jamesb497: I'm happy you're excited. Quite frankly, I'm really excited too, to write future chapters that is. I've got a lot planned that I can't wait for you guys to see. Well, thank you, I appreciate that.
Apex85: Fair enough. Reading back over it, I agree with you it's more average than anything else. That said, not like I could bust out their coolest moves, so...yeah. Anyway, glad you seemed to like it. Yeah, I liked writing it. I always wanted them to get taken down a peg or two, so I took the chance to do just that. Oh yeah. And believe me, if you think that's bad...just you wait. I plan on one day leaving you guys with cliffhangers the size and intensity of the first Cold Steel's ending. Not to mention the emotional impact.
GeassKing101: Good, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it so much. Thank you. Well, this took a turn didn't it? Regardless, I will indulge. I, too, am rather disappointed by the lack of Fie doujinshis. Mostly because, quite frankly, she's my favorite of the girls. Alas, not much I can do about it. I can't draw for shit. No, it'd be more accurate to say I couldn't draw something good even to save my life. That said, I am glad the one doujin that is out there is her with Rean, I can't stand her with anyone else. It just hits a button of 'ah hell na!' in me. It's why I won't read stories where she's not paired with Rean, which, sadly, leaves me without a lot of Trails stories to read. Though, I can read stories without any pairings, though those are hard to find as well. Anyway, one last thing. There is another doujin with Fie in it, with Rean too, where all the Class VII girls, with the exception of Millium, jump his bones. It's not in English either though, so...that sucks. But, I digress.
No problem, feel free to rant anytime my friend. I'm here to listen. Thank you again, and I will do my best.
RedBurningDragon: The dust cloud didn't last very long though...oh well, whatever. Yeah, I really didn't like that either. Thank you. Also, I fixed the error you noticed, as well as several you didn't, that I did when going back over it. Thanks for that as well, by the way.
Guest: Well, you certainly cut straight to it, don't you? And since I don't like to lie, at most I'll dodge a question and honestly say I can't answer it lest I spoil something, I'll just go ahead and tell you that you're not wrong. One of those things does, probably, happen. Question is, which one is it? Also, his name is Gideon. And one more thing, am I just that obvious? Or was this just your intuition sniffing something out?
Anyway, once again, thanks to all those who reviewed, and allow me to thank those who have added this story to their favorites and alerts since the last update. KirochkaSveta, and kaleb-yamato, thank you!
UPDATE
As with the last one, there are some touch-ups, but nothing drastic. Should read a tad better, though.
Alright then, the finale of chapter one. Tell me what you think. Please read, review, and enjoy.
ACT I - CHAPTER I - FINALE
...
Tension fading as the situation wound down, all the teen combatants, with the exception of Rean, who had already done so, put their weapons away and severed their ARCUS links.
"Eheh. You really are amazing, Rean." Elliot complimented his friend. "I mean, you summoned those flames without even using your ARCUS! I didn't even know that was possible." He confessed.
"Haha, it's nothing, really. There are plenty of people out there who could do way more than what I just did, trust me." Rean waved the compliment off with a self conscious smile, wincing in pain for the umpteenth time.
"Perhaps, but that's no reason to sell yourself short." Gaius countered. "That truly was incredible."
"Come on Gaius, you used the wind the same way I used fire in that fight." The raven-haired teen pointed out.
The soft-spoken nord didn't try to deny it. "That does not change the fact that what you did was impressive." He rebutted. "I have trained for years to harness the wind, I know from firsthand experience that it is no simple task."
"You guys are unbelievable." Elliot stated. "You're all so strong and composed. It's like you've handled this kind of stuff before."
"I have." Fie put that fact out there, purposely ignoring the gaze of Laura, who had been staring at her for a number of moments now.
"Heh, I guess I should've expected you to say that. I mean, I should be surprised, but by the way you talk about these sorts of things, I'm really not." The timid violinist remarked.
'The way she moved during that battle...her technique, her speed, her strength, all with that tiny frame...and she was still holding something back...' Laura pondered the enigma that was Fie Claussell, her curiosity having kicked into overdrive.
She needed to know what this girl was about, the warrior in her especially.
"Laura, is something wrong?" Rean questioned, noticing the way she was watching Fie to be quite similar to how she had been looking at him most of the day before.
Pulled from her thoughts, the well-spoken swordswoman pried her eyes away from Fie, and shifted her attention to her fellow practitioner. "My apologies. Could you repeat that?"
"I was asking if everything was alright. You were staring at Fie pretty hard there." The swordsman mentioned.
"Oh, that." Realizing she had been caught staring, in a scrutinizing manner no less, she quickly came up with something. "I was simply wondering what it was she used on that beast. It was quite effective." Not exactly a lie, that was indeed one of the queries she had for the younger girl, but it was simply a drop in the bucket that was her piqued interest.
"A plastic explosive." The silver-haired girl answered nonchalantly.
"You carry plastic explosives around with you!?" Elliot squawked incredulously, staring at the younger teen like she was crazy.
"What fair maiden doesn't?" Fie responded with a quirk of the brow, her tone making it nigh impossible to tell if she was joking or, quite possible, entirely serious.
"Right, ahaha." The orange-haired boy chuckled nervously.
Bereft of any appropriate response to such a statement, Elliot opted not to really say anything about it.
None of the members of Group A could hope to form an adequate reply to that, so he certainly wasn't the odd man out this time.
Focus off of Fie for the moment, Laura turned her attention to Rean. "I mustn't neglect to tell you how impressed I am with that technique of yours. If you are truly only a beginner, I must admit that I am quite anxious to see what you will be capable of at the intermediary level, let alone mastery of your style." She praised her fellow swordsman.
"In fact, if I may be so presumptuous, I'd say I've found my new sparring partner." The excitement that lay underneath her tone wasn't difficult to hear, even if she was trying to downplay it.
"Hey, don't go overboard now. I can assure you, if we were to battle, you'd wipe the floor with me no problem." Rean tried to tell her, his self conscious smile widening as he tried to laugh her off.
Which was, as it turned out, a very bad idea.
Grasping at his sides, the Schwarzer heir sucked in a sharp breath of air, pain flaring through his torso. He'd already come to the conclusion that laughing was a stupid thing to do while he was in this state, yet he just couldn't help himself it seemed.
Fie noticeably frowned at this, while the others immediately asked if he was okay, to which he answered that he was.
Because of this, Elliot was vividly reminded exactly why his friend was in such bad shape. Quickly turning to face him, the younger boy proceeded to express his appreciation. "Rean, thank you! You saved my life."
His gratitude was almost overwhelming, as he formally bowed.
"Hey, don't do that! It's okay!" Rean tried to assure his classmate frantically. "I mean, we're friends right?" He posed to the timid violinist, to which he received an affirmative nod. "That's what friends do, they look out for each other."
"Shut up." Came Fie's voice suddenly, interrupting the exchange.
"Huh?" Was Rean's eloquent response, as the younger girl came to a stop in front of him, now standing over him from his position on the ground.
"You need to stop talking." She reiterated the same sentiment. "All you're doing is aggravating your injuries." She informed him matter-of-factly. "You need to conserve your strength. We don't want them getting any worse."
"O-Oh, well, okay, fair enough." The modest swordsman conceded easily enough.
"Good." She said with a nod of her head.
Meanwhile, Gaius and Laura shared a glance, that Elliot joined in on as well. This would only fuel their suspicions about the two.
...
"U-Unbelievable..." One of the provincial soldiers muttered.
The soldiers and bandits picked themselves up off the ground, now that the source of their terror was dead.
"How could a couple of kids be this strong!?" Another soldier questioned incredulously.
"That bastard...this wasn't supposed to happen!" Cursed the bandit leader.
"Who are you talking about?" Rean suddenly inquired.
As Fie opened her mouth to get onto him for speaking again, Rean once more sensed the tenth presence.
Time seemed to slow down for the swordsman in that instance, as his head swiveled to the location of this presence, where he spotted a man with glasses and blue-grey hair aiming a large orbal pistol down at them. He and Fie were in the path of the barrel in particular.
Worst of all...he had already pulled the trigger.
'How could I be so stupid!? I should have paid more attention! I knew there was a tenth!'
"Fie, get down!"
Acting without thinking, Rean leapt to his feet and shoved Fie aside; time resuming its normal flow for the boy, he was incapable of getting out of the way. As a result, he took the bullet straight to his right shoulder, knocking him off his feet and straight back onto the ground.
With his weakened constitution, he'd been unable to retain his footing, and to bite back the scream that pried itself from his throat.
"REAN!"
Grasping at his right shoulder, Rean did his best to put pressure on the wound; despite his efforts, blood began to soak through his white undershirt, and even started blotting his red blazer. Of course, this new wound only served to aggravate his current injuries, sending flares of agony through the upper half of his body.
"Rean..." Fie whispered his name, tone solicitous in nature, as she got up off the ground.
Rather than opting to stand, she instead remained on her knees, as she crawled the arge to her only friend's side.
'I messed up. I...I can't believe it...I forgot about the tenth. How could I mess up like that!?' She mentally berated herself, as she assisted her childhood friend in putting pressure on his wound.
The other members of Group A gaped in complete shock.
'Shot...Rean's been shot...someone shot him...'
...
Fie shook her head furiously, forcing herself to come to her senses.
"Elliot, keep pressure on his wound."
The timid violinist jumped to do as he was bade.
Getting to her feet, Fie sought out the source of the bullet.
Watching the silver-haired girl's eyes dart about, Laura and Gaius snapped out of their shocked states, and began to do the same, scanning their surroundings.
By the time the three located the shooter, however, he'd opened fire once more.
Bullet tearing straight through skin, muscle, and bone with ease, the projectile ripped out of the back of the bandit leader's head, leaving bloody holes denoting the entry and exit wounds.
Dropping to the ground, the ruby liquid that sustained him pooled around his cranium.
He was dead.
The eight men left panicked, quickly fleeing the clearing to the best of their capabilities, shouting in fear. To their luck, not another shot was fired in the time it took them to get out of range.
"Who the hell are you?" Fie demanded, uncharacteristically hostile in tone, drawing her twin gunblades.
Laura and Gaius followed her lead, pulling out their weapons.
"If you must know, in some circles I am known as G. And that is, perhaps, all you will ever know." The man known as G said, taking aim at them once more.
Dropping into battle stances, the three prepared to begin their next battle, when suddenly...
"There you are, G." Suddenly came a new voice, one that none of the teenagers below recognized.
His attention diverted, G glanced over to his right, where another male walked into sight.
This man stood six feet tall with a slightly muscular build, light skin, and appeared to be in his early thirties. He had purple hair just shy of shoulder length, and as for his eyes, they were obscured by a pair of sunglasses with silver frames. His attire consisted of a sleeveless, form-fitting white shirt, under a simple, black waist-length coat; a pair of black pants with white stripes running vertically down the sides, and black combat boots with white buckles.
"About time you showed up." G stated with a frown. "You're late. Care to explain why?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Got caught up on my way here, damn animals in the outlying forest of this place all wanted a piece of me, and who was I to deny them?" The newcomer said with a shrug of his shoulders, clearly no care in the matter. "That said, I'm here aren't I? So it's fine. Let's just get on with this plan of yours."
"Don't be so hasty." G chided. "In case you hadn't noticed, we have a couple of interlopers in our midst." The bespectacled man gestured to the teens below with a wave of his pistol.
"They've been a nuisance, and it would be beneficial to remove them from the equation entirely before moving forward."
"What, you mean those kids down there?" The newcomer asked, taking a moment to glance down at the teens in question as he did. "You've gotta be kidding me G-Man, they're just a couple of brats." He remarked dismissively.
"What kind of threat could they pose?"
"While it's true they're no serious threat, they've proven themselves to be quite the pests. That-" Before G could finish, the new guy cut him off.
"Wait a tic, G-Man, are you telling me those kids are the ones that messed up your first plan?" He queried skeptically, before quickly realizing this was the case. "Oh man, that's just...that's just too good." His mirth abundantly clear, the purple-haired man was evidently greatly amused by this, grinning ear to ear.
"The ever-grim, super serious G-Man, who never needs anyone's help, no matter what, actually had to call me in because of a bunch of tots? Wait until the other guys hear about this!" And with that, the new guy began to outright laugh at his ally.
Now outright scowling, G bit his tongue on the subject, not appreciating the other man's reaction. Nevertheless, it would do no good to start a fight.
"First of all, it wasn't my fault the plan fell through. It was the incompetence of those bandits. And second, how many times must I tell you, do not call me that. Finally, why don't you stop laughing like an idiot, and go do what you came here to do!" G bit.
"Whoa, snippy. Guess I must've hit a sore spot. My bad. But still, look at'em. They're probably scared witless down there. Just a bunch of kids who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground." The newcomer said derisively, looking down at the group of teens once more.
"How come you haven't handled them? I mean, you already put a hole in one of'em, shouldn't be too hard to finish him off and take care of the others. Not like they're-" Words dying in his throat, the newcomer paused, before crouching down and taking a hard look at the teenagers below.
"Well, shit. I take it back G-Man, I think I see why you were having problems with this group of munchkins." The newcomer retracted his derision of the group and, by proxy, G.
Remaining crouched, he continued to speak. "My, my, if it isn't little Fie. Didn't think I'd ever see you again. Long time no see, huh?" He addressed the youngest of the five below.
"Am I supposed to know you?" She inquired, openly hostile.
"Shit yeah." He replied immediately. "I mean, we didn't exactly see each other more than two or three times, but everyone knew who you were: Rutger's little urchin tag-along."
If that was intended to evoke a response, it failed miserably.
"Name's Warrick. That ring any bells?" The newcomer put forth his name.
Apparently, it did not, as she continued to glare up at him.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You don't remember me. But I sure as shit remember you. I mean, how could I forget the name of the girl who was there when my brother died?"
At that, Warrick pushed up his shades, revealing his striking, purple eyes.
They were completely identical to the eyes of the jaeger from eight years prior.
Eyes widening a fraction, Fie remained silent as she processed this.
At the same time, Laura began to eye the girl out of her peripheral vision.
Rean's mind was racing at the revelation that this person was the brother of the man he had killed.
Elliot and Gaius were simply confused and curious as to what was going on.
"With our corp embroiled in that war with yours, that left little time for actual contracts. So the few members we could spare were sent out to do some solo work, cuz', y'know, gotta make that mira somehow. My brother decided to go with one of the easy jobs: kill a minor noble's heir. Simple enough, especially so considering the heir was just a child. However, something went wrong, and he died. Sure, I was upset, who wouldn't be. But, I understood, that kind of shit can happen anytime in our line of work. No, what got to me was the fact that you just happened to be there when it happened. Somehow, someway, you both ended up in Ymir at the same time. Kind of suspicious, don't ya think?" Warrick's tone, once casual, had turned venomous.
"How could someone like my big brother be done in, in a backwoods hole like Ymir?" Posed the jaeger. "I haven't the slightest clue. You on the other hand, assuredly do." His eyes locked with Fie's.
"Perhaps you somehow managed to kill him, or more likely, one of your Zephyr buddies did it for you. It's also possible someone else did it entirely, but, I'm sure you can understand my skepticism on that one. Nevertheless, I'm certain of one fact: you know who killed him. And you're going to tell me who it was. Or else." Warrick's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Rean, having finally sat up with the help of Elliot, opened his mouth to speak; wincing so hard he had to fight to keep his eyes open, the words were slow to come.
Fie knew her friend well. She knew exactly what he was about to say. And she had no intention of letting him.
"Ask all you want, I have no intention of telling you anything." She stated firmly.
"Is that so? You leave me no choice then." With that, Warrick stood, reached back and pulled a machete from one of the dual leather holders attacked to the small of his back; the teens just now noticed these, having missed them.
Recognition flashed in Fie's eyes. "You're-" She started, only to be cut off.
"That's right, kid, I'm the Silver Serpent corp's Silver Haze." The jaeger proclaimed proudly.
"Or, well, I used to be. You know, until your buddies ground us into dust." It was evident he was still rather sore about that. "But, I guess we kind of have that in common, huh? You used to be Zephyr's Sylphid. And now you're just Sylphid. We're kind of like two peas in a pod, I'm now a solo jaeger, you're now a solo jaeger-"
"No." The silver-haired girl cut him off mid-sentence, denying his words.
"I'm sorry?" He said with a quirk of his brow.
"I'm not a jaeger, not anymore." She corrected him.
That, that was the moment when it all clicked for Laura.
'A jaeger?!'
And unbeknownst to even herself, her mind had already rejected the notion of associating with someone who would sink as low as to become a killer for hire. What she was aware of, were her messy mix of emotions at this sudden revelation.
"Jaeger!?" Elliot repeated, looking toward the younger girl in disbelief.
"I see, everything falls into place if that's the case." Gaius acknowledged, clearly the least surprised of the three not in the know.
"Fie..." Rean grunted her name through grit teeth, pain continuously plaguing his torso.
He hadn't wanted the others to find out about her past like this. 'I wanted her to open up to them herself.'
"Oh sweetie, you don't ever stop being a jaeger, not really." The jaeger's tone oozed condescension.
"You're proving me right, even as we speak. That stance you've taken leaves little room for openings, your eyes are cold and hard, those of a trained killer; both are products of your training. And more than anything else? Your friend is bleeding out right behind you, and all you care about is the enemy before you." He scathing maligned.
Fie took everyone off guard, visibly flinching at his words; the last statement cut deeper than anything.
And that was all the opening the jaeger needed.
Leaping down to their level faster than anyone could react, he landed a few rege in front of Fie, and attacked.
The fifteen-year-old barely had enough time to dodge; jumping back at the last moment, she barely avoided the blade of the machete as it was swung on her. So close it came that it took a few strands of her hair with it when it passed by.
She would have opted to counterattack immediately afterward, but as soon as she tried, he was slashing at her with the machete again, leaving her no time to do anything but evade once more.
Anticipating this, Warrick shifted his footing, and proceeded to nail the young girl hard in the stomach with a right jab. The blow knocked the wind out of her, causing her to nearly double over in pain as she gasped for air.
Following it up, he clocked her between the eyes with a right straight, knocking her to the ground and causing her to slide several feet from the force.
"Fie!" Rean exclaimed, beginning to force himself to his feet.
Elliot tried his best to keep his friend from getting up and aggravating his injuries. "Rean, you can't!"
"Move, Elliot!" The swordsman demanded, the weight behind his voice cowed the violinist.
...
Laura and Gaius had already taken action, both launching attacks of their own: a strong swing of her blade from the swordswoman, and a quick thrust of his spear from the nord.
Their efforts were thwarted, however, as the jaeger whirled around to face them, and raised his machete to block the incoming sword strike, stopping it in its tracks as steel met steel. At the same time, he reached out and took hold of the shaft of the spear, using his strength to hold it back and keep it from coming closer to him.
Both teens attempted to overcome him, of course, but his strength outstripped theirs, preventing them from gaining any ground on him.
Warrick, hating to ever be on the defensive, lashed out with his right leg, ramming his foot into Laura's abdomen. The force of the kick knocked her off her feet, sending her sliding across the ground two arge or so; the swordswoman managed to retain her grip on her weapon.
Gaius' cross-spear held more by the enemy than him at the moment, he chose to release his hold on it and simply try to rush the older man, whose attention was on Laura. That didn't work out so well, as the jaeger sidestepped the foreigner, and made him pay for the maneuver with a good thwack of the spear's shaft across the back of his head, nearly knocking the teen unconscious.
Another enemy on the ground, the Silver Haze threw the spear to the dirt, turning to face his next challenger. And proceeded to laugh in his face.
It was Rean, barely able to keep himself upright; he was gripping his unsheathed tachi so tightly that his knuckles were discolored.
"What are you gonna do? Flail at me? Look, kid, I don't know for sure what happened to you, but I can tell you've got at least a few broken bones, I'm guessing ribs judging by your breathing; most, if not all of them in fact. Not to mention a bullet wound to the shoulder on top of that, speaking of which, shouldn't you be keeping pressure on that? Wouldn't want to bleed out, would we? Ah, whatever, not like I care." He finished dismissively.
Rean sloppily pivoted forward and attempted to slash the man with his blade.
However, in his condition, with a simple step to the side, his attack was avoided, and he was sent sprawling onto the ground. Wincing, the black-haired boy inhaled sharply, as he fought back the cry of pain that wanted to make itself known.
"See? And I didn't even have to touch you. Face it, you're done. Ain't gonna to be any fighting for you for awhile." Warrick told him.
Warrick physically rounded on Elliot, not missing a beat in addressing him. "As for you, I wouldn't try that."
At that, the orange-haired boy froze, hands clenching his orbal staff deathly tight, clearly having been in the middle of performing an art.
"You saw what I just did to your pals. If you couldn't tell, I hit pretty hard. So trust me when I say, you don't want to see what I can do with this machete of mine." He warned the sixteen-year-old, effectively intimidating him.
"Pay attention Warrick!" Shouted G, before the sound of gunshots echoed through the clearing.
...
Heart pounding, Warrick realized a bullet, no, two bullets, had just come this close to hitting him, having just grazed him; taking a few strands of his hair with them. The only reason they hadn't hit him was that he'd shifted his position ever so slightly the exact moment he heard G shout.
'I almost bit it.'
Eyes widening he turned around to face who had fired them, to see Fie, back on her feet, her twin gunblades aimed directly at him. Moreover, the only reason she hadn't fired again, as he quickly realized, was that G had covered for him. The bespectacled man had fire just as she had, his bullet missing the girl by a rege; it had nearly hit her foot, judging by the tiny hole in the ground.
It had served its purpose, however, as it showed her the consequences of her actions, acting as a warning shot. If she fired again, she would die with the next shot from the G's pistol. That was the only reason the jaeger was still alive.
"Well...shit. That was close." The Silver Haze remarked, sounding unperturbed despite having come this close to biting the bullet, literally.
"You...you certainly are one hell of a shot. If I didn't get that heads up just know, I'd be taking a dirt nap." He acknowledge her marksmanship, sounding genuine for once.
"And man, just look at that face of yours. Its like stone, completely emotionless. More than anything, I can feel your killing intent. Say what you want girly, but you are the spitting image of a veteran jaeger." He apprised her with a self-satisfied smirk, seemingly regaining the bit of confidence that had faded a moment prior.
This time she didn't flinch, much to Warrick's disappointment.
Since that was the case, and seeing as the moment she tried to move even an inch she'd be killed, the jaeger and the ex-jaeger began a stare-down.
...
Neither let up until a groan caught the former's attention, his eyes shifting away from the girl and down to the dark-haired teen on the ground. That's when he got an idea; his grin widened considerably, looking sinister.
Without warning, he acted, ramming the length of his leg into Rean's broken ribs, savagely kicking in the side.
Which, of course, elicited quite the cry of pain from the boy; rolling over onto his back, clutching his side, Rean's blade lie forgotten in the dirt and grass beside him.
Glancing at Fie, Warrick was pleased with the reaction he saw; her mask slipped as concern flashed in her lime-green eyes, followed by the anger.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did that bother you? Upset you?" He mocked the former jaeger. "Good."
Wanting to see more, he took it up a notch. He brought his right foot up and back down agin, full-force stomping on Rean's chest, tearing an awful scream from his throat.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-ACK!" Only for it to come to an abrupt end, as the raven-haired boy hacked up blood.
This time, the jaeger was rewarded with an even better reaction.
Gone was her cold expression as her anger morphed into rage, the emotion reflected not only in her eyes, but her visage as well.
However, he wasn't allowed to enjoy it for long, as she threw caution to the wind and proceeded to act.
Redirecting her aim, the silver-haired girl fired two bullets up at G, managing to do so just fast enough that he couldn't pull the trigger on his own gun. That, obviously, would distract him for a few moments, as he dodged.
Using that to her advantage, Fie broke into a dead-sprint, irises shifting to Warrick, locking onto her target.
The Silver Haze was a little surprised by the sheer daring of such a move, nevertheless, he was ready for her; removing his foot from Rean's chest, he prepared to take her on.
Only to be caught off guard, as a cry of, "Aqua Bleed!" reached his ears, causing him to act on instinct and quickly backstep, a ball of water speeding past him as a result.
Diverting his attention to the source, he saw who was responsible. The same timid boy he had intimidated into inaction. The same one who had just thrown an art at him. Hell, the boy was now getting ready to use another one.
Fie's swift movement allowed her to utilize the momentary diversion of her enemy's focus, closing the distance between them before he could notice. Unfortunately, just when she was right there in his personal space, preparing to sink one of her gunblades deep into his flesh, his attention returned to her.
Grabbing hold of her right wrist, Warrick halted the thrust of her gunblade in its tracks, the tip of the weapon a mere rege from touching him; he then did the same for the other, taking hold of her forearm and halting her arm's motion.
Not missing a beat, the silver-haired maiden brought her right knee up, in an attempt to strike him in the solar plexus; it was to no avail, as the jaeger pulled his left knee up at almost the exact same time, and blocked it.
Not a moment after their knees slammed together, the ex-jaeger retracted her leg and placed her foot back on the ground, while simultaneously bringing her left leg up and ramming the length of it into her enemy's side. She did this before he had the chance to counter it, nailing him in the ribs with a solid kick as a result.
Grunting in annoyance more than pain, Warrick locked gazes with the girl, meeting her glare. If looks could kill, he'd be be a pile of ash, that was for sure. This just served to amused him, however.
He was much less amused when he heard a shout of, "Needle Shoot!"
Warrick's eyes immediately sought Elliot out, only to see he wasn't launching the art at him. Rather, he was sending it G's way, the shoulder sized clump of earth shooting up at the repositioned bespectacled man. This forced him to dodge once again, preventing him from firing down upon the teens.
Using the jaeger's divided attention, Fie repositioned her index fingers, and proceeded to pull the triggers on her gunblades. Or she would have, if she were able. Alas, as it turned out, her older counterpart had seen this coming, and had quickly transitioned to alternate holds of her hands rather than her wrist and forearm. This kept her from putting some bullets in him.
Fie was alright with that, though. As he had failed to notice those behind him.
Or rather he did notice them, but at the last possible moment.
Pushing the fifteen-year-old back, Silver Haze jumped out of the way, avoiding a large cleave of Laura's bastard sword as he did. Only to be forced to move again, as Gaius, having gotten back to his feet as well, tried to sweep him with his cross-spear.
Successfully evading both attacks, he went to attack in turn, only to have to shield his face with his machete, as Fie took two quick shots at him. The bullets ricocheted off his weapon, leaving him unharmed, while Laura and Gaius advanced on him, going for a pincer attack.
He attempted to shift his stance to defend, but was prevented from doing so, almost tripping as something kept one of his feet rooted to the ground.
Instantly, he knew who it was. Shifting his vision downward, he saw the barely conscious Rean, one hand on his wounded shoulder to keep the bleeding to a minimum, and the other wrapped around the jaeger's right ankle.
Scowling now, Warrick was clearly not having fun with these teenagers anymore. And with no amusement left in it for him...
Without warning, Warrick brought his unhindered foot up and slammed it down against the dark-haired boy's skull, stomping on the back of his head. Rean's grip slackened as his face was driven into the ground; the trauma inflicted nearly knocked him unconscious.
Not enough time to dodge, the jaeger ducked under Laura and Gaius' attacks.
Socking them both in the gut, he rose back to his full height, took hold of their weapons, lifted them, and their wielders as a result, and proceeded to toss both teens aside.
Hearing Elliot shout out the name of an art, undoubtedly trying to keep G at bay, Warrick turned around to take care of that.
Only to nearly have his face sliced open by Fie, the nimble girl having leapt at him, going for a downward angle slash with her right gunsword. Swaying out of the way, he lifted his machete to attack, but had to stop in the middle of the motion and shift his body to the left. He did this to avoid the former jaeger's other gunsword, which she had actually tossed his way in an attempt to get him.
It failed, but she had clearly anticipated it would, as with her now free hand, she transitioned into a single-handed handstand. Turning her body at an angle, she shot her right leg forward, slamming the length of it into the back Warrick's head.
The blow to his head managed to make him stumble a bit, capitalizing on that, Fie put her feet back on the ground and attempted a spin-kick, aiming right for his face. He caught her leg by the shin, gripping it tight, killing it's momentum completely; she was left with one foot off the ground and only one of her weapons, not the most ideal position to be in.
Not that it stopped her, as she took quick aim with her remaining gunsword, and tried to pull the trigger before she could be stopped. Her attempt to inflict some kind of injury, or wound, failed, as he pushed the weapon away, altering its trajectory by the time the bullet was fired.
Funny enough, it was sent G's way, forcing him to dodge yet again.
Not giving the silver-haired girl time to continue her assault, Warrick decked her, hitting her square in the face with a right straight; the blow disoriented her, nearly made her lose consciousness. He then pulled her leg upward, and shoved her backwards, sending her sprawling onto the ground.
Whirling to face the enemies he heard coming from behind once more, he blocked both Gaius and Laura's weapons with his machete.
This clash didn't last for more than a moment, though, as the sound of a pistol being fired reached everyone's ears, and the bullet hit the ground right next to Elliot's feet, drawing all eyes to him. The shot had come from G, who had just stopped the timid violinist from performing yet another art. He looked none too pleased either, then again, who would be? He had just spent the last few minutes dodging bullets and arts.
The situation grew even more hectic, as three more individuals burst onto the scene.
Two bearing fully-automatic assault rifles, and the third a large pistol. Though calling it a pistol might be a bit of an understatement, it looked more akin to a hand-cannon than anything.
These weapons, combined with the grey and black Railway Military Police uniforms they sported, caused all attention to shift to the newcomers.
"The RMP?" Warrick said the acronym aloud, pulling back as he watched them.
"That's enough!" One of them cried, stepping out front in front of the other two.
It was the woman known as the Icy Maiden.
"The Icy Maiden..." G spoke the woman's alias with aggravation. 'Why has one of the Chancellor's dogs come here?'
'They can't possibly know.' The Silver Haze thought to himself.
"We apprehended eight men that were fleeing from this park." The Icy Maiden stated. "They informed me I would find some sort of skirmish going on here. What they failed to tell me, however, is just who the two of you are." She continued. "Care to fill me in?" Despite the way it was phrased, it was quite clear that wasn't a request.
G, knowing when to cut his losses, decided it was time to retreat. With that in mind, he snapped his wrist up and rapidly fired three shots from his orbal handgun.
At the same time, Warrick shoved Gaius and Laura back, before running for it, bounding up onto the cliff and following after G as they moved to get out of there.
The shots were evaded, not that it was hard with how sloppily their trajectory had been, and the woman known as Icy Maiden proceeded to return fire.
One of the shots managed to graze G's arm, but he and his jaeger ally were able to disappear from sight before anything more serious could be done to them. Not that the RMP intended to allow them to escape.
"After them!" The Icy Maiden ordered.
Rean began once more forcing himself off the ground; eyes seeking out Fie, he saw her, eyes half-lidded, looking like she wasn't entirely aware of her surroundings.
Pushing up onto his feet, he attempted to lumber over to her, the state he was in preventing him from moving at any sort of decent pace. However, the adrenaline coursing through his system having long since faded, the young swordsman was no longer able to fight back the agonizing pain that consumed his upper-body.
Succumbing to his injuries, he stumbled and fell face first onto the ground, passing out.
The outskirts of Celdic, on a passenger train bound for Heimdallr
Face calm and still, eyes closed, breathing slow but steady, strands of hair tickling his forehead: that was the state of Rean Schwarzer. He was asleep, lying in a train booth, his head on Fie's lap, her thighs acting as his pillow.
She watched him as he slept, the events from just a few hours ago replaying in her head.
After everything had settled down, the woman had introduced herself as Claire Rieveldt, a Captain of the RMP. She assisted them with treating Rean, along with Market Manager Otto, as between the two of them they knew a good deal of medical knowledge.
Bandaging his chest and right shoulder, they put him to bed in the upstairs bedroom of Otto's house. He hadn't woken when Claire checked on him before departing, or when Otto came up to thank them all. He remained asleep even when Sara showed up and they all boarded the train. He'd was still yet to wake, and probably wouldn't for some time.
Fie was caught up in her own little world, as she stared at Rean's face, her thoughts racing. That is until the conversation of the other members of Group A, coming from the row just behind her, snapped her out of her trance.
"Sh-She's asleep again..." Elliot stated a little disbelievingly, looking toward the booths on the opposite side, where Sara had zonked out.
"One could assume she was just faking it. But..." Gaius began.
"Right, her breathing. Judging by the rhythm of it, she truly is asleep." Laura finished for him.
"Well, I guess it makes sense. It sounded like Group B's field study was a train wreck. Combine that with coming all the way back to Celdic before it was even time for the last train, and anyone would be wiped." The orange-haired teen reasoned, looking back toward his classmates. "Though, I will admit, it is hard to imagine her working hard. Considering her usual attitude and all."
"It does seem she's genuinely looking out for us, however." The blue-haired swordswoman added.
The three continued to converse, but Fie once again blocked them out, as her eyes returned to the sleeping face her childhood friend.
"I'm not afraid of you."
Those are the words she had said to him. Those would be the last words he heard from her for a long, long time. That thought saddened the young girl to no end.
She didn't wish to leave. She wanted to stay. But how could she do that? Zephyr, her family, was waiting for her. She couldn't just leave them, couldn't just forget about them. They were all she had known for almost as long as she could remember. Her earliest memories were of wandering a war-torn battlefield, and everything after that was with them. She had been with them most of her life. And yet, in only six months, this boy had somehow become just as precious to her as they were.
She cared for Elise, Teo, and Lucia too, she even enjoyed the company of most of the villagers here in Ymir. However, none of them were as close to her as Rean was. He was the one who found her after all. For some stupid, crazy reason, he ventured deeper into that snowstorm when he heard her voice.
He only secured his place in heart every day after that. From little acts of kindness for no other reason than just because, to somehow managing to pick up on the times when she was down and giving her someone to talk to. To the headpats to the sharing of his fears, to just being there whenever she needed or desired him to be. And finally, having someone just as weak as her throw that weakness aside to protect her. He was just as much a part of her family as every member of Zephyr was. To leave him here, without even saying goodbye... It just felt wrong.
As much as it pained her though, she didn't have a choice.
'If it wasn't for me, this wouldn't have happened.' She thought to herself with disdain. 'If I hadn't helped that man, none of this would have happened.'
"Come now, Fie, let's get going." The sound of Leonidas' voice reached her ears, breaking her out of her trance.
Raising her eyes from ground, little seven year old Fie Claussell followed her two guardians and boarded the cable car.
It still pained Fie to remember that. She had left Rean behind, disappeared from his life entirely. It hurt the both of them.
And then, like some sort of twisted karmic justice, her own family left her some years later.
'Just like I did to Rean.'
"This time, it'll be different. I promise." Fie whispered to herself and the unconscious Rean, fixing his hair so that the strands were no long hanging over his forehead.
"I won't lose the last bit of family I have left." She swore to herself.
Just outside the train, on a cliff overlooking the tracks, unbeknownst to those riding the rails, was G.
The darkness of night prevented him from being seen through the windows as the large metal vehicle passed by.
His arms were crossed, as he watched the train continue on, not taking his eyes off it until it was just a mere dot in the distance of the horizon.
That's when a man of roughly the same height, decked out in a black combat suit akin to armor, with an almost ornate cape and a black helmet with a red visor, came to stand next to the bespectacled man.
"I must admit, I wasn't expecting the Icy Maiden to show up when she did." The masked man spoke, his voice audibly augmented by some kind of voice changer. "We may need to adjust our plans to compensate for this interference."
"That won't be necessary." G assured him, pushing his glasses back up on his face with his index and middle fingers. "This was not a significant setback. If anything, it provided an unexpected bonus... Giving us a valuable glimpse into the means through which the RMP and Intelligence Division coordinate their efforts." He elaborated. "With both organizations posing sizable threats to our operation, that information alone makes this all worthwhile."
"Haha. Valid point." The masked man conceded.
"That said..." G began, the air of confidence fading, replaced by annoyance and anger. "...if this ignoramus had been on time, we could still have accomplished our task." He told the darkly dressed figure, turning to pointedly gaze at the jaeger in their midst.
"Oh, you're going to blame it on me, are you?" Warrick queried from his spot sitting against a tree,
"You're the one who showed up hours late, fool! The whole reason you were the back-up plan was because you were in the area! Explain to me how in the hell it took you two damn hours to get there!?" G demanded.
"You know, stuff...and things." The purple-haired man replied a little hesitantly, shrugging his shoulders as he did.
"You have got to be kidding me! You mean you don't even have an excuse!?" The blue-grey haired man inquired with vexation.
"I don't need one! I'm not part of your little group!" The Silver Haze rebutted, his ire beginning to flare as well.
Thinking better of shouting at his bosses however, he calmed down. "You keep my pockets full, so I do jobs for ya. Simple as that." The Silver Haze said matter-of-factly.
G would have continued their 'discourse', but was cut off by the man in black.
"Should we proceed as planned, then?" He posed to the violet eyed man, as he turned around.
"Hmph. Of course!" G confirmed, confidence returning, so much so that it was almost smug. "The tyrant must yet face the merciless hammer of judgement."
"Yes. May his lofty ambitions be crushed to dust and swept away!" The masked man exclaimed, before walking away.
"Jeez. Melodramatic much?" Warrick spoke beneath his breath, rolling his eyes as he did.
'I'm not much for their theatrics and 'noble goal' and all that shit, but the pay is good, so...whatever.' He thought to himself, letting out a yawn as he did.
'Though I will admit, I'm rather glad I'm working for them. I got to meet Sylphid because of'em. And hopefully I'll do so again. Then, I can find out who did you in, big brother.'