A/N- Last chapter in this batch unfortunately. I like the feedback I've gotten for this group of chapters. Hope you guys can keep up this energy so that I can be back again real soon!
Anyway, let's finish up this fight scene.
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The Alpha raised its clawed, bone covered arms into the air before bending down and letting out a deafening roar that had the rabbit girls sensitive ears curling up against the top of her head.
At that point, Carm was pretty sure things couldn't get any worse, and fate was quick to prove her wrong. A sudden rumbling filled the air, and then, as if summoned by the other Grimm's cry, the woods practically erupted with monsters of all shapes and sizes, running across the grass, straight towards the convoy of trucks.
This particular Alpha's story was not typical. It had been spawned a normal, average Beowolf, like the millions of others of its kind, but while those others had fallen in the Grimm's crusade against humanity, this one had survived, and more importantly, it had learned. It had lived for hundreds of years, stalking the hills of Anima, usually in the wake of the more powerful versions of its kind, picking up the scraps left behind so it could to grow stronger.
The years passed, and as the Grimm grew, it began climbing the hierarchy of its kind in Mistral, and in that time it had amassed enough of a "reputation" to gain some measure of control over the lesser beasts that surrounded it. Its roaming pack had been wreaking havoc across Anima for years now, even giving a few Huntsmen a run for their money with its packs sheer numbers alone. They stalked any and all that dared to venture out from man's kingdoms, and as luck would have it, today the Alpha had just so happened to sense the fear and anxiety radiating off a certain convoy of faunus as they traveled through its territory. It had been content to let it's pack have their way with the uninvited guests at first, but they'd proved inadequate, and now it was time for the Alpha to get its claws dirty.
Beowolves, Boarbatusk, and even a few gorilla-like Beringrels slammed themselves against the armored vehicles, full of terrified faunus and the few others that had come with them. The pair of Huntresses at the back of the convoy shared a look of dread at the waves of beasts descending upon them, before both exchanged nods of conviction and charged back into the fray. Unlike some others in their profession, their job was never just a "job" to them. They were ready to die for the safety of the people they'd been charged with defending.
While the horde busied themselves with the convoy, the Alpha set its sights on the pair of faunus running away from it. The earlier shot to its face hadn't necessarily hurt the monster, but it had earned the pair its attention, as well as the full extent of its wrath. The big Beowolf crouched down, dug it's razor sharp claws into the ground before it, and launched itself forward with a low growl, running on all fours, right towards Ilia and Carmella.
In a fit of panic, Carm continued firing on the doggedly approaching Grimm. The shots seemed to have just as much of an effect as before though, barely even managing to slow the giant creature down. The rabbit faunus continued regardless, firing shot after shot, until she felt her stomach drop as she pulled the trigger again and was rewarded with the resounding click of an empty dust cartridge, her last one.
Fortunately, the pair finally reached the convoy, and Ilia pulled the other faunus around one of the giant vehicles in an attempt to hide themselves from the Alpha. Carm and Ilia pressed their backs up against the cool metal of the truck as they breathed quick, panicked breaths.
"So... probably a bad time to mention this," Ilia said as she tried to regain her composure, "buuuut my semblance can't hide us from Grimm."
Carmella hadn't even considered that, the idea, nor the fact that it wouldn't work, so she just gave Ilia an exhausted, yet stressed look. She was about to say something, but then a pair of huge claws reached over the top of the truck they were hiding behind, followed by a snarling maw and red eyes coming up between them.
The Grimm's reward for peeking was an electrified slash across its snout, courtesy of Ilia. It howled in pain, letting go of the truck, and seeming to stumble away, out of view. The moment of hope this created was quickly smothered as suddenly the Atlesian heavy transport- easily weighing about fifty tons- began to rock back and forth. Thinking quickly, Ilia grabbed Carmella again and pulled her aside just as the entire truck was flipped over onto its side. Its prey escaping, the Alpha jumped up onto the overturned transport and howled loudly before continuing the chase.
Having barely had a chance to catch her breath, Carmella did her best to keep pace with Ilia, who still had her by the hand, as the two of them ran across the grass. Her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest in response to what she just witnessed. The screams of fear and pain she'd heard from the people inside that truck as that beast flipped it like it was nothing, they echoed in the young faunus' mind. She'd thought the Battle for Haven had been eye opening for her in regards to the dangers of the world, but this was like a cold bucket of ice water had been dumped on her while she'd been sleeping.
Despite her shaken nerves however, Carmella was still doing her best not to panic. As long as she stayed with Ilia, things would be fine. The spotted girl had to have some kind of plan... right?
She did not. Ilia Amitola had no idea what she was doing or where she was dragging the other faunus. Away from the bloodthirsty monster- that just flipped a heavy transport vehicle like a pancake- seemed like a good start, but after that? No clue.
This was a bit above the chameleon girls pay grade. Taking down a Grimm like this? Maybe with help she'd stand a chance, but alone? There was just no way that fight ended in her favor. Never mind what this thing might do to Carmella, who'd just picked up her weapon for the first time less than a week ago. No, they needed a new plan.
There were other transports she could take cover behind, but that meant she'd be putting even more of the unarmed militia in danger. Endangering their lives for a few seconds of escape didn't seem worth it in Ilia's opinion.
The woods might provide better cover, but they were way too far away, not to mention Grimm were consistently pouring out. It was a too big of a risk, maybe as a last resort, but there had to be something else.
The sound of heavy footfalls behind her made it clear that Ilia was running out of time.
In the distance, the spotted girl saw the pair of Huntresses that'd been assigned to protect the convoy fighting off the horde. They were holding their own, but there were too many vehicles for the two of them to cover alone. Already some Grimm had slipped past them and were gnawing and clawing at the sealed doors the transports, some even beginning to rock the trucks back and forth, following their leaders example and trying to knock one over for a better chance to get to the terrified faunus inside.
It wasn't ideal, but Ilia decided their best bet was to lead the Alpha to the Huntresses. They had a lot in their plate already, but they also stood the best chance of taking it out, especially if Carmella and herself could get a quick breather and help them.
Her path decide, the chameleon girl tightened her grip on Carmella and pushed herself to run faster, tapping into that last bit of adrenaline she had to get them to safety.
But then, suddenly a huge shadow passed over both girls from behind. The Alpha's massive form leapt through the air, landing with an earth shattering impact right in front of Ilia and Carmella, cutting them off from the help they needed.
Ilia slid to a stop, Carmella almost running into her. There was nowhere for them to go now. Too many Grimm to count behind them, and a massive, super Grimm before them. The chameleon girl brought Lightning Lash up in front of her with one hand, the other was stretched out across in front of Carmella, as if its presence would do anything to dissuade the giant Beowolf from ripping her limb from limb.
Carm's wide eyes darted between the Grimm and the arm separating her from it. This was exactly what she'd been afraid of, being a burden to Ilia. She knew her spotted teacher was amazing, but if she had to fight this monster AND keep Carmella safe, that might just be too much for her. No, she'd needed to fight too, she needed to prove that she belonged out here as well. She'd come so far, even just in the last few minutes, all she had to do was keep going!...
But then why couldn't she move her legs? Why was she cowering behind Ilia like this? Why wasn't she standing up to this type of challenge like she'd always said she would?
Carmella knew the truth, deep down, the cause of her sudden petrifaction; This Grimm, it was unlike anything she'd ever seen, even in her most horrifying nightmares, and as it rose up onto its hind legs, it's spike covered body blocking out the sun, the rabbit girl felt her body freeze up. It was an image that would stick with Carm till the day she died, which, judging by the scenario she'd thrown herself into haphazardly, would probably be sooner than later.
You're not ready...
She'd heard those words from so many people, so many times in her life, but it was the first time they had ever run through her own head, directed towards herself. In that moment, it was as if the voice of every person that had ever told her that were all shouting "I told you so," in her head.
While Carmella was dealing with her ensuing mental breakdown, Ilia was currently weighing her options as the Grimm crept closer. The beast clearly was in no rush, savoring the fear it tasted on the faunus before it. In the end though, the chameleon girl realized her choices were relatively limited at the moment.
It was either fight, or die, it was that simple.
And given everything Ilia had been through in her life, all that she had survived, no one would get any points for guessing which one the young faunus chose.
With a yell that walked the line between frustration and despair, Ilia lashed out with her electrified whip-blade right towards the Alpha's face-
-and the beast caught it.
The Grimms enormous claw easily snatched Lightning Lash out of the air before it could make contact. Horrifying setback aside, the ponytailed girl wasn't ready to give up just yet, as she pulled her weapons trigger as hard as she could, sending a fresh jolt of electricity through the blade. However, the Beowolf merely cocked its head to the side as a few small sparks escaped its tightly clenched hand, completely unfazed by the lightning dust surging through Ilia's weapon.
Then the Grimm bared it's teeth at Ilia, and before the spotted girl could even react, the Alpha tightened its grip on the whip and pulled, yanking Ilia off her feet, swinging her around, and having her body collided with the unforgiving metal of one of the nearby convoys vehicles.
The collision made Carmella's earlier one look like a love tap by comparison. Ilia's body actually left a noticeable imprint in the steel after the hit. The chameleon girls eyes went wide in pain at the point of impact, before they rolled back into her head as she fell to the ground, her light blue aura flickering as her body crumpled.
"ILIA!" Carmella yelled out as her friend laid motionless on the grass. She went to rush to her side, but the Alpha stomped down in front of her, blocking her from getting to Ilia.
Instinctively, Carm brought her tonfa up, but the second she did, the Beowolf swung its claw. The blow wasn't designed to kill however, instead it merely batted the weapons out of the rabbit girls hands. The beast wasn't done playing with its food yet.
Carmella watched helplessly as Carrot Stix tumbled across the ground, far beyond her reach. Then she slowly looked back to the massive Grimm, the fear and anguish it desired etched into her face.
The beast crept closer, until it's snout was only inches away from the terrified rabbit faunus whose legs still refused to move. It sniffed the air around Carmella and gave a low growl of approval. Finally satisfied that it had drawn enough negative emotion out of its prey, the creature stood up straight again and raised back a claw, ready to finally end this.
There was nothing she could do now. Without her weapons Carmella was defenseless, and had nowhere near the confidence in her hand to hand abilities to take on a monster like this alone. So she just stood there, paralyzed under its hungry gaze as the Beowolf brought its claw down on her.
"No!"
The cry came from somewhere outside the rabbit girls peripheral vision, and was accompanied by a blur leaping out in front of her, and pair of arms tightly wrapping and her body.
Then the Alpha struck.
Carmella felt the force of the blow knock her off her feet, but none of the physical impact itself, she didn't even feel her aura taking the hit, but she did hear the sound of something shredding.
That, and a scream.
The long eared faunus' eyes seemed to finally refocus to see the familiar form of Ilia pressed up against her as the pair was thrown backwards. The chameleon girls face was contorted in agony, her brow furrowed, eyes clenched shut as she fell into Carmella, her arms still wrapped tightly around the other faunus. But as they seemed to fall in slow motion, Carm felt that grip loosen, and Ilia's features seemed to relax, her eyes only briefly opening to look at the rabbit girl. There was almost a look of what appeared to be relief on her face, before they closed again and both faunus hit the ground.
For a moment, Carmella laid there, Ilia's limp body on top of her own. Then, as the events of the last few seconds finally set in, so too did the panic.
The rabbit girl tried to roll the other faunus off herself as gently as she could. She cradled Ilia's head in one hand, while the other snaked around to support her back, keeping the ponytailed teens body off the ground. Carm made the effort to be extra tender when it came to touching by the other girls scarred back, but the second her palm made contact it was greeted by a sticky, warm feeling. Carmella quickly retracted her hand, bringing it back around to investigate the bizarre sensation. Her entire body went cold at the sight of the blood that now converted her fingerless glove.
Carm quickly gathered the other girl in her arms again, pulling her up, and sticking her head over her shoulder so she could see her back.
The sight that awaited Carmella was a grisly one. Three long slash marks had cut through Ilia's aura, as well as the back of her stealth suit, and into the chameleon girls flesh.
The rabbit faunus stared at the grievous wound as she held Ilia in her arms. Her breathing picked up speed and not long after came the tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. Carmella pulled the way too still faunus closer and buried her face into the nape of her neck.
This is all your fault, that was the mantra on repeat in Carm's head, and for the life of her, she couldn't find cause to disagree. Why couldn't she have just stayed on the damn transport? First she'd distracted the Huntress, almost gotten her killed, and now Ilia...
She'd only wanted to help... to stand up when no one else would... to be the hero she'd always dreamt of being... and all she'd done is turn this whole mess into a catastrophe. She was a failure, in every possible sense of the words.
There was another low growl behind Carmella that made her eyes snap back open.
For some reason, an old saying Carmella's dad used to like ran through her head. She had no idea where he'd heard it from. Odds were good that it was just something he made up to sound all wise and fatherly. The rabbit faunus would usually just roll her eyes whenever he brought it up.
He'd say it whenever there was trouble on the farm, like the time they'd lost nearly the entirety of their crops one season to a sudden infestation of pests. At times like that, when things were there darkest, when you'd done everything you could but things still hadn't worked out, when it seemed easier- and made more sense- to just give up, that's when Carm's dad would dust off the old chestnut of wisdom he kept stored away;
'Sometimes, when you find yourself too deep in a hole you've dug yourself, the only way out is to keep digging.'
Carmella gently laid Ilia on her side. She looked down to see Lightning Lash still clenched tightly in the wounded girls hand. She'd went to carefully pry the chameleon faunus' fingers off its hilt, only for Ilia's hand to suddenly relax at her touch.
The rabbit girl picked up her fallen friends weapon and turned to face the monster behind her. Carmella silently wondered why it hadn't attacked her while her back was turned. Maybe it just wanted to bask in the look of fear in her eyes as it struck.
Unfortunately for the Grimm, that moment had passed. The rabbit faunus was still scared, of course she was, but more importantly she was alive, and Carmella had decided that as long as that was the case, she'd fight. The courage the long eared teen had found earlier resurfaced, as she raised Lightning Lash up in front of her.
She did her best to try and remember how she'd seen Ilia hold it before. It didn't feel quite right in her hands, but she figured that all she needed to know was that the pointy part went into the soft bits, and to repeat that until whatever's attacking you stopped moving.
The Alpha dug its claws into the ground in front of it, almost excitedly, like this sudden resolve Carmella had found- and the no doubt futile struggle to follow- would only make it enjoy its kill even more.
Honestly, it was hard for Carm to disagree with the sentiment. She wore a brave face, the energy crackling off Lightning Lash's blade reflecting in her honey colored eyes, but it was all a bluff for the most part. Her knees were still shaking, barely able to support her, and her nerves had her sweating up a storm, but still, Carmella wasn't going to back down. Especially not when Ilia needed her to protect her for once, from a mess the rabbit girl herself had made.
That little girl from Menagerie, born to a family of farmers, with little to no potential, had made up her mind; If she was going to die, then she wouldn't do it cowering on the grass, or hiding behind someone else. No, she'd do it standing up, facing down whatever monster was coming for her, and by the Brothers, she'd make them earn it.
Tired of being patient, the Beowolf lunged once more, its massive jaws opening wide, many sharp and pointy teeth eagerly waiting inside for the taste of soft, teenage, rabbit faunus flesh. Carmella's brow furrowed as she let out her fury in a monstrous yell, and reared back with Lightning Lash, ready to deliver what was most likely one final attack before her inevitable demise.
*BLAM!*
A shot rang out in the distance, from around the back end of the convoy, and a large caliber round clocked the Beowolf in the side of its head, slightly cracking the bone-like plating covering its face. The Alpha's legs crumpled mid step, sending it stumbling off course, just missing Carmella and Ilia, where it flopped onto its side.
The rabbit girl watched in stunned silence, arm still pulled back, ready to swing her borrowed weapon, frozen mid-strike.
"Not today!"
An unknown voice called out from the same direction the shot had come from, and then, what Carmella could only describe as a mini, red, tornado flew across the sky in front of her, right into the blindsided Alpha.
The Grimm had barely managed to lift its badly damaged head, when the red tornado struck, delivering several quick slashes across its torso and making the beast howl in pain. It quickly rolled itself away from the flurry of blows, hopped up onto all fours and roared aggressively, clearly not done yet. The mysterious crimson cyclone didn't let up and chased after it, continuing its assault.
Carmella watched on in stunned silence, still frozen mid-swing. Then, bizarrely, it started to rain what looked like rose petals in the wake of the scarlet colored force of nature. However, as it continued to attack, it's true nature was revealed, in the form of a young looking girl, wearing a long red cape, and wielding a massive scythe.
A pink colored explosion rang off not too far away, diverting Carmella's attention away from the scuffle before her and on to the battle that suddenly surrounded her.
There was another girl, dressed in the same color as the explosion just now, swinging a giant hammer at a large herd of Boarbatusk, and just generally decimating every one of them, all the while wearing an ecstatic looking smile on her face... arguably too big of one.
Near her, a boy in green with a long black ponytail was firing a pair of guns, whittling down the Grimm he was aiming at for his partner in pink to finish off. One Beowolf got close enough to attack, but the boy flipped acrobatically out of the way, before charging back in, spinning almost like a top, and slicing up the monster with the blades beneath the barrels of his weapons.
There was one more boy with this group, a blonde one, whose movements seemed a bit less... refined, at least when compared to his comrades. Regardless though, he was still managing to slice apart Grimm with the sword in one hand, while also deflecting claws and blows with the shield in his other. In Carmella's (perhaps rude, but definitely not inaccurate opinion) he was managing fine, just, you know, not as cool as the others.
Further away, up near the front of the convoy, where the two Huntresses had gone to work, another pair was also combating the Grimm.
One boy in red with sky blue hair was standing on top of one of the trucks, firing some kind of silver energy rifle into the crowd of beasts, picking them off one by one. One Beowolf tried to get the jump on him by leaping up and attacking from behind, but was blasted out of the air when the boy rested his gun over his shoulder and fired behind his back without even looking. He smirked, clearly proud of himself, before returning his attention to the remaining Grimm.
Another boy- a faunus, judging by the long yellow monkey tail sticking out from the back of his pants- was engaging the Grimm clawing at the door to another transport with a long staff, which he spun and twirled with minimal effort as he swatted them back. Then, once they were a safe distance away from the convoy, the staff in his hands seemed to fall apart into two halves, each of which split in half again, this time connected by a small chain. The faunus spun the pair of weapons in both hands with an unprecedented level of skill and precision, slamming the hard metal into the Grimm with each swing, each hit accompanied by a fiery blast coming from the split staffs ends.
They were guns. Nunchuck guns...
Gunchucks... Carmella thought as she watched with sparkling eyes.
Mesmerized by what was possibly the coolest weapon combination she'd ever seen, the rabbit girl didn't notice another- normal sized- Beowolf sneaking up on her until the last moment. She readied the whip blade still in her hands, but suddenly the Grimm froze in place, convulsing slightly, before collapsing to the ground, revealing-
"... Mata?"
Sure enough, the familiar looking ram faunus was there, standing over the fallen Grimm, with a just as familiar looking stun spear in his grip. Mata took a few quick, frenzied, breaths as he looked at his rabbit eared friend. The Beowolf beneath him stirred slightly, before the horned boy slammed the electrified tip of his weapon down into the beasts spine, making it shudder and then finally go still again, wisps of black smoke coming from its corpse.
"You okay?" Mata asked, a hint of panic behind his voice at the obviously stressful situation he'd so bravely thrown himself into in order to save his best friend.
Before Carmella could find the words to convey how grateful she was, a voice behind her got both teens attention.
"Uh, little help?"
She turned back to see the dark haired girl with the scythe was still struggling with the Alpha. The monster currently had its jaws wrapped around the top part of the girls weapon- opposite its curved blade, and just above the barrel of the rifle- and was shaking the petite looking human back and forth like a dog playing with a chew toy. To the girl in reds credit though, the giant Beowolf had one less arm than it had when Carmella had last checked in, however this seemed to do little diminish the beasts ferocity.
The other girls plea for help finally registering in the rabbit girls brain, she moved in to assist, but then another explosion rang out behind her, accompanied this time by an intense wave of heat.
Something rocketed over both Carmella and Mata before they even had time to look back. Something bright, and hot. Something that could have easily been confused for the sun at first glance. It shot through the air like a burning, yellow comet, making the rabbit faunus wrongfully assume it was the Huntress from earlier.
The figure landed on top the Alpha Beowolf's back, where the long blonde haired girl grabbed both of its pointed, canine-like, ears, and pulled. The Grimm roared in pain (or maybe just annoyance) causing it to release the red hooded girls weapon. It reached its one remaining claw back over its head at the unwanted hitchhiker, a move the blonde had been expecting. With a roar of her own, the yellow haired beauty swung her gauntlet covered fist at the beasts hand as it extended towards her.
Gauntlet or no gauntlet, Carmella didn't have high hopes for the attack doing much damage at first, but then she noticed the human girls lavender eyes change to red just before the hit- something she only noticed amidst the frantic battle because of just how drastic the change in color was.
At the point of impact between the girls fist and the monsters claw, there was an explosion, black goo splattering across the ground, along with several of the Beowolves fingers.
Again, the Grimm roared, this time definitely in pain. It's claw mutilated, the monster resorted to trying and shake the blonde off its back. For its trouble, the piggybacking girl delivered another thunderous punch, this time to the back of the Alpha's head.
The force of the blow made the Beowolf collapse onto its chest, remaining limbs splayed out like a crushed bug, where it laid still, its reddish orange eyes growing dim.
Carmella's jaw hung open at the display in front of her, that continued all around her. Even Mata looked impressed, though perhaps he was more thankful the giant Grimm had finally been put down.
The blonde stood up on top of the Grimm she'd just dropped like a bad habit and wiped the sweat from her brow. On the ground, the red caped girl pumped her arms in the air excitedly, and the yellow haired girl offered her a thumbs up and a wink.
These kids... were they students? From Haven maybe? They couldn't have been much older than Carm herself was, and yet, she could easily tell by how they handled this kind of situation that this was not their first rodeo. They seemed to thrive in this kind of like or death scenario, where Carmella had frozen up, gotten in the way, and had to be rescued multiple times, as the rabbit girl was quick to admonish herself.
Self-deprecating thoughts aside, the long eared girl's depression didn't really have a chance set in, as her sensitive hearing picked up a low growling that snapped Carm back to reality.
The Alpha Beowolves eyes reignited, burning even brighter than before, and it let out a roar of pure frustration and rage.
The beasts sudden movement caught the blonde off balance, leaving her helpless as the Grimm got its legs underneath itself and propelled its body backwards, slamming its back into one of the heavy transport vehicles, and sandwiching the girl that'd been riding him between its spike covered torso and the unforgiving armored plating of the truck. As the Beowolf stepped away, the blonde remained stuck in place for a moment, before slowly peeling off the side of the transport and flopping onto the ground, her body flashing with a golden light as her aura flickered weakly and she remained motionless on the dirt path.
"Yang!" The scythe wielding girl cried out- which must have been the blondes name- before she whipped her weapon around and began firing.
The shots had about as much of an effect on the monster as Carmella's had earlier, and it quickly swung its crippled, broken hand around like a flail at the hooded teenager. The dark haired girl tried to escape, but was swatted out of the air and sent flying back, but not before getting one final swing in with her weapon, leaving a long gash across the Grimm's chest, cleaving through its armor and leaving a gaping wound there.
The giant Beowolf clutched at the new wound with its damaged claw as it stumbled back. It knew things were not going well for it. After years and years of hunting the plains of Mistral, it could tell that its campaign of terror could very well come to an end this day. Even if it did escape now, the injuries it suffered would likely eventually kill it, or at the very least dethrone it's position as leader of the pack. However, as they say; a beast is never more dangerous than when it feels cornered, and if it was going to finally return to the source of all Grimm today, then it would definitely take as many humans and faunus with it as it could. Because in the end, all that mattered to the Creatures of Grimm was destruction, and causing as much pain and misery as possible.
The monsters small, orange pupils- in the sea of red that made up its eyes- darted over to Yang, who was struggling to her feet after such a big hit. Easily picking her out as the most vulnerable, and closest, the Grimm chose its target. With both of its claws out of order, the beast settled for its teeth, and stretched its jaw open unnaturally wide- almost like a snake- as it lunged forward.
But in its desperation, the Alpha had forgotten about the spectators to its battle, and suddenly, the tip of something small, but oh so sharp, pierced through its left eye.
At first, the Grimm was so surprised by this that the pain didn't even register, but once Carmella pulled the trigger, sending a couple hundred thousand volts of electricity right into the beasts head- that, it felt.
The Alpha shot up straight, back arching, body convulsing, limbs flailing, as it roared in pain. Carmella watched on in disbelief, even though it was her finger currently holding down the trigger, prolonging the beasts agony. Not that she felt bad for it or anything, it was more that the rabbit girl was surprised she'd managed to actually hit her target with Lightning Lash, despite this being the first time she'd ever held the weapon.
Somehow... she'd just known the correct form for the swing, and when to pull the first trigger during said swing to begin extending the whip. Not to mention, she'd actually managed to hit such a minuscule target first try, and then known to pull the second trigger to activate the whip blades dust dispenser to shock the beast. Granted the device in her hands wasn't a fighter jet or anything, it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure it out, but it was more the level of skill with it that Carmella had suddenly exhibited that caught her off guard. Even Mata seemed impressed by this. It was all a bit too much to write off as a coincidence, or even luck, but what other explanations were there?
She would have spent more time pondering this mystery, but there was a sudden clicking sound from the weapon in her hands- that again somehow she just knew- meant Lightning Lash was out of its signature element of dust.
Fortunately, while it had only been a few seconds, the rabbit faunus had created an opening. Yang hopped up to her feet, reared back with what appeared to be a synthetic arm- which Carmella hadn't noticed before- and leapt towards the Grimm, aiming for the long slash in its armor that her friend in red had made moments ago. Her robotic fist met no resistance as it passed through the opening, and into the beasts body, but the blonde wasn't done yet.
With a ferocious sounding yell of exertion that put every Grimm from today to shame, Yang's golden colored hair went up like a bonfire, and her eyes went red again, matching the fury in her yell. There was a muffled sounding blast from inside of the Grimm's chest cavity, and a yellow light that grew and grew until finally-
*BLAM!*
The Alpha's torso exploded out its back, sending streams of thick, black liquid and bone through the air, and leaving a gaping hole in its sternum.
With an almost hazy, confused expression, the Grimm looked down at the grievous wound, Lightning Lash's tip still embedded in its eye, somehow still alive, but clearly just barely.
There was another yell, this one more high pitched, as the equivalent of a spinning, crimson buzz saw came flying in out of nowhere, soaring past the staggered Alpha, giving off a barely audible "swish" as it passed by its neck.
The giant Beowolves remaining arm went limp at its side as the monster fell to its knees for a moment, before its head dropped off its own shoulders and onto the ground, and immediately the Grimm began to dissolve into nothingness.
The "crimson buzz saw" skidded to a halt on the ground, revealing the petite, dark haired girl with the red cape from before. She quickly ran to the blonde's side, who had fallen back down to one knee and was currently catching her breath.
"Yang! Are you okay?" the girl in red asked, folding up her massive scythe and clipping it to the back of her belt.
The blonde raised a hand to ease the other girls concerns while she took a few more deep breaths before her breathing finally returned to normal. "Don't worry, Ruby," Yang said, looking up at the short haired teen with one of her now normal colored eyes open, and an exhausted looking smile, "I'm okay."
Despite her words however, Yang still accepted "Ruby's" offered hand as the other girl helped get her to her feet. Once fully vertical again, the blonde gave her head a quick shake, her long, golden locks swaying from side to side as she did. Then her refocused gaze settled on Carmella.
The rabbit girl finally let go of Lightning Lash's twin triggers, causing its whip blade to get sucked back up into the weapon itself. She stared back at the other two girls currently examining her. A part of Carmella wondered if she was about to get reprimanded for interfering, like she had been by the silver haired Huntress from earlier.
"Thanks for the help back there," Yang said with a cheerful- but clearly still tired- looking smile, even going so far as to offer Carmella a weak thumbs up of approval as well. "I probably would have been toast if you hadn't stepped in when you did."
The sudden compliment sent Carm's spirit spiraling up into the stratosphere. She was just ecstatic that she'd managed to not only help, but also receive recognition for it from someone who clearly had much more experience than herself in the field.
Timidly, the rabbit girl looked off to the side, her free hand rubbing the back of her neck. "Heh, heh, you're welcome. It was-" Carmella started, but then her gaze drifted to Lightning Lash in her other hand.
Ilia.
Oh God's.
The rabbit girls spun around to find the spotted faunus still resting on the ground where she'd left her. How could she have forgotten? Her friend was hurt. Hurt because of her.
Thankfully, Mata seemed to have already noticed the chameleon faunus once things had calmed down and was down on his knees beside Ilia, looking her over, but his expression made Carmella's stomach drop. Even from the several feet away the long eared teen had wandered during all the excitement, she could see the blood staining in the grass beneath the prone girl.
The rabbit faunus fell to her knees and scrambled over to Ilia's side on all fours. She looked down at the three long slash marks the Grimm had left across the chameleon girls back, slashes that had been meant for Carmella, because she couldn't just stay on the truck like she was told.
Ilia's body rose and fell with each short labored breath she took, a sign that she was in fact alive, but not for long in this state.
From behind her, Carmella thought she heard someone shout out the spotted girls name. It might've been the short haired girl, the rabbit faunus believed she'd heard her name was "Ruby?" Honestly, Carm couldn't really bring herself to care at the moment. The rest of the world was beginning to fade away as she stared down at her friends battered and broken body.
Then of course came the guilt. Right on cue. The self deprecating thoughts soon followed, but even those seemed muffled and muted in the rabbit girls own head. This was her fault, she knew that, so why even argue with herself about it? She was a lousy friend, an idiot that had rushed headfirst into a situation she had no business getting involved with, and all that was left now was the aftermath of that choice, one that Ilia had paid dearly for.
There were some more drowned out voices around Carmella that she didn't even raise her head to acknowledge. One of them she recognized as Mata, she felt his hand on her shoulder, trying to gently shake the rabbit girl back to reality, but Carm was having none of it. The other voices... she wasn't sure. It sounded like they were calling for someone else, a name she didn't recognize, trying to get them to come over. Again though, whatever it was, the rabbit faunus was finding it difficult to care about anything other than the injured, fading, bleeding consequences of her own actions in front of her.
What did finally pull Carmella out of her stupor was a pair of knees, covered in blue jeans, that came sliding in from outside her focused view on Ilia. Her golden eyes snapped up to see it was the blonde boy she'd noticed earlier, the one with the sword and shield.
Sound still hadn't returned to Carm's senses, so all she heard was a dull ringing in all four of her ears as she watched the boy say something to Mata. The ram faunus looked surprised at first, but then his face hardened with resolve and he nodded. His face softened again as he looked back to Carmella, one hand still on her shoulder.
"I'll be right back," was the first bit of noise to get through the thick walls of grief clogging Carm's ears. Then, her horned friend stood up and ran off, back towards one of the trucks.
Before she could even process Mata's sudden departure, Carmella watched as the blonde guy outstretched both his hands towards Ilia's unmoving form, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a golden colored light started cascading off his arms and down onto the chameleon girl.
The long eared faunus blinked rapidly a few times to clear her eyes of approaching tears to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "What...?" Was about all the words her frazzled brain could manage at that moment.
Seeming to notice Carmella for the first time, the blonde's blue eyes darted towards the brunette faunus in surprise. "Oh! Uh... Hey? I'm Jaune," he said, with a tone that didn't fill the rabbit girl with confidence. "Don't worry, I'm here to help," he quickly added, and with that- honestly, pretty cryptic- response, seemed to refocus his efforts- which Carm still didn't fully understand the purpose of- on Ilia, the light from his hands growing slightly brighter, and soon the chameleon girl herself began to glow gold as well.
"It's okay," the girl with the red cape- Ruby, said, suddenly appearing crouched at Carmella's side, "Jaune knows what he's doing."
Yang then appeared at the rabbit girls other side, and before long, all the fellow teenagers that Carm had noticed fighting off the Grimm had joined them, crowding around Ilia, Carmella, and this weird, glowey, "Jaune" guy.
The fighting was apparently over. The rest of the monsters were either being cleaned up by the pair of professional Huntresses that had come with the convoy, or had retreated back into the forest when their leader had fallen. Either way, the faunus militia was safe once more, and after some brief repairs, and of course flipping a few back over, the trucks would start moving again towards their destination.
Carmella suddenly found herself feeling a little star-struck with all these clearly talented warriors surrounding her. They all looked so cool, just like Ilia was, just like Carm had always wanted to be, not to mention their weapons were awesome, hanging on their backs or resting over their shoulders. They'd all been so... capable in the fight just now too, in a way that made Carmella's performance look amateur by comparison. It all served as a reminder to the young faunus that she wasn't nearly as good as she might've thought she was. Plus, the familiarity and camaraderie they all seemed to share with one another really made the rabbit girl feel like the odd one out here.
Of course, any of those shallow, meager feelings Carmella might have felt were completely overshadowed by her worry over Ilia's current state. Whatever "Jaune" here was doing, or trying to do, it didn't seem to be working. Beads of sweat were starting to gather on the blondes forehead as he squinted, again seeming to redouble his efforts, the light from his hands increasing even more, before flickering slightly.
"What's wrong?" Carm heard Yang ask from her left.
"I-I don't know," Jaune replied in a cracking voice, looking as confused as everyone else. "It's like... it's like I can't reach her aura for me to boost it? O-or she's not letting me? I'm not sure!"
Concerned murmurs drifted throughout the crowd surrounding Ilia as the group of teens struggled to think of what to do. Was the wound just too bad? Did Jaune's semblance require some level of consent from the receiver? No one seemed to know what was going on. Carmella heard none of this, the barely breathing chameleon faunus retaining one hundred and ten percent of her focus. Ilia's face was no longer contorted in pain, and was slowly beginning to relax, her shallow breaths getting weaker and weaker. Carm could feel grim reality knocking at her door as the eventuality of this situation reared it's ugly head. Was there really nothing she could do? Nothing anyone could do?
Was... was she really about to watch the person she cared about most slip away right before her eyes?
Carmella's eyes roamed over to Ilia's hand, her arm bent slightly, resting palm down on the grass next to the chameleon girls face. She reached over and put her hand on top of the other faunus', her fingertips gently curling around it. Ilia's fingers felt cold, which Carm didn't need to be a doctor to know was a bad sign, but that didn't stop the devastated rabbit girl. She gave the hand a quick squeeze, tracing the spots on the fading girls wrist with her thumb.
The lack of reaction to this had Carmella's heart sinking even deeper. She closed her eyes in frustration at the helplessness she felt in that moment. She ran her thumb over the other faunus' trait once more. What she would give to see those spots change colors once more.
She wanted more time.
There was supposed to be more time.
But that was the cruel truth of the matter; that in the grand scheme of things, what Carmella wanted didn't-
"Woah."
Jaune's quiet, but surprised sounding voice made Carmella's eyes snap open. The blonde was still hunched over Ilia, light still cascading off his arms, but now the chameleon girls body was glowing in the pale blue hue of her own aura.
"What did you do?" One of the onlookers asked, the faunus, the blonde one, with the tail.
"I have no idea," Jaune answered in bewilderment at the phenomenon in front of him. "All of a sudden her aura just sort of... spiked or something, out of nowhere. I've never had something like that happen before. I mean, granted this is only my second time doing anything like this, but still, it still seems weird, right?"
The others continued on with the conversation, the girl in pink playfully teasing Jaune for basically 'making this stuff up as he goes,' but Carmella was again, too focused on Ilia to listen. The spotted girls face was starting to regain some of its color, and her breathing seemed more relaxed and normal. Was she actually going to be okay?
It had been a rollercoaster ride of a morning to say the least for Carmella, the last few seconds being especially traumatizing. She'd just finished digging herself a pit of despair, only to find a nugget of hope at the bottom, and she was still a bit cautious to accept it. However, as Jaune continued his bizarre "treatment," and the wounds across Ilia's back slowly began to close, Carmella couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.
... But as that breath left her body, a strange sensation washed over the rabbit faunus. She suddenly felt... exhausted.
She tried to write it off as just the after effects of all the adrenaline from the fighting and pure terror she'd just experienced, but something told Carmella this was different. The feeling sort of... sprung up on her, it started out as a light fatigue that one might feel after a rough workout, but as the moments passed, it grew to the equivalent of having not slept for a night, all in a matter of seconds. Her head felt woozy, and had she not already been on her knees, there was as good chance Carm would have collapsed. However, just as her body began to sway in place, Ilia's face began to twitch, and her eyelids flickered open and close, bringing the rabbit girl back to her senses quicker than a shot of espresso would have.
The first sensation Ilia became aware of as consciousness returned to her was a calming warmth washing over her, like pulling a blanket over yourself on a chilly night. It felt familiar to the chameleon girl, the sensation bringing to mind the comfort she felt around a certain rabbit eared faunus she knew. Ilia finally managed to open her eyes, the brightness of the sun making her wince, outlining a shadow covered figure crouching over her.
However, as her eyes adjusted, the person looming over her came into focus, revealing them to be definitely not Carmella, but instead, an unfamiliar human, their hands outstretched towards her.
Like a lightning bolt, Ilia's arm lashed out, grabbing the wrist of the blonde human. He let out a pathetic sounding yelp, as he was tossed face first to the ground, right where the chameleon girl had been laying a fraction of a second before. Ilia tightly gripped the limb she'd snatched and wrenched it behind the humans back, holding him in place.
A crowd of people seemed to suddenly erupt around the startled spotted girl, everyone shouting at her at once, which only made her pull harder on the poor boys appendage. Thankfully, none of people made a move to actually grab Ilia, probably out of fear that she'd hurt her current victim more, instead they all kept a safe distance.
Eventually Ilia's senses caught up with the rest of her body and she was able to pick out at least one familiar voice in the group.
"Ilia! Calm down. It's okay, it's okay," Ruby exclaimed, her silver eyes wide and panicked, and her arms up in front of her trying to calm the ponytailed faunus.
Once she realized the people surrounding her didn't appear to be hostile, Ilia began to recognize most of them as Blake's friends, the ones she'd met after the attack on Haven. Granted she hadn't really talked to- or learned the names of- most of them, but at the very least they were humans she was remotely familiar with.
The situation defused for now, Ilia relaxed a little.
"Um... excuse me?" A voice from beneath Ilia called out weakly.
The spotted faunus looked down to see she still had the blonde kid in a submission hold. If that wasn't bad enough, the poor guys face was pressed firmly into the dirt as well.
"Ow..." He moaned as his trapped arm twitched slightly.
Mortified, Ilia quickly released the hold, letting the boy flop fully onto his front with a groan.
"Sorry about that," the chameleon girl said, trying to sound as genuine as possible, although she still didn't understand why this guy had been hovering over her like he had.
"It's fine," replied the blonde, lifting his grass stained face from the dirt. "Don't worry, I don't really use that arm that much anyway."
The awkward attempt at humor didn't do much to alleviate Ilia's skepticism in regards to the humans unwarranted proximity. She gave the scraggly looking blonde a side eyed look as he clutched at his shoulder.
"Jaune was only trying to help," Yang said, in a tone that seemed at least on the surface to be free of any kind of judgement, which did not go unappreciated by Ilia. "He was boosting your aura to help heal you."
"Oh..."
So that's what he'd been doing. Well... that sure made Ilia look like a jerk, now didn't it? "Um... thanks then," The chameleon girl replied, with a small, slightly forced smile. "Sorry again for... you know..."
The blonde- Jaune- was lifted to his feet by a boy in green and a girl in pink, who helped to dust some of the dirt off the pieces of white armor on his torso.
"No problem," Jaune said with a pained expression. "Happy to- agh!" the blonde exclaimed as he tried to lift the arm Ilia had so kindly wrenched behind his back, "... help..."
"Come on, mister hero," the girl in pink said with an enthusiastic smile, slapping Jaune's back in what was probably supposed to be a friendly gesture, but nearly sent the blonde plummeting back to the ground from the force of it, "let's go check on the other passengers. Maybe see if they need my help flipping a few of those trucks back right side up."
The trio walked away, giving Ilia a wide birth as they passed, which stung the chameleon girl a little, but she couldn't exactly blame them at this point, could she?
"How are you feeling, Ilia?" Ruby asked as she knelt down next to the spotted girl.
"Um... tingly? But aside from that, okay, I guess," the still waking up chameleon girl answered. If Ilia was honest, she could barely remember what had happened.
There was a sudden pinching sensation on the girls spotted shoulder. Her head whipped around in annoyance to see Sun squatting at her side with that typical carefree smile plastered on his face.
"Gave us a real scare there, lizard girl," the monkey faunus said with his typical lazy grin. "But I gotta say, taking on a Grimm like that was pretty ballsy. I mean, mostly it was kind of stupid, but yeah, ballsy too."
Before Ilia could fire back an agitated response, she realized that she hadn't seen Sun since the victory celebration after the Battle for Haven. When the chameleon faunus had stormed out of the party, shoving past him on the way out. With that in mind, Ilia chose to temper her response to the annoyingly friendly blonde.
"Yeah... well... thanks for the help, I guess..."
The monkey faunus actually looked a little surprised at the ponytailed girls response at first, before a satisfied smirk stretched across his face, which irritated Ilia a little. Why was he acting like that? It wasn't like she'd never thanked him for anything before.
Oh, wait, no, it was exactly like that.
Sun looked like he was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the appearance of a second boy, one with blue hair who Ilia had never seen before.
"All in a days work," the new arrival said, puffing his red jacket covered chest out proudly and slinging a slick looking silver rifle over his shoulder. "Leaping headfirst into danger to keep people safe is just, you know, part of the job, right? The name's Neptune by the way, and who might you be, beautiful?"
... "Beautiful?"...
The blue haired stranger looked at Ilia and gave a dazzling smile and a wink.
What... What was happening right now? Ilia genuinely had no idea. Maybe she had a concussion or something? From behind her, the confused faunus heard Yang let out a quiet snicker, probably muffled by her hand.
Seriously, what was going on? Did Ilia miss something? Why was this guy staring at her like that?
Sun groaned miserably and rolled his eyes before standing back up. "Come on, dork," he said, referring to this 'Neptune' guy apparently, "let's go see if anyone needs help with repairs."
The monkey faunus grabbed his partner by the elastic strap on the back of his head that held the pair of goggles on top of Neptune's bizarrely blue hair and began dragging the other teen away. The human stammered out an objection as he was pulled from Ilia and the others, but Sun was unmoved, and soon the pair was gone.
"Uhh... yeah, why don't we do the same Rubes," Yang suddenly said to her sister. "Let's give Ilia some space to recover."
"Oh, right. See you around, Ilia!" The cape wearing girl said cheerfully as the siblings walked away as well.
Ilia was able to manage a small wave in response, before bringing that hand to her temple. Her head was still a mess, but eventually the pieces of what had happened came back to her. The Beowolf, getting slammed into the car by it, and then diving in front of its attack to save-
Oh. Right.
Ilia's head turned to the only remaining person at her side. Carmella- who'd been sitting there in utter silence this whole time- stared back at her with wide, caramel colored eyes, her face frozen in shock with her mouth slightly agape as she just continued to look at Ilia in disbelief. The chameleon faunus stared back, still unsure what to even say to the other teen.
Then, suddenly, Carmella's bright eyes welled up with tears, all the corners of her face scrunching up into a mournful expression, a tiny trickle of snot even escaped her nose before getting sniffed back in, and her long ears all but collapsed down on top of her head. Before Ilia could process this, the rabbit faunus launched herself at the ponytailed girl, wrapping her arms tightly around the spotted teen.
The still woozy Ilia was tackled to the ground by the other faunus, Carmella's body half on top of her own, with the long eared girls arms constricting around her. Ilia blinked slowly a few times, spots bright pink, before slowly looking down towards the sobbing mess attached to her that was Carmella.
That hit she took from the Alpha... It must have been worse than Ilia had expected it to be; to have knocked her out like that, and required her to have her aura "boosted" to recover from it- whatever that meant. That Grimm must've really done a number on her, and Ilia'd given poor Carmella a front row seat for the entire thing.
Things were still so... complicated right now between them, but Ilia couldn't stand to just lay there while Carm suffered after what they'd both just experienced. So she wiggled one of her arms free from the other faunus' vice-like grip and brought out up to the back of Carmella's head, pulling the emotional rabbit girl closer, and tilting her own head down to press against the side of Carmella's brunette hair.
Ilia knew this would just make things more difficult when the time came, but that didn't matter right now, they needed this-
She needed this.
In an instant, Ilia felt a tidal wave of emotions coming flooding in from Carmella. Waves of regret, guilt, fear, washed over the spotted faunus all at once, it was almost overwhelming. However, after the initial flood, when the waters calmed, there were more emotions to be found.
Relief.
Comfort.
But more prominently; Joy.
Joy at just knowing someone you cared about was going to be okay, that they'd both managed to survive what just happened.
Ilia smiled into the other faunus' hair. The emotions were overwhelming, but they were also intoxicating in a way, much like the scent of Carmella herself, and being without them during her short, but self-imposed, isolation had made Ilia miss both all the more.
"Shhh... It's okay," Ilia whispered to the rabbit girl, who seemed to be calming down. "We're okay."
Carmella sniffled a little, but only nodded in response, her face still buried somewhere between the chameleon faunus shoulder and her clavicle.
Ilia chuckled quietly while gently caressing the back of Carm's head with her free hand. It was a nice moment, but that was around the time the spotted girl noticed the two of them were no longer alone. The ponytailed faunus' sharp, light blue eyes darted up to see a very awkward looking ram faunus standing off to the side watching the two of them with an uncomfortable look on his face.
Mata's body went rigid when he was noticed, nearly making him drop the small first aid kit in his big hands. "Uhhh... I'm guessing you guys probably don't need this anymore?" he asked, waving the white box he'd been tasked with receiving innocently. "Buuuut if you two are busy, I can come back later..."
At the sound of her friends voice, Carmella untangled herself from Ilia, sitting up and turning towards Mata. She wiped her red, puffy eyes on the sides of her gloves in a vain attempt to hide the mess she'd just been. She opened her mouth to provide an explanation she hadn't even come up with yet, but was cut off by an aggravated, yet familiar sounding, voice.
"You."
Carmella gave a quick "eep," as she turned to see the silver haired Huntress from earlier approaching with a stern look on her face, her blonde accomplice not far behind, but wearing a much more sympathetic expression. Both Ilia and Carm hopped up to their feet, the former giving the approaching pair a strange look.
Neither Huntress appeared seriously hurt, a little dirty maybe, especially Maybelle, who looked like she'd been using herself as a projectile when fighting the monsters. Nichols half cape looked like it had been torn in the scuffle, however the orange scarf around her neck had somehow managed to remain in pristine condition, almost like she'd prioritized its safety above the rest of her outfit. The pair of Huntresses lack of injury was a relief to Carmella, and also impressive considering the two of them had thrown themselves into where the horde of Grimm had been the thickest. Although the safety of the pair seemed to do little to improve the silverette's disposition.
"I told you to stay on the truck," Nichol seethed, her jaw clenched as she stormed over to the trio of young faunus, her finger pointing accusatorially. "I let it slide because I didn't have time to babysit, but then I turn around and see every other teenager in Mistral with a weapon in their hands and half a brain cell in their head following your example and running around, throwing themselves headfirst into peril, and trying to do our job."
The tirade directed solely at Carmella had her wilting, her rabbit ears drooping low again, that is, until Ilia put an arm out in front of the other faunus, separating the brunette from Nichol's rampage, and giving the Huntress a cold look that dared her to continue. The silver haired woman seemed to be caught off guard for a moment by the chameleon girls sudden interference, before she returned the glare with her own. The two engaged in the most intense staring contest Carmella had ever witnessed, until Nichols tall blonde friend put one of her big, leather glove covered hands on the humans shoulder.
"Heh, heh, I think what Nicky here is trying to say, is that what you all did was reckless, but also very brave," May said in an attempt to defuse the situation.
Nichol shot the other Huntress a heated look. "They-"
"-Fought just as hard as we did," the cow eared faunus cut in, "and while we can't officially condone what they did, we can admit that we'd have been kinda screwed without them."
Nichol still didn't look convinced.
"Plus," May continued, "I'm pretty sure you can agree that we'd have done the same thing at their age." The muscular blonde smirked, "In fact, I'm almost positive we did, multiple times. Am I wrong?"
That seemed to get through to the Huntress in silver, who let out a huff of resignation. "I... suppose you're right..." she admitted. "Just please, leave it to the professionals next time."
Maybelle's grin grew wider, and she leaned down to whisper in her teammates ear, while also making sure to speak loud enough that everyone in attendance could hear, "You know, it's okay to admit you were just worried about them."
The silverette huffed again- though it sounded much more agitated this time- before turning to leave, but then stopped a few feet away before looking back over her shoulder to speak to Carmella, "I suppose... I'm just glad you took my advice to heart... and didn't die, or whatever."
With that (sort of) compliment, Nichol continued walking away, leaving the trio of confused teenage faunus in her wake, while Maybelle looked amused.
The cow girl chuckled gruffly as she watched her partner leave. "I know it sounds weird, but I think that was the closest to a 'thank you' I've ever seen that girl give to a stranger before. But just in case it didn't sink in properly, let me give it a shot too, because I think I have more of a knack for it."
May turned to face the younger faunus', but looked squarely at Carmella. She put a hand on her hip, the other hoisting her giant club up on her shoulder. "Seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the help."
Carmella's eyes grew to saucers, and she felt her throat start to tighten. Oh man, she was gonna start crying again.
"I mean, like I said, officially? This is me scolding you for unlicensed Grimm hunting," the Huntress continued, putting on an authoritative looking face for only a second, before it was wiped away and replaced with the same smirk from earlier, "but off the record? This whole situation could have gone a lot worse if you and the rest of those kids hadn't stepped in. We just didn't expect to see so much activity on this trip. Usually these roads are pretty safe."
The Huntress sighed, turning to look off towards the shadow filled woods just off of the path with a dark look in her eyes. "I don't know... things just seem... worse out here lately. More Grimm in more places they shouldn't be..." However, when May looked back towards the group, she made sure her radiant smile had returned. "So in that case, I guess it's a good thing we've got Huntsmen like you in the works to help us out! Just, y'know, maybe wait until after graduation before you try anything this stupid again?" she added, punctuating her sentence with a wink.
So yeah, this was officially the coolest scolding Carmella had ever received in her life. She still wasn't sure just how much help she'd actually been, but to have her efforts recognized by an honest to goodness Huntress? The rabbit girl subtly gave her leg a quick pinch, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Maybelle," Nichol called out from several yards away, having stopped to wait for her cow eared companion. "We've got to report back on what happened here."
"Ugh. Paperwork. Joy," the blonde Huntress bemoaned. "Anyway, you kids keep up the good work. I'd also tell you to stay out of trouble, but I have a feeling it would be about as effective as it was on me when I heard it back when I was your age. Catch you later!"
May rushed off to catch up with Nichol. As the two walked away, Carmella's sharp ears were able to pick up the tail end of their conversation.
"You know, Nichol, you're waaaay better at filing reports than I am, so you think that maybe-"
"No."
"What!? You didn't even let me finish!"
"I didn't need you to. You'll be filing your own paperwork when we get back, May."
"... Fine..."
"You know moping won't get it done any faster, and the sooner we do it, the sooner you can get back to Oreonna. I swear, the two of you get unbearably wistful and mopey when you're on separate assignments."
"Oh yeah? What about you?"
"What about me? I'm more than happy to have a few days to myself, away from that orange haired nuisance."
"Really? So you're telling me you're not 'missing his adorable puppy ears' right now?"
"W-what?! H-how'd you-"
"You told me a few nights ago, remember? At the bar? When we shared that bottle of Vacuoin brandy? You got all misty eyes talking about him."
"... I am never drinking with you again."
"Oh come on, Nicky. It was cute."
"... You will speak nothing of this. Understood?"
"Awwww, but I bet it would make Oran's day to hear how much his wifey-poo missed him when she's away."
"You. Will. Speak. Nothing. Of. This."
"I don't know... I might forget to keep quiet with all those reports I have to file when we get back..."
"Seriously?"
"... No, we both know I wouldn't actually do that, but please, Nichol? I'm so bad at it, and you're so smart. and organized... and pretty, and-"
"It honestly astounds me sometimes that they chose you to lead our team back in school, but... fine. I will help you turn in your reports. HELP. Are we clear?"
"Yes! Thank you, Nichol! I promise this is the last time I ask for help."
"I've never believed anything you've said less than I do that."
"Love you too, Nicky."
The conversation continued on and on until eventually they were out of even Carmella's impressive range of hearing. The two Huntress' seemed really close, practically like siblings, given how easily they teased one another. It made the rabbit girl smile to see that even in a profession as dangerous and serious as theirs, that there was still room for bonds like that to grow. Again, she found her ever increasing admiration for the job evolve even more.
Carmella was pulled out of her reverie by Mata roughly and insistently poking her in the back of her shoulder. She turned to the ram faunus, confused, to see him gesturing off to the side, towards Ilia, who was currently walking away from the other two teens without so much as a word.
The rabbit girl could only stare in disbelief at first. After everything that had just happened; the horror of the Grimm attack, the two of them fighting side by side, Carmella's several near death experiences, and Ilia's even nearer one, all of that, piled on top of the events of last night, and Ilia was still refusing to talk to her about why she was acting the way she was. And now, the chameleon girl thought she could just walk away? Absolutely not.
Her frustration finally boiling over at the other faunus' complete lack of communication, Carmella stormed after Ilia. She reached out and grabbed the spotted girl by her shoulder, making her stop in her tracks and forcing her to turn sideways to face her. Ilia looked back in surprise at the usually bubbly and cheerful girls aggravated expression, her brow furrowed, clenched teeth visible inside her slightly open mouth, her fingers digging almost painfully into her arm. She'd never seen Carmella look at her that way before.
However, just as it looked like the rabbit faunus was about to dig into Ilia, the mask of anger she wore cracked, her eyebrows inverting, and her mouth turning to a frown, as the frustration and agitation on her face morphed into sadness and desperation. She knew that yelling at the chameleon girl right now wouldn't help, even if a part of her really wanted to.
"Ilia..." Carmella started, swallowing a heavy lump in her throat, "please, just talk to me."
Somehow, the pained look on the rabbit faunus' face hurt Ilia more than it would have if Carm had just yelled at her. This isn't what the spotted girl wanted, but then again, what she'd wanted at the moment wasn't exactly the right thing to do.
What Ilia wanted more than anything was for this to be easy, for her to just disappear completely from Carmella's life, to become a distant- if painful- memory. She didn't want her own selfish feelings to hold the other faunus back from her home, from her family... from her life. She wanted this to be easy, but Carmella was just too... stubbornly fixated on her for that to be a possibility. So it looked like it was going to have to be the hard way then.
The chameleon girl shrugged off Carm's hand, which fell away lifelessly now that the long eared faunus' grip had softened. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath in order to keep her emotions in check for what came next. The last thing she needed was her faunus trait betraying just how difficult this was for her.
"There's nothing left to talk about, Carmella," Ilia began, barely managing to turn to face the other teen behind her. "You're going home. That's... what's best for everyone."
Carmella's heart cracked down the middle, nearly splitting in two. Those were exactly the words she hadn't wanted to hear. She could try and fight them, twist them however she wanted to, but the truth was undeniable now; Ilia didn't want her to stay, and by extension, didn't want to be with Carmella, period.
Whatever there was between them, whether it was friendship, a shared interest, or even love, it clearly wasn't strong enough to keep the two of them together, not yet anyway.
Their relationship had been severed by the time limit of the militia's visit to Mistral. Maybe if the two of them had longer together, things could have been different, but that was only a fantasy. No matter how much Carmella wanted to prolong it, the inevitable proved to be just that, and it was time to return to reality.
Ilia gave one final look at the heartbroken rabbit faunus, her face betraying none of the guilt and sadness that was ravaging the ponytailed girls own heart in that moment. Although, for only a fraction of a second, the blue of her eyes seemed to shift to a darker, more somber tone, before the chameleon faunus took a quick breath and they returned to normal.
"... I'm sorry," the Ilia said quietly, before turning and walking back to her assigned vehicle without another word.
There was a moment, a flash of indignation in Carmella as Ilia turned away, that made her want to chase after Ilia, refuse to let her get away, but she was stopped when she noticed the back of the chameleon girls dark colored stealth suit.
The three long slash marks left by the Alpha Beowolf had torn through Ilia's tough looking, leather outfit like it was nothing. They went across, the first claw mark starting from the right side of the back of the faunus' neck and down to her left side, the other two following the same pattern. There was no sign of any bleeding, thanks to that "Jaune" guy, which reminded Carmella she'd never actually thanked him, but that wasn't what had stopped her.
Beneath the suit, just barely visible through the torn parts, were the scars that Ilia tried so desperately to hide. That was when Carm realized that now the chameleon faunus had three more of them.
Because of her.
Carmella might not have been the one holding the blade this time, like Adam, like the man Carm despised so much for hurting Ilia, but it had been her fault, there was no way the rabbit faunus could deny that. It was because of her own inaction, her own inexperience, and now Ilia would carry the mark of Carmella's failure forever.
And after that, there was just... nothing. Carmella watched in silence as the other faunus walked away. She was too devastated to go after her, or even feel anything in that moment. A numbness had washed over the rabbit girls entire body, so she just remained frozen in place, even after Ilia had disappeared into the truck.
Thankfully Mata was there. He put a hand on his friends shoulder and said something, probably trying to console Carmella, but the words seemed to bounce right off her. Then, after a moment he began to guide her back to their transport before the convoy left without them. Carmella's mind remained in its fog even as Mata sat her down and buckled her back in, just as the transport's engines roared back to life and it continued on its way.
The bumpy ride resumed, and slowly but surely, cold, cruel, creeping, reality finally began to catch up with Carmella. She let out a slow, shuddering breath, putting her hands on her knees, feeling like her entire body was about to crumble and collapse on itself.
Again though, Mata was there. He wrapped one of his giant arms arm around Carmella and pulled her closer to himself. A reminder that he was there for her, even if he had no idea what to say right now.
The rabbit girl looked up at the ram faunus with wide, golden eyes and a face full of utter despair. Then the dam finally broke. With an anguished sob, Carmella collapsed herself into the other teens massive chest and wept, her fingers tightly gripping Mata's white t-shirt. Without missing a beat, the bigger faunus held Carm and gently pat her back, wearing his own sad expression on his face.
Some of the other passengers on the transport noticed the sobbing rabbit faunus being comforted, but most of them didn't pay her much mind, assuming the Grimm attack had just been too much for the poor girl to bear. They weren't far off with that assumption, but while the monstrous assault would definitely leave its own mental scars, what happened in the wake of that battle had been infinitely more devastating.
In a moment of desperation, Carmella reached out once more to Ilia through their connection...
... But there was nothing. Not even static this time, or some feeling of proximity to comfort her. Just nothing. A completely severed link.
Carmella closed her eyes as she clung tightly to Mata, her tears continuing to soak through the other faunus' shirt. There was nothing else left for her to do. First fate had decided to separate Ilia and her, and now, it really felt like the final nail had been hammered in, by the chameleon faunus herself.
This was the end, and all Carmella could do was cry, and accept it.
Meanwhile, on a transport a few trucks behind the one Carmella was in, Ilia was facing a similar emotional breakdown. The only difference however, was the spotted girl had no one there comforting her.
All she was surrounded by was other faunus that were whispering quietly amongst themselves about the attack that had just happened. Some of the whispers were even directed at Ilia herself, after a few of the passengers witnessed the former White Fang member helping fight off the beasts. No one really seemed to know what to make of that, and even then, Ilia could still hear the distrust in their hushed voices.
Ilia didn't care though. She just sat there, sitting sideways on her seat- because of course the ones next to her were empty- as she stared blankly out the window, her chin resting on one of her closed fists.
It didn't matter what any of the faunus on this truck thought of her, or anyone else for that matter, not anymore. She'd proven them all wrong just now. They all thought she was some villain that was only out for herself, that she was selfish, and any good she'd done was only out of self preservation. They had no idea that the chameleon girl they'd ostracized and written off as just another bad egg had just done the most unselfish, righteous, and painful thing she'd ever done;
She'd let Carmella go.
That was what good people did- what heroes did- they put others before themselves, made hard choices to make other peoples lives better, even when often all they were left with was nothing but the comfort of knowing they'd done the right thing.
No matter what people might say or think about her now, Ilia would always know that she'd chosen Carmella's needs over her own. That when she could have been selfish and held the other faunus back, she'd chosen to do the hard thing instead, the thing no one had expected of her.
She was a good person. She knew that now. No one could ever take that away from her.
The ponytailed faunus reached up and wiped away at some wetness forming in the corner of her eye, her hand beginning to shake subtly, with hints of blue starting to travel down her fingertips, before she re-clenched her fist and placed it back under her chin.
She'd done the right thing...
... but wasn't it supposed to feel better than this?
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A/N- Alright! Hop on Spots enthusiasts! How we feeling?
(A flaming trash can gets thrown at my head)
Okay, yeah, that's fair.
See you in a few months lol.