Hey, readers. WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of "Sideline: Another Story". After the Beacon Dance and meeting one of Azalea's only friends from Mirabelle, Fragment Hunter is getting ready for their first missions by shadowing Huntsmen! Who are they going to meet? What missions will they take? Will they do well on the jobs they go on? Find out all that and more during the next few chapters of Sideline!
Mission Start!
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)
I only own my Original Characters seen in this story
The Beacon Dance was a great experience for all of Fragment Hunter, but some enjoyed the night a little more than others and were still talking about it during breakfast on Monday morning. "She was just so beautiful," Silver said with a look on his face that screamed 'hopelessly attracted to someone'. "Azalea, you've got to tell me more about Bianca! Please," the Wolf Faunus exclaimed as he grabbed Azalea by her sweater and fell to his knees like he was begging.
"Down, boy," Vinyl laconically stated as she separated Azalea and Silver.
"Thanks, Vinyl," Azalea said and got a thumbs-up from Vinyl as a reply. "Silver, I don't think that you should ask me for what I know about Bianca," the Cow Faunus remarked as Silver sat back in his seat and scarfed down some bacon. "You should just ask her yourself if we see her again."
"She did give you that card," Rebecca reminded. Silver remembered and pulled out the card that Bianca Coloratura gave him to look at the emblem that showed an angel-winged heart with a musical note in the center. "If she's an important singer, then she might need bodyguards," Rebecca noted.
"Especially with what we have later today," Sunset mentioned as she held Phoenix in her hand. "Shadowing Huntsmen and Huntresses as we take on missions of our own."
"Yeah, you're right," Silver agreed. "We just need to find the right job."
"That's the spirit," a new male voice exclaimed in excitement. Fragment Hunter all looked at the newcomer to see he was one of the transfer students. He was 6'3" with a lean and muscular fair-skinned build, cyan blue eyes, and spiky brown hair. He wore what could be best described as a punk's version of a school uniform with armor added on. The 'uniform' consisted of a red t-shirt, a loose black jacket that only reached to his abs, and a pair of black pants that had small tears in them. He also had ivory-colored armor on the jacket's sleeves and back, a pair of metal plated combat boots, and a chain as a belt with a lock as a belt buckle. The lock was in the shape of a beast's head surrounded by what looked like spikes or claws. "Yo! Name's Percival Ivory of Team PRDT. Nice to meet you guys," he introduced himself.
"Ebony and Jenny's teammate," Lapis asked as she and the others took notice of Percival's appearance and how it contrasted his apparent friendly personality.
"Yup! I'm the leader of the team," Percival explained with a happy grin.
"You don't seem like the leader type," Rua commented.
"I'm not the smartest when it comes to school work, but fighting is something I'm good at," Percival stated. "Helps that I have natural weapons to defend myself with," he added as he extended claws from his hands and revealed himself as a Faunus to Fragment Hunter.
"Cool," Vinyl voiced as she saw Percival's claws.
"So, what? Are you a big cat of some kind," Sunset inquired about Percival's Faunus heritage.
"Yup. Although, I forget which one specifically at times," Percival answered. "Anyways, I remember seeing you three at the dance and catching everyone's attention," he said to Slate, Azalea, and Sunset. While Azalea blushed at the memories of her waltz with Slate, Percival turned to Sunset again. "So, who was the Raccoon Faunus you were dancing with? I haven't seen him around Beacon before."
"He's... somebody we encountered a while before the other three Academies started showing up," Sunset explained when she found the right words.
"Man, I thought that I could have made friends with him," Percival complained. "Ah well, at least I can buddies with you guys," he said as he held out his hand to Fragment Hunter. "What do you say?"
The twelve teenagers looked at Percival before turning back to each other. "Well? How about it," Silver asked. As several members of the group thought it over, Azalea remembered what her mother said at the dance last night about talking to new people.
Standing up, Azalea approached Percival and took his hand. "Okay. We should be friends," Azalea agreed. The Faunus from Vacuo smiled as he shook Azalea's hand before readjusting his grip, which Azalea imitated before bumping fists with him, tapping their fists from top to bottom, fist bumping again, and ending the unique handshake with a high-five.
"Alright! That mean the rest of you are with her, too," Percival asked the rest of Fragment Hunter. The teenagers nodded and several of them performed the same 'secret handshake' that Percival did with Azalea. "Sweet! Now, let's make sure to give it our all during missions later," he declared before heading off to join up with his team.
"He's friendly," Sunset remarked. "But, he's right. We should get ready for later today."
Soon, Fragment Hunter was playing music to pass the time and enjoy themselves when they heard Glynda Goodwitch on the intercom. "Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?"
"Well, let's get going," Sunset said as she put her guitar down and lead the group of twelve to their destination. As they headed outside, Fragment Hunter soon saw Ivy Dahlia Holstein with the Dante, Diana, and Drei. The dogs soon saw the teenagers walking by and soon circled them while wagging their tails. "It's nice to see you guys, too," Sunset said as she scratched Diana's ears before continuing toward the amphitheater.
When the students soon approached the amphitheater, the dogs waited outside with Ivy while Fragment Hunter entered the building. Eventually, they saw Team RWBY enter and watched Ruby place a large backpack with the other luggage that students brought with them. Sunset was a little suspicious about what was in it, but Professor Goodwitch caught everyone's attention and asked them to be quiet. "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin," Glynda said before stepping aside and letting the Headmaster of Beacon Academy speak.
"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant," Ozpin began. As he said this, Fragment Hunter looked around to see that Team PRDT and Team GLOW wasn't around. They could only guess that they were at least second-year teams like Team CFVY. The only team they did see that they recognized was Team JADE of Haven Academy in Mistral and everyone but Azalea glared at them before Ozpin continued speaking. "On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war I recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself," Ozpin said as he reminded everyone in attendance about the Great War. "We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend held to this very day," Ozpin stated.
"We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it," Ozpin continued and reached the main point of why the freshmen students from the Academies were gathered. "As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken outside of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter the path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best," Ozpin stated before stepping away.
As the freshmen all began to move around to talk about what missions they would select or went to choose their jobs ASAP, Fragment Hunter stepped outside to talk with each other and let the crowds fade away from the mission boards. "So, what are we going to pick," Celadon asked as she fixed her hair.
"Don't know. But we'll have to select between what's available," Layla said. "Hey, Lea? You know what your dad's doing for this?"
"No. He could be assigned to some other team if we don't meet up with him later," Azalea answered.
"Well, we should just relax for a while and wait to decide on a mission in a few minutes when the crowds finish choosing," Cereza advised as she pulled out a lollipop from her jacket pocket.
"There's Search and Rescue, Search and Destroy, Perimeter Defense, Village Security, Bounty, and Escort missions to choose from. But that's just off the top of my head," Lapis mentioned. "If we wanted to meet with Bianca, we might have to look at details for Escort missions or something else."
After a while of waiting, Fragment Hunter went into the amphitheater again to see that the crowds have died down and that Ozpin finished talking with Team RWBY. The three teams soon went to check the mission boards and saw a few options for what they could do. "Search and Rescue in the northeast, Escort mission in the south, Bounty in the city itself. Man, so many choices that haven't been taken yet," Slate said as he looked at the holographic displays.
"Here's something," Rebecca said as she looked at the screen to her left and searched for more details. "Hmm... It says it's a bodyguarding mission that requires one to three Huntsmen teams. Must be important if they need that much security."
"Or they're paranoid," Rua remarked as she crossed her arms.
"Well, let's try it," Slate said as he stepped up to the display and typed in the team names of Fragment Hunter's members. "SLVR, FCSA, SAFR... Alright! We're going to check it out in a little bit. We just need to meet up with our Huntsman mentor," Slate told the others.
"Did you use your Semblance to make sure we could get a mission together," Azalea asked her teammate with a coy smile on her face.
"...Maybe," Slate answered as he scratched his cheek.
"Come on, you lovebirds," Sunset said as she walked toward the exit. "We should find the Huntsman we're shadowing." As Azalea and Slate blushed at Sunset calling them 'lovebirds', the members of Fragment Hunter headed off to meet up with the Huntsman they were meeting in the city of Vale. As they headed off, Dante saw them leaving and decided to follow them.
As Fragment Hunter made their way to the city, they saw that Team CFVY returned after their unexpectedly long mission. Eventually, they saw that they were meeting up with their Huntsman and possibly client at a hotel. "You think this is it," Layla asked as she looked up at the building.
"Probably," Vinyl said as she put her headphones around her neck.
"Let's find out," Silver said as he walked into the building and soon saw Terracotta Gaia in the lobby. "Yup, it's where our mission is."
"Hi, Dad," Azalea called out as she waved to her father.
Terracotta smiled and waved back as he approached the three teams. "So, your first mission is here with me? Makes sense," the Bull Faunus stated. "Come on, we need to head to Electric Rhapsody. Our client is waiting for us there."
As the thirteen warriors made their way to the music shop that Vinyl knew, Dante was still following them quietly. When Terracotta and Fragment Hunter arrived at their destination, they saw that there was a standee of Bianca Coloratura in a dress similar to what she wore to the Beacon Dance last night. Silver, Vinyl, and Azalea silently celebrated as they got another chance to talk with Bianca again, but calmed themselves down as they entered the store. A catchy pop song by Bianca called 'Neon' was playing in the store as Fragment Hunter approached the crowd of fans that waited in line for Bianca to sign autographs. "One at a time, everyone. I can only sign so much stuff," Bianca said as she sat at a table with a few stacks of CDs and merchandise by her sides. The Dove Faunus was wearing a more casual outfit of a sleeveless white sweater with an opening in the chest to reveal her cleavage, a thigh-length black skirt, and baby blue short heels with winged bows. Her skirt also had a gold-colored angel-winged heart with a musical note in the center on the hip and Bianca wore pink lipstick.
Soon, Bianca's manager saw Terracotta and hung up his Scroll. "Ah, Mister Gaia. You could make it after all," the manager greeted. "I take it that you've brought the Huntsman teams to help?"
"Huntress mostly," Celadon said as she spoke to Bianca's manager.
"Either way, we need all the help we can get with the next few days being so busy," the manager said. "The autographs here, the setups for the concert a week before the Vytal Festival, meeting up with the band we've hired, a charity meeting at a community center, and a new song that needs recording. Plus, some fans can get obsessive, so I'm being cautious about how much security Miss Coloratura has."
"Properly paranoid is more like it," Sunset commented as she saw one fan drop a pile of CDs, posters, and even a t-shirt or two on the table Bianca was at while a few fans were starting to get into a catfight over who was next up to get an autograph.
"Okay, break it up, girls," Silver said as he separated the girls before they attempted to claw each other's eyes out. "Now, the one with the lesser number of items should go first, that way it gets over quickly and the other gets their own autograph. Got it," Silver told the girls. Listening to the Wolf Faunus, the girls calmed down and got back in line.
Bianca was impressed by this and smiled to herself as she looked at Silver. Azalea soon sat down next to the girl and started to talk with her childhood friend. "So, is it like this all the time," Azalea asked.
"Not all the time," Bianca explained. "Mostly it was just singing in small venues and working my way up. When I met my manager, Kurenai, he promised to help me release some songs and help me become a great singer."
"And you trusted him," Azalea asked cautiously.
"Well, I was a little skeptical until I met Nathan Stark and he gave his opinion about Kurenai's employer who taught him everything," Bianca said to Azalea as she signed a poster for a fan. "Kurenai's boss was an honest man who made sure that Kurenai understood what he was doing as a manager and talent scout. And whenever Kurenai's first attempts to help me on my path to becoming a performer began to sputter out, he was always able to find a way to come back and send me on up."
"Wow, he sounds like a good guy," Azalea remarked as she looked at Kurenai and Terracotta talking about what to do with the schedule for the next few days.
"Yeah, but most of what I did to get where I am today in my career was based on my choices. You could do the same with how you go on your journey," Bianca said. "If you want to become successful despite what negative things people say about you, keep up your spirits be remembering something positive and push on through. When I was feeling doubtful about myself, I always remembered what you and our families said about how great I sang in Mirabelle."
"Really," Azalea asked in surprise.
"Yeah. If I never met you, I don't know where I'd be in the world of music," Bianca stated. Soon, the singer saw somebody grab a new CD from the table and looked up to see it was Slate Quartz. "So, who should I make this one out to, cowboy," Bianca asked with a smile.
"Can you address it to 'Pinkamena Momo Quartz'? Or just 'Pinkie'? It's for my little sister," Slate replied.
"Alright," Bianca agreed before signing the CD. "Okay. 'To Pinkie, this will be the day you were waiting for. Bianca Coloratura'. There you go," Bianca said as she gave Slate the CD for his sister.
"Thanks, she's going to love this," Slate said as he put some Lien into the payment box on the table for purchasing the CD. Looking around the shop, Slate and the rest of Fragment Hunter saw that nobody else was around. "Is that it for now," Slate asked Kurenai.
"Just about for here. We've got one more stop for the day and we're returning to the hotel for the night," the manager told everyone.
"Alright! Slumber party when we get back," Bianca declared as she pumped a fist into the air.
And with this chapter, we've met with a new friend, heard Ozpin's speech, and Fragment Hunter has started their first mission. I'll continue more of this in a bit, so keep an eye out for what happens next because at the end of the next chapter, I've got something important planned.
Hope that you liked the appearance of Percival Ivory and we'll meet the last member of Team PRDT eventually. Just give me time.
Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick out!