A.N.)- I include snippets of music in this for the sake of humor and awesomeness. Unfortunately there's no good way to link mid-story on . If you see a [#] it corresponds to the list at end of the chapter and you can use good ole Ctrl + F to jump between the two.

By the way. Fuck authors notes.

Light…? No… not light…?

Uuuggghhhh…

Was that… a big thing of black and white…? Grimm…?

Blackness encroached.

No, I needed... fight...

-oOo-

"So my options are panic, panic like a bitch, panic like a fuckface, panic like a loser, or put my big girl panties on and man up."

I stood at the top of the steps, looking out at the forest, the trees stretched high into the air, nearly fifty feet at the smallest. Dwarfing the structure I was standing at the entrance of, the canopy of coniferous trees blotting out much of the otherwise clear blue sky.

"… really wish I could panic."

I had no fucking clue where I was.

Work clothes, pretty and fancy but not super useful for survival. The servers apron, and accompanying pen and pad could be useful though. Keys. Wallet. Phone. Thankfully had my car, which meant I had a crowbar, jack, knife, and some munchies... but the thing had been wrecked in my arrival.

And I mean wrecked. It had definitely not been built to be dropped from who knows how high up nose first onto a stone floor. Glad it had dropped onto its wheels though rather than the roof, took me a few minutes to get up and going after getting a facefull of airbag... again.

A glance behind me as I tried to get my bearings, my head craning upwards. The structure was vaguely Mayan in design, though I saw hints of what looked more like Olmec aesthetics in it as well, and it was built into a cliff face... the crystals didn't seem to be anything inherently artificial outside of their natural glow and cut, but some were actually rather rough cut... it was… strange.

"So... where am I? This ain't candid camera..." I muttered to myself, I'd never been to South America, but I was pretty sure pines weren't indigenous... and while I was essentially talking out of my ass about what kind of design the structure had, it was definitely South American.

… so where the fuck was I?

With a sigh, I pantomimed hoisting panties on over my pants, "Right, first order of business is water. Then food. I've got shelter in the structure and my car just to be sure. Just don't get lost."

A shuddering breath escaped me, "Right... just don't get lost."

-oOo-

The world faded in and out for me… I could… my cloak was draped across me like a blanket…?

"Ugh… what… what was…?" My throat ached as I tried to speak...

It was… it was stained crimson with my blood… where was I…?

A... a cavern...?

Blackness overtook me once more…

-oOo-

[1] "Shiver my timbers shiver my soul…" murmuring to myself, likely horrendously off key, helped fill the silence.

Super glad I buy for quality. My undershirt is pretty tough as were my dress pants. I'd left my dress shirt in the car just in case I needed the fabric at some other time.

Also? Super glad I was obsessed with Suvivorman for a while there.

Spear? Made. Not super hard.

Fire? Strip some wires form the battery and smack them together carefully around some tinder and properly arranged sticks and get a fire bundle started.

The creatures of the forest were skittish, but I could get within a surprisingly close distance to them. But not throwing distance yet.

I actually found water in the structure, which seemed almost like a temple really. There weren't any beds or quarters or anything. I'd arrived in a big circular room with a bunch of designs on the floor and a bunch of those multicolored glowing crystals on the ceiling. There were seven hallways leading off from it, six in a hexagonal arrangement and one just… not. That last one was bigger and led outside, and if my car was functional it'd have fit, but the other hallways were too narrow for the vehicle to get through.

Each of the smaller hallways ended in another, smaller circular room with… well, an element of one kind or another in it. Definitely temple like. In one, there was a perpetual flame at the center of the circle with a bunch of those glowing red crystals around it, in another there was a pool of water and a bunch of blue crystals, another had a floating boulder and a bunch of yellow crystals, another had a perpetual dust devil and the green crystals, those all made sense. But two more of them had one with blinding light and another that was perpetually dark…

So… a six elemental system? I dunno. It was weird.

But yeah, the water was pure. Hoped it wasn't poisonous or anything, and it seemed perpetual since I was able to refil the cup I'd had in my car multiple times without an obvious dip in levels.

I'd been able to rip off a hubcap and with some careful stick arrangement turn it into a frying pan, no rivers to catch fish in though yet.

Pulling the pad from my pocket, I glanced over it and made a mark on it about paces before putting a mark in the tree I was beside with my knife.

Right, back to spiraling outwards, exploring the area around where I'd arrived. Still no visible existence of humans outside of the initial structure. The lack of path to it was very disconcerting though. At least none I could discern.

"Five six seven eight… bula shaka bula shaka bula shaka…"

-oOo-

Smoke… I could smell smoke…

My eyes slowly cracked open, there was a small fire before me…? Where… where was I…?

Last I remember was going to… going to fight off a goliath… I'd been the only hunter free and close enough to intercept…

I tried to lift my arm, but it refused to move, trembling in place weakly beneath my cloak…

And there'd been this strange Grimm… what had happened…?

Stopping in my attempts, I eased back to the ground of the… cave?

No... it was big... almost a cavern... I was... towards the back I think...? The entryway was huge and the fire was between me and it...

But the effort to move had taken more out of me than I'd thought, and darkness overtook me again in moments.

-oOo-

[2] "Mii mi mii mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi miiii mi mi."

Endurance hunting, surprisingly effective after you make a good spear throw and just take it nice and slow.

Mind you, poor fucking deer, but I was fucking hungry. Only got one good shot at it, this was my third spear and fifteenth attempt at spearing something, on day six of being here, but hey, progress was progress.

The doe was laying on the ground, chest heaving and its body damp with blood… felt kinda bad honestly, but fuck I was hungry. Get close enough to stab it in the throat, help it bleed out faster, then wait and heft its carcass back to the temple to clean and prepare it. Hope I remembered those limited lessons my grandpa had been able to give me…

-oOo-

What… were these dreams…?

I could feel consciousness returning to me again… my aura was… dangerously low. I didn't even need to touch my scroll to know that.

But… these dreams...? What were they?

So much confusion and fear…

I needed to get home. But first I needed to get better…

My head eased to one side and then the other, my hair falling in front of my face, the dark red obscuring my vision momentarily as I took in my surroundings better… definitely a cave… there was a firepit not far away from me… the fire was low, but didn't look like it'd be going out anytime soon… but I didn't see any bedding or anything else to indicate it was lived in aside from the fire… no, wait, there was some branches and furs over there… but that was a big bed… what…?

I made an attempt to sit up, but my body refused to cooperate and I had to ease back to the… furs? I was on top of furs.

So I was definitely being taken care of by someone, but I couldn't see any indication of who… if it was another Huntsman, then why hadn't they called for help or transport…?

I couldn't think of any really good reason… if their scroll was damaged maybe… as well as mine… but they hadn't helped against the Goliath… I remembered that much easily… I was the only Hunter…

The fire popped and shifted slightly, drawing my attention back to the pleasant warmth… a yawn escaped me as my eyes drifted closed once more.

I didn't want to fall asleep again, but it was a struggle to stay awake…

I… I needed to get home… but my aura… it wasn't recovering…

The thought terrified me as blackness overtook my vision once more.

-oOo-

That… was not a wolf.

Peeking around the large trunk of the tree at the creature that was snuffling around in the dirt, I slid back behind the bark and into cover.

What the fuck was that?

It was probably six foot tall and two to three times my size!

I mean, what the fuck was that? No way that was a bear...

I did not want to engage that…. I needed to get out of here.

Carefully, I eased away from the massive creature, nearly seven feet tall and covered in shaggy black fur. Mindful of my foot placement, I crept away. I did not want to be around when the winds changed, I was downwind of it now, but that was not something I wanted to find out if it was a predator or not.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

Also? Shit.

It was hunting me.

That was bad. That was really bad.

I'd scaled a tree at the moment with the help of my knife and just hugging the damn thing to get up the trunk, and I could see the… werewolf? I'm just gonna call it a werewolf for now, even though it didn't look exactly right. Honestly, with that white mask it looked more like a Hollow.

… werewolf hollow?

… was I dead and thus a plus…?

A quick glance confirmed that, no, I didn't have a hole in my chest or a chain or anything, so that much was good.

But that damn thing was literally searching around below me…

… fuck.

Did I mention shit?

Because it was sniffing, obviously tracking… and was searching around and spiraling closer to the tree I was in.

… fuck.

Kind of wished I'd actually just booked it back to the temple, because then I could've…

… um… nevermind, there wasn't a whole lot I could've done really, just locked myself in my car. It wasn't like there were doors to the temple or anything. Fuck.

So… this thing's hunting me. It's approaching my tree. I'm about thirty feet above it. Wat do?

Timone? Pumba? A little help? [3]

… so… waiting might work? But I was getting hungry again already. I'd spoiled some of the doe's meat by cutting the intestines out rather than just pulling them out, saved a lot of it, but I'd already gone through… all but a little really, and I with how I ate, I was already hungry.

… could I outlast it…? I didn't have any water on me…

No. No I couldn't. Did I want to take the risk of it waiting and being ready for me compared to attacking it?

I'd hurt myself, almost certainly… but…

… fuck it, if I'm going down to a monstrosity, it's by killing it or infection after making the damn attempt!

I shifted in place on the tree branch, getting into a crouch atop it, one hand gripping it as I flipped the crude spear over…

A thought, and my hand slipped to my pocket and pulled my knife out for the other hand.

… if this thing turned out to be sentient and somehow the native local intelligence and I was making a horrible mistake Imma be so fucking mad with myself later.

The creature started to sniff at the base of my appropriated tree and no time like the present!

Barely resisting the urge to scream as I did, I leapt from the branch, grabbing the spear with both hands, one wrapped around both my knife and the branch as I plummeted down towards the black and white creature-!

Its head jerked up at the sound of me falling but it was too late, I plunged the tip of the sharpened stick into it, missing its neck but slamming it into the expanse of its shoulder, the wood penetrating almost a foot before my off center momentum and overly tight grip caused the spear to bend and snap, sending me spilling onto the floor in a roll.

"Oof-! Fffuck–!" Spear-! Spear?! Where's my spear-? Over there and fucked, ignore it! Knife-?!

Hand! Monster is dea– OH FUCK IT'S NOT DEAD!

I scrambled away, eyes locked on the creature as it roared at me. Oh fuck all of that!

My foot almost gave out beneath me as I got to my feet and backed away, knife held out in my left hand towards the creature as it stalked towards me with a noticeable limp, favoring its left side where my spear had impaled it. And it lunged at me-!

This was a bad plan!

I threw myself below it in a tumble, scrambling between its legs as its claws passed over me, frantically getting on the other side of it and not even bothering with an offense.

Rushing off to the other side of it I spun, holding my knife out once more as the thing turned. Yeah, this was a bad plan. Because now what?

My chest was heaving and I felt cold and clammy as the thing's eyes fucking glowed, god damn that was menacing in real life from something a foot or two taller and probably two hundred pounds heavier than you…

It growled and something inside me quivered in fear, but fuck that, I grit my teeth and swapped my knife to my right hand, holding it out as I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet. Box. Dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee and shit! Figure out its range and speed and bleed it.

… really hoped it bled-… wait, yeah, there's some red coming from the obvious stump of the stick in its body…

Right. Now I just have to hope it– not the time to be hoping!

Barely dancing back out of the way of the things bone white claws, I stumbled just a bit to keep myself on my feet. It swiped again, and again, but now that I wasn't focused on anything else it was a lot easier to keep myself out of its range… a quick glance behind me confirmed that I wasn't backing myself into a tree or dead end. Good.

Now I just needed to hope it'd actually die from blood loss.

Several more swipes later before it lunged again, and this time I was ready, the knife stabbed out in a quick jab, opening a wound on the thing's forearm even as I hopped to the side and out of its charg–

Pain exploded in my right side as it backhanded me, and I rolled up to my feet, vision blurry from tears clouding it even as I staggered backwards again.

The thing growled, and I rolled my eyes.

Oh fuck you too.

My hand tapped my side quickly but didn't come away wet thank god. But fuck it hurt.

Right, patience. Just focus on defense.

Dancing backwards, I kept myself outside of its range, panting as I focused on the thing as it… slowed.

Its swings slowed bit by bit as it hesitated, still trying to attack me and open me up but… hah… heh… stagger like that ya fuck.

I grinned just a bit as it stumbled slightly to the side… it's entire front was glistening with red now. It snarled at me before lunging again, but this time I just got out of the way, having nearly a foot's clearance of the lunge.

Minutes passed, sweat dripping from my skin like rain from the effort of staying out of its reach… but the werewolf hollow collapsed… and kept trying to crawl towards me. Fuck that's creepy. Backing up a few more steps, I let the knife hang from my fingers as my shoulders rose and fell… fuck… that… had been harder than I'd hoped, but… well… I wasn't dead…?

Slowly, more and more pain started to make itself known in my left side where it'd hit me… really hoped it hadn't cracked or broke a rib or something…

The thing's arm reached out towards me weakly, and were it not fore the baeful glare it was still giving me I'd have said pleadingly… but there was nothing kind about that gaze.. it was pure hatred. I… it was hard to describe really, how I knew that, but seriously… it was like you took the concentrated hate towards the Mass Effect 3 Ending and poured it into an eye socket.

… okay, maybe not that bad, but pretty bad.

Still, I waited.

I waited until my breathing had eased up and the thing's eyes slowly closed and dimmed.

Then, only then, did I walk over.

Now, while it was tempting to try and poke it with a stick, I decided to instead go with the tried and true method of stab it in the throat!

The blade, braced by both hands and with all of my momentum behind it sunk into the creature's throat, making it twitch-! But it didn't move afterwards.

Relief flooded through me like a flood and I practically collapsed atop the fucking thing.

…

That… had been a bad plan.

My body ached… I was tired… thirsty… even hungrier…

…

"Fuck it… Ima eat yo' ass."

With a half snarl, I pushed myself up onto my feet again, pulling the knife from the creature's neck and stabbing it into it somewhere else before grabbing it by two of the bony protrusions to haul it onto my back. I wasn't that far from the temple and my fire, and sure, it might weigh three… unf… four hundred pounds. But I could drag it! I'd done more than this before when landscaping!

… okay, maybe not really, but close enough that I knew how to drag an enormous weight like this and damnit I was gonna eat this fucking thing for scaring me like that!

-oOo-

Silver eyes opened slowly to the shadows of the cave.

Had… had the guy in the dream not realized the Beowulf had been smoking…? He hadn't seemed to… and he hadn't even recognized the most basic of Grimm… what had been going on…?

Orange light of the fire… it'd been stoked recently… but more shadows…?

It was night outside, she could see it out of the mouth of the cave, and–

She inhaled sharply at the sight before her, white and black and hints of red lines filled half of the not small cave.

There was a slight sound as a mask turned towards her, the figure hunched over the fire focusing on her with… green eyes…?

MUZACKS

[1] watch?v=LX9VxBwvFFo

[2] watch?v=VnT7pT6zCcA

[3] watch?v=Etkws_5mexg

To reiterate: Fuck Authors Notes.