Grimm Beginnings 14

[1] listenonrepeat watch / ?v=96KzZ_O_nr8

-o Summer Rose, Thorn of the Grimm o-

No-! No no no!

"Andoriol! Don't-!" Desperately, cursing every second of my immobility, I struggled to drag myself after my friend as he ran away. I'd never cursed the loss of my legs more than right now. "Damn it Andy-! Get back here!"

My muscles jerked and spasmed from residual electrical charge, further complicating my efforts to get my friend to stop! Even as the town's guns thundered, if I shouted at the top of my lungs I could be heard! If he ran away now-!

Those wounds… a missing wing, a mangled tail, his eye, his horn, all of those deep gouges in his flesh and armor… a form that used to be bone white with accents of red and black was now a mangled mess of red and black, what remained of his bone armor stained red by his own blood.

"Andy!" His right arm was being weighed down by his wing and was barely holding on by threads-! The robot had punched a hole clean through with its laser!

There was a thud as someone landed beside me, "Summer!"

My head snapped to the side as I looked at my friend, "Qrow! We've got to get him! Bring him back!"

"Summer-! You-!" My dark haired friend started, concern covering his face for a moment before he shook it away, his eyes hard as he started to kneel beside me, Murder on his shoulder. "You're missing your legs, you can't go chasing after a Grimm–"

My hand shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt, "Which is why you have to!" I snapped, trying to force him to understand fast enough. "Qrow he's dying! The way he is he won't even be able to kill a Grimm to heal! He needs help!"

"Hey, Summer, don't you think that getting you some medical attent–"

"Damnit Qrow! I'll tear you a new one later! He saved my life! He saved the town! And he's dying!"

-o Hav the Arsenal o-

"Damnit! It's getting away-!"

The burning woman started forward, but I interposed myself between her and the trail of the fleeing Aberrant, "Caldera. Stand down."

"You–!" The red-headed woman snarled, her milky white eye glowing brilliant red with the power of the Dust around her, "I had it! Why'd you get in the way?!"

"That attack could very easily have taken out both Steel and Summer." It'd been close, I'd worried that the rocket wouldn't make it in time, but I'd prevented her from putting a jet of molten rock through the Aberrant's head.

"The kid with Qrow was enhancing their Aura's!" I glanced over at the blond young man, finding him glaring at the back of Caldera's head. I had a distinct impression that he hadn't been informed of the full nature of her plan beforehand, "She could've taken it!"

But something the redheaded woman seemed to have missed was that the Aberrant had glowed as well – a soft white much like the shielded Summer had. "And what if you'd missed? What if the Aberrant had reacted in a way you hadn't expected?"

"It wouldn't've missed, and it would've killed that damn Aberrant!"

I didn't shake my head as I unflinchingly met her mismatched gaze, "Your grief is blinding you."

The thundering of the gun emplacements were slowing as the last of the Grimm in the clearing were slain. "That damn thing killed my friend-! My teammate!"

"So you'd do the same to Qrow or Steel?"

The words had the intended effect, making the Huntress cringe and grit her teeth, "I–! I…" Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before she grit her teeth, " …okay. Okay! That was fucking stupid and I'm fucking pissed, but why are you still in my way?!" She gestured angrily behind me, orange flames licking at her skin that mirrored the burning forest. "He doesn't have any hostages anymore! We can hit him as hard as we need to!"

"Running off half-cocked will only risk your life and the lives of the rest of your team." The burnt woman flinched away at the blunt statement. I glanced back at Qrow and Summer, the leader of Team STRQ who was supposed to have been dead for over a month… and both of them remained where the Huntress had been tossed.

A frown crossed my face as the cloaked woman shouted at her obviously awkward and uncomfortable teammate. I felt my eyes snap about, assessing the situation.

Steel was standing in front of Caldera's teammates, preventing them from charging off on their own. His team was standing nearby, unsure as to what to do. The blond student that had come with Qrow was still trying to bore a hole in the back of Caldera's head with his eyes even as his partner stood hesitantly beside him.

Project Recluse was standing in front of the gates of the town now in Sentinel mode. Good. They'd been able to switch its programming state before it'd charged after the Aberrant.

"The thing's still weakened though!" Caldera gestured angrily, her asymmetrical haircut bouncing, "We have to hunt it down now before it does this shit all over again!"

Could we even spare the manpower to do that though?

The town's walls had two gaping holes that were only partially iced over, one of the towers in the town had had its top shorn off by a stray blast, the forest around Blue Belle was still on fire and the scorched grass of the firebreak was still concealed by the sublimating corpses of the Grimm.

We had one injured and one dead Huntress to tend to as well as an area to secure.

"We still need to know more." I said simply, turning fully towards the person who'd know the most.

-o Summer Rose, Thorn of the Grimm o-

"Qrow! I'll be fine! Just go after him damnit!" Desperately, I tried to shove him off and after Andy, but my teammate held on to my shoulder, Murder having collapsed in his other hand. Damn my lack of leverage!

Andy couldn't afford to be alone, not now.

"Finally!" A feminine voice broke into the conversation, "Someone who's speaking some fucking sense!"

My head snapped around. She was a redheaded woman in a black blouse with a bunch of vials, lots of makeup, an old burn on one side of her face and a blind eye- "Caldera!"

"We need to get after that damn thing now, before it gets away!"

My stomach seemed to drop out from inside of me, "What-?!" Any hopes I'd had that she'd realized what was going on disappeared, and the anger at Caldera's actions surged back, "No! No! You don't understand!"

The redhead bristled and started to open her mouth, but a uniformed hand was placed in front of her, cutting her off and drawing my attention to a military man I didn't recognize. He had sea-green hair and a strong face, in a full Atlesian uniform with a big backpack sort of thing on his back. His scroll was strapped to his chest within easy reach, and he had intricately mechanical gloves on, with several dials and triggers on them.

He sent a glance over at Caldera to confirm that the Huntress wasn't continuing before looking back at me, "We need you to help us understand Miss Rose."

"He's a person!" I tried to rush out, and it was only Qrow's hand on my shoulder that kept me from falling over as I spun to face them, "Not a Grimm! He's not a monster-!"

"Not a monster-?!" Caldera raged, her hands balling into fists, "It killed my teammate!"

That made me jerk back as if struck, "What-?! No! He wouldn't have-"

"Miss Rose," the Atlesian man interrupted, "Why are you certain of this?"

"He saved me! He fought that Goliath off with me and then saved my life after the fight! He was a person before he turned into a Grimm! I know it sounds crazy, believe me, but–"

"Are you shitting me?!" Caldera gestured angrily, flames licking at her skin as her make-up ignited, "That thing must have messed with your damn head-!"

"Don't call him a thing!" I snapped, nearly snarling at her, "Don't you ever call him that! He has more heart than most people I've ever met–"

"And it burnt the heart out of Seiche! You get that?! Your friend just fucking killed mine! It's fucking with you-"

"And you attacked him first! I saw it! I might not have been able to see much with how he was protecting me, but I could see that! And even if that's true… it doesn't make what led up to it right, either!"

"Are you fucking trusting a Grimm?! Have you gone fucking insane?! It's messing with your head! Or did the loss of your legs fuck up your brain–"

"He isn't messing with me! He isn't a liar, or a monster, and I'm not insane! If it wasn't for him, I'd have bled out! No Grimm would ever save a human! Let alone a crippled Huntress!"

"Enough!" The Atlesian military man bodily interposed himself between us, "This is not helpful!"

"But–" / "Don't you–!"

"I said enough!" His eyes swung to me, hard as a glacier, "Miss Rose, you're saying that this Aberrant is non-hostile, correct?"

"Yes!" I said with fucking emphasis.

"Don't tell me you're going to just go and save a Grimm-?!" Caldera nearly shrieked.

"Caldera!" The military man snapped, "Enough!"

The redhead grit her teeth, but stayed silent as hope rose in my chest–

"No, I do not think we should go out and 'save' a Grimm. The purpose will be capture."

"What-?!" I nearly cried out, halfway to lunging forward before Qrow's hands on my shoulders stopped me.

The man with the sea green crew cut held up a hand placatingly, but his eyes were as cold as ice, "If you're right, we have a person to save. If you're wrong, or misguided, or otherwise been tricked, it's still worth it to try and contain and study a Grimm that fights other Grimm on the behalf of people and defends them; a Grimm that will keep a Huntress alive for nearly a month."

The last bit was said at Caldera, the burnt woman's painted lips turned down in a scowl as she glared at the man, but started to turn upwards before he frowned and finished, "And your team will not be on this mission, Caldera."

She bristled once more, "Fucking excuse me?!"

"The town needs the rest of your team to seal up the holes in its walls," the man said uncompromisingly, "And you are far too angry right now to even consider capture. You will be taking Miss Rose back to the town to be treated."

"Are you really trying to give me a fucking order?!" Fires started to lick at her skin, her Aura starting to literally blaze. A coronoa of flames starting to form around her. Murder clicked as it expanded into its greatsword mode beside me and I grit my teeth as I cursed my lack of Blooming Moon-!

The military man's right arm began to glow a sickly green as his thumb rested on a trigger at the first knuckle of his forefinger, "I'm not trying."

Silence reigned, the gun emplacements having quieted themselves, the only sounds being the soft whine of the military man's backpack and the burning crackle of Caldera's flames as the two of them engaged in a battle of wills. I was nearly about to prompt Qrow to get in there since I couldn't right now… but Caldera flinched first, twitching and looking away with a snort as her flames petered out.

It was subtle, but the military man relaxed at that, the same as me, the glow around the man's hand fading even as he touched the scroll hanging from his chest.

"This is Captain Hav to all Huntsmen, Team Collateral will be reinforcing the walls and taking Miss Rose in for medical attention. Team Shackle, Qrow, the students, and myself will be heading out into the forest to capture the Aberrant. It's stranger than we thought. Do not hesitate to put the Aberrant down if it proves to be hostile, but attempt a non-violent capture if possible."

His eyes met mine and I knew what he wanted. I gave it.

"The Aberrant should respond to 'Andoriol Marrow.'"

-o Hav the Arsenal o-

There was only one way for me to tell if Miss Rose was telling the truth or not.

Whether she'd been tricked by the Grimm or otherwise affected by the powerful Aberrant, the only way to know was to see it myself. I was willing to take the risk of capturing the unique creature for the sake of research and containment. And if the Grimm truly was a human turned Grimm like she claimed… we'd help it in time.

I moved through the trees quickly and quietly, the creature's trail had practically vanished in the course of its escape, an impressive feat considering how much it had been bleeding.

Steel's report had only strengthened the feeling in my gut, that Summer was either right, or very close to it. The Aberrant had only attacked the Grimm, it'd interposed itself between attacks and Huntsmen, it'd saved Steel. Some of the noises it'd made could easily have been communication upon reflection, but it'd spent most of the fight well away from our forces and fighting the Nemean's so even if it'd been capable of communication like she claimed it likely hadn't had the opportunity to speak to anyone other than Steel.

Aside from Qrow and myself, we'd split into pairs to fan out and search for the Aberrant… this… 'Andoriol Marrow'. If any more Aberrant or Giant Creatures of Grimm were encountered, they were supposed to radio in for assistance, even Qrow and myself. I'd run across several smaller Grimm such as Chupacabra's and Beowulf's, but not even a handful of them. Miss Rose had given us all directions to the Aberrant's cavern, but they were necessarily vague with her lack of Scroll and inability to make a map–

"You are my sun… shine… my only sunshine…" A soft voice, a deep rumble really that carried well through the trees drew my attention. Curious, worried, and many more things, I began moving in its direction cautiously. "You make me happyyy… when skies are graaayyy…"

It was… a song…?

"You'll never know how…" The song paused, and I could begin to see a mass of red, black, and white through the trees, "...how much I loved you… please don't…" The deep voice and the white form appearing through the trees both hitched, jerking in place for a moment as it softly sung, "Please don't take… my sunshine away…"

I crested the small hill, looking over it towards the collapsed creature, strewn out over the edge of a hill leading up to a large cavern in the rocky face of the cliff. It seemed like it'd collapsed onto its left shoulder, its ruined right arm and wing dangling uselessly as it lay on its side, right claw stretched out towards the cavern… There was obviously a glow of fire in the cavern, even in the daylight… and the creature was bleeding profusely as black, whispy smoke rose from its body in numerous places.

The sickeningly sweet smell of Grimm blood and the coppery scent of natural blood were both heavy in the air, smears of blood on the rocks leading up the hill and small gouges in the stone indicating the Aberrant had dragged itself along the ground nearly thirty meters… almost twice its own height.

"Andoriol Marrow?" I asked it, my voice loud in the small clearing around the rocky hill.

The creature turned its head, its gouged out left eye little more than a mass of dark red and brown meat, blood leaking out of the cracks in its mask and across its face, but a brilliantly green eye shone through the darkness of its visor. It tried to raise its head, but the appendage trembled before dropping back down, the interlocking plates that covered its torso rising and falling quickly in shallow breaths, each one accompanied by a soft popping noise, like bubbles… a death rattle. [1]

"S… Speaking…"

Despite its size, the creature's voice was soft – little more than a rumble – and… it was tired. Unmistakably tired.

Grimm… did not tire.

Quietly, I pulled my scroll from its place on my uniform and set it to recording, "Miss Rose spoke highly of you."

To my surprise, the creature shifted slightly, every breath a popping, wheezing pant as it rumbled out, "Rose…? Is… Rose okay…?"

I hesitated for just a moment before saying, "Yes."

"Please…" And the surprises didn't stop, as the creature proceeded to beg, "Take care o' her… please…"

"She'll be fine. She'll be going to a state of the art facility." After a moment's hesitation, I added, "I'll make sure nothing happens."

"Thank you… thank you…" Quiet little sobs came from the large Grimm… from Andoriol, "Did… I did something right then… did something right… Town… town is safe…?"

"It will be," I replied as I walked slowly towards where the creature had collapsed across the rocky hill. "With the gun emplacements and focus of the Huntsmen, the town will be fine."

"Good… good…" the creature took a trembling breath, trying to curl up on itself, "Just… just be sure they're okay…"

My scroll was trained on the creature, recording the Aberrant and its death in as controlled an environment as one could get. A Grimm that talked, even if it hadn't once been a person, to even think that it was… it… it needed to be documented–

"You're…" I paused, looking up from the device and its settings at the creature. Its one glowing eye slowly dimming even as it refocused on me, once more trying to raise a trembling head, "... filming…?"

I saw no reason to hide or lie to the creature, "Yes."

"Heh… heheh… hahahahah–" the laughter devolved into a wet hacking noise as the large Aberrant, the creature curling up defensively as it did before wheezing out, a wet popping sound accompanying the sigh. "That's… cold… real… cold… heh..."

I said nothing, slowly walking around towards the head of the Grimm, making sure to stay out of the reach of its damaged tail just in case. I replied, hesitating for a moment. "…My mother always said I was as cold as the sea I was named after."

"... what's… your name…?"

"Hav."

"…Hath… Hav…" it hesitated before trying, and failing, to push itself up. Upon its collapse back to the stones, wheezing from the exertion, it softly asked, "What… 'at can I do to help…?"

He was just full of surprises, wasn't he…? "Miss Rose said you could heal by consuming Grimm flesh, have you not had the opportunity?" If I led a lesser Grimm here, could it-

But its response dashed the half formed thought, "Tried… tried and couldn't…" He shook his head weakly, a small spasm of pain going down its length at the action, "Ate… ate and it didn't 'ork…"

There was fear in the Grimm's deep rumble, its green eye unfocused once more as it fell silent. Chest heaving as it struggled to breath. After a moment, I asked, "What is it like for you?"

"Burning… inside… something's… burning…" A small sob and it tried to curl up further, the motion weak and half finished with it slumped against the rock, "I can… I can feel myself burning away… 'ut…. I'm cold… so cold…" Its breathing had become even shallower, its chest rising and falling rapidly as it weakly chuckled. "That… that was your cue to offer to light me on fire to warm me up… you 'issed it…"

Despite myself, the corner of my mouth quirked up for just a moment. There was a soft scratching noise as cracked claws dragged across the stone, Andoriol trying to push himself up once more, the wingless arm trembling before he collapsed back to the rocks, "Andoriol Marrow."

There was an audible cracking noise, followed by not only a brief writhing from him, but a large chunk of its cracked mask falling off, exposing bloody flesh beneath… flesh in the rough shape of a man's.

His breathing hitched before he let out a keening noise of pain and I very nearly lowered my scroll. That was not the sound of a beast, it was the sound of a person…

"It's… it's all blurry… you're blurry… I…" weakly, he reached out towards me with a claw, to touch me… but I was too far. Another sob escaped him before he broke into a coughing fit, its entire body spasming and jerking as it did. Blood and other fluids splattered from its fanged mouth, almost pouring out in a slurry of red and violet and black as it further curled up in on itself.

Its only intact eye, still brilliantly green in the blackness of its visor, closed as it scrunched up and he whimpered, "Don't go… please… don't go… I… I'm scared… I'm dying and I'm scared… I wanted to be… I wanted to help… to be happy…" He trailed off for an instant, and I lowered my scroll, watching him in thought, "Thought I'd be happy if I saved or helped people… that I'd die happy knowing I saved people… but I'm scared… 'lease don't go…"

Finding an appropriate rock, I quietly set my scroll down and propped it up against it, the camera facing the Aberrant and still recording.

"I don't… I don't want to be alone anymore…" I gently put my hand against his mask, causing its head to twitch, its eye opening and staring at me in shock and surprise.

"You aren't," I said calmly, my hand on a head that was as wide as I was tall. It was nothing more than a cracked mask of bone soaked in blood and scorched by flames, covering a face beneath. Despite my actions, I made sure to keep aware of its– of his tail. "No more than anyone else is at the end."

"Thank you… thank you…" He sobbed quietly, tears flowing freely from its remaining eye even as blood slowly oozed from the gaping hole where his left eye had been.

"We'll remember you for your efforts," I assured him gently.

"Don't… don't care…" he said with a weak chuckle, his voice less of a rumble now… and far more of a rasp, "That… I can… I did 'at I thought 'as right… and…and…" His eye seemed to smile in that moment, "And that's… all I need…"

There was a tickle at the edge of my senses and I started to spin, the roar of an Ursa nearby accompanying my hand moving towards the activation stud of DkNkm–

A thunderous whip-crack was accompanied by the Ursa being knocked away and slammed into a nearby tree, its head reduced to a pulp.

"Third… third Ursa to that tree… heh…" My eyes found the tail… the already broken tail… as it literally fell apart, one half dropping to the ground as it started to aggressively evaporate, the stump slumping down as well. The flow of blood was little more than a trickle despite the size of the base of his tail.

I looked back at him, his eye attempting to drift shut as he rasped, "Just… take care o' then… 'or me… tell… 'atever story you need to… just… 'ake sure they're sa'e…"

There was a wet thud as one of the articulated plates on his chest – damp with blood and exposing muscle and flesh beneath it – began to flake away. My mouth worked silently for a moment before I spoke softly, "I'll be sure to tell Summer the truth. No matter what the Kingdoms tell the people."

"Just… tell her…" for a long moment he said nothing, the only noise being the soft, shallow pants of the large creature, a slurry of blood and fluids beneath my boots even as its body flaked away. The slitted pupil seemed to try to refocus, but it failed, "I… I made my choice… and… and I don't regret it…"

It was a lie.

"I will."

"…thank you."

And with that, Andoriol the Alien, breathed in one last time, and let it out in a soft sigh. His glowing emerald eye dimmed and unfocused, his armored chest ceased to move, and his heart stopped its inexorable beat.

With only a moment's hesitation, I gave him one last respect.

I reached out, softly closing an unseeing eye nearly the size of my torso. I was able to do him at least that bit of justice. Even if he wasn't human like Summer insisted, even if he was trying to trick us despite everything we'd seen, even with all of the potential things that could have gone wrong, he deserved at least that much.

The mask beneath my hand shattered like fine china, the various bits of Grimm bone evaporating even before they hit the bloody ground beneath my feet, revealing a face that had once been human… and maybe still had been in the ways that mattered.

Cheekbones as wide as I could stretch my arms, a mouth of teeth and fangs wide enough to swallow me whole, a vestigial nose that had been covered, muscle and sinew stretched across an inner skeleton… but there was an eye that had been capable of warmth.

Silently, I took a few steps back, out of the view of the camera on my scroll, my duty done, I gave the dead their due.

-oOo-

"General Ironwood?"

"Captain Hav? Report."

"The Aberrant is dead, the primary horde around the town is thinned to lower than background Grimm activity, Project Recluse performed admirably, and Summer Rose has been recovered alive."

"That sounds wonderful. Why do you not sound like it's wonderful?"

"It's… complicated sir."

"Which part? The dead Aberrant? That you've dispersed the horde? Or the alive Huntress?"

"…All of the above, sir. Every bit of it is FUBAR."

"What do you need?"

"A full airship, sir. And a Hermes Team."

FIN

A.N.)- So, real talk time:

The story is over.

When I was first writing this on Spacebattles, I planned out a much larger story that spanned multiple arcs and went past where the show was at the time. That's why there's characters like Yinyue or other named characters int he later sections, they were intended to become primary characters in the story later on.

The thing is? The story ends here. Better than anything else, it ends here because Andy dies. It adds far more meaning, emotional weight, and punch to the story for him to die here. And so he dies.

If there was interesting things to do later, interesting dynamics or changes to the story? I'd totally cover it. But... there isn't. Sure, Summer still lives, but her being alive doesn't meaningfully change the plot. It adjusts some of the characters (specifically Ruby / Yang), but has little to no effect on the actual plot, and probably has a relatively small amount of effect on their personalities (Yang's a bit more reckless, Ruby's a little less awkward maybe).

Even if I kept Andy alive, without metaknowledge, his effects on the plot would be... eh. He'd have his own story, sure, but I wouldn't be able to add enough dynamicism to it to make it stand up in comparison to this.

If I came at this from the start with it better planned out? This last part would've been heavily streamlined, with fewer named characters and significantly shorter... but Andy would have died regardless.

There will be a What If epilogue, but it'll be non-canon.