOWN
I said I kill 'em all I K, K, Kill 'em all
I got more bodies than the morgue now
Who next to fall
Who next to find out
What it's like for them to hit the wall
So hard that when I'm done
Ain't nothing left at all
Rex grabbed the beowolf by the throat. I saw his arm tense and his hand glowed black for the briefest moment. It went limp in his grasp before he dropped it.
The next beowolf lunged and he dodged it. He grabbed it before twisting his body and tossing it into a tree. He started to charge another Grimm before he suddenly collapsed onto one knee and grabbed his wound.
Without thinking, I immediately snipe the last few Beowolves before getting to Rex's side. He looks at me in confusion. "What h..." He hisses in pain before passing out.
The odd sensation finally vanishes. I grab Rex's sword and lift him up. Considering he's my weight plus half again, it wasn't easy. I repeatedly Shift in the direction of our extraction point.
I felt tired but couldn't figure out why. I look at my scroll and stare at how low our aura's are. Rex was empty and I was far lower than I should be, even taking into account how much my Semblance consumed. I Shift again, seeing it take twice my usual toll. I was moving too much weight and it was lashing back at me. Shit...
I make it back to the bullhead we came here on and could barely stand myself. I place Rex down before falling asleep on top of him.
WN: So that's a thing.
Let's see Dark's notes on this... more than meets the eye, yeah that is totally cute there.
Azure and Rex's conversations- due to their familiarity, they constantly switch between spoken words and telepathic thoughts without really noticing at times. Leads to confusion as it appears that they are having partial conversations.
Azure and Rex teamwork. Rex acts as the shield, taking the brunt of the attention while Azure takes opportunistic strikes.
Rex can't read Grimm. They think, but if he can't comprehend the way they do so, all he has is a vague idea where they are.
And this was left behind as well.
Azure's POV
"And all this is accurate?"
I sigh. "Yes, it is all true, Miss Grey. Why is it so hard to believe?"
"Because, as far as the story and my examination go, Rex broke three ribs when he hit that tree and then proceeded to laugh it off."
I gesture to a prone Rex in the bed. "Is he going to be okay or not!?"
She grabs a chart. "Severe aura exhaustion; solves itself while he sleeps. He'll wake when it isn't a problem. Broken ribs; no training until they heal properly. Lacerations from the beowolf; keep clean and bandaged. Probably scars as well. All in all, he'll recover fine."
With that she walks off. I collapse into the chair. At least he's going to be okay.
Rex's POV
The first thing I notice when I wake is the throbbing ache in my side. The second was Azure was asleep with her head right next to me, although she was twitching fiercely.
I quickly realize I was at Sanctum's infirmary. What happened?
I tentatively explore Azure's mind, trying to discover everything that occurred, only to get caught in her dream.
Flashes of the fight. The Alpha's glare. The Ursai arriving. Losing my sword.
The tree. Getting up. Laughing. Animal, not Rex. Run, no stay for Rex! Doesn't recognize me. A field of Grimm corpses. Rex staring at me like a threat. He lunges-
I break contact. Whatever happened in that forest, it scared her. I scared her.
I lift my hand to her head and rub down her hair. "I won't let that happen again. I promise."