The adrenaline of life-and-death combat had been enthralling for Raiden but had unfortunately worn off some time ago. He and his new partner Caelum had been walking for some time and though Forever Falls was beautiful, it was somewhat dulled after such an intense start.
Naturally, he grew anxious if they were going to make it on time. His mind began running wild again and pessimistically began overthinking. Was there a time limit? The headmaster never said but obviously, they can't come back at night. No, he also said they were watching their moves so would they be disqualified if they took too long? Were they even going the right way?
With this train of thought, he voiced his concern. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"I could leave you back at the water mill if you'd like?" Snipped Caelum.
Raiden had gained the impression that his partner wasn't fond of him or his skills being questioned. Unfortunately, he disliked failing and having to return home in disgrace even more. "I'm just saying it's been a while and we haven't seen anything."
Caelum stopped and turned around. Raiden was prepared for another sarcastic remark but to his surprise, Caelum took a seat on a nearby fallen tree. "Where would a ruin from a long-gone civilization be located?" he asked leaning forward, displeasure and annoyance on his face.
"Wherever water and food are available? So along the river?" answered Raiden.
Caelum immediately dismissed his answer. "Wrong. We're not looking for a town. We're looking for a ruin. Old world. Stone, long-lasting architecture. Most likely a place to worship and if those aren't in the town, they're remote. The people may be gone but it takes a while for nature to reclaim such large places. The holy sites associated with this region usually had large swaths of land around them cleared as well." he explained.
Raiden paused for a moment before posing a thought. "So we're looking for a clearing at the base of a mountain?"
"Exactly. Easy enough to get to from wherever they were settled but remote enough to be deemed holy. That old mill we fought at had the water flow south. The nearby higher elevations are northeast. We get high, find clearings, and keep alert with the little info we have."
"You know a lot of this is theory and conjecture on your part. Not solid fact right?" Asked Raiden, exasperated that the information was practically a hunch.
"I do" Caelum acknowledged, placing both hands on his knees and standing up. "But it's better to go in with a rough plan, rather than have the perfect plan and be too late.
"Sounds more like we're going in half-cocked" muttered Raiden.
"If you can complain then you can move faster, let's go." With a groan of regret, Raiden followed.
It was another boring passage of time until Caelum stopped in place with Raiden bumping into him from behind. "Another lesson. Notice anything?"
Raiden tensed up. "Grimm?" he asked reaching for his weapon.
Caelum raised a hand stopping him. "Not anymore. They've moved on. Take a look. Crushed foliage, no sounds. No birds or wildlife, not even insects buzzing about."
Raiden's eyes grew in realization. He had never taken into account how nature would react to Grimm as he, just like many others, he felt that they were a force of it.
"There's no Grimm either, lower ones have no need to be quiet. Since there's no imminent threat, do you smell that?"
Raiden sniffed the air, he couldn't identify anything unusual.
"That's blood."
Raiden's skin turned cold as he wrinkled his nose instinctively trying to rid himself of the scent despite not smelling anything. Then he realized. Grimm bleed, but it doesn't linger.
Seeing the realization across his face, Caelum nodded. "Prepare yourself."
Radien followed his partner, worry pasted on his face. A few meters forward and a strong light assaulted their eyes. A break in the canopy sent the sun's bright rays down onto a serene opening in the flora. It would have been a beautiful resting spot had it not been for the two corpses.
In a small patch of dirt with a large fallen tree and patch of flowers, two aspirants lay. Still and stained scarlet with their own blood. The lighting that broke through the canopy gave an almost angelic glow to the scene as Raiden looked on in shock.
Caelum stepped into the picturesque scene as if he had walked into a painting. Raiden could only watch from afar. A male and a female. Both seemed stronger than Raiden, or at least had. He remembered vaguely seeing them before at reception, the dance hall, and even as recently as the cliff.
One had short, fiery, red hair and freckles. A copper tunic shredded, her armor peeled off and embedded into her sternum. The other's hair was brown with green tips. His weapon was in hand but his arm was no longer attached. It lay in a pool of blood amongst the flowers as he lay slumped over the log. A bite was taken out of the back of his neck and fear apparent, imprinted on his dying features.
They had been just like him. They had hopes, dreams, lives, families. How had this happened? As Raiden was lost in his thoughts, Caelum approached the bodies and searched them.
Horrified once more Raiden demanded an answer. "What are you doing?!"
Caelum answered despondently as he focused his search. "Seeing if they had a relic. Seems not, they hadn't gotten far."
"Do you not care what you're doing? Or how this looks?!" shouted Raiden looking around to see if they were being watched.
Caelum shrugged as he released the limb in his hand to thud against the fallen tree. "I don't think they mind"
"You think this is funny? That you can make jokes?!"
"More of a fact" answered Caelum with the same expressionless face. "Is this not what you expected? This-" he said gesturing to the corpses. "Gets far worse from here. Though unfortunate in its own right, they reaped what their inexperience sowed." Caleum's gaze drifted lazily to Raiden. "Just as yours would have if I wasn't here."
Raiden's tongue felt swollen as if he couldn't speak. It was an obvious truth yet still a painful revelation.
Caelum approached Raiden who struggled to look him in the eye. Those brown orbs seemed absent, remorseless. "They brought this upon themselves," he said icily.
Raiden wanted to argue, to deny it, it just couldn't be right. He wasn't given a chance as Caelum swept his legs and shoved him into some foliage. Shocked and surprised he tried to fight off Caelum who held him down with ease.
Bringing a finger up, Caelum ushered Raiden to silence. A howl sounded in the distance but there was no sound nearby. "That means they're close, stalking. They sensed you" he informed in a hushed whisper.
Glancing around their environment, he couldn't help but chastise Raiden once more. "Doesn't help you're the most vibrant color in this forest and smell of metal shavings and oil."
Silenced reigned supreme as they waited, Raiden's breathing calmed as he closed his eyes and began to think the danger had been overestimated. Soon enough the sound of fervent sniffing came to disprove him, forcing his eyes open. A black snout soon broke through the treeline, pointing in their direction.
Both boys could see the figures through the brush as they slowly emerged in increasing numbers as they inspected the area. Caelum's heart stayed a steady rhythm as they closed in. One drew closer than the rest. Another sniff and step towards their hiding spot caused Caelum to reach to his hip and to look down at a wide-eyed Raiden whose breathing was becoming erratic.
Caelum leaned in and whispered, "Calm down, and I'll get you out alive."
It was none too reassuring of a statement but with no alternative between death and this offer, Raiden closed his eyes again and began thinking of home. Slowly his breath steadied once more. A moment that felt like an eternity passed before the Grimm all snapped their heads in the same direction and took off at a sprint.
Raiden's lungs felt as if they were to burst. He gasped for air, greedily inhaling as he hadn't even realized he was holding his breath before. Caelum watched the surroundings and then told him to get on his feet.
"W-why didn't you fight them? I saw you take on plenty back at the mill" asked Raiden shakily.
Caelum looked over his shoulder at the frayed boy. With a raised eyebrow he shook his head once before returning to observing the area. "I could have. But I wouldn't have been able to guarantee your safety."
The answer was obvious, Raiden wasn't a fool. This didn't stop Caelum from making a stabbing remark under his breath.
"Some huntsman"
Raiden looked at Caelum's back in anger. "Why do you have to be such a dick?!" he hissed.
Caelum gave another lazy glance over his shoulder at his 'partner' making a show of rolling his eyes. "Wasn't talking about you, although feel free to add yourself to the roster if you'd like. I was referring to John and Jane Doe here." He said gesturing to the still corpses.
"They have names"
"Had"
Raiden bit his lip at the remark. Caelum proceeded to explain himself. "I can find their I.D if you'd like, not worth much though. And to further my point They won't be the only ones dead here. Those Grimm were running to a battle.
"What?" asked Raiden. Caelum raised a hand to his ear, the gesture seemed mocking to Raiden who slowly heard something in the distance. Now that his heart had calmed he heard the faint chatter of gunfire in the distance, muffled by the foliage.
"A huntsman would know to pick their battles and whatever they did has earned the ire of the local Grimm," remarked Caelum.
Raiden trotted past his partner towards the sound of combat with his halberd drawn. This was a new experience for Raiden as well. He was afraid, he knew his use was limited but the thought of further casualties… didn't sit right with him. Just what was the school doing? Was this intentional? Whatever it was, intentional, oversight, a freak accident, he felt a righteous sense of justice. A call to act
A firm hand grasped his jacket collar, choking him as his body lurched forward. Looking to his side he saw Caelum with an annoyed expression as he inadvertently strangled him with his attire. "Did you not hear a word I just said? Or are you slow in the head?"
Having enough of the sharp words and insults, Raiden struggled but eventually freed himself from Caelum's hold. A tear stung in his eye, threatening to leak as he struggled for what words to say. Caelum looked down on him as he awaited a response to burst from the meek lad.
"Why?! If you're just going to let people get hurt, let them die! Why are you here?! Why did you save me? Aren't huntsman supposed to save others? To help those who can't help themselves? You never should have come here!"
The outburst caught Raiden himself off guard. As his breathing steadied he slowly looked up and to his amazement saw Caelum, still unaffected and with the same indifferent expression.
With the icy glare of his brown eyes and near-monotone voice, he gave a cold response. "You're just full of stupid questions aren't you?"
At those words Raiden lost the strength in his arms for a moment, nearly dropping his weapon.
"I didn't choose to come here, I never wanted to be a huntsman. Life isn't a fairytale. Some people are forced to do what they have to. Now quit with the grandstanding and move on."
Raiden made no move. His grip tightened on the shaft of his weapon as he looked defiantly at Caelum. "No. This is something I have to do."
The two stared at each other as the sounds of combat drew a little closer and more feverish. Raiden's eyes begged in the hope that Caelum would come along, to aid him even if he had no confidence in it.
Caelum clicked his tongue. With his circumstances, he couldn't afford any trouble in just initiation, let alone losing a partner. With anger, he stormed past Raiden. "Don't think this will work again. Next time I'll break your aura and legs, then drag you along."
Relief washed over Raiden as he matched Caelum's pace and thanked him despite the haunting threat.
"Prepare for combat. You know I won't be able to guarantee your safety this time either right?"
Raiden felt a lump in his throat. Swallowing it, he nodded. Caelum snorted at his frail bravado. "We're going uphill to scope out the situation first. From there I'll decide a course of action. If they aren't dead by the time we're set up that is."
Raiden gave another nod as he followed. His worry plagued him as usual but he held a tinge of hope that his first good deed as a huntsman was just beginning and not his end.
The two figures skirted the hillside between trees and brush as the sounds grew closer to their position. Caelum made a passing comment of how they were most likely trying to escape uphill to limit the Grimm's ability to close in on them, an observation that interested Raiden.
"How so?" he asked struggling to keep up. The two were practically sprinting while also crouching low, something Kaiser insisted to keep their presence limited.
"If they're in the lowlands grimm can come from any direction and running downhill arrive in no time. If they're the ones uphill the Grimm have to fight their way up and their approach is limited." Despite the explanation, Kaiser's pace didn't slacken, much to Raiden's detriment as he wheezed after him.
Caelum finally seemed to find a spot he was satisfied with and Raiden could see why. On the hillside where they stood, they held a view down into the woods. Perhaps 40 meters higher in elevation and despite the red vegetation they held a 130-degree field of view with hundreds of meters into the distance.
As the gunfire grew louder and the rustling of dozens of paws closed in Caelum turned to his partner. "How strong are you?" asked Caelum.
"Uh, um, decently?" answered Raiden.
"Can you cut down some of the smaller trees here?"
"With a few swings, I suppose?"
"Get to chopping."
"B-but, halberds may have axe heads, but they're not meant for-"
"Hurry!" ordered Caelum.
Raiden scrambled away and began hacking at the nearby foliage. It wasn't elegant but his weapon was sturdy and he knew the rudimentary application of aura. Focusing it into his arms and back he swung away.
As the first tree fell Caelum swooped low and with a grunt, lifted it and dragged it away. Raiden didn't even see his aura flare as he did it. Stupefied at the hidden strength of his peer, he earned a quick chastisement before continuing.
Within a few minutes, several trees were felled and Caelum had quickly set up a position reminiscent of the black and white photos Raiden had seen in history books from the great war. The logs of the trees were stacked into a semi-circle in front of them, facing downhill while the branches were lopped off and used to conceal the logs.
Though Caelum showed indifference to the quick ingenuity he showed, there was no time for Raiden to admire his work. Neither had caught their breath as the battle had arrived. Nearly three hundred meters down the gentle slope they could see the ensuing combat.
Two trainees were agilely engaging the pack that harried them. One who was notably dressed in green was suppressing the beasts as another dressed in brown agilely sprinted through the tree tops firing single shots and engaging Grimm in close quarters between the branches.
The two were becoming winded but were admirably holding their own from what Raiden could tell. Glancing at his partner, he felt Caelum begged to differ.
Caelum had pulled a small pair of binoculars out of his coat and watched in on the battle. There were easily dozens of Beowolve's assailing the two boys and to their credit. They weren't dead. Yet every time they slayed a few, more appeared.
"They don't have much time before they're overwhelmed, the wolves are circling and closing in. Watch them and let me know if anything changes." Caelum offered his bino's but was rejected.
"Ah, I'm fine," said Raiden, tapping his glasses as a blue light flared from them. Caelum raised an eyebrow as he explained. "Self-made tech, they increase vision by a magnitude of 8."
For the first time, there was no sarcastic remark or disapproval but rather a lackluster expression of impression from Caelum. Almost immediately it disappeared as he began preparing further. Raiden did as instructed but occasionally glanced at Kaiser who was hard at work.
First, he took three drums off of his belt and unclasped them. The metal containers unraveled, revealing the belts within. He clasped them together and then linked them with the belt already within his weapon. With his bipod deployed and the MG in place, he began running around the forward perimeter of their defense.
He pulled a can-shaped object out of a cargo pocket in his trousers and placed it in the loamy soil. Then he tied a wire around it and ran that a couple of meters to a tree. Amazingly he repeated this five more times before running back.
Jumping over the logs, he sat next to Raiden who was now watching him with confusion. Disregarding the look, Caelum dug in his pockets and revealed two handfuls of grenades. Taking the safeties off but leaving the pins in, he laid a few of the 'prepped' munition next to his weapon and a couple to Raiden.
"You're gonna need 'em."
"Where the hell did you get all that, no, where were you hiding it?" asked Raiden.
"Trade secret, now get ready we're-"
A sudden howl reverberated through the woods. It was akin to that of a bullhead starting up until it dragged into a smooth lull. The sound drew Caelum and Raiden's eyes downhill at their encircled peers.
The beowolves ceased attacking the two boys, leaving them panting as they watched just as curiously as their aggressors. The pack backed away step by step, circling them slowly. The circle widened and the Grimm began a brisk pace. Caelum and Raiden watched intently as their fellow students stood back to back, watching the dozens of beowloves circle them in a black mass.
Again that scathing howl came and a new pack emerged from the trees to join the circle. To the surprise of the students engaged, a gap slowly formed among the new arrivals. A single, large, pitch-black figure strode through.
Twice as tall as an Ursa. The normal white bone plates were replaced with a weathered grey, scarlet lines coursing through. Its stance was more canine than sapien like the beowolves following its command. On all fours, it seemed like a wolf in grey armor. The crimson eyes shone with a visible bloodlust even from where Caelum and Raiden watched intently. The two boys that were encircled, could only hold their breath as the beast seemed to ponder over their fate.
A single bark, like that of a small explosion, came from it. As if a command the circle began sprinting and closing in, the odd Beowolf trying its luck at lunging at the two boys. Instinctual survival prevailed as the two began to fight for their lives.
Raiden could see the fear on their faces from where he sat. Neither seemed confident in their chances. "What in God's name is that?" Asked Raiden in shock.
"An Alpha" muttered Caelum bitterly.
"How do you know what that thing is?" demanded Raiden.
"Not important, I've seen one before and all that matters is it can be killed. You got a range weapon?"
"Y-yeah of course-"
"Can it penetrate steel or at least basic armor?
Raiden held back a snort, confidence strangely showing for the first time as he spoke of his weapon. "You could say that."
"Good, we'll draw the pack. You run down and draw their attention and have those two run back here. I'll clear the basic Grimm with my fire."
"What about the big one? That Alpha?"
"It will stay in the back until it sees an opportunity"
"Are Grimm that smart?"
"As much as any animal, and I've seen plenty of people lose to those."
Raiden understood the logic and threw out any misconceptions about Grimm intelligence immediately. Now wasn't the time for useless preconceptions.
"Once you're back, you're job is to see if they need aid and cover my flanks. If the Alpha joins you will impede its movement until I'm done clearing the horde. Our first objective is saving those two fools, our second is killing the Alpha. Our priority however is our lives.
"Then why go so far as to kill the Alpha? Why not run?"
"Because it's smart enough to remember a face. It won't stop till it catches us."
With that macabre warning, Raiden took deep breaths as their operation began. Caelum shouldered his MG, its bipod resting on the logs. "On my mark."
-Chapter End-