Running. Screaming. Grimm everywhere. Fire raging and buildings crumbling.

The girl was scrambling over rubble as images flashed behind her eyes of terror and horror. The world was falling around her head, and she hadn't seen a single hunter or Huntress in this part of town. In her haste she tripped on a piece of stone sticking up, causing her to tumble out of control down the pile to land with a thump. It was all the girl could do to get back on her feet, one now bleeding, to continue her flight from this hell. She stumbled through the half erect doorway and scurried across the abandoned street intersection, unaware that eyes were following her every movement.

Growls from the darkness. Yells of pain in the distance. The crackle and rumbling of buildings giving way.

A few streets over she heard people calling out for survivors. She didn't think. The hope of being safe fueled her lungs, filled her legs with renewed strength. her whole body tingled. She was going to be alright...Then the Grimm pounced from her left with a snarl. She screamed out and tried to get away, but it was helpless. She fell down and curled into a ball, praying for the world to stop. When the sound of a whistle whipped past her prone form. A second later, a heavy thump made the girl whimper and tighten her ball.

The world seemed to fall silent and still for a few moments, the girl still scared that the Grimm was just playing with her....and then it passed, the sounds of the city clutched in discord returned, and the footfalls of people came rushing towards her. It was only when a hand fell on her shoulder did the girl yelp and shoot upright, trying to defend herself. "It's alright! You're safe!" Someone kept saying, and the girl stilled to look around, dazed. The Grimm was dead at her feet, mouth lolling open to one side.

She looked around, but she didn't have time to ask questions, even if she could gather her mind to do so. The people took her away from that place, onto a military airship, and into the sky...Those emerald eyes following it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The city was lost. There was no hope to reclaim it from the Grimm. The Military was pulling out as many civilians as they could with what airships were left intact. There was no word from Beacon. But everyone in a position to receive information was aware the trouble originated from an event that happened on the peak of Beacon's tallest tower. But the question on everyone's mind: Where were the hunters and huntresses meant to prevent this calamity?

Hushed whispers and crying could be heard throughout an airship that carried Phoenix and his three teammates away from Beacon Academy. Many, including Phoenix's teammate, Nyte, were desperately attempting to find signals using their scrolls in order to find missing friends, family members, lovers, and teammates. Unlike these concerned civilians, however, Nyte seemed solely focusing on finding a signal in order to get an update on the situation, but was having little luck so far. They didn't need much of an update, however, as they had seen the discord and massacre unravel before their very eyes.

The gashes that ran across Soleil's leg and Phoenix's arm were testament to the reality of the event.

So was Ash's blank expression that gazed across the airship and out a window that was facing in the direction of the now fallen academy. He clearly seemed to be lost in thought as he did not even react to his blonde teammate leaning against him as she wrapped her injured leg in gauze that was found inside one of the airship's med-kits while pathetically whimpering throughout the process. Phoenix could empathize with her pain, he supposed, but he kept his mouth shut and his eyes trained on his surroundings. This, of course, included the black creature that flew above Vale's skies and dangerously close to escaping airships. And to make matters worse, the airships were beginning to turn on each other as if they were being controlled by a malevolent force.

It might not have been Shade that fell, but the situation meant the same outcome - they were all going to die soon enough.

Jumping nimbly across rooftops, Alonare was keeping pace with a small pack of Beowolves who apparently caught a scent they liked. She hadn't hunted Grimm at all, but she knew that all packs, be it Grimm or slavers, had a similar goal: To hunt down prey for their own benefit. Currently they were making a beeline for Beacon, that shining tower ever in the distance where so-called protectors of humanity were trained. Where were they, now that the world was crashing down around Humanity's ears? defending their own no doubt...

The Faunus locked down her thoughts and focused on her footwork, her body emanating a very dull dark green aura as she leaped from ledge to ledge. Whatever these Grimm were after, she secretly hoped the people on the other end of the trail were bad. She didn't have many arrows left...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

High above, caught in the crossfire between Grimm and military vessels, evacuation airships were starting to drop. Apparently the fear exuding from the survivors were drawing Nevermores like moths to a flame, despite any effort from the military. One such ship was hit by the body of a smaller nevermore, but it was enough to knock the ship off course and at an extreme angle to the ground. The pilot was helpless to recover, and chaos erupted as objects and people were flung around the passenger bay.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An explosion above her made Alonare stop short of her next jump to look skyward.....just in time to see a skyship barreling toward her. ".....crap." was all she said before dashing TOWARD the ship. Logic dictated a falling object at an angle will keep going in the direction of inertia, so her only hope was to get under and behind the crash zone.

Plans never really work out the way one wants them to...

Just as Phoenix had finished wrapping gauze around his arm, there was a series of terrified gasps and yells that were accompanied by a sudden lurch and a sensation of falling. A piercing siren blasted through eardrums of him and his teammates as Phoenix found himself being painfully tossed at something that was rather hard. Stunned by the impact, it took him a matter of moments to realize that he and Nyte had been thrown against the interior of the airship that was heading straight for the ground. Through flashes of red that accompanied the sirens, the individuals being evacuated on the airship could see monstrous black wings and hear the cries of a Nevermore that had chosen the airship as its prey.

It, of course, would be attracted to a gathering of people that had watched atrocity after atrocity and were terrified for the lives of themselves and those around them. This crossed Soleil's mind as she saw what she believed to be the hungry gaze of the monster as it inched closer to her and she inched closer to death. Holding onto Ash and burying her head into the leader's cloak, Soleil closed her eyes as there was a sound of shattering glass, more shouts, and then nothing.

Not even the siren could be heard.

---

---

There was a smell of smoke and a series of monstrous shrieks that appeared to be in the far distance. His hands were hurting and he felt much more tired than he remembered. In a state that was absent of accepting conscious reality, Nyte had pondered the thought that perhaps what occurred at the Vytal festival was little more than a nightmare. Perhaps Beacon Academy and Vale had not fallen, perhaps Penny Polendina wasn't viciously ripped apart by her opponent, and perhaps the airship had never---.

. . . Had never crashed?

Opening his eyes, Nyte Garnet suddenly became aware of the wreckage that he surrounded him. The airship crash had to have been fairly recently as judging by the inferno that was beginning to engulf what remained of it. Metal, glass, and bodies sat around him with the third causing him to reach for his mouth with an expression of shock.

No, no, no!

Sitting up with a slightly painful twinge from somewhere his lower leg, the huntsman-in-training reached for his (hopefully unharmed) weapon and began to dig through the rubble in hopes of finding his teammates as well. "Ash! Phoenix! Soleil!" The shouts echoed, but at the very least, they didn't attract any negative attention.

At least no attention from the Grimm circling the sky above or from any survivors as there appeared to be few, if any at all.

Is that....an alarm? Was Alonare's first thought as she started to swim out of her unconsciousness. She could hear nothing but a high pitched ringing sound, and she found herself sprawled out on some rubble, her weapon thrown several yards away. Why is it over there? But as she looked around, her head still dizzy, she started to remember The airship.

The Faunus wobbled up onto her hands and knees, crawling over crumbled building and bits of ship towards her bow, her instinct screaming at her to be armed. She knew from experience no one could do anything without being able to fight back, and as she recovered and grew a bit quicker, it dawned on her Grimm could be racing towards them at any moment. The ringing was subsiding just as Alonare reached her bow, to be replaced with crackling of fire and the sparks of electrical conduits shorting out repeatedly. She could finally assess the destruction around her more clearly, and what she saw dwarfed everything else that happened that night.

It was a slice of hell. the dead and living were sprawled out, the ship cracked open like an egg from the impact with a department store. Alonare didn't even think about any possible survivors that could've been hiding there. She buckled down on her emotions, a self-taught skill out of necessity and started for the crash.

Looking around, she passed over several people, either dead or too far gone to care about. But she stopped short as she heard someone calling out names, and called out herself "Remain calm! If you are alive, find something to bang on!" Before taking her own advice and clanging the tip of her bow on a nearby piece of hull, the clear tinging sound of metal on metal ringing across the hell-scape.

She banged a few more times, before pushing forward towards the voice, hopefully the person would take her advice and make it easier to find them as well as others...

The darkness was paired with a hazy feeling that made Ash well aware of the fact that he wasn't dead yet. The moment he opened his eyes to see orange through a hole in the metallic cage that he had landed himself in, he knew that he was alive and most likely well as judging by the lack of pain. He could also feel someone leaning against him and made a horrific discovery of a ripped cloak that was likely done by Soleil who was now unconscious at his side. He could feel faint breathing from the blonde and imagined that she was alright as well aside from the injury that she had sustained earlier that day.

Unwrapping a leg that was tucked beneath him, the team leader slammed his foot against a piece of rubble in attempt to free himself and the girl at his side before they both roasted or suffocated to death. Despite his desperate kicks, Ash was well aware that no amount of weak force exerted by him would be able to break the two free. Perhaps his weapon or a certain individual on the other side of the disaster could assist him?

Alonare's ears perked at a dull thumping across the distance unlike the din of the crashsite, and she quickly picked her way across towards it, Keeping herself aware of any other potential sounds. It was unlike her to really care about others, but something made her push forward to find and save people in light of what happened this night.

The Faunus climbed over what used to be the cockpit, looking down and finally spotting the source of the thumping: A boy that didn't even have chin stubble yet. She slid down a hull chunk and landed silently beside him, her aura lighting up for a moment before it dissipated. "Can you move anything else? And is the girl beside you dead?" She asked, but she didn't keep her gaze on him, instead looking around with her bow at the ready. The whipping of her head around shook her hair, revealing her neck often enough as she waited for a response.

Ash continued to kick with each attempt being accompanied by a weaker and weaker force. He had only begun to play with the possibility that he and Soleil would burn or suffocate in the airship's remains when the debris that blocked the duo was suddenly removed and tossed aside. He barely had time to catch a glimpse of his savior before their aura hit him and memories flooded his mind. Nevermind that, he would have to ignore that for now and find his remaining teammates.

". . I should be alright." Ash spoke in his familiar soft-spoken manner as he glanced up to see a Faunus woman equipped with what appeared to be bow variant weapon. There was also a collar around her neck, but Ash's mind was too hazy at the moment to remember the importance of that. Perhaps Phoenix would remember. . "And she should be as well."

With that, the team leader slowly pulled Soleil onto his lap and began to push the two out of the debris in a backwards motion. It was a tight spot that they had been trapped in and in a way, it was almost a miracle that the two hadn't actually suffocated to death. Once freed, Ash reached for Soleil's fallen hat and gingerly placed it over a pair of visible ears that sat atop her head. Soleil was not very self-conscious about her heritage, but she loved her hat and would be absolutely torn up if she came to without it on. Now that the two were free. . .

". . Are you alright? Are there any other survivors?"

"Was fine till an airship wanted to land on my head. Haven't found anyone else besides you. She the only one you care about? I don't want to stick around for the crying to start."

Alonare replied in a quick, rapid-fire way to save time. Now was hardly a time for politeness or thought out sentences, and her seemingly off-handed mention of crying was obvious: Gotta move before the Grimm are attracted to the survivors who couldn't compartmentalize.

But the Faunus wasn't completely unfeeling. She hooked her bow onto her back and quickly offered her assistance in helping Ash to his feet, adding "I'm Alonare."

". . No." Ash took the girl's hand and was helped to his feet. "There are two others with us. . Though I'm not sure if they survived the ordeal." For some reason, the leader found himself playing with the possibility that perhaps they hadn't survived. It was odd as he had often viewed his older brother as an invincible to an extent and even Nyte was impressive in his owns ways, but there had already been too much death for today. It seemed that nothing was impossible and/or safe anymore.

Still. He had to at least try and look for them.

". . Ash Argyris." He looks around at the smoldering mess of metal that once acted as beacon of safety and a hope for survival. "Thank you for your help. . I should look for the rest of my team, but. . I don't have any plans to hold you up any longer." While this was true and Ash was used to his lonely nature, there was something somewhat terrifying about being left alone in completely unfamiliar territory without even a single soul to guide him. He never felt such anxiety even in Vacuo's sands yet the playing field was completely different in a deserted and destroyed Vale.

He would be alright. He would have to be.

Alonare's ear twitched as she pulled her bow out again, glancing around as she asked "Your team? Rescue or hunters?" her tone was even, neither hopeful or disdainful. She gave him a few seconds to answer before the sound of the city returned, and Alonare hopped up nimbly to a perch made of vertical airship and part of the building that it had landed on, crouching like a predator poised to strike. The Faunus gave the surrounding area a slow gaze in all directions, not yet seeing any Grimm in the area. Either everyone was dead, or still disoriented and not yet embracing their emotions.

Perched on a ledge overlooking a square, arrow notched and bowstring pulled back, feminine hands were tensed in that position, her aim directed at a man in a suit addressing a small group of humans and very few Faunus. He himself wasn't a Faunus from outward appearances. He finished whatever speech he was making and headed off behind stage where a car was waiting for him....and then the bowstring twanged mutely and the arrow flew. The accuracy was dead on, burying into his throat just as he sat down in the backseat, shattering the passenger window in the process...

Before Ash could answer that he belonged to neither and that they were merely students participating in the Vytal festival, the woman had already begun to inspect the area. The team leader was hit again with sensations of this mysterious woman's past and wondered what it was like, but he hardly had the time to ponder that. With one quick glance back to Soleil, the leader began to slowly move away from his Faunus ally and just a few inches further into the wreck.

He wasn't moving particularly far nor had he planned on moving particularly fast. The fire was beginning to die down to small embers, but he could tell by the lack of aura that many had not made it. He felt his hand subconsciously pull down the top of his cloak as if to disguise himself from all the horror around as he would continue to search for Nyte and Phoenix. "Nyte! Brother!" A pause. "Phoenix! Nyte!"

Nothing.

And so further he went, blissfully unaware of Nyte calling for his name in the opposite direction.

"Ash! AAAAASH!"

Alonare drew her bow towards the yelling, not taking any chances of being at a disadvantage in a standoff. She glanced around from where the yelling was originating, and managed to catch sight of movement around a broken wing. She slid off her perch and dashed across the short exposed area that was cleared just behind the ship, taking cover behind a piece of ship that left her at a 90 degree angle from where she found Ash and the voice before calling out "Nyte!"

The idea in her head was that if the man yelling was indeed Nyte, she'd be able to lead him towards his companions. But if it wasn't, she wouldn't draw him closer to weakened allies.

Holding another slave in her arms, his gut bleeding from a bullet wound, she looked up with teary eyes at those that she thought were there to save them....but they were only there to kill stock of competitors, they said...

"Quit your yelling."

This grunt came from an unhappy Phoenix that appeared to be focused on the damage that laid before the duo. After mostly coming to his senses, Nyte was able to successfully locate and retrieve Phoenix from under the debris. Luckily, Phoenix had lit himself ablaze with his aura before the impact and was able to survive the crash with minimal injuries as a result. Nyte had hoped that this would be true for Ash and Soleil as well, but he was beginning to struggle with clinging onto this dim hope. After all, he had found so much blood and such a high body count that it was even difficult to believe that anyone else had survived the crash besides the two of them.

And that's when he saw her.

He had seen her come from the opposite direction and take cover behind a large piece of rubble. A smirk crossed the raven's face as he begun to approach exactly where the girl had hid. He had suspected that she was armed, but he had Prometheus at his side as always, so there wasn't a much of a worry there. He could handle himself in a fight against another person or Grimm, but maybe not so much against a Grimm that was any larger than an Ursa. He was sure, however, that this girl was definitely not an Ursa and it was at least worth attempting to approach her at this point. And so he did.

With Phoenix at his side.

"What was that about my yelling?"

"That you should stop it? There's no proof that she came this way because of it."

"It's highly possible." Nyte stopped a few feet in front of the rubble that the girl was attempting to hide behind. He held Prometheus at his side as if it were a regular briefcase and gripped it tightly with a hope that this girl was friendly. "Hello there?"

"Identify yourself first! For all I know you're here to steal from a military aircraft!" Came the reply from behind the rubble. There weren't very many options of retreat without being seen, but Alonare had a small knack for improvisation. She allowed them to hear her scuffle around, but the moment she stopped, she used her aura to mask the tightening of her bowstring as she prepped an arrow. She had heard a second voice, and didn't know how many others were with this Nyte. Ash had not said....

Who's more trusting? Surely he heard her yell his name? Or did he intentionally avoid asking because they both might be thinking the other knew he wasn't this Nyte? An awkward standoff to say the least.

"Would you look at that?" A snort from Phoenix. "She may as well be hostile."

"She may be, but what do you expect? Vale and Beacon Academy just fell. . It's probably just a misunderstanding." This is a comment made by Nyte towards Phoenix in the lowest voice that the former could muster. If this girl was friendly and this really was a misunderstanding, then perhaps she could help them escape the city before the Grimm can snatch them up.

"I'm Nyte Garnet and this is Phoenix Adem. We're from Shade Academy and were attending the Vytal Festival before the chaos that was, uh, witnessed earlier today. We. . come in peace and aren't looking to start a fight or steal anything."

"That being said, we have no problem defending ourselves." Phoenix crosses his arms as if attempting to appear
more intimidating than he actually was. Nyte had to admit that Phoenix was a somewhat large guy, but he wasn't sure if that would do much to scare an individual that clearly had a vantage point. The raven wanted to hush his companion for such a comment, but he supposed that it wasn't a lie. Hopefully the girl wouldn't see that it was a threat just the response to a possible threat.

"We're. . we're just looking to find our last teammates and a way to escape the city. . I promise."

"Hunters."

Came the single word before Alonare stepped out of her cover, bow lowered and held undrawn. The two syllables were clearly said in contempt, but she moved on quickly "Your two teammates are over here." The Faunus turned and started off at a jog, seeming not to care if the pair followed or not. Regardless, she'd lead them to where Soleil was left laying, and waited for them to follow.

"Pitiful city. This is what Vale has to offer?" The trio of huntresses wandered past an alley where Alonare was crouched. She didn't move, didn't respond. Her task was not to silence a few upstarts, but to stop a worm from revealing her Master's identity. She was just waiting in that particular alley for him to pass by....it didn't stop her from hating the three girls and their harsh words. She may have been enslaved here, but many people in this city helped each other. The old man even gave her food on occasion.

"Ash took off looking for you in that direction. We need to leave before Grimm get here." she explained curtly as she looked around, trying to stay aware of any other unexpected visitors.

The duo exchanged expressions of confusion and suspicion, but decided to follow the woman anyway. There would have been a question as to why the woman had been so hostile if it weren't from the glimpse of a collar that rested around her neck and underneath her long hair. Phoenix knew exactly what this meant and he had more than enough reason to believe that this woman might as well assassinate them or lead them to her owners where they would be thrown into slavery themselves. There was a hiss from Phoenix that Nyte had done his best to ignore as a headache was beginning to come on yet again and he wanted to believe that this girl was telling the truth.

And she apparently was.

It wasn't the best of truths, however, as Nyte quickly saw Soleil lying on the ground and ran over to the Faunus. Kneeling down besides her, he looked her over for injuries only to find a lack of them. She was also alive as well, but unconscious. It would be unfair to immediately accuse this woman of hurting Soleil, but it was most certainly a possibility. . . He couldn't think like that right now, however, as they had more pressing concerns. The city was burning down around them, Grimm were roaming freely, and to top it all of, Ash was nowhere to be seen. At least he was apparently alive according to the Faunus' comment.

Nyte slowly looked up from Soleil with his eyes falling onto the Faunus woman. "How far did he go?"

"I heard your voice and didn't have time to go fetch him." Alonare snapped. She turned heel and motioned to Phoenix to follow "We'll go find him, get your friend mobile. Fortune favors the fleet footed." And with that took off.

She didn't jog long though. In an effort to keep her aura hidden she avoided silencing her footfalls, a serious mistake as she'd soon find out. Her prediction of Grimm being attracted came true as an Ursa barreled around a corner, its gaze drawn by the sound of movement, and charged in their direction. Alonare knew she didn't have time to draw her bow and line up a shot, so she seemingly snapped her bow in half and locked the limbs into a pair of swords. She hated fighting hand-to-hand, but she hated not being able to at all more.

Having never fought with allies, she didn't think to call it out, merely dashing forward and instinctively dampening the sounds around her. She rushed the creature head-on for a few moments before using a small upright piece of stone stuck in the ground to alter her course at the last moment, using her swords to deflect a swipe from the Grimm. The Faunus landed for half a second on a wall she aimed herself for, using it to launch off and dash again before the Ursa had time to strike again, rolling across its back and leaving a heavy gash across it as she went.

She was avoiding it well enough, but it was obvious she wasn't doing enough damage to end the fight anytime soon...

The sound of a shotgun could be heard from behind the Faunus woman that was engaged with the Ursa and a sight of Nyte quickly running towards the Ursa with briefcase in hand could be witnessed. It was true that he had previously believed his inability to take on any Grimm that was the size of an Ursa (or larger), but he had to find Ash and find him quickly. Besides, this woman had helped them find Soleil and that meant that he owned her a debt. It was also more than enough reason for him to believe that likely she was telling the truth regarding Ash's whereabouts and the fact that he was nearby.

Once closer, the raven swung Prometheus with all of his might and slammed the briefcase onto the Ursa's side before jumping back and sending a few more shotgun shells in its direction. "Are you alright over there?!" He was referring to the unnamed Faunus woman who had taken charge against the Ursa and not Phoenix who had kept his distance from the battle while holding Soleil against his back.

"If you're injured, then step back!" The raven held out his trusty weapon and partner-in-crime. ". . And I can distract it while you run!"