"I think you have it a little better than that." A voice rang out, catching the attention of the two teams.
Standing before them was a man about 6'6 with waist-length black hair, a few bangs in the front going just below his yellow eyes, enough space between the bangs to keep his vision clear and a pure white robe with black linings, bandages around his hands and wrists (think if Neji Hyuuga in Naruto before Shippuden if both his arms were wrapped, only his hands and wrists) and a pitch black suit similar to the one Serena now wore beneath the robes. The eldest brother of the Blade Clan- "Nightshade!" Serena said, running up and hugging him, coming up to his stomach. He chuckled at this and crouched down a bit, returning the hug.
"Aww, how sweet." Naomi said sweetly.
"He's definitely as tough and intimidating as I pictured a Huntsman." Umbra said.
"So, you're the one that always puts down Sai and has super high standards?" Selene asked.
Nightshade looked at her, no visible expression on his face. "I'll admit I am rather hard to impress. But as for Sai, I'd respect him far more if he actually took anything seriously. Until then, he's not even worth a second thought in my mind." He explained (Nice guy, huh?).
"Preaching to the choir on the first part." She said.
"But, we're not here to discuss my idiot brother (see what I have to deal with?). We're here to track down a possible terrorist group and in the even we find them, we crush them beneath our boots. Serena, get Kraken and let's get moving." He said, walking to a jet that resembled the Blackbird.
"That's our ride?! Awesome!" Umbra said excitedly, howling.
"This is going to be so cool!" Naomi agreed happily and excitedly.
"I always did like riding in style." Selene said.
"One of the many benefits of being rich." Serena said, whistling, Kraken rushing from out of a large number of bushes, ducking his head to pass between Serena's legs and with an upward flick of his neck, he easily tossed the small vampire onto his back, allowing her to ride on his back like a horse to the ship.
"I should as Damion to get me one of those." Selene said.
"You know the people who breed them, you could just ask them." Umbra said.
"I think I prefer smaller dogs like Zwei." Naomi said. At this, Ruby's backpack began moving a bit, but due to Oobleck's rambling and team SUSN walking to the Blackbird, only the Scythe-wielder noticed it and made it stop.
So, after giving team RWBY earpieces so the two teams could communicate on the way, they were off. "I wonder how Ruby's team is doing with DOCTOR Oobleck?" Serena asked, tuning into their conversation, remembering how the speedy huntsman insisted on being called Doctor as they left.
"I'm not a fan of people who ramble on and talk all the time. He clearly must've earned his position as a huntsman, but all I have to say is he'd better be able to handle himself when it comes time to fight." Nightshade said as he piloted the ship.
"I guess I never pictured you as much of a fighter." Yang said.
"I dare say I fancy myself as more of an intellectual, but I can assure you: as a huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles." He said.
"Tussles. Excellent wording. Generally means a more vigorous struggle." Nightshade said.
"Like the mushrooms?" Ruby asked, referring to the word 'tussles'.
"Those are truffles." Blake said.
"Like the sprout?" She corrected herself, but was still wrong.
"Those are Brussels." Yang said.
"How does she not know that term." Nightshade said, shaking his head.
"Younger generation, brother. Give her a break." Serena said.
"Very well." He said.
"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history and my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular... assignment." Oobleck continued.
"I felt it appropriate to see the progress my sister and her team have made, ensuring their on a satisfactory level." Nightshade explained.
"I assure you, we are MORE than capable." Selene said.
"Don't worry, Nightshade. I promise we won't let you down." Serena said.
He chuckled a bit at this. "We'll see. I hope you're right, but I'll have to see for myself." He said.
"No wonder Sai complains about this guy. We're on a mission originally unavailable for first years and he doesn't think we can handle ourselves?" Umbra whispered to Selene and Naomi.
"I'm getting worried about how high his standards are." Naomi agreed.
"We'll just have to show him just how good we really are." Selene said determinedly.
"Bold words. Let's see if you can back them up. Especially if you want to keep dating my sister." Nightshade said.
Selene was shocked at this. "...WHAT?!" She demanded.
"I expect to see an excellent performance from you. I only want the best warriors to have anything to do with my sister." He said.
Selene's eye twitches. "...He can't be serious..."
"He's trying to get you worked up so you'll fight harder. Don't worry, babe. Even if he says he doesn't want you around me, he's NOT splitting us up." Serena said determinedly, looking at Nightshade.
They then listened back into Oobleck and RWBY after the Profess- I mean DOCTOR explained History's roll in the anatomy of our society. "The Southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves. BUT! It is also the location of one of the kingdom's greatest failures." He started to explain.
"Mountain Glen." Ruby and Nightshade said at the same time.
"That's right! It was an expansion of Vale, but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city." Yang said.
"Nice history lesson, Yang. Thanks." Selene said.
"Correct. And now it stands abandoned. As a dark reminder." Oobleck continued.
"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake said (hey, her hair's clipping through her arm).
"Precisely." Oobleck continued.
The two airships then arrived over the city. "Here we are. I'll warn you now: I will not save you if you are in danger. I'm the exact opposite of the army: if you aren't good enough, I will leave you behind. So make sure you can handle your enemies at all times, if the fight is too extreme, regroup with your team and fight them together. If something goes wrong, you WILL die." Nightshade said, putting the ship on hover before jumping out of the airship at the same time as team RWBY.
"What?!" Naomi said in fear and disbelief.
"How did this guy become a huntsman?! The whole point of being huntsmen and huntresses is to protect people!" Umbra said.
"I can't believe it, but I'm starting to agree with Sai about him." Selene said.
"It's a scare tactic. He's trying to use fear to give us an adrenaline rush, push us past our limits. If we DO need help, he'll help us. He's cold and can be cruel at times, but he's NOT heartless." Serena said, the 4 of them jumping out together.
Everyone looked at their surroundings, observing that so far, the city was deserted, not showing any signs of life. "Ladies, though you may still be students, your first mission as huntresses has officially begun. As of this moment, you need to do exactly as we say. Do you understand?" Oobleck said, pointing to himself and Kinshiro with his coffee mug, getting coffee on his shirt as a result.
"Although you look foolish with the coffee stain right now, I do have to agree with you." Nightshade said, looking at him, before back to his charges (team SUSN).
Oobleck then suddenly looked towards- "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school." He said.
Ruby raised a finger at this to make a point "But, you hadn't told us to listen you yet, so I didn't." She said.
"Is she serious?" Nightshade asked, looking at her, before back at his team.
"It's Ruby, no one really knows what's running through her mind." Selene explained.
"She's not wrong..." Oobleck pondered.
"Is HE serious?" Nightshade asked in disbelief that Oobleck actually bought that.
"I think all the coffee has done something to his brain." Naomi said.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's accurate." Serena agreed.
"Very well, Ruby, leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return." He said.
"But, I- uh." She started.
"I smell a dog... And it's not me or Kraken." Umbra said, sniffing the air, getting closer to Ruby's backpack.
"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important you had to bring it with-" Oobleck started, before Zwei popped his head out of the bag, surprising everyone, especially Umbra, who had been inches away from the bag, stumbling back and falling on her butt, everyone else looking to see Ruby had brought the dog.
"Get back in the bag." She whispered, to which Zwei barked and Nightshade face-palmed.
"We're here to investigate an urban jungle teeming with death and hostility and you brought... a dog?" He asked.
"It would make sense if you brought a large, powerful dog like Kraken, but a small dog like a Corgi is almost useless in combat." Nightshade said.
"I- uh..." She started.
"GENIUS!" Oobleck said, turning away and walking off, everyone else shrugging in confusion, before he zoomed in from nowhere and snatched the dog out of the backpack, knocking Ruby over in the process. "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for hunts such as ours!" He explained, spinning around, holding the dog in the air, to which Zwei barked happily.
"I'm a genius!" Ruby said proudly, pointing to herself with her thumb, to which everyone else deadpanned, most of them face-palming.
"In that case, so am I, because I brought Kraken!" Serena said.
"So, what are your orders, Doctor?" Blake asked.
"Ah! Straight to the chase, I like it!" Oobleck said, dropping the dog, slightly to everyone's shock, but he recovered quickly and started playing with Kraken. "The Southeast has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now there are several possible reasons for this type of behavior, one of which being... Grimm." He said.
"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately 100 yards away from us at this very moment." He said as we turned around to see a large beowulf. Everyone except the Huntsmen prepared to attack and Kraken was ready to charge the creature. "Stop!" Oobleck said.
"Wait." Nightshade said, crouching and grabbing Kraken's collar.
"There are a number of reasons why Grimm congregate in this particular area. The most likely of which being their attraction to negativity. Sadness... Envy... Loneliness... Hatred..." Oobleck explained.
"All qualities of our hidden group harboring ill intent." He explained.
"So, what now?" Ruby asked.
"The way of the ninja, stay out of sight of the target and track them, in hopes they lead you to your ultimate target. Hopefully, that beowulf will lead us to its pack and they just might track down the group we're after." Nightshade explained.
"How long do we wait?" Ruby asked, the rest of them unaware of more beowulves rounding the corner.
"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Some Grimm have been known to stay away from the pack for months- and there's the whole pack." He said as they looked up to see the rest of the monsters.
"What?!" Weiss said in disbelief.
"And now they've seen us." Oobleck said.
"WHAT?!" She asked, again in disbelief.
"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" Oobleck shouted into her face.
"I take it tracking is out of the question?" Ruby asked.
"An accurate assumption, yes." Oobleck confirmed.
"What's the plan, then?!" Yang asked as the Grimm came barreling at them, the two teams looking at their respective huntsman.
"Show me what you're capable of." Oobleck said.
"Destroy." Nightshade said, releasing Kraken, who barreled toward one beowulf, the same size, but twice as bulky as the lanky monster, slamming into it and taking it down, sinking his teeth into its throat.
"Got it!" Serena said, her and Selene rushing in.
"Cover your ears, Zwei!" Ruby said, readying her scythe to shoot them with the rifle part.
"About time I get to test this in battle!" Umbra said, turning her new lance into it's bow form and firing at the Grimm, vaporizing them once the arrows hit.
Serena and Selene jumped into a large group of them, masterfully fighting back to back, knocking away any monsters coming anywhere near them. Yang rushed at the first one she saw and smashed it in the face as Serena created a tornado to take all the Grimm near her and her girlfriend into the air, leaving them helpless to a barrage of bullets and grenades from Serena's massive grenade launcher fan and Selene's bladed machine gun tonfas.
Yang rushed off into a bigger crowd as more of them chased her, but stopped when they saw Blake and Naomi standing not too far away, charging at them as they were the closer target and appeared to be off-guard. Blake started to draw her sword as a beowulf rushed in and slashed her, but it was just an afterimage and she sliced IT in half, landing a couple small hits on another before slicing it in half as well. She did a couple tricks with afterimages and sliced the third one if half. Naomi blocked with her buster sword as the Grimm attacked her, pushing her back and giving her distance to fight back with her sword, spinning it in a way that would've made an x in front of her, slicing the arms off an attacking beowulf, jumping back as it along with a few others lunged to bite at her, at which point she readied her minigun and mowed them down.
We then see Weiss jump out of nowhere and run from another small pack of Grimm, before turning and rapidly slashing through the first one, before gliding at high speeds across the ground, slashing through them all faster than the eye could trace. "Feigned retreat. Not bad, Schnee." Nightshade said considerately.
Meanwhile, another group of Grimm were charging at Ruby as she mowed them down with her sniper rifle. As she did this, Zwei was simply chasing his tail. As he was doing this, Kraken was easily bulldozing the Grimm, tearing chunks out of them with his powerful teeth or breaking their necks with strong bites to the back of the neck. Ruby then pulled her scythe out of the ground and rushed in, after an intense battle of stares with the final Beowulf, she sliced it in half as she reached it. "Piece of cake." She said, chuckling nervously as Oobleck walked up.
"Didn't even break a sweat." Serena said as if it were no big deal as her team regrouped with Nightshade.
"So, how did we do?" Selene asked.
"You did quite well. You impressed me. As a whole, you were good. I was especially impressed with you two, Serena and Selene, you weren't afraid to get right up in the action and protected each other well. Naomi, you did fairly well, although you could've been a bit more evasive and stayed up-close and personal. I still count blocking as taking a hit, which I frown upon, something to work on for next time. And as for you, Umbra, while you certainly did your part from a distance, I want to see you still have skills in close quarters." Nightshade explained.
"Well how about you show us how it's done next time." Umbra said, growling and baring her teeth.
"Fine then, when I feel I can appropriately show off my skills, I will." He says.
"But do not celebrate yet. I fear this shall be the first bout of many. Now, shall we continue?" Oobleck asked. Team RWBY sliced through the next rather small group of Beowulves as Oobleck inspected some grass. "Excellent work girls. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any signs of criminal activity in this area. Oh well! Moving on!" He said, starting to walk off.
"Hey, Doc, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action. You know, like fighting or at least helping us fight?" Yang asked, slightly angry.
"Ah, but I am in action: scouting the ruins of this city for any signs of irregularity! Not every mission is filled with heroism, girls. Some times it's just a heightened form of extermination. Remember: this is a job and you signed up for it." Oobleck explained.
"Suddenly, becoming a huntsman doesn't feel like such an accomplishment." Nightshade said. They encountered another large group of 20 beowulves, at which point Nightshade stepped forward. "An acceptable number. I will this bout myself." He said, holding his hands out. Suddenly, clouds of darkness appeared near his outstretched hands, elongating and taking a specific form before becoming two 6 foot long katanas, which he caught the instant the materialized. He crossed his arms in front of himself, the blades outwards towards the charging beowulves. "HAA!" He exclaimed, swinging the swords outwards, a wave of darkness flying out of them and slicing through the first 10 beowulves, the other 10 still charging as the katanas disappeared. "This is where the fun begins." He said, rushing at them, throwing a round kick at the first one, taking its head off and spinning, throwing a round kick into the next one, knocking a couple of them back. He grabbed the next one, spun and held it in front of him as another beowulf tried to slash him, instead slashing its pack member in half, at which point Nightshade threw it aside, grabbed the failed attacker's head and broke its neck. He threw a left knife hand at the next one, breaking its neck as well before thrusting his right fist forward, punching completely through the next one, opening the fist and unleashing a burst of darkness from his palm to obliterate the one behind it. One tried to swing at his head, but he jumped back, summoned his swords again and rushed in, spinning twice and winding up behind the beowulves, one sword held in front of him, his right arm covering the lower half of his face and the other sword in the air behind him. He stood up lifted the blades to his shoulder level and swung them to clean the blood off, the beowulves falling into pieces behind him.
"And that... is how it's done." He said, turning back to the teams and huntsman who were standing in awe.