Guess Who — Roleplayer Guild

Part 3: Robert and Sand

Progress was made slowly but steadily as Robert and Sand swam towards the fort along the cliff's edge. There was little conversation among the two. Robert's demeanor had become increasingly business-like after their merry chase throughout the forest, and Sand was too busy staying above water to bother making small talk. 

The docks had appeared in their vision some time ago, at first little more than a dot in the distance. Now, Sand recognized the mourning figure of the lone vessel moored there. And if she strained her eyes, she could detect dark figures moving about. That was not a good sign. She had hoped she would be able to think of some way to avoid the Grimm by the time they reached the docks, but they would come up to them soon and she found it unlikely they would be able to climb into the fort without rousing the suspicion of every monster making its home there.

Almost as if answering her dilemma, something in the wall ahead of her caught her attention.

"Robert," she called as she pushed herself forward, eyes on the cliff face.

Here, perhaps due to a lucky collapse, or perhaps through the design of the fort's previous occupants, the cliff face seemed to roll backwards into a noticeable slope. She could make out a thin, sloping path traveling up the side of the cliff, large enough to travel in single file. The path broke off some ways up, but there were enough outcroppings, handholds, and similar snaking paths that, thanks to the shape of the wall, she believed she would be able to climb it without much difficulty even without the use of her semblance.

"Robert, come here."

"Yeah? What is it?" the boy asked as he swam closer to Sand. He hadn't yet noticed the Grimm that were swarming around the docks or the climbing wall that the girl had just found either.

"Look. I think I found a way up," she said, pointing up above her.

It took Robert a few moments to notice the handholds and outcroppings that dotted the cliff face, but when he did his reaction seemed more underwhelming then Sand was probably hoping for. "Good job," he said in what was now becoming his normal, monotone voice. "Do you want to go first?"

The corner of Sand's lip twitched. Robert's robot impression was starting to grate on her. Then again, no monster fish had tried to chomp out their legs while swimming along the coast, so she could not rightly complain. She turned towards the cliff, partly to plan her ascent, partly so that she would not have to look at the boy's dull eyes.

"You ever gone rock climbing?" 

"You could say that," Robert replied as he thought of the time he and several of his friends and classmates went to retrieve Sapphire's daggers. After fighting the ravenous Ogdoad and finally digging through all the shiny trash the Grimm had collected at the bottom of the lake, the group had to climb the cliff side to return to Beacon. That was certainly an unforgettable experience, to say the least.

While Robert was reminiscing, Sand's mind was occupied with more practical matters. "Good. Means I won't have to carry you."

She reached for the first handhold and began pulling herself up. Her muscles were still sore, but pulling up her own weight up a solid surface could hardly compare to bringing an ancient Boarbatusk to a near stop. If she could manage that, this should be child's play, right? "Watch where I grab. The slope's as gentle as we're gonna get, but it's slippery out here. I'd rather you didn't fall halfway."

Robert wiped his hands on the cliff wall in an effort to dry them as much as he could before following Sand up the slope. Being slightly taller than the girl and having longer arms, the boy occasionally risked skipping a handhold every now and then. For the most part though, he did what he was told and didn't take any unnecessary risks. The pain in his side where the Beowolf had scratched him was beginning to irritate due to him having to stretch his torso, but it was nothing too bad.

The climb was blissfully uneventful, and the pair made it to the edge in good time. 

Sand dragged herself up eagerly and turned back to help Robert pull himself up. Her relief at having solid ground beneath her was almost palpable. It took her a moment to gather enough wits to scan the area around them, but when she did, two things became quickly apparent. One, she recognized the area, and two, something seemed to have riled up the Grimm in the area.

She quickly recognized the footpath leading into the fort she had spied earlier that day, hidden behind a small incline that snaked along the cliff's proper edge. Above the incline, she could make out the towers where she had seen the bird Grimm roost, except now the Harpies were circling, flying erratically over the structure. At that moment, the wind changed directions, bringing with it a host of frustrated shrieks and screams.

By the time Robert had made it to the top, his previous injuries had gone from a mild irritation to an immense, stabbing pain. He was more than thankful when Sand helped pull him up. Once on his feet, the boy rested his hands on his knees and began to catch his breath. The harpies' screams made him realize though that wasn't going to have a lot of time to do so. "What'd we do in a past life to deserve this?" he asked rhetorically.

"Seems to me more like an occupational hazard than karma," Sand replied dryly. She gestured for him to walk closer to the incline to ensure they would be hidden from view. Sensing the boy needed the rest as much as her, she sat against the stone and began to pull off her combat boots. "But this is good. All that mess means your friends must have passed through."

"Maybe. But it also means they're probably in trouble too," Robert pointed out. 

"Mhm," she hummed matter-of-factly. "It's odd. I thought they'd be partial to stealth."

Inhaling a large amount of air, he stood straight again and said, "Come on. As much as I'd like to rest, I don't think I'll be able to do so with the knowledge that what's left of my team could be getting torn apart by Grimm."

Sand gave him a small frown. Quickly undoing her ties, she held the boots down, letting the water drain. 

"Hate the squelching," she offered in the way of explanation. 

After a moment of tense silence, she added, "Judging by the fact they're circling around the area, something tells me your friends gave these Grimm the slip. I'd wager they already got into the fort." Still, this was the most emotion the boy had shown in some time, and something told her Robert would not budge. Huffing a sigh, she said, "Just give me a minute. Need to put these back on."

Robert nodded at Sand's response as he waited for her to put her footwear back on. As he continued to wait, he realized just how much this girl had helped him with very little to no compensation. Turning back to her, he decided to tell her, "Thank you for all your help by the way. I doubt I would still be here without you, and the same can probably be said for everyone else here."

Sand glanced up at Robert with surprise. 

When he turned to face her, she had expected irritation, impatience, or worse, that monotone voice and dull look. For some reason, the idea that the boy would be grateful for her intervention had not even occurred to her, never-mind that he would choose to express it at that precise moment. She had simply done what she felt was right, nothing more, nothing less. 

It had been a dangerous choice, one she would have regretted once or twice throughout their flight, if only she could allow herself that kind of doubt. 

Sand looked away uneasily, pulling her boots up and focusing on the last few knots. "Don't mention it," she said, after a moment of hesitation. "Just doing my job."

She tied up the last knot and pulled herself up. "Alright," she started, suddenly eager to get back to business. "This path leads to a hole on the fort's wall. We should be able to get in if we just follow it, but finding just where your friends are might be difficult." Up until then, this had been an issue the pair had danced around, more concerned with their survival than such matters, but now that they had managed to leave the Grimm behind, it was suddenly at the forefront of her mind again. "I think this would be a good time for you to tell me what your team is doing here."

"We're trying to power up the old radio here and then defend the fort until more huntsmen can arrive. Vale wants this place back in operational order and we're pretty much tasked with most of the work," Robert explained to Sand. He was silent for a few moments before the same question came to mind. "What are you doing here?"

Very forthcoming of him. Sand did not answer at first, choosing to digest the information he had given her. The idea that one of the other kingdoms happened to want the place up and running again just as she was sent out seemed too convenient to be a mere coincidence. There was no way whoever was in charge there was not aware of what was stored in the fort. It was enough to make her wonder if it would be wise to lie about the reason she was there. 

She quickly chose against it. 

Technically, she had not been specifically told to conceal her objective. Then again, there weren't supposed to be other people at the fort beyond whoever she chose to bring, but that hardly mattered at that point. More importantly, she felt she might need help to complete her mission, and if she wanted to enlist Robert's and his team's aid, it would likely be best to continue playing her cards straight.

"Research work, of a sort," she told him, choosing her words carefully. She did not know how much of what she had been told was not supposed to be public knowledge. At least part of her caution was likely unwarranted. They would see for themselves if they bothered to look, but they would only learn as much as was necessary from her. "I was asked to recover some data and artifacts from the ruins."

"I wonder if what you're looking for is in that vault my team was told about that's contents were unknown," the boy thought aloud. Realizing just how much time they were spending talking when lives were possibly at stake, Robert shook his head as if clearing his mind of possible theories and said, "Anyway, we're starting to get sidetracked. Let's get going," before taking off towards Fort Jaeger.

Sand nodded, glad he had not pried further, and followed after him. "Should look for the radio first. With luck, we'll find your friends with it."

As the young Huntress predicted, the path eventually brought the two to an opening in the fort's outer wall. Peering into it gave Robert and Sand view into an open courtyard. Entrances to the complex proper could be seen on the opposite end, but this was not all the pair saw.

Fort Jaeger was abuzz with activity, with the harpies flying about trying to find a target. But they were also bickering in their own way for leadership. It was unknown how the Grimm corral themselves, and only a vague sense of hierachy could be made out from the monsters. Older and stronger variations led the Grimm horde, but amongst the harpies there were none. Aside from a few subtle differences between their feathers and masks, just about all of them looked the same, and thus none really worked together to control the masses. While the harpies weren't fighting, they were far too distracted flying and screeching at each other to notice Robert and Sand below. Less so if they bothered to try and sneak.

Other threats in the fort consisted of a few Ursas, one whom was firmly stuck in a doorway, and the others who seemed to be on high alert. They too could not fit in the doorway, being sufficently mature enough that they could not walk in and out like the cubs could, but they did stay near the doors nonetheless. Beasts they may be, even they understood the idea that if there were more people coming, they would need to enter or exit through these doors. And when they appearred, the Ursas were ready to attack.

Aside from the harpies flying through the skies and the Ursas guarding the door, the fort seemed impossible for the young hunters to enter unnoticed. While the walls were in a bad shape, they were still sturdy and smooth enough on the outside that trying to make handholds in the walls wasn't an option. With the Ursas guarding the doors, trying to get through them would start a fight and possibly gain the attention of all the Grimm. There was, however, a few open and narrow windows and holes on some higher level towers. Most of the windows were sealed, leaving thin holes where hunters could aim their weapons through. But evidentally some Grimm managed to break these barriers to enter. With luck or skill, Robert and Sand could do the same.

Sand considered these openings for a moment. With her semblance, climbing those towers would be a simple matter, but she would have to carry Robert if they were to remain together. Moreover, she had used much of her aura in her attempts to rescue him and to kill the giant Boarbatusk, enough to make her want to conserve what remained for an emergency.

Still, it was an option. She set the thought aside for the moment and looked down to the courtyard itself. An open area with no cover to be seen, and the Grimm roaming inside were tense and alert. At first, she only counted four Ursas, but then she caught sight of a fifth, furry behind obstructing one of the doorframes. A distressed whine reached the Hunters from the other side of the courtyard as the Ursa's tail wiggled, trying to free itself from the entrance, but the other Grimm merely ignored it, unsympathetic to their comrade's plight. 

A smirk pulled at the corner of her lips. 

Regardless, the dilemma still stood. It would not benefit them to get into a protracted battle with the Ursas with the harpies above them. Unfortunately, the bear Grimm tended to be of a much sturdier make than their canine kin. Killing them both quickly and silently seemed an unlikely proposition. With no cover to hide in, neither could they hope to approach the doors without being noticed.

"What do you think?" she asked, glancing at Robert.

Robert looked at their options and was, to be honest, was completely stumped on how the pair could move in. All the doors he could see at their current position seemed well protected, the walls were incapable of scaling, the windows looked too high to reach, and Grimm were crawling all over the place. "I don't really see any way in that won't get us a butt kicking of epic proportions. What about you? Think there's anything I may have missed?" he replied to Sand's question.

Sand's eyes went to the windows once more, weighing the options. Eventually, she looked back towards the bear Grimm and the doors beyond.

"I'm thinking," she said slowly, "that we have no need to engage the Ursas."

"We don't?" Robert answered, sounding slightly surprised. "Unless you have a grappling hook or something to get us to that window, I can't see any other way in."

"At this point, I wish had thought to bring one, but no. See, all we need to do now is to get into the fort. A door is as simple way as any. Grimm are only an issue if we can't avoid them, and look," she said, pointing at the Ursa still stuck in a doorframe. "The rest aren't much smaller. They can't follow us in."

"Alright. Let's just hope none of the other doors are locked or something then," Robert replied. "Pick a door and I'll follow. You're probably faster anyway."

Sand nodded in agreement. "If there's an issue, avoid using your guns. Attracting the harpies won't make this easier." 

Settled on a plan of action, simplistic as it was, the hunters looked across the courtyard towards the possible exits. After a moment, Sand pointed at one of the openings. "See that one? Closest to the rightmost bear?"

"... Yeah, I see it," the boy replied before getting into a runner's position and waiting for Sand to either run or give a signal to run.

She nodded, and after a moment of silent preparation, broke into a run towards the opening. Robert followed close behind. 

For the first few seconds, it seemed like the hunter's plan was going to work. And then the Ursa near the entrance the two hunters were making a dash for noticed them, and moved to engage them. He was slower than Bob but just as big, and his frame would force the two to either go far around him, or work out some way to get through him. If they took too long the Harpies, who were already starting to reorganize, would spot and swarm them.

The hunters shared a glance as the large Ursa stood in their way, braced to meet their approach. It was too late to deviate from their plan. In silent agreement, Sand and Robert veered off in different directions, hoping to confuse the monster and circumvent it. The Ursa paused and took a step back, head swinging to and fro as it tried to keep both humans in its sight. 

Once they were close enough to take a swing at, the monster let out a bass growl and chose its target, lunging after Robert.

"Why me?" Robert mumbled to himself as he attempted to dive under the Ursa's legs. It almost worked too as the young hunter-in-training's body avoided being stepped on by the bear-like monster, but his clothing was not as lucky. The teen felt a sudden tug on his hood, all momentum coming to an abrupt stop, as he looked up at the Grimm. Its paws pressing the piece of cloth into the dirt, the creature then lifted him off the ground and toward its gaping maw.

Blades extended on his bracers, Robert stabbed the Ursa in both of its eyes before the jaws of death could close around him. "Believe me, I don't taste nearly as well as I look," he said before then cutting the Grimm's paw, allowing him to escape its grasp. Running after Sand and trying to quickly catch up, the teen left the creature in its injured state while motivating himself to run faster. "Go. Go. Go."

While the Ursa was busy with Robert, Sand had ran past them in a bid for the unprotected door. She crashed against it with her shoulder, the entry swinging open with the cough of rusted hinges. By the time Robert had managed to extricate himself from the Grimm, the huntress was by the doorframe, holding it open for him. Her eyes were wide as she glanced to the sides, where the other Ursas had noticed them and were running towards them, and then up above them, where the cloud of harpies seemed to be gaining some sort of cohesion, as if rallied by the wounded Grimm's cries.

Seeing Sand's worried look, Robert looked behind himself for a split second to see what had gained the girl's attention and soon regretted that. With such dangerous creatures closing in, he picked up the pace and sprinted toward the open doorway at a speed not even he knew he could run. "Close it, close it!" the teen yelled before diving forward, past the doorframe and hopefully out of danger.

She readily obliged, slamming the door shut just as Robert flew past her and quickly backing away. 

Not as second after the door closed, they heard a powerful impact, and the door was slammed down, broken off its hinges with enough force that, had Sand remained standing where she had, it would have flattened her like a pancake. An Ursa reached in, managing to cram its head and a thick arm through the door before the small entrance halted its progress. He clawed at the air before them, letting out snarls and growls as if cursing them for being out of its reach. A sound like scratching came from the wall behind the door, such that it was not difficult to imagine the other Ursas clawing at the stone.

Sand swallowed, tapping Robert on his side to gain his attention. "We should go further in," she told him, though her eyes remained fixed on the Grimm struggling to reach them.

Not taking his eyes off the ravenous creature of Grimm, Robert nodded and began to slowly step away from the door they had come in through. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go," he said, before finally turning around to look in the direction he was walking.

Silence and darkness was what Robert and Sand would find. though their teammates were also within the building, the fortress’ thick walls prevented their fight to be heard. The aged and dusted remains of hunters and grimm of old still littered the halls. Rusted weapons, old bones, and scars on the walls and floors. Many parts of the fortress had collapsed and would force the duo to redo their efforts, but eventually they’d find that most of the halls have been collapsed from damage and age. Aside from the entrances back into the courtyard there seemed to be very little way to continue onward. At least, not walking.

Suddenly as the two hunters would be searching, a creep emerged from an air grate and attacked Sand. It aimed for her head hoping to swallow it whole during the surprise attack.

She lifted an arm between the Grimm and her face out of reflex, letting sharp teeth grind against the dark metal, but the sudden weight knocked her off balance. She fell on her back with a surprised cry, pinned under the Creep snarling around her arm and only vaguely aware of something cracking under her fall.

Gritting her teeth, she brought her free hand to the monster's throat and released her gauntlet's blades. The Creep froze as the steel pierced its skin, then slumped over her with a wet gargle. With a slow breath, she pushed the body off of her, letting it dissolve beside her. Glancing to her sides revealed an old skeleton. Or at least most of one. The skull was distinctly missing, and an arm seemed to be broken off. Shifting her weight elicited another crack, revealing the cracked bones lying under her.

Sand sat up slowly, her breathing shallow and her skin uncharacteristically pale. 

"Look at the bright side, at least it isn't fresh," Robert commented, seeing Sand's uncomfortableness with what she landed on and quickly thinking of something to distract her from it. A joke probably wasn't the right way to go though and even he knew that. "Let me help you up," the teen suggested, giving her his hand.

She nodded wordlessly, letting herself be pulled upright. She did not truly care about the damned Creep's sudden attack, but she had a feeling that skeleton would stay with her for some time, like a vision into a possible future. An extremely unwanted one at that. Sand took a steadying breath, some color returning to her cheeks. 

"I chose the wrong door," she admitted dourly. "This path is leading us nowhere." 

Robert replied with a simple shrug. `'We certainly can't go back what with all those Grimm blocking the door. I say we just keep going and hope for the best. Besides, it's not like they'd just build a random hallway for no purpose and leads to nowhere, Maybe this'll connect with some other hallway and we can get back on track." With that, the boy turned and continued to walk down the path.

The lack of footsteps following him gave him pause. Sand remained standing in the hallway, intently staring at one of the walls. Following her gaze brought his eyes to the hole from which the Creep had jumped at her.

Upon closer examination, the grate was not made of the usual alumintum like most modern buildings, but entirely out of concrete. While there were cracks and molds on the edges, it was still very much solid. The hole was long and dark, yet big enough that a creep could walk comfortably through it, though the likes of Robert and Sand would need to crouch or crawl if they wanted to get through. 

"What's up? See anything interesting?" Robert asked, walking back over to where Sand stood. He wondered what she found so interesting about the hole the Creep had ambushed her from, not yet looking inside himself.

Sand gave him a measuring glance. "You wouldn't happen to be claustrophobic, would you?"

Robert shook his head. "No, I'm fine with small spaces... as long as we don't run into any spiders. You don't know how glad I am that we haven't run into any Broodlings or Ariadne. Why? What do you have in mind?"

"The vents," she said with a touch of impatience. The boy was a bit slow on the uptake at times. "If Grimm are using them to move around the fort, there is nothing stopping us from doing the same." With a glance at the hallway they were currently in, she added, "I'm beginning to think this entire side of the fort was sectioned off either way."

"How do you plan to navigate through them though? It's not like there are bright, neon signs inside pointing us to where ever Trad and Grane are," Robert asked, clearly a bit more pessimistic about this plan of hers.

"You could say the same for these hallways," she grunted ill-humoredly. They had been walking around with no results to show for it for some time already. "Even if we had something so convenient, they'd probably lead to another dead end."

The boy shrugged, beginning to see Sand's point. "Alright, let's give it a go then," he said before trying to fit himself inside, figuring that the girl would like him to take point finally. While Robert's thin frame certainly helped with fitting inside, his height did not as his back and head were pressed against the top of the concrete vents. "Gah, this looks way more comfortable in the movies."

Sand went in after him, producing her scroll as she did. The object felt small and clumsy in her gauntleted hands, but she only needed the light, which she shone over Robert's shoulder into the dark passageway. "Come on. With luck, this will get us somewhere new."
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