Ch. 10

I wonder if everything in this world can be this beautiful. A single blood-red leaf rested on my palm, fingers moving slowly to twirl it around my hand. The leaves continued to fall around us in droves, creating a sea of red that seemed to flow around us. This forest was beautiful, it captivated my sight as we approached in the Bullhead and even after we landed I was enthralled with it. In all the worlds I have visited, there were hardly any sights like this. Even in the few cases there were, I never had the time to take them in. I was either on a mission or…or preoccupied with other needs. Now I could take it all in, this enchanting place. I was more of a nature person anyway. Being able to breathe in fresh air in a place like this is calming. Maybe I can come back one day.

'This reminds me of the planet Calth.'

'The forest there was pretty too.'

'More importantly how much longer are we going to follow her? This place bores me.'

I do not know, Neo seemed to be in her own little world too. She practically skipped down the trail that lead deeper into the forest, parasol twirling above her head and protecting her from what little rays shined through the thick trees. We dropped off the airship some miles back to keep the element of surprise. She had not spoken a word then, and had not proceeded to try and make any meaningful conversation with me since we left the warehouse. I did not know if I should be thankful or not.

I tried to study her for the past several days like I had Roman but she was just as difficult to pin down as her boss was. I couldn't tell their relation, where either of them came from, what their relationship with Cinder is exactly, and more importantly how they expect to get me what I need to fix my armor piece. The more I thought about it, the more I tried looking up the tools I would need to fix the enhancement, and what I found wasn't exciting. Most of the pieces existed, but a few, and the ones I was more worried about did not. I tried looking further and further into this world's version of the internet on a tablet I acquired from one of the White Fang members, but I couldn't find anything. Maybe I'm overthinking this, if they were able to fix the majority of the problems with my armor with no real problem, them creating the tools I need shouldn't be an issue.

We continued down the forest in relative peace, the world around us almost standing still save for the falling leaves. Our footprints being the only sign of life for the last few miles. I wonder if the others had experienced anything like this. Carolina most definitely, she had been to almost every known civilized world. Washington probably not, I don't remember a mission that we weren't together on, it seems strange to think now that we were almost inseparable.

'Why are you speaking of them as if they are alive? We know what we did. Don't avoid it.'

Sometimes, I just like to remember without the running thought of murder drowning my thoughts.

'Just don't get too lost in those thoughts of yours. There is no one left for you but us. We are your family now.'

Whatever.

Looking back towards Neo, she stopped skipping, holding her parasol towards her side and started strutting with more confidence forward. It seems we are moving closer to our destination, the woman begging to grow tenser, not in a way that displayed nervousness. It was more like a coil ready to be sprung. It was almost like staring into a mirror, she was excited for the battle. To be completely honest, so was I. The forest was a beauty, but I was here to do a job, and I would rather not walk throughout this place forever.

It took a few more miles, but I began to see signs of life living in this forest. Broken tree limbs, footprints that started to look more and more defined, a Dust crystal carelessly left behind. We were nearing our objective. Neo could sense it as well, her pace began to grow faster, the few glimpses I saw of her face showed the woman with a large grin on her face. She was eager, and I knew she was deadly but truthfully I had no idea what the plan was. Guess I would follow her lead. She would have more knowledge of the layout of this camp and of the surrounding forest anyway. I would wait on her to make the first move before moving in.

Eventually, I saw it. First it came from the few signs of life showing on my H.U.D., there were about twelve in total not including Neo. Then we came upon the camp, it seemed small, just around six or so tents littered around a small opening in the trees, not enough to make a break in the trees but enough to create an adequate space for the camp. There was something in the center, an amalgamation of machinery and parts that littered the area, tools scattered around it and surrounded by four White Fang members. That must be our bomb, it was about the size of Neo's entire body, not exactly small but if they continued working on it, it could lead to something disastrous.

We broke the tree line, our presences quickly noticed by several guards that patrolled the perimeter of the camp, they quickly called something out towards the others in the camp before turning their weapons to us, most wielding guns but some pulling out swords or small daggers. They cried out for us to stop, something about there not being a call for us to be here. There was eleven that met us, even some of the workers stopped, they formed up with the group, all of their weapons trained on us. I could see what they wanted to hide, they were afraid, most of them were shaking, at least the technicians were. It looked as if the only ones that really knew how to fight were the ones patrolling the area, the others were supposed to be focused on the building of the bomb.

Quickly crossing the threshold of the camp, their cries for us to stop fell on deaf ears. A shadow of a grin fell upon the silent girl, and although she tried to hide it I could feel the bloodlust off her. I wondered if they could too? If they could I doubt they would be standing there right now.

"What are you two doing here?"

A deep voice broke through the vague threats that the others spewed, a large man stepping through the crowd that gathered only now a few feet before us. He was tall, almost standing to my height, muscular and with a few tribal tattoos running down his left arm, one of the White Fang masks covering the majority of his face. The one thing that caught my attention however was the weapon that he carried, a massive chainsaw sword held by only one hand placed along his shoulders.

'He's a strength fighter, quite like us.'

'Nothing like us, we have speed to match our power, does he?'

'Be careful, we don't know how his Aura might change him. So he may indeed.'

'He has scars on his right arm, he might favor his left, using his right as a shield. Break that arm and you destroy him.'

"I said what are you two doing here? Adam didn't tell us Roman was sending his lackeys our way. What are you here for?"

He was addressing me, possibly already knowing about Neo's condition. I turned to said woman, turning my head curiously, was she going to start this, or was I? Almost as in response to said question, she lifted her parasol and produced a small blade from the handle. This caused the group to start muttering amongst themselves in curiosity, wondering exactly what she was doing. In one single motion, she slashed the surface of the ground in front of her, creating a line in the dirt. Putting said weapon away, Neo turned to me, stomping the ground and nodding towards the group before me.

'Seems she will get any that make it across that line.'

'Does she want to see what we can do?'

'Does it matter? If the rest is free game then it's time for a little fun.'

Yea, it's been a while since I've cut loose.

I breathed deeply, turning to the group and rolling my shoulders. It seems they could almost feel a change in the air, even the larger man stopping in his sentence. This wasn't a visit they realized, they were no longer defending their project anymore, the pieces began to click in their heads far too late. This was about to become a fight for survival.

I dashed forward in a blink of an eye, catching them all off guard. Slamming into the bigger man, he flew back into one of the tents, collapsing it around him and trapping him for the moment. Turning to the group bullets had already begun to be shot towards me, hitting some of the other members of the group and harmlessly bouncing off my armor. Two of the braver ones with swords rushed me, bright red blades heading towards me. Catching one of the blades, I blocked the other with my right forearm, followed swiftly by a kick to the assailants kneecap, shattering it. Turning back to the other, my free hand instantly found his throat and with one quick squeeze broke his neck.

Still holding the blade as the wielders body fell to the ground, I turned to the group of goons that had grouped up, aiming their weapons towards me and opening fire. Throwing the sword, it became imbedded in the chest of one of the members, causing his weapon to start firing wildly in the air. Rushing the others, my punch flattened the first, the second and third tried to escape my wrath while shooting vaguely towards me. Turning towards one of them I grabbed the arm that held the firearm, breaking it in one motion. Whipping his body around and taking the weapon in one motion, I quickly shot the others that still tried to shoot me, even if they tried the bullets quickly found a home in their comrades body.

Turning my attention to the side for a quick moment, I could see some of the others begin to see the futility of the situation and saw the forest as a safe haven. They only forgot about the other that had arrived with me. As soon as they crossed that imaginary line in the dirt and out of my line of vision, I could hear screams coming from their general direction. Neo was quick, still, only a few left to go.

Hearing the rev of a chainsaw coming to my right, I threw my shield towards the direction of the noise. The body blocking the man's sword from coming into direct contact with my form, only scraping harmlessly off it as the body carried the sword to the ground. I fired quickly upon the man, using what was left in the clip of the gun, but in response he only lifted his right arm the bullets bouncing harmlessly off it. Releasing the sword from the body, he began to swing the weapon violently towards my general direction. I thought this man was a slow fighter, but I could read every swing thrown towards me, nothing even coming close to hitting me. In response to every missed strike I quickly jabbed his ribcage and left elbow. The pain of my repeated hits taking a toll on the man as he roared in rage, swinging his weapon wildly, trying to hit anything.

As much fun as I was having right now, it was time to end this. Dodging a wide horizontal swipe, I landed a heavy blow to his face, knocking him back a few steps. He glared at me beneath the mask and swiped again in the opposite direction. Ducking low and under the blade, I appeared again before the man grabbing his forearm with my right hand and pulling hard on it before punching with all my might against his elbow. The break could be heard throughout the forest, as well as the cry of pain that came with it. He dropped the sword, and in one fluid motion I grabbed it from the air and stabbed it through his chest.

Blood flowed like rivers out of the chest wound I created, the chainsaw tearing apart the man's chest as he convulsed against the blade, his last thoughts only of pain and blood. Removing the sword from the man's chest, I stared at my own blood showered form for a few moments before I discarded the weapon next to the corpse.

'That felt great! Can we do that again sometime?'

Hearing clapping coming from a few feet next to me, I turned slowly to see Neo with a wide smile on her face, sitting upon one of the White Fang members who to my shock was not dead only pinned to the ground by a small blade in his forearm that continued into the ground. She stood, walking towards me and patted my arm, I know I did I good job, don't patronize me. Neo then turned to the machine, thankfully untouched by the chaos, who knows what we would have done if it was shot in the haze.

She turned to me and then back to the machine, doing so a few times in a rapid fashion, if she wasn't a killer I would almost find it comical. I guess I could lift it, it doesn't look that heavy. But is it actually functional right now? It doesn't look like it is. Turning back to the woman, a quick nod assured me of my question, or maybe not? I don't know anymore.

Lifting the machine was rather easy, one or two parts weren't locked into place, this could be bad. Turning to Neo the woman showed a small amount of annoyance before suddenly appearing beside me, holding a small tablet displaying some minor schematics. She tore off piece after piece of the bomb, scattering them around the area almost intentionally, judging their distances before turning to the next piece. What was she doing? At this rate it looks as if the bomb was torn apart, I wasn't sure if it was even going to function now. She didn't seem as worried though as with a small smile, she turned back to me, moving to her previous position behind me. Ok, let's just hope this thing doesn't explode in my face, the amount of parts and tools that scattered the area looked like…it looked like as if the bomb was destroyed. The only thing left for me to carry seemed to be the internal core of the thing. Still a large piece of equipment, but with all of these parts littering the area, one could be confused as to what exactly happened to the bomb. Guess I need to give Neo a little credit, she's smart.

Carrying the machine back to Neo, I found her standing next to the whimpering White Fang member, making motions for me to remain where I was. Following her orders, I watched as she gleefully turned to the White Fang member and removed the blade. This was only followed by marks, cuts, stabs, over and over and over again until I came to the realization she was playing with the man. Cutting him in places where he would bleed but not die from it, cutting him where it would hurt the most, causing screams of utter agony to come from the man and radiate throughout the forest.

What was the purpose of this? What did she want to attain from playing with him? Surely it wasn't for her own sick satisfaction? That is when I noticed it, movement in the trees, something emerging from the forest. A creature, unlike anything I had ever seen before, one that even made me take a quick step back in surprise. Pitch black fur, that not unlike the endless void of space, crimson red eyes, eyes that radiated a primal rage, a hunger. Bones protruded out of this creature, pale white, and sticking out of its body like spikes, forming a shield around its body. Only then did I realize it resembled a bear, and that it was not alone.

Others joined it, most looked similar to the first creature, and others took the form of wolves. They appeared almost out of nowhere, they seemed almost drawn to the screams that the White Fang member was making as Neo cut deeper and deeper into the man. They crossed the camp, eyes focused on us, on the whimpering man. Neo stopped her cutting, smiling as she reeled a leg back and kicked the man towards the creatures, the body falling limply against the arm of one of the creatures. They stared at us for a moment, as if judging us, sizing us up. The large one, the first creature then huffed, and lowered his head towards the carnage of the camp and they began, oh, they began to eat the bodies. They were going to clean our mess. Did Roman know of this creatures? Did Neo? Of course she did, she summoned them.

'I think I'm going to be sick.'

'Calm down kid, we have done worse.'

What were these creatures? Why did they seem to feed on flesh? Why were they drawn to the man's screams? Were they drawn to his screams? Too many questions and no time to answer them as Neo turned to me, tapping my arm and pointing back towards the way we came. Right, we had to go. Getting a more secure hold on the bomb, I began to walk back to the airship with Neo, leaving the carnage to be cleaned up by those creatures.