Kapitel 749: 92
Chapter 92:
Ruby channeled her Aura out through the soles of her feet, pushing off and launching herself upwards. The bony mass of the Shelob shot beneath her, its form a blur in the twilit darkness of the cavern. Ruby shot straight upwards, her body turning to orient her feet above her, her jump carrying her up to another of the roadways of web running down from the various tunnel entrances. The web flexed against her momentum, before snapping back, allowing Ruby to use it as a springboard to launch herself back down at the monstrosity.
The Shelob's legs were a blur, already changing the Grimm's orientation completely, rolling its body over so that Ruby was diving right for that bulging abdomen. As it did, one of its legs lashed out at her. Ruby slashed her sword to meet it, but was shocked to feel the blade repelled by the offset impact of what was unmistakably a parry.
The lashing leg deflected Akaibara's slash, and three other legs immediately followed in its wake, converging on Ruby's body from different angles. Shifting her weight desperately, Ruby managed to twist out of the way of two of the legs, while lashing out with Akaibara in a frantic parry of her own, managing to deflect its attack. Pitting her weight against the mass behind that deceptively spindly leg only served to knock Ruby's body off the path of her original movement. Doing so actually helped her, as it carried her clear when the legs she'd dodged came at her again.
This thing...it's using techniques! Ruby realized, her eyes going wide. Grimm were wild and frantic. Beowolves lunged and snapped with their jaws. Ursas swiped with their paws. These were all basic movements. However, the Shelob demonstrated an unmistakable understanding of how to read an attack, and then deflect, rather than try to block it.
To Ruby's shock, she felt the four rearmost legs of the Shelob keep it suspended on its webs, while also maneuvering its body. The front two legs on its right side curled inwards towards the tip of its abdomen, where the spinneret produced a web of fresh Unlight, crisscrossing strands that those two legs pulled free, before stretching out, spreading the web like a reaching net. Even as her block sent her tumbling away from the gigantic spider, those two legs lashed out, flinging its newly-created net out to reach for Ruby, threatening to tangle and trap her, even if her Aura kept the strands from sticking.
Taking a deep breath, Ruby Projected her Aura outwards, using an explosive wave to deflect the incoming net. It was a tactic she couldn't rely on too much in this fight, as it would exhaust her Aura too quickly. However, in this case, it bought her time for her tumble to bring her to another set of strands, which she was able to push her feet against, before launching herself back at the Shelob.
Akaibara flashed, slicing through the net of webbing it flung at her, even as Ruby closed in on the beast's body. However, the Shelob lurched out of the way of her strike, carrying it clear of the red streak of Ruby's slash. Using her own attack to turn her body, Ruby brought her sword around, just in time to deflect the stabbing strikes of the Shelob's left-front two legs.
It fights with its four front legs, Ruby realized. It moves with its back legs. The two on the right use the net for defense and entrapment, while the two on the left attack. This thing has a fully-developed fighting style.
It was shocking and terrifying. It didn't just speak of the animalistic intelligence that the Grimm were supposed to be capable of, but of a driving will and awareness that bordered upon full sapience. This thing wasn't attacking wildly, but tactically, strategically even. Furthermore, its bulk belied its incredible speed. Ruby realized that it was reaping the same benefits from the webs that formed its nest that she had. It was using the webs' elasticity to enhance its movement, allowing it to evade, even with its large, bulky-seeming body.
Again, the power and mass behind the Shelob's lashing legs changed the course of Ruby's flight. She managed to get her feet between her and the next web, getting the impression that the Shelob was trying to disrupt and slow her movements. Her suspicions gained ground as the beast rounded on her, the net, seemingly not all that badly damaged by her previous cut to it, extending out to threaten her from her left, while its free legs curled in from the right. Furthermore, Ruby could sense, and vaguely see, it curling its abdomen forward, aligning its spinneret with her, ready to produce another net of Unlight to catch her, if she tried to drive straight down the middle.
Channeling more Aura through her feet, Ruby changed her orientation slightly, launching herself upwards at an angle, not heading for the Shelob at all, but over and above it, aiming for another thick strand of webbing. Twisting her body, she planted her feet against those strands as well, feeling them stretch against the momentum behind her arrival, before pushing off as they snapped back, using them to enhance her speed even further.
Again, instead of aiming for her opponent, Ruby launched herself off at an angle, skirting the Shelob, and aiming for another set of Unlight strands. She repeated this again and again, bouncing around the Shelob at an increasing pace, a flickering red blur, as the Grimm itself turned about in place, using its four back legs to freely control its orientation to turn and try and follow her, while it flailed with both its net and its free legs, trying to catch her as she zoomed past.
It was then that Ruby began to realize the Grimm's limitations. It was intelligent, dangerously so, even capable of creating and refining an actual fighting style. But it wasn't fully there yet. It could plan for the future, to an extent, like trying to herd her right into its clutches before. But it couldn't fully read her, the way she could read it. It couldn't perceive how she was using her orientation to affect her movement, and control the angle she launched herself at. If it could, all it would need to do was fling its net across the path of Ruby's next rebound to catch her easily. Instead, it was trying to catch her reactively, which left its attacks closing in on where she had been, not where she presently was...or where she would be.
Still, actually killing the Shelob was no easy task. Ruby realized that it would notice the very second she homed in on it, and changed her course from one of evasion to one of attack. So then the question became one of how to keep it from defending or evading her attack. On top of that, she probably had one chance at this, at best. She had to connect, and she had to make her hit count, or the fight would probably be over for her.
Abruptly, Ruby shifted her course, aiming to pass by close to the Shelob, but not come right at it. She had an idea, and now was the best time to try it out. Her shifting movement would bring her close to the creature's right, near the two legs that were wielding its net. The Shelob didn't miss the opportunity, flicking its legs and lashing out at her with the netlike web. However, as before, it wasn't anticipating, merely reacting after the fact. In fact, it would miss Ruby as she simply flashed by. But Ruby had more than mere avoidance on her mind.
As she shot past the extending web, she reached out with her right hand, snagging some of the strands. Her Aura kept it from adhering to her skin, but did nothing to mitigate the fact that the Unlight felt so, so, so very wrong to the touch of her bare skin. It was gooey and sticky, as expected from an oversized spiderweb. But there was something more...wrong...to it, a cold that almost threatened to suck the life out of her very body, which her Aura was now holding at bay.
Still, she couldn't let her revulsion at the contact with this substance stop her from doing what needed doing. Ruby's own flight pulled the webbing taut, before abruptly altering her course, bringing her swinging around behind the monstrosity. The Shelob screeched, pulling on its web, but it was already under the pull of Ruby's momentum. All that did was ensure that the web wrapped completely around it, tying its front four legs to its abdomen, while it wriggled and shrieked angrily.
Her prey caught in its own trap, Ruby let go of the web, allowing her remaining momentum to send her flying away, into another set of strands, planting her sandals against them again, allowing her inertia to bend the strands outward, so that they would snap back and launch her back at the Shelob. This time, distracted as the beast was, it wasn't putting enough attention into monitoring her movements. This would be her chance to strike a decisive blow.
But she couldn't afford to waste it. However, Ruby already had an idea. It was one that had been coming into being, ever since she had begun working with Akaibara, ever since she'd started learning how to listen to her sword's voice. Almost automatically, she began performing an action that had been ingrained in her mind years ago...outside the walls of Anduin.
Ruby placed the first two fingers of her right hand against the flat of her blade, right where the blade met the hilt. From there, she traced them up the length of the sword, using the contact to to stoke her sword's Aura to life. Another chime sounded, this one even louder than before, echoing within the cavern, and causing all the strands of Unlight to vibrate angrily, as though they were writhing in pain from the sound.
And Ruby felt it. Akaibara felt as though it were an extension of her own hand, the sword's Aura her own. Ruby felt it reaching out in the air around her, calling it inwards, binding it together. Drawing it in to condense around the sword itself. Ruby couldn't do what Kyo did, use the entire atmosphere as a weapon to utterly annihilate her foe. But she could condense the air itself into a pure extension of her blade, longer and even sharper, capable of cutting through nearly anything.
All of this occurred in the scant seconds her momentum was stretching her web foothold taut. Within Ruby's mind, all the aspects of her training clicked into place, her new technique's name coming off her tongue with such natural ease that it felt as though she'd known it all this time.
"Kazegiri!"
With that, Ruby shot at the Shelob, still writhing and struggling in its own web. In a few seconds, it would probably part the strands and slip them up. Naturally, the fiendish monster didn't need to worry about its own web sticking to itself. It just needed to pull apart the sections that entangled it to slip its limbs free. However, it wasn't free quite yet. It noticed Ruby's approach...too late for it to escape.
Ruby shot past it, a red line trailing from the edge of her sword to slice the beast in two. The Shelob was split lengthwise, the diagonal line of Ruby's slash cutting down through its head, and across its abdomen.
Ruby gasped, having been so focused on her attack that she'd momentarily forgotten about what came afterwards. She nearly clotheslined herself on the strand of web in front of her, slamming into it chest-first instead, the momentum behind her flight stretching it again. However, in the focus on the aftermath of her technique, Ruby's Temper had become disrupted, allowing the Unlight to adhere to her clothes, leaving her stuck fast. Though that was probably a good thing, as she'd forgotten to consider her landing, so it was leagues better than slamming face-first into the cavern wall.
Then, as the falling halves of the bisected Shelob began to dissolve, so too did its webbing. It gave way, allowing Ruby to fall the rest of the way to the floor. Ruby expelled her Aura from her feet to cushion her fall, landing in a crouch as countless small objects rained down around her. Her first thoughts were that they had been stones. But then she realized that they had come within the tangled mass of web that had served as the Grimm's nest. Approaching one, she bent over to pick it up, only to straighten back up in a jolt of revulsion, as her mind grasped the truth of what she'd been touching.
They were bones...the skeletal remains of several people, the victims of the Ungols that the Shelob had spawned. Remembering how trapdoor spiders worked, and how the first Ungol she'd encountered had attacked her, Ruby realized what must have happened. These people had been dragged back into the depths of the Grimm's lair, possibly still alive, where they were entombed in the inky-black webs that sucked the life from them slowly, probably prolonging their despair. It was a horrid way to go.
But it's gone now, thought Ruby. Hopefully, these people can all rest in peace now.
The sound of faint footfalls reached her ears as Sasame landed next to her. Pulling something out of her pack, Sasame cupped it in her hands, then held it up. It was a crystal, a product of Mibu artisans, which converted Aura into visible light. Holding it aloft, Sasame illuminated the cavern, revealing the scattered remains of well over a dozen people.
"This is terrible," said Ruby softly.
"But it's over," said Sasame.
"No...no it's not," said Ruby.
After all, this was the sort of scenario playing out in a dozen different places, albeit in different fashions. In one place, it might be a swarm of Lancers. In another, a pack of Ursai. Still another place might be mobbed by Creeps, or Boarbatusks, or Griffons, or Manticores. All across the face of Remnant, the Creatures of Grimm were threatening innocent people, inundating them with fear, and then reaping the results. That knowledge only prompted Ruby's conviction to crystalize within her heart.
Someone needs to fight against this, she thought furiously. Someone needs to stand up to them, and tell them that they don't have the right to prey on people. I'll do it...I'll fight.
Sasame watched Ruby, smiling sadly. Then she closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, before casting her glance around the cavern once more. Seeing the light catch on something that seemed like metal, she moved and crouched down behind the broken remains of another skeleton. It was surrounded by pieces of what looked like armor, as well as the broken, wave-shaped blade of a sword.
"I'm guessing this is our host's late wife," said Sasame sadly, picking up the pieces of metal.
Ruby crouched down next to her. "We should bring them back to him," she said.
Ideally, they would have brought the Huntress' full remains with them. But the woman's bones were now mixed up inextricably with those of the countless other victims of the Grimm's predation. In the end, they would just have to settle for what they could identify.
"Are you sure?" asked Sasame. "That means going all the way back up."
"I'm okay with that," said Ruby. "Besides, they need somebody to tell them that the road is safe again."
Sasame smiled, then leaned over to kiss Ruby's cheek. "You always make me proud beyond words, Ruby-chan."
Ruby smiled, before turning her attention to the grim task of gathering up the remains of the fallen Huntress' armor and weapons.
As Sasame had warned, the journey back up the mountain was an arduous one. Fortunately, though they hadn't been able to reach the tunnel they'd entered from, they were able to use the tunnel to exit out a ways up the path, so they didn't need to go all the way up from the bottom. However, that didn't change the fact that Ruby was soaked with sweat, and ready to collapse, by the time they reached the top. She'd just had a furious battle against an entire nest of Ungols, as well as the Shelob, and she was worn to her absolute limits.
Still, the look of utter relief on the faces of the mayor and the townsfolk as they reported that the road between Hinagiku and Ajisai was clear of Grimm now was more than enough to justify the fatigue Ruby felt. The mournful look on the doctor's face was less-heartening, but he wound up smiling and thanking them for delivering some portion of his wife's remains, and confirming her fate.
"I'm grateful," he told them. "At the very least, I have something to bury now." He sniffed. "It'll be hard to tell the children about what happened. But they understand too, especially since my youngest is planning to be a Huntress herself."
Ruby frowned, remembering what had happened when her own mother had died on a mission, how her father had withdrawn, only to decide to completely stifle her, when he came out of his funk. Why couldn't Taiyang have been as strong as this man?
"I can't thank you enough for this," he said. "Ms. Rose...I know that you will make a spectacular Huntress someday. In fact, I think you already are one. I hope, should you get the chance to meet my daughter, that the two of you can become friends."
"I hope so too, Dr. Chloris," said Ruby, giving him the most sincere smile she could manage.
They found themselves spending another night in Hinagiku. This time, the mayor had them put up in the inn and paid for their meal out of his own pocket, unable to thank them enough for what they had done. They'd already managed to contact Ajisai, and report the situation to them.
The heads of the two towns were already in talks about what to do with the caverns excavated by the Ungols. Leaving them as they were was practically an invitation for more Grimm to come in and infest them, maybe something not as dangerous as Ungols...or maybe something worse. Collapsing the tunnels and caverns was dangerous, as they threatened to destabilize the face of the whole section of that mountain, which would wind up requiring them to re-establish the road up. Instead, the favored theory appeared to be that the towns could arrange for a militia to occupy the caverns themselves, turning it into a sort of garrison, which would help keep Grimm off the mountain in general. But, ultimately, that was of no real concern to Ruby or Sasame.
The very next day, they were on the road again, making their journey down out of Hinagiku for the second time. This time, they weren't jumped by giant spiders on the way down. The trip to Ajisai was rather short, and fairly easy, taking a little over half the day to complete.
Ajisai was a larger town, being much more accessible than Hinagiku, up in its mountain pass, positioned at a crossroads that saw the town overseeing the distribution of goods across a large section of Anima. On top of that, their fields meant that Ajisai had some agricultural products of their own to market. While they had been inconvenienced by the loss of commerce through the pass that Hinagiku maintained, their existence had been threatened, the way Hinagiku's had been.
Upon arrival though, Ruby and Sasame found themselves faced with an unpleasant surprise.
"What?" asked Ruby, shocked by what she'd just heard.
"I'm afraid that we aren't permitted to grant you entrance," declared the guard minding the gate into the settlement. "We thank you for your aid in reopening the road to the pass, but that's also the problem."
"I see..." said Sasame. "It appears that we've stepped on someone's toes again."
"I'm afraid so," said the guard, shifting his rifle uneasily. His bearing wasn't hostile. Instead, he had the disposition of someone who did not like the message he was having to deliver. "Someone, possibly as high up as Mistral's Council, was not happy to hear the situation has been resolved, particularly as it was done through what they've referred to as 'vigilante action,' rather than the proper channels of using a legally-hired Huntsman."
Sasame sighed, planting her fists upon her hips. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened. Those in power, particularly when they use said power to enrich themselves, are quite vindictive, when they feel that said power is being undermined."
"Something like that," agreed the guard. "We're obligated to report you when you set foot in here, so that Mistral can send Huntsmen charged to arrest you. However..."
"If we don't 'set foot' in the town, then there is nothing to report," noted Sasame, smiling wryly.
The guard lowered his helmeted head. "I'm sorry," he said earnestly. "This is poor thanks for what you've done for us, and Hinagiku, but it's the best we can do."
Of course, they could have allowed the pair into the town, then simply neglected to report them. It was highly likely that many of the townspeople would have gone along with that, if not all of them. However, if word ever did make it back to Mistral that they'd deliberately allowed such a thing, the punishment would have fallen upon the town's leadership, who had apparently made the decision that turning Ruby and Sasame away at the gate was the safest option.
"Your gratitude is appreciated," said Sasame. "That being the case, we shall continue on."
Ruby nodded, albeit somewhat reluctantly, having never imagined that the act of helping people in need could be looked upon as something bad by others.
"Sadly, it's a more common problem than you might think, Ruby-chan," said Sasame sadly as they made their way away from the town. "The higher up you go, the more you find people who weigh lives only in terms of numbers. To those who rule Mistral, helping Hinagiku was merely weighed in terms of cost versus benefits...leading them to believe that cutting those people loose was the best option."
"But us helping them was a good thing, wasn't it?" asked Ruby. "I mean, the pass is open again. That's good for the economy, right? And we didn't even charge anyone for it, like a Huntsman would."
"True," agreed Sasame. "And, in a sense, there is a genuine good reason that a Kingdom does not want people running around, doing Huntsmen and Huntresses' jobs for them. The payments the towns make for them to fight the Grimm are how those people earn their living. As someone who aspires to be a Huntress herself one day, you too will one day be living in accordance to that system, earning your living by doing for pay what you've been doing for free now. In that sense, we potentially took that mission away from a Huntsman or Huntress who might have needed that payment to continue supporting themselves."
"But-" Ruby began.
Sasame nodded, cutting her off. "But we already know that Hinagiku, at least, couldn't afford the money needed for enough Huntsmen to effectively clear the road, even if they didn't know it was an Ungol infestation at the time. Therefore, there was no payment they could have made anyway.
"So, in the end, what it comes down to is simple pettiness. Someone, after making what they probably determined to be a beneficial decision, most likely felt slighted that that decision was subsequently undermined, and then rendered irrelevant."
Ruby sighed despondently, prompting Sasame to sympathetically pat her arm. "That's the way people are, Ruby-chan. There are good ones and bad ones. Not all the bad ones will be the kind you can fight as enemies, the way you can with bandits and pirates. Dealing with them will require skills outside the realm of combat."
That drew a contemplative frown from Ruby. She'd always wanted to be a Huntress to protect people, to help those in need. But it was hard to run up against the realization that not everyone would support that goal, that there were those who might, however indirectly, see the suffering of innocents as something they could benefit from. It was a depressing realization.
"Don't lose heart, Ruby-chan," Sasame advised her. "Your purpose is clear, and you shouldn't let situations like this muddle it. You didn't clear that road, or even provide that nice doctor with closure to be thanked for it, right?"
Ruby nodded, her expression firm.
"Just follow the path that you wish to, Ruby-chan," said Sasame. "We shall see to giving you the strength you need to ensure you need not turn aside from it."
"Thank you, Sasame-nee," said Ruby.
Sasame executed a quick hop, bringing herself up high enough to kiss Ruby's cheek. "You make me prouder every day, Ruby-chan."
Their journey continued on, winter having fully transitioned into spring, then giving way to summer. They made their way through deep forests, across wide plains, and over rolling hills. Compared to the weather when they'd first set out, the days were edging towards unpleasantly hot. Granted, it wasn't as bad as it could be. They weren't traveling through the deserts of Vacuo, after all. But Ruby found herself wishing her haori came with a hood as the sun beat down on her from above. She considered getting herself a hat in one of the settlements they came across, though she figured that something not specifically made to stay on her head in combat might become a hinderance.
Still, she continued on, determining to weather whatever the season threw at her. As a Huntress, she would have to go out to fight the Grimm in any weather. Sure, if she were the kind of person solely interested in the profession for the sake of making a living, she could try to accumulate bounties during the more temperate months, and then ride out the more hostile seasons on her earnings, or pick assignments based on what kind of weather was expected for them. But that wasn't how Ruby did things. She wanted to be ready and willing to fight, no matter the weather, no matter the season.
By and large, the days took on a pattern. Constant walking through the wilderness, punctuated by the occasional Grimm attack, with Sasame standing back and allowing Ruby to handle herself. They sometimes came across a settlement, with Sasame using her skills as a healer to win them food and lodgings. It was an almost monotonous existence.
So it came as a surprise when Ruby was abruptly reminded on how tenuous life outside the Kingdoms could be.
It had started when Sasame came to an abrupt stop, her entire body freezing, her tail standing out straight behind her, fur bristling.
Ruby frowned. Instead of questioning her sister, she cast out her senses, trying to figure out what had caught Sasame's attention. It wasn't all that hard. Her ears picked up the faint sound of angry roars, and the crack of gunshots in the distance. Her nose picked up the slight scent of smoke. There were people up ahead, and they were under attack from the Grimm.
Not needing any urging from Sasame, Ruby rushed forward. Sasame ran alongside her, the two of them adopting a swift, loping pace, designed to cover distance quickly, without completely wearing them out the way a full-on sprint would. Given her ability, Sasame could have outpaced Ruby easily. However, she chose to run alongside her instead, ensuring that they stayed together.
They broke from the trees to see a settlement under siege, a mixed pack of Ursai and Beowolves throwing themselves at the walls, while the town's militia fired down on them from the ramparts above. They were being menaced from above as well, however, by a trio of mid-sized Nevermores, which alternated between stooping to attack with their claws and beaks, and launching barrages of feathers. The smell of smoke came from a farmstead outside the walls, the house already crackling with flames, collapsing inward on itself.
It was a common layout in agricultural settlements. The needs of agriculture made it impractical to try and encircle farms, and their sprawling fields, within a defensive wall. Instead, the best they could do was fortify the town itself, with the farmers outside needing to flee within the walls to find shelter. Sadly, that meant that they wound up abandoning their fields and homes to the ravages of the Grimm. But it was about the only arrangement possible in such communities.
Ruby and Sasame were prepared to rush right past the burning farmstead to deal with the Grimm pressuring the walls. However, Ruby skidded to a stop when her senses told her that there were still Grimm at the farmhouse, more or less ignoring the flames as they prowled through the structure, knocking down what little remained standing, and clawing about as though they were searching for something.
Grimm wouldn't normally focus on a single home like that, not when there was such a large, enticing source of negativity to draw them, in the form of the town itself, and the frightened people huddled within the walls. The fact that these Grimm were searching the remains of the farmhouse so intently meant that there was a source of negativity present there...someone still alive, whose fear was drawing in at least some of the monsters.
"Sasame-nee!" Ruby called out.
"I'll go on ahead," Sasame informed her, suiting action to word, and breaking into a sprint for the walls.
Ruby turned and rushed for the Grimm searching the burned out ruin. By the time the two Beowolves and an Ursa Major sensed her approach, she was already upon them. The Ursa Major turned towards her, bellowing out a roar of challenge...which was swiftly cut off when Ruby decapitated it in passing. The Beowolves quickly rounded on her, only to fall just as quickly.
Left standing alone in what was left of the house, flames crackling around her, Ruby Extended her Aura, seeking the person whose fear had drawn these Grimm. She sensed a small, weak presence coming from down below. Whoever it was, they weren't very strong, not because of illness or injury, but mostly age. A child!
There must have been a basement of some kind, with the child taking shelter down there. Ruby used her eyes and Aura to try and find the way down, feeling the contours of stairs rising up from below. She followed them over to where they approached the surface, her path taking her just outside what remained of the house's walls, where she found herself looking at the doors of a storm cellar.
The doors were locked and bolted, their wood reinforced with steel, probably to protect against the tornados that sometimes ravaged the region, as well as the Grimm. The Grimm, even the Ursa Major, were relatively unintelligent, not recognizing the doors for what they were, instead attempting to take the shortest available path towards the source of the fear that had drawn them, by clawing their way down from above. However, they had been thwarted by the house's concrete foundation, which served as a roof for the cellar down below. Given time, they would have dug their way through. But it was that impediment that had stalled them long enough for Ruby to deal with them.
Drawing Akaibara, Ruby aimed her slash precisely, cutting through the bolts holding the doors shut. Sheathing her sword, she reached down and pulled the doors open. There were the stairs, descending into darkness. From that darkness, Ruby could hear the faint sounds of terrified sobbing.
Moving slowly and carefully, she made her way down the stairs, not wanting to panic the person hiding there. There was no telling how someone so afraid might react. They might not even realize she was a person herself, and lash out. So Ruby descended cautiously. "Hello..." she called out ahead of herself.
The sobbing tapered off, though Ruby could hear a succession of sniffles. "M-mom...?"
Ruby's heart lurched. The voice was young, slightly high-pitched, but still masculine enough for Ruby to recognize it as that of a boy. "I'm sorry," she said as gently as she could manage. "I'm not your mother. But maybe I can help you find her."
"Wha-what about...?" the boy began to ask, his voice trailing off fearfully.
"The Grimm are gone," said Ruby. "I took care of them."
She descended the rest of the way into the cellar, finding herself in a cubicle room, the walls, floor, and ceiling all made from concrete. A light hanging from the ceiling above would have normally supplied illumination. But whatever its source of power had been had probably been cut off or destroyed. Instead, the space was illuminated by a small, battery-powered lamp that rested atop one of the crates that occupied a substantial portion of the room's space, along with a few barrels. Ruby had no way of knowing their contents, realizing that they probably held at least some of the farm's supplies and tools.
The boy was huddled in the gap between two of those crates, with the lamp resting atop the one to his right. He was pressed up against the wall, the scuffed knees of his gray trousers pressed up against the dirty, white shirt that covered his chest. Tough-looking, black boots covered his feet, pressed up against the floor, pushing his back against the wall as hard as his legs could manage. The tanned color of his skin was visible on the arms he'd wrapped tightly around his legs.
As Ruby approached, the boy looked up at her, his rising head revealing a tangled mess of black hair, reminding her of Kyo's a little. When he looked up, Ruby was greeted by an adorably rounded face, with cheeks dusted by freckles.
But it was his eyes that were the most fascinating aspect of him. They were hazel overall, but actually mixed different colors; the main, inside portion, of his irises being a deep, forest-green, while the rims were decorated with burnt-orange and yellow. Right now, those eyes were staring fearfully up at her, desperately seeking any form of reassurance they could find.
Ruby judged this boy to be about ten or eleven, which only put him at just a couple of years younger than her. By the time she was his age, she'd already been training for over a year. But this poor boy was not an aspiring Huntsman. He was just a civilian, a farmer's child, who'd probably only ever known the fields of his farm, and the streets of the town. He'd most likely been raised to regard the Grimm as objects of fear, to be avoided at all costs. He'd never received training to master his fear, the way Ruby had, so she could understand him looking so afraid and helpless.
"It's okay," said Ruby softly, holding out a hand to him. "I'm here to help."
"A-are y-you a Huntress?" stammered the boy.
"Not yet," said Ruby. "But I'm training to be one. I took care of the Grimm above, so you're safe now."
The boy regarded her warily, then slowly released his legs to reach out for her hand with his. Ruby took it, and slowly pulled the boy to his feet, taking his opposite forearm to help steady him as his leg muscles unclenched, and he took his first halting steps. She had no idea how long he'd been down here, but some stiffness wasn't a surprise, when he'd been curled up so tightly.
"What's your name?" asked Ruby, looking the boy in his, almost-mesmerizing, eyes.
"O-Oscar," said the boy haltingly, almost seeming to need to comb his memory for what his name was. "M'name's Oscar."
"Oscar, it's nice to meet you. My name's Ruby. Let's see if we can find your parents."
By the time Ruby helped the hesitant Oscar up the stairs and back out into the sunlight, the battle was already over. Sasame had reached the wall and practically obliterated the Grimm attacking there, her hands, feet, and tails turning her into a whirlwind of death that had torn the Grimm to shreds, even before their bodies could disintegrate, which had freed up the members of the militia to focus their fire on the Nevermores menacing them from above, bringing them down.
Ruby's Extension and other senses produced no signs of human life in the vicinity of the farmhouse. So she reasoned that their best hope of finding Oscar's parents was to inquire at the town, Sakura, itself, where the farmers would have fled to hide when the Grimm attacked.
By the time she and Oscar reached the gates, Sasame was already trading greetings with the captain of the militia, who was thanking them profusely for their assistance. As it turned out, they had been struggling to get a signal out to anywhere to get a Huntsman to assist them. They'd been briefly worried that the attacking Grimm might overrun their defenses. Given the depth of some of the claw marks on the wall, that worry was not unwarranted, given that this was clearly one of the less-affluent settlements, unable to afford the powerful Dust-turrets some settlements protected their borders with. They'd been holding off the Grimm with rifles and standard Dust-rounds.
Ruby bringing Oscar to the gates set things into motion quickly. Small settlements like this were the sort where everyone knew almost everyone else. Oscar's parents were known, and the guards immediately set about making inquiries into where they were.
The results...were not positive.
Ruby, Oscar, and Sasame were shown to the local tavern to wait for news, where they were provided with food and drink by the grateful proprietor, who knew Oscar well enough to bring the boy his favorite meal, something he apparently always ordered, on the occasions his parents brought him here to eat. They were most of the way through the meal when the guard captain came back in. At the sight of the dark look on his face, Ruby's heart fell.
"We found them," he said, the tone of his voice making that declaration anything but reassuring.
As young as he was, Oscar had picked up on the man's face and tone as well, and had already realized that the news was bad. He let out a sad whimper.
The captain pulled off his helmet, holding it to his chest, looking down at his feet. "Poor George was a ways out in the fields...never had a chance...brought down while running for the house. Tierra...was caught out in the open. Looked like she was running away from the house."
"M-mom t-t-t-told me to get to the cellar, th-then..." Oscar shivered, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Everyone else figured out what must have happened. Oscar's mother had seen the Grimm coming, clearly too late for her to take her son and run for the town's walls. From the sound of things, they had been close enough that she'd feared they wouldn't even make it into the shelter of the cellar on time. To buy her son the time he needed to close and lock the cellar doors, she had made herself a target, and distracted the Grimm coming their way...at the cost of her life.
"I'm sorry, Son," said the captain sympathetically. "I wish there was something I could do."
"What can be done for him?" asked Sasame, while a tearful Ruby pulled the crying Oscar into a tight hug.
The captain sighed despondently. "The Pines' farm's a wreck. The Grimm came from that way, so most of their crops were trampled. This close to the harvest season, that's almost a complete loss. There's nothing for the boy to go back to right now."
"Is there someone who can take him in?" inquired Sasame.
"A few," said the captain. "Heck, I'd adopt him myself. I've known the Pines my whole life, but..." He frowned pensively.
Sasame raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"He's got family, an aunt." explained the captain. "She lives in Tsubaki, 'bout eighty or so miles down the road. She's his mother's sister. If anything happened to them, his parents wanted her to look after him."
"And would she accept that responsibility?" asked Sasame warily.
"Auntie Em would," said Oscar, looking up from Ruby's shoulder, where his tears had left dark blotches on her haori. "Sh-she's always been really nice to me. Mom said that she'd look after me, if...if...if anything happened to her and Dad." The reality of it sinking in again prompted Oscar to press his face back into Ruby's shoulder.
Ruby looked plaintively at Sasame.
"Eighty miles is quite a ways," noted Sasame. "But you managed that farther than that, when you were his age. It will take us a few days."
Sasame didn't bother to point out that Tsubaki was out of the way, as far as their excursion was concerned. Of course, somebody in need of help trumped their travel plans, which were loose to begin with.
"Well, if you give us a day or so, we'll probably be able to raise Tsubaki on the CCT," said the guard captain. "Our signal's pretty shaky, this far out. But they have a full relay. They're a pretty good-sized settlement too; set up along the railway, even have their own airship. We're needing them to send out relief supplies anyway, so you and Oscar can hitch a ride back."
"Then that's what we'll do," said Sasame.
It wasn't much of a surprise that the town was willing to cover the cost of their inn room, given what had just happened. The guard captain had offered to let Oscar to stay at his house for the night. However, upon seeing how reluctant Oscar was to part from Ruby, Sasame instead stated her decision to keep the boy with them. The captain was understanding .
Which was how Ruby and Sasame now found themselves in the room provided to them. The room was small, but comfortably appointed, sporting a single bed, but one large enough for all three of them. The local tailor had been glad to furnish the boy with some light, cotton pajamas to wear, given that all Oscar's own clothes had gone up in flames with his original home. Ruby and Oscar had taken turns using the bathroom and changing into their pajamas, while Sasame saw to getting said clothes cleaned.
Sasame returned to see Ruby sitting on the bed, Oscar sprawled out across it, his head resting on her lap, as Ruby gently brushed her fingers through his hair. Dark spots on the legs of Ruby's pajamas told the tale of how the poor boy had cried himself to sleep.
"I...I wish there's something I could do for him," said Ruby, looking up at Sasame, red underneath her own eyes indicating that she had been shedding tears too.
"Sometimes, all we can do is be there for the ones who grieve," said Sasame sadly, sitting down next to Ruby and taking her turn brushing her fingers through Oscar's hair, sending a gentle pulse of Aura into him, sending the boy into a deeper sleep, where he hopefully wouldn't be troubled by nightmares.
"He'd kinda stopped earlier," said Ruby. "But then he just started again. I didn't know what to do or say..."
"Ruby-chan..." said Sasame firmly, stroking Ruby's cheek, "...calm. It's good that you're so so vested in Oscar-kun's wellbeing. But panic is good for no one."
"Right," said Ruby, dropping her gaze.
"From the look of things, you've done what you needed to do," said Sasame. "What he needs right now is for someone to be there for him, to accept his grief, to enable him to let it out, so that he doesn't need to hide those feelings inside."
Ruby nodded slowly.
"We'll get him to his aunt," said Sasame. "Hopefully, it's a place where he can do well."
"Yeah..." said Ruby softly.
Sasame brushed her fingers through Ruby's hair. "You'll make a fine Huntress," she said. "Now get some sleep. There's no telling when that airship will arrive."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein