Transcript 1 – Another Happy Landing
Splinters flew everywhere as Jasper punched through the trees on his way to the forest floor below. The resistance slowed his descent and he landed, one knee down and both fists up, scanning the surroundings for Grimm. Finding none, he rose slowly and unequipped his heavy red and silver gauntlets. They were squarish, with an extended arm guard on the outside of the arm and protruding knobs in a chequered pattern on the fingers.
"That was quite an entrance," came a voice from his right.
Jasper started, instinctively moving his hands closer to his weapons belt. Peering off into the trees, he saw the outline of a dark figure with blonde hair, his heavily tanned skin blending into the shadows nearly as well as his black outfit. The mass of spiky blonde hair began floating towards him and Jasper relaxed as the figure stepped out into the light.
"I suppose the flying debris made it all the more dramatic" shrugged Jasper. He studied the newcomer's tunic and gladiator-style leather sandals, which identified him as one of the Vacuan boys he had seen the day before. "It was mostly my semblance. It sort of breaks things. I'm still learning how to use it, but it helps when you're actually trying to hit something." He stepped forward and extended his un-gloved hand. "I'm Jasper. You're Nero, right?"
"Yeah, that's me" he replied, pushing his arm forward quickly to take the offered hand. "We… should probably start looking for these relics."
They started heading north, towards the temple at the other end of the forest. Nero didn't strike Jasper as very talkative, even though he had spoken first when they first met. It was probably more to alert him of his presence than anything else, given the awkward end to the conversation. The people of Vacuo were more individualistic than most others, but then again, Jasper could have sworn he had seen him somewhere before, even though he had never been to Vacuo.
Their quiet hike through the forest was interrupted by a screeching roar from some thick undergrowth a few metres ahead of them, and three large boarbatusks exploded out from their den. Instantly, the boys rolled to the side and drew their weapons, Jasper raising his gauntlets towards the leftmost boar and Nero's long metal whips already silver fans above his head. As the Grimm turned back to attack again, Nero swung his left hand forwards and connected with the closest one in an explosion of fire dust. The creature's legs were swept from under it and it flew several metres as the remaining two boarbatusks thundered past it.
Jasper fired several rounds of ice dust from the top of each gauntlet, one hitting the front leg of the left Grimm and pinning it to the ground as it screamed with rage. The other one was almost upon them, when it transformed into a spinning wheel of death as it charged at Jasper. He punched horizontally, almost bringing the creature to a stop, and followed up with a savage uppercut as he slid back from the impact of the first punch. The creature untucked and its front legs lifted into the air before a purple and silver streak wrapped around its stomach. Nero hefted his second whip and the boarbatusk flew in a wide arc and slammed into the ground, disintegrating into black smoke.
The first Grimm had recovered now and was bracing to charge again, while the other hacked at its trapped foreleg with its massive tusks. Jasper ran towards it and brought his fists together, the chequered knobs on the fingers intermeshing and armguards pivoting down and connecting to form a long handle. He pulled his fists out and quickly locked the handle together, causing the open ends of the gauntlets to close and collapse into a flat surface. The transformation complete, Jasper leapt into the air and brought the hammer down with all his might on the trapped creature's head. The tusks shattered and its legs buckled, then Jasper twisted and kicked the exposed side of the boarbatusk, which finally crumbled into dust.
"Look out!" yelled Nero.
Jasper looked up, only to be catapulted into a nearby tree. The first boarbatusk continued to gallop towards Nero, fixing him in its four-eyed gaze. It deflected the first whip with its curved tusks, and Nero was forced to swing up onto a limb above his head using the gravity dust whip before it got too close. He twirled his whips into a helix and jumped down as the Grimm rushed past, slowed down and turned once again.
Nero untwisted the whips in a blur of sliver, purple and red, sending a blast of fire and gravity dust at the creature's exposed side. It caught the Grimm in its chest and blew it clean in half, the remains sent soaring into the sky before disappearing into nothing.
He jogged back over to the tree, where Jasper was just picking himself up off the ground.
"Are you alright? That was a pretty nasty knock."
"Yeah I'm fine," said Jasper, pulling himself up using Nero's shoulder. "My Aura is a bit low though, so let's take it steady."
"I definitely didn't expect your weapon to turn into a hammer, of all things."
"Nah, your whips are great, way more badass than a hammer. Those longer range attacks are so useful. What was that hit you did at the end though? It was so powerful".
Nero nodded. "Draw and Quarter both have infused dust in the metal fibres, so if I twist them together and then untwist them very quickly, it sends a double blast of gravity and fire, which is enough to deal with most small Grimm."
"Each one is deadly on its own, too. I should have stayed back seeing how well we combined for that first kill, especially as I already saw them both in action. If I'd have thought of that, maybe that other boarbatusk wouldn't have got me. I went with my own capabilities which I was familiar with instead of working together." Jasper smiled. "Something which I'll have to learn if we are going to be on a team together for the next four years."
Nero nodded again. "That's usually me. I try too hard to be independent sometimes. Something to practise for me as well."
The two boys walked off and disappeared into the forest.
Transcript 2 – Bickering, Snickering and Team Pick(er)ing
"You could have warned me, at least!"
This was the third time the conversation had headed this direction, but Lina wasn't done talking yet. She couldn't understand how someone could act so carefree about such an important assignment. First impressions were everything, and for Gale to goof off with her mass-reduction semblance within minutes of meeting a stranger was completely uncalled for. Gale on the other hand, wished this uptight little perfectionist would stop yabbering and get on with the task at hand. Yes, it was in a bit of fun but the manoeuvre had been specifically to find the temple, as they had discussed. Who would whinge about the details? This girl, evidently. She chose not to reply.
The girls huffed their way north, walking at an express pace as if they were intent on beating each other there instead of winning the argument. Lina's tiny legs struggled to keep up with Gale's lengthy 6'2 frame, and nearly missed the moment they burst out of the trees. Lina found herself on top of a large mound, and recognised the ruins of some colosseum-like structure down below, just a few hundred metres ahead. It had to be the temple.
But first, they had to deal with the Grimm waiting for them at the bottom of the mound.
The Alpha Creep stumbled towards them with terrifying speed for such an awkward gait and was already halfway up the mound before Lina and Gale took action. The former unleashed a barrage of powerful fire dust bullets which smashed into the Creep's heavy plate armour, Gale opened her quill and pick out several earth dust arrows, hoping to shoot underneath the black and white monster and pierce its softer underbelly, but the creature had already bent double under the hail of Lina's semi-automatic machine gun. She adjusted her aim and fired at the long spikes on its spine, the extra weight causing it to fall back.
Lina raced forwards, only to be slapped away its knobbed tail. She pivoted and landed several metres away on the opposite side of the creature, digging her heels into the gravel and dirt before sliding to a stop. Gale collapsed the curved ends of the bow to give a long blue katana and thrust the tip between the Creep's eyes. The sword stuck fast in the armour plating, and her eyes widened as the creature bellowed with rage, shook its head and then tried to bite Gale's exposed arms. She thudded into the ground and kicked desperately at the Grimm's chest with her strong legs as it loomed over her.
It teetered on the slope of the hill for a brief second as its tail prevented it from tipping over backwards, then rolled over onto its side, screaming in protest. Having sufficiently recovered, Lina transformed her weapon into its club form, the magazine and handles folding flat and the stock extending to give a long handle. She jumped into the air and smashed the underside of the creature's chin, driving the katana through its head as it lay braced against the ground.
As Gale gathered her weapon, she remarked how well the two had worked together.
"That was a great job! Our first Grimm as students! Nice thinking to generate that extra bit of force needed to get through that Creep's armour."
"It was… okay. I shouldn't have let myself get hit by its tail though. It was a good idea of yours to slow it down with that Earth dust. It didn't like my bullets, but I wish they were more powerful like that Coco girl's."
"Who's that?"
"She's a wannabe fashion designer of sorts," Lina sniffed. "That girl in brown with that handbag we saw yesterday. She and I went to combat school together, and we pushed each other with our gun functionalities when we designed our weapons. But her semblance is called Hype, and enhances the effect of dust. It's very good at blowing things up."
"Oooh," said Gale. "I'll have to watch her and see how good it is."
"Anyway, we've been chatting long enough, they'll grade us poorly if we stand here all day doing nothing. Lets head to that temple."
The two looked around the ruins with a curious eye. There were a dozen or so stone platforms equally spaced around the circular space, many with small stone tablets on top. They had curved lines engraved into them resembling faces or shapes, and a letter in the top of each corner.
"Playing cards?" wondered Gale. "Strange idea for a relic."
"There are two diamonds and a spade missing, we aren't the first people here" grouched Lina. "Which one should we take?"
"Well, you have a club, and you act like a queen, so maybe we should pick that one!" Gale giggled.
"Quit your snickering! Besides, we aren't alone, so hurry up and get it already before the next lot get here."
Gale looked up. "The next lot", as Lina had described them, were appearing from the eastern side of the clearing. The pair was made up of the gladiator boy with whips she had seen yesterday with the other Vacuan, and a slightly shorter boy with brown hair and big metal fists on his belt.
"Find the relics alright?" called Jasper from across the clearing. "There's not some secret code or anything we need to unlock them?"
"Of course not, silly" said Lina, rolling her eyes. "Just come take one and we'll get out of here."
Nero looked around and picked up the jack of clubs.
"Where to now?" said Gale, remembering she missed those details when she was picking imaginary teams.
"The cliff," said Jasper.
The four ran off towards the imposing shadow of the cliffs, just as a pack of Ursi started emerging from the other side of the forest, attracted by the uncertainty and nerves from them all, and especially from an uncomfortable Nero and a perpetually irritable Lina. Unbeknownst to them, Coco and Fox were also just coming into view, and they would learn in the coming days that they had almost unintentionally caused a very sticky situation for them and the other future members of team CFVY.
The group crossed an ancient stone bridge with a tower rising above the centre. Some sections of the wall were missing, and other parts showed signs of damage from small Grimm, but nothing of real significance. It would take something like a Nevermore to really do anything to a bridge of this size. Nero was first to arrive at the base of the rock wall which faced them. "Anyone have any clues?"
"I might have an idea" snickered Gale.
"NO!" snapped a disgruntled Lina.
"Nero can get up with his whips alright, but the rest of us don't really have anything suitable for climbing" said Jasper thoughtfully. He changed his gauntlets into their hammer form. "Gale, Lina, if I launch you up to that ledge about halfway up, do you think you can climb the rest?"
"Yes, and I have an even better idea" said Gale, ignoring Lina's protests. "My semblance makes things lighter, so if you can get the others up the cliff within a couple of minutes it should be a piece of cake!"
"Excellent!" replied Jasper. "Who wants to go first?"
A tiny hand raised itself begrudgingly.
"I'll go," mumbled Lina, scowling in Gale's direction. "At least I know what's coming."
"Great!" said Jasper, placing his hammer on the ground as Gale looked on with interest. "When you're ready."
Lina crouched down on top of the head, and once again Gale's light blue aura flowed over her as she touched her shoulder. The dizziness wasn't as bad as last time, and she certainly didn't feel as sick or disoriented. Jasper spun around twice before bringing the hammer in an upward arc, sending Lina soaring towards the top of the cliff, her fox tail trailing behind her like an orange wind sock. Gale's brown eyes met with Nero's violet ones.
"I'm alright" he said, brandishing Draw, the gravity whip. "I can get up fine on my own." He started towards the cliff.
"Wait!" she called to him. "Just keep hold of this," she said, unslinging her katana and transforming it back to the springier bow. "You can use it as a lever to catapult things like the hammer here".
Gale turned back to Jasper, eyes shining. She had always been the one doing the catapulting, never the one on the receiving end, and short of the launchpad on the cliff she hadn't experienced anything like it before. She touched Jasper, and he stumbled as he adjusted to his new weight then herself, puffing as her Aura reserves dropped to just above the safe lower limit.
Jasper spun again, and suddenly Gale was flying, flying faster than the arrows from her bow, up and then above the ledge, and landed on the rockface just a few metres below the top of the cliff. She scurried up the last few metres and looked over the edge of where she had just been, watching the tiny black and red blobs below her. She waited for a bit, then the red dot grew larger and larger, and Jasper landed in almost the same spot she had, and then joined her on the edge of the cliff.
Below the watchers, Nero flicked up the bow with his foot and wedged it in the back of his belt. It wasn't really designed for such a weapon, thought Nero, but it would have to do for now. He spun Draw above his head and caught a protruding lump of rock a few metres above him, pulling himself up and above, before detaching mid-air and repeating the process for a higher rock.
I probably should have gone with the group, he thought. But then again, who would have helped Jasper if he was the last one down there? He shook his head. Even though it was unavoidable, really, Nero still felt like he was acting too much as an individual and not enough as a team member. Something would have to change.
He finished his musing and popped over the edge of the cliff several metres away from the others, landing with a soft plop on the grassy outcrop. Jasper moved towards him, the girls following behind.
"I don't think we've formally introduced ourselves" said Jasper, turning to face the others as he reached Nero. "My name is Jasper."
"Lina."
"Gale. Pleased to meet you!"
"And I'm Nero," said the appropriately named gladiator. "I hope we get to see a lot more of each other."
And so it turned out. After spending the rest of the morning together waiting for remaining students, the four were ushered into the main auditorium to hear the announcement of teams given by Professor Ozpin. Nero was able to count forty new students including himself now that they weren't blocked by the giant frame of that kid in green armour, who turned out to have the equally long name of Yatsuhashi.
"Maizy Storm, Hunter Anstone, Jewel Blackmore, Ember Swanfeather. You four collected the suit of diamonds. From henceforth, you will work together as Team MAJE (mage), lead by Maizy Storm."
The instructors and other higher level students clapped as the first set of students line up in front of the headmaster. Gale shuffled her feet. She wondered if Maizy Storm or her family had been named for bad weather when they had been born, like she had.
"Amazon Flage, Plum Kittle, Knight Hayze, Harley Hayze. You all collected the suit of spades. You will now work together as Team AKHH (ankh), led by Amazon Flage."
Nero leaned forward. There were only two of the ten teams left to be announced. In seconds he would know which other pair he would be spending the next four years with alongside Jasper. He had grown rather attached to the two girls they had met at the temple, but there was also a pair with that giant Yatsuhashi. He would be a good ally to fight alongside. And the other pair had Fox. There was no way he could decide between those… If only he remembered which relic the girls had picked up, then he might know better!
"Jasper Glass, Nero August, Gale Grigia, Lina Lavender. You four retrieved the suit of clubs. From now on, you will work together as Team JNGL (jungle), led by Jasper Glass."
Jasper felt his heart jump, and he wasn't sure if it was in joy and excitement or nervous anticipation of what was to come. He didn't mind being leader, he just hoped he would remember to look at the big picture while working with his team and not get too caught up in the details. He hardly heard the last announcement, and only caught the very end of what Professor Ozpin was saying.
"…Team CFVY, led by Coco Adel."
Coco looked pretty pleased with that, thought Lina. She would have liked to have been leader too, especially given their rivalry at combat school, but Jasper seemed like he knew what he was doing, at least most of the time. That quick thinking at the bottom of the cliff had certainly been a good first impression.
Second opinions were for tomorrow, she thought, and would have to wait. It was time to begin life as Team JNGL.