Chapter 2: For they shall be filled.
Buenos Dias, another chapter.
All rights go to their owners.
Cover art by Ars Goetia Games on Twitter. Check out their twitter, or their games: The Blind Prophet, and Hellslave.
Talking: "That it's dreadful imposition. Comes blacking in my mind."
Thinking: 'And then I see a darkness.'
"Someone ELSE had just climbed out of that hole! What the hell is going on down there? Revolution? Vacation? Somebody fart? Your guess is as good as mine, kiddies."-Three Dog reporting on Alex leaving Vault 101.
Alex finds himself in a familiar place with murky surroundings, darkness clinging to him like a leech. The only thing in the void stood before him. Project Purity, the bulkhead to the inner ring right in front of him. James bashing on the door, shouting at Alex. "Alex, open this door, now!"
Alex lurches forward, as if he regained sudden control of his body. He presses buttons, pulls levers, and even attempts to pull open the bullhead with his strength, prying his finger at the top of the bullhead to rip it down. James shouts out, his voice becoming hoarse. "Dammit, Alex! Stop screwing around, and open this door!"
"I-I'm trying!" Alex stutters out, he tugs, trying with herculean effort to open the bullhead to no avail. It remains shut, not even budging in any sense, as if the door was sadistically mocking him.
James coughs violently, causing Alex to stare at his father. He takes a step back, letting out a gasp as his eyes widen in terror. James' flesh peels off, like the skin off an orange. James' face begins to bubble, the heat causing his skin to contort and twist into something abhorrent. James' judgemental eyes lock onto Alex, the young vault dweller trembling in dread.
James gives a snarl. He rears his hand back, and slams into the bulkhead, the whole world shakes from the raw force. The bulkhead bends from the blow. Chunks of his limb stuck to the bulkhead as he pulls his arm back, only to slam it back into the bulkhead. James' lip curl, giving a mocking smile. Every word he speaks punctuated with thunderous knocks.
"All."
"Your."
"Fault."
Alex shoots up on the final word, his 10mm in hand as he scans his surroundings. His heart thumping like a galloping horse. He lets out a shuddering breath as he finds nothing in the spartan bedroom. Constant rhythmic knocks are heard by Alex, the Wastelander shooting out of bed.
He leaves the bedroom and goes to the front door, 10mm still in hand. He opens it slowly to find Ollie. The man gives a deadpan stare. "...Did you seriously sleep in that?"
"What do you want?" Alex responds with a question of his own, his voice clipped.
Ollie lets out a sigh. "I've got that map for you, there's a job too,-" The man gives an amused scoff. "but you seem more interested in sleeping."
"Haven't slept in around four days." Alex curtly responds.
Ollie blinks. "Oh." The man rubs the back of his neck, a slightly guilty look on his face. "We can continue this tomorrow then, if you wanted to catch up on some sleep."
Alex shakes his head, he steps out from the doorway. "It'll be enough." He didn't want to go back to sleep, didn't want to see James' stare again. "What's this about a job?"
Ollie stares at Alex for a few moments. The Wastelander eyes were still baggy and bloodshot but the ice was still present in his sea blue irises. Ollie suppresses the shiver down his spine. "Come on, let's get you a meal first."
Alex hums in response, he wasn't going to say no to food. The two walk towards the bar, the sun was passing overhead, already past midday. Alex's bloody work from last night was the current gossip of the village, causing him to get uneasy stares from some of the villagers, while a few looked at him as you would a vicious dog.
Alex doesn't respond to the stares, instead just following Ollie right into the bar, hunching down, so, as for his head to not hit the doorframe. Silence rolls in the moment Alex's feet step into the bar. The whole establishment staring or muttering about Alex. Alex keeps his eyes on Ollie but watches other in his peripherals.
"June, meal over here!" Ollie shouts out.
A shout from June returns. "Coming up!"
The bar slowly returns to it's original liveliness as Alex and Ollie reach a large round table sequestrated away in the back corner of the bar, secluded from the rest of the establishment. An unfolded paper map resting on the table head. Alex looks down at the map. He already knew he was in another world with the broken moon hanging overhead but the map had no resemblance to anything from his world. Two bits of the land was weirdly enough, shaped like one of those flying lizard from a Grognak comic. He assumed the black dragon section of the map was the Grimmlands.
Ollie taps his tanned finger at a marked out section on the map, below the correctly assumed Grimmlands. "This is our village right here; Vinves." Ollie drags his finger until he hits another marked out spot. "This is Port Highcoast. Where our dust shipments and such get transported to here-." He moves finger across the sea, stopping at a big green marker. "Kingdom of Vale." He guides it along three other large markers. "Kingdom of Vaccuo, Kingdom of Atlas, and Kingdom of Mistral."
Ollie moves his finger downwards from Mistral, stopping at point, unlike the other four there is no marker assigned to the land. "Kuo Kuana, pretty much the main city or rather the only large city for Menagerie. It ain't exactly a Kingdom like the other four but it's the place where the White Fang pretty much rule supreme."
"White Fang?" Alex asked.
"It's a militia, it was made after the Revolutions. To unite the frontier villages into protecting themselves after the Kingdoms abandoned them." Ollie said, without any emotion as if he was reading something from a script.
Alex huffs. "Right, militia. Do I need to be concerned with them?"
Ollie shrugs. "Not unless you're a Huntsmen or some sort of government type person. They normally stick to the villages affiliated with the White Fang and Kuo Kuana."
Alex lets out a hum, staring at the map. He grabs the side of the map and begins rolling it up. "What's the job?" He holds the map to his side, not wanting to plant the map in Pipboy inventory yet.
"Grimm nest extermination, there's gotta be an Alpha because those fuckers are starting to tread on the A.G field."
"A.G field?"
"That big fuck off thing in the middle is the anti Grimm field generator. It's like… like a disguise for emotions, conceals it from the Grimm, though the thing eats through shock Dust like nothing else."
'From the Grimm?' Alex stored that little caveat of information away. "What kind of… Grimm should I expect?"
Ollie gives a shrug. "Not sure. The tracks we found suggest Beowolves and a few Ursa, which further implies an Alpha to get the Beowolves and Ursa to intermix."
'Beowolves are obviously those werewolf monsters, and Ursa is Latin for bear, so, the Yao Guai looking things.-'
Alex leans in, about to speak. A dishevelled man interrupts however. The man takes a moment to catch his breath. "Ollie…" He looks around, watching the bar for anyone that might be listening, he leans down to whisper to Ollie, Alex catching what he said easily. "Dew's boy just got mauled by a Beowolf."
"Fucking what?!" Ollie whispers with heat. "How bad?"
"Steele's got him but…" The man shakes his head.
Ollie stands up, he looks at Alex. "Walk with me."
The three go to leave, garnering weird looks from other in the bar. There's nothing said between the three of them until they reach a certain distance away from the bar, Ollie watches his surroundings, checking for any other villagers, when he spots no one, he speaks right to the dishevelled man. "How many know?"
"About five others, if Steele can't save Hans then-"
"Then the whole fucking town will know, shit!" Ollie stops in his tracks, rubbing his face.
"I have experience in treating bite wounds and the like. I could heal him for a price." Alex said.
Ollie ponders for a moment before nodding his with vigour. "Alright." He turns to the unnamed man. "Go, tell everyone to stay inside, but do not mention Hans was attacked, just say you spotted a Grimm." The man nods and rushes off, leaving just Alex and Ollie. "Come with me." Ollie rushes his way to the clinic of the village. Alex directly behind him, keeping up without any issue.
Ollie barges into the clinic. "Steele! Where are you?" Alex steps in behind Ollie.
"Back here!"
The two head further deeper into building, into a sectioned off area. It stunk of cleaning agents clashing with the familiar iron smell. A man, mid 30s in doctor scrubs, his hands shaking as he stands over an unconscious teen are in the centre. The teen laying in a hospital bed, blood already beginning to stain the stark white sheets. Ollie and Alex walk to the side of Steele. "This here is… I've never actually got your name."
"Alexander Wyatt." The Wastelander coldly replies, moving to the other side of the teen, the boy was around his age, maybe a year or so younger. His face was tanned like Ollie and so many others in the village however his face still held the innocent youthfulness of a teen. Alex saw the deep gouges in the teen's torso, the wound oozing blood. "He'll need stitches."
Steele grimaces. "Yes, I think I would know that, please step back. I rather the boy isn't touched by your grimy hands and risk infection." Alex takes off his gloves in response, his entire left hand covered in horrific burn scars. He looks at the doctor, the man shaking his head. "Unless you have knowledge on how to stitch a wound, then I don't need you blocking the light."
"Lift the edge of the wound with forceps, then pierce the dermis with a needle, 3cm deep, perpendicular of the skin. Pull the suture, then repeat with the opposing side, loop the suture and knot it."
Steele stares at Alex in shock, Alex returns the stare with coolness. "...Fair enough, take over. My hands aren't steady enough for something like this." Alex does so, the two working together in stitching the wounds, Alex suturing the wounds himself, his hands completely steady. Steele keeps the light on the wound, allowing Alex to stitch the wound without interference.
"Do you know what happened to him, Steele?" Ollie watches on, his arms crossed.
Steele lets out a scoff. "Casanova here decided to frolic about with Sky on the outskirts."
Ollie shakes his head. "Young love, isn't it beautiful."
"More like young stupidity. The two got lucky that the Beowolf was just a pup, and that Hans still had his hunting knife." Steele nods in approval at Alex's handiwork. "That's fantastic needlework, better then what I could done. You have medical training?"
"Have some basic training, mostly self taught."
"Learned on the field?"
'More like I learned on myself.' Alex thought sardonically. "Something like that."
Time passes. The entire room dead silent as Alex repeats the monotonous action, piercing the skin and looping the suture. Finally, Alex finishes, tying up the last suture. He plants the forceps on an aluminium tray. Steele gives a smile. "Looks like Hans is gonna be just fine. He'll need bed rest and just in case a course of antibiotics but other then that… he'll live."
Ollie lets out a relieved sigh. "Good. Keep an eye on him."
Steele gives a casual nod. "Will do."
"Alexander, with me." Ollie motions Alex to follow with his index finger. The two leave building, leaving Steele with the recovering village boy. Ollie and Alex stand outside, the older man rubbing his head in frustration. "Listen, that job I told you about? I NEED you to do it now."
Alex stares at Ollie blankly, the man exhales before he continues on speaking. "Emotions are already bleeding through the A.G field because of the fucking bandits, but with this? Whole town is gonna get scared, and then we'll pop up to the Grimms' sense like the damn Vytal festival." Ollie rubs the bridge of his nose violently. "Huntsmen are gonna take too damn long to get here. So, I need you to exterminate that Grimm nest, before they swarm us."
Alex nods. "I expect payment, both for treating your injured villager and for dealing with this."
Ollie's body softens as he lets out a sigh of relief and nods. "You bring back the Alpha's faceplate, and I'll give you the payment we offered on the bounty plus extra on top."
"Where is the nest?"
"Three hour walk North-West of here, there's a surface cave in a clearing, we scouted out it so we could send off the Huntsmen request."
Alex's brow raises in curiosity. "You have to scout out the nest before asking for help from these… Huntsmen?"
Ollie shakes his head. "Technically no, but Huntsmen are lazy fucks. They charge a lot more when they have to scout out the location of the Grimm. It's risky but far cheaper to just have someone take a portable A.G and search for the nest." The older man rubs his chin. "You know what? Wait here, I'll find you a spare portable."
And so the older man walks off as Alex waits, standing there, doing nothing. He taps his foot onto the floor in rhythmic thumping. He looks down at his free left hand, part of him wants to snap his head and stare elsewhere but he ignores it. He stares at his deformed left hand, the skin warped and leathery. The sight of his left hand causes Project Purity to wriggle it's way into Alex's mind like a malignant worm burrowing through dirt.
His breathing hitches as he finds himself there again. The violent clicking of the Geiger counter going off in his ears. The nauseas feeling in his gut that made him want to throw up his own intestines. Before long he could feel himself boiling in his power armour again, he could feel his left forearm burn, the skin searing off, his nerves melting and his bones steaming.
"-Now it's got a charge for about 6 hours and a range of about 20 metres." Ollie snaps Alex back to reality, the Wastelander blinks in befuddlement.
"What?" Alex looks at the older man, an odd looking device held up by Ollie, it resembled a high tech lantern; a silver cylinder with the handle holding it up. It had a little display, showing off the battery life of the little gadget.
Ollie frowns at Alex. "You sure you got enough sleep to do this?" Alex nods in response to which Ollie lets out a sigh. "I'll say it again then: Here's the handheld A.G field generator, it's charged by shock dust and lasts for about 6 hours give or take, with a 20 metre radius, you get angry enough or any other negative emotion you'll go past the 20 metre range, causing Grimm to sense you." Ollie hands it over to Alex. "You activate it by pressing this." A button sat directly on top of the silver cylinder, the moment Ollie presses it, the cylinder gives off a subtle glow, showing off that it's active.
Alex hums in response. "Thanks."
"I'll wait for you in the bar, come straight there when you're done. Good luck, kid."
Alex walked off, pulling his gloves over his hands without looking, before pulling out his trusty Xuanlong rifle.
Another day, another job.
Ozpin sits at the head of a desk, He grabs a transcript from a large stack to the left, opening the document and reading it.
Tanner Estok. Born 10th of February, 1064. Age:17.
Reading on, Ozpin lets out a sigh, closing the folder and planting it to growing stack to the right, a pitiful smaller stack of folders below it. He leans onto the desk, rubbing his face with his hand in exasperation.
The elevator lets out a ding noise as the doors to it open. A blonde woman walks in, right pass a doorway to a staircase. She was dressed in a refined manner, one could say she had a sense of authority if not for the pair of cups in her hands.
Ozpin smiles at the sight of the woman. "Ah, Glynda! You are a sight for old eyes."
Glynda plants one of the cups on the desk. "Two sugars and a teaspoon of milk as requested." Ozpin nabbing the cup in a moment and sipping at the sweet nectar within the ceramic cup, letting out a relieved sigh. Glynda takes a sip out of her own cup herself, staring at the elevator. "Elevator is going to break again. Almost did on my way up." Ozpin gives a annoyed grumble, he hoped not, he hated taking the stairs to his office.
"How many have you accepted?" Glynda asked, her eyes on the towering stacks of documents and transcripts.
Ozpin's lips twist into a frown. "...twenty six."
"You know the stipulation set by the council. At minimum we need to accept 80 first year applications."
Ozpin taps the table with his index finger. "I know, I know. The pool of prime applicants is sadly… smaller then I was hoping."
Glynda doesn't respond, instead she grabs a folder off the smaller stack. She opens it up to find a photo of familiar looking faunus. Chocolate hair with rabbit ears poking out of the frame of the picture. Brown doe eyes with a small smile. Glynda smirks, the resemblance almost uncanny. The name was just the final nail in the coffin.
Velvet Scarlatina. Born 14th of March, 1064. Age:17.
"Maggy's daughter." Glynda gives a soft huff. "Looks just like her."
"A chip off the old block, barring the… smug attitude of the Scarlatina Matriarch. She had recently called, asked if we could accept her daughter into Beacon." The man lets out an amused noise. "Unsurprising to see the document brimming with distinctions and accolades."
Glynda continues on reading. She gives an appreciative murmur, before she stops midway through the document. Her brow raises in curiosity. "Why is she not going to Alsius Academy? Of course she's welcome here, but I find it odd to travel to another Kingdom when Alsius is an option."
Ozpin let out a sigh, straightening in his seat. "Velvet is a mild-mannered faunus, which sadly will garner harassment. Maggy had a discussion with young Velvet to come here, that way she doesn't need to worry about the staff being discriminatory against her child."
Glynda lets out a hum. "Well, its Alsius' loss."
"Quite right." Ozpin takes another folder from the stack on the left, opening it up and reading it through. When he was done, he placed onto the top pile of the right. "Truthfully, Glynda. We may have to lower the test standards and such, just to reach the minimum amount of students."
"At first perhaps, but I will turn them into Huntsmen material, even if I must whip some of them into shape." Glynda retorts.
Ozpin response is just a shake of the head with a grin on his face. Grabbing another transcript and reading it over. 'The paperwork never ends.' Ozpin thought with annoyance. Planting the paper folder onto the accepted pile.
Alex stared intensely at a squirrel. The creature up high on a tree branch watching him in return. An acorn in it's tiny paws. It chittered, lifting the acorn to it's mouth and biting down on it. The small critter proceeded to chew away at the nut, while the Wastelander studies it. "How do you taste in comparison to squirrels in the Wastes?"
The critter didn't seem to like this question, as it climbed higher into the tree, out of Alex's sight. He wanted to shoot it, but he didn't want to make noise so close to his objective. He hums in response, moving on, ducking under a low hanging branch.
His thoughts went back to the Capital Wasteland. He hated it, despised it, loathed it, however oddly enough he missed it. It might have been a hellhole but it was a hellhole he was familiar with, something he knew like the back of his hand, while his inexperience here caused his paranoia to shoot up, his head screaming at him more then usual. 'Check the flank, check my sides, keep an ear open. Check the flank, check my sides, keep an ear open, Check the flank, check my sides, keep an ear open.Check the flank, check my sides, keep an ear open.'
It repeated insistently, only quietening when he reached the supposed cave housing the Grimm infestation. The light was strangled by the cave the deeper you looked, completely subsuming it until all that was left was an inky void into the unknown.
Entering it was a bad idea, almost pitch black monsters in an unknown dark cave, it would just end poorly.
'Cut off oxygen with fire? Could work but there could be another opening for oxygen.'
'Pop a Cateye and just do this guns blazing? More likely to work then fire but I'll most likely take a few hits that way.'
'Draw them out? Best one but also least likely to happen, I have nothing to lure them out with.'
He blinks before lifting the portable A.G up. He hums in thought before pressing the power button and planting it into his pipboy inventory. Nothing happens. He waits for a bit longer before he shakes his head, scoffing. 'Monsters that can sense emotions what total bullsh-.'
*Grooowl!*
Red eyes can be spotted, deep in the tunnel. Alex hums in response, downing a dose of Cateye. His vision gains a hue of blue, able to see into the maw of the cave. He spots various Beowolves climbing over each other in the tight passageway just to get to Alex. The Wastelander lifts Xuanlong and fires into tangled mess of monsters, targeting the two Grimm closest to him. They go down in a few shots, leaving Alex free to spray the remaining Grimm with Xuanlong. The pitch black beasts drops to the fall pathetically, howls can be heard from deeper in the cave.
Alex frowns, pushing into the cave, swapping his rifle for a combat shotgun. Keep them in the narrow passage, so they can't use numbers to their advantage. He takes a knee, The Terrible Shotgun lined up, ready to fire.
He doesn't have to wait long, another group of Grimm come rushing right towards him. Another small group of Beowolves coming right for him.
The shotgun blasts echo throughout the cave like cracks of thunder. The Beowolves are quickly annihilated by the buckshot, entire limbs and chunks ripped off from the devastating force. The Beowolves do not falter in attempting to kill the intruder despite the number of their kin falling victim to him.
The gunfire stops due to no ammo, which allows a deep growl to be heard. A large Ursa crashes in, it's sides scraping the sides of the cave walls. In a feral attempt to get to Alex, it charges through the horde of Beowolves, no tact or care for the Beowolves, who are crushed underfoot or slammed into by the car sized bear monster.
Alex ejects the drum magazine from his shotgun, rushing to slam another magazine in. The Ursa almost directly on top of him. The moment it reaches Alex, it lurches up, twisting its body to use all of its weight into a single powerful diagonal swipe aimed directly at Alex. He waits unfazed before weaving under the mighty but cumbersome swing. With the Ursa open, he presses the shotgun against the side of the Ursa's neck. The familiar gunshot echoes out as the buckshot shreds the Ursa's neck, mere strands of sinew remain, connecting the head to the torso. The large Ursa begins to drops to the floor, dead as a doorknob. The Wastelander finishes off what few Beowolves survived the crazed charge of the Ursa.
Another group of Grimm dead. Their bodies already beginning to turn to dust, leaving behind their masks and various bones. An eerie silence rolls in, like the calm right before a storm. Alex counts off his ammo, 4 shells remaining.
He walks at a snail-like pace, every step deeper into the cave measured and calculated. He stops, right at the threshold to a more open space of the cave. He takes a knee, scanning the entire section. He frowns deeply when he finds nothing.
'Quiet, too quiet. In an ambush position somewhere…' Three Ursa rush out, charging right at Alex. He pulls out his magnum and activates V.A.T.S. Five shots are fired off in quick succession. The first four shots hit straight onto the bone faceplate of the Ursa killing the two, while the last shot pierces the eye socket of the remaining one. The .44 magnum round chewing through the flesh with ease, the monster skids across the floor, death coming so quick it couldn't even stop in it's charge.
He pulls back the hammer on the magnum. Not moving for a moment. He presses down on the latch, pushing the cylinder out. He mindlessly reloads the magnum before shutting the cylinder closed, the latch clicking as it closes.
He cautiously steps into the large opening. He felt like something was watching him; the hair on his neck standing up, his legs taut and ready to jump.
The sound of rocks and small parts of earth smack into the ground directly behind him, he snaps his head back to find a massive Beowolf pouncing at him. He gets two shots into the Grimm's chest before being slashed. The raw might from the Beowolf sends him flying back, his back sliding across the cold stone floor.
He grunts, sitting up immediately. He stares right at the Beowolf, it was clearly the Alpha, far taller then any of the other Beowolves. The towering Beowolf charges once again and Alex fires at it, however it raises its tree-trunk like arms up to protect its head. The bullets dig into the arms but not much further, leaving no serious damage to the Alpha. Alex quickly equips his shotgun, aiming the buckshot right at the Beowolf's legs. It leaps when Alex fires, the bullets impacting the floor harmlessly.
It slams down right where Alex was a moment ago, the Wastelander side-stepping the downward strike. He raises his shotgun, ready to fire into its head before the Alpha grabs Alex's torso with its huge claws, lifting him off his feet and slamming him down onto the ground. The impact echoes throughout the cave.
While holding him in one of its paws, it lifts its other paw and drives it right towards Alex's head. Alex turns his head, the razor-like claw cutting the side of his burlap sack with extreme ease, leaving a slash on the left side of his cheekbone. Alex lifts his foot and slams it right into the kneecap of the Alpha, the limb snapping due to Alex's immense strength.
The Grimm lets out a howl of pain, as it drops to one knee. The beast clenches its paw holding Alex, the grip becoming lethally tight, the monster lifts Alex up again and slams him on the floor, the Wastelander letting out a grunt. Alex shrugs off the slam, raises his fist and throttles the Grimm with a right hook, the blow stunning the beast for a moment but a moment was all Alex needed. The shotgun that was still held tight in his left hand is planted against the mouth of the Alpha.
He fires once, the beast slumps, its grip on Alex weakening, he fires again and again until the Alpha drops on top of Alex. He shoves it off, standing right up. It fades like all the others leaving behind its bones. Alex grabs the faceplate, noticeably damaged from the gunfire. Alex kisses his teeth in annoyance. Damaged proof of bounty always meant lower pay.
He looks himself over, evident gashes on the front of his black combat armour but other then that, he was fine all things considered.
His sight of vision brightens for a moment before it fades into a pitch black, unable to see a metre away from him. 'There goes Cateye.' A thought of popping another Cateye went through his head but decided against it, he was fairly certain that there was no more Grimm in the cave, and he had to ration his chems as he no longer had a regular supply now.
He walked off, or rather stumbled off, taking short steps to ensure he doesn't lose his footing in the dark. He continues like this until he steps out of the cave. He pulls out the portable A.G device from his pipboy inventory and walks back to the village. The sun already setting.
Ollie rubs the bridge of his nose. A selection of documents on the table. "Fuck me sideways, hate this shit." A simple glass is planted on the table right in front of Ollie. The older man looks up to find June smiling at him.
"Here you go, old man." The cheetah faunus bartender smile twists into a smug grin.
Ollie snorts. "Thanks, pipsqueak." He takes the glass and has a quick swig. The alcohol warming his core. Just what he needed, something to take the edge off.
"What's with all the legal papers?"
Ollie leans back into his seat. "Technically it's illegal to hire someone for a bounty if they don't have a license. Good thing for us; Alexander Wyatt actually got his license from us just before he was given the bounty." The older man stares at June.
June nods in understanding. "Yep, lucky for us." June walks off, her attention to her few remaining customers.
Ollie goes back to the documents, he fills out various boxes with information, such as Alex's full name, where Alex requested the bounty hunting license, Ollie's own full name as well as his signature to confirm that as the mayor of Vinves, he had sent off the application for the license.
A Grimm skull faceplate lands on top of the table, causing Ollie to let out a swear as he jumps. The mature man looks up to find Alex, pulling out a chair and sitting across the man. Ollie noticed the Wastelander had a new scar on his left cheekbone. Deep gashes in his black grimy armour. "It was smarter than I expected, used other Grimm as bait to lure me into a trap; couldn't avoid damaging the faceplate." Ollie looks down at the table in response. He picks up the skull plate, looking it over.
Damaged was an understatement, the snout section was fractured. Long cracks along the bone with a few bits gone, however it was definitely the Alpha's faceplate, easy to tell due to the more grey colouration in comparison to the ivory white of normal Grimm.
Ollie couldn't help the smile on his face. "Normally, your pay would get docked because of the damaged proof, but I'll look past it, village is going to be a lot calmer with that fucking Alpha gone." He nods towards to the bar counter. "You didn't get the chance to have a meal earlier, go have it and get some sleep. I'll have the payment for you tomorrow."
Alex didn't move for a moment, staring at Ollie. The man lets out an exasperated sigh. "Brothers' kid, go eat something, I need to deal with this paperwork before I can pay you." Alex hums in response, standing up and walking away.
He takes a seat right at the corner of the bar counter, he doesn't even move, just silently sat in the seat, awaiting the bartender. June strides around, doing her best to deal with the few remaining customers instead of dealing with Alex, but eventually she had to go and face the Wastelander, her tail no longer swishing casually behind her as it was with the others.
She stands before Alex. "What can I get you?" She thankfully controlled herself enough to not let a stutter into her words.
Alex's cold eyes flick onto hers. "What do you have to eat?"
"Um, only really got leftovers, so; some chicken wings, some strips of bacon and mash. It's been a couple of hours since I made them so… its not fresh."
"That will be fine, some water too, please."
June gives a nod, she makes a rapid getaway into the back of the bar, away from Alex's malignant presence. He unnerved her, the mere air around him made her cold, as if death itself hung over him. The stench of iron made itself apparent to the faunus' sensitive nose, she would have associated it with body odour, but the memory of bandit chief's head popped in her mind.
'How much blood do you have to soak in to smell like that?' June didn't want to know, burying the thought as she pulled out a large serving for the Wastelander, large enough that he won't have to ask for another serving. She grabbed a large cup too, filling it to the brim with water. She returned to Alex, the shiver down her spine the moment she spotted him. She places the meal and drink in front of him. "E-Enjoy."
"Thank you." His tone to June's surprise was surprisingly polite. June gives a short nod before walking once again, leaving Alex alone to eat in his meal in peace.
It was cold but it still tasted amazing, the grilled chicken wings and crunchy bacon strips was excellent, it lacked the taint of radiation making it oh so succulent. The fluffy mash was covered in gravy. In his ravenous hunger he consumes the massive serving of food in a matter of minutes, his speed comparable to that of a wild animal.
He plants his cutlery on the side when he was done, grabbing the glass and gulping it down, planting the empty cup back on the table next to the plate, he licks his chops. He turns to find Ollie still writing in the legal papers.
Alex lets out a sigh. 'Fuck it, should get some sleep since I don't know when the next time I'll be relatively safe enough to sleep.' He stands up, and walking out the bar. June and a few other occupants watching.
They weren't the only ones, a few villagers watched Alex as he walked to his temporary home. Alex really couldn't care less about the stares, he suffered far worse then some strange stares. A small part of him even understood, he knew he was horrific.
Normal people don't have a blasé attitude about killing and chopping off heads.
Normal people don't have a kill count that could make a mass murderer feel impotent.
Normal people don't have so many bullet hole scars that their body looks like a one-sided game of tic-tac toe.
He opens the door to his home, closing it behind him. He stands in the front room for a bit, he didn't want to look at the bed, a bit of fear creeping its way into his chest.
Logic eventually wins, and he enters the bedroom. The sheets were messy just as he left them, the dried blood on his armour rubbed onto the bed linen, staining them. He grunts and lays in the bed. He stares into the white void that was his pillow. Before long, sleep claims him into its cruel embrace, sending him spiralling into his mind.
End of Chapter 2.
Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and I shall see you in the next one.
The Great War/ The War: (975-982) A catastrophic conflict that despite being over 80 years ago, scars still remain in the Kingdoms. The war was started by Vale and Vacuo, the actions of Mantle (Later renamed Atlas.) and Mistral had caused a growing surge in Grimm activity, Mantle and Mistral had reacted by delving even deeper into removing individuality and self expression, causing more suffering which in turn caused the surge of Grimm to increase.
Mistral settlers desperate to get away from the dystopian Kingdom had attempted to settle in Vale. Their arrival brought fear into Vale, fear of Grimm hordes swarming Vale, and the fear of an unsustainable amount of refugees pouring in. Vale had reacted by giving Mistral and Atlas an ultimatum, to cease in their attempts to rip away individuality, in hopes of staunching the increase in Grimm and refugees.
Unsurprisingly Atlas and Mistral had ignored the request, the King of Mantle was even noted to send a scathing response back to Vale. Tensions were at a boiling point, until team SYLA; a Mistral Huntsmen team were indirectly involved in a group of Vale settlers' death from a Grimm horde.
Vale responded to the deaths with war. Vacuo despite having no significant altercation with Mistral or Mantle, had certainly felt the sting of increased Grimm activity. The desert Kingdom was afraid of the idea that if Vale was conquered by Mistral or Mantle, they would be forced to rip away individuality as well, resulting in wide-spread suffering for Vale, which in turn meant that Grimm numbers would spike for Vacuo.
The war went on for 7 years. Grimm activity has skyrocketed, Huntsmen were dying in droves, entire coasts of villages would go dark in a single night.
The massacre of Sand Serpent's Dune would be the final battle. Mantle attempted a surprise blitzkrieg into the West coast of Vacuo, hoping to remove Vacuo quickly to remove any reinforcements Vale may gain from Vacuo. 8,000 soldiers and 500 Huntsmen were sent in. However they were unprepared for the hostile environment of Vacuo, as a violent sandstorm had stopped their charge into Vacuo dead in its tracks. The force decimated by Sand Worms, only 814 soldiers and 32 Huntsmen had returned.
The operation was a complete failure, Mantle would later surrender, their military forces almost completely depleted, Mistral would later do the same, as they were not capable of fighting by themselves and had suffered severe losses themselves, even Vale and Vacuo had significant losses themselves.
Some would argue that despite the war being bloody and extremely damaging to the Kingdoms, the end result of the Vytal Peace Accord coming into existence was worth it their minds.
Vytal Peace Accord: There were many stipulations and agreements to Vytal Peace Accord, although the three most focused on parts would be.
One: The Kingdoms transformed their monarchies into oligarchies, in hopes that a council of individuals would be far reasonable then a single person with ultimate power.
Two: Mantle and Mistral were to criminalise slavery, and to cease in their attempts to remove individuality from citizens.
Three: A treaty between the four Kingdoms. Should one Kingdom declare war on an another Kingdom, the remaining Kingdoms would in turn declare war on the aggressor, this kept the four Kingdoms in check, which was especially vital with the tense recovery for all of the Kingdoms.
Faunus War/Kingdom Revolutions: (990-994) After the Great War, misery and suffering was still widespread. Grimm attacks were still commonplace, and with the Kingdoms having spent a large number of all their forces, found themselves vulnerable to the Grimm hordes. Mantle which renamed itself into Atlas would create a flying city, allowing their best and brightest to be relatively safe in comparison to the unfortunate left behind in Mantle.
Vale and Mistral would push undesirables such as faunus and impoverished humans into slums and frontier villages which were already struggling due to the fact that Huntsmen would rarely come out into the frontier.
Vacuo begun creating a large militia, using lower-class people to toil away at creating cheap mass-produced weapons to arm their growing militia, however as the workers were paid a wage, they were not technically considered slaves, with the other Kingdoms more focused on themselves then the machinations of another Kingdom.
Tensions were still high after the Great War, but it boiled more and more until it finally exploded with Blizz Tutrum, mayor of Wildedale, murdered by Aero Mondi, A Vale Huntsman over payment disagreements of a Grimm bounty.
And so started the Faunus War otherwise known as the Kingdom Revolutions in the year 990, May 15th. It lasted much shorter and was far less destructive in comparison to the Great War, but the Kingdoms were still licking their wounds from the war, as such the revolutions had serious impacts on the governments. The rebel groups were mostly unorganised until however a charismatic wolf faunus known as Iykos Bron had untied the fighters. This resulted in the rebels utilising guerilla tactics and knowledge of the land against the Kingdoms. In the end, the Kingdoms receded unable to fight a war against their own people and keep the Kingdom afloat.
In reparations, the Kingdoms gave Menagerie to the revolutionists, allowed the frontier villages to secede from Kingdom control, and resources sent to the villages, to jump-start their new independence.
The higher ups of the rebels had reformed their groups into a militaristic militia now known by all as the White Fang, Iykos Bron had become the original head and face of the organisation. Although he has long since passed, the frontier villages, the White Fang, and even some city folk remember him in reverence, a legend that united the downtrodden against the oppressive overlords. The Kingdoms however remember him as a monster that was responsible for the deaths of numerous troops and civilians.
