"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

The scream that filled the air scared JNPR. Maybe it was just the nerves from their upcoming mission, but even if it wasn't they couldn't help but feel anxious at hearing it. Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren shared a look before rushing to where the scream was coming from, leaving Nora to stumble a little at suddenly not having someone to push before she recovered and rushed after her team. They were about halfway to the landing pad when they saw why the scream was happening and slowed back down to a walk to watch the events unfold.

"-UUUUUUUCK!" Raven finally finished and bent over to take a couple of breaths while Summer, Taiyang, Qrow, and Oobleck stared at her, the former three very much impressed while the teacher was not.

"Are you quite finished, Miss Branwen?" Oobleck asked. Raven took one last breath before standing straight and crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Excellent! Now we can continue preparing for the mission!"

"So… you're our support for this mission?" Summer asked as Oobleck started pacing in front of her team.

"Indeed I am. My expertise in the area you'll be heading to was considered vital to your mission. I see you all packed light for the kind of expedition you'll be setting out on, good planning on your part! Now, do you have any more questions before you depart?"

"Only about the actual support. Will you be able to reach us outside the kingdom's borders?"

"We'll be using a boosted signal for this mission, so I doubt it'll be much of a problem as long as you stay above ground." Oobleck leaned forward and looked Summer in the eyes over the rim of his glasses, "And even if we do lose contact with you, you're expected to be self-sufficient. You still have a mission to complete after all." Summer nodded and Oobleck straightened up and held a finger into the air, "With that out of the way, it's time to get this mission underway! We're already three minutes past schedule, so make whatever last minute preparations you need! I'll make sure the airship is ready!"

Oobleck zoomed back to the Bullhead, leaving STRQ in a bitter silence that was broken by JNPR's footsteps as they approached and Raven's sigh.

"We're so screwed," she said quietly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Summer said as she turned to her partner, "I mean, at least it's not Peach!"

"What exactly did Professor Peach do to you?" Jaune asked once he and his team reached their upperclassmen.

"Oh, she didn't do anything to us," Qrow clarified, not even bothering to look back at the first years unlike his teammates.

"…What did you do to her?" Ren asked.

"Nothing major, it's water under the bridge," Taiyang said with a grin before quietly adding, "Peach just likes holding grudges."

"Shouldn't you guys be getting ready for your own mission?" Raven asked.

"Our mission is tomorrow. We have time to prepare," Jaune said and let out a shriek when someone jumped on his back and hooked their legs around his chest. Jaune teetered a little while Sun leaned over him and rested his arms on his head.

"You guys have a mission tomorrow? So do we!" Sun said and gasped when Neptune appeared out of nowhere to jump on Sun's back.

"That's great! You guys can party with us tonight! We already invited Blake's team, so we can all have fun!" Neptune said giving a thumbs up to Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren before the weight finally proved too much for Jaune and he fell with both Sun and Neptune screaming and falling with him.

"Where did you-" Qrow asked, having looked back at the commotion and shook his head, "I don't care. I'll be waiting in the ship, ok?"

"Sure Qrow," Summer replied and watched Qrow walk to the Bullhead for a second before looking back at the boys picking themselves up with Pyrrha's help. "That's not a bad idea you know. Have a fun time before you have to get serious for your mission."

"We're always serious!" Sun said. Summer and Taiyang shared a look before looking back at him as he shrugged. "We are! Especially with the mission we took."

"We're going to shadow some police in town," Neptune said and leaned against Sun. "We'll be going on patrol, stopping crimes, we even get junior detective badges!"

"So cool!" Jaune whispered out with stars in his eyes, with both Sun and Neptune giving him finger guns in response.

"Oh yeah, that sounds nice," Raven said rolling her eyes, "I'll bet they'll even give you fake moustaches to better fit the part."

Neptune threw his hands in the air at that and said, "You'd think that, but we have to buy those separately! Can you believe that!"

"…I was joking!" Raven growled angrily and lowered her arms with her fists clenched tightly.

"Uh… heh, so was I!" Neptune said nervously and slowly moved behind Sun with Raven's eyes boring into him the whole time, "mustaches! I'm such a kidder!"

"Leave him Rae, it's not worth it," Summer said and put a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"I hope you guys don't mind. We hardly ever get to see the city in its normal state," Sun explained and shrugged Neptune's hand off. "And every time I go out with you guys, something always ends up getting blown up."

"That's just bad luck on your part for choosing to follow us during serious business," Taiyang said.

"The city is nice when it's not being attacked," Summer added.

"Four minutes team!" Oobleck called as he zoomed out of the Bullhead and stopped behind Summer. Summer shook her head slightly, readjusted the backpack on her back, and nodded at her teammates.

"That's our cue to get going," she said as Taiyang and Raven started walking to the airship. "Good luck on your missions and… whatever it is you're planning tonight."

"Good luck too," Jaune said waving at Summer, "And if you need our help, we'll be happy to help too."

"We'll keep it in mind," Summer said giving him a thumbs up before moving around Oobleck toward the airship. "We'll be in touch when we can Professor."

"That's Doctor!" Oobleck growled as Summer laughed a little before Blinking the rest of the way to the airship and jogging on board. The doors shut behind her and after a few seconds the Bullhead took off and flew toward the southeast. Oobleck zoomed off to parts unknown while JNPR waved the airship off with Sun and Neptune watching.

"They're heading to hell aren't they?" Sun asked.

"Oh, yeah, big time," Jaune answered, "especially if they're going where I think they are."

"They really need to take a break sometime. Ah, I'm sure they'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"


The Bullhead's engines filled the interior of the ship with a low hum and vibrations as Team STRQ settled into their journey. Everyone put their bags into a corner of the Bullhead before splitting to do their own thing for the flight: Summer had gone into the cockpit to get the specifics about their insertion and eventual extraction from the pilot, Qrow decided to try and take a nap with the bags, and Taiyang watched Raven sit down to work on her mask.

"So why did you bring that thing?" Taiyang asked and gestured at the mask while Raven turned it over in her hands.

"Field testing. I finally think I got this thing's scope lenses figured out on this," Raven explained as she turned the mask to put it on. It snapped into place and Raven started fiddling with the side, which caused the eyeholes of the mask to shimmer a little as the lenses shifted into place. "Now if only I could figure out the night vision."

"You know we carry binoculars for exactly that reason right?"

"The more functions I can pack into one thing, the less equipment I need to carry in the field. Isn't that where the whole 'it's also a gun' thing came from too?" Raven asked, giving appropriate finger quotes, before tapping the mask. "Besides, this is just cooler than binoculars."

"Well, I'll give you that, but it still seems like a whole lot of effort."

"You taught your dog how to open cans because you were lazy. I don't want to hear shit from you." Taiyang shrugged since he didn't really have an argument against that. The whoosh of a door opening caught their attention as Summer walked into the passenger area. She gave Qrow a light kick, which caused him to raise a hand into the air before he sat up, and looked around to make sure everyone was paying attention before she spoke.

"Ok, I got the details for the extraction. I'll explain that later, but right now we have to get through the briefing." The team groaned at that, since they already knew what they were doing, and Summer nodded. "Yes, I know, but it's still something we have to do. Besides, there's something I want to check anyway." Summer took out her scroll, flicked it open, and tapped the screen to show a hologram of a map of Vale over it.

"As we all know, our mission is high risk Grimm extermination. We'll be spending three days in Quadrant 5 thinning out the Grimm there. We've got the usual suspects there: Beowolves, Ursa, Nevermore, all the Vale standard." She paused for a moment and shook her head, "Raven, can you take that thing off? It's distracting."

Raven stared at Summer, probably rolling her eyes under the mask, but took it off all the same. Just then Summer got a call, the ringtone filling the cabin as a picture of Oobleck appeared on the hologram. Summer tapped her scroll which replaced the map with a video of Oobleck sitting at a desk with a small mountain of coffee cups on the desk. Well, small for Oobleck anyway.

"Ah, it finally went through! Did I miss the briefing?" he asked and adjusted his glasses.

"No, we just started professor," Summer answered, pushing down a smirk at Oobleck's reaction, "and that's convenient timing. Are you aware of why we're actually heading out on this mission?"

"Of course I am! What a silly question, silly girl," Oobleck replied shaking his head, "Professor Ozpin informed me as to the true nature of your mission when he decided my knowledge was perfect for assigning me to this… er, assignment!"

"And how exactly is a history teacher supposed to help us here?" Raven asked.

"Silly questions everywhere! History is the backbone of our very society Miss Branwen! And the liver! And that little thing people usually have removed. The appen-something or other?"

"Sure professor, we get it," Qrow said with a chuckle as Oobleck growled on the other end.

"How about you ignore Qrow and give us some help?" Summer offered and gave Qrow a sharp look that was more or less shrugged off, "What should we expect going into Quadrant 5? The topography, specific Grimm we should expect?"

"Ah yes, of course! The southeast quadrant of Vale is quite fascinating and I must say I am quite disappointed to not be going there myself. It's a rare opportunity after all. As for information relevant to yourselves, the southeast quadrant is known for wild forests and deep caves along with being home to one of the kingdom's greatest failures, which is where you'll be focusing your search."

"You mean Mountain Glenn," Taiyang said. Summer nodded and tapped her scroll to shrink Oobleck's screen to bring up a map of a city in the southeast. "Ah crap, that's not good."

"So… let's pretend that some of us have no idea what that is. Can someone explain?" Raven asked while picking at the soles of her boots.

"Are… are you serious?" Summer asked looking at Raven and Qrow, the both of them giving her the same blank stare. "You two have been here for a year and you've never heard of Mountain Glenn?"

"In my defense, I never cared," Qrow said.

"Sure Qrow, whatever you say," Summer said and shook her head. "Well, to make a long story short, Mountain Glenn was supposed to be an extension of Vale past its natural boundaries. It may not have been the first, but it was definitely the biggest."

"And let me guess, it ended the same way as all the others," Raven said and looked up at Summer as she nodded. "Figures. Fucking Grimm."

"And even though it's been decades since Mountain Glenn fell, the ruins of the city is still standing," Oobleck said, leaning forward at his desk, "abandoned and Forsaken."

"And a good place for a secret base," Taiyang added.

"Quite."

"So what's the game plan Sum?"

"We're going to be dropping off here," Summer explained tapping the scroll to put a mark on the map. "From there, we'll have three days to search as much of the city as we can for signs of the White Fang. We're also going to be killing Grimm as well, for our own safety if nothing else. After three days or if we find definitive evidence of the Fang's location, we're supposed to extract via Bullhead. Please tell me one of you remembered to bring flares for that."

"I got them," Taiyang answered holding up a hand.

"Thank you Tai."

"But what are the chances things are going to go exactly to plan?" Qrow asked.

"Oh next to nil, but we're still going to try to stick to the plan. Is there anything else we need to know?" Summer asked as she opened up Oobleck's video.

"I don't believe there's any strong Grimm in the area for you to worry about. As for your earlier concerns about communications, let's keep that to a minimum. Even a boosted signal can be spotty at best without a nearby relay tower, which Mountain Glenn definitely does not have. How about morning and evening reports and if you find your target?"

"That sounds good. Would eight o'clock both times work for you?"

"Yes, I'm usually awake far past both times."

"…I'm just going to leave that one alone. I'll report in at eight unless something comes up."

"Excellent! Good hunting team, and stay safe!" The call ended and Summer put away her scroll before moving to the bags to look them over.

"This probably won't be as bad as I thought since Oobleck isn't going to be talking our ears off the whole time," Qrow said as he sat up to get out of Summer's way, "Knock on wood, of course."

"The real hard part is coming up," Summer said as she stuck her hand into her bag, probably making sure everything was still in place, "so be ready for anything, ok?"

"I always am. And between the two of us…" Qrow trailed off and tapped his shirt when Summer looked at him, "I brought this along. Hope you don't mind."

"Oh for… just make sure the teachers never find out. And if anyone asks, you're sharing."

"Pfft, you and Tai couldn't handle this stuff. Raven maybe, but it's still a big maybe."

"The hell are you talking about me for?" Raven asked angrily, getting a sigh from Summer and Qrow.


"We're approaching Mountain Glenn airspace. Get ready for drop-off." Team STRQ didn't need more incentive when the pilot's voice filled the cabin. The team got their bags on their backs, Raven put her mask on, and Summer lifted her hood up as Taiyang opened the side door. Outside gray buildings flew past as the Bullhead descended into the ruins of Mountain Glenn before coming to a stop over a street. "Here's your stop. I'll be back in three days or if told otherwise."

"We'll be looking forward to it," Summer shouted over the engines outside.

"Well, may the gods smile on you."

"And the devils have mercy," Raven finished as Summer took the step forward, Soleil out and switched into its pistol form, and jumped out of the Bullhead. Taiyang, Qrow, and Raven followed after, with Taiyang being daring enough to go for a front flip as he fell, and landed in a crouch on the street below. The Bullhead flew away as the team stood up and looked around their immediate surroundings: destroyed buildings of all sizes, roads that have long since given way to nature breaking through it, and once the whine of the airship was gone the only thing left to break the still silence was the wind blowing around them.

"It looks clear," Qrow said as he straightened up and took his hand off his weapon's handle with the others following suit.

"That's good. At least we're not getting jumped the moment we hit the ground," Summer said and looked up at a nearby skyscraper. She took a deep breath and let it out, the act sending a chill over her skin as she did so. "I hate coming to places like this. The air is always heavy."

"How many people died here again?" Raven asked.

"Thousands," Taiyang answered, "could be up to a hundred thousand based on some records."

"That would explain it then."

"…We can't let it get to us," Summer said as she took a step forward and turned back to her team. She holstered Soleil as she continued, "We're in enemy territory right now, so we all need to be razor sharp until we get back." Her team nodded in agreement and relaxed just a little. "I'm glad you agree. So until we're safely back in our beds at Beacon we need to be utterly serious. The picture-perfect definition of grace under pressure and professionalism in our line of work."

This was when a familiar black and white head poked out of Summer's bag and panted heavily as he looked at Taiyang, Qrow, and Raven. The three stared at the dog in wide eyed disbelief for a few seconds before Summer turned her head enough to see the dog and said, "Get back in the bag." Zwei glanced at Summer before doing as she said and tucking back into her backpack.

"Summer, what was that?" Qrow asked.

"What was what?"

"You smuggled the dog here," Raven said and crossed her arms, "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Raven. You're hallucinating. There might be one of those tiny spider Grimm around somewhere."

"We know what we saw Summer. Zwei, up up!" Taiyang called out and Zwei poked his head out of the bag again and stared at Taiyang. Summer looked between her teammates and then back at Zwei and waved her hand down at him.

"I said back in the bag."

"Summer, you better explain this now," Raven said as she took her mask off to properly glare at Summer, "and it had better not be 'because you wanted to pet him' because if it is, I'm going to strangle you to death." Summer raised an eyebrow at Raven and looked at Taiyang and Qrow, who were both waiting expectedly, and let out a huff and rolled her eyes.

"So much for being quiet. You love attention too much, Zwei. And matter of fact, I do have a good reason for bringing him here." Summer started taking off her backpack and set it down to take Zwei out. The dog gave her a curious look as she picked him up and turned him around and showed him off. "You see, Zwei… is a dog."

"...That's it, I'm going to kill you."

"And dogs are good hunting partners! They always have been since… ever. Even an adorable little bit of fluff like Zwei here can have the nose and hearing fit for the mightiest blood hound. That is why I brought him." After a moment of silence Summer looked away and silently added, "And yes, because I wanted to pet him, but mostly the hunting part."

"That's one thing, but Zwei's a corgi," Qrow said and gestured at Zwei, who barked at the attention as he was set down by Summer, "he's not exactly hunting dog material you know."

"But she is right." Qrow and Raven looked at Taiyang in confusion when he spoke up, "Zwei is a hunting dog."

"…What?"

"I wasn't joking about that. We took him hunting Grimm all the time back when I was in Signal. Dad even went through the trouble of unlocking his Aura."

"…You're shitting me, right?" Raven asked.

"I've seen him kill Beowolves." Raven and Qrow watched Qrow for a minute and turned to look down at Zwei as he chewed on his butt. When he finished and looked up at the twins, Raven sighed and shook her head.

"Whatever, I'll believe that when I see it," she said and put her mask back on and looked at Summer smirking at her, "And you can wipe that smug look off your face Summer. We don't really have a choice but to keep him here anyway."

"I'll be smug all I want Raven," Summer said and turned around, "Maybe this trip will help you see Zwei's greatness for yourself. You have to stop being so- oh shit." Summer stopped short as she saw a Beowolf walking slowly down the street and sniffing at the ground every couple of steps. She looked back at her teammates and saw Taiyang just as surprised as she was, Raven unreadable under her mask, and Qrow scratching his chin with a bored expression.

"Oh, you just noticed him?" Qrow asked with a small shrug, "he's been hanging out there for about a minute."

"Then say something asshole! Hide!" Summer growled and Blinked over to a building. Qrow followed her there while Taiyang and Raven ran to the building on the other side of the street. Zwei took his time walking over to Summer's side of the street while they all peeked around the corner to watch the monster.

"It's a pretty young one," Raven said and leaned out a little more to get a better look. She tapped the side of her mask to zoom in on the Beowolf. "Really young, it doesn't even have the bone plates."

"They're well entrenched if they're confident enough to have Juveniles walking around. The rest of the pack shouldn't be too far behind."

"So what's the plan? Off it?" Qrow asked.

"No. We have to remember why we're here. Grimm are attracted to negative emotions of all kinds, something a certain extremist group has in excess. We'll wait for it to rejoin its pack, then we follow them until they stop. We'll search the area and, if we don't find anything, we kill the pack and move on."

"We're gonna be here a while, aren't we?"

"Three days. Oh look who it is." The Beowolf was joined by about a dozen older Grimm that joined it in sniffing and looking around the street. "Alright, let's give this plan a test. Qrow, I want you and Raven in recon mode. Keep an eye on that pack and we'll follow as best we can on the ground."

"Got it."

"And keep an eye out for aerial Grimm."

"Naturally." Qrow looked at his sister and pointed up to the sky, Raven giving a nod before they moved away from the corner, broke into a quiet jog, and took to the air with a small 'caw' from both of them. Summer pointed at Taiyang, then up at the roof of the building he was next to, and finally put a finger up to her lips. Taiyang nodded and backed up a few steps to make a running jump onto the roof.

"Alright Zwei, it's time to get to work," Summer said and picked up Zwei and started carrying him under one arm, "and remember, stealth mode." Zwei responded by shutting his mouth and lowering his ears. Summer smiled at the dog before dropping the smile and Blinked up to the roof of her own building. She set Zwei down and continued walking in a crouch as the Beowolf pack started moving along. She thought one of the Beowolves glanced over at Taiyang, but it just as quickly looked away and ran after its pack. Summer let out a breath and started sneaking along the roof in a crouch with Zwei, Taiyang mirroring her movements on the other side of the street, and made sure to keep a healthy distance from the Grimm as they went.


It was an agonizing ten minutes of stalking the pack, more for Taiyang than for Summer if the way he was moving was any indication, but eventually the pack stopped moving and started to settle in front of a curio shop. Summer crouched near the edge of a roof and watched as most of the pack lay down with a few staying up to keep watch. A caw echoed from above her and Summer looked up at a black bird circling down toward her before it dove down straight at her. She flinched a little when the bird slowed its descent right above her and landed on her shoulder.

"How does it look?" she asked as the bird settled.

"They're not moving anymore," Qrow said as he ruffled his feathers a little, "and we checked around the area, but there's nothing but busted buildings and dead plants all around."

"A dead end then. Figures, no way we'd find them on the first shot. Ah well, they've outlived their usefulness. Go tell Tai that we'll wait on you and Raven to make the first kill. Try and make sure that you kill the stronger looking ones."

"Can do." Qrow took off and flew over to where Taiyang was watching, leaving Summer to watch the Beowolves. Thankfully there weren't any seriously old Grimm in there, the last thing they needed was an Alpha to deal with, and the juveniles in the middle were not paying attention to their surroundings.

'If the perimeter is taken care of first we can move in and kill the juveniles before they even know what's going on. We'll have to be careful not to fight for too long; who knows if there's any more Grimm hanging around.' Another caw drew Summer's attention as Qrow took off into the and up to the roof of another building that had a faint speck of black. Summer drew her sword and pistol, quickly checking the Flame Dust rounds loaded before she let out a small sigh and looked down at Zwei.

"Alright Zwei, let's do this. Remember, be ready for anything and don't pick a fight you can't win." Zwei responded with his usual dog smile as Summer holstered Soleil and picked Zwei up just as someone whistled from up above. The Beowolves perked up at the sound and one looked up in time to see Raven falling with her sword pointed down a second before it plunged into its head. The one right next to it growled loudly just as Qrow landed on it and lopped its head off with a quick swipe of his sword.

"MOVE! SCATTER THEM!" Summer shouted and jumped off the roof before she threw Zwei at a Beowolf. The Grimm hardly had the time to react before the corgi slammed into it hard and caused it to stumble enough for Summer to Blink over it and bring her sword down to cleave its head in two.

She yanked the sword free and rolled backwards under a swipe from another Beowolf just in time for Taiyang to land an axe kick on its head. It slammed into the ground and Taiyang caught one of its arms as it bounced back up and started swinging it around to send the rest of the pack flying away. When the area was clear Taiyang threw the Grimm at a wall where it was impaled on several exposed pieces of rebar that killed it and left it disintegrating as he went to fight some of the recovering Grimm.

The fight was barely more than a scuffle for the second years as they went from Grimm to Grimm, the sounds of clanging metal, gunshots, and roars punctuating every time one was killed. One by one the pack was whittled down until only one remained, which was taken care of thanks to Summer and Qrow severing its legs with a dual slash at the same time and was finished off with a stab to the neck thanks to Raven. With the air quiet again save for the Grimm disintegrating, Team STRQ watched their surroundings for any unwelcome visitors until Zwei barked twice and started lazily chasing his tail.

"We're clear," Summer shouted as she sheathed York and ejected the empty magazine from Soleil while the rest relaxed a little.

"That was so much easier than setting up a dance," Qrow said and stowed Harbinger back on his waist before rotating one of his arms around.

"Tell me about it," Taiyang replied while stretching his arms over his head.

"This is taking too long," Raven said sheathing her sword and turning to Summer, "We're never going to find anything at this rate, especially if we fight every Grimm in the fucking city."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Summer said as she loaded an Ice magazine, reset the slide, and made it safe before holstering her pistol. She started rubbing her chin and said, "but you're also right. We're going to need to cover a lot more ground if we're going to find these guys."

"So what, we split up to look?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah, but it's too dangerous to go solo. We'll pair up and look that way, so don't stray too far from your partner." Summer turned around and checked her watch, nodding at the time before she started to set an alarm. "We still have plenty of daylight, so let's use it the best we can. At 7 o'clock we'll call it a day and set up camp. Sound good?"

"Yup. Got any ideas for a rally point?" Qrow asked as Summer finished setting her alarm and crossed her arms.

"I'd say one of the more solid looking skyscrapers. High enough that the ground based Grimm won't bother us, but low enough to not draw the attention of flyers."

"I saw a good candidate while we were flying," Raven said while pointing vaguely in a direction, "We can try there."

"I think I know what you're talking about. It's a good place if it is," Qrow added.

"You can show me later while we're looking around," Summer said and pointed at Taiyang and Raven. "You two will be together and Zwei's coming with me and Qrow. Check everywhere you can, but be careful. I don't like the look of some of these buildings."

"Gee, what gave you that feeling?" Taiyang asked and looked over just as a wall collapsed thanks to the fighting.

"Call it women's intuition," Summer answered and waved a hand at the faint dust cloud, "and don't forget to set an alarm ok?"

"Already on it," Raven said as she and Taiyang set an alarm on their own watches, "and since it's on my mind I might as well get camp set up, at least so we can have our bags out of the way."

"Perfect. Stay safe and I'll see you all again at seven." Summer gave Taiyang and Raven a wave, which was returned with a two fingered salute and a nod respectively, and patted her leg to get Zwei to follow her as she walked down the street. Qrow transformed and took off into the air, leaving Raven and Taiyang behind.

"So, where's this building you saw?" he asked as he adjusted the straps on his backpack.

"It's not that far. I'll lead the way," Raven answered and spun on her heels to walk in the opposite direction of Summer, only to stop and quickly lower her posture with her hand shooting to her sword's hilt. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Taiyang asked, his own hands clenched into fists and half raised.

"I thought I heard a scream just now."

"I didn't hear anything. Maybe it was the wind?" Taiyang's question was answered by a gust of wind just then, the sound of which sounded oddly like a woman screaming in terror as it passed his ears.

"…I hate places like this. Let's just get going." Raven stood up and continued walking, though her hand didn't leave her sword.

"You won't hear me complain."


It didn't take long for Taiyang and Raven to find a suitable camp spot in the skyscraper and get everyone's bags situated thanks to a portal. With that taken care of the team focused on their search with Qrow and Raven spending most of their time in the air when they weren't needed on the ground to clear out the occasional group of Grimm. Building after building, street after street they searched and came up empty every time. At least in regards to recent signs of life, since the ruins were rife with plenty of Mountain Glenn's former inhabitants.

About an hour into the search Raven landed near Taiyang, transforming out of her bird form and watched Taiyang wrestle down a Beowolf. "Any luck over here?" she asked as Taiyang grabbed its head and snapped its neck with a semblance enhanced jerk.

"With the search? No," Taiyang answered as he stepped off the Beowolf and went to the entrance of a ruined fast food restaurant he had wanted to look at before the Grimm came along, "but I'm getting a lot of workouts out of these guys. What about you?"

"Nada. It'd either old office buildings or deserted chains like this," Raven replied as Taiyang opened the door, the rusted hinges squealing in protest. "There's not even a hint of these bastards anywhere. I think we're missing something."

"You and me both. But it is a big city too, so maybe we just haven't found the right place yet?" Taiyang asked and looked around the inside of the restaurant. A hole in the ceiling made long ago had exposed it to the elements, peeling away the once colorful wallpaper and gradually destroying the interior. Taiyang walked over to a table that had some trays on it and picked up an old, half melted fry holder. "Damn, someone didn't get to finish their lunch. The fall here must have happened suddenly. I hope I never have to see something like that."

"Yeah, it's really not fun," Raven answered just before a crash echoed through the building. Taiyang looked behind him to see Raven behind the counter having slammed a fist down onto the cash register. Taiyang rolled his eyes, dropped the old cardboard, and walked over to Raven.

"Really, even here Rae?" he asked and crossed his arms.

"You never know," Raven said and hit it again which got it to open with a 'ting' and shook her head when she looked inside. "Figures someone else would have the same idea. Ah well, no skin off my bones." Raven hopped the counter and walked outside with Taiyang, stopping for a second to look back at the building. "You know, I didn't think this chain was old enough to have a place here."

"You'd be surprised how old a lot of stuff in Vale is. So, where next?"


Summer stabbed York in between a set of double doors and worked it back and forth a little to force it open. Zwei was sitting a few feet away from her next to a defunct fire hydrant and watched her as she worked. After a few seconds the doors made a cracking sound and Summer pushed them open. She looked around for a second and took a step inside when Zwei started growling. She looked at him to see him on his feet staring at the door she had just opened and quickly jumped back with widened eyes.

Just in time for a small Nevermore to barely miss biting her nose. It and four more of its brothers flew out of the building and up into the sky. Growling in irritation, Summer aimed and fired Soleil at the flock. Four of the shots hit their marks, ice spreading along their bodies before cracking and disintegrating their bodies, with the last one managing to dodge the bullet before getting blindsided by Qrow. The two fell in a flurry of wings and feathers until they hit the ground and Qrow leapt onto the Nevermore and bit down on its neck. The Grimm struggled for a second before a sharp crack came and it fell limp. Summer holstered her gun and started to congratulate Qrow when he transformed, fell to his hands and knees, and started hacking and spitting.

"Ugh, bad idea!" he said and wiped his tongue on his hand, "I can't get the taste out! So bad!" Qrow pushed himself up straight and dug through his jacket for his flask, quickly unscrewed the cap, and took a swig.

"Really, it was that bad?" Summer asked as Qrow started gargling the drink. After a second he spat it out and started coughing again.

"It's like rotten meat and black licorice at the same time. And people actually suggested eating these things once? Ugh, makes me sick!" Qrow took another swig from his flask and kept gargling as he stood up.

"I like black licorice." Qrow stopped gargling long enough to give Summer a look and shook his head before going back to gargling. Summer rolled her eyes and pointed at the door and said, "Zwei, check!" Zwei barked and ran over to the door, slowing to a walk as he entered and looked around the inside. After a moment he barked twice and Summer followed him inside.

The building turned out to be an old apartment building judging from the wall of mailboxes at the entrance. Summer looked them over for a minute before following Zwei up the stairs and into the second floor hallway. Most of the doors were closed and most likely locked, but there was one about midway down the hallway that Zwei walked into.

"Zwei, don't eat anything in there! You don't know how old that stuff is!" Summer yelled as she ran after the dog and skidded to a stop in front of the door. She shook her head with a small smile when she saw Zwei jump onto a couch and pant happily. "Oh I see, taking advantage of where you are to do what you can't at home. That's ok, I won't tell Qing." Zwei barked and lay down fully on the couch to watch Summer sheathe her sword before walking in.

Though the interior of the apartment had degraded to an unlivable condition, Summer could still see bits of the people that had lived here long ago. Faded family pictures were hung on the walls, a long dead vase of flowers, that same painting of Forever Fall was hung over the sofa Zwei was on, and clothing and belongings were scattered all around abandoned in the rush to escape the Grimm. One bag got Summer's attention in particular, a small backpack that was probably colored pink in its prime with a stylized Jackalope on it that had a stuffed rabbit peeking out of it.

Summer knelt next to the bag and pulled the toy out of it, the head and arms barely hanging on by a few strings, and turned it over a few times. The toy itself didn't mean anything other than the age of one of the old residents, but the fact a little girl had to go through the horrors of the Grimm brought back bad memories that Summer got lost in.

"Ok, good news," Qrow shouted from outside in the hallway, "I finally got that taste out of my mouth! Where are you Sum?" Zwei replied with a quick bark. "Gotcha, on my way." Zwei got up and hopped off the couch to meet Qrow at the door, who stopped when he saw Summer and the toy. "Oh… should I come back?"

"No," Summer answered and dropped the toy before she rubbed her eyes, "I just got lost in thought. In any case, I think this building's a dead end."

"I'm starting to think this whole city is a dead end. Think we're missing something?"

"It would not surprise me. Though I also wouldn't expect them to put a hideout out in the open for everyone to see." Summer checked her watch and let out a small sigh. "We only have a couple hours left. Let's try and search where we can."

"Or we can just call it quits now," Qrow said and got a glare from Summer that forced him to step back with his hands up. "Just a suggestion."

"Tell you what Qrow, if nothing has happened by 6:30, then I'll think about calling it there. Until then let's get back to work."

"Sounds good to me," Qrow replied and stepped out of the way so Summer could walk out with Zwei following after her. Qrow gave a quick fist pump in victory before going after her, unaware his wish wouldn't come to pass.


The last few hours passed quickly for STRQ, the mind numbing search that turned up nothing substantial being interrupted every few minutes by a hectic fight against a Grimm. Sometimes they would follow a small pack to no avail save for more dead monsters. Soon they had run out of time as the sky tinted orange and their watch's alarms went off. No sooner had Summer turned hers off did a portal open up next to her and Raven stuck her head out of it.

"We're out of time and haven't found a damn thing," Raven said with a hint of annoyance, "How are you doing?"

"About the same," Summer answered and shook her head, "but we've done enough for today. Rae, you and Tai get the camp set up. We'll do a quick patrol to make sure nothing's skulking around and be right there, ok?"

"Sure thing. We'll even put the kettle on for dinner. Later." Raven pulled her head back into the portal which disappeared a second later, leaving Summer to turn to Qrow and pointed up to the sky. Qrow nodded and took flight ahead of her while she continued walking with Zwei. She watched Qrow turn and fly down the street to the right, so Summer planned to go to the left when Qrow started cawing wildly.

"Qrow! What happened!?" Summer shouted as she sprinted and turned the corner before coming to a halt at what freaked Qrow out so much. "Oh… that'd do it," she muttered and slowly walked forward while Qrow flew in light circles down to her.

Mountain Glenn lacked the natural defenses that Vale itself had, with only the eponymous mountain providing any sort of protection even if it was minimal. To make up for it the city came to rely on artificial walls that surrounded it to keep the Grimm out. It may have worked for a while, but the constant attacks soon wore them down faster then they could be repaired and created holes just like the one that Summer was standing in front of now, where Grimm could come and go as they saw fit. That destruction was the final death knell for Mountain Glenn.

Much like the herd of Goliaths that walked in the plains outside.

"That's very bad, isn't it?" Qrow asked once he landed on Summer's head with his talons digging slightly into her hood.

"It's certainly not good," Summer replied as she took out her binoculars to look at the far off Grimm, "but I don't think we need to worry about them."

"How can you be sure? The last Goliath we fought was more than willing to stomp us flat."

"That was just a juvenile, somehow. Those are much older, hundreds of years I'd guess." One of the Goliath's stopped and turned its massive head in the direction of the city. "With age comes knowledge for Grimm. They know not to attack us because it'll just bring more Huntsmen."

"And since Ironwood has a small fleet just itching to come here and bomb the hell out of this place, that'd be smart not to attack us. Not that they'd know that."

"Of course. Still comforting to know." Summer narrowed her eyes as she looked through the binoculars at the Goliath that seemed to be looking right at her. "Yeah I see you bitch. What are you going to do about it?" The Goliath held its gaze for another moment before it looked away and started walking with its kin. For a moment Summer could have sworn that its eyes narrowed in an unfortunately familiar way, but figured it was a trick of her eyes.

"We should still report this," Qrow said and shifted a little on his perch, "a bunch of Goliaths is nothing to scoff at."

"I will, but for now let's focus on the patrol. It doesn't look like there's anything around, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure make sure. I'll look around with Zwei while you get back to the skies. If you don't find anything come back to me and we'll head to camp." Qrow replied with a caw before taking flight, leaving Summer glaring up at him. "A simple 'yes' would have been just fine. Whatever, come on Zwei." The corgi barked and led the way for Summer, who stopped for just a second to look back at the Goliath herd before turning back.


"I think that works. What do you think Rae?" Taiyang asked and looked at where Raven sat with her mask next to her. She looked up from sharpening Omen with a whetstone to look over the fire and stand that Taiyang had set up to get their dinner ready.

"Well, is it falling into the fire Tai?" Raven asked.

"…No?"

"Then it's good. Just make sure it doesn't fall in ok?"

"Sure, because that's the hard part. Which one of those bags has those noodles again?" Raven shrugged and went back to sharpening Omen while Taiyang rolled his eyes as he walked to the bags to figure out which one had the food in it. He had barely knelt next to it and started digging through it when a caw came from one of the holes in the wall and a crow flew in. It slowed enough so Qrow could land on his feet when he transformed back and stretched his arms over his head.

"Ugh, finally I can get some rest," Qrow said as he sat down next to his sister, who glared at him and moved her mask away from him before going back to her task. "By the way, we should be safe for the night. Sum said we're still doing the watch thing though."

"Fair enough," Taiyang said just as he found the packages of cup noodles. He pulled them out when Zwei ran in and up to him with a bark. Taiyang grinned at the dog and pet his head, "Hey there boy, you have fun hanging out with Summer?" Zwei barked again and looked at Raven, who looked up to meet his eyes just as he started trotting over to her.

"Stay. Away. From me," Raven said through gritted teeth, though it didn't stop Zwei as he sat next to her and tilted his head at her.

"Play nice Raven," Summer said as she walked in and lowered her hood, "all he knows is love, food, and killing Grimm. That aside, hell yeah fire!"

"Tai was not joking about that," Qrow added and glanced down at Zwei, "I'd almost feel bad for the Beowolf if I knew it didn't have a soul."

"I did warn you guys," Taiyang added as he walked to each of his teammates and set a package of noodles next to each of them. "Just be glad he's on our side, yeah?" he said with an added wink to Raven, who returned it with an eye roll.

"I love fire. You never know how much we take Dust heating for granted until we're away from it. So why is there no kettle on the fire?"

"Hold your horses, I was just about to get on that," Taiyang said and held up a metal kettle. "Who brought the water again?"

"I did," Raven answered. She ran the whetstone over the blade one last time before holding it up and nodded in satisfaction. She grabbed her sheathe to stow away Omen while Taiyang grabbed some water bottles out of Raven's bag and started to fill up the kettle. Soon the kettle was hanging over the fire and the Taiyang sat down to wait out the boiling.

"Well, while that's going, I'll go keep watch," Summer said and pushed herself up to her feet. She pointed at Taiyang as she walked past him and said, "You go second Tai and you get to choose who goes after you, ok?" Taiyang gave a thumbs up to Summer and looked back at her as she sat on some rubble near a hole in the wall. He stretched his arms over his head and fell onto his back with a sigh.

"You know, this isn't that bad," Taiyang said as he moved his arms under his head, "Just the four of us out here by ourselves with only our skills to keep us alive. I could get used to this."

"It's not nearly as fun in the long run," Raven said flatly and held her hands to the fire for a moment before shaking the excess heat off, "especially when you have no choice but to do it."

"Er… yeah, I guess so. Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't." Raven looked at the fire and her face slackened a little, "Shitty memories just come at the worst times."

The way the flames danced around brought back unpleasant memories and, for just a split second, they were burning fabric instead of wood. Raven was brought out of it when Qrow reached over and shook her shoulder. She looked at her brother, his eyes filled with concern, and shrugged off the hand before standing up. "Well, I guess once in a while isn't bad. Where are the bed rolls?"

Qrow and Taiyang shared a look as Raven walked to the bags with Zwei right behind her and Qrow shook his head lightly to answer Taiyang's unasked question. All the while Summer was watching them out of the corner of her eye and let out the smallest of sighs as she checked her watch.

'7:45. It's early, but I don't think Oobleck will mind that,' she thought as she dug out her scroll, 'it's not like we'll find anything else tonight. He'll want to hear about the Goliaths anyway.' As the call connected, Summer's thoughts drifted to the White Fang and their benefactors. A chill washed over her at the thought of the Generals. 'I hope that's not an omen.'


Annoyances. More and more Weiss was really starting to regret that link between her and her doll, but ultimately it was necessary and she knew that. Still these… feelings leaking through the link were really distracting to her work. Weiss growled loudly as another jolt shot through her and gripped the table hard, ignoring the tearing of the metal as she growled out her frustration. And then there was a knock on the door to the room she had appropriated as her own quarters.

"Uh… are you ok in there?" a voice called from the other side giving off unease and fear. It wasn't the moron with the cane at the very least, which wasn't much for her right now. "I mean, it's fine if you are, but your… screams are scaring the men."

She did not have the time for this. Her head was hurting and the link was making her gag from what her doll was experiencing, so she really didn't need this kind of interruption. Without turning away from the table she was leaning against, she held a hand out behind her and brought up enough will power to form a glyph and fire an icicle at the door. The shard broke through the metal with ease and a loud tearing of metal, though it missed its target who screamed and scrambled away from the door.

"Ok, I'll tell them not to disturb you!" he shouted and ran away from the door, the waves of fear he gave off hardly soothing her as they should have. She moved her arms around so she was leaning on her elbows and grasped her head with her hands. Just as another jolt from the link shot through her she raked her claws down the sides of her forehead, the gashes vanishing almost as quickly as they were made, and growled again.

'For the love of all you hold dear, STOP DOING THAT!' Weiss thought and did her best to send her anger and irritation through the link to her doll. Just as she knew would happen, she felt the anger and returned a self-deserving smugness before redoubling her efforts. Her eye twitched at the doll's actions and hated that she couldn't block the feelings out by closing her eyes. Then she'd have to actually see what the doll was doing.

No thank you.

"This relationship… is so irritating! I'm going to have words with Blake when I get out of this hole," she muttered just as another jolt hit her and she responded by biting her arm. Any other feeling was better at this point.