Omake: The Reaper and the Thrice-Saved Soldier
The Battle of Beacon was what they were calling it on the news but that seemed to bland a name for the horror that had been unleashed on that last night of the Vytal Festival tournament. Mahogany Skull, private first class in the Atlesian military, agreed heartily with that sentiment, it wasn't fair to call what had happened a battle when there were still people fighting and dying on the streets of Vale trying to reclaim the areas from the Grimm. Even if it was clean up and a steady act of extermination with Vale's hunters, students and graduates, it was best not to be picky at this point. A person with an awakened aura was a person with awakened aura, and the brass had even sent a few specialists to help that Vale was allowing to provide support. Clearing out grimm was still a dangerous time even with that support whenever they got to one of the grimm nests, especially if they didn't know the thing was there.
Mahogany was currently at the Just Right Club, one of a string of bars that he'd gotten to know well over the last couple weeks and he'd taken a real shine to the place. In one of safe zones bordering the grimm held areas, its clientele was restricted to the soldiers at this time but the place was not lacking in people on the dance floor or drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Mahogany was dressed down in one of the three pairs of civilian clothes he had brought with him on this mission.
Above any of the other places that Mahogany could get into this one had a popping beat that he could enjoy as he drank, and the two bouncers, a set of twins were pretty easy on the eyes. If Mahogany hadn't seen them take down a trio of drunk Vale soldiers that had been hassling him, he might have even thought the two were hostesses. Tried to buy them drinks and give them his number but now was a bad time for that.
Mahogany signaled to the man behind the bar and was handed another beer, looking at the time he figured this would probably be his last if he didn't want to wake up drunk for his next patrol. That was until a tipsy man suddenly bumped up to him, the man was wearing the Atlesian army pants and undershirt but those boots definitely weren't regulation with a heel that tall on them. "Oh, I know you. You're the thrice saved soldier. My buddies said you would be here. Bartender, get this man a drink on me."
Mahogany brightened at that, well maybe he could have one more drink after this, it was nice that the Battle of Beacon had netted him one positive with the other soldiers.
"Thank you kindly, you want to hear the story too?" Mahogany played coy, always better to make sure on that point lest it also get spread around that he was some kind of braggart and a bore for telling the same same story for what had to be the hundredth time by now but no one ever seem to grow tired of it.
The drunk was trying to hop in place for a second but when he realized how unsteady he was he quit doing that, "Yes, yes, yes. I hear it's so good. Quick come to the table, the others want to hear too."
Mahogany grabbed his drinks off from the bar and allowed himself to be led to one of the booths where three men and a girl were sitting, laughing, and drinking.
A hush came over the table as Mahogany sat down beside one of the guys and the man that had invited him over sat next to the girl. It was a bit of a tight fit but they didn't complain and after introductions were given they were all pounding a hand on the table for Mahogany to start his story.
"As you all know, I am the thrice saved soldier, got the scars to prove it," Mahogany traced the mark diagonally along his face where a six inch line went from his forehead to his jawline, "I'm called that because I was there at the Battle of Beacon and three times I was close to death as a man can ever get in that kind of fight and three times I saw the Reaper coming at me with a cloak of blood and rose petals, a scythe nearly twice her height, and eyes that glowed silver. Like something out of a tale your momma would tell you to behave.
"The first time I saw her, the battle had just passed the first hour, my squad and I had been ordered to evacuate three blocks of town homes and escort anyone we found to the safe zone. We'd run into a few grimm, onesies and twosies, beowolves that we had no idea on how they'd gotten into the city at the time. We thought it was another breach but this was too widespread for that to be the case. We were on the tenth house when we opened the door and inside there was an Ursa. The family inside was torn apart and the mean looking bastard took one look at us and charged out. Got Corporal Slate right then and there and while he's getting torn apart we all ended up firing our rifles at the thing, trying to tell the people we had with us to get back when the damn thing finally fell to the ground from a full platoon doing concentrated fire for near twenty seconds.
"Before it went down though, it let out this roar, chilled you to the bone, sounded like all the anger, and the rage, and the evil in the world and then ten of them came barreling out of the other houses around us. Corporal Sienna called out a retreat but they were too quick for us especially with the civilians to guard. I tried to hold the line when the Ursa knocked me over, had its jaws around my arm and I thought for sure he was going to rip the thing off."
Mahogany pulled up his sleeve to show the jaw bite, the stitches still there as everyone at the table oohed at the sight.
"Before it gets the chance, this blade passes through the damn beast's neck and my struggling separates the head from its body. In seconds the things disintegrated and I'm looking up and I see her, scythe balanced across her shoulders, all the ursa dead on the ground and fading as you please and just looking at us with those eyes. A girl so small you wouldn't expect to see her outside of a combat school and yet here she was. I didn't know what she was that first time, thought she was just a kid, but kids don't do what I'd just seen. It was bizarre. I didn't even get the time to say thank you before she was turning into a cyclone and taking off for another part of the city.
"The second time I was at the safe zone, with the civilians we'd just rescued from those town houses when there was a run of creepers coming at us."
"Creepers?" the girl asked, always hard to remember names when he was this drunk.
Mahogany downed his drink, "Creepers, two legged things but body reminds me of a slug, no eyes but a mouth full of teeth. Don't know how they know what to bite at but they were charging the barricade in a swarm. The specialists at the safe zone were doing their best but their best wasn't enough.
"The safe zone wasn't so safe anymore. The charge was coming right at us, everybody was firing their guns and the drones were the only thing that stopped it from turning into a complete bloodbath. I got the bright idea to climb to higher ground and start shooting when the gryphons showed up and attacked the fools like us in those towers. Tried to stay low and take cover in my tower when the things claw came in and cut me across the face. Thought I was out of the fight, thought I was dead, another swing of its claw and it would have opened up my gourd like a knife through a watermelon.
"I called for help and that's when I saw the Reaper again standing on a pile of dead creepers, killing them faster then they could fade away and then she was flying through the air like a specter of death and the gryphon's arms had been torn clean off in a single stroke. Never had I seen such a thing before.
"The third time, cut up as I was brass decided to evac me to a local hospital to patch me up and keep me from dying from my wounds. Medics were wrapping me up as best as they could and we were shooting the shit, a little gallows humor as none of us knew if we'd live to see the sun rise when we got ambushed by Nevermores, big ones, not those pissant pests that any farmer with a shovel has to deal with every spring but ones near the size of buildings. Nearly shat myself just looking at the things and what did we have but a pistol between the three of us in that ambulance. One of the things must have known we were inside because it used its great big ol beak to tear the roof off like a can of beans.
Mahogany lifted up his shirt where a two star pattern scars were on his mid-section, "Monster opened that beak wide and was going to tear me to shreds when it could have swallowed me whole. Just wanted to hear me scream.
"I kicked the medic out the back and shot that pistol into that damn things eye for all the good it did me, how is an eye bulletproof? Stupid Grimm, stupid 9mm. Anyway I thought for sure I was going to be torn to shreds when the Reaper shows up for the third and final time of the night for me, blade of her scythe pointing straight forward and bam she knocks the thing back and off of us, right into a damn building, windows are shattering and then her weapon goes down easy as you please like a hot knife through butter and the things dead just like that.
Mahogany held up his second drink and then got to his feet and looked at the rest of them, "And that's why they call me the thrice saved soldier. Gods Bless the Reaper making the grimm die that night!"
The others grabbed their own drinks and then watched in surprise as Mahogany poured his own out on the ground. Mahogany grinned, "Honor the Dead!"
The drunks grew solemn and nodded before pouring their own drinks out on the table, recalling their own comrades that hadn't made it through that night, "Honor the Dead."