Chapter 10

Alister and Cog both rush towards where the smoke was coming from only to find nothing but death, destruction and suffering. Alister balls his fists as he saw buildings falling, people screaming for help, children crying in the streets and more townsfolk running around in a panic. Alister quickly runs off to tend to the wounded with Cog following him "I'm a huntsman, how can I help?" Alister asked as he looks at a wounded woman. The woman looks up at Alister, her right arm and leg was missing along "Find….my…. daughter. her name is Azur" Alister nods then he looks at Cog "Alight, I'm going to find her kid, you stay here and help tend to the wounded and doing anything to help" Cog nods as he starts tending to the woman's injuries "I'll do whatever I can" Cog looks at the woman with a reassuring smile "We'll get her back".

Alister takes off his mask knowing that it would scare and already frightened child, he walks through the streets calling out Azur's name. "Where are you Azur? Your mother misses you. I'm a huntsman, I'll protect you" Alister stops in front of an alley way when he hears a child crying. Alister sees a girl up against a wall, crying and shaking. Alister walks up to her then he kneels beside her "Hey, there" the girl instantly jumps and backs away from Alister. Alister puts his hands up with a worried look on his face "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you Azur?" Alister asks as he looks over the girl's body. She looked hurt but there was nothing more than scratches and bruises. She looked to be about nine years old, with short gold hair, her school uniform was covered in dirt. Azur nods "where's mother?" Azur looks down, avoiding eye contact with Alister.

Alister gently puts his hand on her shoulder "A friend of mine and some townsfolk are helping her out, she asked me to find you" Alister said as Azur looked up at him Alister smiled at her. Azur's eyes fill up with tears then she hugged him tightly as she gently nuzzled his chest "Papa is gone". Alister's eyes widen as he had heard those same words before, he gently strokes Azur's head then he picks her up and holds her close. Alister looks at her "I know things are scary right now but it's time to be brave, can you do that for your mother?" Alister said as he looks at her as he walks out of the alley. Azur nods "good, because your mother wants to see her brave little girl again" Alister said as he smiles brightly, giving Azur the tiniest bit of hope.

Alister walks back through the streets, helping wherever he can while taking Azur back to her mother. Azur buried her face into Alister's shoulder. Alister spots Cog helping out people by lifting up a tree trunk off a man's leg Alister runs up to Cog "where's Azur's mother?" Alister asked as he looks around. Cog turns around then he points to the town's town hall. "they've set up a centre there, the injured are being taken care of in there" Cog said as he looks at Azur "Don't worry kid, you're in good hands" Azur nods silently then she smiles a bit at Cog.

Alister smiles at Azur "See? Everything is going to be fine" he said as he walks to the town hall. He opens the door to see many people on stretchers, doctors and nurses tending to those in need. He finds Azur's mother he walks up to her "I found her" Alister set Azur down beside her mother, Azur's mother smiles weakly as she gently strokes Azur's face "Thank you" she said as she held Azur close. "Excuse me young man!" an elderly voice rung out, Alister turns his head to where the voice came from. An elderly man with a handlebar moustache walks up to Alister "are you a huntsman?" the man asked. He had his left arm in a sling and half of his face was wrapped in bandages and his fancy looking suit was torn and tattered "I'm the town's mayor and I worry with all this panic that some Grimm might show up, I've put out an emergency request and only one accepted it. We need all the help we can get, young man. I'll hire you and pay" Alister puts his hand up in front of the Mayor's face "there's no need to hire me, I'll help out with whatever I can. You can stay here and recover, sir" Alister nods then he leaves the building then he goes out to the front on the town and looks around. Alister puts on his mask and his gauntlets, he looks around for the Grimm or the huntsman that the mayor mentioned. Alister's eyes darted around then he hears a loud howl "Oh fuck me" Alister gets into a battle stance as a pack of Beowolves come out of the forest and charge at Alister.

Alister charges towards the pack, one Beowolf charges ahead of the pack and swipes at Alister. Alister leaps over the Beowolf and flips himself in mid-air to grabs the Beowolf's head, he digs the ends of the gauntlet's into it's skull then using the momentum he screams out loud as he throws the Beowolf back at the pack. Alister rolls forward as he lands then he takes aim at the pack with his gauntlets and fires five capsules of his poison at the pack. Each capsule hits their mark with a powerful and potent gas that instantly kills the five Beowolves that get hit. The gas quickly disperses as Alister rips and tears his way through the pack but more and more keep coming.

Alister continues firing the capsules from his gauntlets all the while, dodging attacks, reloading his gauntlets and beating down the Beowolves. However as more arrive Alister is easily outnumbered, while punching a hole in a Beowolf's chest. Another one leaps at Alister from behind. Alister does not have enough time to react let alone turn around. Alister closes his eyes as he waits for his death, but it never came.

"Vector Arrow" Cog summons an arrow on the ground that points away from Alister and the town. The Beowolf is sent flying at high speeds and smashes through a few trees. Cog leaps in and uppercuts a Beowolf and plants an arrow that points up towards the sky, sending the Beowolf flying into the air. Alister opens his eyes then he chuckled as he throws a Beowolf at a tree, impaling it on a thick tree branch. "Damn, Cog. Sure, took your sweet time" Alister said as seeing Cog gave Alister a second wind of sorts.

Cog despite not being a huntsman was handling himself quite well with each punch, kick and throw that he landed on the Beowolves he summoned an arrow to send them flying away from the town. Cog kept fighting despite having a scared look on his face. Alister fires more capsules but they all miss their mark, Cog spots the capsules then summons multiple arrows to guide them back to their mark. Eventually the Beowolves stop coming, Alister and Cog look at each other as they breath a sigh of relief however their respite was quickly interrupted by a loud roar.

Alister and Cog were exhausted, but they got back into their fighting stances as a group of Ursa Minors come out followed by an Ursa Major, these bear-like creatures surround Alister and Cog. Alister and Cog were completely spent as they pant heavily while looking around at the group of Grimm that surround them. The Ursa Minors jumps at Alister and Cog but then a powerful gust of wind is felt then what looks like samurai swords impale all the Ursa Minor's heads.

A woman whistles over at the Ursa Major. Alister and Cog both turn their heads towards the woman. She has an ice-cold glare, long flowing silver hair, simple white button up shirt, long, baggy black pants, plain looking sandals and she was tall and slender. However, what caught Alister's and Cog's attention was the open box full of samurai swords that she dragged behind her. She sighed as she deftly and swiftly lifts up her hand causing the Ursa Major to be lifted up high into the air by a small tornado then she grunts as she swings the box full of swords into the air, then she motions with her other hand and summons a powerful gust of wind to throw all the swords into the Ursa Major, cutting it into pieces like a hot knife through butter. After that she gently places the box on the ground then she guides the wind to put all the swords back into the box. Alister and Cog stared in amazement then they both fall to their knees. The woman walks over to them and stands over them as she offers her hands to help them back up "I got the request, what happened here?" She asked as Alister and Cog took her hands then she pulls them back up. "Not entirely sure" Alister said as he turns around to face the town.

Cog looks at Alister then back at the woman "Apparently someone blew up a building in the town as well as a few people in the town. That's what I heard anyway" Cog said as he turns back to the town. The woman nods then she steps in front of the two "Are you huntsman?" she asks as she folded her arms. Alister looks at her then he takes off his mask "I am, I'm Alister and my friend here is Cog. He isn't a huntsman. But after seeing him fight today I think he should be" Alister said as he looks at Cog. Cog blushes a bright red as he looks away "It was nothing" Cog looks at the woman "Thank you for saving us". Alister nods as he offers his hand for the woman to shake "Yeah, thanks. Who are you by the way?". The woman shook Alister's hand "I'm Kaze" she lets go of Alister's hand then she walks into the town, Alister and Cog follow her back in.

Everything has died down for now, all the injured were safe in the town hall. All Alister, Cog and Kaze could do now was help clean up the town for a few days they helped with everything from fixing people's prosthetic limbs to cooking food and help gathering supplies such as bandages and food. Alister in his free time also spent time with Azur by playing games and reading books to her. As a few days prior Azur's mother had passed away due to her injuries. Alister took it upon himself to make Azur smile and help her grieve. One day Alister was out cleaning the town he spotted an acoustic guitar, he picked it up and took it back to the town hall. Kaze was in the town hall, sharpening her swords while keeping a watchful eye over the children that were playing a game of tag. A small smile appears on her face as she shakes her head.

Cog was busy fixing all kinds of prosthetic limbs and as well as upgrading them as well and tending to the wounded with what knowledge that Dr Cal had taught him. Alister sat on a stool then he strums the guitar, he smiles as he starts playing the guitar. Alister clears his throat "This is a song my Pa taught me" he said as a crowd of people surrounded Alister then they all sat and listened to him. Alister was playing a cheerful tune on the guitar then he started singing, his voice went hand in hand with the guitar. People and the children were clapping and dancing something that was a far cry from a few days ago, Kaze smirks as she stops sharpening her blade, closes her eyes and listens.

Cog was still busy fixing stuff, but he was tapping his foot along to the song as he smiles. Alister played for a few hours in an impromptu concert, playing songs that Pa had taught him as well as playing a few songs that he had made himself and a few requests from the crowd. Just for a short period of time everyone forgot about what happened and just had fun, they all clapped and cheered as Alister finished playing. Azur ran up and hugged Alister's leg "Mother would've loved hearing that" she said with a giggle. Alister knelt and ruffles Azur's hair "I think she was listening with everyone here" he said with a smile then he stands up and puts the guitar against a wall. Azur steps in front of Alister with tears in her eyes but a huge grin on her face "Yeah! You're right. I gotta keep her in my heart. that way I'll never forget her".