“Holy shit this is awful!”
Bruno put a hand over his face as he trudged through shin deep snow, ascending up a steep pathway. Snow barraged his face, blown around by the turbulent winds. His clothing and hair was coated with thick white flakes. The only thing keeping him warm was his slowly depleting aura.
“If you need to stop and take a break, we can.” Merlot said from in front of him, clad in a large winter coat that fell to her knees, boots and a hat.
“No! That’s just gonna waste time!” Her teammate answered.
“Whatever you say. If your aura gets to critical levels, we’re stopping no matter what. That's an order from your leader.” Merlot said.
The two continued further, slowly forcing their way up the snowy and icy slope ahead. The base of the mountain was now a few hours away, and far below them. The mountain ahead was treacherous, covered in deep snow and steep cliffs.
“Why didn’t we just go around this mountain?” Bruno asked.
“Leon already explained this in the briefing. It would take days to go around it. At the rate we’re moving now, we should be in Vinland by midnight.” Merlot answered.
“Is it really worth taking this way though?”
“As long as we stick to the path, we’ll be fine.”
Merlot took another step forward, grabbing a jutting out piece of rock in order to pull herself up the steepest part of the incline yet, and finally onto flat ground. Noticing this, Bruno simply created an air platform beneath him and leapt over the incline, landing beside his partner.
“Stop wasting your aura on your semblance.” Merlot said sharply, before taking in the landscape ahead. The area before them was entirely flat, almost like a tundra or plains.
“What’s up with this?” Bruno said.
Merlot glanced at her holographic map momentarily, before turning to the ground ahead. She began to dig, displacing the fresh and powdered snow. It only took a few seconds to reveal a white layer of ice beneath them.
“We’re on top of a lake.” Merlot said, glancing around her. The lake was large and expansive, covering a large distance. However, the banks on its opposing end were visible. “Let’s keep going.”
“Over the lake?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not if we’re careful. The ice isn’t thin, but it isn't super thick either. As long as we're not trying to actually break it, we'll be fine.”
“Are you sure about this…?”
“Yes. The path says over the lake. We can see the other bank from here, it’ll be fine.”
“Alright leader…”
The two made their way forward, in silence at first.
“Yo Merlot.” Bruno spoke up again a few minutes into their trek.
“Mhm?”
“Is it really true what Leon said happened during the raid?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, did you guys really fight some creepy woman who could control Grimm.”
“Well… She didn’t control them. At least, not mind control or whatever. She could manipulate their blood so it was more like... A puppet master. It was a little disturbing.” Merlot replied, shivering slightly. “But yeah. We really fought her. Why would we lie about it?”
“I don’t know, it's just weird! Did she really bleed out gross Grimm blood?”
“Yes. That too.”
“And apparently she was after you as well?”
“Yes. It’s all true, even that part. I don’t know exactly why she wanted to take me with her. It was just something to do with my last name.”
“Maybe she thought it was cool like you did.” Bruno offered.
At this, Merlot let out a short chuckle.
“But she’s so wrong! Both your names are equally lame!” Bruno said immediately growing bashful.
“Right.” Merlot giggled slightly.
The two walked in silence for another minute or so, until Merlot suddenly stopped, causing Bruno to do the same by virtue of bumping into her. He immediately opened his mouth to ask his leader about her decision, but soon traced her gaze to a far section of the lake.
Amidst the blowing snow ahead was a silhouette. A shape visible through the haze.
“Do you see that too?” Merlot asked, lifting her hand to cover her face from the snow. The silhouette seemed to be moving. It approached, entering the student’s field of vision more and more. Her eyes went wide.
“Bruno. Let's move!” She hissed, rushing through the snow as quickly as the terrain would allow.
“What?” He began to run as well, but stole a glance at the silhouette. He could see it now. The shape of a massive beast on all fours lumbering towards them at an increasingly fast pace. He could make out more details. Sharp claws, glowing red eyes and a tooth filled maw. It resembled an ursa, but it was slimmer, bigger and faster.
“An ursa polaris!” Merlot said. “Damn it! We’re not gonna be able to outrun it!”
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“What?! Then what are we doing?!” Bruno asked.
“Just trust me! Keep going!” Merlot replied.
The Grimm was gaining on them. It had started a good distance away, but was now hot on their trail and made clear that it would catch up with the duo soon if nothing was done.
Merlot reached to her waist and drew her chakrams. Then, she stopped running. Bruno gazed at her in bewilderment.
“Just keep going!” She repeated, crouching down and brushing snow out of the way to reveal the ice beneath. Bruno hesitated briefly, before continuing to sprint towards the bank.
Weapon in hand, Merlot slammed the blade of her chakrams into the ice. This initial strike didn’t do much, but a few more caused the ice to chip. She looked up. The ursa polaris was only a few meters away now. Her eyes wide with fear, she assailed the ice again and again. It began to show small cracks now, but the Grimm was nearly upon her.
"This ice is way thicker than I thought!" She grimaced, before suddenly recalling something. Merlot reached into her bag an extracted another fire dust crystal. She placed it upon the small crack she had made and immediately ran.
The ursa polaris neared the crack, just as Merlot tossed her chakram at the dust crystal. Upon contact with the speeding object it exploded in a small burst of flame, putting the final nail in the coffin for the ice. It began to splinter, sending a massive crack down the length of the lake ahead.
The Grimm was mostly unphased by the fire dust and lumbered over the cracked ice. This weight was all it took for the surface to smash, breaking away underneath the Grimm and sending it tumbling into the water below. Sadly for the two students ahead however, the breakage grew further and further.
“BRUNO RUN!” Merlot called as the lake broke away behind her.
“THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING!” He called back, the edge of the lake within sight.
Merlot shifted her aura to her feet, boosting her speed and agility and allowing her to bridge the distance between herself and Bruno. The ice was breaking mere metres behind them. The bank was only a short distance away now.
Glancing ahead, Merlot spotted a crooked rock formation. Taking aim, she tossed her chakram at the formation, managing to hook it around the tip. She then looked back to Bruno. “Grab my hand!”
For once, Bruno didn’t think twice. He grabbed Merlot’s hand and the leader instantly activated the gravity dust function of her weapon, allowing it to pull them across the remaining distance. Bruno aided, using his own semblance as a springboard to launch them faster than the ice. The two landed on the last patch of ice before the shore, the breakage a small distance away from them now.
The two took a moment to catch their breath. Merlot glanced over to Bruno with a small smirk. Bruno looked back at her with a frazzled expression. His aura flickered.
At that moment, the ice below Bruno shattered. Merlot watched in horror as the ursa polaris emerged from the water below with a roar, smashing the remaining ice near the shore, its jaw clamping around Bruno’s ankle.
“BRUNO!” Merlot grabbed her remaining chakram, tossing it at the creature. It slashed across the bear’s neck, leaving a shallow cut but nothing near close enough to stop it. On the other hand, Bruno’s aura shattered as the Grimm bit into it, leaving him fatigued. Before Merlot’s weapon could return, the creature had pulled him down into the water with it.
“NO NO!” Merlot screamed, catching her chakram and throwing her backpack off to the shore nearby, as well as her winter attire. The ice below her cracked, but it didn’t matter as she dove into the freezing water after her teammate.
Her aura began to drop faster, at a significant pace as it was assailed by the utterly frigid water around her. It didn’t take long to spot her foe. The ursa polaris wasn’t a deep sea Grimm by any measure, but to say it could swim well was an understatement. It paddled around near the surface, above a seemingly infinite void of darkness below.
Bruno was clutched in its grip still. The monster’s teeth had sunk into his leg and he was gasping for air. Merlot swam towards the Grimm as fast as she could, chakaram in hand. Under the water any form of fighting was nearly impossible, but it didn't stop her from trying. She tossed her weapon but it lost any sort of momentum instantly, simply floating aimlessly in the water hardly a meter away.
Realizing she’d have to get in close to do anything, she recalled the chakram… Only for it to zoom back to her grip at high speeds. She gazed at the glow of the weapon’s gravity dust for a split second, before quickly swimming towards the Grimm.
Bruno struggled against the ursa polaris. His leg was in pain and his entire body was freezing, with no aura protection. The lack of aura even rendered his semblance useless, and in the water he could do almost nothing to fight back with his hands or legs. However, he still had his tail.
Gritting his teeth, Bruno’s scorpion tail twisted, pushing against the weight of the water, before plunging itself into the Grimm’s glowing red eye.
Ichor poured from the eye socket and the Grimm attempted to roar in pain, with only bubbles emerging from the corners of its mouth. Despite this, its grasp remained. Bruno’s vision was growing blurry as his oxygen depleted. Amidst his lack of air, he managed to notice something. A chakram, floating past his face. His gaze turned to find Merlot a meter or so away from himself and the Grimm. He caught on to her intentions quickly, grabbing the chakram and placing it behind the ursa polaris’ head.
Merlot didn’t waste a second in activating the gravity dust within her weapon. It shot back towards her, nearly at full force. The only thing in its way was the ursa polaris’ head, causing the weapon to slam into its skull. The gravity dust kept its pull, allowing the weapon to dig into the creature’s head more and more, embedding itself within its flesh. After a few seconds, the Grimm went limp, releasing Bruno.
Merlot immediately turned her attention to her teammate. She kicked at the water, swimming up and grabbing him. Bruno’s blood leaked out into the water, and he had long passed out now. Transferring whatever aura she had left to her arms and legs, Merlot swam upward with her teammate in hand, holding on to whatever remaining oxygen she had in her body.
Her head broke the surface of the lake, and she immediately took a deep breath in. The once frozen surface was now broken up into smaller floats of ice, and the shore was only a few meters away.
Merlot swam to the shore, pulling the unconscious Bruno onto a snow covered beach. The boy’s skin was frigid and his lips had begun to turn blue. She didn’t waste a second in removing another fire dust crystal from her backpack and scanning the area. No discernable wood or any other burnable substance. With a sigh, she removed her own winter hat and tucked the crystal within it. Striking the dust once more, the wool burst into flame. It wouldn’t last long but it would at least provide some warmth.
Merlot finally caught her breath. The cold air continued to whip around them as she knelt beside Bruno and the fire, attempting to cover it with her body so it wouldn’t be blown out.
The relative tranquility hardly lasted for a minute. Amidst the blizzard, Merlot could make them out. Glowing red eyes, dotting the area, clearly drawn by the commotion and the negative emotions created by Bruno’s current state.
Merlot glanced around in fear. Before the situation could get worse, she picked up Bruno’s unconscious body, putting him over her shoulder. Taking a few deep breaths, she made a break for it, rushing up the shores of the lake and past the rock formations nearby.
Greeting the struggling Merlot on the other side was a steep incline, which she climbed almost immediately, struggling to keep Bruno from slipping away. Upon reaching the top of the incline, Merlot found herself greeted by… A bridge. More specifically, a rope bridged that spanned a small gap. And amidst the snow she could make out a shape on the other side of the bridge. A cabin.
Merlot glanced behind her. A howl filled the air as she laid eyes upon a small group of beowolves, doing their best to scale the incline. That motivation immediately pushed her forward. She dashed down the rope bridge, gasping each time it swayed against the breeze, until finally reaching the other side.
Reaching the door, Merlot tried the handle. It was unlocked. She threw the door open, rushing into the cabin and slamming it shut behind her. She proceeded to turn the lock before finally taking in her surroundings.
The interior of the cabin was small. It was mostly one room, with a fireplace, bookshelves and couch in the far corner. A small kitchen counter and stove sat across from it, and in the left corner was a bed. The only other room in the building was a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower.
Merlot didn’t waste any time. She threw open the wood stove, tossing in a few pieces of chopped firewood sitting nearby as well as her last fire dust crystal. A flame danced within, mere seconds later. She placed Bruno right next to the fireplace, removing her winter coat and draping it over him like a blanket.
“I’m so sorry, Bruno.” She muttered under her breath, gazing at the window nearby as the flurries raged on.