As Trad and Grane ran the sounds of the Grimm got fainter. Either they were finally putting distance between them and the hoard, or Robert's idiotic plan was actually working. No Trad didn't agree with what their leader did, in fact he was going to try and stop him, but the enemies closing in left little time to run him down. Plus, he was already carrying the portable battery, so forcefully carrying Robert with them wouldn't have been possible.
Despite all that had happened and all they had lost, Trad was suddenly filled with hope as the fort came into view. It wasn't much, just the towers and what looked to be the top of the walls, but it meant they were nearly there. "Grane, we're almost there! We just gotta keep—"
Trad's feet and his words came to a halt as something caught his eye. There was a woman trailing the Grimm! But more importantly, her dark gauntlets and combat ready clothing made one thing clear, she was a Huntress.
Trad glanced to where Grane was to see if he had kept going without him or stayed to watch his back. Either way, with one man down and possibly two, backup was definitely something the team needed.
She must have caught sight of them, for her head snapped towards the pair and she angled her path towards them. It was not as if stealth was a major concern at that point, and a pair of men in a mad dash away from the forest, one of them hauling a battery pack, must have been a fairly distinctive sight.
The constant growling and snarling coming from up ahead made it difficult to lose track of the horde of monsters, and Sand had tried to make sure nothing would start chasing after her. She had forced herself to a hurried jog, rather than an outright sprint when entering the forest, reluctant to advertise her presence to the Grimm in case this was little more than a false alarm. The two men rushing in her direction indicated it was more than that.
"What the hell is going on?" she asked as she drew nearer, close enough to see the weapons they shouldered. Two Hunters? That was good. Better than the defenseless group of civilians she had feared encountering. Still, it was clear by the fading roars that the Grimm were not following after them. And if not them, then who? "Are there others in your group?"
Grane stopped as the unknown female addressed the two. The Grimm were getting closer, and he didn't want to delay their trip to the fort any longer. She was almost as tall as Grane, with tan skin and snow white hair. Was she a civilian or something? Possibly, but seeing how there was an abandoned fort nearby Grane couldn't really see a reason why she was here. It wasn't safe for any Faunus or human. Hell, it wasn't safe for the Hunters. "Unless you're deaf, you've probably heard a shit ton of Grimm coming our way. We already had someone killed and someone back there about to die, so I'd suggest you just come with us to the fort." There wasn't a point going back for Robert, since he had volunteered to die anyway.
"Grane!" Trad snapped at his teammate after his insensitive remarks, but quickly pulled back since the last thing they needed was more infighting. "As far as we know Robert is still out there running for his life. Until proven otherwise we need to do all we can to save him and right now that's getting to the fort and radioing for backup."
Turning to their newcomer Trad tried to speak calmly, but after being chased by hundreds of Grimm it was hard to hide the urgency in his voice. "Look, we need to get into that fort and establish a connection with the nearest base to send reinforcements. You look like you know how to fight and as my friend said we've already lost a man and if we don't hurry it'll be two. Would you be willing to help us?" A loud call from a Harpy broke the calm moment. "We need to move!"
"I'll help. It's the reason I came out here." Sand's gaze remained fixed on the one who had spoken first as she answered. She broke eye contact to look at Trad. "But you got it wrong. You're not going to break into the fort and radio for help in time for rescue to come. For all you know, the radio is busted anyway. The only timely help your friend will have will need to come from us."
"I think we're better off without his help. Fucking got his own teammate killed. So much for a 'leader'. Even if I did care enough to go back for his sorry ass, it would just end up with us being swamped by dozens or even hundreds of Grimm. Even if the radio is busted, we've got better chances hoping for something working at the fort than going back for our glorious leader." It could have been odd for this stranger to hear of a team ditching their leader, but back in the day Grane had done it several times in his unit.
It was one thing for an individual of the unit to fuck up, as it would normally just lead to their death. But a leader? That spelled doom for the entire unit, whether the individuals were smart about what they did or not. "Say what you want, but I'm headed to the fort with or without you. Your choice."
Sand certainly found it odd. Offensive, even. She looked at the man as if he had grown an extra head and had to bite back a heated response. Instead, she took a breath and rubbed at her temple with one gauntleted hand. The cool metal helped her steady her thoughts. Whatever they did, this argument could wait.
"Fine. I'll head out, see if your leader is still alive. Keep him that way if he is."
Whether you like it or not. She did not give voice to that last thought. The man may not have given off the most sterling of first impressions, but she was not there to make enemies. There was little point to burning bridges before one crossed them.
Moving past the two, Sand sprinted deeper into the forest, her attention once more focused on the horde of Grimm and its quarry.
As the Huntress ran off Trad had a sudden realization. "Did we get her name?" he asked his scaly companion. It was a trivial thing but something strange to not get from someone they were entrusting to save their foolish leader. This wasn't the time for that though as now they had to get back to the original plan; fortifying their position while getting that radio up and running. Wasting no more time they continued their mad dash to the fortress hoping they could still be ready for the hoard of Grimm that would come with Robert's return. If he ever returned...
---Meanwhile---
While what remained of Robert's team were making a new friend, the team leader was making a mad dash through the forest, trying to put as much distance between the Grimm and his friends. "Gotta keep going. Can’t stop. Have to keep running," he said to himself between large gasps of air. In his tunnel vision-like focus to get away though, Robert wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. A small, fallen tree lay in the middle of his path, tripping up his feet and sending him face-first toward the ground. He was now caked in mud and dirt, but that didn’t stop him. The creatures of Grimm were right on his tail and if he stopped for even a moment it would assuredly lead to his demise. Robert rolled and used the momentum to rise back up on his feet as he continued sprinting, grabbing his side where the Beowolf had tried to use him as a scratching post.
Another several minutes passed before the red-haired hunter-in-training ran into any more trouble. Apparently a Boarbatusk had been faster than its fellow Grimm and was quickly approaching Robert from behind. There was no time to maneuver, he had noticed it too late, and so the Grimm rammed into the back of Robert's legs and sent him back to the ground. Looking back up, he saw the Grimm coming back for another pass, ready to trample the boy into the ground. Robert was about to roll out of the way when he realized that this would probably be his chance to get rid of this annoyingly quick footed Grimm. So the redhead raised his arms and tried his best so, when the Boarbatusk made its second pass, he'd be able to use his weapons to stab its underbelly where it was weakest. "Fingers crossed."
Robert closed his eyes and buried his head into the Earth, hoping to make his head as small of a target as possible in case his plan didn't work out. Seconds later he felt a sudden amount of force push against his arms and a hoof land on his jaw. Robert looked up to see the slowly disappearing Grimm as it dissipated into smoke. "Holy- It frickin' worked!" A loud roar burst from the trees behind him, reminding Robert of the danger that he was in. "Need to keep going," he said as he got up from the ground. "Probably far enough away now that all I need to worry about is my escape. Easier said than done of course."
His face full of panic, Robert frantically searched for somewhere to hide. Some way to get rid of the Grimm that he had successfully gotten to follow him. "At least step one of the plan I only now came up with is complete. Hopefully covering myself in all this mud and dirt will make tracking nigh impossible," he thought out loud. "And hopefully I've made them lose sight of me... This plan of mine is really counting on a lot of luck isn't it? Something that experience has taught me I don’t usually have. I am so screwed."
Robert managed to slay one of the beasts, but his time spent killing it was just enough for the rest of the pack to arrive. Instead of just two or three however, a total of 7 Boarbatusks arrived, with one large and mean one so big that it could not avoid the trees, but toppled them over. And while they could not smell Robert due to his filth, they could sense him in other ways. His regret and uncertainty. Delta's apparent death was still fresh enough for the Grimm to track Robert by. It wasn't long before the Boarbatusks were able to get a general location of where Roberts was hiding. But instead of charging at him all together, they surrounded the area. Then, using their tusks, started to tear the trees out of the ground. If Robert was hiding in the trees, they intended to knock him out of it. No stone was left unturned, literally; even boulders were shattered and scattered by even the smallest of the armored boars.
And this was just the Boarbatusks. Soon Creeps arrived to the scene and started to look around, and soon the Beowolves will arrive as well. If Robert stayed to hide, he would surely be caught in the center of the horde. And if he could not escape, he would be found.
When Robert spotted the incoming Boarbatusk, he knew his plan of hiding wasn’t going to work out. "Well... If I'm going down, it won't be sitting down. At least everyone else got away. Good to know I'm not dying for nothing," he said before turning his weapons to their ballistic form and firing at the closest Boarbatusks. It was a longshot, but maybe he could blind a few by shooting out their eyes. Make it easier for when he'd have to get under them and finish them off.
All Robert accomplished was revealing his position as the bullets bounced off the Boarbatusk's face plate. Turning their heads towards the sound of the gunshots, the Boarbatusk were the first to get to charge at Robert’s position, even trampling over the Creeps to get to him. The biggest of the Boarbatusks (Henceforth known as "Bob the Boarbatusk" or Bob for short) led the charge, his scarred armored plates making his age and experience, if his sheer size alone didn't already convey that. He easily toppled over any obstacle in his path, and Bob intended to gore Robert on his horns and moisturize his body with Robert's organs.
"Screw this!" Robert shouted as he saw the ineffectiveness of his attacks. He quickly sprinted toward a nearby tree and scampered to the top at speeds that would put even an Olympic athlete to shame. After all, fear is a great motivator. Clinging for dear life, the boy hoped in vain that maybe the tree would be thick enough that maybe it wouldn't be knocked down by Bob's immense strength. It wouldn't be of course. Robert had assuredly met his doom... unless someone miraculously showed up to save his sorry ass.
The tree didn't stand a chance. Bob ran up to the tree, sundering its trunk with a slash of its tusk. But worse still, the Beowolves had arrived. And as the tree fell, they swarmed around Bob and his buddies, and soon Robert faced a veritable hill of Grimm swarming to meet him. A mass of darkness that intended to engulf him, and bury him under the regret and shame he brought upon himself. Hungry beasts clawed out to grab Robert and pull him into the shadows, tearing him apart and revealing that in the end, he couldn't even die with his team.
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