Here we are again, my dear friends. Chapter 6.
To be totally honest, I really didn't like writing this chapter much compared to the others all because this chapter was purely to advance the plot. But that wasn't to say I didn't enjoy it at all. It's just not the same ya know? But I understand that this chapter is the gate way for more awesomeness to come.
Also, did I mention that I hate that the time here is different than the time over where ever you are? Well I do. My scheduled is for me to put out my new chapters by Saturday midnight, which is 6 am in the morning in Washington Saturday. I imagine that you guys in America logging on to fanfiction and seeing my story and read it at breakfast. Kinda makes me giddy.
And so, Loric Kane presenting the next chapter of the Prodigy child!
Chapter 6:
To protect a friend
"It has been one whole year since the last mission to retake land from the Grim. In that time, Vale has been gathering their strength for the next mission scheduled in three years time. But according to government census data, there has been a massive unexpected boom in the population. Professionals predict that in the next year there will be food shortages and an increase in price of farmed goods. This will cause our economy to crash. Forced to make a decision, the government officially announced the next land reclamation mission to begin tomorrow. Our correspondent Angela has do-"
"I told you over and over again, NO! You will not look at my clothes!"
Blake signed as she turned up the volume on her tablet, trying to focus on the latest news. Her team has become such a hassle ever since Weiss claimed that Arashi was a secret cross dresser. it was so absurd they would have let it go if not for Yang backing her up, all the while blushing up a storm. Blake didn't want to know what that was about nor did she want to. But whatever it was, it made Yang's fear of their master disappear and replaced with shyness and embarrassment. Something that looked alien on her normally vibrant face.
So after that revelation, Weiss and Ruby both wanted to see what the blue haired boy had hanging in his wardrobe. Blake figured that Weiss wanted to know because of her pride. From Weiss's description of the boy, Blake could imagine that if she met a boy who could pull of a convincing cute female look, her pride would have deflated just a little. And knowing Weiss, she took her pride seriously. Blake felt her pain, honestly. Being cute is one of the many but important things that girls held over boys. Though that was her speculation, might be true might not be.
As for Ruby, Blake guessed it was because since Arashi shared a similar body type to the girl, she could easily fit into some of his clothes. That and Ruby's natural curiosity. Though Ruby might find some resistants in the chest area. No matter how cute Arashi was dressed as a girl, something that Blake still had doubts about, he probably couldn't buy any clothes suited for…the more endowed members of the fairer sex. And she could tell that Ruby's B-cup chest will only barely fit in his clothes…
How did Blake know her cup size?
Lets just say she has a keen eye for such things.
"But Arashi!" Ruby cried, as she opened the door into their dorm room "I wanna see!"
"Do I look like I care?!" Arashi howled, eyes taking note of Blake and her foul mood "Plus don't you have homework to do?"
"I finished it already" Ruby said proudly picking up her notebook from the side draw "See?"
Arashi snatched it out of Ruby's hand and skimmed through it before she could say anything. Ruby saw him blink. Once. Twice. A dozen more times "…What the hell is this?"
"1000 words on why Professor Port will become the next headmaster"
"You got to be kidding me" Arashi grumbled, remembering all of his time with the Professor. He wouldn't call him arrogant. If anything, he deserved to be arrogant considering his experience and skill for which he had great respect for the man. Self obsessed was a more suiting thing to call Professor Port "I thought he stopped doing this to Greenhorns. Think I need to have a talk with Professor Port after all this…Wait, what have you done to this room?!"
"What's wrong?"
"Everything!" Arashi pointed at the makeshift bunk beds "This bed is hanging by a thread, literally. You can't just hang a bed by the roof with rope! And this one is being held up by books!"
Ruby scratched her cheek sheepishly "We kind of ran out of room"
"Ahhh!" Arashi screamed, pulling his hair and throwing his hat off in the process as he spotted the crudely sewn curtain "What did you do to this curtain?! They cost two hundred dollars each! You know who has to pay it? Me!"
"It's not my fault!" Ruby defended, shortly before whimpering under Arashi's red eyed glare "…I just forgot that my finger was on the transformation button"
"And why does it smell like perfume in here!" He coughed as he opened the window "I feel like I'm going to choke!"
"This time it is not my fault" She huffed "You can blame Weiss"
"…You girls are going to be the death of me" Arashi growled, trying to keep his itching hand from reaching for Ruby's throat. Meanwhile, Blake's eye started twitching as she swapped her tablet for a book in hopes of finding some form of peace on her day off. Tomorrow they had to start training again so she wanted to take advantage of her day off.
"Ah Arashi. There you are" The secret Faunus turned around and saw Ozpin standing in the door way waving a small envelope in his hand
"Professor?!" Arashi shrieked, trying to block the sight of the sawn curtain "W-What are you doing here? E-Everything is just fine. Don't need to worry about anything. Hehe…he"
Ozpin raised an eyebrow at curtains and his idiot ex-apprentice trying to block his view "Right…Any way, I just came here to give you this little thing" Ozpin waved the envelope
"What thing?" The boy asked, grabbing the wrapper from the man's hands
"Your pay check" Ozpin sighed longingly "I could remember it like it was just like yesterday when you were looking up to me like a father. And now you're following in my footsteps! I feel so proud!" Arashi slapped the back of his head with the letter before he tore it. Taking out the contents, Arashi grew silent as he read the small slip of paper in his hands over and over. Ruby and Ozpin waited him to say something. They waited. And waited. And waited...
"Arashi?" Ruby poked her docile master in the head "Are you ok?"
"…WHAT THE HELL!" Arashi shoved the piece of paper in Ozpin's face "What the hell Ozpin?! Please tell me this is a joke!"
"How can it be a joke?" Ozpin asked "It says here that you are getting paid for one thousand, five hundred dollars. Seems pretty generous to me"
"Like hell it is! I can make ten times this amount with one mission alone!"
"That's because you were part of the S&D division. And now you are a teacher"
"Like hell I am" Arashi growled "How am I supposed to go shopping for cloth-I mean weapons with this amount of money!"
"You could always take another mission" Ozpin shrugged "You are still considered a Huntsman so you should be able to get a simple mission"
"But I still can't take one of my old missions"
"Nope"
"You guys…" Blake stood up on her bed, he head glared down at the masters and apprentice "Get out…"
"Excuse me?" Arashi stared, confused. Ozpin and Ruby stepped back, reading the cold aura Blake gave off
"I said" A knife appeared in Blake's hand "GET OUT! CAN'T A GIRL GET SOME ALONE TIME!"
"Run!" Ruby screeched sprinting for the door, dragging Arashi by the collar
"Don't leave me behind!" Ozpin screamed from the ground having been tripped by the red haired girl "Wait! No! AHHHHHHH!
If there was a lesson to be learnt here, it was that girls can be terrifying
Over the first week of training his team Arashi learnt, through trial and error, that some of his training methods did not work as well with other people as much as he wanted it to. Most of his own training methods consisted mostly of grinding techniques, where he would repeat one action over and over until he could do it in his sleep. Like dodging rubber bullets to practice dodging and keeping his lighting Aura going for as long as possible. He tried to use those techniques on his team by they failed for their own reasons.
Besides Ruby, who he forced through mental exercises to teach her to use her brain a little more, he had seen that the team seemed to learn different ways.
Yang was similar to himself when it comes to training, but now quite. Like him, Yang likes to go through the direct route, preferring to take her challenges head on, training included. But she was stubborn. The only way Arashi can get her to train is to aggravate her which is really easy. But when Yang gets angry, she has a bad habit of not thinking properly and the only benefit that can come from her training is muscle memory. That is not good enough. If Yang can't properly learn without losing control, then how would he be able to fix the small holes in her fighting form?
Weiss on the other hand, is a perfectionist. Unlike Yang, the white haired girl has the drive to perfect her fencing style and her dust augmented abilities something Arashi was grateful for. He had an easy time teaching her with his training techniques because even though it was straight forward in nature, which was more suited for Yang, Weiss took it as a challenge to perfect each and every one of them to a point where she can do it in her sleep. But despite this, her movements were still rigid and tense like she was thinking about the task at hand a little too much. To his knowledge, the only cure for this is simply experience. Something the girl lacked
Then there was Blake. The cat Faunus was a strange one. With his stealth exercises he assigned to her did improve her skills a little, she did not learn as fast as he expected. He didn't have a single clue to why she was not improving as fast as Weiss or Yang. But he wasn't too bothered by it. Out of everyone, Blake's movement and skill seemed to look more professional and clean. Where Weiss's skill was all learnt through practice and Yang's was all from experience, Blake's skills had both the swiftness of a practiced skill and had been forged in the flames of battle. He wondered why that was, but decided that the history of Blake's skill is something for another day.
Altogether, his personal training methods were doing the job of improving their skills, but it was not efficient enough.
That was why, for the rest of the day Arashi forced himself to say in his room and hit the books. Something that he thought he left behind when he left Beacon. On his desk were books about muscles, optimal muscle training and dozens of books about the female body. The latter of which he thought might help him. It didn't. All it did was made him comatose in embarrassment for half the day.
Arashi leant back on his chair, staring at the three paged document full of notes that was on his computer screen.
Arashi sighed "This is so boring!"
"What is?"
"AGH!" Arashi fell off his chair as the face of a pig like man popped up on his computer. Arashi growled "Chin, don't do that so suddenly!"
The pig's snort was repulsive "And I thought you would be happy to see me"
"Shut it pig" Arashi walked over to his door locked it with a small click "You are lucky no one was in my room"
"I'm not that stupid" Chin pointed upwards to the small built in camera Arashi's computer had
"Wait? You were spying on me?!" His face scrunched up in anger "You no good little-"
"Pig. I know, I know" Chin rolled his eyes "We already agreed that I am a pig. Now let's just get on to business"
Arashi took a deep breath to calm himself "So what do you have?"
In the screen, Chin rubbed his head tirelessly "I wish I can. But it's just too large to decrypt"
Anger flashed through his red eyes as Arashi growled deeply "It's just one thing after another, isn't it. Why do you even bother calling me if you have nothing to show?"
"Hey! Remember how I said that this thing can hold petabytes worth of information? Well that's a Fuckton of information to sort through and decode. Even with my set up, it's impossible to sort through this much information in a week. A year or two maybe but not a week. And who said I didn't have anything to show!"
"So you at got something useful?"
Chin shook his head "Nothing that could point you directly to team JOLT, but what I did get was something that might interest you" Chin brought out a folder "It seems as good old Rumple did some digging into JOLT's affairs. To be honest, I'm surprised JOLT didn't discover what he was doing. Imagine my face when I found out that the greedy son of a bitch actually got something!"
"Are you going to tell me?"
"Right, right. It says here that lately JOLT has taken more and more trips into the wilderness, outside the walls"
Arashi raised an eyebrow "So? Don't they always?"
Chin grinned, scratching the small patch of hair that grew on his chin "There is a trend. Rumple's records go back since the first year that team went into action. I noticed that every three years that team starts going into the wilderness more and more to hunt Grimm. The last time they went on their Grimm killing spree was last year but their doing it again this year. It got me thinking. Why break this three year tend. Then I looked at today's new paper…"
Arashi's eyes widened in realisation "The reclamation mission happens every three years but it was pushed forward to tomorrow"
"Bingo" Chin winked "You know what else I found? According to last year's reclamation mission report, the death rate has been lower than average as well as the year before that. There is a chance that team JOLT might been there. That means they might be on the next one too"
Arashi looked at his new sword that hung on the wall without its blade "…Did you know Chin, that tonight there is going to be a full moon?"
"What do you mean you're leaving again?!"
"I mean just that" Arashi said, sitting down on the fountain in the middle of the court yard
Glynda glared down at the boy "Oh no! You aren't getting out of teaching this time! It is your response ability for the growth of your team"
"It's just one day Glynda" Arashi picking his ears in boredom "Don't make such a big deal out of it"
"You don't seem to be taking this a whole lot seriously are you Arashi" she frowned "Now that almost everyone is getting extra lessons, your team will fall behind Arashi"
"They'll be alright" Arashi waved off "Out of everyone, they are some of the most competent Huntresses of their year group"
"Agh. You can't keep doing this Arashi. Ozpin never left Beacon when he trained you" she sighed
"But you can't stop me. The rules say I'm still a Huntsman of Vale" he pointed out
"…Sometimes rules aren't important" Glynda bowed her head in acknowledgement "So where are you going this time"
"Ozpin only gave me a little bit of money" Arashi shrugged "So I got contacted my colleges at the S&D division to get me a quick and easy job"
"And what kind of job is it?" She asked, sitting down next to the boy
"It's the Reclamation mission"
Glynda almost fell into the fountain if not for Arashi. She coughed and stuttered in a mixture of disbelief and shock "W-What?! You can't take that mission! It's suicide"
"I can handle myself" Arashi mumbled childishly
"But you've never been on a Reclamation mission, Arashi!" She all but shouted "You don't know what it's like to fight in a battle like that. People die by the thousands on those missions. It's only been one year since the last mission and our numbers are at an all-time love low. You'll be outnumbered a thousand to one! The odds are stacked against you Arashi, not even you can survive this"
"Well it's too late now" he said "I'm already a part of an important group in the mission. Not even you can stop me from leaving"
"What is that?"
"I think it would only make things worse, if I told you" Arashi stood up "My transport should be getting here very soon. I should get going"
"Did you tell your team yet?" Glynda asked "They deserve to know"
"No" Arashi smiled, looking to the side catching a glimpse of white hair disappearing around a corner "but something tells me they already know"
Gathered in their room high above the rest of the school, the leaderless Team RWBY sat at the very edge of the roof above their dorm room. It was during class time that they gathered, so it was necessary to be so high up so they won't get caught. It was kind of awkward being so high up with the heavy wind, and being dressed in the short skirts that came with their uniform. The three of the four girls looked confused well the single white haired one looked grim, something that the others were not used to.
"So what's this about Weiss" Blake asked "You did pull us out of class for no reason"
"Not that we're not grateful or anything" Yang laughed "Professor Port was just about to talk about how great he is"
"You looked kinda off too. You still are" Ruby chirped as she
"Arashi is leaving on a mission today" Weiss said
"That's great!" Yang cheered, getting blank looks from the other three girls "…Uh, I mean this is terrible! Now we can't train! He…hehe…"
"Anyway" Weiss coughed "Arashi is going on the reclamation mission"
"The reclamation mission?" Blake repeated to herself with a grim look in her eyes
Weiss nodded "I heard him talking to Glynda about it"
"Yang?" Ruby asked her sister "What's a reclamation mission?"
"Oh, Ruby" She sighed "The reclamation is a mission where thousands of Vale's huntsmen go and take land back from the Grimm"
Blake nodded "It is the mission that Huntsmen train all their lives to prepare for. It was the sole reason the Huntsmen were formed in the first place. And it is where 90% of huntsmen lose their lives"
"What?!" Ruby gasped "That means Arashi might die!"
"We know that already you dolt" Weiss hissed, at her partner's lack of knowledge
"Still, we can't let Arashi die!" Ruby declared
"There's nothing we can do, Ruby" Blake said "Even if there was, he is leaving today"
"We can help him fight the Grimm" was the red head's answer "That's the only thing we can do"
"Are you crazy Ruby?!" Yang yelled "You're just a student! You'll die!"
"I won't leave a friend to die either" She stood her ground "Are you guys saying that you'll leave Arashi to die? He's our friend!"
"Arashi can take care of himself, he is a huntsman" Weiss said "He'll come back Ruby"
"And what if he doesn't? What happens then?" Ruby stood up and walked to the door "I'm going to help Arashi. If you guys aren't coming then don't follow me"
"Do you even have a plan?" Yang shouted after her
"No! But I'll figure something out" Then she disappeared down the flight of stairs. The was silence between the rest of the members of team RWBY as they looked between each other trying to figure out what was going on. That silence was broken with a large groan coming from the toughest of the three.
"Damn it!" Yang groaned, holding her head "I guess I'm going too"
"What? Not you too" Weiss said "You don't even like Arashi. Why are you going to risk your life for him?"
"Who said I hated him? Besides, I'm not going for him. Where my sister goes, I go" Wiess and Blake watched Yang's back as she ran after her sister. Weiss looked to Blake as she stood up.
"Well, I'm going to then" Blake sighed, looking at Weiss's face of…Well, she couldn't tell what emotion she had "What? Without me, those two are useless"
When Blake left, Weiss sat alone sitting on the roof top. The white haired girl huffed at her team's disregard for both the rules and their own safety. At least she was smart enough to know when things are out of her reach, something her team didn't share with her. She was going to say right here at Beacon. She would proudly endure the long lectures from the quirky professors well they can fight for some plot of dirt. In her mind, what her team was doing was stupid.
She won't feel guilty if Arashi dies on the mission. Didn't matter if he was the reason she was improving so fast…No not at all. Didn't really matter that he was the first person in a long time that she actually cared for…Nope. He was just as stupid as her team for going on that mission. And she defiantly, absolutely will not miss him!
"Ah crap" Weiss groaned
Today, Weiss learnt that having friends was not as easy as it seemed.
Docked at the Beacon landing bays, was a big airship. The shape and general design of the ship was identical to the airships that brought the students to Beacon. In the centre was the bulk of the ship which held all its crew and passengers. The large hull held two engines that rivalled in size with the hull and connected the two wings on both sides. Altogether, the thing was equal to the size of one the towers of Beacon.
But this was not a transport airship that Beacon used. This one undoubtedly belonged to the military. Designed to bring heavy fire power and ground support the Harbinger class airship two impossibly large rotatable main batteries were mounted on top of the ship, each battery having three 16 inch gun barrels. Accompanying them were smaller rotatable 5 inch turrets, two on the top and four on them bottom, totalling to six in total. And finally mounted on the bottom front of the ship were dozens, maybe even hundreds of missile pods. Altogether the armament on the airship made it far more deadly to that of its cheaper and navel counterpart, the battleship.
Where the ships that belonged to Beacon had a white and grey colour theme and aesthetically pleasing look to it, this one was charcoal black and brown in colour. Black from the heavy bolted steel hull and brown from the rusted patches of metal that was obviously used for a quick patch job. With the silver scratches and black explosive scars showed what the ship was not a stranger to battle. And across the side of the ship was its name, painted affectionately with the colour red.
The Armada.
Needless to say, hiding of to the side and in the thick brush, Team RWBY had to literally pin Ruby to the ground from going overboard.
"Must touch it" Ruby frothed from the mouth "MUST SHOOT IT!"
"Ruby!" Yang hushed "Shut up! Or we'll be spotted"
"But it's so BIG!"
*Bonk*
"Now" Weiss dusted her hands well Ruby nursed her head "The ship is refuelling right now and Arashi should already be on there. All we need is a plan to get on there before it flies off. Any ideas?"
"We could always climb it and enter through the air ducts" Blake said offhandedly "But then again, infiltrating a military air ship crewed by Huntsmen might not be as easy as it looks"
Yang crossed her arms under her bust "What kind of person would send a freaking battleship to pick up Arashi anyway? Kinda over doing it, don't you think?"
Weiss ignored Yang and looked at the floating fortress instead "I don't think using the vents is a smart idea. Judging by the steam, those vents must be burning hot"
Blake shrugged "Thought so"
"How about we just hang onto the side of the hull for the whole trip?" Yang suggested
"The ship is going to the wilderness, which is surrounds the borders of Vale" Weiss said "That's at least half a day's trip from here. No one can hold onto an airship that long"
"…We could always walk in" Ruby fiddled with her fingers when the girls stared at her "Well I just thought that since Arashi is famous and all and we are his team, they might just…let us in"
"…That might just work" Blake mused
"It might?" Yang and Ruby asked
"As much as I loathe saying it, yes" Weiss nodded "It might just do the trick"
"We only get one chance at this" Blake said "Might as well get it over with"
"Haha" Yang laugh triumphantly fist pumping into the air "Leave the talking to me!"
"Wait! Yang!" Weiss called out to her. Ruby tried to grab onto her sister but missed as Yang marched up to the guards that stood at the entrance of ship. Yang puffed her chest in fake cockiness when the guards turned their heads to her. Yang as not impressed in the slightest at their attempt to look threatening. Even in their navy blue and gold trim plate armour - which looked strangely similar to the armour of that guy who bullied Jaune - their black biker helmet like head gear that glowed with green light and even with their bulky rifle attached to their backs, they looked like complete pushovers to her. That was what Yang used to convince herself not to run away.
"Hey you! What are you doing?!" Came a robotic like voice from one of the guards "This is a restricted area!"
Yang took a deep breath, then…"How dare you! Do you know who I am?!"
"Wha-"
"I am Yang Xiao Long! A member of team RWBY and apprentice to Arashi Nii and I demand respect!"
"Look lady-" the guard and his pal was shut up by a crystal white rapier and a black katana pointing at their throats
"You dare stop us!" Weiss growled "We were personally asked by the general to join the Reclamation mission!"
The two guards stepped back and looked at each other
"Hey. Do you think they are telling the truth?" One of them whispered
"I think they are" Said the other "I heard a rumour that Arashi took on a team of huntresses but I didn't believe it"
"But they're just little girls"
"And they can kick our asses to kingdom come and back. We're just solders, they're huntresses. Just play along, even if they are lying we need as much help as we can get"
Turning back to the girls, the men straightened themselves "Ahem, sorry. We didn't recognise you. The ship should be leaving right about now so hurry up now"
The three of the four girls grinned at each other, except the red haired one looking a bit timid under their gazes. The guards stepped aside and allowed the girls to walk inside the ship. They followed them in, as steel blast doors closed behind them with a mechanical groan and a hiss of an air tight seal. Team RWBY found that when the doors closed, all light from the sun ceased, leaving only dim red lights to illuminate the inner corridors.
Unlike Beacon's airship, the corridors of this gigantic military ship was tight and clustered. It was filled to the brim with crates with labels which spelled the words weapons, ammunition, scrap metal, rations, and most commonly dust. This left only enough room for two grown men to walk side by side. And if it wasn't already hard to move around, Team RWBY took extra care when they find rockets lying in their path. People who are claustrophobic would have trouble working on this ship, but from the weary looks of the crew, claustrophobia was the last thing on their minds.
Weiss, being the most classy of the four, squeezed her nose tight to block out the smell of steel, oil and gun powder. It was so thick, she could taste it. Looking to the side trying to find the source of the smell, only she noticed the entrance to the gun loading bay and six shirtless men inside hoisting one of the one ton shells onto a conveyer belt which Weiss could only assume was used to load the main batteries. She turned her head forward holding in a small blush once she realised she was staring at the sweaty men.
The girls were taken by surprise when the ship buckled under the weight of the cannons as a low hum sounded around the ship. Soon, their stomachs felt slightly lighter before it returned to normal. The ship must have taken off they realised. They continued walking down the corridors until one of the guards following them walked ahead of them and signalled them to stop.
"You girls can stay in here" The guard said, pointing at a small cabin labelled 109 on top of the door way "Just don't touch anything. We'll be taking about three hours to get to the launching point. Should be six by the time we get there"
Team RWBY nodded and entered the cabin. The guards closed the door behind them and looked at each other
"Hundred dollars they die first"
"Deal"
It was small inside the cabin which was to be expected. Like any a navy ship, the cabin was only about four meters wide and ten meters long. They paid no expense in fitting this room, mainly because there was no expense to begin with. The floor wasn't even lined with any carpet of wood and was just plain metal. To the sides there were four beds fitted with thin plain white sheets of blankets, two on ground level and two raised above the others. Built underneath them were draws for storing clothes. Right in the middle of the room was a 24 hour digital clock built into the steel wall. Altogether the room was barely enough to fit four people in.
"Now these are bunk beds" Yang said "But it could do with a makeover"
"Agreed" Weiss nodded walking over to one of the beds. There she noticed that the blankets were bundled up "Ugh, they didn't even bother to fix up the bed"
"…Wait" On instinct Blake paused and sniffed the air. It was thick and humid and smelt of sweat and…oh no "Wait! Weiss!"
But she was too late. Weiss had already drawn the sheets and they were all made witnesses to the miracle of reproduction. Well half way through anyway. They really didn't get that far.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
After about five minutes of screaming later, the inhabitants of cabin room 109 had calmed down enough to regain their composure. Mostly anyway. Inside, Team RWBY sat awkwardly to the right bed well a man and woman sat on the left, fixing up their clothes.
The man looked thirty and was average in build and in height. He had short spiky sandy blond hair and piercing green eyes that make him look a little bit less masculine but still handsome. He was obviously a huntsman because he wasn't wearing the matching armour of the solders they met outside. Instead, he wore a thick brown flak jacket. The flak jacket had a zipper down the middle and on both sides of it were three scroll pouches that looked like it was made to carry bottles of dust. For added protection it included a neck guard and shoulder pads. Other than that, the only other thing he wore was underneath the jacket. It was a full black body suit.
She had raven black hair like Blake's but was perfectly straightened and reached just past her shoulders. Her eyes were the most regal brown colour they had ever seen and her face the most clearest and smooth like it was taken out of a painting. The woman looked considerably younger then the man. Ten years at least. But they suspected she was older. She wore an identical flak jacket to the man over her dark blue kimono dress that fitted perfectly over her thin, delicate frame. Her appearance was enough to make some of the members of Team RWBY green with envy.
Expect for Ruby. She was still cherry red from the image that was burned into her mind just a few minute ago.
"Hehehe…" The man chuckled nervously, not bothering to hide the blush on his cheeks "So…how much did you see?"
The men yelped when the woman elbowed him "Don't be rude"
"But you want to know too, right?" He defended
Blake, being the only one who's mind was not all over the place, decided to answer "Well, we saw your hand-" She pointed at the man "in her dress-" She pointed at the woman "groping her chest and up her skirt. You were also sucking each other's face off"
"See" The man said to the woman "It wasn't that bad"
"She forgot to mention you didn't have your pants on"
"Blah! Details" He laughed, before looking at the four young girls in front of him "Well, I'm James Fact, lieutenant of the S'n'D division. Nice to meet ya"
"I'm Laura Fact, captain of the Search and Destroy division" The woman greeted in a heavenly voice that just made the girls want to bow down in respect
"I'm Weiss Schnee"
"Blake Belladonna"
"Yang Xiao Long"
"I..uh Ruby Rose" She blushed
"So, what are four young women like you doing here?" Laura questioned "I didn't think the military would accept first year students from Beacon into the reclamation mission"
"We're…ahhh the team of Arashi Nii" Ruby said "We were let in"
"Arashi? The Arashi Nii?" James sat up in surprise "Really? He took you girls on as his team? I thought those were just rumours. Un-freaking-believable!"
"You know him?" Yang asked
"Yes. We do" Laura nodded "I'm sure you know he was in the Search and Destroy division. He was a captain as well. We've only seen him a few times when he'd come into the office for a new or complete mission. He never stayed long enough to talk to anyone and was always so secluded. Which was why we are surprised to see that he taken on a team"
"Oh I'm sure the kid is not that alone" James waved off "he probably has a girlfriend. Remember those dresses he had when the guys and I broke into his locker"
"Ah, I remember that day" She mused "Those were cute dresses I have to say"
"How about you?" Weiss spoke up, trying to suppress a giggle "Why are you here?"
"Hmp" James folded his arms "It's our job. Normally the people from the S'n'D division wouldn't go on the reclamation mission because we aren't meant for frontline battle. But now that the guys up top are pushed the deadline, all Huntsmen are being pulled from their missions to help out"
"But that doesn't mean we haven't been on a reclamation mission before" Laura pointed out "It's common practice that all new Huntsmen work as freelancers before they have to go at least one reclamation mission and survive before being hired into a division. Unless you're someone like Arashi, then that's the only way to get hired. You'll learn this soon enough"
"We weren't told about that!" Ruby gasped "What do we do?! I wanted to be in the peacekeeping corps, but now I have to wait even longer to join!"
"Don't worry Ruby" Yang consoled "We already have four years at Beacon. A few more wouldn't hurt"
Laura and James chuckled "You remind us so much of our son, Ruby"
"I do? What is your son like?"
James looked up dreamily "He's hyperactive for a ten year old that's for sure. Always laughing and worrying about the small things. Gave me and Laura a head ache when he learnt how to walk before he could crawl. I remember once he got on top of Laura's collection of fine china. Took the whole day to get him down. But he is a sweet kid. He always wants to help others with any problem they have. He makes me so proud"
"He wants to be a doctor" Laura continued when James started to weep in joy "He told us he wanted to help as much people as he can. I remember that look in his eyes when he told me that. It was so sincere and so real. I see that same look in your eyes too Ruby. Whoever that person is, he is lucky to have someone like you looking out for him"
"Yea…right"
James coughed in his hand "Ahem. Sorry about that. I get carried away a lot"
"So" Laura started, ignoring her husband "Back to our original topic. Since you girls are here for your first time, do you know what you are getting into?"
"Ahhh…"
"I assume not" She concluded "This is a serious matter girls. Thousands of lives are lost on this mission. I've lost my fair share of friends to this mission. No amount of words can describe what this mission is like"
"We can handle ourselves" Weiss huffed "Besides, we're a team. We have each other's back"
"That's what I was like when I first came here with my team. Team JAKL" James' smile was grim and forced "I'm the last member of that team"
"James" Laura scolded "Don't scare the poor girls"
"Right" He perked up "Anyway, we won't let that happen to you girls! You can count on us to watch your back. That's a promise"
"Thank you for your consideration" Blake bowed her head
Looking up at the digital clock in the middle of the room, James yawned "Well, two more hours until we land. We should get some rest until then. Odds are we'll be attacking at night so we need to save our strength"
"Right" The girls nodded
As they got ready to sleep, James leaned into his wife's ear and whispered "Do you think they'll notice if we have a quickie?"
"James" She whispered back "Just shut up and get to sleep"
Team RWBY had trouble sleeping. Mostly because none of them wanted to go near the bed that the husband and wife occupied. Instead, the four girls decided to sleep on the two beds that were on the opposite of the room, with two girls sharing one bed. Ruby and Weiss shared one bed well Blake and Yang took the higher bunk. It was awkward, for Blake and Weiss anyway. Weiss for instance, had to keep one eye on Ruby for when she started to drool on her. If she did, the Weiss would respond in kind with a slap to the face. Blake fared no better. As it turns out, Yang had a bad habit of crushing anything he can get her hands on in a hug. The poor cat was turned into a Faunus plushy, something that injured her pride greatly.
Then the sounds came. First came the defining ring of a fire engine. Team RWBY launched out of their beds with the grace of a rhino, kicking and screaming in the beds they found themselves trapped in. On the other side of them room, the two older Huntsmen sat up and yawned like they were waking up at three in the afternoon on a Sunday.
Then came the announcement which was herald by the sound of ear piercing feedback
"All Huntsmen exit the ship immediately, all Huntsmen exit the ship immediately" Came the voice of the captain
The rest happened all too fast for the four girls. They remembered was being rushed out the cabin by the solders that crewed the ship, barely having enough time to grab their weapons that hung on the walls. Then they were caught in a crowed of men and women rushing down the same direction. They couldn't move from the path they were trapped in, like they were caught in a current. Soon the girls found themselves lined up in rows like they were trained solders in front of the entrance.
Ruby awed at the amount of huntsmen around her. She spotted so many unique and strange weapons and coloured armour that would have made the place shine like a rain bow if not for the dim lighting. On any other day, Ruby would have been all over the museum of blades, clubs and guns. But this was not the time. It was painfully obvious that she was the youngest out of all the Huntsmen. Then Ruby panicked slightly, thinking she lost her team amongst the uniquely dressed Huntsmen around her but it died away when she found them to her sides.
"Don't worry kid. You'll alright" A voice came from behind her. Ruby looked over her shoulders and was delighted to see James standing right behind her. To his side was his wife who had put on a cold, professional look that reminded her of Glynda's look. When James smiled down at her, Ruby realised how taller he was compared to her. About two and a half feet at least
"Thanks, sir" Ruby thanked
"Ah, don't call me that. I'm not even a captain yet" He chuckled "I remember my first Reclamation like it was yesterday. Trust me, after today, you will never ever be a heavy sleeper again"
"…Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Good" He answered immediately "…Maybe. Depends on the point of view"
All talking were silenced when the seals of the door unlocked with a hiss and a cloud of steam. Ruby felt a clear breeze rushed into the room and the air pressure become noticeably lighter. When she took a breath, Ruby realised how hot and stuffy it was inside the battleship.
"Alright you ass wiping grunts!" Yelled out the drill instructor "Get your lazy asses out of here before I kick you back home to your mamma! Move it, move it, move it, move it!"
Ruby let out a small eep when she found herself moving in formation with the rest of the Huntsmen in a synchronised march. She tried hard to keep in step with the crowd and keep her head down to blend in. But whatever cover she had was thrown out of the window when she took a look at her surroundings. After hours of sleeping in that heavily armoured rust bucket, she found herself in the only place that could service said rust bucket. An air base. And a bloody large one too.
From her place on the three mile long runway, Ruby could see hundreds of smaller air jets, like the one that Roman used, in the distance lined up in rows. A large control tower with radar like dish and antennas stood high above them, acting as the hive mind for the swarm of jets and the rest of the Vale air force. Opposite that, were the hangers and barracks where she could see workers moving crates and rockets into stacks off to the side.
Above her, Ruby heard the rockets of the jets roar through the air soaring over her to a gigantic wall off to the horizon. Her eyes widened at the sight of the wall. It looked like it was miles away from the air base but she could clearly make out the concrete walls and towers raised above the ground. She could also see the black steel gate and gun emplacements that rivalled the size of the Armada's batteries. It must have cost millions of dollars' worth of concrete to even make a square mile of the thing.
This is all too real Ruby thought Is this what a being a Huntress will be like?
Ruby instinctively stopped dead in her tracks when heard the in sync sound of boots slapping the pavement stop. Standing on her toes to look over the shoulder of the man in front of her, Ruby managed to see a bearded old man dressed in a grey officer suit adorned with silver stars and ribbons. He stood on top of a wooden stage which held a huge poster behind him. The poster was of a gun wielding man and woman looking of into the distance with the phrase 'Together we stand' painted underneath them. Ruby recognised the phase as the slogan for the collective forces of Vale's air, navy, marine and militia corps.
"Alright huntsmen!" The officer shouted "Here's the deal. We are fucked. And no speech from pompous ass politicians can say otherwise. We are outnumbered and under staffed. That is why the men in charge of the air and Marine Corps agreed to put all their resources into a win or lose operation. The plan is that tonight you, the brave men and women of the S&D division to fly over the 'Nest' and land on the other side. It is there you will draw the attention of the Grimm by bombarding them with mortars, allowing the rest of our forces to expand our boarders"
Ruby looked at James behind her and whispered "What's the nest?"
"A few ticks away from the wall, there is literally thousands of Grimm. Some call it the Hive and some call it the red zone. But it is most commonly known as the Hive" He explained "They surround our walls and prevents us from expanding. Trying to fight them is like trying to fight back the tides. Normally in the reclamation mission, we would slowly push the Grimm back before walling off the new boarder. But now, it looks like we are trying a decoy tactic to draw the Grimm away so our main force can establish a new boarder"
"Why don't we bomb the place?" Ruby asked "It could save lives"
"We only have few missile solos. If we bomb them then we risk being swarmed by all the Grimm on this whole continent. Plus, the land is important to us. Dropping bombs on that land would only take us longer to fix up when we eventually expand"
Ruby nodded and turned back to the officer
"That is why the S&D division was called upon to take this mission" The officer said "Only you can make this operation possible. Any questions?"
"Why wasn't this tactic used before?" A shout came
"Because we have no guarantee if this tactic will even work" He answered "We will be sending you in with the air jets stationed here along with the Armada for fire support. Even then we risk losing all of it. It is only now, we believe that the risk is worth taking"
"What about the Nevermores?" James questioned "They outnumber us a thousand to one. How do you expect to get past that?"
"The Grimm are attracted to size. The Armada is big enough to make all the Nevermore ignore you and attack it instead. I think it is appropriate to mention now that the Armada will return to base if they believe it is necessary. They will not stay with you for the whole operation"
"Is there an extraction plan?" Ruby could hear Laura shout out
"You are to get a set coordinates along the beach where you will be extracted by our navy. Flares and tracking beacons will be included in the packs we will provide to signal them. But be warned. They will only stay until the sun rises. Then they will leave. Any one left behind will be on their own"
Suddenly sirens started to sound around the air base. Ruby saw the people around her visibly tense.
"Alright Huntsmen!" The officer saluted "Find an air jet and board it. They will handle the flying, you will handle the groundwork. If you have any questions then ask your captains. I wish you luck on behalf of Vale. NOW MOVE IT!"
As the members of the S&D division ran to the air jets, Team RWBY stood in their spots trying to look for their master gone astray but the noise was too loud and the crowed was too large to find one man. Weiss, Blake and Yang all searched desperately to find their master but just couldn't with the organised chaos around them But remarkably through the noise of the sirens and the blurred movements of the Huntsmen, Ruby was the one to spot as tuft of blue hair disappearing into an air jet.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted to her sister. Ruby pointed to the air jet Arashi boarded which had begun to take off. Yang got the message and signalled the rest of the team together. Huddling into a circle, Ruby said "He's gone. We couldn't catch up to him. But we've come too far to stop now. We have to follow him"
"But we'll die if we go there" Weiss said "You heard the officer. They aren't picking us back up. Once you get on that ship, there is no coming back"
"I don't care!" Ruby shouted "I'm going, with or without you guys"
"Why are you so willing to die for him anyway?" Yang fired
"Because if it wasn't for him, I would be dead!" Ruby remembered the night of the robbery, and his own blood he spilt for her "I want to repay the favour"
"That's good enough for me" Blake said almost immediately drawing the looks of Weiss and Yang "What? Arashi is already a good friend of mine"
"Agh, Ok fine then!" Yang cocked Ember Celica "I'm coming. And if I die I swear to god that I will haunt you Ruby"
"Thank you sis" Ruby's already moe like eyes teared up.
"Don't count me out of this" Weiss folded her arms "After this is over, Arashi will appoint me as team leader"
"Come on" Yang shouted "We need to get to an air jet before they all leave!"
Ruby looked around and saw most of the air jet powering up their engines, intending to leave. A wave of warm wind came rushing at them, coming from the massive engines of the Armada. Ruby ignored the wind, trying to find an air jet that has not been taken yet and soon spotted Laura and James boarding an other wise empty air jet. Without talking to her team, Ruby motioned them to follow before running towards the two.
"Wait!" She called out. James and Laura were about to close the hatch but paused as Team RWBY ran up to them "Can we hop in there with you, please?"
"I'm sorry girls" Laura shook her head "You can't come"
"Why not?!" Weiss growled
"We thought it was going to be the normal operation, but this one is too dangerous for you" James said "The S&D division was chosen for this mission because we all have the ability to adapt to any situation. One single mistake will end up killing you"
Ruby looked desperately at Laura "Please. I'm begging you. Let us in. Remember what you said in the cabin. That I wanted to protect someone. I want to protect my master. I want to protect Arashi!"
Laura stared down at the red haired girl, looking for any sign of weakness but found none. Laura could see he knuckles turning white from gripping her weapon to hard. Her eyes were watering but were filled with a type of determination that was rare these days. Let a girl dive head first into a battle that would spell doom for her to save someone precious to her, or not let her go at all. It was the decision of her life. But it was an easy one.
"Get on, girls. Quickly now" Laura said, surprising her husband greatly "Don't you dare say anything James"
The man flinched a little at her wife's glare. As Team RWBY boarded the jet, he could barely hear the word 'whipped' being whispered by the yellow haired girl before the rest of them giggled ever so slightly.
Girls James thought rolling his eyes as he closed the door. The air jet rattle about as the twin engines lifted it of the ground and slowly into the air. Ruby looked through the window on the other side of the jet and watched as she came to eye level with the Armada and the fleet of air jets. Ruby could almost hear deep trumpets playing in the back ground, giving the fleet the feeling of terrifying awesomeness. Ruby steeled her mind. She was here to help her friend. No matter how dangerous the enemy Arashi is facing, she will be there to back him up. She will always be there.
Always
"A man once said" James mused "That art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can, on no account be neglected. Haha, let the battle begin"
Just so you know, the quote at the end of the story basically means that because war is a matter of life and death, you must always know why you and your men are fighting in it. It's from the book, The art of war by man named Sun Tzu
I don't know if that whole 'I want to save Arashi' was a whole lot convincing. I mean,I wrote it so that in Ruby's eyes, Arashi is a strong young aspiring teacher who is a friend. I doesn't make sense for Ruby to try to save him if he is already strong. So I tried to portray the reclamation mission as a suicide mission that only a few can survive. And with the fact that their forces are down to 1/3 this reclamation mission is unwinnable
I'm kinda disappointing about how I ran out of things to write about Glynda and Ozpin. They are suppose to be the parent figures to Arashi and I just exhausted my pool of ideas about them. I'll figure something, out don't worry
Fun fact. James and Laura Fact were the lead characters from my original story back in the day. I think it was called 'The pieces of eternity'. James was a wizard and Laura was a half elf half human kind of deal. Don't worry, their purpose in the story will be revealed soon enough
So as per usual, here is the list of what you are suppose to have learnt from this chapter
-What the the reclamation is
-My idea of how the inhabitants of Remnant get land, with the old attack on titan wall kind of thing going on there
-The military and some info about my Huntsmen divisions. (S&D division, Peacekeeping corps, the Armada etc.)
-An idea of how serious and dark the life Huntsmen can be
So mostly just atmosphere kind of stuff. To set the mood and what not.
And so this is Loric Kane, signing off