Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter of "Sideline: Another Story". Last time, Team FCSA headed off with Lucifer Fujita for Port Mako. On the way to the airship they were going to take, Azalea's dog, Dante, wanted to come along and has joined the group on their trip to the southwest. Reaching Port Mako, they drop off their belongings at a church that offers them a place to rest before Lucifer goes to charter a boat. While waiting, Azalea and Dante meet up with Percival Ivory from Shade Academy in Vacuo, who is on a Search and Destroy mission with Team PRDT. Looks like the two teams are going to be helping each other out as they deal with Grimm near Port Mako and the nearby Hope Island.
Setting sail!
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)
The only characters I own in this story are of my own creation.
Azalea walked over to Team FCSA with her order of taiyaki in hand while Dante and Percival were following her. "Hey, guys! Look who's here on a mission," the Cow Faunus girl called out to her friends. Looking over at her, they saw Percival Ivory waving at them while holding a taiyaki in his mouth like a cat stealing food. The image actually made Cereza stifle a laugh before the two Faunus and the dog arrived. "Team PRDT's here to help out the village on a Search and Destroy job," Azalea explained.
"Yuff! Thif iv gonna ve ahfome," Percival said, but he still had the cake in his mouth as he spoke. Realizing that nobody heard him, he placed the whole thing in his mouth and began to chew it up.
"We understood you enough, you dope," Layla told Percival. "So, where are Ebony and Jenny?"
Percival swallowed the snack before speaking again and explained where his team was. "Ebony, Jenny, and Twilight are all trying to help find a ship for heading out to Hope Island so that we can deal with the Grimm near there."
"Twilight? I don't think we've met her before," Cereza remarked.
"Normally she likes to just read when we aren't training or fighting," Percival said. "She even pulled out a book while we were waiting for the chance to get a boat. She's such an egghead."
"And what's wrong with that," a girl's voice sounded off as Percival and Team FCSA turned to see Ebony Rain and Jennifer Dawn with a third female who was carrying a large novel in her hands. She was 5'3" with a slim figure and pale skin, had straight black hair that fell to the center of her back with streaks of purple and pink color, and wore a simple pair of glasses over her violet-colored eyes. She wore a lavender-colored blouse with a red ribbon on the collar, a knee-length skirt that was half-pink and half-purple with a red belt and ammo pouch, and a pair of purple sneakers with pink socks. The new girl also carried a pair of wind and fire wheels on her belt with what looked like pistols built into them. Upon closer inspection of the girl, Team FCSA saw that she had an emblem on her ammo pouch, the sides of her skirt, and on her weapons. The symbol resembled a rose with a thorny frame that was in the shape of a sun or a star. "I happen to enjoy a good book whenever I get the chance."
"Yeah, but you pretty much only brought books with us when we came to Vale," Ebony commented.
"Next time we travel, try and limit yourself, bookworm," Jenny added with a teasing smirk.
As the bespectacled girl of Team PRDT pouted, Percival gave introductions. "This is Twilight Roseus, the final member of Team PRDT and the smartest one out of the four of us."
"Thank you for saying that, Percival," Twilight said with a satisfied smirk while she adjusted her glasses by the bridge.
"She's also a massive dork who needed friends when she joined Shade Academy last year," Percival added with a playful laugh. Not appreciating what her leader said, Twilight held her book in one hand and brought the spine down on Percival's head with a painful chop. "OW! Every time," Percival whined as he rubbed his head before trying to fix his hair.
"Then you should know to not say things like that. Bad friend," Twilight scolded Percival like she was training a puppy.
While Team FCSA watched Percival get treated like a misbehaving pet, Lucifer Fujita stepped into sight in order to speak with the teenagers. "I see that you've met the team that has been asked to deal with the Grimm. The fact that all of you are acquainted makes it easier for each of us," Lucifer said. "I managed to acquire a ship for the mission, so all of you get ready for the voyage to Hope Island." Hearing the news, Team FCSA and Team PRDT all had the same determined look in their eyes as they prepared to head off.
Out in the water, a moderately large fishing vessel with harpoon guns and a few cannons for defending against Creatures of Grimm was taking the two teams out to the last known sightings of the monsters. As most of the teenagers and the dog were enjoying the ride, Lucifer was speaking to the ship's captain while a young Rhinoceros Beetle Faunus steered the boat. "Thank you again for helping us," Lucifer told the captain.
"Oh, it's no problem," the rugged captain said as he adjusted his hat. "If none of you Huntsmen came when you did, I probably would have gotten some of the other fishermen to help me hunt those Grimm down anyway."
"Well, I suppose that it's a sign that we did get hear when we did," Lucifer remarked. "Especially with one of those out in these waters," he added with a foreboding tone.
"Yeah... you would expect them in deeper waters," the captain as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But, rumors say it was young enough to not be bothered by the shallow depths near Port Mako and Hope Island."
"As long as you Huntsmen and Huntresses are here with the captain to help us out, the 'Valor' is going to be just fine," said horned helmsman. "We've gone on several dangerous voyages for a big catch and we've come back alive every time."
"Your crew must be in God's favor if you've been able to survive the seas like you have been," Lucifer commented as he placed his hand on his bible. Looking up from the book, the Huntsman saw that Slate was experiencing some problems. "Oh dear..."
"Are you alright, Slate," Azalea asked out of concern for her teammate and partner.
"Yeah... It's just that... Ugh... I got to Beacon by airship," Slate tried to explain, but he was feeling nauseous. "I'm just not... good with..." The gunslinger was moaning too much to speak clearly, but everyone could tell that Slate was getting a little seasick.
"Don't worry, cowboy. You just need to have a drink and some medicine," one of the crew members said as they inspected one of the harpoon guns. "When you get your sea legs after a while on this boat, you'll be ready to deal with those Grimm."
"Here you go," Jenny said as she handed Azalea a can of ginger ale and some pills for Slate.
Opening the can for Slate, Azalea gave her crush the beverage as she helped him sit upright. "Here, Slate. Drink up," she said in a motherly tone that Layla and Cereza immediately compared to Ivy. When Slate managed to keep his drink and the medicine down, Azalea smiled before she and Dante looked out to the water. "Have you ever wanted to ever have a little place to call your own as a kid?"
Everyone was surprised by Azalea's question, but they all gave it some thought. "There was this old lighthouse near my home that I liked to spend time around," Layla said. "Why bring this up, Lea?"
"When I was a kid, I didn't really have the kind of hangout like those kids in town see in Hope Island," Azalea explained. "They see this amazing island getaway from all the noise around their town to just go around and explore, catch bugs, and just enjoy themselves. It's something that I would have wanted if I didn't go to Sanctuary Academy."
"I thought that you hated bugs," Cereza brought up. "Rapier Wasps, centipedes, beetles, cockroaches," she listed with a shudder at the last word, indicating that she wasn't fond of that particular insect.
"I like some beetles," Azalea remarked. "Some of them are really cool looking and fun to collect. It's even a common pastime in areas around Anima. I also love butterflies and fireflies. They're so pretty when you see them in groups. It's just that I don't like anything that can sting me or poison me."
"Those types of Grimm must be a real problem for you," Twilight remarked as she looked up from her book. "Lancers, Death Stalkers, Night Crawlers... what other insectoid Grimm are there," she listed before putting her first book away and found another one about the various types of Grimm. "There has to be more, but I just can't remember off the top of my head."
While Twilight searched through her book, Ebony's bat ears twitched and she turned out to the water. Looking out at the water, she saw some black fins with white edges on the front gliding along the water's surface. "We've got company," Ebony exclaimed for everyone to hear before she pulled out her weapon. Aiming her shield's rifle at the water, the Bat Faunus took aim and fired a shot at one of the creatures.
Nailing it in right next to its fin, the attacker leaped out of the water for everyone to see fully as it let out a cry of pain and anger. It was a Grimm that resembled a large black shark with white bone plating along its back and near its red gills. The aquatic monster's back armor was segmented for more flexible movement, its fins all had a white edge on them, and the insides of its mouth were the same burning red and yellow as its eyes. "Threshers! You always see them out in deep enough waters," the crew member exclaimed as they aimed one of the harpoon guns at the Creature of Grimm. Launching the harpoon at the monster, the Thresher swam in another direction to dodge the attack before charging at the ship again. Ramming into the boat with the speed of a torpedo, the Valor was knocked around and everyone onboard had to keep themselves steady.
"Looks like it's our time to shine," Layla said as she pulled out Djinn Desire and aimed the lamp-shaped gun at the first fin she saw swimming toward the ship. Firing a bullet, it seemed that the shark-like Grimm's armor deflected Layla's attack. "Okay, so that won't work immediately."
"Aim for their sides, underbelly, or inside their mouths," Jenny explained as she loaded a clip of Electric Dust ammo into her weapon and aimed at a Thresher when it let out a gurgling tiger-like roar. Shooting the Dust ammo into the monster's mouth, Jenny managed to easily handle the first of the Threshers and smirked to herself before checking the rest of the pack. "We've still got seven more left. Everyone find one and take it out!"
"You heard her, everyone! Let's move," Percival told everyone with authority in his voice. "I'm going to see if the crew needs help."
"I'll come help," Azalea declared as she followed the second-year Vacuo student. "Dante! Defend," she told the dog. Obeying her, Dante's brown eyes flashed green and a bubble-shaped barrier of the same color formed around the ship's deck before expanding outward to knock several leaping Threshers back into the water. As Dante did this, everyone with a gun started to open fire on the Grimm while they were still out of the water.
The Threshers that landed in the water began to swim back around to try and attack the Valor again. But this time, they swam at full speed only to swiftly turn and unleash a blade of water pressure in the form of a crescent-shaped wave. The 'beam' hit the Valor and shook everyone around on the ship before one of the weakened Grimm was nailed in the eye and killed by one of Ebony's shots. "Six left," the Bat Faunus called out as she took aim at another one.
While Team FCSA and Team PRDT were dealing with the Threshers from the deck, the Valor's crew was busy dealing with any damage to the ship and attempting to help by firing harpoons or cannonballs at the shark Grimm. One of the crew members was aiming a cannon at a Thresher that was charging at the boat to try and bite the hull. "Smile, you son of a..." The blast from the cannon he fired cut off the last word, but the cannonball managed to kill off the Thresher before it could deal any more damage. "Wahoo! Another one down, Captain," the crewman said through the ship's communication system.
"Good job," the captain congratulated. "Don't get cocky, though. We're not out of this yet."
"I'll go help the others on deck," Lucifer said as he left the cabin, only for Azalea and Percival to take his place.
"Anything we can do," Percival asked.
The helmsman soon made a sharp turn and the Valor changed course to dodge two Threshers that were about to attack with more water blades. While the turn helped avoid the Grimm, it also sent most of the unprepared fighters tumbling around. Slate ended up catching onto a rail before his seasickness caught up with him and he bent over the railing with a loud retching noise coming from him. "I hate boats," he weakly muttered before seeing that he vomited on a Thresher. Avoiding the Grimm's vertical leaping bite, he unleashed a barrage of bullets into the Grimm's unarmored belly and managed to kill it. "How many is that," he asked as collapsed onto the deck and Dante stood guard over him.
Ebony counted up the remaining fins she saw and relayed it to the others. "There are only four more Threshers here," she said before she saw two harpoons skewer an incoming Grimm and pulled in opposite directions to rip it apart. Looking at where the harpoons came from, Ebony saw Azalea and Percival were the ones aiming the ship's weapons and they both held up a thumb when Ebony looked in their directions. "Make that three!"
"Soon to be zero," Cereza said as she and Layla stood side-by-side. "Blood Moon!" When the leader of Team FCSA gave the command, Layla used her Semblance to lift up one of the larger Threshers so that she and Cereza could slash and shoot away at the Grimm. Using her Semblance on an object the size of something like the Thresher normally put enormous strain on Layla's mind and Aura, but it was much easier thanks to all the training she and Fragment Hunter have been doing for the Vytal Festival. With one final kick from Cereza, the Grimm was sent flying into another Thresher, which injured the second monster when the sharp fins stabbed into its body. "Two more remaining," Cereza called out to everyone.
Seeing the injuries that Cereza and Layla dealt to one of the Threshers during their team attack, Twilight kept track of the Grimm and fired her weapon's guns at the monster. With the Thresher goaded into attacking her and leaping at the Valor, Twilight looked around and saw one of the spare cannonballs next to her. Placing her hand near the weapon, a glowing light purple glyph with her emblem in the center formed between her palm and the projectile. When the glyph stopped glowing, the emblem appeared on the cannonball and it began to levitate. Throwing out her arm, Twilight seemed to will the cannonball into flying at the Thresher. Moving her hand around at various angles, the cannonball followed the same paths to strike the Grimm repeatedly until Twilight had the projectile enter the Thresher's mouth and snapped her fingers to make the cannonball explode violently.
With the Grimm's head taken off from the explosion, Twilight felt satisfied with herself until she heard Ebony and Jenny warn her about something. Turning around, she saw that the final Thresher was lunging right at her at full speed and screamed in panic before knives appeared all around its vulnerable areas. As the knives pierced through the Grimm's body, it fell down to the ground and evaporated to signal the Thresher's death. While Twilight was confused about what just happened, Lucifer began to collect his knives as he lectured the girl. "Never assume that you're finished when you defeat a single enemy. There may be more around," Lucifer stated. "I thought that a second-year student would know by now."
"I-it caught me by surprise, sir," Twilight sheepishly replied as she adjusted her glasses.
"There's no shame in admitting your faults," Lucifer gently said. "They'll help you grow as long as you learn from them."
As the Valor corrected its course, the two teams were celebrating their victory against the Threshers. "We kicked butt! Who else wants some," Percival exclaimed out to the water. Suddenly, the water began to ripple and rise in front of the ship which caught everyone's attention as they also heard a loud bellowing cry that sounded similar to a bull, elephant, and tiger all mixed together. "What is that," Percival asked as everyone saw something emerge from the water.
"My god," the helmsman said as he looked at the creature in front of the Valor.
"It's here," the ship captain said as he glared at the beast. "The Leviathan..."
Cliffhanger time! I wanted to show off the Grimm I had planned out for aquatic missions or sea voyages because of the Sea Feilong in Volume 4. The first was a typical shark-like Grimm called Threshers that I wanted to make my own attempt at. Yes, they are named after thresher sharks, but they would resemble Great White Sharks more.
I also wanted to show off some skills with Team PRDT such as Twilight's Semblance (which I will explain in a later chapter) and Ebony's enhanced hearing as a Bat Faunus. I'm also going to show off Percival's capabilities in combat next chapter, so be ready to see what happens!
What exactly is this creature that the ship captain called 'The Leviathan'? Will our heroes be able to beat it? Will they save Hope Island and Port Mako? Or will the Valor sink to the bottom of the sea? Find out next time on "Sideline: Another Story"!
WaterDragonMaverick, signing out!