So, I think I should warn you. The end of the first section of this chapter has some fairly graphic descriptions of violence. It's not typical of this story, but if there is something I find probably would be better off in an M-Rated fic, I'll warn you guys.
"Huh, good call on covering all our stuff with a tarp before we left," Laurel commented, holding a palm out from under the hut's awning. Lazula watched the rain bounce off her hand, some of it trailing down the black knife tattoo running the length of her forearm.
"The clouds were thick, and it was quite windy last night," Mrs. Kurayami explained. "I can never be completely sure, but I had a hunch a storm was coming."
"So, we're still doing this?" Lazula asked, securing the golden buckle of her sheath's crossbody belt.
Mrs. Kurayami nodded. "Yes. We are leaving soon, and we must take care of this threat before we do so." She turned to Snow, Laurel, and Ichigo. "Are you ready?"
The three confirmed, and they trekked into the rain.
Team LSLI had returned to the farmhouse in the earliest hours of the morning. Despite their exhaustion, sleep didn't come easily. She didn't admit it, but Lazula had been nervous since landing in the forest. Encountering whatever had made that horrific noise, and had left the stables a bloody mess, didn't help. And when she finally did drift off to sleep, she dreamt again of that snowy village.
That black airship, coming lower and lower.
"Well, we're back," Lazula announced. The clearing was no more welcoming during the day. In the light, she realized just how many bones littered the entrance to that cave. Countless were strewn about, with skulls of various shapes and sizes dotted among them. A fair few were unnervingly round.
A stale odor hung in the still air. The stench of old blood.
"We are. But keep your voices down. I can feel it nearby."
"Right. You're aura-sensitive, aren't you?" Lazula asked. "Can you tell where it is?"
Ichigo's mother bowed her head and closed her eyes. She looked back up. "No. I cannot determine its exact location." She knelt down and opened a tan satchel provided for her by the husband of the woman at the farmhouse, a feeble, greying man who had finally come out of hiding earlier that morning. "We have been given meat. We are going to attempt to lure the beast out of hiding."
She placed the slab of meat out in the open, a dozen or so feet in front of the cave entrance. Laurel climbed up a tree at the edge of the clearing, sitting on one branch and mounting her rifle on another. Ichigo waited behind the same tree, with his mother, Lazula, and Snow spread across the treeline and hiding in a similar fashion.
The five of them stood in silence for several minutes. Lazula could have sworn she heard noises coming from the woods beyond the pile of rocks- a twig snapping, a rustling of leaves. No one else seemed to hear. It must have been the anticipation, she figured. Either that, or the fact she stood closest to the boulders.
A few more minutes, and her patience had worn thin. She turned her head away, making eye contact with the huntress to get her attention. "Hey, do you think we shou-"
"WATCH OUT!"
Lazula's head snapped around and she raised Aegis out of instinct. The first thing she saw -with no idea where they came from- was jaws. Black flesh stretched wider than her head and shoulders, stained yellow teeth the length of her finger. The beast slammed into her with impossible force, clamping down on the top of her shield and flinging her into the ground.
She bounced painfully on the forest floor before rolling onto her back and raising Aegis to her head to block its jaws. Her shoulder had nearly twisted out of its socket, and she had the wind knocked out of her, but she'd be damned if a wolf was the one to hand the "Indomitable Girl" her first defeat.
It was a monster. Its shoulder came even with hers, though it stood on all fours. Its face was the width of a manhole cover, greying muzzle marred by deep, aged scars and spattered in dried blood. A primal fury shone in its silver eyes. Lazula could tell it saw her as prey. Prey foolish enough to challenge it in its own home.
An ear-splitting gunshot rang out from the trees, and the wolf pulled back. Laurel wrenched Snake Eyes's lever, aiming another shot. It too met its mark in the beast's slate grey fur, and Lazula finally felt the jaws unlock from the top of Aegis.
It was the size of a small Beowolf, Lazula assessed. But with a level of intelligence not typically seen in the black demons. Not to mention it actually had an aura to break before they had any hope of defeating it.
The dire wolf tore toward Laurel's tree. Now wearing her mask, Mrs. Kurayami dashed out from hiding and landed a massive strike down its side, causing the beast to pull back with a snarl, snapping its jaws where she stood a half second before. Snow joined in as well, supported by a spray of bullets from Ichigo's Hack n' Slash. Another couple of shots from Snake Eyes met their mark from afar.
Snow slashed twice, her eyes following the beast's head as it began to whip around. She flipped nimbly through the air under the wolf's teeth before transforming her weapon into configuration-C, and following through with an uppercut. Waves of brown spread across the monster's body as it recoiled from the blow.
Apparently realizing it was outmatched, the dreadful creature began to retreat. Crimson drips splattered across the bones at its feet as Mrs. Kurayami slashed across its neck. The beast whimpered and thrashed her aside, leaping onto a boulder in an attempt to flee.
Snow's axehead collapsed on itself in a series of geometric folds, until it was a barbed blade. She swiped its handle across her body and it extended into configuration-D, digging in her heels as the spikes lassoed the fleeing creature. She wrenched it back, managing to catch it as it leapt. With a whimper, it flung back toward the huntsmen.
Lazula stepped into the flying beast, both hands with a white-knuckle grip on Impetus's handle. She ripped it forward with all her might for what she knew would be one final swing. She felt the resistance of blade in flesh, much like the Grimm she had killed when they attacked Sentinel.
Unlike the Grimm, which faded to nothing mere seconds after death, the creature lay in a heap behind her. And unlike the Grimm, it left her blade and hands drenched in hot, red, blood.
Her blade's typical silver and gold splendor was crimson. Thick blood poured from the unfortunate creature, pooling around it and drenching its fur. Its metallic stench hit her stomach, and she felt dizzy.
Then, as before, snowy cobblestone began to stretch out from under her. The rain itself began to slow as the world spun around her. No- the rain had turned to snow. The blanket at her feet was red, and as it melted with the heat of the blood, the gaps between each tile began to fill with it. The trees and boulders of the forest were replaced by burned-out homes. Between them, smoldering, disfigured bodies littered the path, weapons dropped at their sides.
It looked like the aftermath of a war.
Lazula felt like she was going to be sick. Her stomach turned and she struggled to breathe. She looked behind herself, and saw she was alone. Whether the forest had chilled, or she felt the frigid air of the snowy scene, she couldn't tell. Yet her palms and forehead were drenched in sweat. Her vision began to blur, tunnelling in on her soaking blade.
"Lazula! Are you okay?!" one of her teammate's voices called. Whoever it was, they sounded far away.
She opened her mouth to reply but lurched forward, suppressing a violent gag.
Her vision finally cut out, and she felt nothing.
Caspian felt as if every shriek of the alarm and pulse of red light made his heart beat faster. He could hardly clasp on his chestplate and shinguards with his quivering hands, and his mind raced. The Red Claw had been quiet recently, could this be one of their attacks? But then, why would they attack the sleepy farming town Sunsett instead of Port Cyrreine, or Vale's capital? Bandits had been a problem in the past, and though the number of attacks had decreased in recent years, he would still hear about one every couple of months on the news.
Caspian sheathed Undertow, and prepared himself to fight whoever his enemy may be. He ran to the door, grasping its handle and twisting. It didn't budge. As Caspian pulled back in frustration, rubbing where his head had made impact with the thick wooden slab, a voice called out from his Holoband.
"Everyone!" Cascara's voice addressed. "This is a drill. These are paid actors, and as such, lethal force is not authorized. Do you understand?"
Caspian breathed a sigh of relief as the alarm ceased to blare. "Yeah, got it," he confirmed. His team did the same.
"Good. Your objective is to defend Sunsett's 'city hall,' the big building in the middle. Starting now, the bandits will begin to attack. Hold them off, and you win. Any questions?"
No one spoke up.
"Alright. Get going."
"Huh, they really got us good," Rowan commented with a nervous laugh.
"I thought I was about to pass out..." Caspian admitted. "I guess that's what 'practical-applied combat training' means."
"Whatever the case, we still have to fight," Noxis reminded. "Let's go."
"Let's see," Caspian spoke up, assessing the village. He remembered seeing a fence around the outside, with one main entry and a couple of smaller side gates. "I think most of them will be coming from the front, so we should keep most of us there."
Noxis beckoned to the three-story lodge the team approached. "We're in the middle of the town. If we keep too close, we'll just end up surrounded."
Caspian bit his lip in consideration, and sighed. "You might be right. Why don't you and Rowan take the front? Intercept them as close to the gate as possible. Lilly and I will stay back and take out anyone who comes in from the sides."
Noxis, surprisingly, had no argument. He and Rowan ran around the front of the building, and out toward the village's main gate.
"I have another idea," Caspian offered. "Can you seal off the entrances with dust?"
"Yes. I'll try not to damage anything." Lilly nodded to the side door the two stood in front of. "Why don't I start with this one, then work around to the other side?"
"Good plan." Caspian fidgeted with Undertow's grip, and he heard the first blasts of gunfire. "...And, good luck."
Caspian and Lilly held the sides of the lodge for a minute or so, listening intently on the sounds of gunfire and clashing steel. Rowan and Noxis must have been doing well, Caspian figured, as he hadn't seen any of the 'bandits' approach just yet.
Just when he considered running out to help the two, or at least calling them to check in, Caspian spotted something on the edge of the village. A rugged-looking man tumbled over the top of the gate, just beyond a classic red barn. He smacked something metal on the lock and the barrier flung open, letting forth a wave of armed actors.
Breathing out and settling into his footing, Caspian raised Undertow in equal parts to wear down his enemies' aura, and gauge their' reaction time. He fired off a few shots, holding down the trigger just long enough to get a reliable bolt, but not long enough to inflict any serious injury. The bandit at the front blocked a few with his shield. The sword-wielder to his side attempted to block a shot, but still took it to his chest. The axe wielder at right let it tear past his arm.
"By themselves, I think I can take these guys," Caspian assessed. "The only issue is that there are five of them..."
They were coming fast, and he had no choice but to engage.
He caught the sword-wielder's strike with his blade, twisting it around and spinning to disengage and dodge the swing of a dull axe. He stepped forward again with armguard raised, blocking the sword and slashing twice at its owner. The axehead came toward him once again, and he barely had time to duck under and slash at the bandit's thigh.
The two of them withdrew, allowing for a hefty old ram faunus with a lance and his shield-bearing companion to come forward. Caspian struck downward on the shaft of the lance, driving it into the ground and allowing him an opening to jab at the bandit. He landed a solid strike, but felt the weight of the other bandit's shield slam into his back, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to trip over the ram's weapon.
Caspian landed face-first on the stone path, but managed to flip onto his back before blocking the swing of another bandit's axe with his armguard. With his spare hand he transformed Undertow and fired a few blasts into her stomach to free himself. He knocked her to the ground with a wild swipe as he stood, and continued his fight against the spear and shield.
A couple of minutes later, Caspian was panting, surrounded by a handful of defeated actors. Apart from a handful of bruises, he was fine. His aura held at a little over seventy percent. As he looked to his Holoband to check in with Lilly and the others, a different face projected; Cascara's.
"You and your team have done well," she commended. "But, you missed one. Regroup with your team at the main entrance to city hall. Defeat this one last bandit, and you win."
"Wait, how did one-" Caspian stammered. Before he could complete his sentence, Cascara had hung up.
With a sigh, he flicked the 'group call' button. Within a handful of seconds, Lilly, Rowan, and Noxis all answered.
"So, we held them all off back here," Caspian began. "Cascara just called me though. One bandit made it in."
"Aw man, all that work and we lose?" Rowan lamented.
"Not yet," Caspian assured. "She said if we beat him, we win."
"How did you manage to let one of them in?" Noxis questioned. "Rowan and I sure as hell didn't let any through."
"We sealed off the side entrances we were protecting, so I don't know," Caspian argued. "...Which means they must have gone in the front. The door you were protecting," he added in his head.
"Come, now. We still have work to do, so let's go," Lilly collected. "I'll be heading toward the front door."
By the time Caspian worked his way around to the front, Lilly was already there; and Rowan and Noxis approached down Sunsett's main road. He took a moment to check in, and ensure everyone's weapons were loaded, and they were ready to fight this last opponent. Something told him that, though they had defeated the bandits with relative ease while outnumbered, this last foe would prove tougher.
Caspian opened the door.
A single woman stood inside, leaning against one of the log pillars holding up the high ceiling. Black bodysuit. Brown sash, boots, and scarf, with a rapier at her side. Caspian felt a bit dull, having not expected the last 'bandit' to be their professional huntress chaperone, Cascara de Sultana.