Chapter 98 – Menagerie – Trial by Fire

Year 74VE, January

Cover Art by Mi Chumi


Shit… our bullcrap attracted Grimm.

Sarah glanced upstream to see Huntress Alenta leaned against a tree. She had her weapon in rifle form, and her finger was easing away from the trigger guard.

Wonder who she was planning to shoot, she thought through a sudden haze of adrenaline. But now, Daisy was examining her with narrowed eyes.


Over the previous minutes, Huntress Daisy Alenta had watched the entire bullshit pain train unfold, and hadn't said a word or made a move. She'd watched Vernal come back for the second sample kit, pause, and consider both the pot of stew and the smaller pot of boiling water. She saw Vernal pick up the mushrooms, and consider some more.

Neither choice was smart. One was an insult to the team. Both would cause SCRV to be down at least one team member. One choice might have them emergency evacuated, or force them to dip into emergency rations because of spoiled food.

She watched as Cinder escalated the situation instead of asking questions first. As she called Vernal a liar.

She watched as Vernal found Cinder Scoria's trigger, and whistled internally.

Daisy Alenta had spent over two decades as a Huntress. She'd seen a lot of team dynamics and traumatized Huntsmen. She knew some of what was going on here. She also knew about some of both Vernal and Cinder's background and personality.

It was very clear that both of them had crossed some red lines in that moment, and that Cinder was about to burn what was left of that line to ash. She prepared to intervene before it reached that point, with an Ice Dust round if required.

And then Sarah Tourmaline had taken the reins.

Daisy had apparently done such a good job at not intervening the entire day that Sarah had practically forgotten about her.

Which is the point.

And at that moment, Sarah Tourmaline proved, in Daisy's eyes, her worth as Team Leader. She put herself on the line, and she used her knowledge of her teammates to defuse a situation that was heading for trainwreck territory.

She was about to breathe a sigh of relief, when she heard the Dinwulf pack.

Looks like you get another opportunity to pass this mission after all.


"Alright, looks like the party's over!" Sarah yelled. "Get freaking ready! Rosso, you get Cinder up and cover her close in. Cinder, I need you, girlfriend." She locked eyes with her Bestie, and after a few seconds got a nod. That's my girl. "Take position here. You've got the best ranged attacks. Vernal, you have right flank. I'll take left. They've already got our 'scent', so they'll be coming in fast. Let's make a kill sack."

Rosso drew Woomeira, transitioned it to speargun / bladed pike configuration. He then handed Midnight to Cinder, who drew a shaking breath and eased over to the edge of the campsite, nocking an arrow as she sought the best defensible position.

Vernal just spat on the ground, nodded once, and drew Dark Harvest in pistol configuration.

They didn't have to wait long.

A dozen Dinwulfs broke from the trees at full speed. Each one was man-high on four feet, and twice that length with the build of a racing hound. Their entire upper skull was a solid bony plate, pierced only by nostrils, eye sockets, and two long, pointed, triangular ears. Their jaws sported saber-like teeth, built for grabbing, tearing, and holding prey.

Holding prey so they could bring their razor-sharp, six-inch dew claws into play, to eviscerate what they held with their jaws.

A Dinwulf wasn't an insanely dangerous Grimm. If anything, they were weaker than their cousin, the Beowolf. The problem was that they were faster and tended to form larger packs. So you never got just one or a half-dozen. That meant you had to thin them out before they could surround you and begin thinning you out.


Cinder Scoria was not in the best frame of mind.

She was, in fact, nearly broken.

I was about to do it again.

Again.

I was about to burn Vernal.

Cinder had sworn she'd never do that again. Not unless she was defending someone.

That wasn't defending someone.

Vernal was threatening to-

No. No. I'm not going back there. I'm not.

"Cinder, you okay?"

She started at the sound, and turned to find Rosso, weapon drawn, staring at her in concern. She realized that the Dinwulfs were still charging, and she was standing there, staring at nothing.

"I…"

"You got to get your head in the game, Cinder. We can talk about… what she said later. As Teammates. Okay?" Rosso said quietly but with some urgency.

Cinder blinked. Teammates. Right. Her. And Sarah. And Rosso. And… " She shook her head. "Yeah. Okay."

She focused, finally, on the lead Dinwulf charging across the meadow, long powerful legs pumping and crossing beneath its body. Hateful red eyes focused on her Team. Cinder took a deep breath, drew back the bowstring, adjusted her aim to lead the beast, exhaled, and released.

The arrow missed by a foot, burying itself into the turf.

And Cinder's heart nearly died.


Sarah heard Vernal begin firing Dark Harvest as soon as the Grimm were within the extreme limits of her range, which wasn't ideal.

And she saw Cinder's first arrow miss.

Shit!

"Rosso, swap places for a bit!" She passed him halfway, and grabbed her friend by the arm.

"Cinder, look at me." Her friend met her eyes warily, expression bleak. "I know she hurt you. I know why it hurt. I know you, Cinder Scoria. Argent knows you." She squeezed Cinder's arm. "She gave me one job, here, before we left. Take care of you, for her. And I want you to understand that. I'm not just your Bestie. I'm your freaking guardian angel. So, you listen to me." She shifted her grip, taking her friend by both shoulders. "Argent wants you to live. She wants you to win. She wants you to be happy. She freaking believes in you. Right? Every time." She gave Cinder a little shake. "You can do this. Forget about all that other crap. This is Grimm. You can do this."

Cinder's hand went up to her throat and found strength there in the form of a small half-heart. Strength that Argent had given her. Belief. Faith. Trust.

Cinder nodded once, and drew her bow again.

This time, her aim was true. The sleekly forged arrowhead buried itself deep in one glowing eye socket, which was extinguished with a howl of pain.

But the Dinwulf kept coming.

Cursing, Cinder knew what she had to do even as she nocked and drew back a third arrow. She took a deep breath, feeling heat build in her chest, and activated Scorching Caress. One finger reached out to touch the arrowhead, heat was transferred to it, and it burst into flame. She adjusted her aim to lead the beast again, exhaled, and released.

Her projectile met the Dinwulf when the pack had closed half the distance to the campsite, and buried itself in another eye socket. The bitter metallic head, heated to red-hot, penetrated just as the first had.

And then destroyed the contents behind the bony mask in an explosion of steam. The long-legged monstrosity's motor functions ceased, though its momentum did not as it converted from a sleek speeding beast, to a flailing weapon against its neighbors.

And then another arrow followed that one, into a second Dinwulf.

To their right, Vernal held her fire. She'd started before her optimal range only because Cinder wasn't hitting the mark.

Now she would wait a bit.

. . .

Not every one of Cinder's arrows found their mark. A few hit a bony plate and glanced off, though even that caused damage. A couple saw the arrow coming and managed to jink, though these Grimm were not extremely maneuverable at speed. They were focusing on her now, having identified Cinder as the primary target.

They closed another half of the distance when Vernal's pistols began firing again.

. . .

By the time they reached melee range, only three of the dozen Dinwulfs remained. And they met Sarah and Rosso stepping up to engage even as Cinder prepared to switch Midnight to twin-swords configuration.

Instead, Cinder froze when she saw a second wave of Grimm break from the trees to the southwest.

Another dozen Dinwulfs.

She didn't hear Sarah yelling. She didn't hear Vernal curse.

She was already taking aim at the lead Dinwulf and activating her Semblance.

. . .

Fifteen minutes later. An eternity or a blink of an eye. The last of the second wave of Dinwulfs was dissolving and Team SCRV stood gasping for breath. Four huntsmen-in-training against two-dozen Dinwulfs in two waves. The battle had been… tough. Cinder and Vernal had used up most of their ammo to thin them out, to prevent them getting in close and surrounding the foursome.

Some of the second group had gotten through anyway. All four teammates had taken some Aura damage, and Cinder had burned through a significant amount of Aura employing her Semblance, using Scorching Caress to increase the damage of her arrows enough to bring the Grimm down.

But they were still all borderline yellow or above. Not horrible.

. . .

Then the sounds of barking laughter again filled them with dread.

It was known that Dinwulfs formed composite packs. Typically, you'd find either a collection of cooperative subpacks, or a core pack and several satellite packs that formed scouting parties.

Team SCRV assumed that the two waves were cooperative packs, or two waves of the same pack.

No. The first two, Sarah realized with dread, had just been the scouting parties, not the full pack split in two waves.. Her stomach dropped. She was tired. Their best ranged fighters were almost out of ammo. They needed a break.

We're not going to get it.

When the third group of Grimm broke from the trees, it was as large as the first two combined. Beside her, Cinder shifted Midnight back to bow form, wearily.


Rosso Aukei wasn't stupid.

He knew what Team SCRV's limits were by this point, and this third group of Grimm was going to be more than they could handle. He glanced at Sarah, and could see her shift from shock, to resignation, to determination.

He realized, with a sick feeling, that she was going to suggest holding their ground here.

Sarah's a good Team Leader. She has a good eye for strategy.

But she's not perfect. Nobody is. She doesn't know everything.

To their left was the river. It wasn't a deep body of water and wasn't swift. Hecould even see the bottom most of the way across, and he'd been in it off and on during the afternoon, so Rosso was very sure that it wasn't infested with Capivara or worse, because not only would he have seen them, they would have surged out and attacked as soon as Vernal and Cinder had stared radiating negative emotions.

The river was an opportunity.

"Sarah!" He saw his Team Leader's eyes jerk toward him. "If you guys retreat across the river, I can make a stand in the water!" Sarah's eyes glanced to the river, even as he saw Cinder begin nocking one of her remaining precious arrows. Rosso pointed at the water, for emphasis. "Dinwulfs rely on speed, Sarah! The water'll slow them down so Cinder can hit them with her Semblance, and I'll have a fighting advantage in the water!"

Seconds ticked by, even as Cinder fired another precious arrow.


Rosso was suggesting… fighting in the water. At least him.

Sarah blinked. They'd not practiced Aquatics yet. She hadn't seen him in action, only heard him talk about it.

But he seemed really sure, just like with the mushrooms. And he'd been doing aquatics combat for at least two years with Huntsman Salt.

Cinder's next-to-last arrow, flaming with heat, sped downrange and buried itself in the chest of a Dinwulf, which collapsed with a howl, causing two more to stumble over it even as it died. She saw her friend curse and draw her bowstring back one final time. To her right, Vernal waited tensely for the Dinwulfs to get within optimal range of Dark Harvest's pistols.

"Alright! Let's try it." Sarah nodded.

"What?! Fuck no! We stand here!" Vernal cried. "We can do it!"

"Vernal, we don't have time for this! We're low on ammo and there's at least twenty of them! We need an advantage!"

Cinder fired her last arrow, and broke Midnight down into dual-blades.

Vernal's voice shook. "I… I… fucking shit!"

Behind them, they didn't see Huntress Alenta ease into the water, upstream of the campsite.

. . .

Team SCRV ran to the river, Vernal as the rearguard. Rosso dove in headfirst, leaving the rest to wade forward as he swam to the middle under the surface. He emerged there, treading water neck-deep so his gills could adjust. "It's clear! It's only about ten feet deep in the middle, perfect for me!" He prepared Woomeirain speargun / bladed pike form.

Sarah sheathed her weapon, nodded and charged in the rest of the way in, even as the Dinwulfs closed half the distance to their campsite. Cinder was right behind her, chest-deep.

Sarah turned to find Vernal in waist-deep water, eyes wide and face pale.

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" Sarah yelled.

Vernal looked up with a face full of death. "I can't swim…" she managed hoarsely.

Cinder and Sarah shared a look.

Both of them could swim. Sure. But they also knew trying to haul a panicked non-swimmer and their weapons and gear was... not a great idea.

And they needed Rosso to cover them, not to haul Vernal across a river.

Cinder stared at Sarah. Then at Vernal. Then at the Dinwulf pack, quickly closing the remaining distance, their barking-laughing howls filling the air.

Her hands flexed.

For a brief moment, Cinder Scoria considered leaving Vernal there to die.

But that wasn't what Selene would tell her to do. That wasn't what a good person would do. It's not what a Huntress would do.

She began moving back toward the near shore, to stand with Vernal. She'd hold there and use Scorching Caress. Maybe she could make a firewall, though the water would make it-

Wait-

Water.

Cinder Scoria liked water. You wouldn't think someone with a fire-based semblance would. But one of the earliest things she'd done with Scorching Caress had been making a cloud of steam with that stupid scrub brush at the Glass Unicorn.

And Mrs. Plum had taught her to control the ability to use fire with water. She could make music with steam, control the rate of steam to make sound.

What if… I could do something else with it, too?

Cinder surged forward, and grabbed Vernal by the vest. "Holster the damn guns and wrap your arms around my shoulders!"

Vernal's eyes were goggling. Panicked. "What the fuck are you-"

"For once in your gods-be-damned life, Vernal Branwen, shut the hell up and do what I tell you!"

For a single heartbeat, Cinder was terrified Vernal wouldn't do that. Couldn't do that.

And then she had a torso full of teammate, arms wrapping around her shoulders. Legs wrapping around her waist instinctively.

"Hold the hell on!" Cinder yelled, and tilted her body backward, arms stretched out on either side, sticking out and down into the water.

Cinder let heat build in her chest, flow into her hands, and directed it in a tight column toward the near shore. She curled her fingers, cupping them, directing that heat.

Heat into water.

Water into steam.

A superheated jet of steam began to flow from her palms, she could feel the reverse pressure of it on her wrists, pushing her arms backward. She locked her elbows, and the force of it began pushing her torso back and upward.

At first it built slowly, and they threatened to swamp, Vernal clinging to her, cursing and sputtering as the water slapped into her face. But then the pressure built quickly and with it came speed. Within moments, the flow of water across her back was acting almost like the hull of a jet-skid, and they were skipping across the surface of the river, a jet of water and steam propelling them backward like some screwed-up squid.

Until with a jarring and painful thud, Cinder struck the opposite shore, throwing Vernal off and nearly cracking her neck. "Shit!" Vernal cried, rolling and then stumbling to her feet.

"They're coming!" Sarah cried, staggering out of the water onto the shore after them. "Freaking get ready!"

Vernal stared at Sarah for a second, then at Cinder who was shaking her head and staggering to her knees. Cinder's sopping hair was hanging over her eyes but… she seemed okay.

"Right. Fucking right." She drew Dark Harvest again, checked the magazines, and leaned down to use a rock as support. With the river in front of them, the Dinwulfs couldn't flank her. She could be more careful. Make every shot count.

Yeah. This is better. She glanced over to see Sarah helping Cinder up.

"You okay, Cinder?" Sarah asked, "cause we ain't got a lot of aces left."

"Yeah." Cinder shook her head. "Just knocked around a little. Shoulda pushed Aura to my head."

"Shouldna used your head as a battering ram. Come on." She pulled her up.


Over thirty Dinwulfs had curved in a gentle arc, adjusting their trajectory from the campsite to instead enter the river at an angle from where SCRV had done so.

Cinder's last arrows had claimed a few of them.. Several more fell to Vernal's pistols, before she was out of ammunition as well.

Cinder stood at the shore, hands flexing, Midnight sheathed, left hand held palm-up.

Sarah stood beside her, Sfenxiphos in sling form and solid-shot pouch ready. It was a poor backup to Dust rounds, but she and Cinder had been working together for a while now. They'd spent time trying to figure out how they could work together. They'd practiced this.

Sarah dropped a hardened shot, roughly three inches in diameter, into Cinder's palm, and held out the fire-proof material of Sfenxiphos' sling at the ready.

Over twenty Dinwulfs reached the water, howling and barking.

Within a half second, the heavy ball in Cinder's palm went from ambient temperature, to a near-molten slag hot enough to melt steel, and was dropped into Sarah's sling.

Whereupon Sarah's Aura-boosted spin sent it across the water at eye-level, into the neck of a Dinwolf attempting to enter the river. With a screeching howl, the Grimm leapt sideways instead, slamming into its neighbor and writhing in agony as the superheated shot literally melted its way through Grimm flesh.

Sarah and Cinder did it again.

And again.

And again.

Had there been no river to slow the Grimm, it wouldn't have worked. They'd have been overrun after a few rounds.

Had there been fewer Grimm, this alone might have finished the fight in SCRV's favor.

But in the time it took to kill one Dinwulf, two more entered the water. A half-dozen were already halfway across the river.

Vernal moved forward, closer to the shore and just outside their line of fire, and activated the blades on Dark Harvest, ready to meet the onslaught.

Rosso was nowhere to be seen.

In front of them, one of the Grimm gave a cry of pain and rage as a spearhead suddenly protruded upward through its throat, and it disappeared from the surface of the river.

And a few moments later, a second was pierced by a bladed shaft.

. . .

Over thirty Dinwulfs had charged toward the river.

Almost a third fell to Cinder and Vernal's ranged attacks.

Five more died from Sarah's projectiles, enhanced by Scorching Caress.

Five fell to Rosso's speargun and blade, before he was forced to retreat upstream and inshore due to the sheer amount of slashing dew claws and teeth in the water.

Only twelve Grimm made it to their side of the river.

For the second time in Cinder's life, Cinder put the full force of her Aura into Scorching Caress. To protect someone.

"Vernal! Drop!"

Cinder's left hand swung in a slow arc, creating a sheet of flame that met the wave of Dinwulfs surging up from the water.

The heat was apocalyptic.

But Semblances take Aura, and Aura is not bottomless. Cinder had used Aura to flame her arrows, and then again to protect herself during the second wave of Dinwulfs when they'd gotten into melee range.

And again to haul herself and Vernal across the river.

And again to superheat Sarah's ammunition.

Her Scroll pinged, notifying her that her Aura was now in the red, and she cut off Scorching Caress. Before she wanted to. Before she needed to.

Half the remaining Grimm, ears burnt off, bodies scorched and bubbled, in some cases eyes milky with blindness, continued charging up the bank. Zeroing in on the negative emotions the girls were radiating.

The Grimm weren't in good condition, but they weren't dead, either.

Cinder suddenly felt very, very tired. For the first time in a long time, she felt legitimately afraid of Grimm. She fumbled to draw Midnight and block what she knew was coming, as the first grotesquely damaged Dinwulf reared up before her.

And instead watched it die as Sarah Tourmaline lunged in from her left, Sfenxiphos stabbing deep, even as Vernal slashed its throat from her right.

And then Vernal Branwen placed herself between Cinder and the rest of the Grimm. "Fucking get back, Cinder! You did enough!" Vernal growled.

To her far left, she heard Rosso yelling as he impaled a nearly-blinded Grimm with a speargun bolt, then slashed across the back of its front leg with Woomeira's blade, hamstringing it before jumping back.

And then Sarah, with a glance at Vernal and Cinder, jumped on top of a third, nearly blind Grimm, Welding her bare legs to its back. She used it as a mount, hacking at the other Grimm from above with Sfenxiphos in sword form.

Panting and feeling dizzy, Cinder Scoria… listened to Vernal.

She stepped back.

She kept Midnight's dual blades at the ready to block or defend, and she waited. She waited to either defend herself, or her Teammates if it came to that, praying for her Aura to freaking regenerate.

. . .

Only once did she have to act, when a Grimm, staggering after being slashed by Vernal, nearly fell on her. Cinder wasn't exactly in top form, but she was in good enough shape to finish it off. Though she lost her balance in the process, and staggered backward.

And was caught by Huntress Alenta, who'd been standing only a few feet behind her.

Oh… yeah… we weren't alone, huh... Cinder felt like giggling hysterically in the sudden silence.

Sudden silence.

There were… no howls. No barking laughter.

She looked around to find her Teammates. Rosso had a huge bruise on his face, and his knuckles were bloody where he'd apparently punched one of the Grimm in desperation. He was leaning on his pike, gasping for breath.

Sarah was still standing, but dazed and staring around at the dissolving Grimm corpses.

Vernal was sitting on her butt clutching her ribs, eyes wide. Her pupils were dilated with adrenaline, the black nearly swallowing the blue irises. She locked eyes with Cinder, and a slow smile crept across her face. "Fucking hell… that was some bullshit," she gasped.

Yeah. Yeah I guess it was… Cinder thought.

She was interrupted by the sound of Huntress Alenta tapping on her Scroll. "Alright Team SCRV, recall beacon is active. Bullhead should be here in thirty."

Sarah stared at the Huntress. "Uh… does that mean we failed? Or passed?"

Daisy Alenta smiled thinly. "It means you could use some recovery time. We'll debrief in the Bullhead."

"Yeah…" Sarah agreed, shaking her head. "Holy crap. That was… intense."

"That was impressive," Huntress Alenta allowed. "Though frankly, you brought it on yourselves. If you'd kept your heads before the battle, you probably would have only faced the first wave of scouts. You were radiating enough negative emotion to attract packs from a mile away at one point."

"Fuck," Vernal spat, then grimaced as she worried at a tooth with her tongue.

"For once, Bitchface, I agree with you," Cinder groused.

And to her shock, Vernal just laughed.


Aboard the Bullhead, Aura slowly recovering and nursing their aches and pains, Team SCRV listened as Huntress Alenta began her evaluation of their performance.

"So what lessons did we learn today?" She asked flatly.

"That fighting Grimm without Dust sucks ass," Vernal replied.

Daisy gave a thin smile. "Okay, yeah. Besides that."

"Don't have a freaking argument out in the field," Sarah replied, and Vernal glared at her.

"And don't freaking start with me, Vernal. I'm serious. Whatever your problem is… I can't force you to have a good attitude all the time, but it freaking stops when we step outside Breakwater. Am I clear?"

Vernal's glare didn't decrease, but she nodded once, sharply.

"Thank the gods," Rosso muttered.

"That's one lesson, yes," Daisy affirmed. "What else did you learn? What positive lessons?"

"Use the terrain to your advantage," Sarah replied.

"And you four damn well did that. Sarah, you especially deserve credit for that move across the river."

Sarah's look of incredulity spoke volumes. "What? It was Rosso's plan, not mine!"

"And you ran with it instead of arguing. You knew your Team. You knew his strengths, and you chose to listen to him instead of being bullheaded or waffling. That was smart." She turned to the only male on the team. "And you, Rosso, that was an incredibly good use of your Trait and your training. You literally turned the tide on the third wave with that move. Salt will be proud when I tell him."

Rosso blushed, which with the fading bruise was something to see. "Thank you, Huntress Alenta."

"And Sarah, that little trick you and Cinder pulled, having her superheat your projectiles? Excellent cooperative use of Semblance."

The two joined Rosso in glowing red under the praise.

"Which leads me to Cinder and Vernal. Again, Cinder, excellent job using your Semblance to move the two of you across the river. Though you burned a lot of Aura that you really couldn't spare, you saw an unorthodox use for Scorching Caress, and executed it. Again, without that move, the Team might not have been able to get across, and that would have ruined Rosso's plan."

She turned to the fourth member of the team. "Which leads me to you, Vernal."

Vernal sat there, soured up. Hunched. She knew what was coming.

"You put your body on the line to protect your Teammate when her Aura was in the red. That was the absolute right choice to make."

Vernal blinked. "But…"

"What, you thought I was going to tear you a new asshole because you can't swim? Nah," Then Daisy's expression shifted to absolutely pissed off. She glared at Vernal, and then the rest of them. "But I will tear your entire team a new asshole for not communicating. The fact that one of your teammates can't swim and the rest of you didn't know? That's the kind of bullshit that will get one of you, or all of you, killed out in the field. That's not something you play around with. So that? That ends today. Got it kids? You don't have to be best friends. You don't have to even like each other. But you have to know each other. Strengths and weaknesses."

"Am I clear?" She locked eyes with all four of them, one at a time.

And got agreement from each, some enthusiastically, some grudgingly, but all of them meaning it.

"Good. Now, get some rest. You kids did great out there, all things considered. I didn't even have to get my hands dirty."

"Thanks Huntress Alenta."

"You'll thank me by working your shit out."


[A/N]

Special Thanks to recent reviewers Rookie80, Shadowstorm-Vash, and AtomicR4y! Out of the frying pan, and here was the fire (literally!) I hope you enjoyed your first look at Dinwulfs! As for Kasamuruk, if you've ever seen a cassowary... well that's terrifying enough... and then there's a grimmified version.

And a shout out to the congenital idiots who keep trying to use a standard fill-in-the-blank script for Chapter 1 reviews in a transparent effort to scam people into paying them for AI generated "art". Those fake reviews are a pox on the site, and it's a shame nothing gets done about them.

So it looks like Team SCRV had a bit of bonding, and this may force them to resolve some of the BS between Cinder and Vernal. You also get your first exposure to a completely OC Menagerie Grimm, the Dinwulf. Much like Beowolves in canon, they aren't exactly the most terrifying Grimm, except in large numbers.

And we allude to other, more worrisome native Grimm, also taking the opportunity to give a little exposition on the geography, climate, flora, fauna, and Grimm of Menagerie's interior. This will be developed in future chapters, as it plays heavily into the overall narrative.