You know, I have no clue how many words this is. Almost certain it is less that 1k. Sad, I had a bit more written towards the end but as it goes sometimes I lost all that to unfortunate circumstances. This is also a fraction of the tale I hoped to tell. ~shrug~ Time limits and I are not good bedfellows. No matter, this is the best I can do for now. Who knows, if it's enjoyable maybe I can finish it over time.


[hider=The Valley]
Stormy leaned back and let one leg hang over the edge of the cliff, enjoying the sunny day. It wasn't so much that she favored sunny days, rather she tried to get some enjoyment out of everything. One never knew which would be their last day. Not usually, anyway. She supposed some situations made it clear just when a person's time had come. But for her and her own? She had predicted death with one hundred percent certainty several times in the past and yet here she was. Years later. She had stopped trying to guess when it would happen some time ago.

Below Stormy the view was... breathtaking? Stunning? No, she was neither short of breath nor paralyzed. It was very beautiful at least. Stormy had never been very good with words. The scene was very much like a fancy painting, though. She should take a picture. Directly beneath her the near vertical cliff face gradually curved into a steep angle before meeting the bottom of the valley. The valley itself was mostly tall grass with a few clusters of trees, rocks, and shrubbery. A small river snaked its way through the land. Far to her right the valley narrowed into a tight pass featuring a small waterfall. She knew that here the valley curved, widened, and eventually came to a lake. They had passed by earlier that day and, regrettably, had not stopped for a quick swim. Such a shame. Ahead of her the opposite end of the valley rose more gradually into the mountain range. Some of those mountains were so high they were capped in snow and wreathed in clouds. To the west of these mountains, her left, was the city, maybe a half dozen miles away. And beyond that she could see the ocean, sparkling (majestically?) in the sunlight. The forest was a nice touch, as well.

There was also another sea below her but that was far less appealing. A sea of Grimm was probably never unappealing, unless one were a Grimm. Stormy, being very much not a Grimm, found the sight irritating as it disrupted an otherwise wonderful view. Wonderful, there was the word she was looking for. Or it would be but, again, sea of Grimm.

Stormy sighed and reached for her sniper rifle, Lullaby, to literally scope out the scene for umpteenth time today. There were a few Death Stalkers that were easy to pick out, even though the weaker, smaller Grimm covered everything like a thick blanket. There were Creeps everywhere, easily thousands, possibly tens of thousands. The little buggers were so many they were crawling over the larger Grimm and even getting crushed underfoot sometimes. There were also hundreds of Boarbatusk and Gashadokuro in their own groups scattered throughout the valley. An intimidating collection of monsters, to be sure, and more of them in one place than her team had faced in the last few years. 

An army. It was hardly possible to view this as anything but an invasion force, especially taking into account the solitary Goliath. That one was a unique piece of work, Stormy had never seen anything like it in all her years as a Huntress. It wasn't just the biggest and loneliest she had ever seen; it was by far the strangest. For one thing it had broken tusks and only one eye, terrible scars over what little flesh she could see, and what looked like bright red warpaint on its face. Secondly the Goliath was [i]wearing armor.[/i] A Goliath was practically impervious to small arms, even the kind most Hunters employed. Armor, even absurdly heavy plate like this one had, seemed pointless. Never mind she had never seen a Grimm gear itself up as a human might, and she was sure this had to be an unheard of turn of events. Not to mention the whole army business in the first place. And this Goliath was clearly acting as some kind of leader, though she saw little in the way of actual activity so far. The Creeps gave this one a wide berth. She could not spot any Bael in the mess which seemed odd. Didn't an army need it's lieutenants? Was that Goliath the sole commanding force here? That [i]might[/i] make things easier, but that was assuming that she and Magnus decided to make a move at all. This was a problem for a city and its full defenses, not half a team of Hunters; it didn't even matter that they were considered elite.

Of course the whole problem would be solved if their communications gear wasn't trashed. As it was they'd had to send their third team member on foot to go warn the city of what was going on here. Stormy shifted her scope towards the forest Hawke had entered not twenty minutes before. It was unlikely she would catch sight of the other Huntress. Stormy just worried for her teammate, even though Hawke was easily the best choice when it came to solo missions. She would probably be fine. It was just that normally they could stay in touch, but now... Sighing, Stormy leaned Lullaby against the rock wall behind her. She went back to trying to enjoy what she could of the day. The music helped.

There was a hint of movement, a flicker of a shadow beyond the rock wall that extended twelve  feet to her left. Lullaby was in her hands and pointed in that direction in less than a second, its black three foot long blade leveled at... Magnus. Her lover scowled at her as she once more put her weapon away. She met his scowl with a smile as the enormous armored man settled down next to her. He leaned close and gently pulled free one of her ear buds.

"Maybe if you didn't have these things in your ears all the time you could actually hear me once in a while." He said, only slightly annoyed judging by his tone.

"Where's the fun in that? Besides, if I didn't blast my ears with music constantly that deep baritone of yours would drive me to distraction." She teased in response. 

Her life mate shook his head at the comment and looked down at the valley below, mumbling something about her being far more distracting, or some other such nonsense. They did not speak for a few moments and Stormy was content to just bask in the warmth of his aura. It was s strange thing, their connection. It wasn't just a bond of love but a synergy of their auras, something apparently very rare. Rare enough that she and Magnus were the only two people she knew of that could do what they did. While Hawke worked best on her own Stormy and Magnus were far more effective fighting in tandem. They had to stay close to each other but their already impressive auras lasted much longer when they did. When they were near enough to one another they could withstand damage that would drop nearly any other Hunter. More importantly Magnus and Stormy's semblance barely put a strain on them when they were together. Alone neither of them could use their semblance for very long, or as effectively. 

"What are you listening to, anyway?" Magnus asked as he sat down next to Stormy.

She leaned against him and flicked the switch that retracted his helmet before answering. "Transistor soundtrack. I find it relaxing."

"If you say so." He grunted as the metal of his helmet folded into slots built into his body armor. "Sure would be nice if you let me use [i] my player[/i] once in a while."

Stormy laughed and put a finger to his lips, gently shushing the seven foot tall giant. He made his 'grumpy face' when she did this and she couldn't help but laugh even harder. "So adorable when you're upset." 

He grumbled something unintelligible and flipped the switch to reactivate his helmet. Stormy flipped it back before it could complete the process. He looked even grumpier now. Smiling, she put the loose ear bud in his ear and embraced him. They sat like this in silence for a long while, long enough for the sun to start sinking low in the sky. Magnus nudged her, likely wanting to free himself from her cuddling. She did not feel like obliging.

"Stormy. Stormy, [i]look[/i]." He spoke up and there was an edge in his tone. 

He wasn't just tired of her clinging to him, something was happening. Lifting her head Stormy looked at the mass of Grimm still occupying the valley. They were moving now, or at least the Creeps were. But they were not advancing as she had expected. Instead they were filing into caves like rows of ants. [i]What the hell?[/i] she wondered as she grabbed Lullaby for a closer look. She could see Creeps filing into caves for sure, but there was also a parallel row emerging at about the same rate. She had never seen this kind of behavior from Grimm before. What exactly were they up to? Zooming in a bit more she tried to get a better sight of the Creeps that reemerged. Were they carrying things? What a day for firsts. The gear on the Creeps backs was pretty crude, much like a sack with netting over it. She could not even guess at what was inside. But as it turned out she did not need to. One of the creatures stumbled, tripped, and disrupted its companions as it spilled the sacks contents over the ground. Was that...? Stormy's breath caught and she was sure her heart skipped a beat, the implications of the Creeps cargo fully dawning on her.

"Dios mio..." She whispered.

She was on the move in the next moment, sliding past a startled and confused Magnus, practically slammining her rifle into his lap so he could have a look himself. She did not explain but went straight for their packs which held most of the gear they did not need weighing them down during a fight. Apparently not getting the point Magnus called after her, insisting she tell him what was going on. Pulling out all of their spare ammunition and counting it as she did so she answered his questions with one of her own.

"How long would it take that horde of Creeps to tear through the forest and reach the city?"

"Not long. Less time than it would take Hawke to get there." He answered gravely, taking the hint and scoping in on the activity below. It did not take him as long to realize what was happening. "Joder!"

He was by her side in an instant, helping her prepare. Stormy removed a very large black box from among their things and laid it flat on the grass. THE CASE was lettered in bold white paint on the top of this box. Magnus shook his head, understanding exactly what Stormy meant to do. They had discussed this very plan of action in case events made a turn for the worse. At the time it had just been a fun way to pass the time, coming up with Plan B. They had both fully expected the Cavalry to arrive well before anything serious came up that required stupid risks. Now those plans were reality and the fun was greatly diminished. Stormy unlocked The Case without a word and opened it fully, revealing the two enormous missiles their team kept on hand and the specialized launcher for the ordinance. They always had this special weapon with their team but it almost never saw any use. It bore the stigma of being the last resort, the option to reach for when nothing else would do. Such as right now. 

Stormy loaded the launcher and handed it off to Magnus. She then carried all of her spare magazines to the edge of the cliff and lined them up. This first part would be easy. Stormy would take out as many of the big ones as would hold still for her. Once the Grimm caught on to the fact that they were under attack Magnus would collapse the valley's choke point. With the two groups more or less cut off from each other it would be up to her rifle and his grenades to thin the numbers before they got up the cliff and in their faces. Then it would be a game of holding out as long as they could. With any luck help would arrive before they were overrun. At worst, well, they would fight like hell and put a limp in this little army. They were together at least, so that gave them a chance. She sighed and looked over at Magnus, already in position and waiting. Turning away she began to line up her first shot on one of the Death Stalkers eyes.

"Hey, babe."

"Yeah, Stormy?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."
[/hider]