Perilous Arc |AU|

Suspect Dissolution [Chap. 26]

"Something's off." I said, finally announcing my suspicion as I stepped carefully out of the devastated corpse of the Grimm. Its spiked wings were slashed off, and I'd taken a few precious seconds to stomp a hole through its chest. It gurgled another screech from the head that lay limp on the ground, and as I passed, I sliced through its neck with casual indifference.

A bang shot off, evidence of Jessie blowing the skull of a legless bird Grimm to pieces. The casing clinked against another as it landed on the ground.

"Off how? I mean they're dying just fine." Jessie retorted, stepping away and keeping her eyes on the trees. I frowned, thinking about how to word my thoughts.

"They're... not dissolving." I grumbled, put-off. That caught her attention as she paused to look at me. Pointedly, I glanced over at the Grimm that I killed. Despite all the damage to the thing, there wasn't a hint of ash or smoke coming from it. Even the gore stayed in place in the snow. "Is that some special ability they have?"

"... no." She answered after a second of tense silence. "The Snow Larks are big and heavy, but the only real ability they have is to move in complete silence. They're tough, but they can't survive that."

"That's what's weird. Even the first one that got killed with the grenade hasn't started disappearing yet." I commented.

"What are you talking about?" Her confusion caught my attention, and I made a point to make eye-contact with my partner. She glanced at me oddly before she jabbed a thumb away. "You should take another look."

I snapped my head to look further into the forest, and felt more suspicion than ever at finding nothing but snow. There was no evidence of smoke or decay throughout the past minutes. My eyebrows furrowed at the oddness.

'Nothing this entire time, and then it's suddenly completely gone? Something's definitely off... they don't dissolve that quick, and Grimm absolutely don't take this long to start turning.' I kept my process silent, unable to put my reasons for the feeling into words. A huff left my lips, and I forced myself to look away from where the first Snow Lark should be. As I glanced back to Jessie, I immediately noticed something new.

"Where'd your Grimm go?" She turned behind her when I pointed, and stared in shock. The Snow Lark she'd put a series of bullets in just moments ago was gone without a trace, and without any sign of decay or smoke.

"Wha-? It's head was split open, there's no way it was alive!" She exclaimed. I watched her oddly as she jerked her head from side to side, looking for her kill. "How could it have gone anywhere?"

"Something's off..." I repeated to myself, suspicion rising. My grip tightened on my weapons, the battered shield and sword hilt squeaking from the pressure.

"KRAAAEEglg!"

"eeeeAAAARLRLCH!"

Two disgusting yells exploded from the trees, and with that I knew multiple decided to hunt. One of the ostrich-like Grimm was dead ahead so I wasted no time in focusing on it. It charged towards me at speed, passing iced trees in a single-minded pursuit. Its head was level with its body as it charged, the open beak still spewing gurgling cries. I followed in kind, rushing towards it with speed of my own to get it over with faster. The snow and ice crunched with my steps, unlike the Grimms.

"BEHIND!" My Partner's shout was followed by a gunshot, and I didn't hesitate to glance behind me. Black and white was the first thing I saw, a second Snow Lark charging from behind to make a pincer maneuver with the first. A scowl cropped up on my face at that, and only deepened when I saw Jessie dealing with her own pair.

'They're getting smarter.' I thought to myself, looking back at my first target. 'Or were they just scouting before?'

I scowled at the thought, and leaned in to my pace. My run became a sprint and I glared down the Grimm that responded in kind. The distance closed in the blink of an eye and with only feet between us I made my move. My leading foot slammed down forcing a puff of snow up from the ground, and I reeled my arm to the side. My limb whipped across my body and my shield smacked the lowered skull with unruly force. The bone plating on the side of the skull shattered with an uncomfortable crunch ending the drawn-out screech of the monster, and its head slinged to the side wildly. It was barely kept attached by the long neck that reeled after it with a snap.