Chapter 58: Northern Mistral - Dangerous Misunderstandings
Cover Art by Mi Chumi
Selene was beginning to wish that she had waited, but she had already put off traveling to see her mother as long as possible, and Garek's return was… unsure at this point. Lionheart had sent a chartered flight to 'borrow' her fiancé the week prior, and over the previous days they'd been making a whirlwind tour of the capital city's moneyed elite to follow through on the success of Argus. Then the Headmaster had begun talking about ranging further afield to the larger towns of Southern Mistral, including Lushu. Based on how things were going, Garek believed it was very likely that they'd be there for at least another week, and Lionheart might insist on visiting Menagerie again before he sent Garek home.
Selene had not been explicitly requested by Lionheart, since he didn't know her role in The Lone Huntsmen, and she wasn't a Huntsman and didn't have ties to Haven Academy. She didn't mind really, because she was wary of spending excessive amounts of time around someone who had so many years as part of Ozpin's inner circle, and she wasn't excited by the idea of yet another visit to other crowded cities. She'd only begun to be fully comfortable with what she now considered to be her own home.
So she had, reluctantly, broached the subject with Cinder. Their relationship also had solidified. They'd celebrated Cinder's 14th Birthday, at least that's what they'd set it as, only last month, and it had caused yet another incremental shift. The sight of all of Cinder's friends, gathered around her in their Argus home, flanked by all of those children's parents… and she and Garek and Cinder.
They were a family, in every fashion except legally identified as such, and they still had that final roadblock. That final demand. She would not expect Cinder to accept adoption until Cinder knew her true nature. And Garek insisted that that they wait just a bit longer, though he was beginning to soften.
It will not be long, Selene thought with Cinder snugged up against her as Crystal drove them out past Springhill in the deepening dusk. And then… it would work. She was sure of it. Cinder loved her, and she loved Cinder. It would work out.
"How long do you have to be gone?" Cinder asked, golden-yellow eyes intent.
"I should be able to return soon. Less than two weeks."
"Two weeks." Cinder frowned.
"It will go quickly, Cinder. You will be staying with Sarah, and you will have school, and the weekend at Pete's Emporium with Argent." She emphasized the last word, knowing it would distract her… daughter.
Cinder blushed slightly. "Yeah… that's… yeah…. But I'll still miss you, and Garek."
Selene nodded. "It is part of becoming more mature. And you now have a large group of friends who you can rely on, and the teachers at Sanctum if there are concerns. And you are proficient in use of your Semblance." She squeezed Cinder. "You have grown so much, in such a short time."
Cinder's head dipped at the praise. But inside, she felt warm and happy. It was true. She was… better. Happier than she'd ever been. And Selene trusted her to take care of herself, to be responsible. That was good.
Finally they reached the end of the route that could be driven in the rented vehicle, and the three of them hiked the remaining hour further west, away from Argus and Springhill, into the forests of northern Mistral, until they reached a clearing.
Where Selene concentrated momentarily, and a after another fifteen minutes, a large Nevermore, harness held in its beak, slid quietly on feet and wingtips through the trees, making noises of complaint.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that sight," Crystal muttered beside them.
"You did not need to walk all of this way," Selene said with a teasing smile. "Nor did Cinder."
"I'm not afraid of Blackfeather," Cinder said, straightening. "He's your pet. He wouldn't hurt me."
"No. No he would not. In fact, he would protect you, if someone tried to hurt you. Is that not correct, Blackfeather?
The large Nevermore, indistinguishable from any of thousands across Remnant who would rend the flesh of a human between beak and claw, gave a warble, and Selene laughed.
"What'd he say?" Cinder asked.
"He said that if he were allowed to eat whoever did it, he would consider it a fair trade."
"And that right there is what keeps my teeth on edge," Crystal groused.
"Well, he is mine, but he is still a Nevermore. You cannot fully change his nature." Selene frowned at that. Was that true? Or wasn't it true that her long relationship with Blackfeather had changed him somewhat. He did not prowl the wilds, looking for prey with souls or aura to devour. And he did not seem to be starving or wasting away for it. She shook her head, and began affixing the harness in the gathering darkness. "Regardless, do not become complacent. Do not begin to believe that you can judge a random Nevermore by his behavior."
"Not likely," Crystal drawled, the memory of she and Reggie taking out two of the beasts in Kuroyuri only a few weeks prior coming to the fore. She'd been scared, not only of the danger, but that in a moment of weakness she would fall back on the power that she'd recently inherited, and give herself away. She didn't want that. She didn't want to become a target. And she had friends who knew that, and were working to help her. To help her understand how to use her power in subtle ways that wouldn't announce her… new condition as a Maiden.
Selene had finished, and was hugging Cinder goodbye, both of them trying not to become weepy. "Be a good girl, Cinder. Attend to your classes."
"I will. I will." Cinder hugged back, then finally stepped away and turned her head, wiping at her face.
Selene stepped toward Crystal, and offered her hand. "And you. Thank you for being my driver, and minding Cinder."
"Eh, I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, remember?" Crystal's dark eyes appraised Selene as she squeezed the offered hand. "It's the least I can do, all things considered."
"Yes. I suppose so." Selene mounted Blackfeather, slung her quarterstaff into the loops they'd added to the harness, and tightened the straps around her that would prevent her accidentally slipping out. "Take care. I will notify you by scroll when I plan to return." She dropped her goggles over her eyes.
With a leap, the Nevermore took to the air in the darkness, and powerful wings drove it upward. Selene circled him once, waving to her daughter and her friend, and began climbing and moving west in the darkness. It was melancholy, but also freeing, to be astride her friend in the darkness, the wind in her face. Alone, but not. Free, but not.
She had been flying only minutes, not too far above the treetops, when the world exploded around her.
Cinder and Crystal had stood in the clearing, watching Selene and Blackfeather fading into the darkness until it was nearly impossible to make them out against the darkness. They had just turned to hike back to the vehicle, when a flash of movement caught Crystal's attention, and she turned.
"Crystal?"
And watched in horror as a streak of bright light flew up from the ground in the distance, and struck something in the sky with a bright flash of white and red, followed by a distant boom.
Something that was in the direction and distance that matched where Blackfeather and Selene likely had been.
Cinder had seen the explosion. Her eyes widened in the darkness, nearly swallowed by the whites. "No! No!" She started toward that direction, and Crystal grabbed her. "No! Cinder! It's too far! We need to…" she grabbed her Scroll. There was no signal this far out from Springhill. "Dammit!" We have to get back to the vehicle, and get back into scroll range!" She grabbed Cinder by the arm and began running back the way they'd come, gasping between words. "We have to. Get scroll signal. Call Reg. Bullhead at Springhill." She heard Cinder sobbing beside her, and took her hand away so she could run faster. Yes. That was the right course. She'd have to get back to the car, get to scroll range. Call Reggie. He was at Springhill, showing Pete their facilities there and trying to convince him to take firearms lessons.
Dear Gods, Selene. Please be okay.
She made it almost all the way to the vehicle when she realized she didn't hear Cinder gasping along behind her any more, and stopped, staring around wildly.
Cinder was nowhere to be seen.
"Fuck!" She threw her hands up, and felt the Maiden Power begging to be released. Begging to be used. She choked it down.
"Fuuuuuuck!" she screamed as she sped back up, heading for the car that waited ahead in the darkness.
The world filled with light and pain, it had been white with the sounds of cracking energy, then red and hot, and there was the sound of screaming. And then Selene felt sick and her body felt like it was on fire. She realized, dimly, that the screaming was coming from both her own mouth, and from Blackfeather, somewhere further away in the darkness.
And she was… weightless? And dizzy.
She had a moment. One moment of clarity.
Blackfeather has been attacked.
I hurt. It hurts to breathe. I am falling.
I must—
She barely managed to get her Aura under control, fully disoriented. She couldn't determine what was up or down, so she pushed it outward in all directions.
And less than a second later, she struck the ground. Hard. And she knew another moment of intense pain before darkness took her.
"I still don't see why we're freaking out here," the young man complained. He was dressed in classic Huntsman garb, a long spiked whip coiled up at his belt.
Beside him a woman of similar age nodded. She had an elaborate mechashift bow across her back next to a complex quiver full of color-coded projectiles that looked like arrows on sterioids. "Urch is right, Tyr. This whole thing sounds like a wild Grimm hunt."
The second woman, walking in the lead, was a tall, lean faunus with white hair, dark skin, and two small canine ears. She frowned back at the other two members of her team, and stopped, planting a mechashift spear into the soil. "Because, Deedee, we're being paid to go on a wild Grimm hunt, and we're gonna work for the pay." She frowned, considering the dense forest around them. "And really, all we have to do is make an effort. I just don't see how it's possible that a freaking Nevermore is wandering around the woods out here. I don't care what kind of tracks those hunters say they saw."
"Yeah but Tyree," the man complained again, "we could have just wandered out of sight of the town, camped out for the night, and then collected the base fee."
The fourth member of the trio, a mountain of muscle covered with tan skin and dark brown eyes, turned to regard the one who had just spoken. He blinked and fingered the scar across his temple. "That ain't… right. That'd be… lyin…"
The one called Urch rolled his eyes. "Alright, Hickory, don't get your pants in a twist. I'm just griping, okay?"
The big man, Hickory, frowned. He'd knew he hadn't always been… easily confused. It had been that Ursa back… well a while back… that had hit him in the head. He remembered being faster. But the other members of THUD didn't treat him like a freak or anything. He'd just adjusted to trusting them, especially Tyree, their leader, instead of his own judgment. Things worked out okay that way.
He nodded, and shouldered a huge axe. "So which way now, Tyree?"
Team THUD were young, and confident. They'd gotten their licenses three years ago, and they'd charged into their chosen career with confidence. Hickory getting hurt had slowed them down a little, but not a lot.
They'd only walked another hour before darkness began to fall, and they broke out soft red lights to assist in navigating, though Tyree's faunus eyesight made her the obvious choice to continue leading the group as they broke into a clearing.
It was Tyree that caught the sound, subtle, of large wings beating in the darkness. "Quiet! I hear something!" She turned in a circle, canine ears twitching, even as Deedee unslung her bow, and reached back to her quiver. "Nevermore! Heading this way!" she hissed. "Big. Better break out something serious."
The other two Huntsmen drew their weapons, adrenaline surging. This was what being a Huntsman was about. Protecting people. Killing Grimm. They'd be back by midnight, covered in glory and collecting the bounty.
Deedee nodded, and selected one of her larger munitions, suffused with a combination of fire and lightning dust, nocked it, and drew back, eyes scanning the dark sky for something… something large… something that would…
"There!" Tyree pointed, and Deedee saw a large dark shape eclipsing the stars. It would pass just to the south of their position.
What luck.
Inhale. Pause. Track. Slow exhale. Soft release.
The projectile lit off as it left the bow, its own propellant boosting the power of her bow, and streaking upward.
There was a bright flash of white, followed by a billowing ball of flame, that framed the very clear outline of a Nevermore. A large Nevermore. One that screamed its rage and defiance as it tried to recover from the strike. Deedee was already nocking another arrow.
Tyree had shielded her eyes from the flash of the strike, and gazed upward to see where the beast would fall, so they could meet it there and finish it off. Her first impression was that it was spinning, the fethers of its right wing still aflame, and it was screeching all the way down and trying to right itself, trying to reach…
"What the hell is that?" She murmured, and then realized, with a shock, that there was a… person? It looked like a person shape, spinning and falling from where the Nevermore had been struck. She saw it begin to flail its arms.
Her faunus eyes darted back and forth between the two figures. The Nevermore would be mortally wounded, unable to fly. It would be easy to finish off on the ground. The other… thing. It was falling straight down. It would be… she didn't know what it would be. There hadn't been anything in the Grimm's claws or beak. She made a snap decision.
"Urchin. Deedee. Go check out the Grimm. If it's safe, finish it off, if not, keep your distance and wait for us. Keep your Scrolls on, and try to stay in scroll-to-scroll range."
"What?!"
"Something fell over that way, about a thousand yards. Me and Hickory are gonna check it out. We'll meet you as soon as we have."
"Uhh… you're the boss, Tyr." Urchin said. "Come'on Dee. Let's track this thing down. It looked messed up. Should be easy."
With a last nod at their leader, Urchin and Deedee disappeared west into the trees just as they heard the sound of something large striking foliage in the distance.
And a sickening thud was heard to the south.
Selene opened her eyes, and everything in the entire world hurt. She blinked, and that hurt. Her eyes burned. Her head hurt. She coughed, and that hurt as well. Her lungs and throat felt raw and abused.
Flames. I inhaled and it burned.
She was lying flat on her back, and she could feel that she was… embedded… in the ground by fractions of an inch. She tried to tentatively move fingers and toes.
And those hurt too, but they worked. Her… Aura had taken most of the damage, but she felt… like she'd been used as a hammer in someone's forge and had acid poured down her throat. She managed, with difficulty, to stagger to her feet, and gazed around the small clearing where she was at her surroundings. She touched the left side of her head, where it stung more than elsewhere, and the hair there felt… fragile and crinkled.
Memory flooded back. Something had happened. Lightning? No. The skies had been clear. Blackfeather had—
Blackfeather!
She raised her voice and cried. "Blackfeather!" It was agonizing and ragged sounding, but she forced it out regardless.
Seconds later, far in the distance, she heard an answering cry.
And then a red light shone on her, and a woman's voice yelled out "Grimm!"
Selene felt a moment of confusion. There were no Grimm here in this clearing. She would have sensed them. There were many within range of her voice, she could sense those, but none here.
She heard the sound of a mechashift weapon. She'd heard it often enough in recent months. Qrow Branwen had taken the time to show off his weapon, Harbinger, to Garek as she looked on.
Horrific intuition spread through her, and she glanced down at her hands.
At her bone-white hands. Her left was… scorched, though it was healing already.
She had struck the ground hard, and blacked out. Might have blacked out when Blackfeather had been struck.
She had lost concentration, and with it, her guise.
But she did not have time to consider further. To gather her wits. Because there was a man charging toward her. A huge man, as big as Hazel Rainart, wielding a large axe. He had heard Tyree yell the name of the thing, and that was all he needed to know.
"Wait…" she croaked.
He was surging toward her, wielding an immense axe. And she was unarmed. Her weapon, Persuasive Argument, had either fallen or was still strapped to Blackfeather. Blackfeather would come to her.
But he had been hurt. Badly by… time seemed to slow down as the realization struck her. These people had attacked Blackfeather.
They were attacking her.
They hurt her friend.
They were going to kill her.
An unfamiliar feeling washed through her as time slowed down to a crawl. It started out as fear, despair and then it hardened into something else.
This was… unjust.
Frustration, the seeds of anger.
No.
She had no weapon, but she was not defenseless. The man was large, and powerful, but he was not as fast as she was.
She pushed Aura to the front, and a darkness borne of her Grimm nature pushed forward with it in a way she'd never used it before, and a black shield formed in front of her arms, hardened with Aura as she attempted to sidestep the warrior, the killer who faced her.
His axe struck it with a glancing blow, knocking her backward. It cost her a sliver of aura, but it didn't hurt. Her… Grimm aspect did not feel pain that way, not when protected by Aura.
"Hickory! Circle left!" It was the woman again. She was tall with white hair, and her eyes reflected the red light that was clipped to her weapon. It was… some sort of double-bladed staff. The woman's face twisted and she began circling to Selene's right.
Something ugly bubbled up inside Selene. "You wish to kill me," she managed through aching throat, voice rasping.
The man started, "It talked, Tyree…."
"It's a trick!" the woman snarled. "Grimm don't freaking talk!"
They were still shifting. It was like back at the campsite, when she'd been attacked by Red and his bandits. Except these were trained fighters, and she was unarmed and hurt already.
They are going to kill me, she thought again.
No. A voice deep inside growled. They are not.
She sucked in a deep lungful of air, and it burned like fire. "Come to me!" she screamed through abused throat. "Protect me!"
There was the sound of a crackling voice from the two scrolls on her attackers, and a man's voice, slightly distorted, yelled out. "Holy crap! It's… headed your way on the ground! We're following!"
Selene snarled and laughed as her attackers closed in, weapons swinging in unison, their years of training together allowing them to work as one unit.
Aura and blackness shifted and blocked as she twisted and wove. She blocked their strikes, but barely, and she was hurting, and felt exhausted and out of balance. And she still had no weapon. She could not strike back.
Blackfeather would not arrive in time to save her.
But he was not the only Grimm that was near enough to hear her cry for assistance.
A flock of Nevermore Chicks arrived first, not dangerous or strong enough to cause any real damage, but granting her a brief respite as they swarmed around the two attackers and distracted them, or at least the woman. The man, Hickory, just seemed to shrug them off, and continued stalking Selene.
I must… buy time. I do not have to defeat these people. I need only buy time for the Grimm to engage them and then I can… I can…
The urge to change back to her human guise, to try to reason with them, surfaced for a moment, and was quashed. They would not believe it. Would not listen. And they had already attacked her, tried to kill Blackfeather.
Then the roars of a pack of Beowolves sounded, off to the right.
"Yes!" Selene rasped. "Stop them!"
"Shit!" the woman yelled. "It's controlling them! Hickory! Focus on it, I'll handle the Beowolfs! Urchin and Deedee, did you hear that!"
A cracking voice answered. "We're on our way, the Nevermore's hurt bad, and it's inbound your direction too. But we can beat it there."
"Dammit!" The pack of Beowolfs was a small one, only a trio. She shifted her weapon to spear form, and flung it at the first Beowolf to breach the clearing, killing it instantly, and then engaged her Semblance, Yoyo, to draw her weapon back to her hand. She threw again, and a second Beowolf went down. She could handle them.
But a fully grown Nevermore too? Even wounded. "Urchin! If you can't stop it, then home in on our signal and get your ass in here and focus on disabling the thing we've cornered here. You'll know it when you see it." She looked back to where Hickory and the… Grimm-thing were engaged in close quarters combat. If it could control Grimm, it was incredibly dangerous. She threw her spear again, and the third Beowolf went down.
And then another cloud of Nevermore chicks blinded her.
If she could just get a freaking opening!
. . .
"This sounds bad!" Urchin gasped as he ran, Thorn looped at the ready in his hand. Their Scrolls crackled again, and they could hear roars and screams from farther up ahead. "Deedee!" Tyree's voice came over the Scroll. There was a grunt. "If it looks bad, Ghost. You have to tell people what's out here!"
Urchin and Deedee shared a look. "Shit," Urchin managed as they closed on the clearing.
There was another scream from the clearing. Tyree.
. . .
The first pack of Beowolves had been followed by a second. Then a third.
And then a group of Ursae arrived.
Tyree had realized at some point that she was probably going to die. They'd not figured on the sheer volume of Grimm that were converging on them. No one would have. But she was going to go down like a Huntress. She was going to protect her partner, Hickory, as long as possible, so that he could bring down that fucking monster that was doing all this.
She held them back as long as she could, switching her weapon to its double-bladed halbard form and reaping destruction on the waves of Grimm. First the three Beowolves lay dissolving on the ground, then five. Six. Eight. The first Ursa fell. She harvested them even as they gradually wore her down.
. . .
Hickory was beating the Thing. It was horrible looking, all bone-white skin and black & red eyes. It was charred on the left side, its hair singed short, but it didn't act like it cared. And he kept attacking it. Tyree had told him it was controlling the other Grimm. He could feel it slowing down. The evil black mass it was using to block his strikes was getting sluggish and it was starting to stumble.
And then he heard Tyree yell behind him. "Hickory! You have to finish it! No matter what!"
That's what I'm doing, Tyr, he thought. And then Tyree screamed. He'd never heard her scream like that, and he almost stopped to see if he could help her.
But she'd told him what to do, and Hickory always listened to Tyree.
The Thing had been trying to use words at him. But Tyree had said it was a trick. And its voice sounded growly and croaky. So he didn't listen to the words. He just kept attacking. Kept up the pressure.
And then he saw Urchin, coming up behind it, and Urchin had his whip out. His teammate's hand and arm swept back, and forward, and its barbed length wrapped around the Grimm, pinning its arms and legs and causing it to stumble backward, landing hard on the ground.
Finally.
Hickory raised Cleaver high, arm muscles bulging. One strike. One strike would split its nasty Grimm head, make those red eyes go dark. And then they'd deal with the Grimm.
0 0 0
Selene was losing, but slowly enough that she might still live. Dimly she heard the sounds of more and more Grimm converging on the clearing. Dimly she heard the sounds of screaming through the ringing in her own ears. But that didn't matter. She could feel the pounding of her pulse. She was… exhausted. She could feel her Aura teetering.
She just had to hold on.
And then pain lashed through her, through Aura, as it felt like dozens of honey-wasps had jabbed her, all at once, and she couldn't move right.
And then she was falling.
She hit the ground hard, arms and legs immobile for reasons she couldn't understand. She looked up to see…
To see her death. The huge man… Hickory? Was drawing back the insanely large and heavy axe he'd been using to carve chunks out of her aura, using its mass to beat her backward, and he was going to…
He is going to murder me, a voice in her head said sadly.
She had a fraction of a second to mourn her life ending, to think of the names of those who would never know what had happened to her.
And then the man stopped his strike, and breathed a column of superheated fire at her, pouring it from his mouth like water from a firehose as the axe fell from his hand.
No. That did not make sense.
She heard Blackfeather cry, and then another human screamed behind her, and the tension binding her limbs loosened, and she began to shrug free of whatever had been holding her. She raised to her elbows, trying to understand what the man had done.
And realized that he had not breathed fire at her at all. The flames were… blue-white, and pouring from mouth and eyes… pouring through the man's head from a white-hot hand that was placed against the back of his skull.
And behind that hand, a set of golden-yellow eyes reflected the light of the fire, and a face was set in terror and rage simultaneously.
Cinder.
The man slumped to the side, and fell, leaving Cinder standing, flames licking from her hand.
Selene heard movement behind her and turned to see a third man being… torn apart by Blackfeather between beak and talon. He was… had to be… dead. Her eyes slowly shifted in a broad circle back toward Cinder.
A second body, the woman, was being eviscerated by Ursae. And the man… Hickory…. he was sideways on the ground, everything above his neck a smoking ruin.
All of them, dead. And she hadn't even tried to tell the Grimm, Grimm that she controlled, to spare them. She'd wanted them dead. And they had died. Horribly. Painfully.
And Cinder was in front of her, eyes still wide with terror. Hand still licking with flames.
Staring at her, face a mixture of terror and flickers of recognition.
Around them, Grimm shifted toward Cinder, unsure whether she was a threat, but instinct telling them she might be prey.
"No!" Selene yelled.
No. If Cinder attacked her... If Cinder attacked her, she would… she did not know what she would do. But she would not attack her daughter. She would not allow the Grimm to harm Cinder. That could not happen.
Cinder flinched back at her shouted command, hands falling to her sides, face paling. Her mouth worked for a moment, throat swallowing. She was gasping, Selene realized.
She must have run. All this way. To save me.
And instead, she found a…
"Mo…" Cinder forced out.
"Monster…" Selene rasped, finishing the word for her, heart dying inside. That is what you found, Cinder. A monster.
Cinder froze, face contorting. And then she sobbed once, devastatingly, and turned.
And ran from the clearing.
The urge to follow Cinder, to call her back, was intense. But fighting through that was cold reality.
She was exhausted, and she had to hide what had happened here. If she sent her Grimm after Cinder, she did not believe that would end well. If she changed back to her human guise, she would probably not catch the girl, and her usual messengers, Nevermore chicks, had all given their lives to buy her the minutes needed for the larger Grimm to arrive.
She was surrounded by slain Huntsmen, living Grimm, and the dissolving carcasses of those who'd sacrificed themselves for her.
Huntsmen who had died by her hand, directly or indirectly. The terrible knowledge began to filter itself fully through the slowly receding pain of her injuries as her minimal Aura reserves continued to work on her.
"Died because you wouldn't listen!" she sobbed and raged at the same time through abused throat. "We were harming no one! And you! And you!"
And they had died.
She heard Blackfeather shift behind her, and she turned back to him. One wing hung twisted and broken, huge swaths of feathers singed down to the pins. A network of burned paths, dendritic, had fanned out from an obvious point of impact, leaving char-marks on its bone-like face. One eye had been extinguished. Her friend and companion had used its two legs and one good wingtip to work its way here. To protect her at the cost of his own life if needed.
"Oh Blackfeather," Selene stumbled over to him, and buried her face in his feathers "What do I do now?"
Time. Time is not my friend. There was… a fourth, she realized. A fourth who was not here, was not attacking her. Who had likely fled if what she remembered hearing was correct.
Do I…
No! I will not! They are not harming me now! I am not… I am not like that. No… let them… she felt ill. They would report what happened here. People would come. But they would find Grimm injuries, not… her gaze fell onto Hickory again. His injuries…
"Oh Cinder. No. No, they must not find out." A man… burned by a fire in that manner? They would look for a Semblance. They would find Cinder. Cinder had killed a Huntsman.
Because of me.
Feeling sick, she began the gory task of hiding all evidence that this was anything but a Grimm attack.
And protecting Blackfeather.
"Blackfeather. You must listen to me," Selene said softly as she removed the charred remains of his harness, finding her quarterstaff in its tangled remains. "You must go and find a place. The darkest, deepest place you can. Tell Nevermore chicks once you find it. And then you must crawl into it, as deep as you can, and stay there. Await me." Blackfeather gave a soft warble. "I… I will be well. I will come for you. I swear. But you must stay safe, and hidden, until I do. Go. Go now. That way as fast as you can without leaving a clear trail. Do not wait for me."
With a mournful sound, the wounded Nevermore turned, and began easing his way West.
And then she turned toward the Grimm that remained in the clearing.
The fact that she was forced to allow Grimm to further desecrate the bodies of Huntsmen, Huntsmen like Garek, filled her with self-loathing. And the entire time, a war of thoughts raged in her head.
I murdered those people.
They tried to kill Blackfeather. They would have, had they not been distracted by me.
They are Huntsmen! It is their job. They couldn't know.
They tried to kill me!
They saw Grimm! Not human!
Please be safe, Cinder. Please!
"Take the bodies with you and…" she swallowed bile… "do that which you normally do with them. And then continue North, in a group. Only when you are attacked may you disperse or defend yourselves. Do you understand?"
The assorted Beowolves and Ursae growled assent, eyes glowing with violence. They'd been able to act according to their nature this night. They did not see any issue with what they'd been given free rein to do.
And so they went, dragging the remains with them, making a clear trail north.
She spent precious minutes clearing the scene, removing any evidence that there could have been anything but a Grimm attack. She left weapons and scrolls where they had fallen, after ensuring none of the weapons had any obvious signs of her blood on them, not that anyone would check for that, given the scene.
And then finally, she turned, and began to move South as fast as exhaustion and terrain would allow. South, deeper into the evergreen forests that filled the landscape. She would loop around, carefully, and try to make her way back to Springhill. From there, she could contact the others.
She choked back a sob. Cinder. What would Cinder say to them. She had seen her. She knew what Selene was, and she'd fled because of it. Because Selene was a monster.
She and Garek had waited too long.
She cursed Garek for delaying her. She cursed herself for letting him. She cursed the Huntsmen for their bloodthirsty and unprovoked attack. She cursed her Mother for her part in this bloody war.
She cursed the Brother Gods.
And then she cursed herself again, sobbing as she staggered deeper into the woods, as far from the scene of the devastation as she could go.
[A/N] Special thanks to recent reviewers DragonL0RD and Wish Upon a Sol. Wish apparently binged the entire story so far over a few days, and left me a glowing review once they caught up, for which I am very grateful. Totally made my day!
This is a chapter that I've had written for months, and I've been waiting for the timeline to catch up with it. As you might expect, this is the start of a major turning point in the story and sets the stage for a lot of heavy stuff to occur over the next several chapters, before a time skip.
I apologize for the cliffhanger. I will tell you that the wait won't be excessive. I've got the two following chapters drafted and I'll probably not wait a full week before publishing the next one. Poor Team THUD. I tried hard to tell part of this from their perspective, to make it clear that they aren't the bad guys here. Nor is Selene. And Cinder definitely isn't. I tried to make sure that the reader would find everyone's decisions reasonable, from their viewpoint and using their biases. No one is coming out unscathed here. Deedee just lost her entire team, and is assumed to be fleeing for help. Crystal is freaked out and running for help. Cinder is just running. Blackfeather is looking to find a hole, crawl into it, and pull the hole in after himself. And Selene is... devastated. Things are going to get rough here in Northern Mistral. Very rough.