Chapter One

        There was frost on the ground. Meera was smart enough to know this meant their tracks would be more visible. Her companions, not so much. 

        "And then I said 'wow, are you always this chatty?' and he picked me up and threw me!" 

        Meera groaned. Grimm had never been good at stealth, despite labeling himself a rogue, and this new party member was just encouraging his antics.

        "Whoa! That's so cool!" Korra whisper-shouted back. "Did you break anything?"

        Grimm smirked. "Just a few tables… told the bartender to put it on my tab."

        "No, he made you work in the kitchen washing dishes the rest of the night!" Meera snapped, turning to face the two following in her tracks. Several birds woke from their sleep and flew off over the forest.

        "Aw, look what you did, you made too much noise!" Grimm shook his head sadly. Meera bit back her response.

        "We're almost to the meeting point. Please just stop talking and walk in my footsteps, can you handle that?"

        "Yeah, 'course. I am a pro at leaving no trace, if you hadn't noticed."

        "I really hadn't, no."

        The trio continued through the frosted forest, the two in the back holding their tongues for once. Meera kept her eyes moving, watching for enemies. It was Fanglor's job to make sure the path ahead was clear, but she wouldn't put it past him to decide to let one escape just for some entertainment. Knowing that that was a possibility just set her more on edge. The woods was eerily quiet tonight. Meera had grown up hunting in forests just like this one, and she could tell something was off. She picked up the pace. The faster they met up with the others the more at ease she would feel.

        Meanwhile, about one hundred paces ahead, Fanglor was positioned in a tree. He was confident that he had fully cleared the path, and the three below were making good time towards the clearing. Now he was settled in and busy whittling a small branch into some sort of spear. It was lousy, and he would never trust it in even a play fight, but the idea of pawning it off to Grimm was just too good. That kid would never learn. And now he had a companion who had latched on to all his dumb stories. Korra didn't seem particularly bright herself, but at least she had some serious skill with a sword. 

        Tonight's mission was fairly simple. Meet the neighboring pawn artist to negotiate the return of some precious family heirlooms to the Ligasse family. But, knowing things never go as simply as advertised, the party had chosen to split up and scout for any danger. Sylas and Luna, a paladin and a sorceress respectively, were going to handle the deal themselves while the remaining five waited as back-up in case the worst case scenario should happen. 

        Fanglor heard hushed whispers below his perch. "What the hell…" he muttered to himself. Grimm could never keep his stupid mouth shut. Fanglor stood on the branch, turning towards a tree with sturdy looking branches maybe ten feet away. If he jumped downwards, towards a larger joint in the tree, he could probably make it down to the ground to meet with the others. But as he was about to make the leap, he heard rustling in the bushes on the forest floor ahead. 

        "Meera, get down!" he whispered sharply. Luckily, Meera was more observant than the other two and responded quickly, kneeling and readying a weapon. Grimm and Korra took a moment more to change their stances, which in turn gave the concealed enemy time to release an arrow and hit Grimm in the shin. 

        "Ow! What the fuck!" The rogue squawked. 

        Fanglor acted quickly, using the rustling of the foliage to precisely locate the opponent. He drew an arrow, cocking and releasing it far faster than the stranger had. He heard a yelp and knew his arrow had struck something of importance. "Let's move! Get to the clearing!" He shouted, moving rapidly down the trees to the forest floor.      

        "C'mon you baby, we'll get the arrow out later." Grimm hissed through his teeth, snapping the wood of the arrow to avoid catching it on any brush. The four of them moved fast, encountering only two more enemies who they quickly disarmed. They reached the clearing just in time to see Sylas slit the throat of the pawn shop owner. 

        "Aw, shit," Meera groaned. "Why can't we just have a simple quest for once?" Luna was distracting the lackey with an illusion, and Sylph had just emerged from the forest across the clearing from Meera and the others. They were looking around for someone to heal, and quickly located Grimm. 

        "Oh Sylph, thank the deities!" Grimm sat down and extended his bad leg upon seeing the small healer. "Look what happened, some asshole snuck up on us but I was at least able to take the damage for the others." He had such a proud look on his face.

        Sylph reached the overly dramatic human and knelt. "You know, those abilities of yours would be a lot more useful if you used them to dodge these sorts of things." Grimm tinged a bit red, stuttering out some sort of response.

        Meera and Fanglor moved to join Sylas with the target. "So, what happened here?" Meera asked.

        "We got here and he was looking to cut us a deal. Some bullshit legendary shield for our silence. We told him no, and he wasn't too thrilled." Sylas was a stoic one. He was the perfect stereotype of a paladin. Big, buff, stern-faced, and lacking some social skills. But he was genuine, and he didn't take shit from anyone. 

        Luna made a motion as if dusting off her hands, leaving the bodyguard in a docile trance. "He wouldn't even consider our proposal. Looks like we'll need to go to the source after all."

        Fanglor groaned. He had been hoping this little trade would go smoothly, unlike every single other quest they had acquired so far.      

        "Heading back into town, then?"

        "We'll have to. I wonder if the inn will take us another night."

        The inn reluctantly gave the seven individuals their rooms for one more night. There were several members of the party who liked to cause chaos for the innkeepers in the late hours, primarily by getting absolutely trashed on watery local ale and then running through the halls like children. 

        Tonight it only took Grimm about two hours of rough housing before he was ready to call it quits. Sylph had healed his wound quite nicely, and now all it did was twinge a little when he put weight on the leg. Nothing a bit of alcohol couldn't dull. When he got back to the room he shared with Sylph the healer was already asleep, curled up underneath the heavy hide blanket. Grimm smiled at how peaceful the other looked despite how stressful of a week it had been. He slid off his trousers and shirt before constructing a somewhat elaborate nest to sleep in. While he was certainly a brave warrior, he was also partial to comfort, and took no status-related debuff from appreciating some soft blankets and cozy lodgings. 

        Grimm and the others fell asleep knowing that the next day would require them to be well-rested.