As Team STRQ made their way through Vale to begin their journey the group noticed something: All the people seemed to move out of the way of Lance. The people would make way for the Professor and some even bowed their heads in respect to the man as he continued to walk through the streets.
Qrow subtly motions for the rest of the team to come closer so he could ask them all what was on his mind. "Hey do all of you know why everyone seems to be moving out of the way for Professor Lot?"
"Isn't this how huntsmen are normally treated?" Summer asks not really knowing that much either.
Raven scoffs at Summer. "No, this is not how huntsmen are normally treated." Raven then focuses her attention on Qrow. "Although I was curious about that as well."
Tai then looks at the three of them in surprise. "You seriously don't know who Professor Lot is?"
The other three turn their heads to Tai each with a questioning look. "No we don't that's why I asked." Qrow responds.
"His full name is Lance Azure Lot, he's known to be the greatest swordsman in all of Remnant! They say that he is unrivaled in the ways of the sword and that he's pretty good at using all other forms of melee weapons. Their are many stories of him slaying humongous Grimm single handedly and many more stories of his kindness and love for the people. The guy is a living legend." Tai explains to the rest of his group clearly excited.
"Wasn't expecting you to fanboy over him Tai." Qrow smirks to himself.
"It's not everyday you get to meet such a skilled fighter like him." Tai responds back.
"Do you think he'd let me take a stab at him?" Raven asks clearly itching to fight him now.
"I would not recommend you do that Miss Branwen." The four of them look up to see Lance still walking forward. "At your current skill level I would gauge that you would last about ten seconds against me in a duel."
"Is that sooo..." Raven reaches for the handle of her sword and right when the blade is pulled half way out of the sheathe she feels a hand, or rather a gauntlet, rest gently on her hand. Raven looks up to see Lance staring down at her. The rest of Team STRQ is also spooked by how quickly Lance just moved.
"We are in the middle of a city. Taking out your weapon to fight here is strictly forbidden. We do not want to ensue panic. This will be my only warning." Lance takes his hand off Raven as he turns around and continues walking. Everyone looks on at their Professor in shock before Raven reluctantly sheathes her sword. Team STRQ quickly catches up to their Professor as they continue to make their way through the city.
About twenty minutes later the group finally exits the city and begins heading south into the woodlands. Summer walks up to Lance and begins to sway with her steps as she asks her Professor a question. "So you said that this thing is somewhere between Vale and a place called Mountain Glenn? I'm not from around here so I'm not to sure where that is. Could you tell me more about it?"
Lance turns his head to look down at his student. "With pleasure Miss Rose. Mountain Glenn was a planned expansion to the city of Vale that was supposed to be finished. Unfortunately due to not having the proper defenses and constant Grimm attacks, the city could not survive." Lance looks downcast.
"Thats terrible." Summer frowns. "Why does the Headmaster keep the city around if it is abandoned?"
"He leaves it standing as a reminder to not only himself, but to the other three nations that you should never try to expand without taking natural barriers into consideration." Lance replies as he turns his head to continue looking ahead. Summer then falls back in line with the rest of her team.
For the next several hours the group continues to trek through the forest as the sun slowly rises and falls. Once the sun begins setting Lance turns around and holds his hand up to stop them. "I believe it is time to set up camp."
Team STRQ all stop in front of Lance. "Thank goodness." Summer sighs.
"Gee Summer I didn't think you'd be so tired." Qrow stares intently at his partner.
"I can't help it alright? We've been walking for over ten hours with no breaks. Sorry if I'm a little tired." Summer defends herself.
Lance then turns his head to face Summer. "Now Summer, begin giving instructions for what to do."
Summer looks at Lance slightly confused. "What do you mean sir? Aren't you the one in command out here?"
Lance shakes his head in disappointment. "That may be true, but this is also a team exercise to test your capabilities as a leader. I would like to gauge how well of a leader you are as of right now. You may begin at any time." Lance adopts a stance of rigidness.
Summer thinks about it for a moment before giving out orders. "We're going to need wood for a fire. I'll let Taiyang and Raven deal with that. Qrow you and I will look for clean water to use. Everyone split up."
"Got it leader." Tai begins to walk deeper into the woods as Raven follows beside him.
"Guess I have to." Raven grunts out.
Qrow and Summer then go off and look for clean water to use. The four meet back up to where they originally stopped about half an hour later. Raven and Tai prep the fire as Raven pours a little fire dust on the logs to ignite the flames. Meanwhile Summer and Qrow begin to prep the food for the night. After everything is set up the five of them gather around the camp fire. By this point Lance has removed his heavy armor and was back in just his chainmail. Summer has also taken her hood off as well.
"I've never seen a person with silver eyes before." Lance comments as he eats his meal.
Summer looks up with a slight hostility. "Well I don't think their all that interesting."
"Do you know what they say about people with silver eyes?" Lance asks. By this point the rest of Team STRQ is quietly paying attention.
"I'm not sure, what do they say?" Summer feigns ignorance.
"They say that with just one look from a silver eyed warrior can kill any Grimm." Lance is now looking up a Summer.
"Is that so?" Summer responds.
"Are the stories true?" Lance asks as he continues to eat his meal.
"No, they are not." Summer says with slight anger in her voice. "They never were. Someone just made it up and it got spread around through word of mouth."
Lance can tell that the question clearly made his student uncomfortable. Lance bows his head slightly. "My apologies Miss Rose. I was not aware I was making you uncomfortable with my question. Please ignore I said anything."
Summer shakes her head. "It's fine Professor. I've heard the rumors as well so it would be inevitable that someone was going to ask." Summer then tries to steer the conversation to a lighter note. "By the way, how did I do at leading?"
"You did well enough." Lance slightly smiles. "Although I do wish you all were a bit more efficient in your work." Lance chastise the group.
"Hey teach it was the first time we've been out in the wild like this together. Give us some time to know each other better first. Maybe then we can work better together." Qrow responds back.
"And I will Mister Branwen. However do not settle for mediocrity. You all must improve if your are to ever function as a team." Lance responds.
Their is a brief silence before Raven asks their Professor a question. "Hey Professor, did you wear that chainmail inside of your armor?"
Lance shifts his attention over to Raven. "Yes I did. Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just that earlier when you stopped me you moved faster than any of us could've imagined and now knowing that you did it with two sets of armor on, makes the movement all the more impressive. I've just gotta know how you did it."
"When you've been a huntsmen for quite a few years like I have you simply get better over time. My strength and speed were honed over a great many moons." Lance responds.
"Can I reach that level of strength?" Raven asks with a slight glint in her eyes.
"Child, you all can if you work hard enough. Your team has more potential than most teams I've seen in recent years. You all may surpass me for all I know." Lance gives an honest answer.
"Oh wow I can be as strong as you?!" Tai yells in excitement.
"Perhaps." Lance simply shrugs his shoulders. "If you discipline yourself properly then you might be able to."
"I'm gonna make sure to work extra hard!" Tai punches the air a few times.
"Now then, I think it's about time we call it a night here. We must wake up early in the morning if we are to find and kill the monster and bring it back to Beacon. For now I shall take the first night shift. It is up to each and every one of you to decide who goes next." Lance drags his sword closer to himself.
"I'll take the next shift." Summer offers.
Right as Raven is about to take the next one Qrow beats her to it. "I'm after Summer."
Raven puffs her cheeks at her brother before answering next. "I'll go next."
"Looks like I'm last." Tai confirms.
"Good. Now all of you get some shut eye. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Well... goodnight everyone." Summer waves to all of them before she goes to sleep.
As per usual the Branwen twins don't say anything and Tai gives a quick goodnight back.
The next few hours would go by without anything all that bad happening. Lance smoothly traded with Summer and Summer with Qrow. However everything went downhill one hour into Qrow's night watch. As Qrow sat down looking at the flames that were still quietly crackling with his blade lazily at his side, he heard a loud roar echo throughout the entire forest as he heard trees rumbling in the distant. This immediately makes Qrow become wide awake as he quickly starts shaking everyone awake. "Guys wake up! It found us." Qrow whisper yells at his team and at Lance. Lance immediately got up and started quickly putting his armor on as the other three sluggishly got up to grab their weapons.
"Whaaaaats going oooooooon buuuuuuuddy?" Tai slurs out as he sluggishly attaches his weapons.
"Like I said, I think it found us." The trees begin to rustle louder as they all hear something barreling right towards them. As they hear another of the monstrous roars everyone is jolted awake as they all get into a fighting stance.
"That was definitely one of those creatures." Summer comments.
Raven brings her sword into a defensive stance, Qrow turns his weapon over to scythe mode, Summer pulls out her pistols, and Taiyang brings out two tonfa's that turn into giant claw-like blades at the knuckles. Lance pulls his sword into an offensive position as he stays to the side of his students. As they all prepare themselves they see it come out of the forest into the clearing right in front of them. This one looked similar to the last one except for a few noticeable differences. For one it had two smaller arms sprouting out of its shoulders which reached up to cover the creatures face as if it were trying to hide it. The other were two long red almost blood like streaks that seemed to trail from its face all the way down its legs. The creature roared again as dozens of lower classed Grimm were beginning to circle around all of them.
"These things attract other Grimm too?!" Qrow shouts out.
Lance begins charging towards the Grimm. "You four deal with that creature. I'll take out all its lackey's." Lance charges in and immediately begins slashing Grimm down like it was nothing.
Summer opens up by taking a few shots at its head but the second the bullets come near the monster the bullets are sent right back at them as Summer is forced to duck under her own bullets. Qrow charges in and tries a swipe at the legs. As the scythe is about to make contact with the flesh of the creature his scythe immediately is propelled back. Qrow jumps away from the creature as one of its hands come crashing down. When the hand makes contact with the ground, chunks of the ground are sent jutting up towards the group as they move out of the way of the attack.
"What is up with this thing?" Qrow asks the group.
The creature brings its hand up as electricity crackles in its palm. The group begins to scatter as to avoid the inevitable attack. The creature faces towards Summer as it releases the electricity right at her. Just as its about to make contact Summer activates her semblance which makes the attack harmlessly phase through her. Tai charges in for a claw swipes but right as he makes contact with the creature his attacks get propelled back. Tai tries for another strike with a similar result. The creature swats Tai away which sends him flying backwards. Once Tai hits the ground he immediately stabs his claws into the ground to bring himself to a grinding halt. As Tai looks up he sees the creature charging right at him on all fours. Tai tries to move out of the way but the creature has pretty long limbs as it swipes him away again.
Raven charges in and delivers a heavy strike to the monster's back but her sword gets propelled back as well. The creature tries to kick her but Raven jumps over the attack and slices right towards the creatures back. As Raven comes down with her katana on its back the creature sends Raven flying upwards. "What the hell?! This thing can deflect all our attacks!" Raven shouts out. The creature then inverts its limbs so that its torso and head are facing up towards Raven as it begins gathering energy in its mouth. Raven sees this and realizes that she has no way of dodging the attack midair. With some quick thinking Raven waits until the creature is on the verge of firing. The moment the creature is about to let out its attack Raven cuts a portal and appears next to Qrow. Raven then dodges out of the way as the attack enters the portal created and exits through the other portal. When the attack hits the creature in the side it kicks up some dust. Once the dust settles the creatures black aura shimmers slightly. With a wicked grin Raven pumps her fist in the air. "Ah ha! I've found your weak point! EVERYONE! IT CAN BE HURT BY ITS OWN ATTACKS!"
"Then how do we make it attack itself?!" Qrow shouts back as he dodges an incoming swipe from the creature.
"We can use Ravens portals to redirect the attacks back at it!" Summer runs up to Raven as she bites her thumb hard enough to draw a tiny bit of blood. "Here, you're gonna need this." Summer holds out her thumb to Raven.
Without saying a word Raven drags Summer's thumb across her tongue and swallows as she begins digesting her blood. "Tai get your ass over here! I need your blood!"
As Tai begins running towards his partner the creature locks its sights on him. It lunges forward and tries to grab him but Tai smoothly slides underneath it. "Sheesh Raven I didn't know you were so feisty." Tai responds as he makes a roll towards them before bringing his arm up. Without a word Raven makes a light slash at the arm to get a tiny bit of blood on the tip of her blade which she licks and begins digesting Tai's blood as well.
The creature stands back up as it begins to run towards them before swinging its arm on the ground. Summer bursts into petals, Tai activates Precognition to dodge the attack, and Raven quickly cuts a portal to Qrow. The creature begins to unleash a bombardment of punches towards Tai, but Tai is able to weave his way through the attacks. As the creature charges water onto its hand and tries to punch at Tai, Raven runs up behind the creature and cuts a portal. Tai then dodges out of the way as the creatures hand enters the portal and punches itself hard enough to make the black aura lightly shimmer once again. Qrow then goes to sweep at the legs to get the creature to pay attention to him. As per the other attacks, Qrow's attack harmlessly bounces off the creature, but it does end up noticing Qrow and begins to follow him. Qrow begins to circle around it as the creature slowly twists its body around aiming its outstretched hand at him. As its body mangles and twists it outstretches its hands to try to grab Qrow but Qrow weaves through the attacks which begins to upset the creature. The creature starts to bring its hands back to its sides as it begins to build up energy in its palms. Qrow then stops running and begins to run right towards the creature. He jumps into the air and right as the creature is about to shoot its fireball right at him Qrow uses the creatures ability against it. Qrow slashes at the head which propels him backwards. At that same moment Raven jumps up and cuts a portal directly in front of the creature's twisted abdomen. Qrow gets propelled back into the portal and immediately drops to get out of the way of the incoming attack. The creature fires its attack off and the resulting fireball strikes it right in in its weak point. The black aura is finally broken and the creature immediately begins untwisting its abdomen as it screeches at the group in anger.
"That can't be good." Qrow comments.
The creature takes its miniature hands off its face to reveal two empty eye sockets and a face that looked like a human and Grimms simultaneously. It began to use its mini hands to start rapidly throwing light blue balls of energy towards the group. As one of these blue energy balls got near Raven it detonates and sends her flying backwards hitting a tree hard. Raven gets up as her aura shimmers. Tai brings his Precognition to full power as he dodges between the attacks. Qrow tries to dodge as well but his bad luck kicks in as he trips over a rock on the ground which makes him fall onto one of the attacks. The result is sending Qrow flying into the air. The creature points its head towards Qrow and sends a quick laser shot at him which pelts Qrow right in the chest. Qrow is then sent crashing down into the ground as his aura shimmers. Tai lessens his Precognition so he can speak. He begins to shout at his partner for help. "Hey Raven! We could really use your semblance right about now."
"Yeah Yeah, I hear ya loud and clear." Raven shoots forward as she begins to run up to the creature. The creature sees her and focuses its attacks on her. As the blue energy attacks soar right towards her Raven cuts a portal next to Tai as the two dodge out of the way. As the attack goes through the portal and right towards the creature it jumps into the air and avoids the attack all together. The creature cracks its arms backwards as it throws another shot at Raven. Raven cuts another portal as Tai runs underneath the creature. Raven emerges from a portal on the ground as she jumps to the side and the attack comes through. This time the creature is hit spot on between the legs as chunks of black flesh sop to the ground and begin melting. The creature is now definitely pissed as it grabs hold of Raven's leg and slams her into the ground. Raven's aura shimmers and the creature has an idea. The creature keeps slamming Raven into the ground as her aura gets weaker and weaker. Just as Raven is about to lose consciousness she cuts one last portal on the ground as the creature slams her once more. This time she teleports next to Summer. Unfortunately the creature never let go of her leg, but that played directly into Raven's trap. Raven closes the portal and the arm is completely severed from the creature. The creature screams in agony as black blood begins to pour out of its stump all the while its severed arm spasms sporatically. "Heh... that'll teach ya." Ravens aura then fades as she passes out.
Summer looks over to her teammate and looks at the state she was in. "Raven?" After getting no response Summer understood. Summer turned to face the creature as Qrow and Tai kept trying to find a weak point on it, but every attack they tried would just be pushed away by the creature's ability. Summer sighed as she realized that Raven's portals were the only way they had to attack the creature. Summer slowly begins walking up to join her teammates and pulls out her guns. She fires a few bullets at the creature and the bullets bounced off as they usually did. Summer then starts to pick up speed as she runs right towards it. The creature takes notice of her and begins firing blue energy balls at her as Summer turns her body to petals in order to avoid the attacks. Just as Summer is just beneath the creatures legs she reforms a piece of her face to see and one of her hands to shoot as she shoots up into the wound that was caused earlier. The bullet pierces as it travels up the body and exits out of the creature's shoulder. Summer then slides out on the other side as the rest of her body solidifies. "Qrow! Taiyang! We can attack the areas that are already damaged!" Summer shouts as she jumps away from an oncoming strike.
Tai then brings his Precognition up to max as he weaves through the attacks and waits for the severed arm to get close enough. As the creature tries to shoot lightning out of its other main arm Tai sees the opening as he dodges to the side and reels his clawed fist back. With all of his might Tai stabs through the stump in the creature's arm as his claws sink into it. Tai then runs his entire claw up the length of the arm as it splits the limb down the middle. As Tai reaches the chest he sticks his other claw in and pulls both claws outward as he completely severs the rest of the arm from the body. More black blood spews out as some lands right in Tai's eyes which temporarily blinds him. The creature takes the opportunity to grab Tai by the head with its other arm and slam him repeatedly into the ground. Tai's aura shimmers with each blow as the creature pulls Tai up close to its own face as it begins charging a laser in its mouth.
Qrow quickly looks over to his partner and shouts. "Summer! I'm going to need you to give me a boost!" Qrow points underneath the creature as Summer nods her head and begins to run beneath it. The creature takes notice and begins throwing blue energy balls at Summer with its mini arms, but Summer just turns her body to petals once again to avoid the attacks. Qrow begins to run as well towards the creature as he turns his weapon into sword mode. Summer prepares for Qrow as she unloads several bullets into the bottom of the creature as holes begin to exit out of the top of its body. Black blood begins to pour onto Summer's clothes as she readies herself for Qrow. Qrow jumps towards Summer as Summer cups her hands to launch Qrow up. As Qrow is launched up he brings his sword up and brings one of his hands to push the tip as he slices upwards into the creature. "Come on!" Qrow's semblance actually begins to help him as the blade continues to travel upwards through the creature's body and in one ferocious swing Qrow cuts through the creature's entire body from the bottom of its pelvis to the shoulder. As the creature begins to die it falls to the ground and releases Tai while its built up laser is fired into the trees which kills several Grimm and destroys many trees. The creature hits the ground with a resounding thud as its body begins to melt away.
As Tai gets up his aura shakes lightly as it appears he is on the verge of losing all of his aura. "Now that... was a fight..." Tai puts his hands on his knees as he breathes heavily. "Phew... that fight sure did take a lot out of me..." The group looks back to the body as another girl is revealed to be inside the creature.
"Another was claimed victim by these creatures... how tragic." Summer frowns.
Lance walks up to the group and brings out a large cloth sheet he brought with him as he begins to wrap up the body. "Mission accomplished..." Lance says with some sadness in his voice.
"How many Grimm did you kill Professor?" Qrow asks.
As Lance lifts the wrapped body onto his shoulder he turns around to face Qrow. "I lost count after fifty. There were a lot of Grimm attracted to this thing. Do be carful in the future if we ever have to fight one of these things again." Lance then begins to walk back toward Beacon. "We must leave at once. We can not let the body rot before we get back.
Summer looks back at the only other female in their group. "So who's going to carry Raven back?"
"I will." Tai announces.
"No I will." Qrow interjects.
Tai looks over to Qrow in confusion. "And why should you? I'm her partner."
Qrow sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "In your current state you're about to pass out yourself. The last thing we need is having to carry both of you. So just leave Rave to me alright?" Qrow points to himself.
Tai thinks about it for a moment before he relents. "Fine, but the second I'm well enough I'm carrying her alright?"
Knowing theirs no way of getting around this Qrow relents. "Fine."
Qrow hoists his sister onto his back as Qrow, Summer, and Tai all follow after Lance.
As all of that was going on a mysterious figure watches from the shadows. "Interesting... so these are the kids who killed mother's dear creations... She would be so sad if I were to allow them to live... perhaps I should get rid of them..." The mystery figure smiles to themself. "Beacon is about ten hours away from here... I shall strike at the midpoint... until then children... Mhhmh ha ha ha... HA HA HA!" As the mysterious figure fades into the darkness it thinks only one more thing. 'Mother dearest will be so very proud of me...'
to be continued...
Authors Notes: I finally got chapter 5 done. We get to see another of those creatures along with more fighting. That's always fun. Who is this mysterious person who was watching them? Find out in the next chapter. With that being said, what did you all think? I do enjoy reading reviews! With all of that being said this is Exile Mansion signing off.