CBLT: Huntsmen in Training

Chapter 13: Aftermath

Bianca frantically scans the area. Old buildings broken and abandoned surrounding her. Sniper in hand she takes aim spinning around looking for it. It screams. She breaks into a sprint down the street her legs moving on their own. She whips her head back but sees nothing. Suddenly she's in the air and her face smashes into the ground as she grinds to a halt. She cursed herself for tripping over her own two feet. A low creaking groan overrides the sound of her heavy breathing. Her heart leaps into her throat. She looks forward. The female looking grimm standing over professor Karpos. Blood pools around his body, rippling as crimson teardrops fall from its claws. It turns slowly. Coming to spy Bianca lying on the ground. Her eyes wide with fear. She senses it, compelling her. It lurks forward with a shaky step. Low moaning emanating from its cage like jaw. It stops. Complete silence envelopes them. It screams. Bianca's hands slap over her ears, clutching her head in pain. Fear Surges throughout her body. She snaps forward only to see the creature rocket towards her and swallow her whole.

Bianca stirs awake. The fresh images of her nightmare replaying in her head. Her heart races ready to leap out of bed and draw her weapon in an instant. She lays there still, staring at the ceiling above her. She appeared to be breathing calmly from the outside, but its stark contrast to the adrenaline flowing through her. She inhaled deeply followed by a heavy exhale and sat upright. She hears the shallow breaths of her sleeping teammates. She pauses, thinking about professor Karpos's wound and the grimm that attacked them. She shifts her gaze to the window peering outside.

Her thoughts break, she notices Cobalt's uniform coat missing. Leaning out she sees an empty bed. Rubbing her eyes and checking her scroll now for his GSP signal. "The rooftop?" Whispers to herself. She stares at his picture for a bit. Pondering what he was doing, if she should even ask, or if she should ignore it and try to sleep. Her heart turns to normal pacing. Slips out of bed, landing gently to the ground with hardly a sound. A short travel, she pushes open the rooftop door.

Cobalt turns his head as the door gently creaks open. He locks eyes with Bianca standing in the doorway. Without saying a word, he turns back to this work; his weapons disassembled laying in pieces on a flat cloth. A small set of schematics visible on his scroll nearby. She steps outside. Snowing falling around them, she could see her own breath. The cold wasn't new, so it didn't bother her that much. She sat down next to him, pulling her knees to her chest and looked up at the shattered moon. She counted the pieces in her head. They sit there in silence for some time, with the only real sound being the metal workings of Cobalt's weapon.

"It's the middle of the night." Bianca tells him. She keeps staring at the moon. Cobalt pauses his work, but doesn't say anything, instead merely nodding. She shifts her gaze to this scroll. On closer inspection, she sees that the schematic isn't a replica of his weapon but rather an updated design of it. She looks over the dozens of metal pieces scattered in front of him. As she watches him pull the pieces together, she finds that the pieces being put together don't match the new design either. She looks back to the moon.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" She asks.

He pauses, "Yes."

"I left him there to fight alone. We're atlas, we're suppose to be there to save people." She tells him.

The small tools in hand hover over the gun's grip. He stares at it calmly. "Professor Adam Karpos: semblance photographic memory, years as huntsmen twelve, weapons knuckle dusters, specialty hand to hand combat." He pauses in his breakdown but continues shortly after. "Grimm unknown, abilities unknown, strength unknown, speed unknown, fighting style unknown. The match was... unfavorable."

"Huntsmen are meant to turn the tide to their favor." She retorts.

"Not all huntsmen can." He responds.

Bianca buries her head in her arms. "I feel guilty about leaving him there. Even though he's my professor, superior to me in practically every way."

"Then prepare." Cobalt tells her.

"For what?" She asks.

"For next time." He responds.

"We might never see that grimm again." She tells him.

"We will. We're huntsmen." For the second time in the night Cobalt turns and locks eyes with her. His eyes straighten with conviction. "Next time we find that grimm, we'll kill it."

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Elsewhere, a metallic door slides open. Dimly lit hospital room housing a single bed. The only light in the room coming from nearby monitors that continuously beep away in sync with professor karpos's heartbeat as he lies unconscious on the bed. Several medications flow into him via the IV in his arm. All with drowsiness as side effects, effectively sending him into a deep sleep. Bandages are wrapped around his torso over the puncture site. Despite the gravity of his word, he appears peaceful.

Coming inside, a cane taps against the ground at every step. Professor Slate enters the room looking over the unconscious form of his colleague. His face composed and unchanging from a dull judging expression. He approaches the hospital bed and lays his hand on Karpos's shoulder. A wave of dull blue aura washes over him briefly. "Have no fear Adam." He turns back to the still open door. "I do believe you know what to do." He says openly.

Jade steps into the room. Tiger eyes peer over the room without interference from the dark, a trait coming from her heritage as a faunus. She centers her view on Karpos and approaches him. "Yes sir." She raises her hand. From it her aura sparks to life, a vibrant wave of yellow and orange. She reaches out to the wounded man. Her aura leaps from her hand likes wisps of a flame towards Karpos. "I perform my duty admirably."