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“That’s a good wisdom!”
Three pearls of (wl)wisdom coming from Marron, Lillian, and Neela. Make of them what you will, Finch.
Thank you @sthefbooh for this artwork, and kudos to @neopoliitan and @sustraiii for letting me borrow your OCs.
when the impostor is sus
(art by @neopoliitan)
“...Well. That was fun.“
In which Robin and Sherry decided to challenge Lillian and Zelde to a “friendly” game of beach volleyball.
The fact that Robin can augment her physical abilities with her Semblance likely boosted their confidence to no end. However, they sorely underestimated how much some people hate to lose.
...Poor kids. They just wanted to come out for a good time.
This art was drawn by the ever-inimitable @echollama, and features OCs from @neopoliitan (Robin, Sherry) and @sustraiii (Zelde) - check them out, you can see them in action in their own stories!
now that we’re in business, what better way to start off than posting best girl
(this art was done by @bakuatsukiyu on twitter!)
Chapter 12: Hattie
This is something unlike anything they were ever trained for.
❃❃❃
“You know, kid… you’re being so quiet, it’s kind of freaking me out.”
Hattie wasn’t sure how long she had been staring at the hospital’s ceiling. It could have been only a few minutes, or even the whole morning— but time was the last thing on her mind. The padded bench she lay on smelled slightly of disinfectant, mingling with the faint yet omnipresent aroma of chemical citrus, likely from another cleaning product. Combined with a uniformly white color scheme across the walls and ceiling, the entire building felt oppressively sterile.
She hated it. Everything in the hospital was too clean, too coldly impersonal, and her Semblance was picking up every bit of pain around her, no matter how small.
“Hey, Remnant to Lazuli, do you copy?” Yuen repeated.
“I heard you,” Hattie mumbled, tilting her head up to get an upside-down view of the woman seated next to her. A metal crutch rested on the wall beside Yuen, a result of the doctor’s concern for her leg wound, minor as it was. “I just… don’t feel like much right now., if it’s all the same to you.”
“Not a problem here,” Cait chimed in, their voice hoarse as they shifted in their seat across from her. Raising an arm to scratch their side, they winced in pain and muttered under their breath a complaint about their rib brace being itchy.
Yuen shrugged, taking her crutch under her arm as she stood. “Alright, whatever. I’m going to go find a decent cup of coffee. Give me a buzz if Sardion wakes up, if your Scroll’s still got any juice left.”
As she headed off, Cait gingerly rose from their chair and walked over to where Yuen had been sitting, plopping down next to Hattie’s head with a low gasp.
“I know you said you didn’t want to talk, but I just wanted to know… are you hol—?”
Cait didn’t manage to finish their question before Hattie raised her arms up and wrapped them around them, burying her face into their side. They hissed sharply as her grip tightened, “Ow, ow, ow, ow, Hattie, not so tight, not so tight.”
“S-sorry.” Hattie said quietly. “It’s just—”
“I know,” Cait said, gently placing a hand on the side of her head. “I’m not exactly feeling peaches-and-cream in my mind, either.”
“Are you feeling any better otherwise?” she asked, lowering her arms as she sat up from the bench.
She had escaped the skirmish with no physical injury to herself, but couldn’t help but concern herself with the rest of them.
“Eh, they did give me some painkiller for my ribs, so it’s not as bad as it felt at first,” Cait said. “And the cuts weren’t anything serious. Needed a couple of stitches, but my Aura’ll take care of them once it regenerates— doc said they won’t even leave scars.”
“Yeah, that’s good,” Hattie said with an almost imperceptible nod. “Do you need anything? Can I get you something to eat or some water or—”
“Nah,” Cait shook their head. “I don’t have much of an appetite right now. I just want two things - a scalding hot shower and a very long nap.”
Hattie didn’t respond at first, instead turning her attention back to the ceiling as a niggling thought at the back of her mind started to grow.
She had clearly heard Moira and Nest call themselves Cait’s sisters, but the two had borne as much resemblance to her raven-haired teammate as her top hat resembled a fried egg — to say nothing of the fact that they didn’t look anything alike either.
Then there was what Cait had yelled about their father, and that was another matter entirely— she had never heard her teammate speak two words about their family, much less speak about anyone with such vitriol in their voice.
“…I need to ask you about something, Cait, and I need you to be honest with me. Please.”
With a twinge of hesitation, Cait nodded. “I think I know what you’re about to say.”
“Who were those people?” Hattie asked, looking at Cait with an expression of concern. “They said they were your sisters… and they said that they killed Yaara and Berilo, too.”
Cait drew in a deep breath before replying, “They’re not my sisters… not by blood, at least.”
“Why would they have murdered two Huntsmen?” Hattie continued her line of questioning.
“I don’t know,” Cait replied, their tone becoming uneasy. “I don’t really want to talk about them right now—”
“Why not?” Hattie asked, pressing them further. “If you knew they were out there all along, why didn’t you tell us about them?”
“Because they’re not exactly something I want to remember, Hattie!” Cait snapped, causing Hattie to recoil slightly. Regretting their outburst at the sight of her reaction, they continued, “Sorry, sorry, it’s just… this is a piece of my past I thought I had finally gotten rid of.”
Hattie hesitated before asking her next question, “Like your… father?”
“Yeah… like him.” Cait said, their eyebrows knitting together in distaste at the mere mention. “And if you thought they were bad, well, he’s ten times worse.”
“So what do we do?” Hattie said. “Now that they know you’re here, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to stop…”
“We have to do what we’ve been trained to do,” Cait answered. “We have to fight back.”
“But didn’t you run before?”
“That time was different,” Cait said hesitantly, taking a moment to choose their next words. They were afraid, and privately cursing themself for never telling their team. They had never hoped, much less ever wanted, to drag anyone else into their conflict, but now…
“You guys are my family,” Cait said, a more affirmative swell in their tone with the declaration. “Family’s supposed to protect each other… and I’m done running away.”
They felt a gentle nudge against their shoulder, and looked up to see Hattie giving them a small, hopeful smile.
“You promise, partner?” she asked, extending her pinky.
Cait nodded, returning the smile and the pinky promise. “I do.”
“HATTIE! CAIT! WHAT HAPPENED?!”
The two of them jolted straight upright, startled out of the serene moment by an abrupt shout. Leaning over, they caught sight of Lillian and Amaryllis running up the hallway to them, Rudyard in tow right behind them. The sisters were clad in regular civvies and unarmed, while Rudyard had his uniform on and his sword at his side.
“Are you okay?” Amaryllis rushed up and knelt down, throwing an arm around each of them. “I thought you two were out late last night, so I didn’t bother to call… I’m so sorry, I should’ve checked in on you—”
“Ammy,” Lillian gently tapped her sister on the shoulder. “Let them talk so we know what’s going on.” She moved her attention to Hattie.
“Hattie, you said that Sardion and Yuen were here with you, right?”
“Y-you read my texts?” Hattie asked, still a bit flustered by the trio’s sudden arrival.
“About Manju-Shage and the killers and everything?” Rudyard said, his voice rushed and breathless. “Yeah, these two got me up to speed on the way. Where’s Sardion?”
“Intensive care unit,” Yuen said, reappearing with a fresh cup of coffee in one hand. “Surgery ended an hour or two ago, he’s probably resting off the sedative right now.”
Without paying any further attention to the underclassmen, Rudyard stole a look at a wall-mounted floor map, then hurried off down the hall a second later.
With Rudyard abruptly gone, Cait was uncomfortably aware that all eyes were now turned on them.
“So,” Yuen said as she took another sip of her coffee, her eyes narrowing. “Given everything that’s happened in the last twelve hours, I think we’re all overdue for an explanation. Start talking, Cait.”
Cait glanced nervously at Hattie.
“Go on,” she said with a gentle nudge, resting her hand on their back.
They pursed their lips, then began to speak.
“There are… some things… that I’ve been keeping from all of you…” they said tentatively. “Three years ago… I ran away from… I couldn’t tell you the name of the place for the life of me, but it was where I grew up. Gods know how many times I tried to run away before that, but I never got further than the perimeter. See, it’s built right into a plateau in the middle of nowhere with cliff faces on every exit, and even if I had managed to get down without breaking my neck, there were miles of forest around it probably teeming with Grimm—”
“Tell us about your troubled home life later.” Yuen forcefully interrupted. “What I want to know is who the hell those two last night were, and why they killed two of Mistral’s best Huntsmen.”
Cait sighed. “Well, the one Sardion offed was Moira Redoul, and the one with the wings... her name’s Nest Nerium. I didn’t see Faine or Anais with them, so that probably means—”
“Wait a second.” This time, Hattie cut them off. “Are you telling us there’s two more of whatever they were… out there?”
“…More like one and a half, I’d say.” Cait said. “Then again, while Anais might only count for half, Faine is good enough to be two on her own… thank the gods she’s the one that prefers to stick with dad.”
“Well, hell.” Yuen slumped back against the wall, letting out a low whistle.
“I’m sorry,” Cait said, lowering their head. “I honestly thought they’d given up trying to find me… but now I’ve led them to all of you.”
“No… you couldn’t have known that they’d follow you this far,” Lillian said. “But why would they have gone after Yaara and Berilo in the first place?”
“I don’t know,” Cait said glumly. “I honestly don’t know.”
Yuen let out a long, exasperated huff, looking away.
“…I’m going to go talk to Rudyard. If he’s waiting for ICU clearance, maybe I’ll have time to fill him in on the rest of this.” She took one more chug of her coffee, then threw it into a trashcan and hobbled off, crutch still in hand.
“She’s mad at me, isn’t she?” Cait asked with a wince.
“It’s just everything happening so fast,” Amaryllis said reassuringly. “She’ll come around.”
“I hope so,” Cait said. “Are you two mad at me?”
Lillian shook her head, taking a seat next to Cait. “We’re definitely going to have more questions for you about this, like it or not, but we’re not going to give you grief about it.”
“…You know they’ll come back, right?” Cait said.
“Who? Rudyard and Yuen?”
“Nest and… whoever else dad’s still got with him. This won’t be the last we see of them, now that they know where I am.”
“Yeah, we know.” Lillian shifted in her seat, but her expression remained unchanging.
“All of us are right beside you.” It was Amaryllis who spoke this time. “We’re a team, aren’t we? And correct me if I’m wrong, Lilly, but I think we can count on Rudyard to back us up too.”
“You know it,” Lillian replied. “First Yaara and Berilo, now this? He’s not going anywhere.”
“…Thanks, guys,” Cait replied simply, their tone grateful but dulled by the gnawing dread of all the ways everything could still go wrong.
The conversation trailed off with that, and the four of them were met with several seconds of awkward silence.
“So… uh… you two want some ice cream?” Lillian spoke up. “There’s a cafeteria on the first floor. It’s open, and I saw they had a sign for Fen & Berry’s.”
“Ice cream in the morning? For breakfast?” Cait said, mirth creeping back into their tone. “We nearly get killed, and you’re spoiling us. We should do this more often.”
“Eh, after the night you two’ve had, I’ll let this one slide. Hattie? You want some?” Lillian asked, turning to her other, uncharacteristically quiet teammate.
“…Can you get Hunka Helia Burning Fudge from them?” Hattie asked, looking a bit sheepish.
“That can probably be arranged,” Lillian said with a soft chuckle. She held out her hand to her sister, a Lien note of low denomination clasped between forefinger and thumb. “Two servings of the biggest size they have, Ammy.”
“Wha—why do I have to go get it?!” Amaryllis said indignantly. “You’re the one who suggested it, why don’t you go get it!”
“Because A, I’m your leader, and B, I’m your older sister.” Lillian blithely answered, without turning around. “And I am going to make up for my absence during our teammates’ very stressful night by emotionally supporting them right now, while you go get them some comfort food.”
“We’re TWINS, Lillian!”
“Yes, and I’m four minutes older. Now, chop-chop.”
“Hrmph,” Amaryllis huffed, taking the note from her sister. “Four minutes older… I’ll give you ‘four minutes older’ one of these days, musclehead…” she muttered under her breath as she strode off for the cafeteria.
Interlude: The Armilde Sisters
Oh, yeah, them too. Their nights were mostly uneventful.
…At least in Lillian’s case. Wink wonk.
❃❃❃
“Mmm… I need… the sky to… go home…”
The young woman buried her head into her pillow as deep as she could, but it was clear that she was fighting a losing battle against the light of the morning over Mistral City.
“Damn.” Lillian Armilde groaned, catching sight of her bedside clock as she stirred awake in her dormitory bed. It was already eight o’clock— she’d have to save her usual morning run for later.
As she cast the bedsheets to one side and pushed her purple bedhead away from her face, she realized that not a single one of her teammates was anywhere to be seen. The other three beds were unkempt and vacant, and there were no sounds coming from the kitchenette. She inwardly surmised that Amaryllis had spent the night at Hector’s, but Hattie and Cait had been absent since she had arrived home last night, having stayed over late at Rosario’s place for a movie (along with a bit of making out).
Oh, well. Probably nothing too serious. she mused, popping a pod into the coffee machine. Maybe they hung out with some other team.
As if in response to her thoughts, her Scroll lightly buzzed on the counter. She flicked the Scroll’s screen, and the messaging tab opened.
Lillian blinked. She had forty-five missed messages— two from Detective Yuen, four from Cait, nine from Rudyard, and the remaining thirty courtesy of Hattie.
“What the hell…” she mumbled, confused and mildly annoyed at the plethora of messages. Sliding open Hattie’s list, she muttered to herself, “This’d better not be some kind of stupid joke—”
She stopped mid-sentence as the text loaded. A second passed, then two, then three, then ten before something finally stirred inside her.
“Oh…”
The coffee machine beeped, but it might as well have been a mile away to her.
“…FUCK.”
***
“Mmmnnh… need the moon… to come back… five more minutes…”
Shifting onto her side with some reluctance, Amaryllis Armilde blearily opened her eyes as a ray of sunlight traveled across her face, raising a hand up to stifle the glare.
I guess Detective Yuen did tell us to be ready in the morning, she thought as she sat up, blinking the sleep from her periwinkle orbs as she propped herself with one hand.
She cast a glance over her shoulder to her bedmate. Then again, it’s still early, so it’s not like I should be in a hurry…
Her gaze became fixed on the still-dozing form of Hector Wulfric, another two rays of sunlight shining across his back. Slowly, she reached over and gave his hair a soft tousle, partly out of casual affection and partly as an excuse to wake him up.
“Mmmmbbhg,” Hector mumbled, his eyelids fluttering open a second later. “Hey, Ammy.”
“Hey, yourself,” Amaryllis replied with a smile, ceasing her gentle ministrations. Brushing her scarlet hair out of her eyes, she picked her Scroll up off a nightstand next to her; a souvenir keychain of a red crown gave it away as her own. On the home screen, there were several notifications of missed messages from several senders, but she didn’t get the opportunity to check them any further— seconds after she had turned it on, the screen dimmed and flashed red with a low-battery warning.
“Anyth— aawwwwhhhh—anything new going on?” Hector asked with a yawn as he sat up.
“Seems that way, but the battery’s about dead,” Amaryllis said, setting it down. “I’ll charge it back up when I get home, since I’ll need to get in touch with the others anyways.”
“Oh, yeah, you did mention that yesterday.” Hector mused. “Well, I can at least make some coffee before you head out if you’d like?”
“Sure, but I’ll make it instead,” Amaryllis said. “I’m picky about it from day to day, but at least you’re consistent. Lots of cream, lots of sugar?”
Hector nodded. “Please and thank you.”
Giving him a peck on the cheek as she rose from the bed, Amaryllis stretched her back as she stood, before heading for the door.
Her hand was already on the doorknob when she finally realized that she didn’t have so much as a stitch of clothing on.
“…Hector?” she asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“Yeah, Ammy?” Hector said as he turned to sit on the side of the bed, pulling the sheets to cover his bare lap whilst trying not to stare.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any idea where my dress is right now, would you?”
“…Nope,” Hector replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. “I, uh, I don’t suppose you know where my suit went either?”
“No clue,” Amaryllis said.
“Eh, no worries,” Hector said, shrugging. “Alistair’ll probably find them lying somewhere around here. You can borrow some of my stuff, assuming it tits you— uh, fits you.” He coughed at his slip of the tongue, blushing slightly.
Amaryllis giggled. “My, what a gentleman you are.”
“I do my best,” Hector said, returning her smile.
“You mean, you do your breast?” Amaryllis asked, giggling further.
“I am not going to answer that,” Hector responded, barely resisting the urge to laugh at her tease. “Shouldn’t you be hurrying up? Your sister’s probably going to bawl you out for staying here overnight.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing important,” Amaryllis said, shrugging. “I mean, it’s been only one night— what’s the worst that could have happened?”
Chapter 7: Lillian
The team gets ready for their respective dates... or lack thereof.
❃❃❃
“Ugh. We get a night off, and I’m stuck with an essay.”
Though the crime scene investigation had been a drag, in Cait’s opinion, their current situation sucked even more. They hungered for something exciting to happen— hell, a pissed-off Onikuma could crash through their door right then and there, and it would be a pleasant reprieve from the drudgery of a Grimm Studies report. Fighting was always preferable over writing.
Who cared about the variations in Grimm anatomy and physiology based on their habitat, anyway? One looked like an elephant, one looked like a wooly mammoth.
Either way, Cait had set themselves up for a boring night in, and was left silent and grouchy.
“How are you guys planning to spend your day-offs?” Hattie asked the Armilde twins as she slumped back against her pillow. Her small tophat remained firmly on her head, still lopsided.
Silently, Cait tried and failed to recount the last time they’d ever seen her without it.
“I have a charity event to go to,” Amaryllis replied, adjusting a clip-on silver earring onto her right earlobe.
“Oooh, that sounds exciting!” Hattie said, sitting up. “Can I come? Can I come?”
“Sure! More people there means more funds for the cause. Plus, it’s public, so everyone in Mistral’s pretty much automatically invited.” Amaryllis paused, looking at her Scroll. “…You do still have that nice blue dress of yours from the dance, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Hattie replied.
Amaryllis nodded. “You might want to consider throwing that on, since it’s a kinda formal event, but otherwise you’re welcome to tag along.”
“Yay!” Hattie squealed, clapping her hands. “Thank you, Ammy! You going with anyone else?”
“Hector Wulfric. The event’s organized by his family, actually.” Amaryllis answered. A smile crept onto her face while she planned how she was going to spend the evening with her boyfriend.
“Oh.” Hattie said, immediately deflating. “In that case, never mind. I don’t wanna play third wheel.” She took a seat again on the end of her bed. “How about Lilly? What’s she gonna do tonight?”
Lillian wasn’t there to answer. She’d been in the bathroom for a good half hour, brushing her teeth to a complete and almost blinding white.
“She’s going on a date with… what was it, sweet guns? No, wait, she called her tha— Oh, I remember. Sweet buns.” Amaryllis recounted, barely stifling a giggle.
“Who now? Is she that same girl Lillian mentioned yesterday?” Hattie asked in the same moment as Lillian emerged from the bathroom.
“Hush, you.” Lillian said, having overheard them. “For the millionth time, Am, her name is Rosario— and yes, Hattie, she’s the same one I mentioned last night.” She explained.
“Remind me how it went, again? Was it, ‘I got a couple of “sweet buns” right here, and they’ve already got your name on ‘em.’” Amaryllis put her hands firmly on her rear and swung her butt in a circle. She wiggled repetitively, mocking a tease she had observed from Rosario.
Lillian turned to give Amaryllis an especially evil glare. “You know what, Am? You’re a pain in my ass.”
“Yeah, okay.” Amaryllis adopted a placating tone, though the mischievous glint in her eye remained. “But am I a pain in your sweet bu—?” She began, continuing her gluteal choreography.
With a snarl, Lillian grabbed one of Amaryllis’ good leather boots from the floor and hurled it at her sister. It collided with the top of the redhead’s cranium, and she let out a strangled yelp.
“Ow, ow, ow...” Rubbing the top of her head, Amaryllis snapped back, “I swear to god, Lilly, if you messed up my hair…”
Hattie giggled in the background, though she lacked context on exactly what Amaryllis was making fun about— something about sweet buns, but that was all she could make out. Her stomach growled at the thought of the tasty pastry.
“Okay, okay, it’s time to stop. Both of you had your laughs.” Lillian said, as she grabbed her drawstring bag and threw it over her shoulder. “And sorry, Hattie, but I got no extra room tonight. As roaringly as I think you two would get along, I think it’s about time I spend some alone time with my girlfriend.” She coughed.
“Mmm.” Hattie mumbled in response. Though downtrodden by the absence of her teammates for the night, she knew that it was neither of their responsibilities to take her along with them— after all, they still had their private lives. “…Lillian?”
“Yes?” Lillian asked, straightening her cropped hoodie around her midriff.
“Your girlfriend’s the same one with the pastry shop, isn’t she?” Hattie asked.
“Same one.”
Hattie puffed her lips out. “Will you bring back some pastries when you’re done with your date, pleeeease?”
“Sure, I think that could be arranged.” Lillian laughed. “Okay, I should be on my way by now— I don’t want to keep Rosa waiting.”
Amaryllis “I’m going as well— I’ve still got to pick up my dress.” She turned to Hattie and Cait for a moment. “Oh, and you two eat some dinner later, okay? Hattie, if you really have nothing else to do, it’d be really nice of you to help Cait finish their paper. Afterward, maybe you two can come down to the charity ball.” She said invitingly.
Hattie’s eyes lit up again. “Hey, maybe we could! What do you think, Cait?”
Cait didn’t make any effort to face the twins, instead opting to wave a hand to them while facing the window. “Yeah.” They replied listlessly.
“…Okay then. We’ll see you later.” With that, Lillian and Amaryllis turned and exited the dorm room.
***
As Amaryllis and Lillian walked through Haven’s low-lit and empty dormitory halls, they continued to talk about each other’s plans for the evening.
“So... where are you taking Rosario?” Amaryllis inquired in an innocent tone.
“We’re heading down to the cliffs. I heard there are some nice spots over there for a late picnic.” Lillian answered flatly, looking straight ahead without breaking her stride.
“Cliffs. How very romantic.” Amaryllis drawled.
“Yeah, yeah. How about you and Hector, got anything hot and heavy planned for tonight? I heard something about you picking up a dress. I smell something fishy here.” Lillian turned to face Amaryllis, wiggling an eyebrow.
“Ew, don’t even go there. This outfit is for tonight’s event, and tonight’s event only. I’ll change clothes after I go to the salon to get my hair and face done up, and I gotta hit that first since it’s already getting pretty late.” Amaryllis hesitated. “And as far as I know, the only thing that’ll be getting hot tonight is my face from nervousness. Hector said his dad’s going to be there, and he wants me to meet him.”
“Heh. I know the feeling.” Lillian chuckled.
She knew full well that her sister had never met Hector’s family before— both her and the Wulfric lad had seemed secretive about the whole relationship, though they had been dating for well over a year by now. She also was versed in the experience of having to meet a special someone’s family for the first time, and a sweaty face didn’t even start to describe it.
Honestly, it felt more like a jolt of terror up the spine, followed by the sensation of one’s stomach falling right into their feet.
“Don’t worry, Am. They’ll love you.” Lillian reassured her sister. Smirking, she continued, “Just don’t tell them that the reason their beloved son is head-over-heels for you is because of those lumps of fat glued to the front of your ribcage.”
Amaryllis flushed red, crossing her arms over her chest. “Oh, shut up. I’ll have you know that Hector loves all the fat in my body, regardless of its exact location.”
“Yeah?” Lillian retorted. “Tell that to the two loves of his life: peanut butter and jelly.” She teased as she pointed her thumb at Amaryllis’ chest. “…Or was it butter, and I can’t believe it’s not butter?”
“Please. His nicknames for my breasts are much more creative than that.” Amaryllis countered.
A pause.
“So you admit that he has nicknames for them, huh?”
Blushing a brighter shade of red, Amaryllis huffed and walked as fast as she could, overtaking Lillian. She was becoming increasingly annoyed with her sister, not because of what she was saying, but because she had no good retorts up her sleeve to retaliate with.
“Bye, sis. Have fun with your boob fetishist of a boyfriend.” Lillian waved, a guileless smirk plastered on her face.
“You have a nice date too… sweet buns fetishist!” For one last time, Amaryllis turned around to face Lillian and performed the corresponding taunt.
Turning around, she nearly walked right into a green-haired, pink-eyed girl with a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, who had obviously been witness to her previous action. Unmoving, she apparently appeared to still be processing it.
After a moment’s pause, the girl blinked, snorted a small laugh and grinned. “Yeah, Sweet buns, all right.” She cracked, holding the toothbrush out of her mouth to speak.
Hiding her face with her arm from embarrassment, Amaryllis ran past the girl and out the entrance of the dormitory. Lillian and the girl watched with amusement as she fled.
“Hey.” The girl said, turning back to face Lillian.
“Hey.” Lillian replied, sparing a second’s eye contact as she walked past. She vaguely recognized her as one of the first-years.
With that brief acknowledgement, they both continued on their separate ways, in opposite directions along the hall.
Prelude: “The Rapier and the Broadsword”
In which the heroine and her mentor make their entrance.
❃❃❃
“How many were in that pack?” she asked.
The two stood on the misty, muddy outskirts of the valley village of Kumoyuri, having taken a contract the headman had put out to remove a group of Grimm that had occupied its rice paddies.
Technically, the contract had been assigned to one Rudyard Millard, but he had decided to bring along his apprentice, Lillian Armilde, for an impromptu training trip. After all, summer vacation at Haven Academy had just started, so her team probably wouldn’t mind him borrowing their leader for a short while.
Lillian herself had been slightly reluctant to accompany him, on the basis that it meant less “quality time” with her girlfriend. In the end, however, the notion of assisting a Huntsman on a real mission had won her over— the minimal amount of time that the mission called for being a small bonus.
“By my count? Ten Beowolves.” Rudyard responded, cautiously glancing over the surrounding area for any Grimm that they might have missed.
Two Beowolves that had strayed behind the pack were slowly approaching them, a tad hesitant in their step after seeing the man and girl tear through their packmates with little effort.
Lillian pondered this fact for a moment, quietly recalling the skirmish that had taken place mere seconds ago. “So… that makes six for me, and four for you?”
The Huntsman sighed, his eyebrows knitting in mild annoyance as he rubbed the top of his bald head. “This isn’t meant to be a competition, Lillian. Sometimes, precision is better than power.”
Lillian cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly, knowing exactly where the conversation was about to go. “The whole ‘rapier and the broadsword’ parable again, right? You’ve told me this one before, Rudyard.”
Rudyard nodded. “And it would seem you still prefer the broadsword, no?”
Lillian shrugged, resuming her battle stance as one of the two remaining Beowolves raised its bony hackles, crimson eyes fixed directly on her.
“What can I say? I’m stubborn. It’s my greatest strength, and my strength hasn’t failed me yet.”
Rudyard snorted in response, readying his sword, Endurendal, as the other Beowolf rounded on him. Evidently, the creature was foolish enough to have one more go at him rather than flee to fight another day.
“You can’t smash your way through an entire horde of Grimm.”
“Watch me,” Lillian said blithely, turning her attention to the incoming Beowolf on her right. She ducked an incoming swipe from the beast’s claws, then grabbed ahold of its snout with her left hand, and its lower jaw with her right.
Not even giving it the chance to defend itself, Lillian jerked its snout above her head and yanked its mandible downward. The resultant force tore the Grimm’s jaw straight down its body — along with a good portion of its front torso. The unfortunate Beowolf was already disintegrating before it hit the ground.
Rudyard rolled his eyes, decapitating the Beowolf in front of him with an almost comical lack of effort. “I guess we can argue the finer points of your tactics later—“
He suddenly paused mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing as he felt a stronger presence approaching them. A sixth sense cultivated by decades of combat experience, he knew that whatever he felt likely wasn’t a friend.
An audibly deep growl echoed across the misty paddy trail, emanating from a faintly visible form at the edge of his vision. Slowly, the silhouette drew closer until Rudyard realized what the growl was coming from— a Helhound, and what appeared to be an Alpha at that as it came into view.
The quadripedal Grimm resembled a massive wolf, standing at least seven feet tall at the shoulder, ivory spikes jutting from its back and flames licking the sides of its mouth. Behind its rune-covered mask of solid bone, two soulless red orbs were fixed on the Hunter and his apprentice.
Rudyard cursed under his breath, as he had expected an Alpha Beowolf at the worst— this Creature of Grimm was on a different tier. Out of concern, he threw a glance at Lillian from the corner of his eye.
She looked hesitant in the face of this newcomer, but had kept her stance and was as still as a rock. She wasn’t about to run away, and he doubted she would have even if he had ordered her to.
Lillian suddenly spoke up, catching his attention. “I expect you have a plan for this one, Rudyard?”
Rudyard’s eyes darted from the Helhound’s hind legs, to its maw, then its eyes, before he quickly pieced together a strategy.
“You… maneuver behind it, do what you can to cut off its movement. I’ll draw its attention and handle it from the front. Just make sure that you—“
He was cut off as the Helhound abruptly unleashed a blast of orange fire from its mouth. Rudyard dove to the left, while Lillian leapt to the right, the flames narrowly missing the two of them.
Regaining his stance, Rudyard finished his thought, “…avoid its fire breath.”
“Duly noted!” Lillian called out, already beginning to weave along the Helhound’s side. The Grimm turned its gaze towards her for a moment, but decided to focus on Rudyard, regarding him as the greater threat based on its own primal instinct.
As Rudyard began to rush forward, he activated a trigger on Endurandal’s hilt, and the broadsword separated with a snap into two blades, built to be wielded as a pair by their user. The Helhound responded to his action by jerking its head forward, its slavering jaws open wide, intent on biting the Huntsman clean in half.
Before it reached him, Rudyard swung one blade’s pommel forward; it connected with the Helhound’s snout, stopping its lunge and sending it staggering from the impact to its sensitive nose. Without missing a beat, he slashed across the Grimm’s right eye with his other sword. Black blood spurted from the wound, running across the side of the Helhound’s face in a gruesome mockery of weeping.
The Helhound let loose a screech of pain, half blinded by Rudyard’s strike, but did not falter in its attack. It attempted to pounce at Rudyard, but barely leapt half a foot forward. A force behind it had dragged it back— using Rudyard’s distraction to her advantage, Lillian had gotten behind the Helhound and wrapped her chiseled arms around its left hind leg. With the Grimm still stumbled from its failed leap, she yanked the lower leg back, going against its natural bend.
A loud crack split the air, and the Helhound shrieked again as its now-broken leg went limp, the Grimm barely managing to stay standing. However, it was now fully alerted to Lillian’s presence, and it craned its head to face her. Mad with rage, the Helhound leapt up on its forelegs, preparing to cut at her with the razor-sharp claws on its other, still intact hind leg.
Lillian threw up her shield just in time to stop the slash of the claws, but not the force of the attack— the beast’s kick lifted her off of her feet and sent her sprawling onto the hard ground of the dirt trail. She let out a hiss of exertion as her Aura flared, a watery purple shimmer running across her body before fading a second later.
Before he had time to properly react, Rudyard found himself once again face-to-face with the Helhound, as it prepared to unleash a second blast of fire breath. With no Water or Ice Dust on hand to form an effective barrier, Rudyard threw himself to the ground and reflexively held his hands over the back of his head. He felt a wash of incredible heat across his back, the Grimm’s loss of depth perception and imbalance from its broken hind leg throwing off its aim just a little too high.
As the flames died, Lillian shakily rose up and cursed under her breath, before calling out to Rudyard. “It’s not working! We injured it, but it’s still not showing any sign of giving up.”
Rudyard leapt to his feet, the Helhound tensing up in front of him, its attention divided between him and Lillian. “We still have your strength, and my speed. You go above, I’ll go below it! Make it count— we’ve only got one shot at this!”
With that command, Rudyard rushed towards the Grimm once more. Expecting him to have a go for its other eye, the Helhound feinted right, before raising its head and lunging to the left.
It never found its target— Rudyard dropped into a slide and skidded below the Helhound’s head, sliding into position right below its underbelly.
At the same time, Lillian broke into a run before jumping into the air, landing square on the Helhound’s back. Without missing a beat, she continued her rush and grabbed hold on the scruff of its neck. Feeling her weight on its back, the Helhound jerked its head upwards, turning its attention for one split second to her.
That motion was the signal Rudyard needed to strike.
“NOW!” he shouted.
Rudyard slammed the twin swords back into a single blade as he performed an upward thrust, driving Endurandal up between the Helhound’s protruding ribs and into the center of its chest.
Lillian threw her fist down with all her strength, her gauntlet blade cracking through the bone mask and connecting with the Grimm’s face, or whatever lay behind the runic ivory plating. Black blood spurted out from the cracks in the shattered mask.
The Helhound roared its loudest yet, but its roar held a shrill note of confused terror rather than the savagery and challenge of its regular cry. One last, desperate speck of fire puffed from its mouth as it flopped over onto its side into the rice paddy, and the eldritch red glow of its eyes faded as it slowly began to crumble into black dust.
Lillian, who had still been on top of the Grimm when it fell, unceremoniously crashed into the paddy as well.
As he watched her extricate herself from the paddy, Rudyard fell back onto his rear, letting out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Hauling herself onto the trail, Lillian bent over and braced her hands on her knees, winded from the fight and dripping in watery mud, but with a slight smile of mixed relief and bemusement clear on her face.
She reached out, offering her hand out to Rudyard, which he quickly took as he got back up to his feet. Upon catching her breath, she drew herself back up, taking notice of Rudyard’s observance of the paddy area. “Any more of them to deal with?”
Rudyard shook his head, gesturing for her to walk with him back the way they had come. “Thankfully, no. That Helhound was undoubtedly the pack leader, so even if some of its pack are still kicking, they’ll have nobody to lead them and won’t be much of a threat any longer. Besides, it’s getting dark, and that was all the trouble we needed for today. If by chance any more Grimm come skulking around, we’ll deal with them tomorrow.”
He halted his stride for a moment, chuckling softly as he patted a bit of ash from the pauldron of his crimson body armor, residue from the Alpha Helhound’s attack. “I’ll tell you though, Lil-Lil, what I need now is a nice, cold beer.”
Lillian let out a laugh, raising her hands to indicate her presently mud-covered state. “Yeah, and I need a long, hot shower.”
Rudyard pointed at the hazy image of the Kumoyuri thoroughfare, roughly half a mile down the trail from where they stood. “Then we’d best get back to the inn. Our contract’s complete, and I think I’ve settled our debate as well.”
Lillian shook her head, though her smile didn’t falter.
“I know, I know, you were right. Precise attacks on that Helhound — I guess the rapier triumphed over the broadsword in the end?”
“No, that’s not what I’d say. After all, weapons didn’t win this battle.” Rudyard turned to face her, before cracking a grin of his own, the edges of his moustache curling along with the corners of his mouth. “We did.”
