Roderick Hill
-----
A whirlwind of horrors shredded Roderick apart.
"Cooper, Alex!" Roderick bolted to the edge and ravaged the endless sea of green for any signs of life. "Damn it!"
A tug on the shoulder forced him to meet with a pair of teals choked by urgency.
"Stiofan," Roderick brushed past him and hurried off, "we need to get down there."
Stiofan clamped his wrist.
"What are you doing?" He pulled back. "Let go."
Stiofan controlled his breathing. "You must calm down."
"Calm down?" Roderick's stomach folded inside out. "They're in danger."
"I agree with Mister Ua Binn." Goodwitch slung Alexander's duffel bag across her chest. "All of us need to take a moment to relax."
"Forget that." He drew Rex. "I'm gonna run down there and find them."
"We will find them." She held his arms and stared him square in the eyes. "And as much as I want to get there myself, I need you to tell me that you're able to think rationally."
Roderick turned to Stiofan for help, only to get a disapproving head shake.
"Panic will further worsen the situation." The First Guard wiped his face. "That is an outcome we wish to avoid."
"Mister Hill, do you understand?" Goodwitch spoke to him as if he were a frightened child. "The way you are now will be doing more harm than good. Your current feelings are a risk to us all."
A needle injected a full dose of clarity into him.
Oh, right.
Negative emotions were honey for the Creatures of Grimm. If he continued flaunting his worries and fears, it'd be no better than throwing up a neon sign over their heads and serving themselves up on a silver platter.
"Sorry." Roderick lowered his head and worked on smothering the storm raging inside of him. "I just. . . I'll try calling them."
The line failed to pass through, adding more weight to his already mounting frustrations.
"The CCT towers don't work as well outside the cities. We can only now rely on the signals emitted from our scrolls themselves." Stiofan directed them towards the path. "I suggest we start moving. There's still a long trek before we can begin our search, or at the very least, enter their range and establish a connection."
"Actually," the professor flicked out the riding crop from her boot, "I respectfully disagree."
Roderick gave her a funny look. "What do you mean, professor?"
"My Semblance." She floated a couple rocks. "I can telekinetically control objects to my will. Although, factors such as size, mass, quantity, the length of time I use it for, and whether the object is in motion or not, makes it difficult to—how you say. . . 'get a good grip.' "
The way she always moved an array of things in school came to mind, especially when it came to repairing the amphitheater stage after every sparring session.
"That's kind of you to indulge us in the matter," Stiofan's head tilted, "however, what exactly are you suggesting?"
Goodwitch directed her crop at them. "Stay still."
A purple sheen coated Roderick, and he floated over the edge of the cliff, losing all sense of weight and control of his own body.
"Whoa!" His heart rate spiked. "What're you trying to do, professor?!"
Stiofan flipped in circles and flailed his arms. "I believe we're taking the elevator down!"
"What?!"
"Shout so I know when to release," said the professor, "and wait for me."
Goodwitch lowered them, Roderick grasped for nonexistent handles, and Stiofan looked ready to stick his spears into anything on a whim.
Not long after passing the blanket of leaves, land slowly came within arms reach.
They yelled at the top of their lungs, and the purple sheen disappeared, dropping them.
"Okay." Roderick dusted his jacket. "Let's never do that again."
"Agreed." Stiofan examined the Beowolf's fading remains. "They fell here. That imprint appears to resemble Alexander's shield. And there." He motioned to the trail of footprints going deeper into the mess of trees ahead. "They made haste that way."
The monstrous paw prints mixed in with it sparked Roderick's ever rising anxiety.
A rope fell, dangling along the cliff face, and several minutes later, Goodwitch rappelled into view.
She unbuckled herself and joined them. "Are you boys okay?"
"We are," Roderick said. "Why didn't you use your Semblance, professor?"
"I can move many things, Mister Hill. Myself is not one of them, ironically." Goodwitch fixed her hair bun. "Now, have either of you learned anything regarding your comrades?"
"We have," Stiofan said, "and I can only pray they haven't gotten too far or engaged the enemy."
-----
Leon Alexander Gates
-----
It wasn't until he ran into a King Taijitu, Alexander realized how screwed he was.
Alexander skimmed past a tree. The black half of the twin headed snake chomped the trunk to splinters, and the white half slithered by, faster than he could run with Cooper on his ass. His bad knee groaned with each step. He leaped over a ditch. His leg buckled.
Forget it. Just run. Keep running. Don't stop no matter what.
The soil screeched. He sprung open Tereo still on his back, and moved. The white snake glanced off the shield, shoving him over. Cooper flew. Alexander rolled up and drew Tharros. The black snake darted at him. He juked and split the corner of its maw. It shriveled and shrieked while a hiss drew him towards the white snake, inspecting Cooper like a free meal.
Combustion Dust pumped Alexander's engine into overdrive. The snake stretched open its gigantic mouth above Cooper. He rushed in, stuffing his shield between its fangs. The snake thrashed. He tossed a couple buckshot pills down its throat, and the asshole dropped like a junkie in the grass.
Alexander bounced and propped himself up, fighting off the nausea shredding his gut.
Rearing side by side in front of him, palpable hate sizzled from the forked tongues of the white and black halves of the King Taijitu.
Alexander used Tharros like a cane and spat back the mutual feeling.
Like a whip, the black half flung, but he rolled and rammed it against a tree, pinning it to the trunk with Tharros.
The white snake coiled, jaws parted wide enough to eat the sun, and sprung.
At the last second, he kicked off the black snake and landed on the white snake's head. The living roller coaster waggled and bucked. He clawed on long enough to charge and release a shockwave, knocking it out.
Alexander beat Tereo's razor thin rim into the scales. A fresh red dye splashed his clothes. Every hit rattled his bones, the burn spread across his arms, but he kept digging, shoveling, and tossing muck and gunk around the forest.
When his shield stuck and didn't budge no matter how much he pulled, Alexander charged his Semblance full and spiked it clean through.
The snake's head cork popped from its bottle of a body and sprayed fountains of red champagne.
Alexander slid off, chugging lungfuls of the metallic stained air, and as tempting as it was to fall flat, he wasn't quite done yet.
Trudging over, hefting his dripping wet shield along the way, Alexander grabbed Tharros and pulled the trigger, finally silencing the black snake.
Now, that that was over with—
The crunching of leaves set off his alarms.
Alexander ripped out his sword, ready to hack apart anything wanting to try him, and was greeted by that bear cub again, barely a hop away.
It squeaked, probably expecting a tasty treat or something.
Alexander relaxed.
A Beowolf barged out the bush next to them and smacked the bear aside, knocking and trapping him under his own shield. Slimy yellow fangs slobbered his neck, and if it's rotten, hot breath wasn't doing such a good job at strangling him to death, he would've choked on his own vomit.
Alexander tried to stab it. The Beowolf swatted the sword out his grasp. It bared its fangs. He jerked his head right as it chomped and grazed the skin of his helmet.
On the Beowolf's back, the bear popped up and gnawed on its shoulder. It howled and backed off, giving Alexander much needed breathing room to get set.
The bear was tossed into a tree right before the Beowolf lunged at him.
This time, he was ready.
The Beowolf banged off Tereo and collapsed. Alexander jumped on its snout, pried those jaws wide open until it snapped apart, and for extra measure, he gave it's neck a good snap.
That better be the last of this dumb crap.
After recovering Tharros and making sure he was in the clear for real this time, he checked on the bear.
To his surprise, it perked like it woke up from a nice nap, pushed up onto its hind legs, and hugged his thighs, sniffing and licking him as if testing whether he was edible or not.
"I'm not food," he said.
It kept sniffing, mostly around his vest pockets.
Wait a minute.
Alexander scooped out the bran muffin, and if it wasn't for the plastic wrap, it would've crumbled in his hands.
Stars sparkled in the bear's beady eyes, happy-filled squeals bouncing from its throat.
If the bear was either orphaned or lost, it must've been surviving on its own out here in the wilds, and judging by how thin it was, the bear hardly got by.
It definitely needed the muffin more than he did.
"Here." Alexander tossed it. "Enjoy."
The once in a lifetime treat was gobbled in an instant, and the bear nibbled on his pants.
Alexander lifted it up by the scruff of its neck, seeing that it's lower half was male by accident, and unlike most bears that had flat skulls, this one had a large lump in the middle of its head.
"I told you that I'm not food," he said.
The bear whipped his tongue at his cheek, and maybe it was Alexander's mind playing tricks on him, but he might've been grinning.
Alexander dropped him and opened the map of the forest on his scroll.
Where exactly was he?
Staying on mission was the only good idea he had other than keeping Cooper safe. It was definitely better than running blind and fighting anything that moved. His chances of bumping into his teammates were higher this way, too. That's the theory at least. Who knows what they're doing right now.
The bear circled him before walking away, stopping, and waiting.
A missing wagon was apparently spotted somewhere east, right? If he finds that, then the team will find them.
It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing.
Alexander carried Cooper, kept track of the map on his scroll, and got moving.
Coincidentally, it just so happened that it was in the same direction the bear wanted to go.
What seemed like hours passed by.
Alexander was stone heavy, sweat gushed from his face and drenched his clothes, his legs moaned away their agony, and his bad knee twinged every now and then, forcing him to hobble until the aches went away.
Even the bear took pity and tagged along as if to be sure he didn't pass out in a ditch somewhere.
A while after they passed by a creek, where Alexander rested for a bit before continuing the journey, the bear sniffed some flowers, and his squeaking went off the charts.
What now?
The bear followed a trail of flowers.
Letting curiosity get the better of him, Alexander did the same.
The flowers grew in bunches. The mess of trees slowly opened up. Above them, the leaves peeled back. Rivers of the evening light flowed in, illuminating the spacious area coming up past the treeline, and they entered a glade, resting beneath the shadow of a cliff.
Multicoloured patches of wild flowers and shin-high grass carpeted the glade, and a cave hollowed out the cliff face.
Alexander's jaw fell, and if he wasn't damn tired right now, he would've moved his ass faster to get to the wagon, busted and torn up right beside the cave.
Was the bear a forest tour guide or something?
The bear ran to the wagon and pawed the wheel, shimmering eyes pleading him to do something about it.
No complaints here.
Alexander ripped open the shredded canvas covering.
Nobody would notice if a few things went missing, right?
After grabbing what was needed, he entered the cave, big enough to house a couple cars while the light seeping in from the opening barely kept the darkness at bay.
Alexander balled his vest for Cooper to rest on and prepared a bag of preserved beef stew, quickly learning it was a mistake the moment it hit his tongue. Not only was the mushy crap blander than bran muffins, it had an aftertaste of soil and the stench of dog food.
However, considering how much his stomach was rumbling for more, there wasn't much of a choice.
Alexander forced down as much as he could, flushed it out with water, and passed the rest off to the bear, who gladly lapped it up.
With nothing else to do other than wait, he laid back on Tereo and shut his eyes, letting the dreams sweep him away.
-----
"Thought you'd be here, Leon."
Leon glared at Chrysos through the tears blurring his vision. "Get out of my room."
"The funeral is about to start." Chrysos forced a lifeless smile. "Your mom asked me to bring you to the courtyard."
"I'll be there." His voice shuddered. "Go on and just give me a minute."
"Nope."
Leon side eyed him. "What?"
"We go together." Chrysos sat next to him on the bed. "Sorry, but you're stuck with me every step of the way."
"Go away."
"Don't say that." He squeezed his leg. "Your dad just. . . He's gone now. Stop pretending to be so tough and let me help."
Leon snatched him by the lapels. "I'm sick of listening to you talk, Chrysos. You were raised in an orphanage. You don't even have parents. What do you know?"
Chyrsos' entire face went blank. "You're right. But that's fine. Because I have you now, don't I?"
The declaration sucker punched him.
"I don't know what it's like or how it feels to lose anybody." Chrysos pried him off and readjusted his suit. "That was until I saved this pipsqueak kid from some bullies, and we kinda-sorta hung out after that. I visited his house everyday; we played a lot of Remnant: The Game. His parents treated me as if I were their second son." His teardrops bombed the sheets. "I hate to admit it, Leon, but you've already done so much for me that my heart's gonna break. I finally got a taste of what it's like to have a family, and I never want to let it go."
Leon flinched. "I, uh. . . I didn't know you felt that way."
"It's fine. Actually, I feel better now that I got that off my chest." Chrysos chuckled and ran a sleeve across his face. "By the way, you've only ever called me by my last name. What gives?"
He crossed his arms and turned away. "Who'd ever want to hear your stupid name."
"I'm being serious here." He tapped his arm. "Say it at least once. I wanna hear it."
"Forget it." Leon marched away. "I'm leaving."
Chyrsos dashed after him, and together, they went to the courtyard and attended father's funeral.
-----
Tannum "Cooper" Oakwood
-----
Cooper awoke in the worst way possible.
"Yeow! Who's the bloody wanker that did that?!" He snapped up onto his rump and came face to face with a bear cub chewing on his furry tail. His blood ran cold. "Is this what it feels like?"
The surroundings bashed bewilderment into him. Why was he in a cave? The last thing he remembered was hiking with his teammates and then. . . Oh.
Better check his scroll to check if everything was alright.
What came up made his heart leap.
All that was left of Cooper's Aura was a speck of red flashing brighter than an ambulance truck. He was basically a sitting duck at this point. Any solid smack would deplete his Aura entirely, and he'd be easy pickings.
Not only that, the only signal within range was—
The bear ran to the other side of the cave and pawed someone sleeping nearby.
"Xander!" Joy fluttered in Cooper's chest. "Mate, it's so good to—whoa."
For some reason, Alexander was absolutely filthy.
Every bit of him was dredged in dirt, flecks of leaves and grass were smeared over his clothes. Strands of hair stuck to his face and the nape of his neck like wet noodles, and his bronze shirt was covered in puddles of dark patches.
"Oi." Cooper gave him a shake and a few pats. "Are you alright? Wake up."
Alexander moaned and stared like he couldn't believe Cooper was alive, and in the span of a second, he got over it and tossed him a bag of rations.
It hit his chest and thumped the ground.
"Xander," Cooper said without taking his eyes off him, "what's going on?"
Alexander grunted. "Found the wagon; it's outside the cave."
"That's dandy." He pointed at all of him. "But what I meant was: have you seen yourself?"
"Forget it." He rolled over. "It's nothing."
A limitless amount of scenarios and possibilities of what Alexander went through piled on in Cooper's imagination, and all of them left him queasy.
As he prepared his share of chili and macaroni, Cooper dumped out his bucket of questions, and Alexander answered them with either a single word or terse sentence, making their conversation rather short lived.
Neither of them said anything after that.
Cooper passed the time munching away and listening to the bear squeak while he wrapped his mind around the whole thing.
First their chat in the kitchen and now this fiasco. Should he be ecstatic for having such a wonderful partner or guilty for getting bailed out of another mess by him?
Either way, a debt needed to be paid.
This may not have been the best time to call for it, but the fun chat the team had with Nebula immediately came to mind. That request of hers should do the trick. However, despite how simple and easy it seemed, the solution itself wasn't as simple or easy, but if he pulled it off, it'd be more than enough to clear those debts.
Cooper set the meal aside and cleared his throat, earning Alexander's attention.
It was now or never.
"I don't mean to pry," he said, "but you wouldn't happen to know of a sweet gal with bluish purple hair, would you? You know, the leader of Team NDGO who just so happens to be your sister."
Alexander tensed, and Cooper's tail stiffened under his soul piercing stare.
"She talked to me and the lads before we left the academy," he said and persuaded himself to keep going. "Asked us for a hand of all things. Didn't bother explaining any details, though. Just said it was our job to figure it out."
Those messy blonde locks curtained his eyes, and the temperature in the cave dropped to absolute zero.
Cooper steadied his nerves. "So, if you don't mind, wanna spend some time with your partner in crime? Come on. I'm sure it'll be fine. Now, crack a grin just like mine."
As expected, Alexander stayed quiet.
Well, at least he tried.
Now what?