A Step too Far
Chapter 2
Something to Fight for
An old Titan decides to climb off the walls and take a step away from the Traveler. He never intended to walk so far.
A month passed and Praetor found himself as the town's exterminator. The Grimm in the surrounding area had been much less active since his incursion, at least according to the Captain. She was probably thinking that he had put down so many that they're afraid to come out anymore. Praetor knew too little of these creatures to even try to dispute her.
All over the town was a thick blanket of snow and the river had frozen solid. He often saw kids sliding across it and having snowball fights on the banks. Every few days, a caravan would come through giving the town some more food or fuel. From his viewpoint on the wall, Praetor could make out the power generator nestled against the cliff-face. He hadn't quite figured out what powered the town, it could run on hard-labour for all he knew. Whatever it was, it was enough to keep lights on at night and power general appliances.
Praetor turned his attention back to his shift. This was quite similar to his time on the City's wall, before he let his job be handled by bots and young Guardians with something to prove. He felt nostalgic, but it wasn't pleasant.
Praetor felt bored.
The snow was slowly beginning to melt away and the first hints of spring were showing through. Praetor had been asked to patrol the surrounding forest for Grimm. He held Guardsman in his hands as he swept through the area. He already encountered two groups of Beowolves, the name for the wolf-like beasts, that hadn't proved much of a challenge.
As he walked through the forest, he could often hear the caw of a raven. Praetor paid it no mind, thinking it was nothing. Upon entering a sizeable clearing, he was quickly dissuaded of that frame of mind as a giant black feather lodged itself tip first right in front of him. At a second, Praetor took off in a sprint, dodging more and more razor-tipped feathers that peppered the ground around him. Glancing up, he saw his target. A massive masked black-bird with swords for talons.
The bird screeched as it descended, raising its talons to scoop him up. Seeing this, Praetor began running away from it, only to leap to the side as it raked its talons across the ground, gouging away the earth. It flew away and came about for another run. Praetor smiled beneath his helmet as he brought his right arm back and grasped something invisible. With an exalted shout, his body caught alight and he pulled a flaming Warhammer from thin air.
With a spin, Praetor hurled it towards the oncoming raven and the bird made no move to evade, meeting the flying hammer head-on. As the hammer met its mark, it exploded, scorching one of the massive bird's eyes, making it recoil violently and impact the ground before sliding to a stop at Praetor's feet.
Pulling his hand back, the Hammer reformed with a resounding clang, drowning out the pitifully angry cries of the raven. The bird snapped at him with its beak and Praetor planted one foot on the grounded bird beak and brought the hammer down upon its mask, splitting it in two. Flames spread along the raven's body quickly, burning it alive as it gave a weak screech.
The flames left Praetor's body as he walked away, his heart still thumping. He felt alive again, like he did when he was a fresh Guardian, when he first felt the Traveler's Light.
The rest of his patrol was sadly devoid of any conflict. That mattered little though, he knew that there were threats powerful enough to be considered threats.
The thought alone tugged at his lips.
"We're sad to see you go." Blaine admitted. "Keep in contact, I reckon I still owe you for helping Aubrey."
Praetor shifted a bag over his shoulder and hefted a duffel bag with his spare hand. Both were filled with his things, the shoulder bag full of his necessary things such as food and water. The duffel bag was stuffed with his weapons, ammunition and pieces of amour.
"I'll keep the number in my head if I ever need your help again." Praetor smiled.
Blaine returned the smile and offered his hand. Praetor didn't miss a beat, grasping the hand and giving a firm shake. He gave a bright smile and a small wave to Aubrey before heading off to the caravan.
"Daddy, where's Paeton going?" Aubrey asked, peeking out from behind her father's legs.
"He's going on a journey sweetie."
He didn't stay in the next town long. Barely long enough to hitch a ride from a caravan driver and rest. After he woke, the truck was already moving. To help ease his tension, Praetor drank form his canteen, but it didn't help as the water tasted like ash on his tongue. His hands tightened around his canteen as the memories from before trickled back.
The caravans were simple four wheeled vehicles with large trays mounted on the back, leaving the front for the driver and maybe a privileged passenger. They reminded Praetor of pre-golden age trucks that were used to haul cargo from place to place.
Praetor sat in the back with the cargo, letting his head lean on the more secure boxes, the ones with a snowflake imprint. The driver said the journey to a place called 'Vale' would take roughly three days. Two of those days had already passed and Praetor was starting to get a little anxious, he felt like something was wrong. He was so anxious that he didn't even take his entire armour off while he slept.
Just when he was calming down, the truck driver's head exploded.
Praetor went sailing through the air as the truck suddenly picked up speed and quickly slammed into a tree. The Titan pulled himself to his feet and sprinted towards the truck, muffled shouting coming from down the road.
The driver was most certainly dead, his blood and brains scattered all over the window. The shouting grew closer and figures began to emerge from the woods. With very little time, Praetor scooped up his nearest weapon, his Machine gun, 'Azure.'
It was a custom job from Banshee, the Tower's gunsmith. It was painted a dark blue with small blue flame decals on the cowling covering the barrel. Praetor could only smirk morosely as it accurately depicted its function. He slid in a clip and attached the ammo belt before taking aim at the leading figure. The optics turning from orange to red as it entered range. Bullets exploded out the barrel at a slow pace, each one blooming into a blue fireball as they impacted their targets.
Then the Grimm sprinted onto the road.
This is it, Blake thought, preparing herself to fight Grimm for the very first time. She was high above them, perched on a tree branch looking over the ensuing battle. So far the plan had gone off without a hitch, the sniper forced the truck off the road and now the ground team would go in to secure the cargo. The problems seemed to snowball since then.
A Huntsman had shown up and gunned down the ground team and now Grimm were swarming the place.
Blake looked down at the black beasts snarling and snapping their maws at the Huntsman who kept pace ahead of them, seemingly grouping them together as he fired pot-shots from his massive gun. She looked at her own pistol and knife in her small hands, they were paltry and insignificant to the weapon the Huntsman wielded, it was huge and fired bullets that exploded into blue fire, the only way she thought it could be better was if it was also a sword!
Right then, a small Beowulf stopped directly below her sniffing the air. It was only for a moment, but she took the opportunity to let herself fall, grasping her knife with both hands and ready to plunge it into the beast's exposed neck. Her small body shook from the fall, but her aim was true and the knife stabbed deep into the Grimm's neck. It only struggled for a second, but it quickly collapsed, the yellow light fading from its eyes and its body slowly turning to ash to be carried away by the wind.
Blake fell to the ground, huffing and her heart racing. Her hands were shaking from how nervous she felt from the kill. Once she was able to pull herself against a tree trunk, she took a deep breath and a grin slowly formed.
I did it. I killed a Grimm. Everyone will be so proud of me! She had proved that she could be a Huntress. She would grow up and be powerful just like them and make people see that Faunus weren't worthless. In her excitement Blake almost forgot her knife, still stuck in the Beowulf's neck and went to retrieve it.
Blake didn't notice the wave of crackling electricity before it was too late.
The smell of Ozone filled his nostrils as Praetor rose. It was a simple tactic, lure the beasts into a large group then finish them off with a Fist of Havoc, the 'Titan Smash' as many hunters would jokingly call it, many quickly became intimately familiar with it after making that joke however.
The wave of Arc energy disintegrated the pack of beasts instantly. At this observation, Praetor felt like he had forgotten just how adept he had become with it over the years. The wave had reached further than he thought, almost back to the caravan.
In the ensuing silence, he heard a pained moan. Without even thinking, he was moving in that direction instantly, his machine gun at the ready.
A distance from the road, he came across a young girl who was curled up in a ball, occasionally wincing in pain. Hesitantly, he knelt down and rolled her onto her back. She was passed out and judging from the lingering ozone smell, the blast from his Fist of Havoc had washed over the area and hit her. The question of how she survived lingered in the back of his mind.
Praetor slung his weapon over his shoulder and picked her up. Bit of crushed leaves stuck to her short, jet black hair and dirt smeared her pale skin, but he doubted that would bother her as long as she was alive. A deep sigh later and he was cradling the young girl in his arms with her head resting against his shoulder. He only shifted her once to retrieve his gear and continue along the path.
Blake stirred with a groan, her eyes were still sealed shut and it took too much work to wrench them open. It was quickly apparent to her that she was being carried by someone, judging by the crunch of the earth and the jostling she was feeling. Her fingers and toes felt like they were full of pins and needles and she could feel the sun on her face, almost compelling her to sleep more.
With enough effort, Blake finally managed to open her eyes a fraction. The sight of gleaming golden and black plates filled what little of her vision she had available.
"Good, you're awake." Rumbled her carrier, shocking her out of her tired and dazed state.
Blake tried to open her mouth to speak, but her mouth felt like sandpaper and thus what she tried to say came out in a weak and pained cough that wracked her chest and watered her eyes.
The man, she guessed, sighed and walked over to a nearby tree. With a care she did not expect, he placed her down against the tree. He remained kneeling as he rummaged through a bag he was carrying and a short time later he produced a small tin canister and held it out to her.
Blake eyed the bottle held in front of her and wearily took note of the gauntlet that held it out to her. The plates were painted black with gold accents on the forearms and knuckles. The upper arm was home to a large curved pauldron that sported a golden image of a tower with a golden orb above it.
"Don't worry, it's just water." The man reassured.
Blake gave the man a short scowl, though it was ruined by her red cheeks and puffy eyes, before hesitantly taking the bottle out of hands. She didn't waste any time wrenching the cap off and drinking deeply. Sadly she drank too fast and started coughing as some water invaded her airways. The man softly thumped her on the back and the water was expelled.
"…thank you." She managed to say between gulps of air.
"No problem, little one." She could practically hear the smile behind his mask. "So tell me, why is such a young girl out here?"
Blake glared at him. "I can handle myself."
"I never said you couldn't." The man argued, leaning his helmet to the side a little. "Were you with those that attacked the truck?"
"…" Blake couldn't find it in herself to answer, instead she looked away and quickly found an interesting blade of grass to look at.
"I see." He said after a while. "Well, I reckon we're quite a walk from Vale, regardless of your involvement." The ground crunched as he stood up and hefted his bag over his shoulder and extended an open hand towards her. "Come on, kid. I'm not leaving you alone in this place."
His hand stayed there, not wavering even as she stared openly at it, like it was the oddest thing in the world. With no small amount of hesitation, she placed her small hand into his large one and was gently pulled up onto her feet. Not waiting for her to recover, he began walking. Blake quickly caught up to him and slowed down to match his pace.
She was wary of this man, but he did help her out. She'd stay with him until they got to Vale.
The days on the road were trying on both of them as they barely exchanged words. The young girl, Blake Belladonna as he came to know her, refused to be seen as defenceless, so much so that he had to surrender his Backup knife so that she would stop badgering him about the loss of her own weapons. She kept the four-inch long knife strapped to her side at all times, even when they slept.
In turn, Blake learned that Praetor was currently without any real purpose, only wandering around to slay Grimm. When she tried to press on the subject, he stated that he used to protect people. Her curiosity not satisfied, she tried to rifle through his things when he was gathering some food. All she found was some ammo, his canteen, some dust and a small grey-green pistol with an engraved circle with two wolves on the slide. Aside from the odd pistol, nothing really told her anything about the man.
On the fifth day, Praetor demonstrated just how powerful he was when a pack of Beowolves almost took them by surprise. He took on the beasts with just his gauntleted hands, mostly due to an ammunition shortage that he needed to rectify. Sadly, Blake didn't have to opportunity to watch him fight as one lucky Beowolf made it past Praetor and attacked her. Whilst breaking off to finish one of the dark beasts would keep Blake safe, it would also leave himself open to attack and grant the others an opportunity to rush past him.
Thankfully, he was glad to have given his knife to her, without it she would have been little more than dog-food. As the beast lunged towards her, Blake pushed off to the side and dashed back in with a stab of the knife. The blade wounded the Beowolf's shoulder, but it wasn't easily dissuaded from a meal. The beast snapped its jaws at her repeatedly and she stepped around each time, but the beast moved closer and closer with each attempt. Then, at last the Beowolf stretched its reach too far and Blake took the opportunity to plunge the knife into its weak neck.
The Grimm gurgled and coughed before falling silent as Blake's heart hammered away in her chest. Catching her breath allowed her to look around and see that the rest of the Grimm were killed and that Praetor was making his way towards her. He stopped short and crouched down to wrench the blade out of the Beowolf's neck.
"You alright, kid?" He asked from his crouched position over the slain beast.
Blake could barely hear him over the sound of her beating heart. She managed to a quiet, "I-I'm good."
"Glad to hear it." Praetor stood before, holding the knife's hilt towards her. "Good work, Blake."
Those simple words were enough to make Blake smile the most she had in a long time.
Once they were through the gate that would separate them from the wilderness, Praetor slowed to a halt and half-turned to face Blake. He took a deep breath, trying to find the best way to say his piece.
"I suppose, that this…" he gestured to the city around them. "…Is where we go our separate ways." Blake began to panic a little. Praetor was going to leave her, alone in the big city after traveling together. He either didn't know that it was practically a slow death sentence for a young, homeless Faunus to live by themselves or worse, he did but he didn't care. "Good luck kid. I'll see you around." Without even looking back, he left.
Blake balled her fists so tight that her nails dug into her palms as she fought not to cry. No, she was strong, she took down Grimm, she had earned her safety! Her golden eyes boring into the man's back she began following him. This man was strong, she needed his help.
A few minutes passed and Praetor knew that the little girl was following him. Despite her best attempts as hiding when he looked around, he couldn't help but notice her. So he decided to let her know by rounding a corner and waiting till she eventually followed suit. Blake was knocked on her ass when she collided with his armoured stomach. Even though she was on her ass she still stared defiantly at the towering man above her.
"You're not going to leave me alone are you?" He asked, kneeling down to her. She shook her head, her bright yellow eyes still locked onto where his eyes should be. Praetors shoulders heaved as he sighed, hanging his head in defeat. "Ok, you can tag along, for now."
Blake couldn't stop the smile from shining.
Later in the evening, Praetor had rented a hotel room for them both, He opted for the couch so that Blake would have the bed. Blake had spent most of the afternoon watching cartoons, she paid particular attention to one about an orphan who grew up hated by those around him. During one of the advertisement breaks, Praetor swore he saw her ears twitch during an ad about some book that was being made available.
As the show went on, the Titan began taking more notice of Blake. She seemed to grow more upset when the protagonist lamented his lack of parents or was mocked because of it. He chalked it up to her being invested in the plot, which he couldn't follow, and left it at that. Before heading to bed, Blake looked like she was about to say something but couldn't muster the courage.
"Is there something you want to ask of me, Blake?" Praetor spoke, making her jump in her seat. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "It's ok, you can ask me anything."
"W-well," she stammered, turning her head away and twiddling her thumbs. "Can we umm… gotothebookstoretomorrow?" The words came out so fast that it was a wonder that Praetor even understood her while the poor girl's face turned redder than a tomato.
"That's fine with me." The Titan chuckled out.
"Really?" Blake looked up with pure excitement in her eyes. Praetor simply nodded at her question and the cat-girl smiled brightly.
"Sir, the entire squad sent to recover the cargo truck was wiped out."
"And the girl with them?"
"…We didn't find anything."
"… A shame."
AN: Edited 31st August 2018