AN: I've renamed this Story - and also this chapter for that matter - after I wrote the second chapter, simply because that one didn't refer to the beginnings of Team CFVY anymore.
She was falling.
Fast.
The ground was rushing up to meet her.
Soon she would land.
She had heard that often people wondered how they got into such a situation, but she did not.
She knew exactly how she'd gotten here.
She also had no fear.
No, she was Coco Adel.
She may be from one of the richest families in the country, but she couldn't afford to be afraid.
No, she had known of this beforehand, before she had deliberately stepped unto the grey plate, that would fling her into the distance. It all belonged to the plan. To her plan to become a huntress. To her teachers plans to make her a huntress. Once she was on the ground, she would have to find her way towards a temple near the northern end of the forest and retrieve a relic.
Somewhere on the way she was supposed to get a partner. Of course, she hadn't been the only person to be shot into the forest and the first other human being – or faunus for that matter – she made eye-contact with would be her partner, according to the rules.
"Do my sunglasses count against eye-contact?" She had to wonder.
Though right now she had more pressing matters to attend to. For example the ground, which had come considerably closer.
"Time for my landing."
With a flick of her wrist, she unfolded her minigun, planted her feet on top of it and pulled the trigger to slow her descent and also to create a clearing for her to land on, instead of crashing into trees.
A few feet from touchdown, she pulled up the muzzle and prepared for the impact.
She crashed down hard, sliding at least twenty feet across the clearing, tearing up the ground, but she managed to keep her balance on top of her weapon.
Stepping down from her gun, she dusted herself off and folded her weapon back into its less clumsy form, a black handbag, with golden studs and an ammo-belt as shoulder strap.
Thus, she started her way through the forest.
…
Some time later, she stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear voices. No, not voices. Laughter. And crying. She hurried into their direction and burst onto a clearing.
There were five people already here. One of them was a faunus and she was surrounded by the other four. She also was the one crying.
"What the hell is going here?" Coco yelled. She glared at the four of them from behind her aviators, pausing only to look at the faunus girl. She even lifted her sunglasses for a second, giving a small nod, to signify she had now officially partnered up to her.
"Look who it is, the fashion queen." The biggest one, apparently their self-proclaimed leader, mocked. "Yeah, you wanna style us to death?" the guy to his left sniggered.
"No. I want you to leave that girl alone. I can't possibly imagine her doing anything to you." She calmly replied.
"Oh, but she has. She has insulted us by being here, by believing she could be a huntress. She's not even human, she doesn't deserve it. I'll sooner be killed by a Beowolf than to see her become a huntress." The leader snapped back, while the two guys who had kept silent so far, returned to bullying the girl in their middle.
Before Coco could think of a response, another voice could be heard.
"It must be hard to fight without being ab-…What is going on here?"
The voice belonged to a veritable giant of a man, with a giant sword on his back. Next to him was a dark-skinned boy with armblades. He had scars all over his body and appeared to be blind.
"There are six people here, four around a faunus and one off to the left." The giant said to his partner, who nodded his acknowledgement.
"I've asked the same question a few seconds before." Coco told them.
"And my answer is this: It doesn't concern you, any of you. This is between us and the faunus." The leader of the bullies said.
"You expect us to simply leave you alone?" The giant said, while his silent companion moved into an aggressive stance, his blades held ready.
"By the way, I may not be a Beowolf, but I can still fulfil your wish to die, when she becomes a huntress." Coco said and as the leader turned to her, he found himself facing six barrels of death.
"Whoa, c-cool down everyone. Just w-walk a-away and no one will get hurt." He stammered, the confidence washed from his face.
Before anyone could act further though, the very light seemed to leave the clearing, being replaced by a daunting darkness and menacing, red eyes, accompanied by snarls and howls.
"Grimm!" someone yelled, just as one of the beasts jumped forth from between the trees, immediately lunging at the group in the centre. Halfway across it was torn apart by a hail of bullets. Coco continued to sweep her gun across, ripping through the trees and the Grimm among them. She was aware of others fighting around her, a giant blade cutting and slicing the beasts apart, while two smaller ones slashed and stabbed them. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see movement towards the trees, but the creatures kept her preoccupied.
When the last beast had turned to ashes, she looked around the clearing only to find it nearly deserted. The bullies had used to commotion to bail it, apparently dragging the faunus along.
She ran towards the point she had seen movement earlier, calling to the other two as she went: "Hurry up, we can't let them get away!"
The giant and his partner hesitated just a second, then quickly followed her. It didn't take them long to hear yells and cries. They found Coco hiding behind a bush, peering through the leaves.
There, under a big tree, the bullies were, beating up the faunus and pulling her long bunny ears.
With a roar of fury, Coco leapt forward, hitting the nearest guy in the back with her handbag. The rest quickly drew their weapons, only to be confronted with a trio of blades. It was a short and merciless fight.
The dark-skinned boy hit his opponent with a flurry of blows, never giving him the chance to retaliate.
Next to him the giant swung his blade in wide arcs, keeping his foe at a distance. He managed to knock his weapon aside, finishing the guy with a downwards hit.
Coco however was the dirtiest fighter of them all. She kicked the leader in the balls, followed by an uppercut with her handbag, which sent him stumbling. He got another kicked, this time on his ass, and crashed into a tree.
By now the blind boy had finished his adversary with a two-handed punch to the stomach, just as Coco kicked the guy, whom she had hit first, back down.
A sob pulled them back into reality.
She quickly rushed to the girl sobbing and crying beneath the tree. She shied away from Coco's touch, who tried to calm her.
"Shh, calm down. Everything's fine now. They won't hurt you any more."
Humming a soothing tune, she pulled the faunus up and hugged her.
All dams seemed to break down and the girl now openly sobbed into Coco's shoulder. The giant moved over, placing a big hand reassuringly on the crying girl's shoulder, smiling down on her.
His partner simply stood there, a bit off from the group, listening for any signs of monsters.
No one could say how long they had been standing like this, but at some point the tears stopped flowing. Coco held her at arms length, looking at her over the rim of her glasses, concern clearly visible in her eyes.
"You okay?" she asked and received a small nod and a mumbled "Thank you" as response.
"We should call Ozpin." Coco said.
"No! I – I mean, we will be kicked out of Beacon for this, won't we?" the girl asked, obviously afraid of the repercussions of the unsanctioned fight.
"No. She's right. We have to tell him." The giant intervened, "If we don't, these guys will. I don't think we would like their version of the story." His partner nodded.
"That's settled then." Coco concluded and pulled out her scroll. She quickly found the contact she was looking for.
"Professor Ozpin? This is Coco Adel. I wanted to tell you-"
"Of how you beat up a group of fellow students. I have not lied, when I told you all would be monitored."
"Oh...um...right. Sorry for calling."
"Don't be. It was the right thing to do. We will discuss this incident later. For now, please continue with your initiation." And thus he ended the call.
"Well...he wouldn't let us continue if he wanted to kick us out, I guess." Coco tried to sound confident, but had doubts nagging at her mind herself. Maybe it was a trick. What if he wanted them to defy his orders and thus prove yet more unruly or instead leave behind helpless students and not show the honour required of true huntsmen and huntresses. For a few moments they stood on silence.
"Why did you help me?" The faunus asked suddenly, "You're an Adel. Why would you of all people help a faunus?"
"Just because I am an Adel, that doesn't mean I share my father's view of the world." Coco explained, "He may want to oppress your kind, but I don't and will not start to do so. That's part of why I want to be a huntress."
The faunus pondered this a while and then nodded as a sign she understood.
"Um...may...may I take a photo of you all?" She blurted out after another few silent moments.
"What, fangirling over us already?" Coco laughed.
"No, that's not it. I'm grateful of course, but this is for my weapon, you know. It can create copies of the weapons I've photographed. They only last a short while though." she explained.
"We would be happy to oblige. I'm Yatsuhashi, by the way, but you can just call me Yatsu." the giant said.
"Fox." his friend murmured, nodding his agreement to her request.
"Oh, I am Velvet." the faunus replied and turned to Coco.
"But I am not prepared for a photo-shooting." the fashionable girl teased, "but then again I'm always stylish." She laughed and positioned herself between Yatsu and Fox.
A flash of light and a shower of thanks later they were walking to where they thought the temple was located. Before long, they reached the end of the forest and had a clear view at their target.
"Well...this is bad." Coco declared.
The temple, it seemed, was overrun with Grimm, even a King Taijitu.
"You said you can copy our weapons?" Coco asked.
"Yes?"
"And those copies don't last long?"
"Yes?"
"Then keep back, we need you later. Yatsu, focus on the bigger ones. Fox, watch our backs...or whatever you do, as you can't..." she trailed off. "Well...um...never mind, let's do this."
She unfolded her minigun and started mowing down the oncoming beasts. The giant warrior beside her rushed forward, slicing apart Beowolves and Ursai as he went. Fox kept running back and forth, killing anything that came too close to the girls.
The Grimm fell to the dozens to Coco's gun. Soon enough, the King Taijitu joined the fight.
"Velvet, your turn. The rest of you, distract the second head." she yelled.
"Are you...are you serious? My turn?" the faunus asked, excitement lighting up her eyes.
"Even a bunny can bite and the way I see it you quite pack a punch." Coco smiled at her.
With barely concealed glee, Velvet stepped forward, a copy of Coco's minigun materializing in her hands. She also mimicked her stance and pelted the other head of the giant snake with a rain of bullets. Then she ran forwards, now with armblades at her sides, slashing at the monster's eyes. She finished this head with a powerful double-punch against the side of its head, practically bashing it in.
Quickly dodging out of the way, she avoided being crushed by the second head, which she separated from its body in the blink of an eye with the copy of Yatsu's giant sword.
"Nice moves, bunny." Coco called. The faunus seemed a bit shocked at the nickname, but a clap on the back reassured her and she managed a small smile.
"Now, what do we have here?" Coco wondered, striding towards the pedestals in the temple.
"You got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed, "Coffee mugs? Seriously?"
"Looks like it." Yatsu murmured. They both grabbed a white cup and headed back to their respective partners.
"Let's get back. We still have a certain matter to discuss with Ozpin."
"Coco Adel, Yatsuhashi Daichi, Velvet Scarlatina, Fox Alistair. You retrieved the white coffee mugs. Your team will be known as Team CVFY, lead by….Coco Adel!" Professor Ozpin announced, as cheers erupted around them.
"Please follow me." he whispered to them, so only they could hear him.
He lead them to a nearby classroom. "I guess you are all aware of why I brought you here." he stated, matter-of-factly.
"You want to talk about the brawl in the forest." Coco sighed.
"Yes. I would like to indeed. I am particularly interested in Miss Scarlatina's version of the story."
"M-my version, sir? Why?" the nervous girl asked.
"Because you were in a highly emotional state most of the time. The way you have perceived the incident may differ greatly from the others and the cameras show only so much." the headmaster answered.
Coco placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder and nodded reassuringly.
"Well..." she started, "Everything seemed fine at first. The landing went smoothly, I encountered no Grimm and when I saw the boys I was happy to have found a partner. Only, they had already partnered up and obviously didn't like me being a faunus. They pushed me around and pulled my ears, laughing all the while. Then Coco appeared and stared them down. She looked me directly in the eyes and officially became my partner. Shortly after, Yatsu and Fox arrived as well. The bullies started to panic and all the negativity in the air drew the Grimm to the place. While the others fought off the beasts, I was being dragged away by the bullies. They started hitting and kicking me now, pulling my ears even harder, yelling at me. I-it was dreadful"
She had to stop to refocus, which Coco used as an excuse to put an arm around her shoulder.
Velvet sighed. "All I wanted was for them to stop and leave me alone. But they didn't for a long time. Then suddenly they did. I wasn't aware of what was happening around me, I practically shut down, wanted to be left alone by the world. Then I thought they would start again, until someone pulled me up and hugged me. It felt so wonderful, this simple gesture of love and care. Once I had calmed down, Coco called you. That's all there is to tell." she finished.
"Thank you, Miss Scarlatina. You had to suffer so much on your second day here, I hope your future time will be all the better. Now, I bet you all were wondering whether I would kick you out of Beacon for this...how did you call it, Coco?...ah yes, brawl. Well, quite on the contrary. I believe you to be one of the best teams we have gained this year." he smiled at their surprised expressions. "Not only did you fight bravely against a vast number of Grimm, but you also gave those bullies a chance to...surrender peacefully. You didn't hesitate to rush to your friends aid, when they did not. Calling me was a proof of your honour and honesty. But most importantly, you acted as a team from the very beginning, never questioning each others actions." Velvet gave Coco a quick look, knowing that this was not entirely true.
"What about the bullies? Why didn't you kick those out?" Fox wanted to know.
"I believe they pose a much smaller threat here under my watch than out in the world. Besides, kicking them out because of a faunus's team probably wouldn't change their minds about non-humans in a positive way." the professor answered. He waited for more questions and when none came, he raised his voice again.
"Thank you all for your time, especially you, Miss Scarlatina. You may go now."
Halfway through the door, Coco turned back around.
"Professor, I was wondering." she said.
"What about, Miss Adel?" he asked.
"Why coffee mugs?" she demanded.
He chuckled. "I was hoping someone would ask. You see, it's the small and simple things, which help us most, both in everyday business as well as in times of hardship. If we have to live without those things, what kind of life would we have? I chose coffee mugs for the revitalizing properties of the drink. I mostly recognized this all yesterday morning, when I couldn't find my own cup." he said with a smile, "And in hindsight it's an even better choice.
It fits your team."
AN: I just wanted to say that I created this in less than a day, from getting the idea to finishing this story. I'm not sure whether I'll write more to this, but I'd like Feedback anyways.