It’s been two days since the whole fiasco with Papa and my Grandparents and things have… sorta calmed down. Mavis was still mad at Papa for everything he has done and the fact she had to deal with the door issue. Mama and Papa took whatever time they had to talk and hang out and, I believe, they are slowly getting back together. The only thing I’m worried about is that grandpa would try and shoot Papa.

The things with Mavis and Yang calmed down as the next day after school Yang took Mavis out for the rest of the day which seemed to cheer Mavis up greatly from the fact Mavis was not frowning at Yang all the time. Right now I was in class writing down some notes when the intercom went on.

“Can both Team MAUV and Team INDG report to the Headmaster office. Can both Team MAUV and Team INDG report to the Headmaster office.” the Intercom sounded before turning off. The teacher, who was Professor Theodore, turned and looked at us.

“Well then, you four go ahead.” The Professor said to me and my team before we all got up to leave, waking Mavis up from her floating nap.

“Okay I get the naps, but floating as well? That’s kinda distracting.” I said to Mavis as she floated behind us and yawning. She simply shrugs before the four of us headed off towards the Headmaster office. Once we got there we saw that Team INDG was already there as well as Headmaster Ozpin is also here.

“Ah, you’re here, good.” Ozpin said as we stepped forward. “Before we continue, I have to ask… has anyone heard of the story ‘The City of Yharnam’?” He asked all of us.

“Yes.” Umbra spoke first. “It’s supposed to be a fabled city where the first Huntsman, or Hunters, came from.”

“Excellent Miss Wilde.” The Headmaster said to her before walking to the side. “Now… tell me, all of you, do you all believe such a city is real?” He asked us.

I didn’t know what to say about this and from the looks from Team INDG, they seemed kinda annoyed. It wasn’t until Amaran spoke up.

“Umm, Headmaster Ozpin… isn’t the the idea of a story of a city be… well, a story?” Amaran asked.

“That’s true Miss Rondel but…” The Headmaster paused a bit as a screen appeared and a man with short black hair with white on the sides. Over his right eyebrow was some sort of metal plate and he wore a white uniform.

“Some stories are actually real.” The man said on the screen. I tilted my head a bit before whispering to my team.

“Who’s that?” I asked to which Umbra answered.

“Headmaster Ironwood of the Atlas Military.” Umbra said to me.

“Oh fuck me…” I heard someone say and looked to see that it was Indigo. He took a deep breath and looked his teammate. “Fill me in on the mission, eh?” He asked his blonde-haired dragon friend, to which he nodded as a response before Indigo left the room. I frowned a bit as General Ironwood sighed.

“Not one word…” he said before clearing his throat. “Now then, to get to the matter at hand, Two days ago we picked up a message that was an S.O.S from the City of Yharnam, normally this wouldn’t cause such a ruckus but… as you can see, this is where the signal came from.” With that said a map appeared on the screen and a red dot appeared… in the middle of a large body of water.

“I’m… still confused. What’s the City of Yharnam?” I asked out loud to which Headmaster Ozpin answered.

“Miss Mal Kun, do you remember The Great War from your History class?” Headmaster Ozpin asked which I nodded. “Well, before it started there was five Kingdoms of Remnant, Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, Mistral…” as he said this four symbols appeared on the screen, each one of each kingdom. “And Finally, Yharnam.” As he said that a fifth symbol appeared, this one looked odd, kinda like someone put some letters together. “I’ll spare many details of it but during the Great War, Yharnam had no part of it.”

We all looked at each other after the Headmaster said this before continuing. “Yharnam was a small island kingdom that made due with what they were given. But during the war any and all communications and trading were cut off with that kingdom and as the story goes, it went on forgotten in time.”

“Until now, there has been no word from this kingdom which went into myth over the years.” Ironwood added after Ozpin as we all listened.

“Can we just get on with the important bit please?” Asked the goth-looking girl, blowing some bubble gum as she and the rest of her team looked bored after the whole rundown.

“The important bit, is to go to the island and find whoever sent the S.O.S and help as best as you can. If needed I'll send ships over for transport of civilians and wounded.” Headmaster Ironwood said to all of us. “I have already sent a group there, nothing to big but enough to help you on the island.”

“Umm, if you don't mind me asking sirs… but why us?” I asked the two Headmasters. “Why not fully trained huntsmen?”

“Miss Mal Kun with everything happening with the festival coming in a few months and other huntsmen out we can't send anyone right away. It would take some time.” Headmaster Ozpin said before adding. “And your group shows promise as well as Team INDG.”

“Yes, and as a more simpler option, Vale is much closer to the island.” General Ironwood added. “I’ll get some men on standby when you radio in. I wish you all the best of luck.” With that, Ironwood’s image disappeared. With that, the rest of Team INDG left the office to join up with their leader while Mavis looked at the off-screen with a concerned frown before she shook her head.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked Mavis as the other two looked over at us.

“Nothing. I was just in my own thoughts.” Mavis said to me before she turned to the door. “Shall we go get ready?” She asked us all. I nodded as we all headed down to get ready and put on our combat outfits. Once that was done we headed outside to wait for the others and the airship. Mavis was in her bikini outfit with her sword on her hip as I wore a dark red top that had no sleeves and showed off my midriff and fiery patterned scarf around my neck. Long black gloves that went up to my elbow and black pants with some cloth wrapped around my waist and went down behind me.

Umbra looked like someone from a sci-fi film, wearing what she says is a scout Atlas armour that she brought with her with permission. It was a dark blue armour that covered her body other than her head and she had a cape that almost covers her body. In her hand, she had a helmet that was the same dark blue colour as her armour and had some tech looking eyes on it. Her weapon was on her back with was a sniper rifle that was compact into a carrying case like shape.

Amaran looked… well, she looks like she belongs in a western setting with her long brown overcoat, brown pants and cowboy boots. She even wore a cowboy hat to complete the look. She was holding her weapon which was simply a shotgun with an axe blade on it and some sort of revolver in a gun holster.

“Everyone set?” Mavis asked all of us as Team INDG walked into view, unlike us they didn't change into more combat oriented attire. From where I stood I saw that Indigo had some tonfas in holsters on his hips, the tall dragon Faunus had two large curved swords on his back and a quiver on his hip, the gothic woman had a grenade launcher that she carried and the last one, who was another Faunus, had gauntlets on.

“Uhh… guessing you four are ready?” Indigo asked us, looking at Mavis with an arched brow.

“Ready as we'll ever be.” Mavis said to him with a smile. As we waited I heard some footsteps coming from behind us which when I turned around I saw Yang coming up to us.

“Oh good, you guys didn’t leave yet.” Yang said happily.

“Shouldn't you be in class now?” Mavis asked the panting blonde with an arched brow.

“Are you really going to ask me that?” Yang asked Mavis as she looked up at her to see her expression didn’t change. “I have a free period.”

“Well that solves that question.” Umbra said before walking a little bit away. Yang shook her head before saying.

“I wanted to come to see you off.” Yang said with a smile on her face. Mavis smiled at this before the two shared a touching moment by sharing a kiss. It wasn't a new thing to see from the two as they've been together for about a month or two already and they seem to be moving up fast. Amaran simply smiled at them before looking over at Umbra, who I guess knew this was going to happen and gave them space. I looked over to the other four who were waiting for the airship. When the two parted they smiled at one another happily just as the airship came around.

“I'll see you when I get back.” Mavis said to Yang, the latter smiling at this already excited for her eventual return. When the airship came down, an armoured looking one I want to point out, we all got on and lastly was Mavis who gave Yang a kiss and climbed aboard the ship. We all gave her a wave before the large side door closed up and flew off. As it happened I saw Amaran already had some safety belts on her and she was gripping the seat she was on.

“Not good with flying?” Mavid asked Amaran, the latter shaking her head while Indigo arched a brow at this, his team chatting amongst themselves.

“Never one to be flying… I prefer having my feet on the ground… solid ground.” Amaran said with a little laugh. “D-Don’t mind me. I’ll stay q-quiet here.”

“So what exactly are we expected to find?” Indigo asked out to us, his two female teammates chatting while his other mate is napping already… And snoring rather loudly. I looked over at Umbra but she had her earbuds in her ears so she wouldn’t be able to hear us.

“Your guess is better than mine.” I said to Indigo.

“Creatures worse than Grimm in terms of brutality. They may seem like people at first but they have long since abandoned their sanity.” Mavis said, sounding knowledgeable about the place we’re heading towards.

“I-If it’s like the stories my gran tells me when I was young…” Amaran didn’t finish as she had a scared look on her face.

“I… never really heard of the story of the place.” I said, a bit confused of this place.

“The short version of the story, it’s a city of nightmares.” Amaran said to me. Mavis shook her head at this but said nothing as I looked over at Indigo, who I have yet to find out on why he left when Ironwood came up.

“Hey… why you leave before when General Ironwood appeared?” I asked Indigo which got a frown from him.

“You should mind your own business.” Indigo said with a frown which got the attention of his other two teammates. The lioness faunus frowned at this.

“Sorry about his attitude, he isn't good with the subject of his dad.” The lioness said apologetically to us. We stared at the Lioness for a few moments, her words setting in.

“Wait… what? His dad?” I asked, confused about what she meant. This time it was the goth chick that spoke.

“The General of the Atlas Military is Indigo's dad, the two aren't in good terms though Ironwood has tried to make amends.” The goth girl said to which Indigo groaned as he covered his face with his hat.

“Ah… right…” was all I could say about this. The rest of the trip was mostly kept in silence as we headed towards the place.

A few hours later…

Had I knew that two teams would be stuck in an airship for a few hours, I would’ve brought some games to play as we wait. And from what I could tell, the other team was getting bored, so bored in fact that the sleeping one woke up.

“Mmm… we there yet?” He asked tiredly to everyone. Before anyone could answer that there was a loud bang coming from the outside of the ship… and then another… then a few more as there was also loud scraping and tearing sounds. The light in the room we were in turned red and our ride started to get rough.

“That’s not good… is it?” Amaran asked everyone. Before anyone could say anything, again, the intercom turned on and a male voice speaks.

“Hold on back there! We have… something attacking us and is trying to tear the ship apart! We’re going to try and land just outside the city so we can-” His voice was cut off of a loud crashing sound and screeching. “NO! NO NO NOAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The bloodcurdling screams of both pilots were heard before it was cut off.

“Now, that’s the worst thing ever!” I said as the ship started to take a nosedive. Mavis, albeit briefly, panicked as well before she closed her eyes and her expression of strain began to show. I didn't know how to explain it but the ship began to level out before we all jumped at the softer than expected impact. There was a brief moment that of quite before loud screeching came from the outside and the sound of screaming and agony as someone was… uhh...

“Oh shit…” I heard one of the guys of INDG say as they peaked out the windows only for a bloodied hand to slam against it.

“Keep calm, everyone…” Mavis said in a calm tone as the horrid sounds began to grow distant by the second. “Is everyone alright?” Mavis then asked.

Amaran and Umbra nodded at this as the seat Amaran was sitting at now has two holes as she ripped the stuffing out of them. I looked over at Mavis and mouthed a thanks to her for making our crash landing less crashy. I looked over at the other team to see if that were alright.

“We're alright but uh… I don't think our pilots are.” Indigo said before Umbra got up to open the cockpit doors only for Indigo to say. “I don't think that's a good idea newbie.” He said to her.

“Do you have a better idea?” Umbra asked before looking at Mavis.

“Go ahead Umbra.” Mavis said though she looked as if she wanted to say otherwise. Umbra turned and opened the door… which caused the smell of blood hit us as on the floor was the body of one of the pilots.

“Oh lords…” I said as I saw the body which looked like it was pecked to death and more. Torn up suit and flesh, no doubt from claws and the helmet… oh gods. His one eye starting with a look of pure horror. Umbra looked at this and looked a bit queasy as she slowly closed the door.

“I've seen animals die like that… but to see a person like that…” Amaran said as she looked a little nauseous. Indigo and co were busy checking themselves before unbuckling their seat belts finally.

“Told you not to open it.” Indigo said before popping the emergency lock which soon caused the door to launch off the Bullhead. “Fuck, what the hell attacked us?”

“Don't know man, wasn't a nevermore that's for sure.” Said the blonde dragon faunus man as he followed suit.

“Whatever it was, I'd rather not have to see it myself.” Said the lioness faunus which was soon followed by the goth.

“Ditto.” The goth said with a little groan, her once pale face now had green in it. It was at this moment that I actually didn’t know three of the four in Team INDG names.

“Do you all think it’s a good idea to stick around here?” Amaran asked nervously. “I don’t think whatever attack us would simply leave us alone.” Everyone didn’t say anything as the sound of the outside wind was now haunting. We all turned to our leaders to see what we do next, and those were Indigo and Mavis.

After a few moment the two of them agreed to get out of the crashed ship and looked around where we were. When we opened the door and stepped outside we saw that we were in some kind of forest. Tall dark trees stood high up above us, the branches look more like thin skeletal clawed arms than branches. The ground beneath us was somewhat damp as the air was cold as I could see my breath. I also had a sense that we shouldn’t be here… at all.

“Well… this is… cheery.” I said as the others came out and looked around and I looked over at Mavis and stared at her. “And aren’t you cold?!”

“Oh it's just a breeze, chill out.” Mavis said before giggling at herself which got me to take a deep breath. “I think we should all agree that we should continue towards the city, best not to let whatever attack us come back for more.” Mavis said which got the other team to hum in agreement before the lead the rest of us as we walked around the Bullhead, seeing the damages, claw marks holes and blood stained and littered the side of the Bullhead, worse more was the cockpit window, shattered and bloodied, the body of the pilot stuck as if it was facing its killer.

I gulped at the sight as we all headed away from the crashed bullhead and made our way into the forest, which seemed to be getting more and more creepier as we go, so much so that Amaran, Umbra, and I had our weapons out as we kept an eye out for anything.

“Didn't General Ironwood say that he sent out a group ahead of time?” I asked quietly. Nothing was said immediately after I asked which caused me to bump into something, when I looked down I saw that it was an Atlas rifle. “Uhhh, guys…” I said to the others as I picked up the rifle. “I'm getting a bad feeling about our Atlas group.”

“Check the clip, see if it's been used.” Umbra said. I nodded and went to pull the ammo clip off the rifle to look at it, and saw it was empty.

“Empty…” I said simply to the others.

“I don't think that's the least of our worries right now.” Said the lioness faunus as she and the rest of her team walked up to a bloodied patch of grass. Faintly, I could hear some foreign noises that sent chills up my spine.

“Oh gods…” Indigo whispered as his mates looked over towards the area he faced, which was obscured by a tree for me and my team. The sound of crunching and ripping was coming from ahead of us as there was some...thing, eating. From what little light there was I saw a creature that was thin and hairy as it held some sort of club… only for it to take a bite out of it… then I realized it wasn't a club… it was a leg.

“That's… Atlas gear.” I heard Umbra whisper as Amaran gulped.

“I… I think I'm going to be sick.” She said as the others looked queasy. The thing twitched every now and again, almost uncontrollably so and while we were trying to get over our shocks, Mavis was the only one that hasn't really reacted accordingly, seemingly picking up a thick branch and tossing it at the creature, striking it on the side of the head, getting its attention. It held its head in pain, its thin, bone like fingers wrapping around the head fully before seeing us and let out a blood curdling screech before going into all fours and sprinting at us, only for its own shadow to come up, grab it and pull it down onto the ground so hard, we heard the sounds of bone shattering from here.

I looked back at Indigo, seeing his hands raised up with a dark indigo colored aura surrounding his hands as he panted.

“You… okay?” Umbra asked Indigo as I stared at the creature crushed on the ground.

“I'm fine… can't say the same for… That.” Indigo answered as his dragon faunus friend walked up to it, getting a closer look at it.

“Hmm… lack of muscle mass, showed signs of shaking, clearly eating a person. This thing was a fucked up cannibal.” He said aloud… cannibal? Wait that thing is a person!?

“I'm sorry, but did you say… cannibal?” Amaran asked wide eyed. “As in… it was a person?”

“Yup, it's got human like features. Definitely human, can't find any trace of faunus traits anywhere as I can see.” He said back with a nod before Umbra opened her mouth to speak. “No, I'm not turning it over to get a better look. You want to do that, feel free but ain't touching that shit.” He was quick to say.

“Let's not… I don't think my stomach can take it.” Amaran pleaded, getting a nod from the Lion Faunus and goth. Umbra looked at everyone before simply nodding.

“Okay, I'm going to ask the one question that's probably on everyone's mind… what the living hell is going on here!?” I asked towards everyone, yelling it as the overwhelming panic began to set in as to what we're up against here.

“I can't answer a question I don't know the solution to, Viri.” Mavis said to me though I knew that this was a lie, simply put because she knows everything. The others weren't sure how to answer. I looked at the three who were looking at one another before I spoke.

“Also, what are your names?! It's been bugging me all this time!” I asked them which got a surprise look from them.

“I'm Nava Wite.” Said the Lioness in a formal introductory tone, albeit as best as she could in our current situation.

“Dewm.” The Goth said only to be bumped by Nava, making the goth groan. “Dew.” She said. Weird. I looked over at the dragon faunus.

“I'm Ghaul.” He said with a small nod. I lightly smiled at this, finally knowing their names before we stopped in front of a large pair of rusted gates, they were open but not with ease by the looks of it. Around the hinges and the ground, the gates were covered in these odd rotten looking tendrils.

“The farther we go, the more creepier everything becomes.” I muttered to myself.

“Yeah…” Amaran said before looking back into the forest. “Not to build on the suspense but… does anyone feel like we're being… watched?”

“It's in your head.” Indigo was the one that spoke up first, which got Nava to punch his back for this. He didn't seem to care much and rolled his eyes. The rest of us continue on before we started to see buildings. The buildings looked old and dark, windows were boarded up so and there was no light coming out of them. They also had this gothic architecture to it as well. We continue on before Umbra stopped us.

“Wait, I think I see something.” She said as she nodded in front of us. We looked and some someone stumbling in front of us, it was a being that was wearing amore from head to toe, even their face was covered as they walked around. “I think it’s one of the Atlas Soldiers. Guess some of them came into the city. This one wearing a full body armor.” Umbra informed all of us. The person in the armor groaned and moaned, both of which were sounds of pain and agony. I arched a brow at this as Nava walked up to soldier.

“Hello? Is everything alright?” Nava asked the Atlas soldier. The soldier stopped in their tracks, their body began to twitch wildly before letting out a chilling scream as the soldier grabbed onto the Nava, attempting to take her down only for Dew and Indigo to help Nava.

“Hey back off, Jackass!” Indigo yelled as he soon shoved the soldier. The soldier snarled and now went after Indigo as the three were now wrestling with this guy.

“What the hell is going on?!” I asked, unsure what the hell is going on. Umbra frowned a bit as her eyes glowed blue for a moment before they went wide.

“But… this makes no sense…” She muttered before yelling. “Move!” The three with the soldier looked over as she brought her sniper up. All three of them blinked before moving out of the way as Umbra fried a few shots at the soldier. Each hit made him stumble back a few steps before one hit him in the head, making the soldier fall backwards.

Silence fell on us as we stared at the body and Umbra. Nava calmed down and dusted herself off, covered in some gunk from the soldier before we all saw the body violent shake. Nava, Dew and Indigo took some steps back before the Atlas soldier sat up with a snarl, the bullet hole on its forehead clearly showing that it has been shot. The wound itself began to close up as tendrils began to take the place of its skin.
6
“Oh hell.” I said as I held Molten Fox in my hands. I heard Mavis hum at this before seeing her bladed fan fly past me and cutting through the armor with ease and decapitating the thing in Atlas uniform. No movements came from the thing and it simply slumped back down onto the cobblestone ground, headless but… not bleeding? Ghaul slowly moved over and look at the headless body. A look of confusion and disgust form on his face as the rest of his team went to look as well. As this was going on I looked back to see Umbra lowering her rifle down, a look down at it and shaking her head.

“Hmph, that thing was not a person. Far beyond it, a beast or a monster.” I heard Mavis mutter as her fan blade returned to her waiting hand. “Yharnam is no more than a husk of what it once was.” She muttered again as she walked ahead of the group. The rest of us looked at one another before we all followed behind her, leaving the body behind. As we walked, we saw the not so empty streets of the abandoned city littered with bundles and masses of these odd rotten tendrils. Something about those masses set off alarms in my head.

As we walked in the streets, there was a loud bang that came from nearby that made us jump. “What was that?!” I asked, now a bit jumpy with everything going on. Mavis’ eyes widened before she broke into a sprint towards a seemingly shoddy built shack, to which we soon found the body of an Atlas soldier, a gun in their hand and the barrel still smoking… oh gods.

“What the fuck is this place?” I heard Indigo ask aloud, taken back at this as we are.

“To put it simply… your worst nightmare.” Mavis said as she looked around and faced down the street we came from, distant noises similar to the groans and moans as before. “Come on, we can't stay here for much longer.” Mavis said before she quickly added. “We need to take shelter in one of the buildings, quick.” She said and Ghaul was quick to act, running over to the building opposite to us and kicking the door open. We all quickly headed inside the building and both Ghaul and Indigo were quick to barred the door with random furniture that went back to the one wall. When they were done we all hid as the groans and moans grew louder. I peeked out of the window and saw a dozen other people stumbling about, though I saw they had tendrils coming out of them… but what caught my eyes were two, larger creatures of tendrils and flesh walking in the middle of the group.

When the large group continue on, I saw a something come out of the alleyway that looks like person but the head of the being was bald and… no face. The skin covered it’s head and simply walked out of the alley. When one of the stumbling people things made a loud groan, the tall pale thing reacted and a long almost frog like tongue sprung out from its horrifyingly inhuman mouth, attaching itself onto the stumbling man and pulling him close, quickly silencing the growls and snarls by biting the head off the thing that was once a man.

I saw all of this and slowly lower myself down. “Okay… I’m going to have… so many nightmares after this.” I said quietly.

“For fucks sakes, this is the last time I do any mission by the Atlas general.” Indigo said with an angered look as Ghaul beside him shook his head. Dew and Neva looked one another as I looked at the other three, Umbra put her helmet on, covering her face as Amaran was looking of into the home. I looked over in where I saw Mavis was and slowly went over to her.

“Hey… you okay?” I asked her which she turned to look at me.

“I'm… well I could be better but I'm alright. How about you? Are you alright Viri?” She asked me with a worried tone, making sure she spoke in a whisper.

“No, I’m scared out of my mind.” I said to her. She surprised me when she hugged me, no doubt to help calm me.

“We'll get through this, Viri.” She whispered to me, not in her usual voice… But in Grandma's voice. I stared at her for a few moments before smiling at her.

“Yeah...though we have a whole island of monsters to get though.” I said to her quietly. “Also… what are we supposed to do?”

“Right now, we rest and wait for the beasts to pass. Next we'll scout the nearby buildings for survivors, after that I'll contact Atlas for a Bullhead pickup. Keep a sharp mind and don't let these monsters get the best of you.” She whispered to me as she glanced at the others. “I wish I can tell you more of this place but now is not the time.” She said to me.

Before I could say anything we heard a few loud bangs coming from outside that made all of us jump. “What was that?!” Amaran asked as more gunshots went off alongside the guttural screams from the creatures as Dew and Indigo peeked out of the window.

“What the hell?” Indigo said out loud in confusion as did Dew, though she said hers rather quietly. Mavis and I looked at one another before walking over to the window to see what’s going on.

Outside with the horde of monsters I saw someone cleave a few heads off of their bodies. The two larger creatures that were on them were letting out blood curdling screams as their bodies were set on fire as being continue to cut down the others.

It was hard to keep up with the being, who from the looks of it is a woman, moving around, slashing down the monsters with haste and the two larger monsters soon fell down onto the ground, still burning and writhing in pain.

In matter of moments, the woman took down the horde and stood in the middle of the pile of bodies. The woman looked around at the bodies before taking her weapon, which was a large sword, and did something to it which set the blade on fire before she went on with setting the bodies on fire.

“Hmm, she isn't one of beasts that's for sure.” Mavis said out loud for everyone to hear. “But something feels… off about her.” Mavis added and got Amaran and Umbra to arch a brow at her.

“Off… how?” Amaran asked as Umbra went over and peeked out of the window. I looked over at Mavis, seeing her eyeing the barricaded door before she flicked her wrist which in turn caused the barricade to move out of the way of the door before she walked over to it, in which I reacted by following closely behind my team leader. I wanted to be close by if things didn't go so well. Mavis opened the door, getting the unknown woman to quickly react which made her change her sword turn… into a gun? And firing it at Mavis within the instant of turning. It came to no surprise that the bullet didn't get so far before being stopped mid air. We stared at the woman as she lowered her gun sword and stared at Mavis. It wasn’t long before the woman tilted her head at Mavis.

“Just… just what are you wearing?” She asked Mavis, who rolled her eyes at this question.

“I am Mavis Mal Kun of Beacon Academy here on a rescue mission ordered by the General of the Atlas army, we've picked up a distress call and located to this island.” Mavis said to the woman informatively. “I have a team waiting inside, we're searching for survivors.” She added, letting the woman know of the others.

“Oh, you heard my distress call… lovely. Did you get the one or half a million I’ve sent?” The woman asked in an annoyed manner before adding. “Not mad at you, mad at the whole situation.”

“Then I suggest you cut it, we're not here to hear your annoyances, we're to extract survivors.” Mavis said before the other began to come out, weapons at the ready in case any more monsters show up.

“Well you won’t find anyone in this part of the city… already checked for the upteth time already. Any survivors are on a farm outside the city.” The woman informed us. Mavis nodded at this before Ghaul spoke.

“So we went up here for nothing. Fucking fantastical news.” He said before being bonked on the back of his head by one of Indigo's tonfas.

“Why are you complaining, we found out there’s survivors.” I said to Ghaul with a frown on my face before looking back at the woman. “Is it too much to ask if you show us to this farm?”

“I’m going to say yes as most of you, if not all, want to get the hell out of this city.” The woman said to all of us, which we nodded. “Alright, come with me, and be quick… I think my little outrage with this group attracted some unwanted sights.” as she said that my ear twitched as I heard some groaning and moaning of pain coming closer. Mavis nodded before Indigo had his team follow her and the woman. “By the way, how did you all get here?” She asked Mavis and Indigo as we quickly made our way. Indigo gave her the simply gist of what happened to us as we went through a few alleyways to avoid some monsters. “Ah, ran into some Vultures uh. Sorry bout your pilots.”

“Interesting name for such creatures.” Mavis said with an arch brow at the woman.

“Well they kinda act like vultures, only for the fact their claws can rip through metal and their beaks are as hard as reinforced spear heads. But for me, they are just not that pretty.” the woman said as we stopped and got down low as a group of those monster beings came and went without noticing us. “What I hate are those Carriers.” She whispered to us.

“What are Carriers?” Amaran asked in a whisper.

“Well, they are what you just saw, humanoid beings that have the virus inside them. Sure they look normal but if they see anyone not infected they will sprint at them at speeds to infect them…” The woman informed us which reminded me of the one Atlas soldier. The woman motion us to keep moving and we followed her. Before long we were closing in on the city gates again but when we saw the gates we stopped and stared wide eyed at what stood in front of it.

In front of us was a tall, pale looking creature with long arms and legs. It towered over us as it’s tail moved behind it. It turned it’s head and I saw that it looked… alien. It’s teeth were sharp and jagged like as they came out of its mouth and it's eyes were a pale white colour. I saw Ghaul slowly moved his hand to his weapon as did the others but the woman spoke quickly and quietly.

“No… if you do anything that’s hostile to it, you will die.” She said to us. We all looked at one another as the woman stared at the creature in front of us. It stared at us all for a solid two minutes before it began to walk off into an alleyway, ignoring all of us. When it was gone Umbra spoke.

“What… was that?” Umbra asked the woman which was the same question we all had.

“An Alpha…” The woman answered as she went over. “I’ll explain more when we’re not in danger of getting attacked.” We all continued to follow behind her as she guided us into the thick and cold forest, Mavis having not spoken a word the longest out of everyone. As we followed the woman I went over to her and whispered.

“Hey… you alright?” I whispered to Mavis.

“I'm quite fine, Viri, I'm just deep in thought.” She answered, looking over to me with a little smile.

“Okay, you were just quiet and I was a little worried…” I looked back at where we were before saying. “But really… what was that that thing?”

“That was a product of the virus that plagued the city, those who were immune to the virus’ negative outcomes were evolved into higher beings but with monstrous visage.” She whispered to me, which got me interested in this before it fully sunk it. That was a person!?... wait.

“If that’s true… then… does that mean the whole city…” I didn’t finish as Mavis looked over at me with a nod.

“Yes Viri, the whole city, if not the whole island itself is inhabited by monstrous creatures.” Mavis said to me with a nod. I didn’t say anything after that as we continue on, the whole island… full of monsters.

We continue on for a few more minutes before the trees parted and we came up to a large building which looked like a farmhouse. Indigo and his team looked around the area before speaking.

“We'll set up a defensive perimeter, you go check on the survivors.” Indigo said as his team soon spread out as quick as he finished speaking. Mavis nodded and looked at us before gesturing at Umbra and Amaram.

“You two join with INDG, with what we've seen they'll need the support if anything comes around.” Mavis said, an authoritative tone we've yet to ever hear her use until now. Umbra and Amaram nodded at this before heading out as well, leaving Me and her with the woman who was looking back the way we came from before back at us.

“So… how long has this…” I tried to ask Mavis but she was quick to answer me.

“Eighty years, it started during the great war.” Mavis was quick to answer me before turning to look at me. “It wasn't always this, it started off as a simple flu.” She said to me.

“A simple flu?” I said, frowning as the woman went a few steps away from us, kneeling down by a log. I arched a brow before seeing her pull out a book and she sat down on the trunk of the log and seemingly zoning us out.

“Yes, a flu.” Mavis said back with a frown as we walked over to the farm house. “There's more to it obviously but I'd rather not leave you scarred by events long past.” She said to me with a shake of her head. I made a face at her for holding out on the details… though I didn’t push her for more as this place is already creepy enough.

“So… what should we do? We found survivors so should we call in for pick up?” I asked Mavis.

“Not just yet, we need to see if any of them are infected and warn the troops before the pick up. We're getting them out but I want to have the risk of spreading infection to a minimum.” She said to me before knocking at the door to the house, which if I were to be honest wasn't such a good thing. I know for a fact that if it were me, hearing a knock out here would scare me shitless.

We stood there as no one came to the door. Both of us looked at each other for a moment before Mavis knocked again. “I… don’t think knocking is a good idea.” I said to Mavis.

“Right… politeness of knocking is out the window.” Mavis said with a pout before opening the door herself, revealing it to be not closed at all. “If anyone is in there, we're coming in! We're to help!” Mavis exclaimed as she opened the door.

“That… also isn’t a good idea…” I said as she stepped into the house a bit. She walked a few feet in before stopping. I sighed and walked in after her and was about to say something before someone else did.

“D-Don’t move…” A female voice said. I looked up to see a woman holding a shotgun at Mavis who was glancing at the woman.

“See, this is what I kinda think will happen…” I muttered to myself before saying. “We’re not here to harm you, just to help.” I said before taking a step forward which got the woman to point the gun at me.

“Don’t move!” she yelled as I got a better look at her, she had long brown hair and pale skin. She looked fearful as she pointed her gun at me. “W-Who are you two… where did you come from?” She asked us, glancing at Mavis and then back at me.

“My name is Mavis Mal Kun, I am with a group here in search of survivors on behalf of the Atlas military after picking up a distress call.” Mavis said to the woman.

“A-Atlas? You mean one of the other k-kingdoms?” The woman asked, still not putting the gun down as she frowned. “You m-mean someone n-now gives a d-damn about us?”

“Ma'am, please put the weapon down. The sooner you do, the sooner we can get you and whoever else out of this place.” Mavis said to her calmly as ever, not alarmed by the deadly weapon pointed right at her. The woman looked at her then at me for a few moments more before slowly pointing the shotgun down.

“You better be r-right about this.” The woman said to Mavis with a frown on her face. “I’ve already spent my whole life here in this hell. I want to live without fearing for my life every passing moment.” She said in a desperate tone.

“Trust me, ma'am. This is no joke, after we check on the others I'll be calling for a Bullhead to pick us up.” Mavis said to her, which left the woman confused at the mention of a bullhead.

“Bull… head?” She asked in confusion as we looked at one another.

“Right… so uhh, is it just you here?” I asked her.

“No, I have three kids here…” the woman answered me.

“Anyone else?” Mavis asked as she took out her scroll, getting ready to report to Ironwood.

“It’s… it’s just us.” The woman said with a sad tone to her voice. I frowned at this while Mavis spoke up.

“I'm sorry… truly I am.” Mavis said to her, knowing something I didn't… I think. I rather not dwell on it. “Before I call Atlas, I have to take a look at the children if you wouldn't mind.” Mavis said to the woman. This got an odd look from the woman.

“Why…” She asked as her hand gripped the gun in her hand. “Why do you need to take a look at my children?”

“We need to know if they are infected or not, a repeat of the incident that occurred here out in the mainlands would be catastrophic.” Mavis said to the woman, who was quick to get more defensive.

“My kids are fine. They have been for the longest time, there’s no way they are infected!” the woman said angrily at Mavis.

“Look, we’re not trying to do anything wrong. We just need to do a quick check and-” I tried to say but the woman cut me off.

“My children are fine!” She said as she looked back at Mavis. “And if you try to get close to them I’ll have to use this thing.” With that said she raised her gun up. Mavis frowned at this as the woman was being difficult. Before anyone could say anything a new voice spoke.

“Mom?” we all turned to see a little boy that… wow. He had short brown hair and looked alright… if you get past the sharp teeth, long tail, claw like hands and pale white eyes that stared back at us. “Is it safe now?”

“J-Just go back upstairs Vandil.” The woman said to him which the boy frowned before walking away. The woman turned back and spoke. “There, you saw one of them, he’s fine so all three are fine.” She said to her.

“Umm…” Was all I said as the woman held her gun up.

“They're fine.” She said through gritted teeth as her hands started to tremble.

“Ma'am, we're not here to harm anyone.” Mavis said as she grabbed her weapon and placed it down onto the ground before kicking it off to the side, reluctantly I did the same. I'm sorry Molten Fox! “We just want to take a look at them, nothing more.” Mavis added. The woman looked at Mavis and then at me then beck before sighing.

“Fine… I'll show you… to their room… but mind if I give you something to… cover up?” The woman said before turning around to put her shotgun away and I swore Mavis looked like she was about to blow her own head off with the look on her face. When the woman turned around, Mavis snapped her fingers and created a coat that concealed her scantily clad form. When the woman turned around she was surprised to see Mavis like this before shaking her head and showing us up the stairs.

“By the way… what do you people do? You have weapons and wear… odd clothes.” The woman asked us as we climbed the steps.

“We are people known as huntsmen, we take on missions to help people and defend from monsters.” I explained which caused the woman to look back at us.

“Huntsmen? So you're like Rose then?” She asked, wait Rose?

“No ma'am, we're not Hunters. We may seem the same but there are things that separate Huntsman from the Hunters of old.” Mavis said to the woman simply. The woman stared at us before we came up to the room where I guess the kids are in. She knocked a certain way which made me realized that maybe there was a way to knock that wouldn't have made the woman point a gun at Mavis before slowly opening the door.

When she did both Mavis and I looked over and saw three kids, one was the boy from before and two girls… they all look around the same age and actually have some of the same facial features other than the teeth, tail, eyes, and claws.

“Hey… good news. We might be leaving this place, there's just one thing these two ladies have to do and that's check the three of you.” The woman said to the kids before looking at the us and, reluctantly, moved out of the way for us to walk in. Mavis walked up to the three kids, the three of them wearing loose rags, old and tattered as well.

“Hello you three…” Mavis greeted them in a gentle tone, smiling down at them as she spoke. The three kids looked at one another as Mavis kneeled down to them.

“Who are you?” One of the girls, one with long hair, asked Mavis.

“I am Mavis Mal Kun, I'm a member of the rescue team sent to search for survivors.” Mavis said to them before adding. “I'm truly sorry that it took us this long, I would have gone myself in search if I knew there were others still unaffected.” Mavis said with a saddened look before taking a deep breath. “Anyway… before I contact my superiors, I need you three to do something for me.” Mavis said to them before pulling out her scroll as it shifted and changed into what looked to be a scanner. “Just hold still and take slow and steady breaths.” She said to them. They all were taken aback at the scanner as there mother stiffened a bit when she saw this as the three did what Mavis has asked. “There we go, you three are as healthy as can be.” Mavis said to them with a smile as she stood up, before looking at the mother and asking. “Now I will have to ask you to do the same, miss.” Mavis said to her calmly.

“Alright…” The mother said as she step forward and stood in front of Mavis. Mavis smiled at this before scanning her. The mother waited with baited breath before Mavis smiled.

“You're all healthy and clean, no sign of the virus.” Mavis said to the woman, who let out a held breath at this.

“That’s a relief…” The mother said before looking over at her children and then back at Mavis. “So… you’ll send word?” Mavis nodded with a smile before the scanner changed back into a scroll in which she began to use… Though not to let Atlas know instead it was Aunt Axycia she was notifying via text. Aunt replied that she will personally be there for the pick up in a few minutes.

“There we are, our ride will be here shortly.” Mavis said to them. The mother blinked at this in surprise as she was shocked that this was happening.

“I… thank you…” She said to Mavis. “Thank you so much.” Mavis smile as she moved out of the way and allowed the mother to be with her kids. Better to let them be the two of us walked down the hallway.

“I have many questions.” I said to Mavis which she nodded. “Mostly… what’s up with the kids? Are they Faunus or…”

“No, not faunus. They were born with virus within them but as luck would have it, they have proven to be immune to all its negative qualities.” Mavis said before humming and adding. “That creature we encountered at the gates of the city. That was in fact a fully evolved city goer. Trust me, it's complicated but just know, that luck was on their side when they were born.” Mavis said to me with a little chuckle. “And as for your other question, the reason I contacted my sister is that I'm not quite so sure how the Atlas Soldiers would react to the children, worst case scenario they would deem the children a risk and…” She stopped at that, closing her eyes as she tried to finish her words but just couldn't.

“I… get the idea…” I said to her as we headed outside of the farmhouse and saw the Hunter woman from before. A thought came to mind and I acted on it. “Uh… it’s Rose right?”

“Hi.” The woman, Rose, greeted me. “Sorry that I didn’t tell you all my name before, I believed getting out of the city was more important.” She informed us. I nodded at this before both Mavis and I told Rose what was going on. “So there’s a transport actually coming? Are you sure that they aren’t going to get blown out of the sky by the Vultures?” She asked us, to which I looked at Mavis.

“I doubt that'll be the case.” Mavis said to her as she and I walked out into the fields, able to see the city in the distance. Huh, the view is pretty good. If only it wasn't filled with nightmares.

As the two of stood there I spoke. “So… what will happen to this place?” I asked her. “Even though it’s filled with horrors, it’s actually a nice place to look at… maybe.”

“You leave that to me and my sister.” Mavis said to me with a little smile as we waited and the wait itself was rather dull for everyone thankfully enough. As we waited and gathered up the others we heard loud screeching from around us as up in the sky we saw shapes flying in the sky.

“Vultures… someone is coming.” Rose said as she watched the creatures fly off.

“Mavis… you do think Aunt Axycia can get past that?” I asked Mavis only for her to nod. I was going to to say something but a loud thud came near us and we saw that it was a large, bird like creature that was smoking.

“Uhh, what?” Rose asked just as there were more of them coming down. We looked up to see a ship flew over head and landed down near the house just as the mother and kids came out. The door opened up and I saw my aunt there.

“Come on! I think I kicked the nest a bit too hard!” She yelled as the Vultures were screeching and coming towards us. We all hurried into the small ship and the door closed just as we felt it take off. Axycia was there with a smile on her face. “Oh good to see my two nieces again.” she said cheerfully as she reached over and gave both me and Mavis’ cheeks a pinch.

“Ahhh! Stop that!” I said as this got a laugh from Axycia as Mavis glared at her. Before she could say something we heard the screeching coming closer and the Vultures attacking the hall. Axycia turned a banged on the door to the cockpit.

“We’re in! Let’s go!” She yelled before the ship felt like it went up a bit and we all were lurched back as it shot forward.

We were pressed back into our seats for about a minute before it slowed down a bit and my aunt sighed. “Well, we are now about a few miles away from the island, how was the mission?” She asked all of us. Both Nava and Dew were taken aback by all of this, no doubt in shock as to how we know Auntie, a CEO of a high end business rivaling the Schnee Dust company.

“It was… something.” Ghaul was the one to answer which Indigo chuckled at.

“We only found these four.” Mavis added while the rest of the team finally took notice of the kids.

“Whoa.” Indigo said, slightly taken aback by this as he straightened up. The Mother frowned at him as Auntie looked at the three kids.

“Ooo, they look adorable!” Axycia said happily at them as Rose sat next to the family. She looked at her then at the kids then away as she seemed to have nothing to say. Axycia smiled at them before back at Mavis. “Well they look alright, maybe some good food and some baths would do wonders for them.” She said happily as most of the others let out a sigh.

“I would love a bath… a long one.” Amaram said simply.

“I'd rather forget today happened.” Dew said with a groan while Nava looked at Indigo, who frowned as he looked down to the ground in thought.

“Well tell you all what, after we get back to Vale, I’ll get you all into a nice spa day with the best food ever and have a few days for yourselfs. How does that sound?” Axycia said with a smile. “I feel like you all need it.”

“That sounds lovely.” Mavis said with a smile before looking at me.

“Yeah… Yeah a relaxing time is what we all needed.” I said, getting some nods from everyone else as the ship flew off towards home.

Author's Note

This is what happens when we take the Gothic horror genre and tried to make it scarier. Also, this idea was heavily inspired by my Co-Writer.