GRYD - Chapter - The Fun Of The Hunt

In the amphitheater, the students of Beacon sat patiently in their seats. They had been called their by Headmaster Night, but no reason for it was given. Time continued to tick on as they waited for some answers. Finally, Squire appeared on stage. A pleased expression on his face.

He picked up a microphone and gave a small bow to the students, "I thank you for your patience. I assure you, it was worth it. Now, to explain why you are here, I give you Headmaster Night."

Night walked casually onto the stage and was handed the microphone, Squire stepped a few feet away but remained on stage. Night poised himself stage once he had the microphone, "Thank you Squire. Students, it's...well, it's a misconception of the schools that you are required to be working of the time. We here at Beacon have proved that a myth by letting you have fun when you're not in classes. Even letting you wander around Vale when times allow. Which I know you all enjoyed."

The students murmur happily at this, which made Night smile.

"Glad to see I was right. Yet, I can tell that the recent weeks have been hard on a lot of you. Tension between teammates, the Grimm attacks, even our special guest from the Herons seemed to...add to the stress levels. Well, I wish to remedy that in a very unique way."

At this, the students again murmured amongst themselves, but this time in curiosity. Squire stepped forward and held a hand up to quiet them down, shortly they did.

"Thank you again Squire," said Night with an appreciative nod, "as I was saying. The stress here is noticeable, and though stress is a natural part of our lives, it doesn't mean we can't do something fun to alleviate it. So, I have an activity planned right here at Beacon. We're going to do a scavenger hunt."

The students erupted at this in shock and surprise. Some though were honestly confused, and perplexed. The idea of a scavenger hunt seemed downright childish.

This reaction made Night laugh, "Peace! Please, let me explain. While it's true that a scavenger hunt does seem like something children do, we are all children of Beacon, and children of Remnant. Also though, Huntsman and Huntress sometimes do have to think outside the box in order to accomplish a goal. Solving clues is a good to do that. And a scavenger hunt is a fun way to give you those clues. Squire, please explain the rules."

Night took a step to his left and gave the microphone to Squire as he stepped forward, "While you were all in here, various items and clues were scattered throughout Beacon Academy, and the immediate grounds area. None were hidden in the Emerald Forest, so you have no need to go there."

An audible sigh of relief came from the students.

"Now, to ensure no cheating, or at least not rampant cheating, there are 5 different sets of clues. One of these five sets will be given to each team. And no one will know which team gets what. It will be random."

"What are the teams?" shouted one of the students from the crowd, others adding to it once it was asked

Squire quieted them down with a hand, "You'll be in teams of two. But before you try and pick it, it's already been chosen. Your immediate partners are your teammates. No substitutions or trading! We will know if you tried!"

Various reactions to this occurred. Some were happy, some groaned in disappointment, while others very visibly angry.

"Stay in your pairings as you exit the amphitheater. One of the attendants outside will give you your first clue. All first clues have been assigned no single team will be given the same clue to start. This is meant to be a test of you and your partner working together to solve clues. Make the most of that."

With a last piercing look around, Squire again handed the microphone to Night, "A good explanation. Now, I know some of you likely won't want to do this. So, we decided to...up the ante."

He snapped his fingers, and two attendants from off stage brought a chest right up to Night, and held it up so all could see. It resembled an old school treasure chest, which easily grabbed the attention of the students.

Night patted it happily, "This, is the reward to the first duo who completes the scavenger hunt. It's not money, or jewels, or anything like that. However, it is valuable in its own way, and will be valuable to anyone who wins. Whether you be male or female, human or Faunus. Though I will trust you to use it wisely if you get it. Sound fun now?"

He smirked at the students as they nodded vigorously at his question. He laughed softly and nodded, "Good. Ok, rise, then slowly go and get your envelopes. Once you a siren over the intercoms, the hunt is on. Do NOT start before that siren! We'll know if you did, and if you complete the challenge with that head start? Not only will not receive the reward, you'll get a...anti-reward. You've been warned. So, stand up students, and head out the doors. Once you have your first clue, scatter around the school if you don't mind. Less congested that way. Now, be smart, be fair, don't cheat, and have fun. This is a scavenger hunt after all. Dismissed."

Remaining on stage, Night motioned the student up and out. They obeyed his request and slowly rose from their seats and exited the amphitheater in their pairings. As they left, each pairing got an unmarked envelope that was sealed. They gazed at it carefully, but was smart enough not to open it. Else face the wrath of Headmaster Night.

Once they got their clues, they head out and around the school and grounds as they waited for the signal to be given. Ten tense minutes passed. Each pairing desperate to open their clues. Finally, the intercoms came on, and a siren sounded through it. With haste and anticipation, the teams ripped open their clues.

Glyph opened up his and Diana's clue and looked at it. Diana was bouncing with excitement as he read it, "What's it say partner?"

He handed it to her, "See for yourself."

She grabbed it and read it quickly, then got a confused look on her face, "It's important to know where you came from, to know where you are going. So why not sit down and reflect on the matter?"

Diana read it a few times, then looked to Glyph, who shook his head, "Don't look at me. I'm puzzled myself."

"Some clue! It's a riddle!"

"Night said we need to think outside the box."

"The box is there for a reason! Don't rock the boat! I bet the others aren't as stumped as we are. Bet Yasmine's already got hers figured out."

A little ways away, Yasmine reads her clue. Reyson meanwhile sat against a wall, a carefree expression on his face, and his eyes closed.

Yasmine examined the clue in great detail, "Hmm...'the truth is calming, and can cleanse your soul. Bask yourself in it to see the next step."

She racked her brains on what it said. Then turned to Reyson, "Any thoughts?"

"A few, but why are you asking me?" he retorted, not looking at her, "I thought you never wanted my opinion?"

"Usually I don't, but this is a hunt that we're supposed to be doing together. Right?"

"I guess."

"Are you seriously not interested? I thought you liked competitions like this."

Reyson opened his eyes and turned his head, "Technically? Yes. But there's no fighting, no chance of bloodshed. Yes, there's a prize, and knowing Night it's a good one. But...why should I care?"

Yasmine glared at Reyson, "Because I'm not afraid to hurt you if you don't help."

He laughed evilly and slowly rose, "Ok, follow me. I know where to go."

Elsewhere, Macro and Leilani were hunting high and low for the object of their first clue. As they entered a hallway, Macro scanned the corners that touched the ceiling, while Leilani merely looked back at their clue.

She gazed at it confused, "This isn't much to go on. 'I wish you grate success in finding your next clue."

Macro laughed, "How do you spell 'great', Leilani?"

"Uh, g-r-e-a-t."

"Yep, now look at the clue."

She looked at it again, and her eyes went wide as she saw what was different, "Wow, how did I not catch that?"

Macro continued to look up at where the ceiling met the walls in the hallway, "Don't feel bad, you were reading the intent you thought was right. The spelling didn't matter. It's one of those weird tricks of the mind. Your brain can read words in a sentence even if they're not spelled right, and it won't raise an alarm."

"Wow, that's...detailed."

"My dad was military, he trained me to look for even the smallest clues. That's why I saw that word and knew to look in the hallways for...ah-ha!"

He stopped and pointed up. Leilani came over and saw him point to a small grate near the ceiling that was slightly ajar. She was surprised at the find, "Wow."

Macro looked at her and shook his head, "You need more reaction phrases."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, think you can reach that without hitting your head?"

"Of course!"

She approached the wall, steadied her stance, then carefully jumped up. Leilani grabbed the grate, and held onto it as it lifted with her momentum. She planted herself against the wall and held the position until she was sure it was steady. Then, she carefully reached into the grate, and pulled out an envelope.

Once secured, Leilani carefully bounded back to the ground, then gave the envelope to Macro, "I think we're the first to this clue."

"Why do you say that?" Macro asked as he undid the envelope

"There were several clues still in there, and there are only 5 sets of clues, remember?"

"I do, and nice remembering. Alright, let's see where this clue takes us."

On the grounds, Aaron and Erin casually walk arm in arm and approach a tree. There's a medium sized hole in it. Erin approaches and puts her hand in it. After rummaging around a bit, she pulls out a clue.

"Got it!" she exclaimed

"Lovely. Just like you." boasted Aaron

"Oh, stop."

"I will not. Speaking of which..."

She looked at him intrigued, "Yes...?"

"Since, we're supposed to have some fun here, and enjoy ourselves. Why not don your other outfit? I know it's under there."

He smiled at her, and she did the same, then nodded. With haste, she unfastened her kimono, and revealed her pop princess outfit. Aaron laughed happily as it came to light.

Erin sighed in relief as she put her kimono over her shoulder, "I won't lie, I've been meaning to wear this for a while. The opportunity never seemed right. Thank you for saying this one was right."

Aaron looked at her joyfully, "As long as you are happy? It's always the right time."

"Oh..."

She wrapped her free arm around his and pulled closer to him. He put his head against hers for a few moments to honor the feeling. Then, Erin pulled away a bit and held up the clue, "Shall we?"

"We shall!" shouted Aaron proudly

The two continued to stroll through the grounds arm in arm.

Back with Glyph and Diana, the two were struggling to figure out their first clue. Diana paced back and forth in order to try and get it, but with each passing minute she got more and more frustrated.

"This is infuriating! How can we not solve the first clue!?" she shouted angrily

"Calm down, or you'll never get it." answered Glyph calmly

Diana turned to him and shot a glare at Glyph, "Well, partner, you're acting calm, and not getting it. So why not balance out the equation?"

"Stop whining. We'll get it."

"How?"

"By thinking about what the clue said."

She groaned with even greater anger, "What do you think I've been doing? It told us to sit down and reflect on something so that we could see where we're going! Why couldn't be easy? Like, "speak friend and enter" or something like that?"

Glyph's head snapped toward Diana, taking her aback by the sudden reaction. He then laughed and nodded, "I know where to go."

"Great!" exclaimed Diana, to which she wrapped her arm around his, which made Glyph glare at her, "What? Let's go!"

"I'm not walking with you like this."

"What? Oh! I'm not doing this to be cute, I thought you would teleport us!"

"That's cheating."

"No it's not! He never said we couldn't use our Semblances, he said we shouldn't follow others, read the clues early, or steal clues. Nothing about using Semblances.

Glyph looked away and thought about it, then jerked his arm away from her and walked away, "Still cheating to me."

Diana rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You are no fun."

"Not your kind of fun anyway."

"Don't I know it!"

She followed Glyph around to the front of the school. Glyph looked at the front doors carefully, then made his way inside, Diana in tow. As they entered the entranceway, Glyph smiled as he saw a giant mirror.

"There." he said pointing to the mirror, "Reflect, remember?"

"Oh, that's actually clever. So what now? Just look in the mirror?"

Glyph went up to the mirror and looked at it. He muttered the clue to himself, then looked closer at the reflection. His eyes with alight with realization, "Diana, close the door."

Without questioning, she went over and closed the door. When she did, words on the door showed up in the mirror, making Glyph smile, "There's our clue."

Diana rushed over to read it, "'History tells us how we lived, but only the present can tell us how we should live?' Can they get anymore cryptic?"

"I know this one, come on."

He rushed off, Diana hesitated for a second, smiled pleased, then raced after him. A few moments later, the front door opened again. This time, Elenor and Rita from Team PRME came in. Elenor got ecstatic when she saw the mirror.

"Oh, there's the mirror! I bet that's where the clue is!" she said happily

"If you say so," mumbled Rita unconvinced

The two made their way to the mirror. Elenor scanned every inch of it, while Rita paid more attention to her nails and hands.

Elenor noticed that Rita wasn't helped and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry you're not with Primrose or Maggie. Ok? I know you all are close. But I want to win this, and I know we can if you help me!"

Rita sighed angrily, but shook it off and focused on the mirror, "Ok, ok. What do we do?"

"The clue told us to sit down and reflect, but as to what I...oh!", she stated before turning around, "The door! I bet we have to close it. Please Rita?"

With a shrug, she went and shut the door, which let Elenor see the clue, getting very happy as she did.

"I was right! Look!"

Rita came back to the see the clue, and her expression changed to impressed, "Wow, nice...nice job Elenor."

"Alright, if I'm reading this right. I might know where the next clue is, come on!

Elenor smiled at Rita, then ran down the nearby hallway. Rita got a smile of her own, one that made her surprised, but she shook it off and followed her teammate.

Meanwhile, Reyson and Yasmine stood above a small pool of water that connected to the outer moats of the school. Yasmine impatiently tapped her foot, while Reyson just gazed at the water blankly.

Her impatience soon boiled over, "Well?"

"Well what?" he said without moving his head

"Where is the clue?"

"Can you really not guess? Aren't you the smart one?"

"Don't push it Reyson. Why are we here?"

"When you want to get clean of something, what do you use to cleanse yourself of impurities?"

Yasmine thought about it, then sighed, "Water."

Reyson giggled snarkily, "Yep. And here is a lot of water."

"There's water all over the school Reyson."

"True, but the clue said to "bask" ourselves, this is the deepest water in all the school grounds."

"So?

Reyson got closer to her, and looked at Yasmine with a blank face, "So..."

The two just looked at the other, then Reyson's evil smile returned, and with great speed he shoved her into the water. She splashed with great intensity, and floundered a bit before getting buoyant. As she righted herself in the water, she saw Reyson doubling over on the ground with laughter.

"Oh my gosh! So good!"

"I...hate you...so much right now." she said with spite

"I know, but it was totally worth it. And, you can't say I'm not helping. Clue is likely at the bottom of that pool, so...get going!"

He righted himself and motioned her to swim. She bared her teeth, but did so. Yasmine swam to the bottom, and saw there was an inscription on a tile on the bottom. She read it carefully, the resurfaced, "I got it."

"Glorious!"

Reyson remained rooted, and waited for her to get out of the water. When it became clear to Yasmine that he wouldn't help her get out, she swam out herself. Once back on solid ground, she went right back to Reyson and kicked him in the chest. Reyson happily took the hit, then started to laugh.

Yasmine walked away while he was in his laughing fit, but eventually got tired of it, "Will you come on!?"

Reyson sprang up to his feet and gave a fake salute, "Yes, ma'am.", after which he followed, but still had a fit of giggles.

A few hours passed, and the teams continued to try and decipher the clues left by Headmaster Night. While some clues were easy, some were very complex, and required a good deal of lateral thinking. Some excelled at this, while others didn't fare so well.

As the day waned on, only certain partners were making progress. One such team was Leilani and Macro, who were nearing the end of their own little hunt.

"Ok," said Leilani as she looked around on the grounds, "I'm guessing a bird nest is where the next clue is, right? Based on what the last one said?"

"That's my guess," said Macro, "the phrasing was cryptic, but I think we're right."

The two looked around at all the trees they could see, but none of them had bird nests. This puzzled them as they ran out of trees to look in.

"Huh, I really thought it would be here Leilani."

"So did I. Are we sure this is the limits of where we can look?'

"Yeah, no clues in the Emerald Forest, remember?"

"Oh yeah, well, I guess we can..." Leilani began to say, before she looked up at Beacon and stopped

Macro noticed this and came up to her, "What's wrong?"

She pointed to one of the supports of the school, "Do you see that?"

Macro looked at where she was pointing and squinted. Tucked away, almost out of sight, was a bird nest right on top of one of the pillars. Macro was amazed by this, "That's...wow."

"You need more reaction phrases." mocked Leilani with smile

"Touché. Alright, let's go get it."

The ran off to get their next clue.

As they did that, Glyph and Diana were forced to crawl beneath a part of the school in an abandoned cross base of sorts. Diana got appalled at what the dirty water was doing to her dress, "I don't know what's worse, my dress being ruined, or the sod I'm getting on my skin.

"Just wash the dress, and take a hot shower when we're done." Glyph said matter-of-factly

"Would you like to-"

"Don't. Even."

"No. Fun."

Elsewhere in Beacon, Yasmine and Reyson had collected another of the clues. This time though, they exited a classroom together, and Yasmine had a very odd look on her face. As if she couldn't tell what she was feeling.

"Reyson?" she asked as she stopped in the hallway

"Yeah?" he replied without emotion, or a look her way

"How are you so good at this?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. But I would like to know. You didn't care about this competition, yet you clearly can do this easily. You probably could've one on your own. So why don't you? And how is this so easy for you?

Reyson exhaled sharply, and looked at Yasmine with a dark gaze, "My family, both times."

"Oh dear." said Yasmine, realizing where this was going

"Yep. To be fair, it wasn't a bad thing. It was just an annoying thing. Our family lives in one house if you recall. All three branches of the Heron clan. I would hang out with my cousins a lot. One of them, Arianna, well...she kind of reminds me of you. Smart, logical. But unlike you, she liked to play games. So, she set up these scavenger hunts around the mansion to see if one of us could solve her puzzles. We all got pretty good at it. Me especially."

Yasmine didn't buy it, "But you see to hate it, so why?"

"Because my family corrupted it. For Arianna, it was just a game. But once my...bloodlust showed up more. They tried to use those games to "teach" me the right way to live. Soon, it wasn't a game, it was life lesson. Once I caught on, I stopped playing, which made Arianna mad, which made my aunts and uncles mad, and so on, and so forth."

He give a mock bow then walked away. Yasmine watched him for a bit, then walked quickly to catch up, "I'm sorry."

"You were curious, I don't blame you."

"No, I mean, about your family. That was wrong what they did."

"Yes, it was. But it's ok. Oh, and stop apologizing every time I tell you a life story of mine. We wouldn't want a bond to form, would we?"

Reyson smiled evilly and stuck out his tongue. To his surprise though, Yasmine joined in the gesture before laughing herself, "Trust me, you have no chance. Unlike Diana, I'm not interested in someone who is clearly my opposite."

With that, she proceeded ahead of him. Reyson gave his own small laugh, along with a nod of acknowledgment, "Good to know."

Hours continued on, and many teams got the final clue. The race was on to figure it out and get the prize. Diana and Glyph received it and read it eagerly.

Glyph cleared his throat, "The time has come to end this hunt. The prize is in sight. But before you can get it, you need to receive your judgment."

"Our judgment?" spoke Diana perplexed, "We didn't do anything wrong! How can we get punished for something we didn't do?"

Glyph slapped the envelope against his hand as he thought of what it might mean. Then, he got a thought, "What if it's a little more symbolic?"

"How so?"

"You get in trouble, here, in Beacon. Where do you go to get judgment?"

She smiled widely, "Headmasters Office!"

He nodded, "Let's go!"

Glyph raced away, Diana remained in her spot, a little disappointed, "You sure we can't teleport this time!"

"Stop whining and run!"

Put off, but still with a desire to win, she ran for the Headmasters Office with Glyph. The two wove through the school until they reached the door to Nights office. Glyph carefully knocked on it.

"Come in Glyph, Diana." spoke Night from within

The two entered, eyes fixed on Night as he appeared behind his desk. He smiled at them and waved them forward. They got closer, Diana was the first to speak, "Did...we win?"

"In a way. You did very well, both of you. I'm very impressed with your restraint Glyph. Though I didn't say you couldn't use your Semblance, I think it would've been cheating as well."

"Thank you Headmaster." said Glyph with a bow, then a teasing smirk to Diana

"However, as to the true answer to your question. You did not win. But 3rd place isn't bad."

"3rd place?" said Glyph and Diana together

Instead of speaking, Night merely motioned to his right, and to their surprise, The Lovers, along with Elenor and Rita were already in the office.

Night smiled at their reaction, "Yes, Aaron and Erin arrived about 30 minute ago, with Elenor and Rita only a few minutes behind. It was very impressive."

"Why thank you Headmaster." said Aaron with pride, to which Erin giggled

"You're welcome. Why don't you two join the others? I'm keeping the ones that complete the course here to prevent cheating, for at least a little while anyway."

"Sure," said Diana slightly downhearted that she lost

She proceeded to The Lovers and chatted with them. Glyph however went to Elenor and Rita. While Rita shot a nasty look at him, Elenor smiled at his arrival, "Nice job Glyph."

"Same to you and your partner. Let me guess, you did all the work?"

Rita opened her mouth to speak, but Elenor quickly overrode her, "I couldn't have done it without Rita. She actually helped me big time on that 4th clue. It was about a crossbase."

"Oh! We were on the same path then! I hated that one."

"It was nasty, wasn't it?"

The two laughed. While Rita looked at Elenor surprised, and a little touched. She was equally surprised when she saw Glyph smiling at her purely, "Thank you for helping Elenor. I know someone who likely wouldn't have done this with her under any circumstances."

Rita again tried to speak, but took a breath and nodded, then smiled herself, "Elenor's my partner. I help my partner."

Glyph nodded, "Good to hear. Keep it up. Both of you."

With a final smile he left them and joined Diana and the Lovers. Rita watched him curiously, then turned to see Elenor smiling at her. She returned the smile and talked with her partner.

Later that night, after most of the teams had completed, the scavenger hunt ended. GRYD and MEAL met up in the room of MEAL and talked about the hunt and all the things they had to do. After a while though, Reyson pointed to the treasure chest the Lovers had.

"Ok, enough small talk!" he barked out impatiently, "What's in it? Night wouldn't give away something small after all this. What is it you won?"

The others joined in on Reyson's curiosity and looked to the Lovers. Aaron turned to Erin for permission, and she gave him a nod. He carefully opened the chest, and pulled out two shining objects that made all of their jaws drop.

"Woah." said Diana

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Leilani

"Yep..." started Macro

In Aaron's hands were shining Dust capsules, unlike anything they had seen before. One was red, and one was green.

"...modified Dust bullets."

"According to the Headmaster," noted Erin as she gazed at them as well, "these were custom made by a specialist. They can't do it like this often, but when they do? The power of these shells dwarf anything that's regularly given out."

"Granted," added Aaron grimly, "we can only use it once. But given our luck? I have a feeling that 'one time' won't be too far off."

"Very wise." acknowledged Glyph, "And you're right. You'll probably use it soon. But not tonight. Let's just enjoy what happened today. Ok?"

He looked to them all, and they all nodded one by one, until they broke in conversation once more.

*credits*