Shatter Me (Book 2)

Grimm Trails

The group pushed forward. For a time we were faster with Ethan's help, but fighting was inevitable, and we were growing tired.

"We're nearly there," Jake panted. Breathing in I could smell smoke. Probably fire from the crash. The sound of fighting just ahead of us caused us to pick up our speed.

We broke into a small clearing and found more huntsmen had finished fighting off a large beowulf pack. Despite holding themselves high and ready for another battle, they were panting heavily and were obviously exhausted. A few were on the ground, severely wounded.

"Ruby!" I called as my eyes cam across a girl wearing a red hood leaning against the base of a tree. I ran over and crouched down beside her, examining her as she clutched her side. "Are you okay?" I asked anxiously.

"Me? Y- yeah I'm fine," the silver eyed girl lied to me. I glared at her until she amended her statement. "It's just a scratch! I'm fine, really!" I looked her over again. Her injuries didn't seem to be too severe.

"What happened?" I asked, offering her a hand and helping her to her feet. She hissed in pain and tightened her grip on her side but was standing alright on her own, which was more than I could say for some of the others around us.

"I don't know. I heard a few people shouting about engine failure when we started going down. My temp team and I managed to make the jump before the crash. A lot of others weren't so lucky..." I followed her gaze to the burning remains of the crashed aircraft. A few people had gathered around it to mourn. I was about to ask how many we had lost in the crash, but Ruby continued to speak.

"And the crash... all of the death and screaming and the fear... it drew Grimm like I had never seen... there were so many... so many..."

I looked around me,taking in the sadness of lost friends, the panic of not knowing what to do, and the raw fear of just about everyone around me. I caught a glimpse of Professor Port lying unconscious some distance away. The site of a doe faunus trying to patch up his wounds told me that he was still alive, but clearly not away or capable of giving orders. The site alone made a few people break I to panicked murmurs.  What were we going to do? We needed a leader, someone to give the group direction. Without it, this mass of untrained huntsman would panic even further which would only draw more grimm. Already our fighters were tired and injured just from surviving this long. I thought for a moment of all of the grimm that we had simply run past just trying to get this far.

"Everyone calm down!" A calm but firm voice commanded loudly. I turned my head to see Jake standing tall on a nearby stump. In a moment everyone in the crud had hushed and was looking his way.  "We have to remain calm and focused, just as we were trained to do. Here is how we will proceed." 

I found myself impressed as he calmly instructed everyone to return to their temporary teams. After teams were reformed they were paired with other teams and assigned a number of wounded to guard and transport. It was too dangerous to stay where we were, which Axelle calmly pointed out as she stood just behind Jake. Someone brought forward a map and Ethan found an emergency outpost that we could use to contact Beacon, though the trail there was dangerous. Axelle also found a small nearby town on the map that was slightly farther way. Jake instructed certain teams to head for the town, especially those with wounded as the town had a doctor. He then assigned a few other teams to head for the outpost to try to contact Beacon. Soon the teams dispersed, leaving only our team at the crash site. 

"Hey, why didn't we go with the other groups?" Loki sighed, kicking a down tree.

"We have to make a quick loop around the crash. We weren't the only team with the idea of making it back here to help and I don't want them walking into an ambush of grimm," Jake replied. I nodded in agreement, watching him closely. I had agreed with all of his decisions. They seemed safest and were very sound logically. He could make an excellent leader one day. 

"Great, just sign us up for the super dangerous pat. No big deal," Loki scoffed with an eye roll. 

"Your attitude isn't helping anything Meschever," Axelle spike up as she picked up a piece of the crapped aircraft and leaned it against a nearby tree. For once he said nothing as Axelle cared directions to the town into it, in case any groups came after we had gone. Loki was shuffling his playing cards again, though this time he seemed a bit nervous. I might have found some joy in his fear, if he didn't have such a legitimate reason for being afraid. We took a small circle around the area, only having to fight of of few grimm at first, before we headed in the direction of the outpost. 

Loki ducked out of reach of yet another grimm rather than fighting it. I climbed up its back and rammed my small blade through its head. He grinned up at me as the beast toppled and fell. 

"Thanks sweetheart," he winked, still shuffling those stupid cards. 

"What kind of huntsman are you?" I puffed angrily, tired of watching him do nothing, "Are you a huntsman or not?" 

"Technically not," he grinned, "I'm still in training." I glared at him, muttering as I walked past him as we approached a thick crop of underbrush.  

"Oh my god," I heard Axelle gasp from just ahead of me. I fought through the brush and into the clearing to catch up with her and froze in my path.

"What is it? Jake asked as he and Loki made it into the clearing just behind us. Bodies of the two teams that we had sent before us were scattered about, slowly fading way into dust. "Check for survivors," he said gruffly, his voice thick with worry. I took a few steps forward, but froze against as my eyes came across a familiar face. 

"No," slipped out of my mouth without me realizing. I pushed myself forward and fell to my knees beside him.  "Ethan!" There was a large cut on the side of his head, and blood was pooling around it. My eyes looked over him and it took me a second to realize that his body wasn't fading away. I set my head onto his chest and held my breath, exhaling only when I heard a feint heartbeat. 

"He's alive," I called out. The others came to my side, a mix of relief and sorrow on their faces. 

"He's the only one," Axelle told me. My eyes widened, switching colors on their won as I looked around. The others were nearly completely dust and had drifted away. 

Ethan groaned softly, gaining our attention. His eyes fluttered a moment then flew open in a panic. 

"Run! We have to Run!" he cried out, breathing in shaky and panicked breaths. "Before it comes back!"

"Before what comes back?" Loki asked. Before Ethan could reply. Then there was another, and another. Footsteps. Something very big was moving this way. It sent Ethan even further into a panic. 

"We have to go! We need to leave!" he cried out on repeat, pulling at Jake and me. 

"Meschever, help me hold him," Jake instructed, realizing that Ethan was to weak to walk on his own. As Loki moved to Ethan's other side, Jake looked to Axelle and I and added, "Clear the way forward." 

Axelle looked at me and I nodded before we rushed forward into the woods. It was up to us now to make it to the outpost and to contact Beacon.

[Author's Note: Sorry to everyone for taking so long! I'll try to update more! Thanks for all of your patience!!!]