Thalia’s eyes flew open. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the figures of people entering and exiting her field of view. Muffled talking filled her ears, and a warm firelight flooded the room.

Slowly, she sat up and took in the full view around her. Thalia found herself within a large open building. Cots lined the floors, soldiers and citizens alike laying upon each one. Bustling around the area were men and women in white robes, pushing carts and tending to those lying on the cots. Doctors, she figured. Turning to her left, she noticed a familiar face in the cot next to her. Shin lay asleep, his entire chest, back and head covered with bandages and his right arm in a cast.

Upon seeing this, Thalia looked down at herself. Her cloak and tunic had been removed, and in their place her entire chest and stomach had been bandaged. Her left arm was bandaged up to the wrist.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Thalia looked up to find one of the doctors standing over her. “It’s lucky we were able to get to you in time. We stopped the bleeding, and you should be fit to go in a few days, once your aura kicks in and continues the healing process.”

“Oh… Thank you.” She looked at Shin. “And him…?”

“He’s got a couple broken bones and he’s also concussed but he should recover. It’ll just take a little longer.” The doctor replied. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Thalia nodded, watching as the man walked off. She turned to the side of her cot, finding her slashed and bloodstained tunic, as well as her cloak. She grabbed the latter item, throwing it over herself before standing up.

Getting a better look at the area, it seemed as though the wounded had all been moved to a large auditorium of sorts, perhaps a rec centre. Thalia made her way down the rows and rows of injured soldiers, most having been treated already and some still in the process of having their wounds bandaged.

Thalia finally made her way towards a doorway, stepping outside and being hit with bright rays of the morning sun. Not only that, she was met by a familiar face.

“Thalia! Good to see you awake!” Robert exclaimed, rushing towards the still groggy deer faunus.

“Oh- Robert, right?” She mumbled.

“And me.” Bruno stepped out from behind his teammate, jabbing a thumb at himself.

“Right. And you, Bruno.” Thalia added. “I must admit. I’m surprised to be alive right now. I was in and out of consciousness during the battle but, I did notice that you saved my life, Robert.”

“Of course. Anyone in my situation would’ve done the same.” He replied.

“Perhaps not anyone...” Thalia said, with a slight grimace.

“Really? I mean, I know Geralt tends to be… Well…”

“An asshole!” Bruno chimed in. “A powerful asshole, but still an asshole!”

“Yes. That. But would he really go that far…?”

“That’s… That’s not important right now.” Thalia quickly brushed past it. “What happened? Were the Grimm defeated?”

“Yes. The last have been killed, and the village is taking care of the injured right now. I’ll explain all the details on the way.” Robert answered.

“On the way…?”

“We came to see if you and Shin were awake yet. Leon is holding an urgent meeting at the tavern.”

“Shin may be out for a little while longer.” Thalia glanced back inside the rec center.

“We can just fill him in later, let’s go already! I wanna know what this meeting’s about!” Bruno said, turning back to the street. “Maybe it’s about my bravery against the beringle!"

Robert sighed, as he and Thalia followed after him.

*

After a few minutes of walking past broken buildings as well as rubble and ichor filled streets, the trio arrived at The Next Best Gentleman. The tavern was mostly undamaged, aside from a few arrows and bullet holes in the wood. The interior too was untouched by the earlier battle.

“Apparently the damage was really only concentrated around the northern wall and the transmission tower.” Robert explained to Thalia. “A lot of other buildings, especially the ones towards the middle of the town, were pretty much fine.”

The students soon took notice of Leon, as well as Geralt, Scarlett and the remaining members of team MABL seated around a table. They moved to join their peers.

“Glad you could make it, Thalia. Seems like your injuries are healing up well.” Leon said, motioning for the three to sit. “What about Shin?”

“Still out.” She replied, sitting down at the table.

“Ah. Well, I’ll start the meeting anyway. It’s a rather urgent matter.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Once the students had found their seats, Leon spoke once more.

“First off, I want to commend you all for what you did in the battle last night. You put your lives on the line to defend this village like real huntsmen and huntresses. Ivory informed me that she doesn’t think the town would still be standing if not for us. There are many injured but very few casualties, and it’s all thanks to your hard work.”

These words caused a few around the table to brighten up, specifically Bruno who pumped his fist and turned to Robert.

“But, it’s not all good news.” The others instantly sobered up, the tone of the table changing drastically in an instant. “I’m sure you all noticed, but the transmission tower was destroyed by a nevermore last night. Yuri is in the process of assessing repairs, but it’s safe to say that it won’t be operational for the rest of our stay. And, we still have more pressing matters.”

At this, Merlot glanced over to her teammates, as well as the bandages that covered the injuries she had sustained the prior evening.

“A Grimm attack of that scale was… Unprecedented to say the least, especially for such a well guarded town like this one. I’m not entirely certain, but me and Merlot may have found the reason behind this attack. A woman was at the broadcast tower last night. She had the power to manipulate ichor, and she admitted to causing the destruction of the tower.”

“You’ve gotta be joking.” Geralt spoke up, much to the surprise of the others. “A semblance that manipulates ichor used by a woman working with the Grimm. Where did you get that, a fairy tale?”

“Almost as ridiculous as the mutated Grimm you and Thalia fought?” Leon replied.

“That was different. Grimm evolve and grow stronger when they get older, it's been scientifically proven.” Geralt sneered.

“Look, believe what you want to believe but we know what we saw and fought last night!” Merlot said, springing up and glaring at Geralt.

“And who asked a crusty old innkeeper’s daughter for her opinion on the situation?”

“You little dickhead-!”

“Both of you, calm down this instant!” Leon bellowed, instantly silencing the two students and discouraging an eager Bruno from jumping into the argument. Merlot slowly sat back down. “Good. Now, regardless of what you believe, it’s clear that something out of the ordinary is happening here. A Grimm attack of this scale the moment we arrive, strange mutated Grimm and a woman who couldn’t just control ichor, but also bled it.”

Those words sent dark looks across the table. The students exchanged looks of shock, uncertainty and disbelief. Thalia was the first to speak up.

“How? That isn’t natural…”

“The how doesn’t matter right now. It’s for Professor Lionheart and others more qualified to figure out once this mission ends.” Leon said. “What we need to worry about is the safety of this town. Safe to say if it gets attacked like that again, we won’t be nearly as lucky. Our best bet would be to contact Mistral and get some professionals out here. But… Due to the tower’s unfortunate state right now, that isn’t possible.”

“So what are we supposed to do then?” Merlot blurted out.

“In terms of in town stuff, what we came here to do. We defend the gates while repairs are being made and help out however we can. That being said, I don’t think it’s very wise to assume there won’t be any more attacks before the end of this mission. We still have just under a week in this village before someone comes to pick us up. I don’t want to take any chances, so I’ve devised a plan.”

Leon reached into his pocket and extracted his scroll. He placed it on the table in the middle of the others. Tapping it, a holographic map sprung up for all seven students to see. The huntsman motioned to the map.

“The closest town to Shian Shi is a little further north, up past the mountains. It’s known as Vinland, and it should have a working communications tower. I’ll be sending two of you on a trip to the town in order to call for help.”

“Who are you sending?!” Bruno asked immediately.

Leon sighed. “It will most likely be a second year student.”

“I would gladly go.” Thalia said with a nod.

“Putting our lives in the hands of a faunus? Great.” Geralt rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry Thalia, but I’d rather you and Shin remain. You two suffered heavy injuries during the attack. It’s best if you stay within the safety of the village.” Leon said.

“Oh. I understand.” Thalia mumbled.

“You’d better not be looking at me. I’m not going anywhere.” Geralt said quickly. Leon seemed as though he was about to say something, but simply backed down and sighed again. His gaze turned to Scarlett, who seemed to be the most nervous out of the group.

“OH! I’ll do it! Let me go!” Bruno exclaimed.

“I’d feel better about sending two second years on the mission, but I guess one is good enough. Alright Bruno, you and Scarlett will-”

“I’ll do it, Leon.” Merlot raised her hand.

“Merlot, we only need two people-”

“I’ll go instead of Scarlett. I… I don’t really think she wants to.” Merlot glanced at the red haired girl.

“I guess I can’t force either of you to do anything. Do you truly not want to go Scarlett?” The huntsman asked.

“No. I don’t. I’m sorry, I just can’t stand those things. I know it’s cowardly but…” She stammered.

“It’s alright.” Leon turned to Merlot. “Are you sure about this? That Willow woman wanted you for some reason, and she's still out there.”

"For all we know, she could be anywhere, even in the town! Besides, if Grimm were to attack while we're gone, wouldn't it be better to send out two first years and keep the more powerful second years on defence instead?" Merlot offered.

"Hey, speak for yourself! None of them are better than me!" Bruno interjected.

“Leon please, I promise I can do this.” Merlot pleaded, brushing past Bruno's comment. The huntsman paused, before finally relenting.

“Fine. But you have to follow my instructions. No straying from the map, be as cautious as possible and make sure to give my exact message to any Huntsman in Vinland you end up talking to.”

“I promise!”

“Oh come on!” Bruno exclaimed. “I have to go with her?!”

“It’ll be just like the initiation again Bruno.” Merlot said turning to him with a smug grin.

“Let me add to my conditions.” Leon interjected. “You two need to get along. I won’t stand for any petty fighting anymore. This is a serious situation, and everybody here needs to act like it.”

“Right. Of course.” Merlot said quickly.

“Whatever.” Bruno said.

“Glad to hear it.” Leon stood up from the table, grabbing his scroll. “I’ll send you two all the necessary info today. You’ll leave a day from now, after you all take some time to recover from last night.”

“Sounds good.” Merlot nodded, standing up as well. “I won’t let you down.”

“All I ask for is your best.” The huntsman replied.

*

“What was that about, huh Merlot?!”

Bruno exclaimed, throwing open the door leading to his team’s room in the inn, the rest of Team MABL filing in behind him.

“What do you mean?” She replied.

“I mean, why did you volunteer to go on that trip? I thought you hated me! I bet you did this just so you could get under my skin…”

“Don’t worry, I still do. Not enough to go through all this trouble though ”

“Then what is it?”

“I did it to prove myself to Leon.” Merlot answered seriously, glaring at Bruno.

“How’s doing this gonna prove anything?” Ash interjected casually from his bed.

“It… It’ll prove that I’m not just dead weight, that I can actually be a good leader, that he can rely on me!” Merlot stammered.

“Merlot… You don’t need to prove anything to him-” Robert began.

“Well if not to him, then to you guys.” Merlot said immediately.

“Are you sure about that?” Robert said.

“Come on Robert. Even you can’t admit that I’m a good leader.”

“Well…” Robert began, but stopped himself. He simply looked at Merlot apologetically.

“Let me show you that I can be better.”

“Merlot, being a good leader isn’t just about being strong and getting stuff done…” Robert said. “I’m not a leader so I guess I wouldn’t know but… I don’t think doing this is gonna change anything.”

“We’ll see about that.”