The three travelers were silent as they continued on their journey to Atlas' capital. Between the occasional stop in passing towns to resupply and the rare appearance of Grimm, the trip was mostly uneventful. Due to the fact that they had mostly worked out some of their underlying issues, most conversation was sparse and bland since most of their attention still had to be on their surroundings just to be on the side of caution. It was Emerald who finally decided to break the silence with something more tangible than small talk.

"Soo…since we never really talked about it before…where exactly do you two come from?"

Frost's body lurched in shock at the sudden noise, his senses focused more on the path ahead and the map he occasionally pulled out to check their course than on the group he was travelling with. He placed a hand on his chest in a futile effort to cam his now racing heart as Neo giggled somewhat before turning to face Emerald to answer her question.

"Just from a small village a few days travel from Vale, why do you ask? This seems like a bit of an odd time to ask a question like that out of the blue."

Emerald shrugged as they continued walking along, their attention now split between the road ahead and each other. "Nothing major, really. I just realized that even though we've been travelling together for some time now that we've never really talked about our lives before we got caught up in all of this mess. Figured I'd be the one to break the ice this time and get things out in the open."

Frost chuckled as he put away the map for the time being. "Well that's a first, considering how quiet you liked to be before. Don't like not having someone talk away?"

Emerald frowned slightly at the insinuation. "Just because I took orders from Cinder and had to deal with Mercury's constant sass, it doesn't mean I prefer constantly hearing something. It's just…too quiet out here. I know that Atlas and Vale both have a lot of open territory between some of the villages and cities, but it feels more…smothering in Atlas than it does in Vale. I don't know why."

"Honestly," Neo started as the three of them continued along the winding road. "It probably might just be the atmosphere of the kingdom. The Great War may have been a long time ago but some parts of it, like Atlas' suppression of creativity, can sometimes still linger in places even after years have passed. Atlas has always followed a bit of a stricter compass, and even some of its citizens admit that not everything was fixed by the War ending. It could that…or it could just be that you're bored, Emerald."

"Meh, either one works for me. I just want to finally do something active while we're here. The Grimm we've faced so far have been in such scattered amounts that nothing feels difficult. I get that they setup here because the Grimm are less common, but how on earth are they supposed to practice fighting them when they're barely around?"

"Just do what I do when I get bored." Frost stated plainly from the end of the group. "Count your footsteps and see how high the number gets before something catches your attention."

Emerald's face deadpanned while Frost gave her a straight look before shrugging and moving ahead. "Yeah…because that sounds sooo exciting."

"I never said it was fun, it just keeps my mind occupied."

"Isn't that what the map is for?" Neo asked with curiosity.

Frost turned the map around so that the other two could see it. "When the only route has only one path with no forks or deviations in it…you start to just look at it to keep your eyes busy, too. Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to have something exciting happen, but the odds of something just running through the tree line and right into us is next to nothing."

It was at that moment that Frost got his very wish- in the form of a rather sizable group of Atlas citizens breaking from the foliage in a rush as the lead member of the group toppled into Frost's back, knocking the two of them into a snowdrift.

"Remind me to ask him how he does that the next time we stop for a break." Emerald commented to Neo as the latter laughed lightly at her comment.

Frost's head lifted from the snow as he gave the two of them a snow-coated look. "Oh, haha. Very funny. Maybe you two could chat over some hot cocoa while I'm half buried in snow here. Don't help me up whatsoever. Besides, what hit me?"

"That would be me, sorry." A light voice came from behind Frost as he tried to crane his head around to see who was speaking. It was at this moment that Frost, Neo, and Emerald all finally realized that there were in fact other people standing around them with rather frightened looks on their faces with the exception of a few people carrying weapons and keeping a watchful eye out. The voice speaking belonged to a younger girl, likely a few years younger than them who currently was sitting on Frost's back at an odd angle from the landing the two had made when she ran into his back. "I tried running ahead to scout for the village, and you happened to be on the other side of the bushes. I'm really sorry about that."

Frost waved a hand nonchalantly as he and the girl both got up and brushed snow off of themselves. "Whatever. It happens. Anyways, why are so many of you in such a hurry?"

"And so nervous for that matter?" Neo interjected as an add-on to Frost's question.

"I believe I can explain that." The voice of an adult male came out from the group as a man with a formal stance stepped forward from the group. He appeared to be just as calm as the armed citizens within the group, but despite not having a weapon on his person he seemed to cast an air of command about him, one that demanded attention when he was speaking. "First of all, I apologize for my daughter's hastiness in our initial encounter. Her job was to scout, not to run full brazen into the open road without looking first. Second of all, my name is Hatham. I am what you would consider the mayor of our town, though I don't know if that title means much anymore without one."

"What do you mean?" Neo asked curiously. "Why would you not be mayor anymore short of the place being destroyed?"

"Because, my dear. That is precisely what has happened." Hatham stated with a sigh as he removed his glasses for a moment as he looked up towards the sky with a sad look in his eyes. "Our village is currently swarmed with a bizarre type of Grimm that has not been seen before, and due to both their sudden appearance and our smaller population we were forced to flee before many of us were killed. Unfortunately…not everyone was so fortunate. A few of our citizens were out gathering firewood from our usual spot in the woods when they were set upon by the Grimm without warning. Only a couple lost their lives in the initial attack, but apparently another pack had been approaching town from a different direction and by the time the rest of them returned the town was already under siege. One of the citizens that returned happened to be a retired Huntsman with a wife who was also retired and their children and he told the rest of us to get out while he went to gather his family from one of the houses on the edge of town closest to where the Grimm initially attacked. The look on that man's face was both determined and fearful at the same time and I did not hesitate to have the town evacuated after seeing and hearing what he told us. We ran for the better part of the day and then we ran, quite literally in this case, into you three. What purpose do three armed children have in this part of Atlas, anyways?" The three of them looked to each other for a moment before nodding as Neo stepped forward.

"We're students from Beacon who came to Atlas to try and find answers about the attack on Vale. We happened to be passing by on our way to the capital to try and speak with someone higher up in Atlas to hopefully gain some clue or possible lead to where we should look next."

"Does this have anything to do with the supposed claims that Atlas is partly to blame for the attacks?!" Hatham stepped forward menacingly as he glared down at Neo, his pleasant demeanor rapidly replaced by a man bordering on a rage.

"Hey, back up old man." Frost stated as he stepped forward, his bracers locking into place as he glared back into the man's eyes. "We were there, like she said, so we know that Atlas isn't to blame. Someone high jacked the robotic soldiers Atlas had brought by commandeering one of the airships. General Ironwood himself was helping to fight against the Grimm and robots himself amidst everything, so we're not saying we blame you. Now step away so we can go get your town back."

The man's stance faltered in the face of Frost's sudden involvement and steel tone. He cleared his throat briefly as he straightened his collar before speaking in a more controlled manner. "My apologies for my outburst, it's just that some of the refugees that came here from Vale have been more than open about their opinion of Atlas at present. It's good to know that not everyone has that mindset."

"Yeah, well when you've seen some of the things we've seen, you'd understand why we're not like those idiots." Emerald stated matter-of-factly. "So we just head in the direction you guys came from and we'll be there within the day?"

"Yes, but I don't see how the three of you alone can stop so many of them. What do you plan to do?"

Neo and Emerald looked to each other with uncertainty while Frost glanced amongst the group, through the crying children and frightful citizens to the trained warriors who you could occasionally see their stance falter as their eyes fleeted back and forth to their surroundings as though anticipating another attack.

"We'll wipe out every last one of them. Simple as that." The statement was made so calmly and strongly that everyone in the area stopped what they were doing to all stare at Frost in the center of attention.

Hatham faltered somewhat as he gave Frost a dumbfound look before shaking himself together. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said we're going to kill all of the Grimm. Simple."

Hatham's expression grew wild as he shook his head in shock. "B-but, there are at least two dozen of them there now, possibly more if any others arrived after we fled the town. How can three of you take on that many at once?!"

"Easy. Because I can do this." Frost stated plainly as he walked over to a nearby tree that was slightly thicker than others around it. "Everyone step back so you don't get crushed under this." The group of citizens all looked at each other with confused looks before Neo and Emerald sighed and stepped in to gently move the group further away.

"We're clear Frost. Let it out." Neo stated sadly as Frost turned his head slightly to nod at the two of them, Neo and Emerald the only ones in line to see the slight black tendrils starting to creep into Frost's pained eyes before he turned back as his arms flared brightly.

Moments later a loud, rage-filled scream pierced the air as Frost began pummeling the tree's trunk with his armored fists, the sound of splintering and crunching wood the only sound to be heard for nearly a minute before Frost stopped, his arms slack at his sides while the tree itself wobbled back and forth with a large gouge near its base. A moment later a loud splintering sound then echoed through the air as the tree began toppling towards Frost, it's weight carrying it directly towards him as the group of citizens began to panic.

"Boy, move!" Hatham yelled with shock as Frost stood unmoving at the face of the tree shifting in front of him.

Emerald looked over to Neo, the latter of which sighed sadly once again as the light around her flashed for a moment as she teleported next to Frost's body as she grabbed onto one of his dimming hands with one of her own before the light around them flashed once more and they teleported back to group just as the tree finished collapsing mere feet from the group.

The group of citizens all started moving to circle Neo, Emerald, and Frost as they all struggled to see if he was hurt at all. Hatham and his daughter were the ones who stepped forward to see if everything was okay, only for Hatham's daughter to cover her mouth in shock with a gasp as she and her father saw tears streaming down Frost's face while Neo hugged him from the side as she tried to console him.

"I…don't understand. What happened?" Hatham asked gently with a shocked voice. "Why did he just stop like that?" Frost and Neo were both silent as Emerald looked on, torn between stepping in and also wanting to stand back and see if they would explain given her own curiosity in the situation. Was she about to learn more about Frost and Neo's past by accident?

"Our village in Vale…was attacked by Grimm over ten years ago. Both of us lost our parents in the attack, with the majority of the town being decimated within moments at the ferocity of the attacks that happened. He…never fully got over it and hearing about something similar happening here probably set him off even more than he realized. I'm sorry you had to see him like that."

"If anything, we should be apologizing for forcing him to remember such a tragic event. For a child to lose their parents at such a young age is a fate no one should be subjected to. But while your display proves your skill, I still don't see how the three of you are supposed to take care of such a large pack of Grimm on your own."

"Trust me, we've got this handled." Emerald stated as she stepped forward finally, one hand resting on Frost's shoulder as he looked over with a still somewhat broken look on his face even though the tears had long since stopped. "We've faced worse back in Vale and even through getting used to fighting together so we'll find some way to stop them. I promise."

The villagers all looked back and forth to each other and they started whispering while Hatham stood with a hand to his chin in thought with his eyes closed, his daughter standing next to him with a pleading look on her face. After some small time of silence, he opened his eyes and nodded to the three of them with a neutral expression.

"Fine then. We will leave the defense of our town in your hands. Please do what you can to save anyone that may still be alive there, though I'm unsure whether anyone could in the amount of time we've been gone. Just don't get yourselves hurt for our sakes. You may be Huntsmen In-Training, but your lives are still more important than ours due to what you are capable of achieving. We won't fault you if you choose to turn and continue on your own journey."

"Not happening." Frost stated as he ran an arm across his face to clean away remnants of his crying. "I've already seen a town lost once, if I can do anything about it I won't see it happen again. Once we leave, give it a couple of hours and start making your way back. That should give us time to clean up and leave things open to the rest of you to return to your homes. Only turn around if you either see any of us running towards you and say that it's too much, or if you hear sounds of Grimm, hide."

"We'll see, but I also won't unnecessarily risk my own people without confirmation."

"Trust me, you'll have it. Hopefully we'll see the rest of you warm and comfortable again by this time tonight." With that, Frost, Neo, and Emerald started walking in the direction the villagers had come from, the group parting to let them by as they all watched with equal parts worry and wonder.

"So this is what they meant when they told us about the unstoppable drive of Huntsmen." Hatham whispered to himself.

"Who said that, dad?" Hatham's daughter stated from beside him.

"Just some friends of mine from back in the day." Hatham stated with a light smile on his face. "I just hope he managed to get to his family in time. The last thing we need today is more family's torn apart by the Grimm. Those children have faced enough hardship for a lifetime, and I pray they don't have to face more before their journey is over."

Only time will tell.

So I decided to have the notes follow the chapter this time around rather than come before just so that I can just say a couple things.

For those that have read this story through what has been written so far as well as the prequel, I likely mentioned at some point that Frost has some of my own personal tendencies when it comes to quirks and mannerisms, one of those being the odd counting steps and bottling up emotions just to release all at once in a large outburst. It's not healthy, but it's also very realistic and a big part of how some folks just happen to function.

Now that aside, I also just want to take a moment to thank everyone that has been on this ride so far whether you're here relatively new or since the beginnings of my original story. I realize that I have been slacking a bit lately when it comes to updates, but I promise that this story won't be ending or being cancelled anytime soon. I've put too much love and care into writing this and refuse to just let it end/die out like that. The only real issue I'm having at the moment is figuring out some of the intricacies of later arcs in this story prior to the finale, which I have figured out for the most part. This arc however still has a fair bit to go, so as long as I can get even something small to go with in that time I shouldn't have any issue with getting this story good from start to finish.

For those that want to leave any thoughts, criticisms, or questions, feel free to leave them here or in a PM. I may have some decent writing practice under my belt but any potential improvements are more than welcome, especially since I am thinking of cracking out a novel of my own once this story has reached its end.

And with that done, enjoy the rest of your day everyone and I hope you like it so far!