Chapter 9

Elodie had wanted to ask Blake to come with her to get dinner but the cat mentioned that she was supposed to meet up with a friend so Elodie went into Vale alone. She'd stopped by her dorm to change out of her uniform. Elodie was wearing her flannel and jeans with a black scarf to keep her neck warm. The autumn weather was starting to get colder so the scarf was wrapped up around her mouth. Joey told her in class that he was dragging Chris out with him somewhere but she could tell that Chris was reluctant to go. If she ran into them maybe she could save the big guy from whatever Joey had him mixed up in. The rabbit wasn't used to being alone and she thought about calling Ron only to remember that Yang was still adamant about that Ursa story so they'd probably be together. She found herself happy for her friends but at the same time feeling extremely lonely. As she passed a window she saw her reflection and stopped. Her eyes had shifted to a deep blue and she realized the sadness she felt was showing itself to the rest of the world. She was used to controlling her emotions around people but the comfort she felt with her team meant that she didn't have to do that all the time and now that she was alone she knew she didn't have to. When she was younger her change in eye color often betrayed her, making it near impossible to lie without her eyes turning yellow out of fear. Now she'd learned to control it and unless she was feeling pure genuine emotion her eye changing only happened when she wanted it to. She always found it useful for making a point when the boys got out of hand.

Elodie walked past the cafe she was planning to eat at and had to turn around in order to go back. She could smell the food but if she hadn't she'd have probably walked around the neighborhood lost in thought. She sat down at a table by the window and retrieved her scroll from her pocket as she waited for her server.

"I still think we should tell the others," Raine told his partner. They had stalked the four students by running along rooftops for three hours. "We've been following them long enough. I'm certain Damask and Amethyst could have been here by now."

"But where's the fun in that?" Krystal complained playfully. Raine shrugged, he knew that he could just call the others and have them in front of the restaurant in fifteen minutes but he also knew that would create a huge scene. He wanted to keep this quiet, even if the public execution of a Schnee could help send a message for the White Fang he wasn't looking to go to jail with Torchwick. As their prey left the restaurant he noticed that the one with the wide hat was holding it. The four of them were walking past an ally as he brought his hat up over his head. Raine recognized him right away and turned to his teammate. They couldn't attack Joey Wulfechester and Weiss Schnee! Wulfchester Arms had been a scapegoat for the White Fang for years but openly attacking the heir could ruin that perception.

"Krystal we need to..." She was gone! He looked down to the alley as he heard one of targets below yelp. "Oh no." He followed his teammate down. At least she'd grabbed the right one.

Chris was being awfully quiet, even for the big guy. Joey had almost begun to feel bad for dragging him along but he was sure Chris had nothing better to do. This remorse was short lived as he looked over to Ruby who was still going on about her excitement surrounding the festival. Weiss had even joined her partner in being excited. It was strange to see the heiress become so relaxed but it was better than the cold glares she had given him when they first met. "I can't wait for the tournament matches to start!" Ruby had become exasperated with excitement from the conversation. Before Joey could talk about his own excitement he heard the sound of chains rattling and flying in their direction.

"What in the hell?" Joey's head turned to see a dagger on a chain wrapped around Weiss' neck. Weiss yelped and clawed at the weapon as it tightened around her neck and pulled her into the alley next to the group. Joey's right hand dropped to his pistol as Ruby rushed forward and drew Crescent Rose. The two of them and Chris had followed her into the alley in time to see a small feminine figure with a Deathstalker mask materialize behind Weiss holding a blade to her throat. Joey's left hand snatched his scroll from his coat pocket but he only had the chance to press two buttons before the device was torn from his hand by a sword strike.

"I can't let you do that Mr. Wulfechester," the man in the beowulf mask told him. He was holding two short swords. The hand guards of the swords had pistol barrels and the handles had triggers. The man had moved the weapons back up to point the barrels at Chris and Ruby.

"Weiss!" Ruby called for her partner concerned. Joey's eyes hadn't left the beowulf but he wanted to draw his snapdragon and put a bullet in that death stalker girl.

"Let her go," Joey growled, "I don't know what's going on but the girl ain't done nothing to you."

"You're a faunus!" The beowulf shouted, "what makes you think a Schnee hasn't done something to faunus? Their company is the reason people don't see how incredible we are." Joey snapped around ready to draw but he heard a sound like a small cannon firing and felt a sharp burning sensation in his shoulder. He looked down and saw that one of the girls daggers had barely penetrated his shoulder. He was impressed that the small blade had broken his aura, although it was thinner than other auras it should have at least deflected a weapon this small. He figured that his semblance would take care of the wound as he pulled the blade out. The chain retracted back to the deathstalker as she snickered. "Dammit," Joey heard the beowulf under his breath.

"What's wrong?" He turned back to the swordsman and that's when he noticed that there were two of him.

Raine was fairly surprised that Joey was still standing. He hadn't meant for the wolf to hear him curse under his breath and quickly recovered, ignoring Joey's question as he realized the poison was starting to set in. "The tips of my partners blades are poisoned," as he explained the wound in Joey's shoulder closed. "Even if it doesn't kill you in the next few minutes you're probably seeing double."

"I've got two guns," although the wolf was poisoned he drew his weapons with a blinding speed and spun them, training the weapons on Raine. The swordsman was staring down the two pistols before he could bring his own weapons to focus on his opponent. "One for each of you." Joey's words had become slurred but he still had a confident smirk. Joey wasn't the only fast one, Raine saw that Chris was already getting close to Krystal. Weiss elbowed the small assassin and pushed away from her, drawing her rapier.

"Joey are you alright?" Ruby turned to back him up. Raine knew that regardless of the answer the poison would work its way through him quick enough. He dashed forward as the small huntress drew her scythe. It unfolded and the weapons reach swept him away. What she lacked for in size her weapon made up for in range. She fired behind her, using the recoil to fly toward him and he jumped over the scythe as it swept passed him. Joey had reached his weapon up and pulled the trigger. Raine smirked under his mask as he slapped the bullet, causing it to ricochet back and graze Joey's arm. His aura had reformed and protected him but Raine was certain Joey had received the message that Raine wasn't some White Fang grunt.

Chris saw that Weiss had used her weapon to knock one of the chain blades away as it was fired at her. The second was coming toward Chris and he side stepped it, grabbing the chain itself and pulling the small deathstalker girl toward him. "Weiss help Ruby," Chris told her calmly as he pulled himself within striking distance of the small assassin. He knew the weapons were poisoned so his first priority was keeping those blades occupied. He activated Heavenly Fist's fire dust mode and shoved a small fireball into his opponent. She took the hit and flew backwards, disappearing. He'd have lost track of her if the sparks from the fireball hadn't shifted to the left. That's when he realized she wasn't disappearing, this was camouflage! Sheltered or not he was the child of dust engineers and he was clever. He created another fireball that shimmered off of his opponents semblance. He saw an arm shape and palmed her wrist, revealing her.

"No fair!" She cried as she tried for another stab. Chris parried again, this fight was in his favor in terms of defense but if made one mistake that poison could end him. Even Joey hadn't recovered yet and his healing would have pushed any other venom out by now. Chris figured it was probably extremely potent. So he continued to play defense while he figured out how he was going to eliminate the daggers.

"I'm serious!" Ron told Yang as he finished his milkshake. Yang had found Ron after class and insisted he finally tell her about the Ursa Team FWCS had faced in the Emerald Forest. They had gone into Vale because Ron had been hungry, which seemed to be a recurring theme to Yang. She didn't mind as long as she finally got to find out. They had gone to a dive bar in Vale that had a restaurant attached to it. In the middle of the day the bar was basically empty save for two or three obvious alcoholics drinking at the bar. "It took all four of us to take the damn thing down."

"So run this by me again," Yang wanted clarity about how Team FWCS had killed the grimm.

"After the Emerald Forest Professor Lavender took us back down the cliffside," Ron began to tell the story again.

Ron couldn't believe it. This Lavender guy had known them all of five seconds before dragging him, his partner, her friend and the big guy back down into the Emerald Forest. Although this time they had gone down by the cliff side itself leaving them by at the base of the cliff ruins. Lavender had ordered them to stay in the opening at the end of the ruins as he walked toward the forest. They could still hear him as he whistled, "Here Ursa! Come get some tasty Beacon students!" Lavender's call was playful for an older looking teacher. Ron had gone from annoyed to dumbfounded as he saw Lavender leading the large Ursa back like an angry looking pet. "Feldgaunt!" Ron's head snapped up.

"Yes sir?" Ron asked as he stepped forward, his rifle's sights trained on the large bear, a small pack of Ursa following it. The large spines and armored head made Ron realize just how old this Grimm was. Old enough to command others and smart enough to know when to fight, obviously it was ready to fight even with a fully trained huntsman in front of it. This worried Ron, what was worse was that he got the nagging feeling the demented bear could sense his worry.

"What did Ozpin tell you about things you encounter?"

"He said to destroy them," Chris pointed out with a realization. Elodie's hand went to her face and Joey quickly raised his sub-machine gun.

"So why is this standing in front of me?" Lavender raised a hand with his palm up as though he was presenting it to them. It took a swipe at him and in a flash he was behind the students.

"How is he that fast?" Ron thought with frustration. He didn't have time to question the professor's speed further as the beast in front of them bellowed. "Joey let's light it up!"

"That's an idea I can get behind!" Joey fired his drummed subgun in short bursts but the Grimm didn't seem to respond as the bullets pinged off its armor and the spines protruding from its back. "Oh you gotta be kiddin' me." The beast had rushed forward as Ron had begun firing as well. His weapon's slower, louder blasts over powering the sounds that came from Daisy.

"Elodie, Chris! Flank it!" The orders were flowing out of him almost naturally. Everything he had learned in combat school was coming out but that didn't matter as much as killing the creature did. Before their assault on the monster could continue Ron had noticed a smaller group of Ursai had come out to join the larger one. "Joey I need you on crowd control." Elodie put an arrow through the head of one of the extra Ursa as she got on the side of the older one.

"I'm on it!" Joey nodded at his new leader and switched to the lever action rifle he had on his back. Ron couldn't hear the sound of Joey's lever chambering a round over the roar his assault rifle was creating. The beast was on him as his clip went dry and he knew his semblance would have to save him. He used his semblance to manifest a wall between him and the massive creature. As it bounced off the wall it attempted to change direction. Once its attention was away from him Ron changed the position of his manifestation so that it was under the beast. He lifted with the platform he had formed and tilted it so that the monster was sent tumbling backwards. As the beast regained its footing Ron looked to check on his teammates.

Joey was cycling through shells like he was possessed, each shot he fired finding the head of a new grimm. Ron liked it. Elodie had told him a little about the Wulfechester family but he'd imagined Joey was going to be some sheltered rich kid. The image in Ron's head was instantly blasted away at the sight of Joey reloading his rifle with blinding speed in order to continue covering his fellow students.

"Hey be careful with that!" Chris called to Joey as his fist, augmented with flames from the dust in his right glove, pummeled an Ursa head into the ground. He was responding to the bullet that had flown just inches over his head as he followed the punch down. Joey's smirk told Chris that the gunslinger knew what he was doing and the big guy let it go, upper cutting a new grimm as he closed the gap between him and the largest one. Elodie was also closing in.

"Joey be nice," Elodie yelled as she separated her bow into its dagger forms. She plunged each dagger into different targets and quickly retracted them. The claws of the larger beast were coming down on her and she used the daggers to block the downward strike. Ron manifested his aura along his shoulder and used his weight to knock the creature to its side. As it struggled back up he was able to place two shots from his rifle into its stomach. Ron was rewarded with the sight of blood spray from the beast but it wasn't down for good.

"There you go kid," Lavender applauded the young huntsman in training. With a large back hand swipe Ron and Elodie were knocked away but not before Elodie had prepared her bow. Mid flight she fired an arrow that grazed the beast's eye. Despite his sudden set back of being knocked to the base of Joey's feet this wasn't going too bad. The wolf wrapped the lever action rifle's strap around his shoulder and took the subgun up with his left hand, spraying short bursts at the beasts behind Chris. His right hand extended down to Ron who took it. He smiled up at him. For a rich-kid wolf faunus Joey was proving to be a team player and Ron knew that would be really important in the future if they really were going to be teammates.

"Come on boss," Joey lifted him and Ron reloaded Lanius. Lavender had tapped Ron on the shoulder.

"Give this a shot," Lavender was holding the sword he kept on his back out to Ron. Ron took it with a confused look. "Sometimes you need more than just a gun." Lavender looked at Joey who scoffed and sprayed down another couple of Grimm. The crowd was slowly dissipating under his fire and Chris' constant dust-augmented punches. Elodie had cleared her fair share of the minor grimm while keeping the large beast distracted.

"But this is your weapon sir," Ron reached out for it anyways. Something about the sword was calling to him. Although he was confused it was like his aura was lifting his hand without his consent.

"Not mine," Lavender lifted his coat to reveal chains that were attached to two large pistols. "This sword belongs to the world, huntsmen just inherited it..." Ron was silent as he put his hand on the blade's handle.

"That makes no sense," Joey called, obviously still irritated about Lavender's gun comment.

"You'll figure it out eventually," Lavender smirked. Ron felt something as he took the blade from the professor. He slung his rifle around his back and turned to face the giant beast. Chris had made it to the large grimm finally and took a fighting stance as it roared. Ron felt a pull in the handle of the blade. He looked down at the sword and realized that his semblance had activated without him commanding it. The strange part was that his aura manifestation wasn't making a wall or some other defensive structure. His manifestation had attached to the blade itself and was causing it to glow with the jade energy of his aura. Joey had stepped up next to him.

"Shiny," he commented at the sword in Ron's hands. "Wanna get this sonnova-." Joey was cut off by Elodie who was shouting orders now.

"Chris knock it off balance," she told him. The big guy nodded and ducked under a great swipe of claw. He jumped as he upper cut the beast but it did not become airborne like the smaller ones had before. "Now toss me some ice!" Chris conjured an icy energy between Elodie and the creature as it reeled back on its hind legs. She placed an arrow threw the energy cloud and it hit the floor between the beast's legs, creating a frozen solid block of ice where its feet had been.

"Joey got anything that can break that chest plate?" Ron asked the wolf as he continued charge the sword with his aura. Joey chuckled a bit.

"Got just the thing," Joey quickly drew his twin revolvers and began placing shots on the creature's chest. It was about to topple over when Chris grabbed one of its massive paws to hold it up. Elodie followed his example by using her daggers to impale the other claw. After five or six shots, Ron had lost count in all the excitement, the jade swordsman rushed forward and the gunslinger held his fire. With a mighty roar Ron leapt toward the beast, the energy in the sword extended the blade as he brought it forward. The chest armor shattered as Elodie and Chris were thrown to the floor along with the beast. The blade had found its way deep into the Ursa's chest with a sickening noise, blood spraying out onto the hand guard of the weapon and a bit onto Ron's armor. Ron was atop the creature as he realized what he had just done. He was gripping the blade in his hands so tightly that his knuckles had become pale and his breathing heavy.

"WOO!" Was all that came out as he let go of the blade. Elodie and Chris were both on the floor next to the beast, wide eyed and breathing nearly as heavy as Ron.

"That was pretty bad ass," Elodie looked up to Ron. Joey was approaching the group with his pistols twirling on his fingers.

"That was some good shooting Wulfechester," Ron told him.

"Just Joey is fine boss," Joey told him as he admired the kill. Joey still had one of his pistols in hand as he extended a hand to Elodie. "Good work El." She took his hand as her eyes changed to a pinkish color.

"Thanks for checking on me partner!" Chris interrupted Elodie's moment as his head poked in between them. Ron was about to chuckle when the Ursa let out a weak snarl, looking over at Chris' leg.

"Oh shit!" Joey jumped, his pistol stopped spinning and he fanned three quick shots under the beast's chin. Elodie looked down in disbelief that the monster had survived being stabbed in the chest. Ron could no longer hold back the chuckle and let out a laugh. The other three members of his team suddenly joined him.

"Say Fuchsia!" Lavender was at the side of the group, using his scroll as a camera to capture the moment of triumph for the new team.

"I thought Ozpin named the teams," Yang was poking holes in Ron's story, "and there's no way a professor let you use their weapon!"

"But Yang you've seen me use the sword!" The huntsman in front of her had a point, she knew he owned the sword but now another question was forming in her head.

"So why have I never heard of this Lavender?" Yang asked, Ron's smiling face shot into a sudden frown and she wondered what could possibly be wrong.

"I.. uh..," Ron was stuttering which seemed strange for him. He hadn't made Lavender up had he? Ron didn't seem like the kind of guy to add on to his triumphs by fluffing up his stories but his sudden lack of words left her a little doubtful. "He.. uh, he's not around anymore."

"What?" Yang was confused, "Like he's out on missions instead of teaching?" Ron hadn't gotten to answer before his scroll pinged.

"Oh no," Ron looked more worried now than sad, "Yang I gotta go.. wait a minute is Ruby still with Joey?"

"Yea why?" Yang nodded. Ron held up the scroll and she saw that it was a distress text from Joey with 'LOCK AND LOAD' in bold capital letters at the center of the message. Ron had used his scroll to begin tracking his teammate as the two threw a random amount of lien on the table. Somehow, without missing a beat on their way out, Ron dropped extra and picked up Yang's share handing it back to her.

"It's on me for interrupting the story!" Ron was outpacing her now when she stopped him.

"Where are you going so quick, hot shot?" She stopped him, "we came here on MY bike, remember?"

"Well if you'd hustle a little maybe I wouldn't be ready to steal your wheels, sunshine!" Ron had already called his rocket locker which landed a few feet away from Bumblebee. The young huntsman opened the locker which had his sword and assault rifle in it. He grabbed his gear as Yang mounted the bike.

"Yea right," Yang scoffed, "you couldn't handle bumblebee."

"Oh you'd be surprised what I could handle," Ron got on behind her. The blonde smirked, expecting Ron to struggle with her rough driving the way Neptune had.

"Just make sure you hang on!" She revved the bike and to her surprise Ron didn't even flinch at the sudden take off.

Elodie had barely gotten her food when she had received the distress from Joey. She was close by but she still had a few blocks to run before she got to the location itself. She'd set her rocket locker to a point halfway between her cafe and the place the distress was coming from. She'd grabbed Tempest and Flurry, her bow and collapsible quiver, but she didn't have time to change into her armor so she'd just stuffed a couple of extra dust vials into a pouch and clipped it to her jeans. She'd just reloaded the dust on her bow this morning before heading to class so she probably wouldn't need the extra. Elodie wasn't sure what to expect though, Joey never sent distress calls like this unless they were already out on a mission or he'd stumbled across something involving the White Fang. What alarmed Elodie the most was that White Fang activity in Vale was tapering off with that warehouse they'd cleared out being the last of it. What could Joey be dealing with that he'd distress call his team when he already had Weiss, Ruby and Chris with him? Elodie fired a tether arrow upward as she ran, using the momentum to carry herself up the city building. She perched herself on top of the building and looked down. The rabbit was quickly met with her answer as she saw Chris fending off a small girl in a mask and the other three that were with him injured or otherwise knocked down at the feet of a masked duals swordsman.

"Oh what have you boys gotten yourselves into this time?" She sighed as she notched an arrow, charging it with just enough lightning and ice dust to create a flash arrow like the one she had used in the warehouse.