A/N: DOOT DOOT ALL ABOARD THE TRAUMA TRAIN!

~Angel and Hel~

Chapter Fifteen: Reflections

-.-.-

Yolona growled, shoving her fist into the Manticore's eye, grabbing it by the eyesocket, and tearing it out. This fight had gone on long enough and her Semblance was already getting on her nerves.

It wasn't decaying. It wasn't subsiding. Every moment of combat gave her a straight boost.

The Manticore's ear and jaw came out with little resistance.

This wasn't right. In the same way that her earlier rage hadn't been right. Not real.

She jammed her shield between its teeth as it screamed before reaching for the sword and jamming it up through the roof of its mouth and through its brain.

The roaring died pitifully. The issue of being in the air was little consequence.

Now, now she could feel the power beginning to fade. Faster than it should. The entire thing, it felt - wrong, her body felt wrong. Too light. Like resistance was decreased rather than her strength increasing.

The corpse hit the ground and slid, the coarse road and rubble grating away at the remains of flesh. When it had finally slowed, Yolona stepped off and shouldered her sword, leaning on her shield for a moment as she looked around.

The city was burning. Reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. She hadn't seen a soul since coming down here that wasn't another Huntress or a doomed civilian. She didn't have to be here. She shouldn't be here.

Everyone was fallible. Throwing her life away for the sake of reassuring a spoilt brat…

Yolona shook her head. Worthless.

She should leave. Head for the city boundary. Fight her way through - no, the hordes would still be coming. She could feel that in her bones. To the centre then, through tunnels, away. And yet - the fight was here, wasn't it.

A screaming light in the distance. Hm.

The horde seemed to shift in the distance. That was another oddity. Everywhere she looked, the streets were either clear, or filled with Grimm and death. It was blurred.

Nothing about this made sense. Even the Grimm acted different. Toying with their prey. Taking their time. Savouring the suffering.

Beowulves were leaping over the rooftops towards the flare. She shrugged. Follow the fight. Follow the death. Earn her place in Promethium.

-.-.-

Nevermores, Titian decided, were the worst Grimm in existence.

Another screech heralded another swooping dive, claws brushing and ripping at her cloak as she ducked away just in time. The girl was weighing her down, she should drop her - but to abandon a teammate was foolishness.

Vivian whined maybe once before losing consciousness again as she was jostled around. Titian tried to check her pulse again, but a whistling blast of feathers forced her to roll away, launching her dagger to swing her round the corner of a building.

Why was the damn thing so fixated on the two of them? It wasn't large enough to be an ancient Nevermore, and in general the younger birds preferred easier prey. Was it just stupid?

Another roll, hampered by the girl's body. This time the knuckles of the Grimm slammed into her back, what would normally be a stunning blow if not for her semblance. As it was, she felt her armour dent and crack, the leather straining to remove the force imparted to it.

She hefted the girl from her arms to over her shoulder, using the dagger as a pivot on the ground as she readied Rasaat. She would fight the damn thing, injured teammate or not. She'd have to time a thrusting charge with its dive, wait until -

- fire and blood and pain and roaring in the dark arm shattered can feel it boiling in your veins, "Someone's watching us," hissed from dead lips as the blackness creeps forward in shattered fountains of broken light some things are in the deepdeepdeep -

Titian screamed. Not now, not now! The Nevermore was diving, she needed, she needed to stand and fight and not let this weakness overcome her. She was - she was the flame in the dark she would stand against it -

- nothing can stand here shattered ruin of broken roots and crystal dead sky dead moon breaking open, hatching out monsters -

The Nevermore hit her, wings first. With her Semblance active, its sharpened feathers couldn't penetrate, but the force was enough to shatter her aura, the ground beneath her cracking and crumbling. Vivian jolted harshly against her immovable body, but Titian was already moving, dagger forming the stepping stool for a cartwheel that flung her over and round, sword slicing down at the Grimm's skull.

But the bird was already flying up, screeching in triumph as it -

Plowed straight through a building and into the square beyond, flapping and squawking and roaring wildly. Its flesh shimmered green, and its eyes, they shone too. In the square, hands raised, was the colourful would-be-huntress from the hall before, the one who had answered to Krypton. Titian could get a better look at her and her equipment now - the rainbow striped armour consisting of pads and the odd curving piece of metal, leaving sections of skin bare, emphasising flexibility over pure protection, the coiling flicking tail providing extra balance for bladed gauntlets and boots.

A pair of oversized crossbow bolts trailing cable embedded themselves into the shoulders of the flailing Grimm, before retracting and yanking it off its feet. A whispered grunt of effort and the bolts were torn from the beast's flesh in a spray of red.

Less than a moment before the Nevermore crashed into a second building, another bolt shot out, hitting a wall and anchoring itself in place as the Hunter behind it reeled themselves in. They stood against the wall, using the tension to their advantage as their second crossbow shifted into a bladed extension of their forearm.

Help. That was - good, she supposed.

The other Faunus launched into a series of spinning strikes as their fellow Hunter laid into the beast. In moments the Nevermore was in pieces, dead.

Titian stood, slowly, hefting Vivian. "Do you have any medical skill or knowledge?"

"I know some shit yeah." The Faunus skidded over, the blades on her boots allowing her to slide across the slick ground. "But wow, she is hurt. What the fuck happened to her?"

The black-cloaked crossbow-wielder hopped down to the ground, their weapons shifting, compacting. Fancy modern nonsense. That many moving parts would be fragile - a dust charge there would disable it, allowing her to -

Titian shook her head just a little. Not an enemy. It was the scent of that damned Faunus, clouding her head, making her angry.

The Faunus in question seemed to have noticed her scent too. "So, you always this much of a bitch, or is it just, you know, in your blood?"

"If you want to descend to cheap puns, I could call your remarks catty." Titian bared her teeth.

She grinned. "Good to see you've got bark, though your bite seems a little lacking." She extended a hand, the other one still probing and prodding at Vivian. "I'm Krypton. Krypton Katt."

Titian snorted. "How plebian. Titian Cinerous." She gingerly took the hand, shook it once.

Clapclap. They both turned to look at the masked Hunter… in training? Their figure… it was difficult to even discern their gender. They pointed at Vivian, made a small hissing sound and clawed their hands up by their mask.

Demon.

"Yes, that was her." Titian wasn't sure why they would be hostile or opposed to her in regards to that - she'd fought the Grimm, fought them effectively.

They made a gesturing motion at Krypton, as if to say 'There, question answered,' before brushing ash from left breast, revealing a grey name embossed in the black overcoat. Avos. They looked up at Titian and tilted their head, giving her the oddest impression they were smiling.

"Now we all know each other. Awesome." Krypton bent back over Vivian. "Seriously, what the fuck happened to her?"

Titian shrugged. "I'm not sure. Her arm and wing were ripped off, I believe. While she was transformed. The damage seems to persist."

Krypton tsked. "You kind of fucked up the dressing on her shoulder-blade."

"I'm not a doctor."

"Yeah, I figured that one out myself - oh hello sleeping beauty, waking up are we?"

"Bugger off mum… five more minutes…" Vivian moaned, grunting in pain but otherwise remaining unmoving… until Krypton poked her and she tried to punch the medic. "I SAID- oh hey you aren't mum…" she trailed off, obviously struggling to stay coherent.

"Yeah, no shit I'm not your mum or I'd tell you off for groping me. Don't think I didn't notice where that hand was going."

"Quit takin' the piss and be a medic!" Vivian whined, waving her bleeding stump at the colourful Faunus, who leaned back, her face scrunching in disgust.

"I'm doing what I can. Avos, you got any burn dust?"

Avos paused and rummaged around the inside of their coat, many different colours of Dust hiding in countless pockets. He- she? Avos finally found what they were looking for and held it out, offering it to Krypton with a bowed head.

Titian frowned as the Faunus sprinkled out a handful of crystals before slapping them directly to the stump with a sizzle and the thick scent of burning meat.

Vivian gritted her teeth and screeched thinly, but given the pain she must have been in the response was somewhat subdued. Titian was impressed. "Grrr you right bloody fucking wanker -" The rest of the complaints were indecipherable angry mutters as she clenched her fist so hard her knuckles turned white as bone. The thick scent of her adrenaline, her shock, tinged the air.

"Easy, easy, you don't want to bleed out. How's your aura doing?"

"FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!" Vivian screamed at the Faunus, her eyes flashing red and her hair lifting in an unseen updraft before she grit her teeth and tried to calm down.

"Are you sure this is wise -"

"Which of us asked for a medic again?" Krypton turned back to her patient. "So what're you going to do when you're all fixed up, hm? What's keeping you in the city?"

Vivian looked away and mumbled something, her shoulders slumping. "Family."

"Hey, that's good. I've got family too. Younger sister. Annoying little shit. Tell me about your family?"

"Little brother. Little sister. They're twins. Mum and Dad and my sister." Vivian groaned and stretched, twisting to pop something in her back. "The twins are annoying as all hell but sis and I kept 'em in line…"

"What did your parents do for a living? Mine are - well, were, club bouncer types. Not many opportunities for Faunus with unlocked auras, you know? Lots of fun gigs for me and little Neon when we were tinies."

"Heh. Dad's a cop." Vivian seemed to be getting some colour back into her cheeks. "Mum had her hands full just coping with the rest of us." She chuckled. "We weren't exactly… y'know."

Avos sat down next to Titian, poking her shoulder and holding out their fist, bumping it down on their palm three times. Titian stared at them for a moment, before realising they intended to play that game - what was it, Rock, Paper, Scissors. She frowned, but Avos extended their hands again.

Something was bothering her about this. A family. Twins. Dad was a cop.

"Heh, at least you didn't have my sister. Little twit's always rollerblading around, dancing about with her little glowsticks. Wants to be a Huntress too, never misses a beat, doesn't know the first thing about fighting yet. Little silly."

A brightly coloured girl beckons but then a talon slides into her stomach and out the other side.

No. Please, no. She'd face the darkness again rather than have this be true.

"Sis wanted to be a Huntress too. Then I started preparing and she called me a nutter. Mum would always sing the twins lullabies to get them to calm down whenever we had a row."

A man in blue with a gun, protecting mother, older daughter, a twin boy and girl. The Ursai close in.

Titian stumbled to her feet. "I have to - I have to -" The leather was too tight around her face, her coat too close, she'd - she'd made the right decision hadn't she, she'd killed the Grimm and survived and she'd been sorry, this wasn't fair of the world to do this, to throw that choice in her face -

"Hey, where're ya goin'?" Vivian twisted, looking up at Titian. Innocent ignorance in her eyes. She didn't know. She didn't realise. Krypton was standing too, but her face was more suspicious, hands held loose and ready.

"What did you do." Her voice was cool, even.

"I failed. I failed to stop the darkness." The words came out harsh and sobbing. "I know your families because I saw them die, and if I'd acted sooner they might have lived. Or they might not have. I failed."

There was a long flat silence like a humid afternoon.

Then Titian's world was colour.

-.-.-

Winter moved somewhere between a crouch and a run along the lip of the building. She'd gone into the store, had a drink of water and sat down - and woken up a few minutes later to the screeching of Vespyrs from outside. She'd dozed off, her exhaustion catching up to her, and had had to battle her way through a flock to escape. Still trying to catch up with those sparkles of light from the flare. It always seemed so - so far away.

Blue's rifle clanged on her back. She hadn't had much use for it so far. This was likely due to the fact that she had little idea about how to use it.

Point the long end at what you want to hit. Pull the trigger to shoot. It seemed so simple. Click click boom boom. But it wasn't. Nothing was simple. Nothing was ever simple these days.

Ironwood was a psychotic prick and then he had a genuine, clear goal to save the city. The sun was well past dawn and into mid-morning now. Reinforcements… he'd promised them reinforcements.

It wasn't like it mattered. It wasn't like there was anything left to reinforce.

It wasn't like there was anything left to - anything left worth saving.

She wasn't worth saving.

No. No, that was the kind of thought that made Blue's death worth nothing. She had to save something. Someone. Make it worth it. Make it right. Make it fucking right because nothing else would.

She could hear voices. Honest voices. No screams, no wails of pain and suffering, just voices. From the alley below her. She leaned down, tried to look.

Two figures, walking fast, running, jogging.

They were far away. Several buildings at least. She tried to yell, her voice refused to work. She considered shooting near them - no, that'd send the wrong message. A glyph, maybe? She could launch herself near them. She - she was too tired. She sat there and listened to them instead.

"Hey, how long has that sparkly trail been over the mall?"

"I don't know, Ash…"

"I should have grabbed another smoothie. They had mango."

"For god's sake, how far is it to this dust shop of yours?"

"Uhhh… if that's 5th… and that's 12th… then we're… meant to be heading that way…" one of the figures - Ashlyn - shrunk down and pointed at the building on the corner. So they were heading southeast from here. Diagonal. The roads were in a grid system, Winter remembered that. She ran in their wake - wherever they were going they were allies. She could help them.

She could make it right.

A window shattered and a muffled scream startled her. She tripped, falling hard on her shoulder and skidding across gravel. Her shoulder hit something and she halted with a sickening crunch, her head hanging over the stree-

Oh. So people did go splat when they hit the ground.

Another scream. A civilian, like the first who'd fallen, backing away towards the window, something stalking towards him inside, teeth snapping. Driving the man to fall.

Now was the time for the gun. Point and shoot, that was all. Point and shoot. She'd killed one Beowulf already. The strap tangled in her arm, and in the few seconds it had taken to level it the Grimm had already advanced far enough that the man was teetering and sobbing on the windowsill.

Bang. The gun slammed into her bruised shoulder and she winced, sending the shot wide. She scrambled into a kneeling position - that was meant to help with bracing the shot, right? Her hands weren't sure how to hold it, where should her other one go -

Bang. Her ribs ached, and the bullet shattered the window next to the one the Grimm stood in. The man was leaning backwards now, trying to crawl down and hang from the sill. The scope, she needed to try and line up the sights, but her vision swung wildly and she couldn't close her other eye properly.

Bang.

The third shot missed, just like the others, and the man fell. Began to, at least.

Winter had already slammed two glyphs underneath her feet and launched into a dive that tackled him through the window below, rolling so she could take the impact.

The man was limp. The fall had still knocked him out, but he seemed to be alive -

A ping from her aura and she leapt to one side, in time to avoid a pair of spiralling horns and a roaring gnash of flat teeth. A Gruff, hooves clawing at the wood floor, ready to charge. Winter's hand reached for her sabre but the man was in the way and she couldn't quite pull it out in time -

A blade crashed through the wall, spinning and cleaving the Gruff in two as it began to charge. The severed belly and legs fell to the floor uselessly as the remains of the body tumbled in suit.

The axe, however… Winter heard it crash through several more thin office walls before finally embedding itself in a support column.

Ashlyn and Aphoth.

"Shit - I need to stop throwing my - oh, Winter…" Ash barreled in, jumping over the the dissipating corpse before spotting Winter and bracing herself against the relatively intact doorframe. "I… I heard the gun and thought…"

Winter hefted Blue's rifle. "I - " oh god how could she say it - "I found it. She's dead."

"Huh… neat… so uhh… is he dead?" Ash asked, pointing to the unconscious man Winter had saved. Saved. She'd done right.

"I think he's ok. I think." She poked the man carefully.

"Okay… that's… that's good." Ash slumped down until she was practically lying on the floor, just like Winter. "... hey, what are we actually supposed to do with the civvies we save? Is there like a designated drop-off point or…"

"I don't think there's anything." Winter stood. "How've you been?"

"Eh, so-so." Ash waggled her hand. "Found a place that makes great smoothies. Also, coffee. Need it. Know where to get it. Coffee." She blinked blearily several times before yawning. "Might jus' nap here…"

The ceiling caved in, dropping a dusty Aphoth and a disintegrating Beowulf. "Don't you dare fall asleep again Ash, we - oh." Her eyes widened, then narrowed, then widened again. "Hello."

"Yes. Hello."

"Whoooo, party…" Ash trailed off into a surprisingly adorable little snore.

Aphoth kicked her gently. "What did I say about sleeping?"

The rockstar wannabe jolted upright. "COFFEE! … uhh… yeah… we need coffee." She yawned again, struggling to her feet. "Do… do you know where… gahh what was it…" she started racking her brains for it - whatever it was - "HEART OF DUST! Yeah. Do you know where the little Heart of Dust shop is?"

"No?" She didn't even know where every branch of the SDC stores were - why would she know about some independent hole in the wall venture?

"Oh… shit." Ash looked truly clueless for a moment, scratching at her nose. "Hey, where's my axe?"

"Through the wall, I'd guess. Go get it." Aphoth smiled. "We'll set off after that. At the very least a Dust shop will make for one hell of a showdown spot."

"Rest, reload, reBATTLING!" Ash's voice changed into a growling sort of dramatic announcement. "THE BLOOD OF THE ENEMY SHALL FLOW THROUGH THE- oh hey my mom has that same badge."

Of course she'd get side-tracked.

"Oh my god the Tower is still up. Wait, nevermind. Thingy just died."

Winter shared a look of exasperation with Aphoth at Ash's running commentary.

"Oooh, a map! … I can't read." Crash, thump. "I'm okay!"

"So." Aphoth's voice was quiet. "Heard anything from the family?"

"Why would you care?"

"I don't. I just wondered if you had." Aphoth grimaced. "I was, believe it or not, trying to be polite."

"Why do they even have one of these in here?"

Winter sighed. "My apologies. Your family?"

"No. Scrolls are down, remember? And I've only got my mum."

"My Scroll is broken." Winter admitted. "I wasn't sure if it was a singular issue."

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…" Ash's whining came through the walls startlingly clearly. "Aphy, they have Sandstorm on the store playlist!"

"How - is she still drunk?" Winter boggled. Just a little.

Aphoth sighed and nodded. "Yes. Ash is - let's just keep moving."

-.-.-

Just a few more chapters and all will be reveaaaaaaled~

~R&R~