"Coldrock"
That's what the sign said as the ace ops, including Winter look upon it in shock as what lies in front of them are remains of a village
"It's a village" Vine spoke, breaking the silence
"It is, or what's left of one now" Clover nods his head
"I've heard of this one. It was a village that resided out near the mountains" Winter added
"But no one ever heard about what happened to it, it just disappeared"
"Well.. guess we know now" Elm turned towards Clover, awaiting orders
"Clover, your orders?" Marrow asked
Clover placed a hand under his chin as he rubbed it "Well, best that we explore it now that we're here. I'm sure the General would be interested"
"I'd doubt he would be interested in some historical landmark" Harriet retorts
"You never know Harriet, it just might surprise you" Clover spoke as he begins walking towards the remains, the rest following suit
There wasn't much to acknowledge from the village's remains. The buildings are definitely old, left to the cold. There wasn't anyone in them either, thinking the whole village was rather abandoned
Or so they thought
"Well that's all the buildings, didn't find anyone" Elm says as they regroup at the village's center
"That's just leave one then" Winter spoke as she pointed towards the main lodge
The main lodge seems to be the only building left in better condition than the others. However that didn't mean anything to the creepy vibes it gave
"Yeah i'm good" Elm spoke first backing up slightly
"Vine, Harriet, on me" Clover commanded as he walked towards the main lodge "Winter, Marrow, and Elm stay out here. Continue looking for anything interesting"
"Yes sir" Marrow and Elm responded in unison while Winter nodded her head
As Clover, Harriet and Vine reach the door for the main lodge, Harriet speaks "This building reeks of bad vibes"
"Yet it's still standing, somewhat" Vine spoke
As the two talk, Clover reaches for the handle. As he twists the handle the ice collected on it breaks and the door opens. The freezing air hits as well as the faint smell..
Of death
The three are greeted with an unpleasant sight of frozen corpses, Some huddled together. As well as broken windows, frozen wood and benches
"Oh Monty Oum" Vine first speaks as closes his eyes
The three continue walked deeper into the main lodge, trying to find any explanation
"This is where they all were" Clover bends down to look at a corpse
Harriet looks through the broken windows only to see nothing but ice covering them "It's like they were trapped here"
"I think it's better to think that they were keeping something out for too long" Clover points out as he sees some of the corpses holding small knives and such
"What could it be? Grimm?" Vine questions
"Definitely, But nobody here is injured. It looks like they died by freezing or starvation" Clover adds
"How? Nothing was stopping the Grimm" Harriet questions as well
"Someone was" Clover stands back up as he looks through the door's entrance
Meanwhile..
Winter, Marrow, and Elm were currently looking around a little more. Hoping to have find something interesting
Elm points out the big holes in some of the houses "It's like a body was thrown through here"
"It's to big for a human, it might be a Grimm" Winter adds
"A Grimm? Who could have that much strength?" Marrow says with a surprised look
Winter looks through the strangely big holes "Don't know, keep looking" Winter stops peeking through as she continues walking
As they continue walking they stumble upon a weapon, a sword
"Someone fought, and hard" Winters points out as the blade was chipped
"But who wou–" Marrow gets cut off as the floor gives in again "not again!" Marrow yells as he was about to fall before Elm caught him
"Gotcha!" Elm boasts as she pulls Marrow back up
"Are you okay?" Winter questions as she drops the blade
"Y-yeah, yeah" Marrow nods excessively as he faunus tail wags excessively as well "Thanks Elm"
"No problem" Elm flashes a grin as winter walks toward the newly found hole
"I'm going in" Winter speaks as she leans closer to the hole
"W-what!? Are you serious? What if it's nothing but the steep fall" Marrow slightly panics
"It's not.. I feel something down there" Winter closes her eyes as she listens to the hole "Like a heartbeat"
"A heartbeat? Okay yeah I'm not going down there" Elm backs up slightly
"That's fine, then stay here" Winters says to them before before jumping into the hole
"She jumped" Marrow points out with a look of concern
"Yep she did, i guess we wait now" Elm bluntly responded as she crosses her arms
The fall was shorter than the one that got them into the village. Winter gracefully lands on her feet as she pulls out her weapon for potential enemies. Only to be greeted by more darkness. Winter turns her flashlight back on she looks around
"This is under the sword I found" Winter thinks to herself as she looks around
Nothing seemed to be off, just layers of Ice..
However as she turned around, what she found made her dropped her flashlight
It was a man
In the ice
She sees a man in the layers of Ice in front of her
What scared her wasn't the fact that he was there..
But that she hears a heartbeat from him
"Marrow! Elm!" Winter yells out to the two up above
"Winter? Is something wrong?" Marrow fainty yells back into the hole
"Get Clover and the others. Now!" Winter speaks as she picks her flashlight back up
"On it!" Elm shouts as the sound footsteps retreating can be heard up above
Marrow jumps down the hole out of concern for Winter
"Winter! You okay?" Marrow questions as he runs up to her
"Marrow.." Winter trails off as she points her flashlight back to the wall of ice and what Marrow saw made him give the same reaction winter had
"Clover! Captain!" Elm yells out to the main lodge where Clover, Vine, and Harriet are currently in
The three come running out of the main lodge seeing Elm at the entrance
"What's wrong?" Clover asked with a mixture of seriousness and curiosity
"Winter found something, come on!" Elm spoke hastily as she ran to Winters and Marrows location
The three kept up with Elm as they make their way to the hole that Winter and Marrow are in
"Winter, Marrow? Talk to me" Clover yells down the hole hoping for a response
"Captain! It's Marrow, we something! Someone!" Marrow yells with a tone of fear
The four up above upon hearing Marrow jumped down the hole, regrouping the whole team
"Did I hear that right? You said someone?" Harriet questioned as she rubbed her ear
"Yes" Winter spoke away from the group as her flashlight remains trained on the man in the ice
The rest of the group excluding Marrow look at where Winter's flashlight is pointing at. All of their eyes widen in unison
"Oh my gods" Harriet spoke first as they continue looking at the man
They all now hear the heartbeat coming from the ice as well
"H-he's alive" Vine spoke nervously as he walks closer to the ice, placing a hand on it
"How is that even possible?" Elm asked as she looked at Winter and Clover
"I don't know, but he's alive" Winter responds as she walks closer to the ice as well
"How did you– how did you find this?" Clover questions, still in disbelief
"I almost fell through again, until Elm caught me" Marrow explained
"I don't even know what to do here" Harriet bluntly spoke as she places her hands on her head out of disbelief
Vine backs off the ice wall upon seeing Winter walking up to it as well. Winter places her hand on it now as she closes her eyes. The heartbeat sounding louder from how close she is
"Let him out" Winter spoke out
….
"Um.. what?" Marrow eyes widen as he rubs his ears, thinking he heard her wrong
"We have to let him out" Winter repeats as she turns around towards the Ace Ops
"Winter, I don't think that's a good idea" Clover says as he slightly shakes his head
"Yeah who knows what could happen" Harriet nods in agreement
"But he's alive, he could tell us what happened" Winter adds to her request
"And what if he doesn't?" Vine questions as he turns towards Winter
"We won't know unless we try" Winter turns towards the man in the ice
"Winter.. It's unlike you to be this pressing. Are there any other reasons why?" Marrows speaks curiously
Winter's eye slightly widens as she clears her throat "N-no. It's just that.. We can't leave him here can we? Not when he's still alive"
Silence fills the cave as Winter finished speaking
…
Clover closes his eyes and sighs slightly until he speaks again "Elm.."
"Yes captain?" Elm responds
"Get him out" Clover points towards the man in the ice
The whole group shouted in unison "What!?"
"Winter's right, we need answers. And we can't leave him like this either" Clover explains as he pointed towards Winter and the man in the ice
Winter smiles slightly at Clover's change of heart
"So Elm, please get him out" Clover asks once more
Nobody interjects, Clover is captain after all
"Yes sir" Elm nods in acknowledgement as she walks towards the ice
"This is crazy" Marrow whispers to Harriet who gaze is currently on Elm and the ice
As Elm walks up to the wall of ice she unhooks Timber from her back, it turns from rocket mode to hammer mode as she gently taps with the tip of her hammer
"Okay" Elms says calmly to herself as she winds the hammer back, using her semblance to hook her to the ground
Elm winds the hammer back fully, right before swinging it full force towards the wall of ice
*Boom*
A large boom can be heard throughout the cave as the hammer hits the wall. A crack can be see on the large wall of ice
Elm winds up another swing as she strikes it again, another large boom blasting again throughout the cave. A bigger crack appears on the wall, showing signs of its lowering stability
*Crack*
"One more!" Elm says catching her breath as she winds up another swinging
However as her gaze returns to the man in the ice she notices something
His eyes were open..
And then the crack got bigger, and bigger until the cave started shaking
"How hard did you hit it this time!?" Harriet yelled out as the shaking continues
"I didn't!" Elm spoke back as she begins backing up
"Elm! Get ba–" Winter yelled until the wall of ice finally gave way, leaving the group in a fog of freezing air
The group sticks close together, making sure no one is separated
The fog stays for a little before finally dispersing
"Is everyone alright?" Clover asks
The group respond in unison as they all turn their flashlights back on towards what was the wall of ice
Now all their eyes widen in shocked and slight fear
The man who was in the wall of ice was out..
And he was standing..