Oh my god she’s cute. Yusha killed the Sabyr, took one look at the faunis she had just saved, and had exactly that one thought. The poofy pilots hat and goggles, the pink raincoat, the black bikini top underneath, even the adorable horns sprouting where her ears should be. The very next thought was to impress the startled cute girl staring at her.
“Sabyr that!” she yelled, a moment after her axe cleaved the Grimm in half. She landed on her feet, pulled the axe out of the ground with a flourish, and offered her hand to the girl on the floor. Her whole body wracked with pain from her semblance overuse, but she ignored it.
“You ok?” she asked.
The girl’s reply was a mess of stutters and halting words.
Yusha wondered what was wrong. Maybe she didn’t get the joke? “Oh, Sabyr. Like savor. Get it?” She grinned.
The girl blinked. Then her eyes seemed to move past Yusha, and she jumped. “Behind you!”
Yusha pulled the trigger on her gun. The Grimm lunging at her from behind suddenly had a hole running the length of it; it fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She had to use her semblance again to hold the gun steady instead of flying away. It hurt, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She ignored the spots forming in her vision then turned around.
“Is there something there?” She asked, looking around, trying to blink away the pain and clear her head.
“You…” the girl finally said. Then she sighed, and stood up. “Thank you. I’m Haru.”
Yusha smiled again, holding out a peace sign. “I’m Yusha! Nice to meet you!”
Haru walked past, recovering her weapons. Then, she took out her banner. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen the matching banner to this one?”
Yusha tilted her head. She had not. “Can’t say I have. What about this one?” She pulled out her own banner; it looked vaguely similar to Haru’s.
“Uh, yeah. That’s the matching banner to mine,” Haru replied. “Well, at least there’s that.”
“It is?!” Yusha was genuinely surprised. She compared the banners again, but couldn’t tell what made them matching. She decided to trust Haru; after all, cute girls don’t lie. And anyways, she could barely function right now. Her vision kept getting darker and the pain kept mounting like a tub gradually filling up. “Awesome! That means we’re partners then?” Yusha held out her hand.
Haru shook it. “Yeah, seems like it.”
“Cool! You might have to carry me though,” Yusha said.
“What?” Haru asked, just before Yusha’s vision faded completely and she collapsed.
***
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!”
Haru ran. Her brand new teammate swooped in and saved her without breaking a sweat, something that made Haru… feel things. She wasn’t quite sure what, because immediately after she passed out and left Haru to the wolves. Literally. Beowolves were hot on her tail, chasing her down. She was out of movement tech and was carrying extra weight in the form of a very attractive woman and for the love of gods she couldn’t stop thinking about Yusha’s breasts pressing against her back.
Haru swiped a sword at a Beowolf that had caught up and lunged at her from the side. She managed to slice its leg, causing it to instantly stumble and fall over. Haru breathed heavy breaths, each gulp of air burning its way down her throat. Her head ached, her blood pounded in her ears, and she was altogether tired of having to go through this bullshit again. Why the hell was she always being chased by Grimm? From the start of the island, she’s been on the backfoot of things and running for her life.
Caught in thought, her foot got caught on a root and she fell tumbling down a hill. Just like that, the trees were over. She landed in a small, sandy bay, thankfully relatively unharmed, though her aura was (again) running low. She spared a glance at Yusha to make sure her neck hadn’t snapped or something, and then took stock of her surroundings. The beowolves were above her, snarling from the top of the cliff-like hill she fell down. Behind her, she could hear the sweet, sweet sound of ocean waves. There was exactly one boat parked here. Which meant she was nearly out, except she was still just as far from escape. Gingerly, she laid Yusha down, extricated her key piece, and stood up in front of her. One key. Two keyholes. No one else to be seen and nowhere else to run to. The beowolves snarled more, and one by one descended the hill, their paws kicking up sand as they landed.
Haru took a deep breath, and exhaled. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said to the Grimm, even though they don’t speak or understand things like people do. “Let’s do this.” She took up a stance, and emptied her mind. This was it. This was where she would die, and she would do it like a huntress, fighting to save someone else’s life.
The foremost and bravest of the Grimm leapt forward at her declaration.
Then an icy blue arrow sprouted from its head. Then the arrow exploded, freezing the beowulf solid.
“Wha-” Haru yelped, before a very teal figure burst through the woods and jammed a needle-like rapier into a Grimm’s head before it could even register what happened to the other one. It died instantly. The grimm finally wised up; one leapt at the new person, but almost like a reflex they blocked the attack with a flourish. The beowolf immediately stopped moving, like it was stunned, and the figure jabbed it through its eyes. Another lunged at Haru while she was busy watching, but again another arrow sprouted on it, and another trainee jumped out of the woods, holding their hat down as they landed on the beach with their bow out. Black goop splattered over their white outfit.
Relief flooded Haru. Two more trainees. She was saved, altogether they would be able to-
“Holy fuck, there’s a Goliath, run!” The one in white said, literally half a moment before a giant grim tore through the woods right behind them.
“YOU BROUGHT IT HERE?!” Haru screamed. The newcomers ran past her towards the boat; she turned and grabbed Yusha, leaping onto the boat with them. She wheeled on the new duo, demanding to know who had their key; it turned out the one dressed in teal did, so she chucked her key at them. “You drive! Get us out of here, now!”
The teal one ripped the engine alive and slammed the gas as the other fired arrow after arrow of dust into the Goliath. It did little to stop its charge. The boat was agonizingly slow to begin moving and the Goliath was gaining fast.
“Someone give me something!” the one in white yelled. The moment she heard that, she didn’t hesitate; she threw the first thing she laid her hand on; the banner Yusha had tucked away in her pocket. The student thrust it in front of her, and their hand went through space. The banner disappeared, but then the air warped again and launched a luxurious bed at mach speed into the face of the goliath. The bed shattered, much to the dismay of the student in white, but it bought them enough time.
Finally, the boat was moving, speeding along the ocean towards the other shore and leaving the goliath behind. Haru could barely make out the people on the other side, but at the rate they were moving, they would arrive in a few minutes.
She took a deep breath. Haru was certain she was dead, for the nth time this day alone, and she finally had a moment to breathe. She knelt down beside Yusha to check her health; she seemed to be fine but Haru wasn’t exactly an expert in health.
“I think we’re good for now,” someone said. Haru glanced up at the one in white, who was doing a very commendable attempt and not appearing green in the face. “Fuck I hate boats…”
“I’m Haru,” Haru said to them. “Thanks for the save back there.”
They waved her off. “J’Atoh. That there is Perry, they don’t talk much. Please spare me the words.”
“This is Yusha, she… well she does talk. Not right now though.”
J’atoh leaned over the edge of the boat, clinging white-knuckled to the railing, ready to throw up. Then they tumbled backwards and yelped the last thing any of them wanted to hear.
“Grimm! Needlenoses”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Haru yelled just as a large grimm broke through the water. It was long and thin, with flippers built for speed through the sea, and a long sharp needle sprouting from its front end. It dove back into the water, and moments later, jumped out again, this time angling to land on the boat.
“Shit!” Haru barely dodged its sharp lance-like nose, jammed both her blades into the side of its head, and tossed it off the other side, extricating her swords at the last moment.
“We’re almost there!” she yelled, watching the water ripple where the Needlenoses were swimming. “Hold them off a little longer! Watch for when they veer away from the boat!”
Two more appeared, leaping out of the water on either side of them a few times, before leaping directly towards them.
Before Haru could react, a bolt of red sprouted in front of her. Haru’s semblance immediately rang out; she ducked as fast as she could. Yusha’s axe blurred into a great circle, cutting off the needles and chopping the grimm’s bodies in moments. They fell onto the deck like sashimi, before disintegrating just as quickly. Haru stared up at the woman.
“Hah! Don’t be afraid, Yusha’s made the stage!”
A spray of sea water spread through the air, glittering like a rainbow in the light of the sun behind her as she struck a heroic pose, a smile brighter than the sun on her face.
Haru was so stunned at the sudden recovery, she didn’t even register the needlenose flying directly at her from the front of the boat.
Holy shit this is fantastic.
I’ve seen similar posts before with like dark souls bonfires or cutesy photos or cozy fantasy stuff, but this? This is art. It’s so visceral, so raw, it’s positively dripping with the juices of a reality most people only dream of and yet completely and totally exists in this world. It slaps you upside the head and locks eyes with you, snapping you instantly out of whatever funk, demanding your attention and ordering you to double check your eyes. Yes that is a shotgun, yes they are gesturing to you specifically, and no it isn’t a gameplay screenshot or weird meta post or even a meme. There are no filters or edits on this. It’s real, realer than most things are on the internet. Someone got dressed, brought their rifle, and took a photo out in the wilderness. That fire? Real. That breakfast? Real. That person probably ate it. Shit, they might have literally shared it with someone. That someone could be you. Not in a “imagine you’re in this fictional setting” way but in a “if things were different I could genuinely, actually, be there, in the snowy wood” way, a way that drags you hand and foot into the imagination, into wondering what it’s like, to be there. The gentle, non-threatening invitation is starkly contrasted by the weapon in hand, a clear reminder of the possibility and reality of violence, and yet you somehow just know that no harm would ever come to you here. They’ve accepted you, just as you are, and all that’s left is to accept their invitation. Warm eggs. Bacon. Coffee. A simple fire, a real one, not one for show or aesthetics but built for function and warmth. And probably the best conversation you’ll ever have in your life.