Chapter 10

[Melanie Malachite]

"C'mon lad and galls. Keep moving!" the madman ordered while cackling at their suffering.

'This is hell!' Melanie exclaimed in her head not for the first time in the past half an hour. With a quick duck, she dodged the brutal swing of the shadow Ursa in front of her. As the beast's limb passed above her head Melanie rose her leg vertically upwards in a feat of acrobatics that few people would have the necessary flexibility to replicate.

Her bladed heel connected with the creature's armpit, destabilizing it even more. It wasn't a killing blow, but it was enough for her sister to gain enough of an opening to cleave through the Ursa's neck. The monster's head then proceeded to fall harmlessly on the ground while the body collapsed beside it.

It was a short-lived victory, however, when both of them had to dodge the pack of shadow Beowolfs at their back with no time to even breathe. The monsters tag-teamed them in a way that reminded Melanie of herself and her sister. No opening or respite was given as the wolf monsters slashed and bit in their direction. A coordinated dance that they could do nothing against but slowly lose ground and accumulate small hits to their Aura.

It was still manageable, but Melanie knew it wouldn't remain like that for long as she eyed the previously dead Ursa dissolve into its own shadow and return toward the man overseeing their "training". Said man had the gall to smirk at them as his own shadow expanded once again, two more Ursas coming out and rushing towards them quickly pressuring them even more.

The worst part of all was that Melanie thought the older man was kind of hot.

Quickly pushing those thoughts away to focus back on the fight, she realized that they would have to pull a full retreat if nothing changed soon. While Melanie and her twin had been trained in the art of assassination by some of the best teachers out there, their specialty lay on dealing with human opponents, not Grimm, which made the exercise far harder than it should. Hell, they weren't even trained to face people with aura. They were bouncers and enforcers, they barely got to fight trained normal people, let alone grimm or huntsmen.

Both of them were saved by their companion in torture that was thinly veiled as a training exercise. The teenager swiftly moved off to the side and pelted one of the Beowolfs with bullets while slashing another's neck with the blade of one of his machine pistols. It was done just in time for them to finish off the last two of the creatures and turn back towards the newly spawned Ursas. She could already see the shadow Grimms swiftly evaporating and returning towards the man that had ruined her afternoon.

"What took you so long?" she asked imperiously. Idly, she hid the relief in her voice at seeing someone else join them.

"Was slightly preoccupied," was all he said as both of them turned to see even more shadows arrive at the man and swiftly be expelled again in the form of Boarbatusks. It was almost double what the man had already been fighting.

'Just how much Aura does this guy have?' Melanie wondered gobsmacked at the way the man just kept summoning shadow Grimm after shadow Grimm at them. It seemed like he could go on forever which… Admittedly gave her ideas she didn't have the time to entertain.

"First time?" the teenager deadpanned at her.

"What does it take for this to be over?" her sister asked with a slight waver in her voice at the new batch of Grimm quickly closing in on them.

"Usually, I just bear with it until Mr. Blackwood gets bored, or I pass out."

"Great. So this is just for him to get off on his sadism?" Melanie snarked.

"Come on, guys. If you have time to talk, you have time to fight!" Blackwood told them, his shadow letting out a number of Beringel. All three of them whimpered at the sight. That only seemed to make the man laugh. "I can always join myself if you are having an easy time though, just let me know!"

"There's no need, Mr. Blackwood!" the teen that was "training" with them answered quickly, his face pale. Not that Melanie blamed him, really. She could only imagine what a monster the man was if just fighting his semblance creatures was a nightmare in and of itself. "Listen, there is another way to stop this. I am fairly sure that Mr. Blackwood has some kind of lesson that he is trying to teach us." The teen continued as he dodged the Ursa that tried to ram into him.

"Fairly sure?!" She asked while dealing with the second Ursa. Her sister was in reserve to aid her in case one of the new Grimms tried to flank either of them. "Isn't he your teacher? Shouldn't you at least have an idea?"

"Well, Mr. Blackwood tends to prefer a more… practical approach to his teachings," the teenager, who she just now remembered was called Ren, said over the sound of gunshots and roars. "He wants us to do or learn something. If we figure it out, he will stop the Grimms."

"And that is?" Melanie prompted. She was already getting tired. Her aura was still above halfway, but with the ever-increasing tide of Grimm, she reckoned that wouldn't last for long. Besides, aura didn't magically give you free stamina. You could still theoretically get exhausted even while having full reserves, if that wasn't the case, most Huntsmans or Huntresses would be able to fight constantly as long as they didn't get touched.

"I haven't figured it out yet," the teen admitted. His face pulled into a grimace as a new batch of Beowolves was slowly getting created. Eight of them this time. She knew the grinning bastard was doing it dramatically on purpose. Melanie had learned, after all, that Blackwood could spawn them almost instantly.

"So, that's how you guys want it, huh?" the sadistic bastard commented then, making all three of them stiffen. Not only because of what he said but also because of the fact that he seemed to have gone from all the way behind the Grimm horde in front of them to right at their backs. "I guess I can play too, if you guys think this is too easy."

"There's no-" Miltia started, only to be interrupted by a dagger slashing at her. She barely stopped it with her claws, but that was only because Blackwood let her. None of the three of them had any doubts, after all, that the man could kick their asses in a matter of seconds… and that was being very generous, probably.

Melanie's attention was stolen before she could try to go and help her twin when a Grimm's claw swiped at her. Ren didn't seem to be faring much better than her, being occupied by two Beringel. 'Come on, just die already,' she thought, kicking at the offending Beowolf by her side. She needed to help Miltia or Blackwood would bully her into the ground.

He could probably bully both of them just as easily, but that'd be preferable, at least. Miltia and her might not be the best behaved girls around, but they had always helped each other through life. They'd had to, having grown in as dangerous a world as they had.

"Your sister won't always be there to cover your ass," she heard Blackwood say. "What are you going to do now? Get your ass kicked and nothing else?" the man continued speaking, all the while she heard the clash of blade against blade. "That's kind of pathetic, don't you think?"

"Oi, assho-" Melanie called, not about to just let the bastard just say stuff like that to her sister. However, an Ursa she hadn't seen smacked her against the ground with its paw. She wanted to say something, but the shadowy creature simply pressed its limb on top of her chest, leaving her unable to do anything else other than gasp for air.

"Now what?" Blackwood asked. "You gonna stand here?" he continued, and Melanie heard the strongest clash so far. "Do something," he hissed, and she heard something hitting a tree some distance away. "Or don't. It doesn't really matter to me."

The Ursa that was pressing her down then swatted her to the side like one would a fly, sending her off rolling on the ground. When she stopped, Melanie pushed herself off the ground to see Ren struggling a lot with his own Grimm opponents and Miltia still fighting with Blackwood, if further away, almost going into the forest.

As quickly as possible, she rushed towards them. Her sister needed her, after all. She just needed to be careful not to get caught by the Gri- 'Motherfucker,' he growled internally when a small army of the shadow creatures got in her way. Evidently, the asshole really didn't want her to get in the way.

'This was a bad idea,' she thought, snarling as she tried to fight her way through the Semblance-generated monsters. Sure, things had been getting progressively more dangerous with the gangs in Vale, but that didn't mean they were desperate enough to be tortured by the bastard that had started it all.

That was something to consider once things were over and they actually could do something to stop it all. Then and there, Melanie just wanted to help her sister. Preferably before Blackwood could do something to really upset her, she hoped.

She wasn't getting anywhere fast, however. Instead, all she could do was watch helplessly as Miltia struggled to even hold her group. Her twin only hoped to not be humiliated to hell and back and was getting some help… Unfortunately, it didn't look like she'd get that anytime soon, even if Melanie wanted nothing more than to provide that for her.

At some point, however, the red-clad girl seemed to have enough, however. Melanie watched as her usually more meek sister threw herself at Blackwood. She saw the shine of red coming from her aura blocking the man's dagger before she drove both of her claws at the huntsman's chest. Pushing forward, she then slashed Blackwood's midsection before twisting her body to continue past him.

As she did… their trainer simply stood there, frozen even as the Grimm continued pushing on Melanie and Ren. Miltia was left alone though and she couldn't figure out why, even as she continued trying to get to her sister. Her twin stood there, as if unsure of what to do now that she wasn't being continuously assaulted by daggers.

Then Blackwood laughed.

"That's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed in between cackles, twirling one of his blades in his hand as he turned to look at Miltia. "That was perfect. Didn't expect you to just throw yourself and just eat the attack, but that was great anyway," he commented, slowly stepping towards Miltia while the girl stepped back. "I think I like you."

"Poor girl," Melanie heard Ren comment.

"Anyway, I think it's your sister's time for a personal lesson," Blackwood said and Miltia squeaked as the Grimm moved away from Melanie towards her. 'That was a lesson?!' the white-clad twin thought, eyes wide with disbelief. That is, before she finished processing the statement she'd just heard. 'Oh fu-' she started cursing before having to jump away from a slash.

She didn't have a second to get her feet under her before the second dagger was directed at her. That's how a dance began, in which she desperately tried to avoid daggers while Blackwood effortlessly seemed to be able to press her just enough. He was fast and precise enough not to leave her a single opening, but skillful enough not to actually reach the point in which he was hitting her.

"I can do this all day," the man commented casually without so much as slowing down. "Can you?"

No, she couldn't.

'What kind of fucking lesson is this?' she thought despairingly.

[}-o-{]

[Miltiades Malachite]

"I think I get it," she heard Ren say from somewhere to her side as she clawed at a nearby Creep. A moment later, she almost jumped when she felt something touching her back. Her arm was already rearing to attack whatever that was. Until she realized that it was Ren, that is.

"Could have warned me, Zen Boy," she hissed.

"Sorry," the Mistrali young man replied, his voice calm even as he battled with the Grimm at her back. "I think I figured out the lesson here."

"I'm all ears," she muttered through her teeth as she blocked an Ursa's swipe.

"He wants your sister and you to learn how to fight independently from each other," he told her, making Miltia blink. "And he wants me to fight together with you. Or, at least, together with someone other than Nora."

"Your girlfriend?"

"We are not like that."

"Suuure," she said, wanting to roll her eyes but being too busy fighting shadowy Grimm to be able to. She guessed the boy's words held some merit. Melanie and her did depend on each other a whole lot, but wasn't teamwork supposed to be good? Then again, she wasn't the veteran huntsman there, so she supposed she shouldn't try to question things.

It was kind of difficult when the man was that much of an asshole though.

She didn't have much time to ponder on that or much of anything else, unfortunately. Miltia was entirely too busy fighting shadowy fake grimm, after all. Even with Ren having her back as best he could, it didn't help much. Probably because Blackwood, asshole that he was, pushed them just enough to be a pain in the ass and a half.

On top of that… it wasn't like the boy could replace Melanie and she imagined she couldn't replace the guy's girlfriend either. They just weren't used to each other's style of fighting. Like the moment when he shot his pistols entirely too close to her, making her jump. Or the time both of them slashed at the same grimm even though it was on her side.

'I guess I can see his point a little,' she mused, glancing to the side to see her sister in a position not unlike the one she'd been in before. Blackwood kept slashing at her, missing or going just slow enough to be blocked. Miltia hadn't known if to be grateful that he held back or annoyed at how much he seemed to need to.

He looked like she imagined she would if she were play-fighting with a child.

… Not that she'd ever do that, but still.

Melanie didn't look like she was having a better time herself, really. Unfortunately for her twin, Miltia didn't quite have the room to try to help her. Furthermore, if Ren was right – and she was inclined to agree –, then they had no chance of succeeding in having each others' back. They'd just have to suck it up and deal with it, she supposed.

The second time she almost slashed Ren's arm, Miltia growled.

"You shoot, I slash, unless it's right in front of your face," she hissed, cutting through a Creep's arm.

"We can try that, I guess," the boy replied with a nod, sounding entirely too calm for someone that had been pushed and pushed for who the fuck knew how long. It was almost as annoying as the burning muscles and the aching bruises were for Miltia.

Hei better be fucking grateful, she decided. It was his fault that they were there. If not for him, then maybe Blackwood wouldn't have dragged them all for "training"... And he was also the only one Melanie and her would be able to get some payback on. Not like they could make Blackwood pay, or try anyway.

They weren't suicidal, after all.

Fortunately, much to her relief and probably Ren's, her "plan", if it could be called that, worked out fairly well. They still were a breath away from getting their asses kicked, but that was an entire breath more than they'd had before. It was a little sad, that not getting constantly bombarded by blows and barely putting up a fight were an improvement, but that was life for Miltia at that moment, she supposed.

'Fucking Blackwood and fucking gangs,' she grumbled internally, blocking an Ursa's paw with her claws while Ren shot at it from behind her. They were getting better at working together as time passed, at least. 'I didn't come here to fucking be a huntress-in-training. I'd have joined Beacon if that were the case,' she continued complaining, taking out her frustrations on the nearest shadow grimm.

This was all her mother's fault for sending both Melanie and her to Vale. The worst part was that they had failed miserably and now they were both stuck here… probably forever. 'Which really fucking sucks,' she thought to herself, scowling at the nearest fake grimm before striking at it.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" said Blackwood then and Miltia looked up just in time to see her sister being kicked away from the huntsman. "You are getting the hang of it, I think. Time to switch again, what say you, Red?" he asked, his black eyes locking on Miltia.

"I'd rather-" she started, before being interrupted. There was a sharp sound as she blocked the man's dagger with both her claws, being pushed back all the same. She grit her teeth, doing her best to hold the position even as her arms burned.

"It's cute that you think you have a choice," the man commented, grinning widely.

'Fuck my life,' Miltia whined internally as she was suddenly put back where she'd been before, in the not at all enviable position of having to spar with Blackwood herself. She loved her sister, dearly and with all her heart… But couldn't she have held the man's attention a little more?

[}-o-{]

[Hei Xiong]

"Fucking hell," Hei huffed, his club in his hand but he could do little else other than holding its handle and letting the other end rest on the ground. His arms burned; his lungs burned; even his brain burned.

"Alright," Astra said, not a drop of sweat on him. "I think that is a good enough first session to gauge your current level."

"First session? Gauge?!" Hei exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing, especially the second part. And if he had any say in the matter, even the first one. Although, chances were that he wouldn't have any. "You almost killed me!"

"I did no such thing," Astra denied, lying through his teeth. Hei had seen his life flash before his eyes more than once. "Now, stop whining already and behave yourself. Nora is decades your junior and I don't see her complaining."

At that, he looked at the red haired girl lying on the floor to the side.

"She is not even conscious," he pointed out flatly.

Astra looked at his "student" and poked her with his foot. The teen didn't so much as twitch. To his slight credit, the huntsman did seem a bit sheepish about that, but not at all concerned or anything.

"She is okay," Astra replied, rolling his eyes as if Hei were being dramatic or something. "Nora recovers faster than most. She will be back to her exuberant self in no time at all," he added, giving the girl another tap with his food and getting no response at all again.

"... If you say so…" Hei said, giving up on that. It didn't seem like he was going anywhere fast on that front. Too tired to do much else, he dropped his club and picked up the bottle of water that Silver had thrown his way before to drink from. "... So…" he started, knowing that it was likely a bad idea. And yet, years of habit wouldn't let him not do so. "... What's your story?"

"... I beg your pardon?" Astra asked, blinking at Hei as if he were asking a different language.

"What is your story?" he repeated, more confidently this time. At least Astra didn't seem to have reacted anywhere close to how he'd expected. Then again, there was a reason why Hei had decided to ask him and not Blackwood. "I mean, I pride myself knowing all there is to know around Vale. And I can assure you that I have found no information about you two. Given how strong you are, that is sort of strange."

There wasn't even the smallest bit of lies there. It was so incredibly frustrating for him, who had a reputation of knowing everything, to not be able to find out anything about either of the two men. Sure, he knew a lot of things about their time since they arrived at Vale, but before that day when they entered his club, the two might as well not have existed.

"Why the sudden interest?" Astra asked, an eyebrow raised curiously. "Never thought you would ask us."

"Never asked before because your friend is a psycho… No offense," he explained with a weary shrug before taking another gulp of water. "You, on the other hand, look more calm. Or at least calm enough that I don't feel you will chop me up because you feel like it," he added. Although, he wasn't too sure about that last part. Astra seemed to be the calmer of the two, but Hei knew appearances could be deceiving.

"Fair enough," the huntsman replied with an amused grin forming on his face as he looked to the side, where Blackwood was poking at the boy, Lie, with his finger as if trying to wake him up. The twins lay on the ground some distance away, leaning against each other and likely unconscious too. 'Am I the only one awake after that hell training?' Hei wondered to himself. "Vince can be sort of… unpredictable at the best of times," Astra continued then, snapping Hei out of his thoughts.

"Unpredictable, he says," he couldn't help but grumble. Maybe he'd gotten hit a little too much and it had scrambled his thoughts. He would normally never take risks like he was at that moment.

"Unpredictable, is a word for it," Astra repeated with a chuckle. "… We aren't exactly from Vale," the huntsman added, earning Hei's undivided attention in an instant. He hadn't expected any kind of answer, if he were honest. Then again, that wasn't much of one, really."You could say that we are far far away from home now."

"Must be if I never heard about you two," he commented, trying to see if he could get anything else. Judging by the amused look Astra sent his way, the other man was aware of the attempt. Which only made it all the more interesting that he did explain further.

"You could say so," Astra said, looking to the side and up, over the treetops. "It is precisely the reason why we came to Vale, after all. We wanted to not be known anymore. A quiet retirement, if you would, after we were done."

"Done?…" Hei asked, blinking and tilting his head. "You look young to want to retire already, even by huntsman standards. Especially by… getting away as you say. That sounds… drastic," he commented, unsure of how to present the million questions he had in mind.

"... I guess you could say that, in a way, we fulfilled our roles," Astra answered, drawing a confused and incredulous look from Hei. Not only did that answer nothing at all, but it also sounded… weird. "We were presented with a challenge and rose against the odds. Because there wasn't anything else we could do. The story needed its heroes, the situation was desperate and nobody would step up. You could say we were made for the job," the man said with a rueful chuckle.

The man let his weapon fall… sort of. His gauntlet-chain-knife weapon was strange, but Hei had learned first hand how skilled the man was with it. The mere movement made him stiffen, even if the huntsman was just twirling the chain of it absently, the stinger-like knife at the end of it reminded him of a scorpion.

"So that is what we did," Astra continued, gaining Hei's attention once more. "We fought and fought and fought, and then fought some more… Until there weren't any villains to fight anymore, no bad guys, no monsters, no one. We'd won." Somehow, the way the man said that made it seem like the opposite had happened, however. "That day we looked behind us and saw all those battles we had been through, the adventures, and the hardships. All the friends and enemies we made and lost along the way. All the kept promises and foolish mistakes. All the ups and downs and realized…"

Hei wanted to ask questions, but at the same time… It felt wrong. Not because he was scared or because it'd get him less information, but because he was busy. He was busy remembering his own story, thinking about all that he'd done to get where he'd been. He thought about how high the Xiong empire had risen in the past and then… how low the fall had been.

"We realized that… it was enough," Astra continued, his lips pulling up into a sad smile as his weapon disappeared into thin air. "That we had done enough. We grew tired and empty. The story was over and the heroes weren't needed anymore. So one morning we just packed our things and… left."

"And you retired," Hei finished unnecessarily. In a way, he envied them. They'd done their fight and, when they couldn't anymore, they'd stopped. Then there was him, still fighting to keep a gang afloat when the world seemed determined to stomp it into the ground.

"Yes. I retired," Astra confirmed, although there was no need. Hei did notice that he didn't include Blackwood there, but he'd said "we" before, so… What was up with that? "I guess in a way it's not that bad," he added, looking fondly at the still unconscious Valkyrie.

"How do you know?" Hei asked, not quite keeping his emotions hidden. "How do you know when you have done enough?"

"You don't," Astra said, looking up at Hei with a sympathetic expression. "You keep going forward until you can't anymore, the end."

And that was the end of things, the forest returning to its usual calm.

In his mind, Hei was anything but, however.

[} Chapter End {]

Arc: Poor Nora and Ren, having to train with these two for more than a month by now. It is a miracle they aren't dead.

Adrian: It's probably good for them though. Same of the twins and Hei… again, probably. They likely don't see it that way, but who cares? Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ