Standing in the middle of the settlement, Kagami narrowed her eyes at Neon. The sun was blazing down and burning her shoulders through her cloak. Feeling relief from the heat as a cloud trailed overhead, she took a deep breath. It was time to move fast.
She shifted her hand over the strap on her right thigh and leaned forward into a ready position. Just as the cloud moved away, both she and the Faunus quickly moved.
Neon was quick on the draw. He had his weapon out and aiming before he even saw a weapon in the girl's hand. He had already decided where to shoot. There were plenty of nonlethal spots he could hit. With a growing grin, he squeezed his trigger and fired a single shot.
She flexed her jaw as she heard the bullet fire. Instantly, she shifted her hips around to reposition herself as she flicked her left wrist. A blade shot from her bracer and ricocheted against the bullet. She quickly took a step forward. Her cloak fluttered back, revealing the strap on her thigh to be Elise's knife.
"Huh?!" The Faunus took a step back.
Exhaling, Kagami shot a second ballistic knife that flew past his head. He whipped his head to the side to see where it went and partially laughed as it lodged itself into a wooden table.
Rolling her eyes, she pulled back on her left arm. With a purple glow coming from her bracer, she smiled.
The table softly shook for a second before it was pulled back by the blade stuck in it. Seeing the table flying at him, Neon ducked down. "Hah!" He laughed as he stood back up. "What was that supposed to-"
Running up towards the table flying at her, Kagami jumped up and braced her feet against it. After retrieving her blade, she pushed the table back at him. As it collided with his body, he fell back and the legs of the table dug into the sand and pinned him.
Twisting around, she held out her arm as her second blade came back to her. "Scatter and regroup!" She shouted towards her team before sprinting off into the side pathways of the settlement.
Elise blinked and stared in disbelief for a second. "Did she just..." She trailed off. "That's not how a duel works!" She waved her hands before noticing Neon forcing himself up and a few other members of the tribe all reaching for their weapons. "Oh." She slumped before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
With a sigh, Cheyenne spun around and ran off. "Come on, Kris!"
"Ugh." The redhead groaned. "What if we just let them catch us and they fly us back to that blonde wretch??" She held out her arms before yelping as a bullet grazed her shoulders. "Never mind!" She shouted as she darted off in the other direction.
As Kris ran between the makeshift homes, she stumbled upon someone's laundry hanging out to dry in the sun. Though it didn't take long and with just the sunlight from the morning everything was already dry.
"Ooh..." She skidded to a stop beside a long red jacket with multiple buttons and a tall collar. "Hello." She flipped up the hood of Kagami's hoodie and snatched the jacket. She instantly pulled it on and fastened all the buttons before pulling the green hood back down. "Oh hello indeed." She whistled while looking herself up and down.
"Hey!" A voice shouted.
With a yelp, she stumbled before sprinting away. "Thank you for contributing to the Kris Needs Clothes Foundation! Your donation is heavily appreciated!"
"Hold on!" A blonde man leaned out of his window and waved a mechanical arm around. "Come on! At least listen to how you're supposed to wash it correctly before you steal it!" He sighed as she disappeared around a corner. Slouching, he leaned into the windowsill. "Wonder what she's running from."
Running between several tents, Kagami took as many turns as she possibly could to lose anyone who might be following her. Seeing a shadow, she skidded to a stop and extended the blade on her bracer.
"Whoa, easy now." Brik held up his hands. "You're quick. That's not something easily taught."
"Good for me." She took a step back.
"Two minutes?" He took a step back as well.
Exhaling, she lowered her bracer and pulled back her blade. "Two minutes."
With a small nod, he slowly reached behind him and pulled off a hefty backpack. "Gran packed enough food for you lot for a week. Even for that weird friend of yours." He carefully set it down at his feet and stepped away. "There's as much water as we could spare too."
Kagami couldn't help but narrow her eyes. "Really?"
"Yes." He nodded.
Cautiously, she walked over and peeked inside the bag. He wasn't lying. She furrowed her brow before glancing up. "Why help? You can't tell me you don't want the lien."
"What man wouldn't want that much?" Brik chuckled and crossed his arms. "Out here though, it doesn't help that much. I'd rather have someone who owes me one. Never know when you'd need help from a friend."
She scoffed as he smiled at her. "Sure." She hauled the bag over her shoulders and stepped back. "You could just ask nicely for a favor though. Don't need to put me in your debt."
"You're going to need to change if you're wanting to make it out here." He waved his hand. "You can't act like that."
"Watch me." She smiled back before giving a small nod. "Thanks though." She waved before rushing off.
Watching her, Brik let out a sigh and shook his head. "They're going to need a whole lot more than just luck." He mumbled to himself before waking back towards the middle of the settlement. He'd have his work cut out for him to calm everyone down.
Out in the barren wastelands, team MACE finally regrouped. They were far enough away from the settlement that they couldn't see it anymore.
"Well that went well." Kris exhaled with the green hood pulled over her head to block the sun.
"Kris..." Cheyenne took a few deep breaths as they walked along mindlessly towards the west. "Shut up."
The redhead blinked a few times in her direction before going quiet.
Walking up beside her leader, Elise moved her hands behind her back. "Do you want me to carry that backpack for a while?"
"It's fine." Kagami took a deep breath. Her hair was tucked inside the hood of her cloak. "And hey. Here." She handed her sheathed knife over.
"You know, that was pretty smart of you." She grinned. She took her weapon and started to hop on one foot as she strapped it back to her ankle. "Whoever said never bring a sword to a gunfight clearly never met you."
She smiled at the comment and slowly nodded. "It was pretty clever, huh? I was definitely faking it until I made it." She laughed.
"Well you did a great job at it." The brunet smiled when she saw her smile. She stepped a little closer and nudged her. "But maybe next time how about we avoid the bounty hunters rather than outsmarting them."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." She took a deep breath while swiping the sweat from her forehead.
The four girls walked for hours and hours. They only rested when the sun would go down and even then it was hard to. The worry of Grimm sneaking up on them only brought more Grimm towards them. And after a not restful sleep, they'd get up to walk for hours on end again.
Several days passed and they still felt like they weren't getting any closer to the Kingdom. It didn't help that they hadn't seen anyone else since leaving Brik's settlement.
Even Elise couldn't keep a smile on her face as the sun blazed down on all of them. They were all burning alive, dirty and soaked in sweat. No one was happy.
After a morning of utterly demoralizing walking, Kris stood up a little taller as she narrowed her eyes at the horizon. "Is that... a village?" She quietly asked. She had been on the verge of heatstroke along with the rest of her friends and couldn't tell if she was hallucinating or not.
"I... I think it is." Kagami perked up. She smiled even though it was hidden by the bandana around her face. Taking a few deep breaths, she started to walk a little faster. "Come on."
"You heard her." Elise couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she tightened the straps of the backpack. It wasn't nearly as heavy as it was when they first left.
They walked with a little more power in their steps as they made their way to the distant buildings. By the time they reached the settlement, it was growing dark. That didn't hide the fact the place looked run down and deserted. Sand was building up on the side of the small homes.
Gloom fell back over the team as they searched the place. Up at the front, Kagami ran her hand over a wooden sign that read Tagata. She assumed it was the name of the long gone tribe. On her way back to her friends, she noticed the claw marks that covered planks of wood throughout the settlement.
Entering one of the buildings that was in the best condition, she exhaled and pulled her hood down. "There's no one here." She nearly collapsed on the floor as she sat down. "Everyone who lived here is long gone."
"On the bright side," Cheyenne swallowed a bit as she started preparing dinner rations, "the tribe that lived here left in a hurry. We might be able to scavenge more food and water."
"And actually rest with a roof over our heads." Elise let out an exhausted sigh as she laid on her back. "I don't think I've ever walked so much in my entire life."
Kris flashed her a look. "That's not..." She shook her head and ignored her. "It will be nice to sleep under a roof though." She glanced up at the ceiling.
"We'll stay here for a few days then. Have a better look around when it's daylight out." Kagami kicked off her shoes and shook the sand out of them.
"I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. Nobody wake me. Please." Elise closed her eyes and moved an arm across her face. "Please..."
"Don't worry." Kris yawned as she nudged her. "I'll make sure nobody does."
Cheyenne let out a very soft laugh before blinking. Tilting her head back, she glanced outside as she saw something glinting in the moonlight.
Seeing this, Kagami looked over. "What did you see?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." The Faunus shook her head. "It might just be my imagination. I'm really tired."
"Hmm." She slowly exhaled and narrowed her eyes. She was just about to relax when she too saw something flicker.
Her eyes widened as she shot to her feet. She took two steps in front of Cheyenne just as a throwing knife silently passed through a broken window. Reaching out, she snatched it mid air and quickly tossed it back through the window.
Outside, a man from Mistral with a bun calmly caught the blade between two fingers. He kept his eyes narrowed as he spun it around and carefully slid the knife into his bun. "You do not belong here." He mumbled. Reaching behind him, he carefully pulled out a katana. The sheath was wrapped in fabric that had clearly seen better days. "Leave now. Or I will make you." He readied himself.
Slowly breathing in, Kagami closed her eyes. "Listen. We've had a very long week. We don't want to fight you." She held up her hands and stepped away from the window and towards the door. "We just want a place to rest. No one is living here anyway so-" She cut herself off and took a step back as an arrow hit the ground by her feet.
"Just because no one lives here does not mean this place is for the taking." A man on a rooftop with coyote ears and a mohawk narrowed his eyes. His face was covered in war paint which made his expression harder to read. "These homes still belong to people whether they are breathing or not. Not like raiders like you would care." He took aim with his bow.
Staring, Kagami's brow twitched. She very slowly breathed in before heavily exhaling.
"Well if she's not going to say it I will." Kris grabbed her weapons as she stood up. "I saw we kill them!" Her temper flared.
"Perhaps not kill." Cheyenne narrowed her eyes as she grabbed her club. "But prove to them that we are staying here." She was not going to sleep out in the sands again tonight.
"Agreed." Elise pulled out her rifle as she stood.
"You hear that?" Kagami glanced between the two men. "It's already been decided. So why don't you just let us be? Please?"
The man with a katana slowly blinked. Suddenly, he lunged forward while going in for a swing to strike her down.
Sighing, Kagami grabbed the handle of her sword. "Gods, I hate Vacuo."