#roisin peredur
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 1: THE FALL
Oh ho ho what’s all this then? A long time ago I mentioned my plans to write out and post the story of Team KWTZ and well the time is finally here - at least for the first chapter! I still have a few left to finish off before I queue this all up proper so think of this as a little teaser of sorts. Something to whet your appetite if you will.
Enjoy.
KIERAN
The sounds of panicked screaming were nearly deafening at this point, something made worse by his heightened hearing. Kieran didn't consider himself the sort of person to become flustered, but amidst all this ruin and destruction, it was hard not to feel some form of fear creeping into his mind.
A Nevermore landed in front of him, screeching at him and flapping its wings in defiance as Kieran moved closer to it. A spray of needle-like quills was sent in his direction, and he rolled away to avoid them, blue eyes never once letting the Grimm out of his sight. There was another screech, and just as it reared up in preparation for another attack, he struck. He swung up with his sword with a clean and precise motion, and the head of the beast came clear off, the rest of its black body dissipating moments later.
He breathed a sigh of relief and turned on the spot to face the civilians who he had ordered to take cover when the Nevermore had landed by them. One of them, a woman with dirtied clothes, rushed up to him and shook his hand vigorously.
“You have to get out of the area, ma’am. It’s still not safe here,” He advised, his gaze moving from the woman to the two other civilians that had been hiding with her.
“We will, thank you,” The woman nodded, finally releasing his hand. She made a gesture for her companions to come out of hiding and make their way down the street and to safety. She waited until they left the street and got to shelter before turning back to Kieran, looking at him with concern. “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me,” He responded calmly, hoisting his sword onto his shoulder. “I’m just doing my job.”
The woman still seemed hesitant to leave but satisfied with his answer enough to finally leave him and retreat with her companions. When she had disappeared, a more determined resolve swept over him, and he rushed back into the fray.
His next target was a Creep, which had been meandering aimlessly in the area ever since it spawned from one of the pools of black liquid left behind by the Wyvern flying over the city. Kieran had never heard of a Grimm like that before, so to see such a beast with his own eyes had been quite the sight. He dreaded to even think what it would even take to defeat such an enemy.
Raising his fingers to his mouth, he whistled to get the Creep’s attention. It swivelled on the spot, four eyes staring at him menacingly, before charging. Kieran barely had time to bring his sword down into a defensive stance before it was upon him. He managed to sidestep out of the way just in time to avoid getting rammed by the creature.
It quickly turned to try and find him again, and in the moment it took for the Creep to right itself, Kieran saw a chance to make a move. He rushed forward, sword drawn and prepared to make a sweeping motion at its left leg, an area of its body that was more vulnerable due to a lack of bone plating.
To his disappointment, the move did not take the leg clean off, and only served to aggravate the Creep further. This time when it turned, Kieran was slow to react and got smacked by its tail, which caused him to stumble and fall to his knee. He was quick to rise back to his feet, putting on a spinning motion as he did so, and swinging out with his word hoping for contact. Luckily it did - steel clashing against the bony skull of the Creep. It wasn’t a damaging hit by any means but was enough to drive the two of them apart.
Kieran took a moment to catch his breath and was about to ready himself to rush towards the Creep again, but before he could do so, three consecutive arrows struck its side. Kieran turned his head in the general direction of the arrows and saw Lin stood there having just released them. Their eyes met and they gave each other a reassuring nod. A cry rang out from behind Lin, and out of the shadows, their teammates Tilia and Wyn came rushing forward to attack. Wyn slowed his pace to fire off some icy blasts from his gauntlets, which hit their mark and caused little ice formations to form around the Creep’s feet. Tilia kept running forward and used her momentum to jump up and bring her sword down on the Grimm with such force that it soon gave in to the power behind her attack.
With the area clear for the moment, Kieran and his teammates took the chance to regroup. Although he was relieved to see them and grateful for the help, his relief soon gave way to annoyance, annoyance that they were here with him and not looking out for Roisin as he had requested.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, looking at them all in turn. “I thought I asked you to find Ros and her team!”
Tilia folded her arms and huffed, but eased her stance when she caught the glance shared between Lin and Wyn. Judging by the look that passed between them something was wrong, and Kieran wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear the answer.
“Is she...Is she dead?” He asked, voice barely audible.
“We couldn’t find her,” Lin answered softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But we did find Tara. There was nothing we could have done for her.”
“What about Perry or Midge?” Kieran prompted.
“Perry was heading towards the academy,” Tilia answered, making a vague gesture behind her in the general direction of where the academy lay. “Not sure about Midge though.”
Kieran frowned. At the very least Perry had been alive, but given the state of Vale right now, it was anyone’s guess what his fate was now. He didn’t admit it outright but he was troubled by Tilia’s words since it implied Perry had left for the academy by himself and had not been accompanied by his remaining teammates.
“I need to use my semblance,” Kieran decided after a moment. His semblance allowed him to track down people he had a close connection with. The reason he hadn’t used it before was that it needed a lot of focus to get a more precise location, and even then it could be hampered by distance and other factors.
“Okay ladies, you know the drill,” Wyn said with a snap of his fingers, when Kieran had gone still and quiet. “Barricade formation.”
As Kieran steadied his breath, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts other than his sister, the rest of his teammates gathered around him. Lin stood in front, bow drawn at the ready should anyone - human, android, or Grimm - dare to come close they would meet the end of one of her arrows. Wyn and Tilia flanked his sides, Tilia stood to the left of him, both shield and sword at the ready and Wyn was to the right, his fists cocked at an angle that would allow him to sharply blast any enemy.
It took a moment or two, but finally Kieran was able to get a grasp on her location. His eyes snapped open, and he pointed west. "She's in that direction."
The four of them set off following that prompt, Lin and Wyn utilising their ranged capabilities to temporarily distract or disable any Grimm in their path, whilst Kieran and Tilia dealt the finishing blows. They carried on in this manner, making their way through the city, until they came to an area that had clearly overrun with Grimm. Fellow Beacon students and teachers were already working on clearing the area, dealing with a particularly nasty pair of Beowulf's. Although he desperately wanted to find his sister and ensure she and her team were safe, his sense of duty meant he simply could not leave his fellow students to clear the area alone.
He barked a quick order at his teammates, and for the time being, their priorities changed. Tilia and Wyn got to work quickly, with Tilia using her shield to launch Wyn higher in the air for an advantage on some of his attacks. Kieran lingered close to Lin, acting as a guard down below, whilst she got into a better vantage point to shoot from. As he hacked and slashed, she rained down arrows from above, using her semblance to aid some of her shots, manipulating the trajectory of her shots in ways that no ordinary archer could do.
When the Grimm had been cleared, Kieran and the rest of his team lingered to help guide a few civilians out of the area and encouraged them to follow some of the other students to an evacuation point deeper in the city. When nearly everyone had gone, the four of them began looking around the area for signs of Roisin or the rest of team PEWT.
As far as he could tell, his semblance still seemed to indicate she was in the area, but with how much rubble and obvious destruction there was, Kieran was beginning to worry it would wind up being more of a recovery mission at this rate.
Or at least that's what he thought until Wyn shouted them over to where he was sorting through some rubble.
"I found Ros!" He would add in a yell, before crouching down to try and move a block that was preventing him from getting close. "Hold on, I've got you, I've got you." He kept assuring the still unseen Roisin.
The rest of KWTZ gathered around Wyn, waiting quietly as he tried to move the rubble, but after a moment he gave up and looked to Tilia. "Tilly, I need your arms," He said, gesturing for her to come and help him.
"Hold this," She said to Kieran, before passing him her sword. Tilia moved to stand next to Wyn, squatted ever so slightly, and cupped her hands under an edge of the rock before encouraging Wyn to do the same. "Okay, we lift on three. One, two…"
But before she got to three, she was able to lift the block herself, managing to flip it on its side so it was no longer in the way.
"What happened to three?" Wyn asked, pouting as he looked over at his partner.
Tilia rolled her neck a little before smirking. "Come on, Winifred, we all know your skinny little twig arms wouldn't have been able to make the cut." She teased.
"I think you just wanted to show off."
The two of them then stepped away as Kieran rushed forward, crouching so he was of a height with his cowering sister. When she realised who was around her, she shuffled forward, but the fear in her eyes was evident. As she came into the light a bit more, Kieran could see she had dust in her hair and clothing, and she was bleeding heavily from a gash on her palm.
"Take this," Tilia prompted without asking, handing him her green scarf. He gave her an appreciative nod, before hastily wrapping it around the cut. Roisin said nothing but winced when he tightened it.
"Come on, Ros, let's get you up," He said, urging her to get to her feet. But his sister simply would not budge, only making a small whimpering noise when he tried to pull her to her feet. "Roisin!" Kieran spoke her name with a hint of urgency. "We have to go! Come on!"
But still she would not move.
"I can't," She whispered softly. Her eyes looked behind him at a mass of rubble.
"I think she's in shock," Lin's voice cut in. "We might have to carry her out of here."
"I'll do it," Wyn offered, stepping forward.
"She's my sister," Kieran argued. "I'll do it myself."
"No, let Wyn do it," Lin urged, looking at Kieran with a pleading look. "We need you and Tilia to clear us a path."
Kieran hesitated, mentally torn between insisting he should carry her or conceding and letting Wyn do so. A moment passed and he let out an audible sigh, before standing to his feet, and giving Wyn a silent nod to go ahead and get her.
He moved away and Lin gave him a grateful nod. It took a few seconds of careful manoeuvring, but Wyn was eventually able to lift Roisin away from the rubble, and safely into his arms.
"Everyone ready?" Kieran asked, looking at each of his teammates and Roisin in turn. When they all gave him a silent nod, Kieran stepped ahead of the small group, prompting Tilia to do the same and stand beside him. He cast one last look over his shoulder at his sister, before leading them forward - hopefully to safety. "Let's move."
#team KWTZ#team kwtz fic#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#team PEWT#roisin peredur#rwby fanfiction#rwby oc
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 10: STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE
Team KWTZ once again return to the Chartreuse’s house to confront them about the Grimm problem. But as secrets begin to be unravelled, are they ready to hear the truth?
KIERAN
The streets of Silbern were quiet that night as they once again approached the home of the Chartreuse family. A day had passed since they had made their discoveries at Pyre Academy and then made plans to hopefully find more evidence at the home. They had initially planned to leave in the morning, but his uncle had advocated leaving when it grew dark, pointing out that Victor Chartreuse would likely be expecting them to come sooner rather than later.
Colin took the lead of their little group, KWTZ behind him, and Roisin and Perry behind them. As they drew near to the house, Colin stopped the group near an alleyway where they would split up, KWTZ and Colin heading around the back, and Roisin and Perry attempting to provide a distraction at the front door.
"You should leave your weapons here," Colin advised Roisin and Perry. "Merry might get a little suspicious if she sees you with them, especially when you're wearing more casual clothes."
"Would it not be better to keep them closer to the house?" Perry queried. "If Victor or Meredith attempted to run we could better intercept them then."
"Hmm, maybe," Colin conceded, stroking his chin as he considered the idea. "Alright, keep them closer to you if you can, but I'd still advise you to conceal them whilst you speak with her."
"Sounds good," Roisin nodded, agreeing to the idea. "Hope it all goes well on your end."
"Do you know what you're going to say to her?" Kieran asked.
"Oh just a little something about how the men in this family share certain traits," She smirked.
Kieran raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're a guy, you wouldn't appreciate the joke."
Kieran pulled a face and then shook his head in amusement. With that Roisin and Perry gave a farewell wave before going on their way, and KWTZ and Colin headed down the alley.
When they reached the back of the house, there was no gate to sneak through, so they had to make do with climbing over the wooden fence. It was an easier task for some of them, but Wyn and Tilia struggled to get up, so Kieran lingered to give them a much needed boost. Once they were safely over, he quickly followed them, able to vault over it with relative ease thanks to his height.
Although it was growing darker by the minute, there was still enough light that they were able to traverse the garden with little difficulty. Colin kept them low as they approached the back door, stopping them every so often to double check the windows that faced outside for movement, before pressing on ahead. Leading up to the backdoor was a set of stairs and on either side of that lay stones in an assortment of sizes. Colin crouched next to these stones briefly, and hovered a hand over them, clearly looking them over for something.
“Ah, here it is,” Colin said, before plucking one of the stones from the ground. He turned it over in his hand revealing it was hollowed out on the other side and contained a small silver key. Colin gently removed the key and led the group up the stairs, after which he unlocked the back door, and gestured for them quietly to step inside. Thankfully no one was in the kitchen when they entered, and the faint smell of food that lingered in the air indicated that they had recently missed dinner.
Pushing on ahead, Colin led them out of the kitchen, and down a corridor, which connected back to the open space with the L-shaped staircase they had passed by days earlier. They were about to walk through into that space when Colin put up his hand and forced them to stop. Kieran looked at his uncle to see what was going on and saw the man press a finger to his lips in response, willing the four of them to be quiet. They stayed where they were for a few moments before Colin ushered them back to the kitchen briefly. Once safe inside, Kieran peeked his head around the doorway, watching as Victor Chartreuse passed right by where the five of them had been standing moments earlier, on his way through to the sitting room. Thankfully, the man was too engrossed in the book he was currently reading to notice them.
The group waited for a few seconds before moving forward again. As they passed by the staircase, Kieran could hear his sister speaking with Meredith down the hall by the front door. For what it was worth, his sister was doing a great job at pretending she was there to apologise for their uncle’s “rude” behaviour.
They made their way down the opposite corridor and stopped at a door near the end of it. Colin looked at the doors nearby before nodding his head and pointing to the door he had stopped them at. "This should be the room," He told them, before trying the handle.
Kieran was surprised to see that the door wasn't locked. Given how private Victor was, it would have made sense that he would keep his office locked, but as this was his house Kieran noted that he probably didn't think it much of a necessity.
The office was surprisingly cramped and cluttered, which seemed at odds with Victor's personality. Most of the space was dominated by an enormous mahogany desk, which had a computer sitting atop it and a few scattered pens and papers. Colin scooted behind the desk to inspect the computer whilst Kieran and the rest of his team looked around the rest of the room. Kieran found himself looking at a noticeboard with several bits of paper pinned to it, as well as two polaroid images of what appeared to be the woods around Silbern. On the papers were dates, names of Grimm, and names of the huntsmen who had dealt with them.
"Hmm, so he was keeping track," Colin suddenly mused from beside him.
Kieran jumped, not having realised his uncle had stood up. "No luck on the computer?"
Colin shook his head and then inched closer to inspect the list of names. "Cheren and Datura's names appear more often than I'd have thought. Wouldn't surprise me if some of these are fake."
"This doesn't help us though does it?" Kieran pointed out, smirking ever so slightly.
Colin shook his head faintly. "Not really, no," He admitted. "But there are still some more places to look in here so let's not give up yet. Speaking of - how are you three doing?" Colin would ask before turning to look at the remaining members of KWTZ who were investigating the abnormally thick bookshelf on the opposite side of the room.
"Nothing of note yet," Lin called back. "Just a few fiction books."
"And non-fiction!" Tilia swiftly added.
"And he's got doubles too," Wyn explained. He was gesturing towards a few thicker tomes where he was standing. "This book of local fauna was in the lab too."
Wyn grabbed the spin of the book and went to pull it out as if to show the rest of the group. However, when Wyn grabbed it, it did not come out as it should have, instead only tipping forward. A click sound echoed somewhere in the room, and Lin and Tilia stepped back nervously, looking around for the source.
"What did you do, Wyn!?" Tilia snapped in a low tone, shooting an accusatory glance at him.
Wyn returned her glare. "I didn't do anything!" He protested. He was about to speak again when suddenly the bookshelf next to him started to shudder and moved back a few inches before swinging open like a door.
"A hidden door…" Colin said quietly, more as an observation to himself. "Clever."
Kieran and his uncle moved over to join the rest of KWTZ and peered into the room beyond. On further inspection, it became apparent that this “hidden” room had once been a part of the room they had just come from. However, at some point in time someone had built a wall to split the two rooms, though by how bare and falling apart in places it was, it was clear that whoever had overseen its construction had done a hasty job.
The room itself was nearly identical to the lab that they had found beneath Pyre Academy, albeit much smaller and not in a state of near destruction. There was yet more scientific equipment in here as well as several machines of which Kieran did not know the function. Most curious of all was a singular test tube, that sat not in a test tube rack (of which there were several in the room) but in a metal stand. Inside of it was a strange black liquid, which almost appeared to be moving inside the glass vial.
“What is that?” Tilia asked.
Kieran took a step forward and extended a hand to grab the test tube, but before he could, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see that his uncle was holding him back. Kieran raised a brow in questioning and Colin merely shook his head in response.
“It could be dangerous, let me take it.”
Kieran was hesitant but eventually conceded to letting his uncle grab the vial. He watched nervously as Colin removed the test tube from the stand and held it in his hand. He had half-expected something bad to happen from his uncle just touching it, so was quietly relieved when nothing actually did happen.
“So, what are we going to do with that?” Wyn asked. “Do we confront Victor with it and see what he knows?”
“Whilst I would like to confront him about it, I think it would be best if we handed this into Lavendin,” Colin answered. “I don’t trust Victor enough that he would not tamper or destroy whatever this is.”
With that question answered, the group made plans to leave the house with the newly acquired test tube. They left Victor's room quietly and proceeded to retreat down the corridor as slow and quiet as they had before. The group were about to step out by the stairs when things took a dramatic turn.
Kieran realised too late that he couldn't hear his sister speaking with Meredith anymore. And before he could react, Meredith came out of nowhere, snatched the vial from Colin's hand in his momentary surprise, and then proceeded to point the tip of a rapier at his throat.
Colin quickly put his hands up in defence, whilst the rest of KWTZ stood silently behind him, too afraid to intervene at that moment.
"I didn't take you for a thief," Meredith said dryly, looking at Colin as she spoke. She looked away from him to look at the test tube in her hand. "What is this?"
"We found it in Victor's room," Colin told her calmly. "We're taking it to Lavendin and getting her permission to open a proper case against him. Hopefully, that vial combined with what we found at Pyre should convince her he's worth investigating."
Meredith studied them for a long moment. Kieran found her expression unreadable and that it was hard to tell how she was going to respond to this. However, given how she had responded yesterday, Kieran was wary she wouldn't react strongly.
"How do I know you didn't plant this?" She asked.
Colin was genuinely taken aback by this, and took a step backwards. "Do you really think I'd do something like that?"
Meredith hesitated to respond. "No, I don't," She finally said in admittance.
"I would never do something like that," Colin reiterated. He took a step forward and then very calmly reached up and gripped the tip of her blade. Meredith stared at him curiously but ultimately did not resist when he continued to grip the blade and lowered it away from himself and walked toward her. By the time he had lowered it, there was only a small gap between them. "I care about you far too much to ever hurt you like that, Merry."
The two of them stood in silence, both of them staring intensely at the other. After the long silence had passed, Meredith smiled weakly, and nodded her head. Kieran couldn't be sure but it appeared as though his uncle was smiling too.
"How touching."
The group had been so distracted by the situation with Meredith that they hadn't noticed Victor's arrival. The man was standing in the archway that lead to the opposite corridor, watching the six of them with a semi-bored expression and a gun in his right hand which he held pointed towards them.
"Victor? Since when do you have a gun?" Meredith asked.
"This little thing?" He inclined his head to one side as he spoke. "Can't a man have some protection in his own home? Especially in these dark times."
"Our home," Meredith corrected.
Victor made a face. "Why don't you give me that vial, cousin?" He suggested, extending his free hand.
"No."
"No?" Victor echoed, almost in disbelief. A slight frown creased his brow. "Don't be stubborn."
"I want to know what this is!" Meredith snapped, gesturing towards the test tube, shaking it as she spoke. They still didn't know what was in there exactly, but Kieran didn't think it was wise to be shaking it around. "Give me the truth, Victor. All of it."
"I'm not sure you will like what you hear, cousin," Victor warned.
"Just tell her Victor," Colin advised. "There's no point in hiding the truth now."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Victor shrugged. “That ‘thing’ you have in your hand is a hybrid Grimm of my own creation.”
Kieran had suspected the liquid inside the test tube wasn’t exactly normal but he hadn’t been expecting that. Around him, his teammates wore expressions that were a mix of horror and genuine surprise, as was Meredith’s. Colin, however, appeared genuinely disgusted.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He questioned in an aggressive tone. “Why would you even think about messing around with Grimm?”
“Just the response I’d have expected from a huntsman,” Victor sneered. “You don’t see nor understand the potential here.”
“I see the potential for you to get yourself killed if you carry on with this,” Colin said.
“How long?” Meredith asked. “How long have you been…making Grimm.”
“I don’t make Grimm, Meredith. I uplift them,” Victor corrected, looking annoyed at her use of words. “The one you hold in your hand was completed around three months ago. But this whole scheme goes back years.”
“Three months ago is right around when the Grimm attacks started increasing weren’t they?” Lin pointed out.
Colin nodded slowly. “Yes,” He confirmed with a grimace. “Which means the Gashadokuro wasn’t drawing Grimm to Silbern the hybrid was.”
“Oh, you do catch on quick, don’t you?” Victor said sarcastically.
“Did my father know about all of this?” Meredith asked, addressing her cousin once more.
He laughed. “Is that a serious question? Who do you think put me on this path, cousin?”
Meredith pulled away, shaking her head in disbelief, which only made Victor smirk at her. Hearing this revelation, Kieran couldn't say he was wholly surprised. Sylvester Chartreuse had mentored Victor as a young man, so it didn't surprise Kieran that the late Chartreuse patriarch had dabbled in the shadier side of studying Grimm.
"Uncle Vester was a true artist when it came to mixing Grimm," Victor continued, lowering his gun for a moment as he pressed on with his story. "As you well know, cousin, he had been interested in the behaviour and biology of Grimm for years. When he left Atlas to move here he brought some prototype equipment with him that would allow him to liquidise - and as he later found out fuse - Grimm for study. His research stalled for a few years after you were born, but he never truly put aside his interests. However, it was only when I came to live with you that he pushed on with his research again."
"Your father was killed by Grimm!" Meredith said, incredulous.
"A great shame, but it put me on the path I was meant to be on," Victor said nonchalantly, completely unfazed by the mention of his father's death.
"So when did you start messing around with Grimm?" Colin asked, struggling to hide the disgust from his voice.
"It was around two years after I moved here," Victor began. "The first attempts were all failures. The process did not work half the time and when it did the hybrids would not have been viable to survive more than a few hours at most. A breakthrough happened when Uncle Vester looked into the rare, but not unheard of, occurrences of naturally occurring hybrid Grimm. He assumed if he could replicate that, he would be able to make his own."
"There are naturally occurring hybrid Grimm?" Wyn asked.
"A handful, yes, but they are extremely rare," Victor confirmed, before continuing with his story. "You'd probably recognise some of the names Nuckelavee, Glatisant, Alpluachra - though the latter as we found out wasn't actually a hybrid at all. There had been a few historical mentions of Glatisants inhabiting the woods of Silbern so it was that Grimm that we decided to focus on. The first attempt was an outright failure, but the second was perfect. Or near enough at the very least. Unfortunately, my uncle stumbled at the last hurdle."
The mention of the Glatisant sent a chill up Kieran's spine, and he could feel a sense of unease growing within him.
When Victor began to speak again, Kieran noticed he seemed more agitated as he spoke, clearly annoyed at his uncle's past behaviour that he began to describe.
"I believed in order to further our research we needed to release our Grimm 'into the wild', for lack of a better term. My uncle, however, deemed it too dangerous. He did not want to risk it. He told me that we only wanted to see if we could make a Grimm of our creation and that we were to never let it out." As he progressed, Victor sounded increasingly irate. "I saw the potential for more and was not about to give up when there was yet more to be studied. I couldn't openly set it free, but my uncle didn't question it when a 'freak accident' resulted in its escape. My uncle was never the same afterwards, and fuelled by his guilty conscience he insisted we destroy all of our research and equipment. Outwardly I agreed, of course, but I thought it was a stupid idea. He never returned to our laboratory at Pyre and did not bat an eyelid when I urged for some remodelling done to the house to accommodate the equipment I managed to save. Given what I learned from that attack, I was glad to have set the Glatisant free. The research went a long way toward furthering my own studies into Grimm and hybridisation. It's just a shame it took me over ten years to get anywhere close to the perfection my uncle created."
“You…you released the Glatisant on purpose and you don’t even care do you?” The realisation struck Kieran like a heavy blow. His usual calm persona quickly gave way to anger and frustration, a decade’s worth of grief threatening to spill over. “You are responsible for the death of fourteen people - my mother included! Do you have any remorse for what you did?”
Victor stared back at the group with a neutral expression. “Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the advancement of science.” Kieran could swear he felt his eye twitch at the man’s response. Before he had the chance to say more, Victor turned back to Colin, and with a sneer, he said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
And that was when he lifted his pistol back up and shot Meredith.
“Meredith, no!” Colin let out the most guttural cry that Kieran had ever heard.
Meredith’s teal aura flickered briefly before quickly dissipating as she toppled sideways, dropping the vial of liquidised Grimm as she fell. Colin was quickly by her side, scooping her up in his arms to get her away from the rapidly expanding Grimm pool, which quickly engulfed the spot where she had almost fallen. He gestured for the group to stand well away from Grimm pool, not that any of them needed telling twice; they had seen the Grimm emerging from the puddles of Grimm back at Beacon.
The first to emerge from the pool of Grimm were two arms - one slightly thicker than the other - followed by a skeletal head akin to that of a giant antelope, and lastly the rest of the torso. When the Grimm fully emerged, it remained slightly hunched over, which was probably a good thing in truth as if it stood at its full height it would have scraped the high ceiling, though it very nearly did that anyway with its tall horns.
Although this was a hybrid Grimm, it was not too abnormal in appearance. Its hind legs were reminiscent of those of a Beowolf, and its arms reminded Kieran of the Gashadokur, though it had five clawed fingers instead of four. Small bone formations went along its spine, larger at the top and smaller at the bottom where it connected to a stumpy, boney tail. The Grimm had a bone structure resembling a rib cage around its chest. Perhaps the one oddity about its appearance was a set of vestigial wings on its back which were far too small to lift it off the ground but continued to flutter open and shut as it stood there.
Rather foolishly, Victor began to move towards the Grimm, one hand outstretched towards it. He did not seem to care about the low rumbling sound it made as he approached.
"What are you doing?" Colin questioned. "Stay away from it! It's dangerous, you fool!"
"It won't hurt me," Victor answered calmly, ignoring Colin's pleas for him to stand back. "I am its creator."
"Stay away!" Colin pleaded. Again his pleas fell on deaf ears, and Victor continued to step toward the Grimm. Kieran had to applaud his uncle's attempts to get Victor to step away, despite the threats and the fact that he had just shot Meredith. Given the recent revelations, Kieran didn't think he would have bothered to try and plead with him.
Sure enough, to the surprise of no one, Victor was only a few inches away from the Grimm when it suddenly straightened and fixed its red gaze upon him.
For the first time, Victor seemed nervous but it did not stop him from having his hand outstretched toward the Grimm. "It won't hurt me," He repeated, though this time he seemed to be saying that more to reassure himself.
The Grimm opened its mouth and let out a fearsome roar. Victor flinched and moved to back away but was not quick enough to avoid the clawed hand stabbing into his chest. Victor made a grunt, eyes going wide, before slumping forward over the Grimm's arm. It was a small mercy that the attack had taken him quick. The Grimm flung its arm back after he slumped over, sending his limp body flying against a nearby wall where it made a sickening crack; if the stab hadn't killed him, then being thrown back against the wall certainly would have.
With Victor dead, the Grimm had turned back to where the group had been standing, but they were already hurrying towards the front door to escape. They had just opened it when they heard another roar behind them and the sound of the chandelier shattering could be heard not long after.
It was doubtful they would be able to get away too far, but Colin seemed hopeful that the sheer size of the beast would stop it from getting out of the house, or at the very least slow its escape. Unfortunately, it seemed like they were to face the latter situation. They had scarcely made it down the hill away from the house where a confused Roisin and Perry awaited them when a terrible sound arose from the direction of the house.
Kieran looked over to see a dark shape near the front of the house, which now had a gaping hole where the door had once been. Even from this distance, he could see the Grimm turning its head from side to side.
"What is that thing?" Perry asked, voice quivering slightly.
The Grimm let out a fearsome roar, much louder than the ones it had let out inside the house, so much so that the very ground seemed to quake beneath their very feet.
The Horror was free. And Silbern was in terrible danger.
#team kwtz#team kwtz fic#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#colin peredur#roisin peredur#perry estrada#meredith chartreuse#victor chartreuse
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 4: ONWARD
KWTZ begins their journey to the town of Silbern, but it quickly becomes apparent that their journey won’t be without difficulty.
TILIA
Two days after discussions had taken place, Team KWTZ found themselves ready to head to the town of Silbern. They had been waiting for Lin's response on the matter and Tilia was relieved to hear she would be coming with them. Of course, she wouldn't have faulted her teammate for wanting to return to her own home, but she was pleased to see Lin would be tagging along.
With everyone on board, Kieran chartered an airship to carry them to Silbern. Transport in and out of Vale was still slow following the events at Beacon but with the Grimm number slowly getting under control things had started to pick up again.
That morning, KWTZ, along with Perry and Roisin, arrived at the airship ready to head off. They were met by a rather frazzled looking pilot, who stopped them from boarding by coming out to speak with them. He was smoking a cigarette, and let out a puff of smoke before speaking.
"Are you the party heading to Silbern today?" He asked.
"That's us," Kieran nodded in confirmation. He pulled out the passes from a back pocket and flashed them at the pilot for further proof. "Is there a problem at all?"
"A little, yeah," He admitted, before flicking the butt of the cigarette to the floor and stamping it out with his foot. "Apparently there's a no-fly zone in effect around Silbern."
"Why?" Roisin asked, stepping forward to stand beside her twin. "Is this due to what happened in Vale?"
The pilot shrugged. "Not sure but it means I wouldn't be able to fly you directly into the town."
Like Tilia, Kieran seemed to pick up on his tone. "But could you get us close?" He prompted.
"I can drop you a few miles out," The pilot responded after considering his answer for a moment. "You'd have to trek through the woods though which could be a bit risky based on the reports of Grimm overrunning the place lately.”
“We’ve dealt with worse,” Roisin tells him flatly. Her tone did not go unnoticed by Kieran, who Tilia caught side-eyeing his sister.
The pilot also noticed the look and raised a quizzical brow. "You weren't in Vale when all this went down were you?" He asked. Kieran nodded reluctantly and the pilot shook his head. "Sorry to hear that. What happened there was awful, truly awful. My daughter worked at the CCT in the city and barely made it out herself. She lost some good people that night."
"So did we," Perry muttered quietly from somewhere behind the group.
"Listen, if you are still set on going to Silbern I can get you there. As I said, I won't be able to get you straight into the town, but I'll get as close as I can, within reason of course," The pilot said, steering the conversation back on track. "If you're ready to go, we can set off now. I don't have any more flights booked today so I can go at any time but I suspect you wouldn't appreciate having to trek through the woods at night."
Kieran gave a small nod in confirmation and the pilot gestured for them to get into the airship. After a few quick safety checks and a stuttering start, they were up in the skies above Vale. The pilot kept a good speed and in just under two hours they were within sight of their destination. They passed over a small farm before the airship began to descend, landing near the border of the dense woodlands that hid Silbern. Once they were safely touching the ground, the pilot informed them they were safe to get out.
The pilot wished them all good luck before he flew away, the winds generated by his airship, buffering the nearby trees and making them sway in response. They would watch until the airship disappeared in the distance before Kieran urged them forward, explaining it would only be a short trek until they reached Silbern.
Lin and Perry led the group forward, with Wyn and Roisin following close after, and Tilia and Kieran falling in at the rear.
As they walked, Tilia couldn't help but be reminded of the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall. However, it didn't seem as densely packed as its counterparts, nor did it appear to encompass such a large area. What it did seem to have over them was its exceptionally large trees, which extended so far into the sky Tilia thought she would have to lie on her back to understand the full scale of them.
Up ahead Wyn was currently sharing stories of his home with Roisin. He had made a comment about how the woods reminded him of home and Roisin had asked him to tell her more, admitting with a rueful tone that she knew little of Midge's home.
Turning away from those in front, Tilia glanced towards Kieran who walked at her side. "So," she began, "are you sure your old man is going to be happy about the six of us turning up out of the blue?"
"Well, he wouldn't turn us away if that's what you're implying," Kieran chuckled.
"Neither would mine," Tilia laughed in response. "But I also doubt my parents would be impressed if I just showed up at our house without warning." Especially her mother. Reseda Bosco was not a cruel woman by any stretch of the means but she didn't handle surprises very well.
"We have more than enough room," Kieran assured her, giving her a small smile as he did. "Just don't mind some of the clutter."
“Can’t be any worse than all of my brother's textbooks taking up the room in our house,” Tilia laughed loudly. “I swear it seems as though we only sent Dante to Astrolabe so he could gather more books.”
It looked as though Kieran was going to say something more, but before he had the chance to do so, Wyn’s voice cut through the air.
“Did anyone else hear that?”
“Hear what?” Perry asked.
“I’m not sure…” Wyn frowned a little as his voice trailed off.
The group paused for a moment and waited to see if they heard any noises. When nothing happened, Tilia put her hands on her hip and gave her teammate a stern look. “Are you pulling our leg or something, Wyn?”
He shook his head and just as he was about to further plead his case, the strangest sound reached their ears. At first, it sounded like barking but as the sound continued to repeat more and more it began to sound almost like laughter.
"Is that laughter?" Perry asked, looking around curiously. At the mention of the word 'laughter', Roisin and Kieran both tensed, sharing a worried look between them. They know what this is, Tilia realised with a sudden jolt.
Even without prompting from Kieran, she was reaching for the hilt of her sword, knowing a battle was imminent.
"What are we dealing with here?" Tilia asked, glancing at Kieran for an answer.
"It's-"
But before Kieran had the opportunity to give an answer, a Grimm broke through the bushes, mouth agape as it tried to latch onto an arm. It was a good job the group were alert of something going on around them as Kieran could have wound up with a Grimm hanging onto his arm had he not ducked out of the way in time. Having missed its target, the Grimm continued moving forward, only coming to a stop as it bumped into a tree. The Grimm gave a shake before turning to the group, its mouth drawn back into a snarl. Looking at it face on, Tilia could see it was vaguely canine in appearance, more so in its head than anywhere else, with a long muzzle and pointed ears. It was around the same size as a Sabyr, though its body was more on the compact side. The Grimm lacked a tail and had minimal bone plating, which could be found on its shoulders, rump, and the joints of its hind legs. Its most dangerous weapon appeared to be its jagged teeth, until Tilia was aware of sharp claws on its front paws, which extended and retracted eerily as it moved forward until it settled on leaving them exposed.
The Grimm raised its head in the air and started to make the laughter noise again, which to Tilia's displeasure was echoed by more Grimm hidden in the overgrowth. After a moment, more began to appear, until they were surrounded by at least nine of them, maybe more if the shuffling that could still be heard all around them was anything to go by.
Whilst the rest of her teammates hurried to draw their weapons, Tilia made quick work of the Grimm that was focused on Kieran. As it was distracted, Tilia was able to sneak up closer to it, using her shield to hold it off before she plunged her sword into its gaping maw.
"One down!" She yelled confidently. A lot more to go.
"Keep your guard up everyone!" Kieran instructed, moving backwards until he was back to back with Tilia. He gripped his claymore with both hands, watching two of the Grimm carefully, waiting for them to dive. "Do not let the Prowlers get you on your own. This is what they do best - surround an opponent and overwhelm them into submission."
With six of them against the Grimm, Tilia was sure they'd have been able to hold them off. However, it was still unclear just how many Prowlers there actually were hiding in the bushes.
Split into three pairs, they made a valiant attempt to make a stand against the Grimm. It was going well until more Prowlers creeped out, replacing their fallen comrades almost as fast as they could kill them. The Grimm hadn't caused any physical damage to them but the sheer number of them against the six of them was beginning to exhaust them. Not only that but it was beginning to get difficult to attack them without leaving themselves vulnerable to another. Staying close together was working in their favour but there was no telling how long they could keep it up.
Another Prowler dared to get close to Kieran and Tilia. Tilia pushed it backwards with a heavy shove from her shield and Kieran finished it off with a clean swing of his sword. It didn't take long for a second to try its luck but it never even made it close. There was a high pitched whistling sound, and instinctively, Tilia glanced in Lin's direction thinking it was one of her arrows. However, Lin was preoccupied fending off her own Prowler, shooting an arrow into its eye.
So what made the noise?
Tilia soon got her answer when out of nowhere a spinning shield appeared and sliced the head clean off the Prowler before getting lodged in the bark of the tree closest to them. Tilia blinked in surprise but before she could say anything regarding what had happened the shield began to move. A purple glow emanated within it, gravity dust inside activating and dislodging it from the tree before it got pulled back upwards and back to the arm of its owner, a shadowy figure who waited perched on a tree branch above them.
“Who is that?” Tilia asked, which drew everyone’s attention upwards. She heard a small noise from Roisin and turned her head to see her smiling.
“It’s the help we need to get out of here,” Roisin answered.
The figure swept the cloak they were wearing out of the way, revealing a concealed weapon they had been holding in their hand. It was a hatchet of some variety, with what looked to be some gun functionality if the shots that soon followed were anything to go by. A quick spray of bullets took out two of the Prowlers close to the group and drew the attention of the Grimm in their direction. The figure dived off the branch, twisting their body mid-air just before they hit the ground so that they were able to perfectly time the moment they drove the blade of their hatchet into the body of a Prowler.
The cloaked figure did not wait to see the Grimm dissipate before continuing to move towards them, taking out another four Prowlers before they reached the six of them. Tilia watched in awe as they swapped between their shield and hatchet, slicing through the Grimm with frightening ease.
With the Prowlers now at a more manageable number, the rest of the group were able to get through the rest of them with little difficulty. Tilia carved through one of the Grimm with her semblance, unleashing a build up of energy that she had been steadily storing up with her prior attacks. She straightened her posture and suddenly twist her head, aware of a presence she could see out of the corner of her. The cloaked figure was standing close to her, watching her silently. Suddenly, they tensed and pulled up their hatchet so it almost looked as though they were aiming at Tilia.
"Duck." A masculine voice calmly instructed.
She raised a brow, almost about to snap something back at him, and then she heard a shuffling sound behind her and the familiar laughter of one of the Prowlers. Tilia crouched swiftly, narrowly avoiding a Prowler taking her out from behind. The man who had been helping them fired off two shots in quick succession and the Prowler was gone. He twirled the hatchet in his hand and slid it back into a side holster.
He took a moment to survey the area before turning back to the group. "I think we're safe for now."
The man reached back and pulled down the hood of his cloak revealing his face. He had a surprisingly youthful face overall, though it was hard to put an exact age on him, Tilia found. Faint wrinkles at the corner of his hazel eyes, and a long scar that ran from his cheek and down below his collar worked against the youthful air about him. His dark hair was slicked back neatly, a few strands sat out of place now following his battle against the Prowlers. Looking at him fully, Tilia could see a vague resemblance to Kieran in him, but only in the way they dressed and the way they carried themselves. He also had the same intense stare, though the older man’s expression softened with recognition once a moment had passed.
“What are you two doing here?” He asked, directing his question at Kieran and Roisin.
Kieran looked uncharacteristically sheepish following the question and waved a hand nervously. "Uh, h-hi uncle Colin," He stammered.
"Hello," The man grunted, scarcely acknowledging the greeting. He crossed his arms. "I'll ask again - what are you doing here?"
"We were coming home," Kieran explained. "We needed to get away from Vale after everything that happened. I thought it would be a good idea to recuperate here for a while."
The mention of Vale made their uncle ease his stance. He let out a small sigh and uncrossed his arms. "You know we didn't know what happened in Vale for about a week after we lost signal," Colin began to explain. "The last images we saw were from the festival just as it appeared as though Atlas had attacked. Your father was beside himself with worry when we couldn't get ahold of either of you. I haven't seen him like that for years, not since we lost our dad or...your mother." There was a moment of silence before Colin stepped forward, hugging Kieran first, before moving to his niece. “I’m glad you’re both safe.”
He let his niece go and took a step back. "Make no doubt about it, Daragh will be delighted to see you both again but you chose a hell of a time to come home.”
"Because of the Prowlers?" Wyn asked.
"Because of all of the Grimm," Colin corrected.
"I'm surprised Silbern was so badly affected by what happened in Vale," Roisin said. "It's not like we live that close to the city."
"Well, matters there probably won't have helped to be honest," Colin conceded, "but things were looking bad before the fall."
"How so?" Lin inquired.
Colin looked around and made a vague gesture to the woods. "The past three months the Grimm activity around Silbern has practically exploded for lack of a better word. Nearly every day, more and more Grimm get drawn to the town and I'm none the wiser as to why," Colin explained. He shook his head in visible frustration. "You saw how many Prowlers there were just now. An average pack size is around six or seven. What attacked you was closer to twenty."
"That does seem a lot when you put it like that," Wyn admitted with a mumble.
"It is but Prowlers are relative small fry compared to some of the Grimm we've had in recent weeks," Colin told them. "Usually I'd be able to handle them pretty well on my own but that amount of them and my own fatigue from the past few days definitely would have caught me out if the six of you weren't here."
"What about the other Silbern huntsmen?" Roisin asked, her voice surprisingly sharp as she asked this. "Haven't they been helping?"
"Oh, Ruka and Esmerelda have been pulling their weight here and there at least. Can't say so much for the other two," Colin answered with a sneer.
"Cheren and Datura?" Kieran queried.
"Cheren is getting on in age now so I'm willing to give him some benefit of the doubt but Datura has no excuse. He's just a lazy bas-AHEM!" Colin forced a loud cough to clear his throat. "Enough of that, you kids didn't come here to listen to my grievances. Kee, Ros, are you going to introduce me?"
"Uncle Colin these are my teammates Wyn, Tilia, and Lin," Kieran introduced the team in turn, giving a moment between each name for Colin to shake their hands.
The next introduction was Perry's, which to no surprise from Tilia was done so rather awkwardly. For a long moment, Roisin said and did nothing, a nervous expression playing on her features.
"This is my teammate Perry Estrada," Roisin finally said, gesturing towards Perry. The Vacuan man tilted the brim of his hat before stepping forward and shaking his hand as the three of them had done priorly.
It was a small mercy that Colin did not pry too much into Roisin's use of "teammate" instead of "teammate's". Perhaps he had an idea why two of PEWT were not present, or perhaps he just had the decency not to ask until they were somewhere more private.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet all of you in person," Colin said, flashing them a small smile, the first Tilia had seen from the man. "Kieran and Roisin have spoken a lot about you."
"I hope we live up to the hype!" Wyn boasted with a hearty laugh. Tilia nudged him gently to be quiet.
"Well, you've made a good impression so far," Colin informed them. "Though I doubt any of us planned for a Prowler fight to be how we all first met."
"I don't think we were expecting such a fight at all, to be honest," Perry quipped.
"Really?” Colin raised his brows in surprise. “Were you not warned prior to flying here?”
It was Tilia who answered for the group, “We had an idea but I doubt any of us realised it would be as bad as you described.”
“I guess that makes some sense,” Colin conceded after a moment. “Mayor Lavendin was trying to keep things controlled about what was happening here but it’s just been getting worse. Unfortunately with both the CCT tower down and our own relay tower needing repairs, it hasn’t exactly been easy getting any updates out.”
“How’s da holding up?” Roisin asked.
“Besides being worried about you two? Fine,” Colin answered quickly. “He’s kept himself busy with his garden and helping out at the Fleece when he can.”
“That’s…good,” Roisin said with a weak smile. “It will be nice to see him again. I’ve missed him.”
“Well, let's not keep you both waiting, hm? I can accompany you all back to town if you like?” Colin offered.
“That would be great thank you,” Kieran responded with a nod. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” Colin said. “It would be remiss of me if I just left you all out here alone after that situation with the Prowlers.”
“Then, please, lead on,” Kieran said, gesturing for his uncle to take the lead. “It will be good to finally see home again after so long.”
#team kwtz fic#team KWTZ#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#Lin Zhu#team PEWT#roisin peredur#perry estrada#team CRDM#colin peredur
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 8: I HEARD A RUMOUR (PART 1)
Silbern celebrates a victory.
TILIA
Three days after their defeat of the Gashadokuro, Tilia and the rest of her team found themselves drawn into a celebration at the Golden Fleece.
When they had returned to Silbern, it hadn't taken long for a story about the fight that had occurred to travel around the town. Most Grimm attacks wouldn't have drawn such attention, but a Grimm such as a Gashadokuro was bound to draw some attention.
Many of the citizens of Silbern believed that with the Gashadokuro gone their Grimm problems were solved. A Grimm of such size would have certainly accounted for the spike in activity. For a little while, Tilia was almost inclined to share those beliefs. However, by how busy Colin continued to be, it seemed as though the defeat of the Gashadokuro did little to alter the number of Grimm, if at all. Despite the lack of change, it didn't stop the people of Silbern from wanting to celebrate.
As part of the group who defeated the Grimm, KWTZ and Colin had been invited to the celebrations as guests of honour at the Golden Fleece. Daragh, Roisin, and Perry were all invited along as well and gladly accepted the invitation. Only Colin was less eager to attend, though after some prompting from his brother he finally agreed to join them.
Although they had been invited as guests of honour, it was near impossible for them to get a seat inside the Golden Fleece on the day of the party. To Tilia, it seemed as though the whole town had turned out to celebrate. When they finally got inside, they found the restaurant was almost fit to bursting, though much of the room had been given over to serve as a makeshift dancefloor. The lack of room inside meant that many people were crowding outside of the restaurant and spilling out onto the square.
Tilia enjoyed some of the buffet food with the others before spending most of her time on the dancefloor. Other than Daragh and Colin, all of the group enjoyed their time dancing. Even Roisin joined in, albeit for the slower songs, before retiring and sitting with her father and uncle.
After two hours, only Tilia and Wyn were still dancing, briefly pausing to rest when a romantic song came on. Kieran and Lin had gone to sit with Kieran's family. Perry had been with them too but had since been dragged into several couples dances and group dances by the young people of Silbern.
Tilia could see him now, laughing with three people, before joining back in the dance. It was a lively positive number, with several enthusiastic whoops coming from the dancers and rhythmic clapping from those watching them. Tilia had never heard the music before, but it was hard not to get caught up with the enthusiasm of the people of Silbern. She and Wyn joined in with the dance, trying their best to keep up with the jumps and spins it seemed to entail. They definitely misstepped in places but no one held it against them, only laughing or shaking their heads in amusement when Wyn or Tilia bumped into them or linked arms with the wrong partner.
When they finally left the dancefloor, arms hooked together, hunched over in a fit of giggles, Wyn leaned over to ask her a question. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"Do you not think Neela dragged me to every ball or formal party she could?" Tilia responded with a smirk. She could remember those dances fondly, with the two of them getting lost in the music or just having fun by themselves. Tilia had never been very good at the more formal dances such as the waltz, despite her girlfriend's many attempts to teach her the steps, but she had always enjoyed the quickstep and the jive.
"Where did you learn to dance like that?" She asked Wyn, echoing his own question.
"Oh, these sorts of celebrations are fairly common in Benibara," Wyn explained. "We always hold big gatherings like this on the summer and winter equinoxes."
As the two of them reached the table where Kieran, Lin, and the rest of the Peredur family were sitting their teammates gave them a nod of acknowledgement.
Tilia took a seat between Lin and Roisin, whilst Wyn sat next to Colin Peredur.
"Did you two have a fun time?" Kieran asked politely.
Tilia and Wyn both nodded their heads. It was then that Tilia noted that Daragh Peredur was no longer sitting with them.
"Where'd Daragh go?" She inquired.
"Da got called away by some of his friends," Roisin answered. She gestured to where Daragh was laughing with a group of people. "Is Perry still getting pulled into dances by everyone?"
"Oh yeah that redheaded woman pulled him into a dance again," Tilia responded, pointing out where Perry was still dancing. Next to him was the woman in question and two boys a little younger, who were closer to Perry's own age.
Roisin followed Tilia's gesture and nodded her head when she spotted him. "Ah, I see Ruby Atley has dragged him into a dance. Don't think we'll see him again for a while now, not unless Ascelin Rutland comes over and steals her away."
"Who's that?"
"Her fiancé," Roisin responded. "But he's not one for dancing so he probably won't. Then again his younger brothers are the ones dancing with the two of them so who knows maybe he might get encouraged to join.”
The musicians switched to a different uptempo song, and the group watched as Perry and the other dancers got into the swing of things. It was a catchy song, Tilia had to admit, and found herself swaying along to the rhythm. Even Colin - who had been sitting quietly in his chair for most of the party - started tapping his foot in time with the beat of the music.
“Any room for me at this table?”
They were so lost in the music, that none of them heard or saw anyone approach. At the sound of the voice, Tilia turned her head to see a young woman with shockingly blue hair standing next to them. Although they had never met in person, Tilia knew her as Ruka Aoki, who Colin had informed them was one of his other teammates a few days priorly after they had arrived.
She was holding a young toddler in her arms too, though the young boy seemed more interested in dribbling on her shoulder and staring at the dancers behind them at that moment. When Colin saw the woman, he stood up quickly and moved to give her a hug.
“I didn’t think you were coming, Ruka,” He said, as he stepped away.
“I could do with the change of scenery,” Ruka answered. “Especially with this one running rampant at home.” She shifted the young boy in her arms ever so slightly, making it so he was facing the group.
Colin crouched slightly so he was closer to the young boy’s line of sight, and waggled a finger in front of him. “Oh, I don’t believe someone this cute could be that much trouble,” He cooed in a high-pitched voice.
Ruka made a ‘hrmph’ sound. “You don’t have to live with him.”
Colin straightened up and then held out his arms. “May I?” He asked, indicating he wanted to hold him. With a nod, Ruka gave away her son to Colin, who quite literally welcomed the boy with open arms, whilst she proceeded to sit down in Daragh’s unoccupied seat. As he sat back down Tilia noted how he lit up in the presence of the child, appearing the happiest he had been for days.
Lin and Wyn were quick to start fussing over the boy, making silly noises and speaking to him in an effort to get him to smile. “What’s his name?” Lin asked, without looking over at Ruka.
“Kaijin,” Ruka answered. “But we all call him Kai for short.”
“He’s gotten so big since I last saw him,” Kieran remarked, watching Lin and Wyn for a moment, before speaking to Ruka.
Ruka chuckled. “To be fair the last time you saw him he was only a few days old. They grow fast when they’re that age.”
"He'll be a regular little huntsman soon then," Tilia joked.
"Maybe," Ruka said, considering the words for a moment. "His father would prefer him not to follow in my footsteps, but we're keeping an open mind to whatever path he decides to take when the time comes."
"Well, if he's anything like his mother, he'll have a fine example to live up to," Colin smiled at Ruka. "And of course, he has his godparents too." There was a teasing tone to his voice as he said that, and Tilia couldn't help but note he winked at Ruka as he spoke, who in turn rolled her eyes playfully in response.
"You sound just like Philippa, you know," Ruka told him. This in turn earned a hearty laugh from Colin, which caused Kaijin to join in as well, even though he didn't understand what the laughter was for. "I've missed this," Ruka said after a moment. "It feels like ages since we've just sat down like this and caught up."
Colin mustered a half-smile. "Yeah, it's nice," He agreed with a nod. "Feels good to take my mind off of things for a little while at least."
"How are you holding up with it all?"
Colin's features dropped a little, though he tried his best not to let the toddler in his lap pick up on his change in mood. "To be quite frank, I'm tired, Roo. I'm running myself ragged trying to keep up with things. Even with the Gashadokuro gone, it feels as though nothing has changed."
Ruka touched her teammate's arm comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Colin. I wish there was more that I could do."
Colin brushed her off gently, but gave her a grateful smile regardless. "No, no, don't think like that Roo. I know you have your reasons for why you can't pick up as many jobs. Likewise for Esmerelda too." He paused for a moment and Tilia watched as his expression shifted into a frown. "The same can't be said for Cheren and Datura. Neither have any excuse for why they're not picking up any jobs right now."
Ruka shifted in her seat. "Well, that might not be strictly true."
Colin arched a brow. "How so?"
Tilia looked at the other woman, watching as she looked around quickly before encouraging the group to huddle closer so she could speak with them. "Now before I tell you, you might want to take this in with a grain of salt. This all comes from Esmerelda and not me so I can't hundred percent vouch for how accurate this all is, though she wouldn't have any reason to lie to me," Ruka began. "Around five weeks ago, Esmerelda was approached by a drunken Cheren, who wanted to know if she'd be interested in a job he and Datura were working on. Security work or something along those lines. I don't think Cheren was able to explain the job fully without stumbling over his words. Naturally, she was a bit suspicious about the offer and came to me asking if I'd heard anything about it. I told her that as far as I was aware neither of them were listed as being on any active jobs, nor had they been for some time. Do you want to know what the real kicker was? Apparently, the job was at Pyre."
Only the members of the Peredur family seemed to understand the relevance of the word 'Pyre', so Tilia and the rest of her teammates wound up just looking around at each other with confused expressions.
"What's Pyre?" Tilia asked.
"Pyre Academy," Kieran answered simply. "It used to be a preparatory academy in the town but it was destroyed many years ago."
"I thought it was strange myself," Ruka admitted. "I pressed Esmerelda for more information but she seemed none the wiser. Apparently, she did ask her mother about it but Mayor Lavendin was very insistent that no such mission had been authorised. Thanks to my husband I was able to dig through some of the old mission records - thank goodness we keep paper copies of everything - but I couldn't find anything regarding a mission in or around Pyre, at least not in the last decade."
Colin seemed to ponder this information for a moment before speaking again. “Well given Lavendin’s protectiveness over her daughter, I could possibly see her wanting to protect her from the truth. But I do not believe Lavendin would not inform anyone else of some off the books mission around Pyre. She of all people knows how important that place is to people in Silbern given what happened to Vesa.”
“Do you think there’s something else going on?”
“Oh, I know there’s something else going on,” Colin said with a more determined tone.
Ruka pulled a face. “I don’t like that look you have in your eyes, Col. You look like you’re up to something,” She said.
"I think I should go and check out the academy," He said, quickly revealing his intentions.
"Couldn't you wait until after?" Ruka asked. "Seems a shame to cut the celebrations short to run off on a job."
"True but the sooner we find out what's going on there the better. Plus, I'd rather scope out the area whilst Cheren nor Datura are there," Colin explained. "At least I know they're unlikely to trouble me then."
"Sounds like a wise choice to me," Tilia said, an opinion which didn't seem to be shared by her teammates."I'm assuming they're here enjoying the celebration?"
"Well, Cheren is at least," Ruka told her, gesturing to a group of people watching the dancers. Tilia was quick to note the older man in the group, and the striking similarity he shared with the Rutland twins that Roisin had pointed out earlier.
"Datura not one for dancing?" Tilia asked, struggling to conceal the joking tone of her voice.
"I don't think I've ever seen him at any celebration like this. He tends to just keep to himself," Colin responded. "I haven't seen him here so I'm assuming - no, hoping - he isn't around Pyre."
"What will you do if he is?" Kieran asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"I'll handle him, don't worry," Colin assured his nephew. "Datura and I have never gotten along so if he does show his face I'm expecting a fight."
"Can you handle him alone? And what if Cheren appeared too?" Kieran pressed.
"Why are you asking me this, Kieran?" Colin asked, raising a brow.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your skill uncle. But you said yourself not so long ago that you're tired and we can all see that you are exhausted at home," Kieran began. “Both men have their faults but they are both still huntsmen. I worry if they caught you out, that they’d defeat you.”
“So what are you saying - you want to come with me?”
“No! I don’t know…maybe. Just as a precaution.” Kieran stammered.
“You know they might not even turn up, Kee,” Colin pointed out. “Your concerns are appreciated but I think you’re worrying too much.”
"Perhaps I am," Kieran conceded, bowing his head in defeat.
Tilia could see Colin studying his nephew carefully, the man himself looking as though he were deep in thought. After a moment he looked towards Ruka, and though they spoke no words, it seemed to Tilia that they were having a conversation of sorts, their changing expressions serving as questions and answers. The conversation appeared to come to a conclusion when Ruka gave a shrug.
"If it would make you feel better, you can come with me," Colin told his nephew gently. "But don't feel as though you have to put yourself out for me."
"Thank you, uncle," Kieran smiled.
"And what about us?" Wyn asked. "What are we supposed to do whilst you two run off?"
"Stay here," Kieran responded. "You don't need to come with us if you don't want to."
"Hey, we're a team!" Wyn protested. "Your problems are our problems. Where you go, we follow. I mean what's the worst that could happen if the five of us show up anyway? You never know Cheren and Datura might get scared off or surrender straight away. And I don't know about you but I'd consider that a victory."
“Aren’t you both tired out from all the dancing you did?” Kieran asked, earning a chuckle from Lin.
“Oh I’m raring to go,” Wyn smirked. “We’ll leave all the detective work to you and your uncle and we’ll just be there if you need us. And if Cheren or Datura show up we’ll scare them off.”
Ruka grinned and shook her head in amusement. “Kids these days…you’re all so very gung ho about things.”
“Fine. If you want to come, you can come,” Colin said. He proceeded to shoot Ruka a look, which only made her smile even more. When he proceeded to hand back Kaijin to her she pouted a little but did not fully lose the grin that had been on her face.
"We should leave now," Colin addressed the group. "If we leave now it'll give us time to get changed and reduce the risk of Cheren or Datura potentially showing up."
Tilia and her teammates looked around each other and exchanged a few nods. Along with Colin, they stood up from their seats and began to step away from the table.
"I'll stay here and let da know where you're going when he comes back," Roisin said as they stepped aside. "I can't say he'll be very impressed, but he still deserves to know."
"Thanks, Ros," Colin smiled, giving an appreciative nod to his niece.
"Think nothing of it," Roisin said, returning the smile. "Good luck!" She would call after them as the group made their departure from the Golden Fleece.
***
Datura Oleander rarely attended public events such as these. Under normal circumstances, he would have stayed home, but given the nature of this celebration, it seemed like a bad form not to attend. He made some attempts at polite small talk and mingling with the people of Silbern, but ultimately kept to himself, nursing a glass of tequila in the corner.
After he had finished his drink, Datura made an effort to walk around again, making it appear as though he was interested in the festivities. As he walked, he passed by a table where Colin Peredur, Ruka Aoki, and Colin's family and friends were sitting around. He didn't intend to listen in on the conversation, but couldn't help but linger to hear some more of the conversation after hearing them mention his name. When he heard the mention of Pyre Academy he tensed and backed away, scurrying into a corner to hide, before pulling out his scroll and making a call.
If Colin Peredur knew about things at Pyre Academy then that wasn't good at all.
His call was answered after the first ring.
"You were told not to call me at work," the voice at the other end of the line scolded.
"We have a problem." Datura saw no point in beating around the bush about his reasoning for calling, especially given the potential urgency of the situation.
"You mean to say you have a problem," The voice corrected. "Best get out with it then. I still have work to finish."
"Colin Peredur knows."
There was a long beat of silence before Datura heard a long sigh from the other end. "How?"
Datura pursed his lips together, suddenly grateful not to be speaking to his employer in person so that they couldn't see his sudden awkwardness. "Well, Cheren got drunk a few weeks back and suggested to Esmerelda that if she was looking for work she could maybe help us. When I found out he had said that to her, I did my best to do some damage control I assure you. However, it seems I was not quick enough and she told Ruka, who just told Colin."
"Why did the two of you feel the need to ask for help?" The voice snapped, clearly more angry at this fact rather than what Colin knew.
"Well, I wasn't the one who-"
"Do not try to lie to me, Datura Oleander," The voice warned. "You might not have asked the question yourself, but I recall it was only recently that the two of you came to me asking for additional help, which I firmly declined." A long exhale followed this scolding. "You should have been watching Cheren more carefully. You are well aware of his tendency to talk once he's more than a little inebriated."
"I cannot be expected to watch him all the time," Datura protested.
"Perhaps I ought to tweak the terms of your contract so you should then, hm?" The voice countered. "Regardless, you two now have a new job on your hands. Go find Cheren and put a stop to Colin sniffing around. I pay you for security after all, so do your job."
Datura was about to give a snide response to the first remark but a 'click' from the other end of the line told him that the call was already over.
Terrific.
With a sigh, Datura slid his scroll away and then began to look around for Cheren Rutland. Whilst he hadn't seen the man in question, the majority of the Rutland clan were in attendance at the celebration, so no doubt Cheren and his wife would be too.
Sure enough, he spotted Cheren watching the dancing. His wife, Amalthea, was standing next to him and he had an arm around her shoulder.
It was Amalthea who spotted him first, turning and looking at him with such a fierce gaze that Datura had half a mind to back away from her. Cheren might have been the more well known of the two, but Amalthea could be more terrifying than her husband on occasion.
"Sorry to intrude, but could I borrow your husband for a moment?" He asked, mustering up his most polite tone.
Amalthea raised a brow at him. Next to her, Cheren was aware of his presence, and looked at him with a similar expression, though he looked less suspicious than his wife did.
"Why?" She asked sharply.
"Private matter," Datura responded hastily, casting a glance at Cheren, silently asking for help. "I promise I won't keep him long."
"It's okay, love, I won't be long," Cheren assured her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Why don't you go and join in with the dances? I'll be back before you know it."
Before his wife could say anything else, Cheren was already moving away from her, gesturing for Datura to follow him before they got caught up any longer. As they walked, Cheren turned back to give his wife a reassuring wave. Datura on the other hand saw no point looking back, knowing full well she'd still be looking at him with that same suspicious glare.
Cheren guided them outside, and quickly pulled Datura out of earshot so they could speak.
"What's the meaning of this, Datura?" He asked, looking at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "I thought you didn't want to speak outside of work."
He was right of course. When the two men had started working together, Datura had been insistent they hardly speak to each other outside of work. Datura hadn't wanted anyone to mistake the two for friends.
"Colin knows about Pyre." Datura told him simply.
The colour seemed to drain from Cheren's face as he heard that. "How?"
"Well, we have you and your drunken ramblings to thank for that," Datura said sarcastically. "Seems the information finally made its way down to Colin. Honestly, you should consider yourself lucky he didn't find out sooner."
"Did you tell the boss?"
"Of course I did." What kind of fool did he take him for? "And you should know they're not happy. We've been told to deal with this promptly."
"As in now?" Cheren asked. "Couldn't we wait until after the celebration or even tomorrow? Tea won't like it if I leave right now."
"You don't understand, Cheren," Datura said coldly. "You know what the ‘Wraith’ is like. Do you think he’s just going to just wait around? No. Colin is likely on his way there right now, along with his nephew's little team. They might not find anything right away but with five of them snooping around the place...well I doubt it'll take them long to find out what's really hiding there would it?"
Cheren shook his head. "No I suppose it would not," He conceded, sighing a little as he did so. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Make sure they don't find what they're looking for. Clearly." Datura rolled his eyes. "I'll leave the children to you and I'll take Colin for myself."
"As you wish." Cheren said slowly, almost a little reluctantly even. He proceeded to bow his head "Do I have time to tell my wife I'll be a bit longer?"
"No," Datura rebuked him sharply. "Let's grab our weapons and deal with the problem. The sooner this is resolved the better. For us and the boss."
#team kwtz fic#team KWTZ#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#team CRDM#colin peredur#ruka aoki#roisin peredur#perry estrada#cheren rutland#datura oleander
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 6: UNUSUAL BEHAVIOUR
Team KWTZ learns more about the Grimm problem plaguing Silbern, and Kieran makes plans to see his mother.
KIERAN
The morning after KWTZ had returned had started out well enough. Perpetual early risers, the whole Peredur family were up and awake by eight in the morning. Whilst the others slept, the family used a combined effort to prepare and make breakfast for their guests. Colin left midway through cooking to check for any new postings on the mission board but was back home when they began to set the table and invite the others to eat.
As they tucked into breakfast, Colin bought up an idea for KWTZ to speak with a man known as Victor Chartreuse. He explained that Victor was an expert in Grimm behaviour and might have been able to give them some much-needed insight as to why they were attacked by such a large pack of Prowlers. Colin also revealed that since the increased Grimm attacks, he and the rest of the Silbern huntsmen had been providing Victor with information on the attacks so that they could keep track of any notable reoccurrences or patterns of behaviour. Kieran had to admit he was surprised to hear this, knowing that his uncle and Victor Chartreuse did not exactly see eye to eye.
After some deliberation, KWTZ agreed to go with Colin to speak with Victor. Colin also extended the invitation to Roisin and Perry, but the offer was declined. Roisin did not feel up to speaking with him, and Perry decided to stay with Roisin, despite insistence from his leader that she was fine and he should have really gone with the group. It was Daragh who was surprisingly vocal against the group going with Colin. He expressed some displeasure in them jumping back to work despite them having come to Silbern to rest, but as Colin pointed out, they were not technically picking up a mission they were just having a little discussion. Daragh did seem to ease off after that, but it was clear that he still wasn't entirely thrilled by the idea.
Once breakfast was, the group set about getting ready to speak with Victor. Kieran got ready with Wyn, who pressed him for some further information about the man they were going to see. Kieran would have liked to answer Wyn’s questions but as he quickly told his teammate he didn’t actually know him that well, only possessing a passing familiarity with him, and openly admitting that his opinions of him might have been distorted by those of his father and uncle.
When they were ready, Kieran and Wyn began to head downstairs, ready to meet up with Colin and the rest of their team who were waiting for them. As they exited Kieran’s room, they bumped into Roisin who was coming out of her room. Kieran had yet to speak with his twin properly that morning and wanted to see how she was doing after the night before. He told Wyn to go on ahead and that he would only be a minute.
“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting Victor Chartreuse?” Roisin asked her brother, as the pair of them watched Wyn go. “You shouldn’t keep everyone waiting just because of me.”
Kieran could have sworn there was the slightest hint of a teasing tone there as she spoke but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. “I just wanted to see how you were.”
“I’m - “ Roisin paused almost as soon as she started to speak. Her lips pursed together briefly and she had an expression on her face that seemed to imply she was giving some thought to this answer. “I’m fine,” She said after a few moments, before quickly amending it. “I’m feeling better at least. It feels good to be home.”
“Good. I’m glad,” Kieran smiled. Truth be told she did seem a little brighter than she had in recent weeks. Signs of fatigue still haunted her features, and though the time spent at their home seemed to be doing wonders already, he recognised it wouldn’t be some miracle cure and that she would not be better in a matter of days.
“So I know what I’m doing today, but what about you, do you have any plans?” He would ask.
“Oh, nothing exciting,” Roisin responded coolly. “I was planning on just helping dad around the house and then maybe going to say hello to mum.”
At the mention of their mother, Kieran couldn’t help but perk up a bit. “I don’t want to impose or anything but could I possibly come with you when you go? To see mum that is.”
“You wouldn’t be imposing, Kee. She was your mother too,” Roisin told him, giving him a light nudge. “Of course, you can come later. I’ll wait here until you’re done and then we can go together. Maybe I can ask dad if any of his camellias are in bloom so we can take some with us. They were her favourite flowers after all.”
“That sounds nice,” Kieran nodded in approval.
With plans set in motion for later, Kieran said farewell to his twin for now and hurried to meet the others who had since gone outside since he started talking with his sister. The group continued on their way to the Chartreuse's home.
Compared to the rest of the buildings in Silbern, the Chartreuse's home stood out like a sore thumb. Not only was it the tallest building, but it had also been built in a completely different style to the other buildings, save perhaps for the Golden Fleece. It was a very austere building, with a grey and moody exterior, that was so prominent it seemed to leech onto its neighbours. Approaching the front door, Colin pressed the doorbell, and beyond the thick wooden doors, a loud chime could be heard echoing through the interior beyond. Colin took a step back and smoothed down his hair. A moment or two passed until there was the sound of a key being slid into the lock and the door opened. But it was not Victor that answered.
They were greeted by a woman - one who Kieran had not seen in some time but still knew quite well. Her name was Meredith Chartreuse, and she was Victor's cousin as well as a former teammate to Colin. She was a cheerful and pleasant young woman, with light brown curls, yellow-green eyes, and a wide smile on her face as she opened the door.
"Good morning, Colin," She gave a nod in greeting, before sweeping her gaze over KWTZ who stood a little behind him. Her eyes seemed to widen a little when she spotted Kieran. "Oh my, is that little Kieran?"
Colin returned her initial greeting with a smile but did not answer her following question for some time, simply staring at her for a moment, before realising she had asked a further question. Kieran couldn't help but smirk a little to himself regarding his uncle's lapse in concentration around Meredith. Although Colin had always protested otherwise, it was a shared opinion among the rest of the family that he clearly had feelings for her.
"It's nice to see you, Meredith," Kieran wound up answering for his uncle.
"My, my, look how big you are now!" Meredith said, making a gesture towards him. "The last time I saw you, you barely came up to my shoulder, and now you're taller than I am!" She laughed a little as she said that, and Kieran couldn't help but smile along with her, so infectious was her laughter.
“Meredith, these are my teammates Wyn, Tilia, and Lin,” Kieran said, once the laughter had subsided. “Everyone, this is Meredith Chartreuse.”
Meredith walked out of the door to greet each of the remaining members of KWTZ in turn, shaking each of their hands and asking all of them how they were doing. When introductions were out of the way, she made her way back up to the front door and turned back to the group.
“What is the meaning of your little visit today?”
“As much as I wish this was a personal visit, I regret to say this is because of the Grimm again,” Colin answered for them, a slight sag in his shoulders as he spoke, something which was mirrored by Meredith.
“I suppose you’ll be wanting to speak with Victor then?” She asked, looking for confirmation from the group. When Colin nodded in the way of an answer, she gestured to them to follow her inside. Compared to the exterior, the interior was much more colourful, though no less ornate in places. The group walked down a long corridor which opened out onto a large, open space with two more adjoining corridors connected to it. The space was dominated by an L-shaped staircase and a striking, albeit somewhat dusty, chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Colin, would you be so kind as to lead everyone to the sitting room?" Meredith asked, politely. "I will make you all some refreshments and fetch my cousin."
Colin nodded his head, gesturing for the group to follow, whilst Meredith split off and headed down the adjoining corridor to the left. The sitting room was a large room connected by a small archway to an equally large dining room, which housed a large dining table that could comfortably sit upwards of twelve people.
As the group made themselves comfortable in the sitting room, Kieran couldn't help but feel as though they were being watched. It was hard not to feel that way with the faces of three members of the Chartreuse family staring down at them from detailed portraits hung above the fireplace. A younger image of Meredith was hung in the middle, unmistakable with her light brown curls, yellow-green eyes, and wide smile. To the right of Meredith was a picture of her mother Glynis, a pretty woman with the same light brown hair as her daughter and darker eyes. And to the left was her father Sylvester, whose stern gaze still put Kieran at unease after all these years. He was never outright rude to anyone, but he had a very entitled opinion of himself, and Kieran always got the feeling that he was always silently judging those around him. Besides the three obvious portraits on the wall, there was actually a fourth in the sitting room. Tucked away on a side table in the corner of the room sat a small picture of a younger Victor Chartreuse. Where the portraits of his family members were hung in large, ornate, golden frames, Victor's was framed in a much smaller silver frame, with the metal beginning to look faded from where it clearly had not been tended to.
Meredith soon returned, carrying a tray of refreshments with her, and Victor was close behind her. Victor shared the same eyes as his cousin and had the same prominent brow as his uncle, which might have given him the same stern aura if not for the large bags under his eyes which made him look exhausted. He was slightly taller than Meredith, though his hunched posture made him appear shorter than his true height. When he saw they had guests he raised an eyebrow but his face remained otherwise impassive.
“Let me guess you’re here to put in another report about the Grimm?" Victor asked with a sarcastic tone. Kieran noted that the man seemed to ignore KWTZ’s very presence in the room, and spoke directly to Colin.
"Of course," Colin responded in a flat tone. "Why else would I be here talking to you?"
Victor glanced at his cousin briefly before making a scoffing sound. Like most other people who knew both Colin and Meredith it seemed he was also well aware of the unspoken feelings between them. "Well, what is it this time?"
"It was a pack of Prowlers," Colin answered.
"That's hardly worth making a fuss of," Victor said, letting out a huff after his words. "Prowlers were common around Silbern before the Grimm attacks picked up."
"A pack of twenty though?"
Kieran noted that Victor's eyes did briefly widen with interest before quickly returning to the neutral expression he had before. "Unusual but not unheard of," Victor said. "Again, I'm not sure it warrants such concern."
"So you're not going to make a note of this?" Colin asked, sounding increasingly irate as he went on. "How can you be so dismissive about this? You were the one who suggested weeks ago that we tell you about 'any and all' Grimm attacks so you could monitor for any unusual behaviour."
"True but that doesn't give you and the rest of your ilk the right to turn up here at all hours of the day demanding I make note of everything you've seen," Victor told him. His tone remained as neutral as his expression as he spoke though Kieran couldn't help but feel there was something of a dig aimed at his uncle embedded in Victor's words. And judging by how Colin's features twisted into a deep set frown, he had clearly thought the same thing.
"Victor," Meredith cut in, giving her cousin a look. "There's no need to be like that, Colin is only doing his job."
Victor sniffed. "As am I, cousin, as am I."
"Well you could have fooled me!" Colin threw his hands up in exasperation.
Kieran thought his uncle had more to say but before Colin could speak again, Victor cut him off. “Don’t fret, Colin. I shall make a note of your little encounter,” Victor gave a dismissive wave. He turned to Meredith and plucked a cup and saucer from the tray she was carrying. “Thank you for the tea cousin.”
And with that, he turned and walked back out of the room. It was Wyn who ultimately broke the silence, forcibly coughing to break the tension that had arisen from the two men's argument. “Well Victor seems nice,” He said in a sarcastic tone.
Meredith gave an awkward smile before stepping forward to finally set her tray down. “My cousin can be a little blunt sometimes but he is a good man deep down,” Meredith assured them which was met by a snort from Colin. “He usually isn’t so bad, I promise."
"I don't think either of us have had a civil conversation for some time now," Colin remarked, more to himself than to Meredith. He was still scowling but his expression softened when he looked at Meredith. "I'm sorry, Merry," He said, giving her an apologetic look. "It seems like nearly every time I visit you as of late, any conversation between the two of us devolves into a heated argument."
Meredith had been taking a sip of her tea as Colin was speaking, so took the time to set it down, before extending a hand to tap his knee reassuringly. "Don't worry, Colin. I know well enough that my cousin isn't the easiest man to get on with, though I appreciate that you always try to make an effort at the very least."
The woman turned her attention away from Colin and gave KWTZ an apologetic look. "I will say that I'm sorry for Victor's behaviour to the four of you, however," She told them. "Usually he's more polite with visitors, especially those he hasn't met before."
"It's fine," Lin smiled. Next to her Wyn and Tilia also nodded their heads to show they were understanding of the situation. However, Kieran knew his teammates well enough to know they were acting polite for Meredith's sake.
"Sounds like he's had his hands full with the Grimm problem," Kieran noted.
"Hmm, oh yes, very busy," Meredith nodded. "I'm surprised you knew of the situation, did your uncle tell you?"
"Yes, and we were also attacked by the group of Prowlers he mentioned earlier," Kieran explained. "We were fortunate uncle Colin turned up when we did, we were quickly getting overwhelmed by the number of them."
Meredith raised her brows in surprise. "Very fortunate, indeed," Meredith said in agreement. "Our walls have protected us from the worst of it and of course, our brave huntsmen have helped keep the Grimm from straying too close. I only hope the cause for this increase in attacks is discovered soon."
"Is Victor any closer to finding an answer?" Wyn asked. "Sorry, Colin mentioned to us earlier that Victor was monitoring the attacks for any signs of recurrent behaviour that might explain the increase in Grimm activity."
To Kieran's surprise, Meredith seemed rather taken aback and uncomfortable with the question, shifting in her seat. "Oh, I wouldn't know," She admitted, running a finger along the rim of her cup. "Like my father, Victor is very private about his work. He says I wouldn't understand the intricacies of what he does."
"I feel like there's something more you're not telling us," Colin said, giving his former teammate a look. She shied away from his stare, looking down at her cup.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Colin."
"Merry. I know you," Colin pointed out. "I know when you're holding things back."
Meredith pursed her lips together before they broke apart in a sigh. "It's hardly holding anything back as you implied, it's more like certain observations I've made in recent weeks," Meredith admitted. She paused for a minute before continuing when Colin gestured for her to carry on speaking. "Victor has been getting rather lax with his duties."
"Lax in what way?" Colin asked.
“He's been taking fewer notes and being more dismissive about supposed Grimm attacks," Meredith began to explain. "A recent example being Kaltrina and her son. They visited Visitor three days ago to discuss a Grimm sighting that they saw in the north of town. Victor barely let them finish what they were saying before rushing them out the door, insisting it was nothing to worry about and they were worrying over nothing."
"Whilst I'm loath to agree with Victor, Kaltrina and her family are known to overexaggerate," Colin observed, which Meredith nodded in agreement. "Still, to turn them away without making a note of what they saw seems wrong. Has anything else happened like this recently? And do you know what Kaltrina and her son saw?"
"There have been a few instances with Esmerelda, with Victor dismissing her words on the basis that Lavendin hasn't even let her go out that far for some weeks now," Meredith answered. She took a longer moment to answer his second question. "They didn't mention a Grimm by name, only saying that it was exceptionally large and slow moving."
"There have been a few rumours of something large in the woods floating around recently," Colin told the group after a moment. "I'm not sure how true these rumours are as there has never been any solid evidence provided about something actually being out there. However, I'm beginning to think it could be worth a more thorough investigation now."
"We could help too," Kieran offered, not even bothering to check with his teammates before offering their assistance. He knew his team well enough to be certain that none of them would have had any problems with helping out.
Colin gave his nephew a weary look. "You're supposed to be resting."
"I understand that, but we want to help any way we can!" Kieran insisted. "If you're worried about da I can explain the situation to him."
"Ah yes, because that went so well this morning trying to convince him to let you speak with Victor," Colin shook his head in amusement.
"We're here aren't we?" Kieran quipped, which got a genuine laugh from his uncle.
"Please let us come," Wyn begged, giving Colin an over exaggerated pleading look. "We might, uh, go stir crazy otherwise."
"Is that a legitimate cause for concern?"
"Well not for us," Tilia cut in, gesturing to herself, Lin, and Kieran. "But with Winifred, who knows. He needs active stimulation."
Colin considered Kieran's offer for help for some time before relenting and allowing them to come. "Fine, you can help," He said. "But you will do what I say, do you understand?"
"Of course, of course," Kieran said, nodding his head along with his words. "We'll be perfectly well behaved."
He gave his teammates a small look as he said that, lingering on Wyn, in particular, to ensure they were all in agreement and understood the rules of them tagging along.
After settling matters about the future investigation, KWTZ and Colin enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the company of Meredith. She was a gracious and humble host, asking politely after Roisin, and answering the slew of questions that came out of Wyn and Tilia's mouths. When she found out that Kieran and Lin were seeing each other, she couldn't help but coo over them, commenting on what a nice couple they made, which only made Kieran flush a shade of pink in embarrassment.
Once they had finished speaking with Meredith, KWTZ returned to the Peredur family home, whereas Colin split off to speak with some more friends. By the time they had returned home, Roisin was ready to go and see their mother. Thankfully, Kieran's teammates and Perry were all understanding of the two of them needing this private time together.
Kieran and his sister walked arm in arm as they made their way to the memorial park in the east of Silbern. Roisin had one arm hooked around one of Kierans, and under the other arm, she had a tight grip on a bunch of camellias that Kieran was pleased to see their father had given them.
They talked little as they walked, with Roisin only instigating a conversation to ask how things had gone at the Chartreuse's. She seemed pleased to hear Meredith was doing well and told Kieran she would like to see her herself at one point, as she always enjoyed her company. When she heard of Victor's behaviour she only rolled her eyes and made a comment about how he never had any respect for the good work huntsmen and huntresses did.
When they reached the memorial park, they were not the only ones enjoying the scenery. Two families and a young couple were sitting on the benches enjoying the cool air. None of them stopped the twins to speak but every one of them gave them a look of acknowledgement as they passed. There was a singular gravel path that cut through the park, with the benches closer to the entrance, and fourteen lanterns to honour those who died in the Glatisant attack on either side of the path closer to the rear of the park. At the end of the pathway, a curved staircase led up to a raised platform where a statue of a metallic tree had been commissioned to also commemorate the fallen. Spaced out around the tree were fourteen small stone plinths, each one engraved with a name, birthdate, and a shared date of death.
Kieran and Roisin had been here often in their youth, and as they walked around to their mother's name, they both spared a small glance at the names they passed, of men, women, and children they once knew.
The plinth bearing Lucerne Peredur's name already had a bouquet of drying flowers resting upon it; most likely left by their father on a recent visit. Kieran gently picked it up and set it aside so that his sister could place the new bunch on top of the plinth.
"Your favourites," Roisin said, carefully setting down her new bouquet. With the flowers set down, Roisin knelt down on the floor in front of the stone, and Kieran followed suit.
Neither twin said anything at first, merely sitting in silence and looking at their mother's name. Although Kieran was glad to be near to his mother again, he wanted his sister to be the one to eventually break the silence, knowing that she needed this moment more than he did.
Kieran knew his sister was close to breaking the silence when he was aware of hearing faint sniffling coming from her and turned to see his twin crying softly. With one hand, she tried to wipe away her tears, and Kieran gripped her free hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze to show Roisin he was there to support her.
Roisin turned to him and gave him a grateful smile before the two of them turned back to look at the stone. "Hey, mum," Roisin said, finally breaking the silence. "It's been a while hasn't it? There's a lot we need to catch up on."
#team kwtz fic#team KWTZ#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#colin peredur#roisin peredur#meredith chartreuse#victor chartreuse
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 5: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
After dealing with the Prowlers and making it safely through the woods Team KWTZ finally arrives at their destination of Silbern. A long-awaited family reunion occurs.
WYN
Following the surprise attack from the Prowlers, the group continued forward on their journey to Silbern. It seemed unlikely another Grimm would attack them but regardless Wyn was glad for the presence of Colin Peredur who had offered to accompany them back to the town. It was good to have him as a sort of reassurance of safe passage into the town.
As they continued to walk and draw closer to Silbern the ground started to incline upwards and the trees began to thin out. Wyn could spot cliffs in the distance, just beginning to peek out from behind the trees. It didn’t take much longer after that for Silbern to appear as well, the stone walls that shielded it, standing out rather notably from the lush greenery in the surrounding area. The walls appeared sturdy enough though Wyn noted they weren’t particularly tall. They would have repelled most Grimm at the very least though would struggle if anything close to the size of a Bayard approached. The tallest part of the wall was actually the gate that housed three turrets and was currently watched over by a lone human sentinel. When they saw the group approach, Colin waved up at them and the gesture was quickly returned.
“Hi, Colin, who are your friends?” The sentinel - a young woman who couldn’t have been much older than KWTZ - shouted down.
“Hello, Esmerelda,” Colin returned her greeting. “This is my niece and nephew and their teammates. We had a bit of a nasty run-in with some Prowlers back there. Do you mind letting us in?”
“Not at all! Just give me a moment or two and I’ll have the gate open for you!”
Sure enough, moments later a mechanical whir kicked in and the gates opened wide enough for the seven of them to get inside, closing once they had stepped through. A moment later footsteps could be heard echoing from a staircase off to the side before Esmerelda appeared, panting slightly from having most likely run down a whole flight of stairs with some speed. Colin left the group momentarily to speak with Esmerelda. They were too far away for any of the group to make out what was said between them, but when they concluded their conversation, Esmerelda returned upstairs with a smile on her face. Turning back to the group Colin gestured for them to follow.
"What was that all about?" Kieran asked as the group followed after Colin.
"I asked about how long she was on wall duty for," Colin explained as the group continued to walk forward. "Mayor Lavendin is wary about letting her take up certain missions right now so she's kept her on wall duty the past few days. Once we've cleared up things here, I offered to take her off the wall for the rest of the day."
"Why is the mayor so protective over her in particular?" Wyn asked the older huntsman. To him, it seemed a little odd for her to be so protected.
"Mayor Lavendin is Esmerelda's mother," Colin explained. “She has always been quite protective of her after she lost her son a few years ago. The increase in Grimm has only served to worsen her paranoia. On one hand, I understand where the fear comes from but I also know Esmerelda will never get the experience she needs to progress as a huntress if her mother is always holding her back."
Wyn nodded his head in understanding. He could see where the mayor was coming from with her protectiveness but he could also agree with Colin's point of Esmerelda not getting any experience if she kept getting held back. It made him think about how he could have so easily gone through a similar situation in his youth after he lost his parents. It made him thankful that the Allaways had not shielded him in such a manner after his parents had disappeared; not that life in Benibara would have allowed them such a luxury.
The more Wyn saw of Silbern, the more it reminded him of his home. Silbern was more modernised than Benibara was but the sense of community and the incorporation of the natural landscape into the town felt very reminiscent of his own home.
Colin led the group to a large building in the centre of town. Surrounded by other commercial buildings and a colourful outdoor market, this was clearly a hub of activity. It was hard for Wyn to make out what kind of place it was that Colin had taken them to. The outside of the building made it appear more stately and official, but a sign above proudly declared it as “The Golden Fleece” with a wide variety of food and beverages available five days a week.
“I hope they don’t try and fleece us,” Wyn started to chuckle upon seeing the sign.
“What are you on about?” Tilia asked, raising a brow.
“Get it - because the place is called ‘The Golden Fleece’.” Wyn made an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, my humour is wasted on all of you.”
"I got the joke, it just wasn't funny," Tilia told him.
Wyn started to pout and she leaned over to pat him sympathetically on the arm. "Don't worry Winifred, I'm sure there's someone out there who will appreciate your lame jokes."
"You didn't think they were lame when I told you that joke about Professor Port," Wyn pointed out, nudging her in a playful manner with his elbow. In fact, if he remembered correctly, she had creased over laughing from that joke, earning some disapproving looks from the man in question whose lesson they'd been in at the time.
Wyn pulled another face before going silent. It was Lin who spoke next, directing a question towards Colin. "So what is this place exactly?"
"As you can see by the sign above it was a restaurant first. After a few years, they redesigned the interior to include a small hotel and then they eventually moved the local mission boards for the area here too. Oh, and you can find Mayor Lavendin's office here too."
"Bit of a hodgepodge then," Tilia said.
Colin's lips twitched into a smile. "Pretty much," He conceded. "When you've lived here all your life you get used to it though."
"Don't worry, not all of the buildings are like that," Kieran assured them.
"Since I need to update my mission, do you two want to go ahead and lead everyone home?" Colin prompted, looking at his niece and nephew.
"Are you sure? We don't mind waiting," Roisin responded in a quiet tone.
Colin nodded. "No, go on ahead. I've got to take Esmerelda off duty anyway so I doubt you'll want to wait around for me for the entire day." Colin touched his niece on her shoulder. "Just let your dad know I'll be home late, okay?"
With one final nod from Roisin, the group and Colin went their separate ways for now. Kieran took the lead now, heading west from the town centre, as opposed to the southerly direction from which they had approached. Wyn noted it did not take long for the buildings to gradually become more residential. Despite the looming threat of Grimm, the residents of Silbern seemed in high spirits. As they walked Wyn watched couples enjoying a leisurely walk through the streets, neighbours chatting together outside their homes, and children playing happily in the streets. One group of children kicked a ball in their direction and shouted for it to be returned, hooting and hollering when Wyn responded to their request by kicking it back.
It didn't take much longer for them to arrive at the Peredur's home, Kieran pointing it out once they were within sight of it. It was a large detached house encircled by a wooden veranda. There was a neat well maintained garden out front, with pretty seasonal flowers in bloom in flowerbeds on either side of the path leading up to the front of the house.
As they walked up to the front door, Kieran and Roisin stepped up to the front and knocked the door together. There appeared to be an unspoken agreement amongst the rest of the group as they lingered behind the two of them.
It took a few moments but a voice behind the door called out to say they were on their way before it promptly opened.
"Hello?"
The man who answered the door was certainly not who Wyn had expected. Surely this can’t be Kieran and Roisin’s dad?
Colin Peredur had been of a similar height to his niece and nephew, but Daragh Peredur was taller, much taller. In fact, the man was a veritable giant. He had the same dark hair and eyes as his brother and a neatly groomed beard speckled with grey. He was so tall had to duck to fit through the door. Once outside he spread his arms wide, easily enveloping both of his children in a warm hug.
"I'm so glad that the two of you are alright," He said, breathing a sigh of relief.
All three seemed reluctant to part from each other and even when they did so Daragh looked as though he might rush back to their side if given the chance. His attention turned to the rest of the group who had held back whilst Kieran and Roisin reunited with their father, and a wide smile formed on his face. "You must be their teammates?" Daragh waited for a nod of confirmation from the group before coming forward to shake their hands and say a proper hello. "Please come inside," He said, gesturing to the front door behind him. "Our home is always open to friends of the family."
The group didn't need telling twice for Kieran and Roisin to lead them inside, Daragh following behind them so he could close the door. The man ushered them into a living room and insisted they made themselves comfortable, before whisking away the things they had brought with them upstairs. For much of the afternoon and evening, Daragh flitted between rooms as he kept them entertained. He was quick to provide them with refreshments once they had settled and sat down with them for a little while to discuss the journey they had undertaken to get to Silbern. After a while he excused himself to make a start on dinner, asking if any of the group had any preferences, to which Wyn answered that he adhered to a pescatarian diet.
It took around two hours for Daragh to finish cooking, during which he permitted the group to have a look around the house if they wished to do so. Wyn considered taking up his offer, but was content with enjoying a rest like the rest of the group after the journey here. Shortly before Daragh dished up, Colin returned from covering Esmerelda's shift on the wall. He briefly poked his head into the living room to say hello to the group before disappearing into the kitchen where he could be heard speaking with his brother, though it was difficult to make out what was being discussed from within the living room. Not long after, the two brothers summoned them into the dining room, where they were laying out quite the spread of food for the group.
"Sorry, it's not much," Daragh quickly apologised when the group stepped into the room. Wyn noted that he seemed almost embarrassed by this supposed lack of food. "This was the best I could do on such short notice."
"I think I speak for all of us when I say this is more than enough," Lin said, giving the Peredur patriarch a grateful smile.
Compared to recent meals they had enjoyed in recent weeks, this was a veritable feast. In the middle of the table were two plates of meat, one that had the meat cooked rare and the other cooked medium to well done. Both plates of meat were surrounded by bowls of steamed mixed vegetables, and a larger bowl of creamy mashed potatoes. For Wyn, Daragh had already put some food on a plate for him, explaining that he had made a fish pie for him as per his dietary requirements, but he was welcome to help himself to extra vegetables or more of the potatoes if he wanted to.
Wyn helped himself to some peas and carrots before settling down to enjoy his meal, the rest of the group picking at the food around him. Once most of them had sat down and were beginning to eat, Daragh excused himself briefly to grab more drinks for them, and brought in a can of cider for his brother.
The dinner was delicious and Wyn ate it so voraciously that found himself going in for a second plate once he had given some time for the first plate to go down.
"Easy there, son," Daragh advised, giving a little chuckle. "Keep eating like that and you won't leave yourself any room for the pie I have warming in the oven for dessert."
Tilia snorted with laughter from the opposite side of the table. “Oh there’s nothing to worry about Mr Peredur,” Tilia assured him once her laughter had subsided. “I once saw Wyn eat enough food it could have fed at least five people.”
Wyn rolled his eyes. “Stop making me sound like such a pig, Tilly.”
“Well if the shoe fits.” She countered with a wink.
After poking fun at Wyn's eating habits, Tilia went back to her meal, and Wyn finished up his own. Although he had been quick to get himself a second plate, he found himself unable to finish it entirely, suddenly hit by a bloated sensation that prevented him from eating any further lest he wanted to cause himself more discomfort.
With a lull in conversation all around, Wyn found his attention drawn to Lin, who having finished her own meal, was looking at the wall behind Kieran and Roisin. It was covered in numerous family photographs, several of which had a much younger Kieran and Roisin in. There was only one subject that featured more often than the twins did, a pretty blue haired woman with more than a passing resemblance to the twins. The largest of all of these photographs was an image of the woman, holding a much younger Kieran and Roisin on her lap. Whilst the twins focus seemed elsewhere in the picture, she was staring directly at the camera, smiling happily.
“Is that Kieran’s mother?” Lin asked, gesturing to a picture in question.
“That’s Lucerne, yeah,” Colin answered with a smile, turning his head to look at the picture of her on the wall. Wyn also turned his head to admire the picture. She had been a beautiful woman, that much was plain to see. The same blue hair she shared with her children fell in loose waves over her shoulder, and she had the same pale eyes as Kieran.
“Still don’t know how Daragh ever managed to marry her,” Colin said in a teasing tone. “She was beautiful, smart, and a damn fine huntress too. And then there’s my brother…”
“You better watch what you’re about to say, Col,” Daragh warned teasingly, pointing a fork in the direction of his younger brother.
“I meant no offense, Daragh,” Colin put his hands up in surrender. “But you have to admit-”
Wyn jumped slightly when a chunk of meat was flung from Daragh’s direction towards Colin. Although Colin was quick to feign surprise, judging by the reaction of the Peredur family as a whole, this little spat was clearly nothing to be concerned about. In fact, after the initial surprise had faded, Colin and Daragh started to laugh. When the laughter faded, Daragh leaned back contentedly into his chair. The Peredur patriarch placed a hand on the table, and a wistful smile took hold as he looked at the wedding band still present on his ring finger. “My brother wasn’t exaggerating when he said she was the best of us. She truly was,” Daragh began, addressing the group as a whole. “She was an outstanding huntress, wife, and mother. She was a woman of many talents and despite what some people in Silbern might say, she earned those achievements all on her own, not from the backing of her family. I do not doubt that she would have liked every single one of you - even Midge and Tara.”
Although Wyn didn’t doubt Daragh had any bad intentions with his words, he was quickly aware of the shift in the mood of the room as soon as Daragh spoke those two names. It wasn’t his fault of course - when asked where the remaining members of PEWT were Roisin and Perry hadn’t exactly been keen to discuss the topic. And with Daragh also preoccupied with cooking their dinner he hadn’t been able to press them for any further details.
Kieran was quick to pick up on his twin’s expression and made a valiant attempt to steer the conversation back to a lighter topic. “Um, dad, maybe we should-”
But he never got to finish his words, before Roisin dropped the bombshell.
“They’re dead.”
There it was - the big reveal. Perry looked down as she said that and Wyn noted that other than Kieran who was watching his sister, his own teammates seemed uncertain where to look. Daragh seemed to have been stunned into silence, his expression neutral and unreadable. It was Colin who, at first, seemed to be the only one of the brothers to have any visible reaction to the news. He seemed surprised and then immediately after genuinely moved by this revelation.
“I had my suspicions when I saw they weren’t with you in the woods but I had no idea that - that- Oh god, Ros, Perry, I’m so sorry.”
“How did this happen?” Daragh asked, once his brother had said his piece.
“They died when Beacon fell,” Roisin answered, before elaborating even further. “Tara succumbed to injuries she sustained in the initial wave of Grimm, and Midge died right next to me, crushed by falling debris.” She had been holding it together quite well until she mentioned their deaths again, after which her composure fractured, and Roisin struggled to hold back her tears. “I was their leader, I should have been able to do something more to save them,” Roisin would cry out, before covering her face with her hands. “I’m the reason they’re dead!”
“No!” Daragh’s voice was sharp and sudden, quickly cutting off his daughter before she could spiral any further. “You are not to blame for this.”
Daragh stood up from his chair and walked over to where Roisin was sitting and knelt by the side of her. “Rosey, look at me,” He said, urging her to look at him. It took a moment but she quickly relented, lowering her hands and looking at her father with teary eyes. Daragh gave his daughter a gentle smile and took one of her hands, rubbing a thumb in a comforting manner over her knuckles. “You remind me so much of your mother. So caring and willing to give up parts of yourself for others; a true huntress to the bone. It’s your greatest strength, and I think perhaps, your greatest weakness too,” Daragh would say in a soft voice. “It isn’t healthy for you to carry your pain like this. What happened at Beacon was a tragedy, but you were not the cause of it. I’ve known you for twenty years, Rosey, I know you well enough to know you would have done everything you could have done in that moment to try and save them. The vile people who chose to attack Beacon and desecrate the Vytal festival and what it stands for are the ones you should hold accountable. Please do not blame yourself for this.” Daragh would briefly turn his attention away from his daughter to look at Perry. “The same goes for you too, son.”
Perry nodded and gave the man a grateful smile. When Daragh turned back to his daughter she practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him, and sobbing into his shoulder. He was surprised at her sudden gesture but it didn’t take him long to quickly wrap his arms around her in return and hold her close whilst she let out her grief.
As the day drew to a close, it seemed many more tears were to be shed, as the group started to reflect on memories around the dinner table. Despite an earlier mention of a pie being brought out for dessert, it was quickly put aside for another day, in favour of quiet reflection. Daragh and Colin offered to clean up by themselves, giving the six of them the chance to retire upstairs for the night. Wyn and Perry were among those who offered to stay and help, but they were promptly shooed away by the older Peredur men.
When Wyn and Perry followed their teammates upstairs, they found most of their things waiting for them, set out between two camp beds that had likely been hastily put together during Daragh’s earlier preparations when they had first arrived.
After quickly getting changed into some pyjamas, Wyn took a moment to glance around the room. When they had been walking in the woods he had overheard Tilia and Kieran talking about the Peredur’s home being cluttered, but Wyn didn’t think it was anything too excessive. Sure there were certainly a lot of items around the house and in Kieran’s room, but it didn’t feel cluttered at all. If anything Kieran’s bedroom surprised Wyn the most, it was far more colourful than he expected, especially based on the minimal decor Kieran had in their dorms. Perhaps most interesting was the slightly faded poster of Asta Carbonado, a winner of a previous Vytal tournament, a fact Wyn only remembered because the Allaways had taken him and Corrin to watch the event.
Settling down to sleep on one of the camp beds, Wyn said his goodnights to Kieran and Perry before turning over and closing his eyes. It wasn’t exactly the largest nor the most comfortable of beds but it was far more comfortable on his back compared to the beds they had to use in their temporary accommodation the past few weeks. Within a few moments, Wyn was drifting off to deep sleep, his belly full with good food, and his heart full with hope that from now on things would be easier for them all.
#team kwtz fic#team kwtz#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#team PEWT#roisin peredur#perry estrada#colin peredur#daragh peredur#esmerelda aveleira
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 2: RECKLESS ABANDON
The Fall of Beacon leaves deep scars.
KIERAN
In the days following the fall of Beacon, KWTZ continued to help with the securing of Vale. It was a slow progress, but slowly the number of Grimm was dropping by every day.
Wyn spent his days switching between working with his team members and working by himself to help clear out Grimm from areas of the city. It was hard work, and though the Grimm threat couldn't fully be extinguished, after time and effort the combined efforts of the huntsmen and huntresses in the city were able to secure it for the most part. Their main issues stemmed from too many Grimm spilling out from the grounds of the fallen Beacon Academy. It seemed that even when they had taken out large quantities of the Grimm, more and more seemed to appear to replace them.
After another hard day of securing an area of the city, Kieran was glad for the reprieve that sleep granted him. He said some brief words to his teammates, before crawling into bed and letting sleep take him.
It did not seem like he had been asleep for long before he was aware of someone trying to rouse him. "Go away," He grumbled, turning over in his bed in an effort to get away from them. But he could feel hands on him now, shaking him more persistently.
"Kieran."
Kieran didn't move, nor did he open his eyes but he knew it was Wyn speaking. "What do you want, Wyn?"
"It's Roisin."
"What about her?" Kieran asked groggily.
"She's gone," Tilia's voice answered. "Perry too." Hearing her voice, Kieran's eyes snapped open, and he sat up awake. It didn't surprise him to see that not only were Tilia and Wyn waiting there but Lin too.
"Do any of you have any idea where they might have gone?" Kieran questioned.
"We think they may be trying to get to the academy. Or at the very least further into the city where the Grimm are still out of control." Lin explained.
"That's what Wyn seems to believe anyways," Tilia said. "We don't actually know for certain where they might have gone."
Kieran turned his attention to Wyn, who looked nervously away when he saw the attention was shifted to him. "It's just a hunch."
"You're probably not too far off the mark," Kieran conceded with a sigh. He knew his sister hadn't taken the loss of half of her team very well. Once she had recovered from her minor injuries, she had been keen to throw herself into the fray; despite concerns from Kieran that she wasn't ready, his sister had been persistent. He could not say much about how Perry was handling things, as he had been spending his time solely with Roisin. His sister had insisted he was okay, but Kieran had his doubts.
"You guys should go ahead and try and locate them," Kieran suggested. "It's going to take me a few minutes to get changed."
"Maybe we could split up?" Lin suggested. "Two of us could go on ahead and try and find them and then we could all meet up afterwards."
"Getting in contact with each other is gonna be a pain with the tower down," Tilia pointed out, scratching her chin. "We could agree to meet up somewhere after an hour or so?"
"Or I'll find you," Kieran said, giving them a knowing look. Even if the tower was down, his semblance was still active. Kieran considered Tilia's idea for a moment. "Sounds like a plan - let's do it."
"So who's gonna stay?" Tilia asked.
"I don't mind," Wyn responded, putting his hand up as he spoke.
"Fine by me," Kieran said. He looked to Tilia and Lin to see if they had any complaints about Wyn offering himself up. Both of them shook their heads in response. "Let's meet at the town square in an hour."
Tilia and Lin made their goodbyes before heading out. Kieran hurried to get changed into his clothes, careful to make sure his armour was tight and secure before he gave Wyn the signal for them to leave. As they began patrolling the area just south of the school, Kieran noted that they should have agreed on areas to search prior to splitting up, as they ran the risk of overlap.
“So, Wyn, what makes you think Ros could be heading for the school?” Kieran asked as they walked.
“Well like Tilly said I don’t know for certain if that’s where she’s going,” Wyn pointed out. “It’s just a hunch.”
“There has to be more to it than that,” Kieran pressed.
“Eh, not really,” Wyn shrugged. “That was just the impression I got when we spoke at the memorial.”
“Why were you - oh of course,” The realisation hit Kieran almost as soon as he started to speak. “You went because of Professor Forster.”
“It wasn’t just because of the professor,” Wyn corrected. “I went for Midge too.”
“Midge?” Kieran repeated, surprised to hear the name of one of his sister’s fallen teammates mentioned. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”
“We didn’t. Not really.” Wyn sighed a little, and his shoulders sagged. “She wasn’t much, but she was from home.”
Kieran nodded his head sympathetically, unsure of what else he could say or do at that moment. Now wasn't the best time to be comforting Wyn, but Kieran made a vow to himself to let his teammate know he was available to talk things out once things were more settled.
The two of them continued on their way through the city, looking around every corner possible for signs of Roisin or Perry. Wyn had jogged on ahead after a while to scout out the area in front of them, whilst Kieran lagged behind, peering through some of the shop windows they had just passed.
Kieran was about to call his teammate back to him, when a blast of wind, not unlike a shockwave, came thundering down the alleyway where Wyn had just stopped, nearly knocking him to the ground. Kieran picked up the pace and sprinted down the road to stand with Wyn. He gave his teammate a once over to confirm he was alright, before leading them down the alleyway. He was the first to pick up on the shouting. He could hear Perry's voice clearest, demanding Roisin stop what she was doing and come back. His sister's voice was quieter and more distant, and even with his heightened hearing he could only make out certain words.
“Roisin! Perry!” Kieran called out as he and his teammate approached. “What are you two doing out here?”
Both Roisin and Perry turned in his direction when they heard their names being called out. Perry seemed relieved to see them both, but Roisin was decidedly less so.
“I’m trying to get Ros to come back,” Perry explained. “I’ve told her it’s dangerous for her to be out here right now, especially alone, but she won’t listen to me.”
“Oh, I’m listening,” Roisin said. “I’m just choosing to ignore you.”
“Ros,” Kieran spoke her name softly. “There’s no need to be like that, he's just trying to help. We all are.”
“Then help me by letting me do this,” Roisin responded.
“Doing what exactly?” Wyn asked.
“Dealing with the Grimm. Protecting the city. Doing what I should have been doing that night,” Roisin said, before turning away and attempting to leave.
“Ros, don’t leave,” Kieran begged, reaching out to try and stop his sister. Even though he hadn’t grabbed her roughly, Roisin still pulled away sharply and gave him a disapproving glare.
“Back off, Kieran.”
“I’m-”
“I said back off!” Roisin snapped, taking a step towards him. Kieran kept his cool and met his sister’s gaze. She had a wild, half-crazed look in her eyes. Kieran had seen that look only once before - when their father had heard of their mother’s passing and set off to single-handedly defeat the Grimm that had taken her life despite pleas from half of Silbern begging him not to go. He succeeded of course but was never the same afterwards and promptly retired from active huntsman duties, spending the following years watching the two of them grow up and tending to his garden which brought all of them some solace in the wake of her death.
“I have to do this,” Roisin told them. “I have to do it for them. For Midge and Tara. I was the leader...I should have been able to do more. I should have been able to save them.”
“You still are our leader,” Perry pointed out, as he came to stand next to her. “You did enough.” Roisin looked at him warily, before quietly leaning into him. Perry was quick to wrap an arm around her, keeping her steady.
“What happened wasn’t your fault,” Kieran assured her, standing at her other side. This time when he reached out for her, she didn’t pull away and allowed him to take her hand. “Come back with us, please. Don’t put yourself in any more unnecessary danger. I almost lost you once, I don’t want that to happen again.”
His final words seemed to strike a chord with Roisin. She had been nodding along to his words, agreeing not to put herself in any further danger, but as soon as he said that she stopped and tears formed in her eyes. She was quick to cover her eyes with her free hand, shielding her tears from the three of them, though she could not hide her sniffling.
“Come on, let’s get you back,” Perry prompted. “I think you’ve done enough for one night.”
“What about Lin and Tilia?” Wyn asked. “They’ll be waiting for us at the square.”
Kieran considered this for a moment. “Go on ahead and let them know what’s going on,” Kieran instructed Wyn. “I’ll walk back with Perry and my sister and we’ll all meet back up at the hotel.”
Wyn gave a curt nod. “Okay, see you soon.”
Wyn gave them all a small wave in farewell before heading back in the direction from where they had come. Truthly, Kieran might as well have not sent Wyn away as soon as he did, as the three of them did not linger long in that alleyway after Wyn had departed. Once Roisin had settled down again and stopped crying they set off. Kieran fell behind a bit so that Perry and Roisin could take the lead.
From behind he watched as they made small talk with each other - or at the very least Perry did, Roisin did not seem much in the mood for conversation after everything that had happened.
As they walked, Kieran continued to watch his sister and her teammate intently. After everything that had happened tonight and recently, Kieran was more certain than ever in his recent decision that once things were a bit more settled, he would enquire about making a journey back to Silbern. It would be good for his sister to get away from here, as would it be good for him. He didn’t want to impose the idea on his teammates nor Perry, but he was certain that they would likely all agree to come. A part of him even hoped they would. It would be safer for them there and quieter too. Maybe there the six of them, Roisin especially, could finally begin to recover from the horrors they had witnessed on that fateful night...
#team KWTZ#team kwtz fic#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#Lin Zhu#team PEWT#roisin peredur#perry estrada#rwby fanfiction#rwby oc
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 11 - THE HORROR (PART 1)
The Horror is loose.
ROISIN
After a valiant attempt at trying to distract Meredith, Roisin and Perry had found themselves waiting down the hill from the Chartreuse family home. It seemed as though Meredith had believed her apologies, albeit somewhat confused about why she felt the need to apologise for her uncle. The struggle had been keeping Meredith engaged in the conversation, as she was keen to get back to some chores within her house. Roisin hadn't wanted to leave but she knew there was only so much she could do without the conversation seeming forced or strange. The last thing she wanted was Meredith to suspect something was wrong.
"Do you think they're done yet?" Roisin asked, pacing back and forth where she stood with Perry.
Her Vacuan teammate leaned idly against a wall, his arms folded over his chest. "Hard to say," He admitted, looking at the house and then back at Roisin. "Depends what they find I s'pose."
Roisin nodded in agreement. Even though they were looking for something more concrete to tie Victor to Pyre there was no guarantee that they would even find anything. From what Roisin could tell, it seemed like Victor had done an excellent job at concealing the truth for ten years.
Roisin was continuing to pace when Perry suddenly gestured behind her with a tilt of his head. She swivelled on the spot to see KWTZ and Colin rushing back towards them. Colin was carrying a bleeding and unconscious Meredith in his arms. They had scarcely made it down the hill towards them when a horrific sound akin to an explosion, arose from the Chartreuse house where they had just fled from. A hideous Grimm stood outside, a gaping hole in the front of the house where it had broken through. Roisin gawked at it, unsure of how to comprehend what she was looking at.
"What is that thing?" Perry asked, voice quivering slightly.
A huge roar came from the Grimm mere seconds after her teammate had asked that. It was so loud it felt as though the ground was shaking beneath her very feet. When the roar subsided, the screams of panicked citizens drew it away, the initial target of KWTZ and Colin forgotten about at that moment.
Roisin stared at the spot where the Grimm had been for a moment, before turning to look back at the group. "What kind of Grimm was that?"
"A hybrid," Colin said simply. "A horror that should never have been made."
Perry swore out loud and shook his head. Roisin was still struggling to process everything.
"Well, I guess we need to deal with that then," Roisin said, clapping her hands together awkwardly. "Any idea how we take something like that down?"
"Hit it with everything we've got," Kieran replied confidently. "We have to put an end to it before we have a repeat of the Glatisant attack."
KWTZ seemed raring to go, and although Roisin still didn't know what to think, it was hard not to feel a bit inspired by their confidence.
"I need to get Meredith somewhere safe," Colin said, indicating to the woman in his arms. "I'll try and help out when I can. Just...stay safe, alright?"
"We will," Kieran promised.
With a reluctant nod, the group parted ways, Colin hurrying off to find somewhere safe for Meredith, and KWTZ, Roisin, and Perry chasing after the hybrid. As they ran, Roisin was already thinking of potential strategies they could utilise to bring it down. It was a big Grimm so it wasn't going to go down easy; they would need to be smart and conserve their energy if they really wanted to do some damage to it.
The plan was to take on the hybrid directly, but as they chased after it, a sudden problem arose to disrupt them. They were still running when the shrill wails of alarms began to activate all over Silbern. Roisin flinched slightly hearing them. Perimeter alarms.
Kieran slowed the group upon hearing them, looking back at his sister with a wary glance. He knew as well as she did what those alarms meant Grimm were close to the walls. Which meant it wasn't just the hybrid they would have to deal with.
"We need to do something about that," Kieran said.
"But we can't just leave the hybrid!" Wyn pointed out.
"He's right," Roisin said, looking over her brother knowingly. She considered what to do for a moment, looking between her teammate and then at KWTZ. "You guys should go after the hybrid. Me and Perry will check out the alarms." She said, offering her assistance.
Perry shot her a curious look, clearly surprised by the sudden offer. Kieran also raised his brows but did not say no to her suggestion. He looked back at his own teammates, checking for their opinions on the matter. None of them seemed to have an issue with it so he gave a nod of confirmation to his sister.
"Stay safe, Ros," Kieran said, briefly giving her a small hug before they parted ways.
"You too, Kee."
With the group split again, Roisin led Perry and herself in the direction of the nearest alarm. As the walls came into view, they could hear the sound of gunfire as the turrets on the wall shot at Grimm that lay beyond it. The ground was littered with holes, the culprit being a colony of Myrmidons, which had burrowed underneath the walls, and emerged onto this side. She assumed some must have scurried off, as only two remained now, trapping a small group of three civilians that had managed to scramble up onto a canopy over the door to a house. It had kept them safe for now, but the Myrmidons were using their pincers to try and gnaw through the supporting beams.
"You take the left, I take the right?" Perry suggested. He held out a fist for her to bump.
"Deal," Roisin confirmed, bumping his fist.
Roisin was first to act, drawing her sword from her hip, and racing to deal with the Myrmidon at the right. It didn’t even have time to react before she sliced it clean in half. The second Myrmidon turned its head and made a squealing noise, but was quickly defeated by a blast from Perry’s shotgun.
Roisin gave him a nod of appreciation, before looking up at the frightened civilians. “It’s safe for the moment. You can come down now.”
One of the civilians, a young woman with ginger hair, nodded quickly. She had just lowered herself to get down more easily when she made a yelp and retreated further up again. Roisin quirked a brow, curious what had made her so nervous again, and then she heard it - the laughter.
“Uh, Ros, we’ve got a problem.”
She turned on the spot to face the direction of the noise, finding herself looking directly at three Prowlers, and seven Myrmidons. Whilst the Prowlers sized them up cautiously, there was no hesitation from the Myrmidons to attack. Two quickly rushed Perry, which he fended off with the butt of his weapon. He wasn’t able to shoot at either of them until Roisin stabbed one. With two of the ant-like Grimm down, they could focus on the remaining Myrmidons and the Prowlers. Roisin decided that the Prowlers should be the first of the Grimm they dealt with being the larger of the two and the harder to avoid should they have lunged at them.
Or at least that was the plan until a blue blur collided with one of the Prowlers, sending it careening off to the side. It took a moment to realise what she was seeing, only recognising it as Ruka Aoki using her semblance when the older woman slowed down.
With one Prowler down, she gracefully jumped over to another, slamming the blade of her tonfa into its neck. It made a pained sound and attempted to wriggle away, but Ruka held firm, using the weapon lodged in its neck to steer the Grimm so she was more in line with the remaining Prowler. She shot at it with her weapon, quickly defeating the Prowler before it could become a problem. Ruka then proceeded to dislodge her weapon from the Prowler's neck, and then gave two quick slashes and sliced its head off.
She jumped backwards from the fading Grimm, landing in a crouch, before lifting her head and giving Perry and Roisin a small salute in greeting. "Hey, kids."
Roisin stared at her before giving her an awkward wave in return. "H-Hey."
Ruka smiled and then looked over her shoulder, where a younger woman appeared from the street behind her. "Should I leave the Myrmidons to you, Em?"
Esmerelda Aveleira came to stand beside Ruka. Her dark brown hair was messy and slicked back from fighting, and beads of sweat lined her brow. She had hiked up her skirt on one side to allow for easier movement, clearly not having been dressed for a fight. At some point, she had clearly gotten hit by debris or a Grimm, as she had a nasty cut above her knee.
"Move," Esmerelda told Roisin and Perry calmly.
The two backed away slowly, ducking under the canopy, and allowing Esmerelda to do her thing. The woman stepped forward and whistled, attempting to draw the Myrmidons attention. A few scuttled towards her but three of them were distracted by both the continued wailing of the perimeter alarms and the presence of Roisin and Perry. In the end, it didn’t really matter that Esmerelda’s attempt at distraction had failed, as the use of her semblance quickly dealt with them.
With a flick of her wrist, Esmerelda created a dark green glyph, which spread across the floor and quickly trapped the Grimm in place. They weren’t completely stopped, merely slowed, as the Myrmidon’s pincers twitched and some of them squirmed around in an effort to break free. Esmerelda gave them no chance to escape, quickly slamming down the tip of her staff on the edge of the glyph, causing rocky dust formations to sprout forth and quickly spear or squash the Myrmidons.
"Nice job," Roisin commended, once the Myrmidons were fully defeated.
Esmerelda gave her a strained smile and bobbed her head appreciatively. "You're welcome."
"Are you two okay?" Ruka asked, speaking to Roisin and Perry as she approached the trio.
"We're alright," Roisin answered, looking at Perry quickly before looking at Ruka again. "Thanks for the assist. How bad is it elsewhere?"
"Not too bad, all things considered," Ruka began, casting a glance over her shoulder. "Mostly the Myrmidons causing issues I'd say. But a few Prowlers are using the holes they left behind to get underneath the walls."
"At least the turrets have kicked in now. That should stop or at very least slow the number of Prowlers getting in," Esmerelda commented. She winced slightly and leaned against her staff for support.
"I'm surprised they even got in," Perry mused. "I never saw them digging holes when we encountered them in the woods."
"They're highly opportunistic. They'll find a way," Ruka told him. "So what lured them here?"
"Something that Victor Chartreuse was cooking up. A hybrid Grimm," Roisin explained simply, not wanting to fully elaborate at that moment given the continued Grimm threat.
"That would explain why the perimeter alarms didn't go off," Esmerelda mused, more to herself than in response to what Roisin had said.
"So Colin's theories were correct," Ruka shook her head. "What sort of Grimm are we dealing with here? I haven't seen it but I definitely heard it."
"I've never seen anything like it," Perry said chillingly.
Ruka and Esmerelda shared a wary glance. Even though neither woman had seen the beast, from what they had heard, and what they could now see with all the Grimm flooding the area, Roisin knew it wouldn't have been hard for them to put an image together in their minds.
"I need to find my da and make sure he's okay," Roisin said. "Is that alright?" She looked towards her teammate in particular.
"Of course it is, Ros," Perry smiled reassuringly.
"Go ahead but I wouldn't overly worry if I were you, Daragh was actually the one who mobilised us to attack," Ruka explained, before giving her consent for Roisin to go, not that her answer would have stopped Roisin from leaving. "I think we've got things handled here?" She looked back at Esmerelda as she said that.
Esmerelda made a weak chuckle. "Well, my leg feels like it might be about to fall off, but I've still got some fight left in me."
Ruka smirked and then looked back at Roisin. "Go find your dad and make sure he's safe."
Leaving Esmerelda and Ruka, Roisin and Perry quickly took off, Roisin leading the way through to the centre of town where they could cut through on their way back to the Peredur home. However, given how the rest of the night had gone thus far, Roisin should have known that things wouldn't be so simple.
As they reached the town square, they came across more of the Myrmidons that Roisin had assumed had scurried away earlier. They had done a number to the town square, breaking through the tables and chairs that had been left outside of the Golden Fleece, as well as the thankfully empty market stalls. It was a slight relief to see that the area was free of panicked civilians, but that meant that as soon as the Grimm were aware of Roisin and Perry's presence they were quick to launch their attack.
Roisin and Perry quickly engaged them, cutting through them with relative ease. Myrmidons were neither large in size nor particularly powerful, it was only the sheer number of them that would work against them.
Roisin just pulled her sword back from a defeated Grimm, when a loud cry echoed from somewhere above her, and a looming shadow passed over the area.
Roisin huffed loudly. "Oh, what now?" She snapped, looking skyward for the source of the sound.
Looking up she could see two large avian Grimm circling above them, before one dove down and landed mere inches in front of the duo, not caring about the Myrmidons which scuttled around it. When it had been flying above them, Roisin had thought it to be a Nevermore, but now that it had landed and she could see it clearly, she knew what it was.
A Strix, she realised with a chill. As she thought that, the beast turned its head around eerily, and squawked at her, the feather-like quills on its crested head quivering as it did so.
She was familiar with the attacks from this kind of Grimm, and made a gesture for Perry to quickly shoot at it whilst it was distracted by her. Perry cocked his gun and fired off one round, hitting the Grimm in the chest, which forced it back briefly. Roisin moved to strike it, but a flap of its wings created a gust strong enough to push her back, despite Roisin digging her heels in.
By now, the Myrmidons were starting to circle the duo again, having grown used to the Strix's presence. They dared to try attacking the two of them but were easy to push back. The Strix was another matter entirely. Although it was smaller than a Nevermore, it was thicker-bodied and more nimble, and its wings were proving to be quite an issue, using them to summon strong gusts or just to fly upwards a few feet. It was a small mercy it hadn’t yet utilised the quill attack it was known for.
Roisin stabbed at the Strix once it landed, jabbing the tip of her blade into its chest. It screeched and began to pull away again and to her horror, it was taking her sword with her, as she could not dislodge it.
“Roisin, your sword!” She heard Perry call out.
“I can see that!” Roisin called back. She looked around frantically for something she could use to slow the Strix, her pink eyes eventually landing on a metal rod among some of the debris of the ruined outdoor furniture. Using her semblance, Roisin held out her hand, summoning the rod into her hand telekinetically, and then swung it in a smooth arc, smashing it against the head of the Strix. As the Grimm pulled back, she yanked out her sword.
"Stupid overgrown bird," She grumbled under her breath, before smacking the Strix with the rod once more. "Perry, now!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her teammate whip round on the spot, followed by the click of his gun. An explosive blast ripped through its neck and tore its head clean off.
The Strix slumped forward as it faded away. Roisin tossed aside the rod and proceeded to cut through some of the Myrmidons that were drawn near. By now, the second Strix was circling closer, so low that the gusts of wind from its diving motions were beginning to ruffle her hair.
"Hey, Ros, think you could distract that thing for me?" Perry asked. "I want to see if I can get a good hit on it."
Roisin looked upwards and squinted as she weighed up her options. "I'll see what I can do."
At Perry's request, Roisin did her best to distract the Strix, shouting and throwing bits of debris at it to try and get it to focus on her. To give her more room to work with, Perry distracted and destroyed more of the Myrmidons. Thankfully, the number of them had dropped since they had first arrived.
Eventually, the Strix dived low, talons outstretched as it tried to gore Roisin. A quick duck and roll, and she managed to avoid the Grimm and its razor-like talons. After missing Roisin, it flew back up, and circled around to face her once again. It seemed to study her for a moment, before pulling its wings back unleashing a spray of quills in her direction. Most of the quills avoided Perry, though he had to step back to avoid the brunt of them. Roisin, however, wasn't as lucky catching one or two on the arms and another scraped by her cheek, her bun coming undone as she ducked out of the way.
A second dive from the Strix provided Roisin with the opportunity to land a good hit on the Grimm. As it drew closer, she held her ground until the very last second, slashing at and damaging a wing. With a screech, the Strix pulled upward sharply, but with a damaged wing Roisin knew it wasn’t getting far.
Unable to support itself on one wing, the second Strix started to fall from the sky, crashing into the roof of a nearby steepled building. Roisin felt satisfied that it was defeated. What she had not accounted for was the large crack forming on the steeple tower, which spread further and further, until it cracked in the middle and began to topple to the ground, where Perry was still fighting with the Myrmidons below.
She felt as though she were frozen in place, unable to do anything but watch in mute horror. For a moment she was not in Silbern but back in Vale instead, celebrating with Midge before rubble and dust collapsed around them and blotted out the light.
No. Not again.
Roisin would not bury another teammate.
“Perry!” She practically screamed his name, already running towards him as the words began to fall out of her mouth.
Never again.
Her teammate seemed to turn to her in slow motion, looking at her with a perplexed expression, almost oblivious to the tower about to collapse on his head. Perry only seemed to notice something was wrong at the last moment, looking upwards just as Roisin hooked her arms around his waist and tackled him to the ground. The two of them landed on the floor with a heavy thud, Perry groaning beneath her as he collided with the concrete surface first. Roisin had just moments to further shield him with her arm, as the tower finally landed where he had been standing moments before, and sent a cloud of dust over the two of them.
Roisin waited for the dust to clear before she finally moved her arm away. She looked down at Perry beneath her, giving him a once over to ensure he was unharmed. Again she was not in Silbern but in Vale and it was Midge’s still and broken body she was inspecting. The horror of believing she was seeing Midge dead in front of her again hither suddenly and forcing her to retreat in on herself.
“Roisin.”
She flinched as a hand touched her cheek, drawing her back to reality, and she looked down to see Perry looking back at her, concern creasing his brows.
“Are you alright?” He asked her.
“Are you alright?” Roisin countered.
Perry nodded stiffly, a weak smile gracing his lips. “You saved me.”
The words hit her harder than she was expecting. A nervous bubble of laughter escaped her lips and she smiled back at her teammate, tears threatening to form in her eyes again. “I saved you.”
She couldn’t save Midge nor Tara, but she had saved him.
If she had hoped to savour the moment with her teammate, her hopes were quickly dashed, when she heard movement behind her. The muffled but unmistakable sound of the Strix echoed from within the rubble. There was a sound like something falling over or being knocked aside, and then through the clearing dust, she could see the shape of the Strix emerging from the now ruined building. The Grimm shook its head out and then looked around, perhaps sensing they were still nearby but not knowing quite where to look. And then its head swivelled eerily in their direction, the rest of its body facing another direction, until the beast started to move towards them.
Instinctively, Roisin reached for her sword, but at the same moment she did so, remembered she had discarded it in order to reach Perry quicker.
She could see it now, lying not far from the rubble. Once again, Roisin held out her hand, reaching out for her weapon with her semblance. The sword flew towards her, and she caught the pommel in her hand, before pointing the tip at the encroaching beast. In the time it had taken her to retrieve her weapon she didn’t have time to move away and get herself into a better position - not without leaving Perry exposed. Roisin had already vowed to herself that would not lose another teammate and she was not about to go back on that promise now. She would make her final stand here and now.
The Strix walked towards her and Perry slowly; its wings might have been damaged and it might have taken a significant knock when it hit the building, but it was still a threatening presence.
The Grimm began to pull back its wings again preparing to release yet more quills on the two of them. Roisin took a breath and braced herself. If she couldn’t get out of the way, she hoped her aura would hold out long enough.
Fortunately, Roisin never got to find out if her aura would hold. Just as the Strix was about to launch its attack, it seemed to jolt forward suddenly, emitting a weak cry of anguish before it slumped forward and began to disappear.
As it faded, Roisin could quickly see what was the cause of its defeat. Standing behind the beast, with his blade pointed right where its back would have been, stood none other than her father, Daragh. He waited until the Grimm had gone, before swishing his giant sword to one side and sheathing it on his back so he could greet his daughter.
Roisin did not miss the limp in his walk, nor the blood dripping from his forehead as he stepped toward her. Daragh cupped her face in his giant hands and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. “Thank goodness, you’re alright.”
“Likewise for you,” Roisin said, pulling away from him slightly and giving him a warm smile.
The two remained in this position for a moment before Daragh let his hands slack, and moved to help Perry, who was still huddled on the floor. He extended a hand and quickly pulled him to his feet. “How are you faring, Perry? You look a bit worse for wear,” Daragh gave Perry an appraising look.
“I’ve felt better,” Perry admitted, smiling awkwardly. “But if it wasn’t for Roisin I might not have been standing here.”
Perry and Daragh looked at her, and Roisin could once again feel tears forming in her eyes. Daragh nodded at his daughter approvingly. “That’s my girl,” He said, chest puffing out with pride.
“So, uh, what do we do now?” Perry asked, looking between Roisin and Daragh.
Daragh stared out towards the town. They had cleared the Myrmidons from the area, and the tower had crushed what they hadn’t been to defeat themselves. Despite the lack of nearby Grimm, the perimeter alarms were still wailing, and the hybrid was still out there as far as she knew.
“Kieran is still out there somewhere, and there are still Grimm attacking the town,” Daragh began, turning back to his daughter and Perry. “Ready your weapons, our fight is not over yet.”
#team kwtz fic#team KWTZ#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#Lin Zhu#roisin peredur#perry estrada#colin peredur#meredith chartreuse#daragh peredur#ruka aoki#esmerelda aveleira
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 9: BITTER TRUTHS
KWTZ returns from Pyre Academy and confront Victor about what he knows.
KIERAN
Returning from Pyre Academy, Colin and KWTZ made their way back to Silbern. Cheren walked beside them, hands bound, and head lowered in shame. Datura on the other hand had to be more or less dragged back between Kieran and his uncle.
The two men were unceremoniously dropped off at the wall, as opposed to being dragged back to the Fleece where Colin was worried their presence might have made a scene. As it was when they had first arrived, Esmerelda was manning the walls, and she looked at the group with a perplexed expression when she came to see just who they had dropped off.
"I'll be back for these two later." That was all that Colin said before marching through the gates and back into town. He didn't wait to answer any of the questions Esmerelda likely had, so Kieran and the others were quick to make some hasty apologies before heading on their way.
Now that they were back inside the walls, Colin insisted on taking them to the Chartreuse's house.
Jogging ahead of his team, Kieran caught up with his uncle, whose rapid pace was making him pull away from the others.
"Is this really a wise idea to confront Victor now?" Kieran questioned as he fell in line with his uncle.
Colin gave him a quick glance, his expression not angry but not exactly happy either. "Would you rather I didn't? If we leave it too long, word would no doubt reach him about what happened with Cheren and Datura and he'll be working to get his story straight."
"I'm not saying we should leave it for long, but give it till tomorrow morning at least?" Kieran suggested, in a weak effort to get his uncle to back down.
"No. It has to be now," Colin insisted. He looked at his nephew out of the corner of his eye and then straight ahead at the home of the Chartreuse family which was beginning to come into view. "I'm surprised that you of all people are against me on this."
Kieran pulled back a little in surprise, not expecting such a remark from his uncle. "I'm not against you, uncle," Kieran corrected in a sharp, authoritative tone. "Believe me, if he is involved as those papers imply I want Victor brought to justice just as much as you do, if not more. But for starters, you scarcely have enough evidence to pin the blame on him, and secondly, you do not appear to be in the right headspace to be confronting him right now."
"I'm fine," Colin insisted.
"Your ear is still bleeding," Kieran pointed out.
"It's just a scratch, I'll be fine."
And then almost as if to remove himself from the conversation entirely, Colin quickened his pace once more and hurried up the stairs to the Chartreuse's house. Kieran had to practically sprint after him to catch his wrist before his uncle could knock on the door.
"Think this through, uncle," Kieran implored, loosening his grip on his uncle's wrist as he did so.
For what it was worth, Colin did hesitate for a moment, before knocking the door with such force Kieran thought he might have almost put his fist through it instead.
As they waited, Kieran took a step back and stood next to his teammates. Tilia had a worried expression as she looked between him and uncle. She raised a brow in questioning and he merely shrugged in response.
The door was soon opened by Meredith. She was wearing a pretty v-necked dress with a peridot necklace and her hair had been curled and was partly held down by a hair clip with a similar peridot-coloured gem. When she saw Colin she smiled brightly.
"What are you doing here? You haven't finished with the party have you?" She asked with a giggle. "I thought you promised me a dance."
It seemed Meredith hadn't noticed his lack of formal clothes.
"Um…" For a moment, Colin finally seemed lost for words, and in that brief lapse in conversation, Meredith finally picked up that something was wrong.
"Oh, Colin, your ear is bleeding!" Meredith said, taking a step towards him. She gently brushed aside some of his hair to get a better look at his injury. "What did you do to yourself? Who - Wait. What are you wearing? Why aren't you wearing your suit?" She took a step backwards and seemed to take him all in as well as the rest of KWTZ behind him. "What's going on?"
"I need to speak with Victor," Colin explained simply.
Meredith frowned slightly. "He's busy with some of his work at the moment, but should be free in a few hours."
"I'd prefer to speak with him now," Colin responded, before stepping inside brushing past Meredith icily.
Kieran grimaced as his uncle disappeared inside, leaving him to deal with a very confused Meredith.
"What's going on?" She asked as KWTZ walked up the steps to stand beside her. "This isn't like your uncle."
"I think it would be best explained when Victor appears," Kieran answered, trying his best to provide something in the way of a polite response. "I do apologise for my uncle just barging in though."
KWTZ stepped inside followed by Meredith. Whilst they caught up with Colin - who had disappeared into the sitting room - Meredith broke off to go and find her cousin. Kieran and the rest of his team found Colin waiting in the sitting room, standing with his back turned away from them and staring out the window.
“Barging in? Really?” Kieran chided.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long for the two Chartreuse’s to return. Meredith still seemed as confused as before, and Victor was just as unreadable and neutral as he had been when they first came to see them.
“Colin, what’s going on?” Meredith asked. “This isn’t like you to just barge in. Has something happened?”
Ignoring Meredith’s question, Colin turned around and marched towards Victor, pointing a finger at him. “I know what you did!”
“Colin!” Meredith yelled, taken aback by his outburst.
Victor merely inclined a head to one side, otherwise unfazed by the accusation. “You’ll have to be more specific about what it is that I have done. I do a lot of things you see.”
“We found this,” Colin was quick to respond, pulling out the crucial piece of paper he had secured from Pyre. It was Meredith who took it from him, but the two cousins huddled together to read it. “We found what you were hiding at Pyre Academy, Victor. We know you were behind the Glatisant attack all those years ago.”
Once again, Victor remained largely unfazed by all of this, only lifting his head to raise a brow. “That’s a rather bold statement to make.”
“Indeed,” Meredith agreed. To Kieran’s surprise, it was she rather than her cousin who seemed angry at this new information. The look she gave Colin was one of hurt and betrayal and she appeared on the verge of tears. “Is this some kind of twisted joke?”
“This is no joke, I assure you,” Colin answered, the slight hesitancy to respond did not go unnoticed by Kieran. “There are few more pages like this back at Pyre and I’m sure Cheren and Datura could attest to Victor's involvement.”
“I am not the only one to call Sylvester ‘uncle’,” Victor pointed out calmly. “Meredith has cousins on the maternal side too.”
“And just how many of them are current Grimm behaviour experts?” Colin countered.
Victor shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, I can’t claim to know them that well.”
Colin made an annoyed sound before turning back to Meredith. “Surely you must know something Merry?”
“Know what?” Meredith snapped. “What is it that you think I should know Colin? If you’re implying I knew something about what is supposedly described here you really should know better given we were both still in school at the time!”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Colin answered, quick to backtrack. “I meant to ask if you knew something of your father and Victor’s activities in general. Surely you must have at least heard something over the years?”
“No!” Meredith snapped. “Again, you know full well about my relationship with my father and how he would keep his work to himself. The fact that you would even think I might know something and not tell you is incredibly hurtful.”
“Merry, I didn’t mean-”
“I think you should leave,” Meredith said with an air of finality.
“Merry, please let me explain,” Colin begged.
“Just go!” Meredith cried out, not giving him a chance to defend himself further. Hiding her tears by shielding her eyes with her hand, Meredith quickly hurried out of the room. A slamming door which echoed from somewhere in the else indicated that she had sequestered herself away for the time being.
Victor, who had been looking through the doorway where his cousin had just departed, turned his head back to the group and made a ‘hmph’ noise. “Well, that didn’t go so well did it?” He remarked casually.
“You arrogant little-” Colin had taken another step forward, but before he could rattle off a list of expletives or threats, he clenched his fist and seemed to quite literally swallow his words before stepping back to stand with Kieran and the others. After he took a moment to settle himself, Colin spoke again. “You’ll get the justice you deserve, Victor.”
And for the first time, Victor’s expression finally changed. But it wasn’t one of fear or concern as Kieran might have thought. No, it was far happier than that, positively delighted even.
“I trust you have some more evidence than just a piece of paper with my uncle’s name on it?” Victor queried.
“We have Cheren and Datura in custody currently. I’m sure their testimonies will go a long way,” Colin answered.
“Ah yes, the testimonies of a disgraced former huntsman who drank away his reputation and a man well known for lying and cheating,” Victor mused, taking up a mocking thoughtful stance. “I’m sure that will go down well.”
Kieran found himself tensing slightly. He did not like where this was going.
“There’s also the fact you have been making notes of the rise in Grimm activity.”
“Which I do out of the goodness of my own heart,” Victor countered.
“Sylvester was a professor at Pyre before it burned, and you were a student there,” Colin pressed on, though he seemed slightly less confident than before.
“This is all useless conjecture and you know it,” Victor said, waving him off dismissively. “If this is all you have in terms of evidence - and I use that word very lightly - I think we both know that Lavendin would not press charges against me. At most, you have only heaped further blame on a man four years dead now and caused further emotional distress to my cousin.”
Kieran could see his uncle shift uncomfortably at that last remark. He knew that Colin would not have intended to cause Meredith distress, but Victor was correct in pointing that out, given how she had responded to reading the paper and to Colin’s following questions.
“If we are done here, I would suggest you all leave,” Victor told the group with an icy tone.
Colin grunted in way of acceptance, he was about to turn and lead them all away when he paused to speak to Victor one last time. “I know there’s more proof somewhere, Victor.”
“You’re just chasing a deluded fantasy at this point Colin and you know it,” Victor taunted in response, winking as he spoke.
And with that KWTZ and Colin were escorted out of the house.
***
“I can’t believe he did that!” Roisin Peredur exclaimed.
After their shameful encounter at the Chartreuse house, Colin and Team KWTZ had returned to the Peredur home. Colin had made a quick call to Esmerelda to inform her he would be a little late in coming back to retrieve Cheren and Datura, and admitted to the team afterwards he felt too tired to deal with that situation currently.
By the time they had returned home, Roisin, Perry, and Daragh were awaiting them inside having returned from the party. After seeing Colin’s bloodied appearance, and the overall sullen mood that KWTZ were in when they returned, it didn’t take long for the trio to press for information. With a little bit of reluctance, Colin and KWTZ told a condensed version of events, starting with what happened at Pyre, and concluding with the confrontation with Victor.
To Kieran’s surprise, Roisin had been the most vocal in her surprise and annoyance at what had happened to the group. His father and Perry had remained mostly silent as they explained the situation, though would occasionally make a few noises in response to certain moments from the tale.
“What will you do now?” Perry asked.
“Well the idea is to hopefully find more evidence to use against Victor,” Colin responded. “But I admit that might be difficult given the lack of it we found at Pyre.”
“And what little we did have Victor seems confident wouldn’t be able to be used against him,” Kieran added.
“He’s right of course,” Daragh chimed in. “Lavendin wouldn't push for a case with him based on a paper that doesn't even mention him by name and his supposed suspicious behaviour."
Kieran saw his uncle frown slightly when his father referred to it as 'supposed' suspicious behaviour but Colin kept quiet, most likely not wanting to trigger an argument between the two.
"I still can't believe Victor might have been involved with the Glatisant," Roisin said, shaking her head as she spoke.
“I mean is it really that much of a surprise that the man who has been nothing but rude to us, your uncle, and Meredith the entire time we’ve been here turned out to be way worse than we expected?” Wyn said nonchalantly.
Tilia shot him a look. “Read the room, Wyn.”
“No, no, he has a point,” Colin said, backing him up.
"Do we think Meredith was telling the truth?" Perry suddenly asked. A sharp glare from Colin silenced him for a moment, but he pressed on once Colin looked away. "Now I'm not saying she is involved - when you introduced me to her after the Gashadokuro attack she was lovely and polite - but regardless I don't think she should be ruled out."
Kieran was inclined to believe Meredith was telling the truth, but he did agree with Perry that it was a possibility that they shouldn't rule out. His uncle, however, seemed less receptive to the idea and was quick to dismiss it.
"Meredith isn't like that," He responded sharply.
"Colin." Daragh's gruff voice put a swift end to anything Colin had to say. Colin glared at his brother, and Daragh held his gaze until Colin looked away in defeat. "You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss what they're saying, brother."
"I just don't believe Meredith would be involved in what happened," Colin said, persistent in his defence of his former teammate.
"You might believe that Colin, but it doesn't make it true," Daragh pointed out in a stern but not unkind tone of voice. "I know you care for her a great deal and I can't help but wonder if those feelings are making you blind to what could potentially be the truth staring you in the face."
Colin opened his mouth as if to argue but quickly shut it again and looked away. He knew his brother had got him there. Silence filled the room for a long while after this, before Lin broke it with a question.
“So if we’re lacking evidence against Victor is there any way we can find some more to build our case against him?”
“I’d need to scour through the rest of the papers and books back at Pyre to say for certain, but I doubt there’d be anything of further use there given how destroyed everything was,” Colin answered.
“What about at the Chartreuse’s house?” Kieran asked, cutting in. “Victor clearly conducts most of - if not all - of his work from there so it stands to reason there could be something there surely.”
“I hate to break it to you, Kee, but I think based on our last conversation the chances of either of them letting us in is slim to none,” Tilia pointed out.
“Who said they had to let us in?” Colin said.
It took Kieran a moment to understand what his uncle had meant by that, only getting it when his father shot his uncle a wary glance.
“Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about breaking in?” Daragh asked.
Colin chuckled nervously. “Well if it makes you feel any better we wouldn’t technically be breaking in. I know where Meredith keeps a hidden key to the backdoor.”
“Still might technically be breaking in though,” Wyn quipped which earned a small chuckle from Tilia in response.
"I'm not sure us poking around their house or sneaking inside would go unnoticed," Kieran pointed out.
"That is true, but I feel like that would be a risk we'd have to take," Colin agreed. "Unless we found a way to distract them?"
"Distract them how?" Wyn pondered.
"Maybe one of us could get them to come out to the front door whilst the rest of us sneak around back?" Tilia suggested.
Roisin chuckled a little at that, which earned a look of surprise from Kieran. "You don't think they'd be a little suspicious of one of you coming back given how your last interaction went?"
"That is a good point," Lin admitted.
"I could do it, if you'd like?" Roisin offered.
Kieran was not the only one who looked surprised at his sister now, as several others in the group had turned to look at her, evidently surprised by her offer.
"Only if you want to help," Colin said, giving his niece a reassuring smile. Roisin hesitated a moment before nodding in agreement, which was met by a wider smile from Colin. The warmth faded from his features as he began to address the group in a serious manner again. "However, even if Ros does help us and provide a distraction, that would likely only work to draw Merry out and not Victor. So we would need to keep our guard up for when we enter the home. The last thing we need is an open confrontation with him."
"But you could probably handle him right?" Wyn prompted.
"In theory, yes," Colin began. "But given how he showed us his true colours today there is a certain unpredictability about him I can't account for. He usually tends to stick to a few rooms in the house at least, but we should still be mindful of how we go about it."
"Just be careful," Daragh pleaded, first looking at his brother, then his children, and then the rest of the group. "I know you've all dealt with worse situations in the past but don't put yourselves in any unnecessary danger."
"Don't worry brother, I'll keep them safe," Colin assured his brother. "We'll rest up tonight but tomorrow we will find what we need so that Silbern can have the answers and justice it deserves."
#team kwtz fic#team kwtz#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#lin zhu#colin peredur#meredith chartreuse#victor chartreuse#daragh peredur#roisin peredur#perry estrada
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TEAM KWTZ CHAPTER 7: MONSTERS IN THE MIST
Following on from the tip off in the last chapter, Team KWTZ, Perry, and Colin head off in search of the mysterious Grimm in the woods.
LIN
The terrain north of Silbern was less forgiving than it had been in the south. The group consisting of KWTZ, Colin, and Perry, were heading north following up on a lead Meredith had given the day before. There was a possibility that there was no Grimm out here, but Colin and Meredith seemed convinced there was something out here worth investigating.
Colin Peredur was at the front of the party, leading them up a rocky ridge after which he promised the terrain evened out again. Behind him were Kieran and Wyn, with Tilia a little further behind them, and Lin and Perry following up at the rear. Several times Lin felt her feet stumbling beneath her, unable to get good footing on the rocky path they were currently walking on. At one point she almost went down but was spared from her fall by Perry catching her by the arm.
"Thanks," She said to him once she stood upright again.
Perry gave a tip of his hat. "No problem, Lin."
"I'm glad you decided to come with us," Lin told him when they began walking again. "And not just because you saved me from a few scraped knees."
Perry had a small smile on his lips following her words but said little else for the moment. Although he seemed in good spirits now, he hadn't exactly been thrilled when Roisin suggested he should maybe tag along with the group on their search. Perry hadn't wanted to leave his teammate and Roisin didn't want Perry to waste his time hovering over her the entire time they were staying in Silbern. Lin could sympathise with both of them and felt as though they both had valid points. She could understand why Roisin didn't want Perry to spend all his time with her lest he become as consumed with grief as she was. And she could understand why Perry was reluctant to leave her side given what had happened to their teammates at Beacon. All in all, it was a difficult situation to be in, and Lin wasn't sure how she would feel if she were in either of their shoes.
It didn't take long for the two of them to catch up with the rest of the group after Lin's stumble. They finally made their way up the ridge and as Colin had promised, the ground finally evened out again, and Lin felt relieved to know she didn't have to be so mindful of where she put her feet now.
Pushing on ahead, the topic of conversation shifted to what kind of Grimm they might be facing. Wyn and Tilia took turns asking which Grimm were more common in the area and started listing off names for Colin to confirm or deny. From what Lin could garner from the conversation, it seemed smaller, more nimble Grimm were more common. The natural defences of the surrounding hills and woods made it difficult for any larger Grimm to draw close without notice.
The group had been walking for some time when Colin brought them all to a halt. At the back of the party, Lin and Perry did not see what was the cause for stopping, until they caught up with their companions. In the dirt in front of them was a large footprint, so large in fact that Wyn or Tilia could have laid down in it lengthways and still have a little room to spare. With the group stopped for now, Colin crouched down and began to investigate the footprint. Looking around nearby, Lin could see there were more footprints in the dirt, though none were as defined as the one they were currently standing over.
"What made that footprint?" Kieran asked.
Colin stood up from his crouch and wiped his hands of the dust on his clothes. "There's a few Grimm that I know of that have a footprint like this, but there's only two that could make one of this size." The older man had a troubled expression on his face as he said that. He didn't reveal which Grimm he believed it to be, but judging by his expression, and the way he cautiously looked around, Lin got the feeling it was nothing good. "If it's what I think it is, I would suggest we all take our weapons out as a precaution."
Some of the group did this without question, though Kieran, Lin, and Perry were slower on the draw.
"What do you think it is?" Kieran asked, this time using a firmer tone than he had with his earlier question.
"Gashadokuro," Colin answered in a grim tone.
"Truly?" Lin blurted out suddenly. When the group turned to look at her, she found herself looking away nervously, embarrassed at her own little outburst. "I thought they could only be found in Mistral."
"Mostly in Mistral, but a few have been spotted in Vale over the years," Colin explained to the group. He then looked at Lin and raised a brow. "You know of them then?"
"I know of them, yes," Lin confirmed with a nod. "Thankfully I've been fortunate to never deal with one personally but I know one almost attacked my home of Shirayuri once. My mentor and some of the local huntsmen managed to draw it away and defeat it but from what I've heard it was a hard-fought battle."
Colin nodded his head. "That makes sense with what I've heard of them."
As the group pushed on further ahead, they lost sight of the footprints, though Colin was still wary and on edge, constantly looking around for more signs of the Grimm. After a while it seemed as though they had lost the trail and that there was really nothing out here at all. It was pure luck that Tilia spotted another footprint further ahead of where they were walking, which was faint and lacked the full definition of the first print they had seen. Following this new footprint, the group were able to find more in the surrounding area and tracked them all the way to a small, yet deep hole, set in a rocky hill.
The hole appeared to be a natural formation, but there were signs of activity based on the disturbed ground and broken branches that littered the ground in front of it.
Colin stepped away to investigate the area surrounding the hole, crouching down to investigate the dirt and broken branches. He lifted his head briefly to peer down the hole before standing up straight and turning back to address the group.
"There's a possibility that the Grimm we're looking for is in there," He told them.
Instinctively, Lin peered behind him, down the hole where he had been looking moments before. It was far too dark and deep to make out for certain whether anything was hiding inside, but with how cluttered it was on the ground outside, Lin was inclined to believe him.
"What do you want us to do?" Kieran asked.
"Stay here, for now," Colin answered sternly. "I'll go down and investigate, and hopefully see what we're actually dealing with...if there's anything down there that is. And considering how confined it's likely to be in there, there's no sense in us all going in and potentially putting ourselves in danger."
"Surely you'd prefer some backup?" Tilia asked. "If the Grimm is what you think it is, it doesn't sound like the thing you should face alone."
"I could help you," Wyn offered, raising a hand as he spoke. "I'm better at close range than the rest of my team and besides I can do this." Wyn twisted the dial on his gauntlet to match up with the fire dust inside, before clicking his fingers and producing a small flame in his hands. "I can give you light."
Colin said nothing to this, but by his expression, Lin could see that he was deep in thought, likely weighing up whether it was worth the risk to bring Wyn along. "Alright, fine, you can come," Colin said, conceding to Wyn's offer of help. "But you will stay behind me the entire time and if I tell you to run, you run, got it?" This was said in a much sharper, authoritative tone than how he had spoken before, serving to further illustrate the seriousness of the situation they found themselves in.
Wyn seemed hesitant but quickly nodded his head. With the matter settled, Colin walked on ahead, stopping just inside the hole, before gesturing with a quick tilt of the head for Wyn to follow. He quickly scurried after him and the two disappeared down the hole, the faint amber glow that emanated from Wyn's flame, being the only indicator as to where they were. After a while, the glow disappeared which proved just how deep down it was.
It seemed like an eternity passed until there was any sign of activity within. A loud cracking sound echoed from deep inside. It was short and brief, though the suddenness of it had caused Perry to glance around uneasily. What followed this crack was something much less pleasant - a deep growl or roaring sound echoed from deep inside the hole, rising in pitch until it sounded like a shrill wail. When it finally died down, the glow of Wyn's flame could be seen again, growing brighter and brighter, until the figures of Colin and Wyn could be seen running back towards them.
"Get back! Get back!" Colin ordered as he emerged out of the hole first. Wyn was close behind, and once outside he turned back to face the hole, twisting the dial on his gauntlets and then slamming his fist into the ground in front of the hole. As soon as he did so, a great block of ice erupted out in front of him, effectively blocking it entirely, save for a small gap in the top corner.
"Do you think that'll hold?" Wyn asked, looking back at the group.
"Uhh, I don't think so," Perry answered, pointing back at the hole.
Lin and the rest of the group followed where he was pointing, and sure enough in the small gap that Wyn's block of ice couldn't cover, a singular, red eye stared back out at them. Lin gasped and took a step back, only then did she spot the dark outline hidden by the ice wall. The shadow and the face pulled back momentarily, only to come back seconds later making a loud thunk as it hit the ice wall.
The ice didn't break but it cracked slightly. Just before it hit the ice again Colin waved the group further back.
Thunk.
Again, the ice cracked but didn't break. Behind the wall, the Grimm let out a low moan, as if it were annoyed at this blockade.
Thunk! Thunk!
The third time it hit, the Grimm hit with more force. The ice cracked in more places but still, it held strong. Following this strike, the dark mass retreated further back, and it seemed as though it had given up, that was until a clenched fist punched through the ice before retracting back inside. Chunks of the icy wall fell to the floor, shattering into smaller pieces and scattering the new pieces of ice all over the floor close to the group.
After taking a step back to avoid the falling ice, Lin turned her attention back to the hole, watching as the dark mass of a Grimm began to emerge from within. Once free from the confines of the hole, the Grimm stood up straight, its height almost rivalling that of the nearby trees, revealing that it was in fact a Gashadokuro, as Colin had correctly predicted.
The beast was humanoid in appearance; its body reminiscent of a giant skeleton. It was thinner at the top before filling out lower down the body, with thicker legs, which were surprisingly short in contrast to the rest of its giant body. The Gashadokuro had abnormally long, thin arms which ended in two four-fingered hands with slightly curved claws. For a moment, the Grimm did not react, simply standing still looking out into the distance. And then it lowered its head, the fiery, deep-set red eyes looking down at the group menacingly. It let out a loud screech before flinging out its left arm, the appendage snapping outwards like a whip as it struck the ground, narrowly avoiding hitting any of them.
"What the-" Wyn started to yell before he had to scurry out of the way. "How can it move its arms so fast?!"
"It doesn't matter just stay out of the way of it!" Colin barked, drawing out his weapon.
A quick spray of bullets managed to get the Grimm to retract its arm but did little to truly deter it. Despite a lack of bone plating on its body - save for its head and collar - it appeared as though the Gashadokuro would not be so easily cut down.
Although it stepped slowly around the area, its arms continued to snap out with speed. Colin, Wyn, and Perry were able to get some rounds off due to having ranged weapons but neither Kieran nor Tilia could get too close before an arm was flung out towards them, keeping them from getting within striking distance. Lin also managed to fire off three arrows but found it was difficult to aim with its arms swinging around.
Lin lost count of how many bullets and blasts the Gashadokuro shrugged off from the group, appearing only mildly annoyed by the attacks. It was Perry who managed to get the first heavy blow on the Grimm, timing a shot from his gun just as the Gashadokuro struck out with its hand again. As the hand was caught by the bullet it snapped backwards and the whole Grimm stumbled back too. Although this was the first attack to cause some notable damage, it also served to worsen the Gashadokuro's aggression. The strikes from its arms were coming thick and fast now, swinging outward and stabbing at the ground with its claws, which made it hard for the group to pause and aim their attacks. Even Lin now found herself starting to struggle, the rapid attacks from the Grimm giving her little room to set up an attack with her bow. Only Colin and Wyn were able to keep up their attacks for longer, their nimble fighting styles making it easier for them to dodge and shoot attacks.
"What is it going to take to take this thing down?" Wyn yelled, jumping back as he fired off a fiery attack. As he stepped back, he crouched beside the rest of the group, who were ducking in and out of the cover of the trees in between their attacks.
"Doesn't help me and Kieran can't really get in there without leaving ourselves vulnerable," Tilia frowned.
"We need something powerful to really damage it," Colin informed the group. As he said that, the older huntsman looked at Wyn. "You wouldn't happen to have any explosive dust in those gauntlets of yours?"
"He doesn't but I do," Lin answered. When the group turned to her, she gestured to the quiver at her side and touched the arrow laced with explosive dust.
“How many do you have?” Colin asked.
Lin tapped the arrow she had gestured to before. “Just the one, so I hope you have a good suggestion on where to hit it.”
Another spray of bullets from Colin prevented him from giving an answer straight away. "One of its eyes," The man said, ducking back into the cover of where he had been hiding moments before. "I know it's a risky shot, but given how it is practically shrugging off everything else despite, we need to hit it somewhere where it would already be pretty vulnerable."
"That's a small target to hit," Tilia mused.
"If anyone could do it our Lin could," Wyn said reassuringly, giving Lin's shoulder a squeeze.
"If you don't think you can make it we can figure out another plan," Colin said to Lin. "Don't let me feel as though I'm putting you on the spot."
"No, I can do it," Lin assured him. "I'll need a distraction though to aim for its eye. Those arms could pose a problem otherwise."
"I could give you a boost if you'd like?" Tilia offered.
Lin knew what it was she was offering as it was a manoeuvre the two had used before; Tilia using her semblance to shoot Lin or one of their teammates up on her shield allowing them to get some height on a potential attack.
"I'll take all the help I can get," Lin smiled as she gave a nod of agreement to Tilia's offer.
With a plan formulated between the two of them, Colin gave a small nod, before turning his attention to the rest of the group. "Kieran, Perry you two take the left side and Wyn and I will flank it from the right. If we can, let's try and get its arms twisted, or at the very least distracted enough so Tilia and Lin can do what they need to do."
Lin and Tilia stayed back whilst the others jumped into action. With four attackers surging at it, the Gashadokuro seemed torn between who to focus on. This indecision allowed Kieran to get a good slash in before the Grimm turned its attention to the left group. Two consecutive shots from Perry granted Kieran a small window to move away before a clawed hand struck the earth where he had been standing.
Focused on Kieran and Perry, the Gashadokuro had its head turned away from Colin and Wyn, who used the opportunity to get more up close and personal to deliver a few blows. This carried on for a short time, with both duos taking turns to strike or shoot at the Grimm, and dodging out of the way. As they did this, it became more apparent they were making an attempt to twist its arms up as Colin had requested. As the Gashadokuro strained to uncurl its twisted arms, Wyn fired off two blasts of ice at the Grimm which formed small blocks of ice to form on the hands of it. By how it was already fracturing and breaking away in places, it wouldn’t hold the Gashadokuro for long so Lin and Tilia didn’t have any time to waste.
Tilia stepped out and turning her back to the Gashadokuro she faced Lin. Tilia mouthed the word “Serpentine” at her before putting her shield up and planting her feet ready to brace herself ready for Lin to jump.
Lin held her bow firmly in her left hand, leaned back slightly on her heels, and then raced forward. She leapt onto Tilia's shield and a strong arm thrust from her teammate - boosted by her semblance - propelled Lin into the air.
Once in the air, Lin hurried to get her explosive arrow notched and ready. As she reached the peak of her height, she drew back on her bowstring, watching as the Gashadokuro lifted its head. She exhaled softly and let her arrow fly. With her semblance she focused on the arrow as it soared towards the Grimm, ready to give it a subtle nudge if she needed to in case the Gashadokuro moved at the last minute. Thankfully, the Gashadokuro did not move enough to disrupt the trajectory of the arrow and it struck the Grimm in the eye. As it made contact, Lin began to slowly count down in her head.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5…
As she counted five, the arrow flashed a shade of amber twice, before fully exploding and obscuring the Grimm in a hazy cloud of smoke. The shockwave from the explosion knocked Lin back further as she descended. Luckily, Wyn was ready to catch her when she fell, grunting slightly as he caught his taller teammate. Lin gave him a playful pat on his cheek.
“Nice catch.” She winked.
As Wyn let her stand back up, the whole group turned their attention back to the giant Grimm. To Lin’s delight, she was relieved to see her attack had worked; the Gashadokuro was falling backwards, already beginning to dissipate before it even fully hit the ground.
To the right of her, Colin came over to watch as the Grimm faded away, only briefly looking away from it to give Lin an approving nod. “Nice shot,” He commended.
The group watched and waited until the Gashadokuro was fully gone before calling it a day and returning to Silbern with a victory under their belts. Though most of them felt jubilant and were celebrating their defeat of the Gashadokuro - especially Wyn and Perry - Lin's attention couldn't help but be drawn to Colin, who hung back from the main group. Unlike the rest of the group, his expression remained neutral, if somewhat troubled. Lin didn't doubt he was probably just as relieved as the rest of them that they had taken it out but she couldn't help wondering just what had left him so troubled.
#team KWTZ#team kwtz fic#kieran peredur#wyn blanchard#tilia bosco#Lin Zhu#perry estrada#colin peredur
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PEWT? JSMN? DMSK? I want to learn all info about each of these 12 people.
You can find some information on DMSK here and here.
PEWT (Pewter) is the team of Roisin Peredur (younger twin to Kieran) and Perry Estrada. There were two other members who tragically died at the Fall of Beacon.
Here's Roisin
Weapon: Joyous Gard - Leadcutter Sword
Semblance: “Retrieval" - Able to recall objects to her. Must be able to see the object in order to use this.
Age: 20
Allusion: Sir Percival
Height: 5'7" (5'9" with her boots)
Sexuality: Definitely prefers guys but could be bisexual.
The other two members were called Midge Waters and Tara Tweed.
JSMN (Jasmine) is a disbanded team from Atlas. If still in the academy they would be in their third year by now, but were expelled in their fourth year due to some involvement in criminal activity by two of the members.
JASMINE PRINCETON
Weapon: n/a
Semblance: n/a
Age: 20
Allusion: Pasithea
Height: 5'9"
Sexuality: Jasmine is straight.
SAIKA FUJIOKA
Weapon: Original weapon confiscated, currently using a hand gun
Semblance: n/a
Age: 20
Allusion: Hero
Height: 5'3"
Sexuality: Unsure likely some preference for guys though
MERLOT SIGAL
Weapon: Original weapon confiscated, currently using a spiked baseball bat
Semblance: n/a
Age: 20
Allusion: Leander
Height: 5'8"
Sexuality: Demisexual
NETA CIERVO
Weapon: Ýdalir - A crossbow hybrid
Semblance: n/a
Age: 20
Allusion: Camilla
Height: 5'6"
Sexuality: Preference for women
#team PEWT#team DMSK#team JSMN#roisin peredur#jasmine princeton#saika fujioka#merlot sigal#neta ciervo
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