"Ouch! Ah—" Velvet yelped, instinctively trying to jerk her head away as Coco pinched her ear with a bobby pin.

"Sorry, sorry," Coco said, taking out the pin to reshape it and try again, but to no avail. "Here, tell me if this is better," she said, taking a thin strip of cloth and working it around her ears instead.

"It is. Much better." Velvet would have purred if she could as the painful tugging was replaced by Coco rubbing small gentle circles around the base of her ears. It was a short break from their attempts to fix the beret down on her head and, as Harold had put it, not advertising Velvet's heritage to the town

Coco huffed in mild frustration as she tried again. The lingering humidity from the downpour wasn't helping her cause. Although she was still thankful the rain had stopped by the time they woke up that afternoon, easing her concerns about it setting back their schedule.

"Is it pulling too much?" Coco said, fitting the beret over her handiwork and taking out a small pocket mirror. Velvet reached up to shift the beret, wincing as it tugged at the base of her faunus ears when she tried to adjust it. She didn't have it in her to tell Coco how it actually felt—uncomfortable, awkward, and a little painful. She only gave a tight smile as she watched Coco study her expression through the mirror.

"It'll work," Velvet said, cringing as her voice betrayed her mask of optimism.

Coco sighed and leaned against the back of the chair, her head hovering over Velvet's. "Are you sure you want this?"

Velvet took the mirror from her, frowning deeper as she shifted it about. She prodded the top of the beret, her ears were still trying to stand up under the coarse fabric and pressed with each light push. She waved her hand over her head once, then twice, grasping at air where she was used to her ears normally being before she slumped her shoulders

"No."

"No?"

She sat the mirror down and leaned forward, propping her chin on her hand. "It feels like I'm lying and it's not right. I've never tried to hide these before, I'm proud of them, and now it's just wrong. It's so wrong. This isn't who I am."

Coco nodded in understanding and laced her fingers under the rim of the hat again to start unfastening the hidden bobby pins, only for Velvet's light grasp to hold her back.

"Keep it on," Velvet said, after taking a moment to find her voice. "Sorry, I know I said I didn't want this, but it's still better this way. We're on a mission. Drawing more attention to myself won't do any good."

"Velvet, if these people really aren't okay with you, that's their own damn fault. It's not your problem and you shouldn't hide yourself for it."

"I know that, it's just—let's get a feel for the place first. Then we can decide what to do. It's no use causing trouble on the first day."

"Alright, alright. We'll give it a test run until tomorrow. Whenever you're ready."

Velvet smiled and stood up, giving the beret one last pat over and shake to make sure it was secure. She hefted up her pack and weapon to go join the others waiting outside. "Thanks. And Coco, can I ask you for something?"

"Anything."

"Try not to let this faunus thing get to you. It doesn't look good, I know, but making a fuss out of it rarely helps. I'm sure they're still good people." Velvet paused to catch Coco's eye, and the fleeting doubt that flashed across her face. Coco agreed, or at least she didn't disagree, and Velvet took it and ran with it. "Come on, it's a new day!" she said, pulling Coco along with her enthusiasm. They both knew it wouldn't last very long, a few hours at best, but for now it was enough.

.

.

.

Yatsuhashi eyed the stout building in the center of the town as they approached it. Nothing about the building itself would indicate that it was the town hall, unless someone was lucky enough to make out the weathered sign nailed above the open door. Four tall barrels of an older model anti-aircraft gun rose from behind the building and high above the roof, which was the biggest clue that the building was important. That, and the fenced off enclosure adjoining it that housed the village's lone Cross Continental Transmit System relay tower—which bore a battered white SDC symbol peeling off its side.

Coco pursed her lips as she studied the Schnee glyph on the old, though working, communications tower. "Well that's not encouraging."

Fox cocked his head, a habit of his when he had to concentrate. He reached out with his aura, letting a wave of it extend beyond his body and spread out in front of him, his way of seeing further than he had learned to do passively. With it, he could sense the lone building they were all standing in front of and the outline of a single person sitting at a desk inside. He reached above, seeing the tall barrels and boxes of ammunition stashed next to the village's high caliber insurance policy, and next to it where the CCTS relay tower stood. "What's not encouraging? Seems normal to me, maybe a bit old." He reached out again, this time behind them, to sense the villagers nearby. Just a few stares as they were watched, but nothing unexpected.

"The communications tower is from the SDC," Coco said, filling Fox in on what he couldn't sense while Velvet and Yatsuhashi went ahead into the building.

"And? Most of the relays are. They must have had an operation here a long time ago"

Coco pursed her lips and shrugged. He wasn't wrong, it wasn't out of the ordinary, but she still didn't like it.

"Come on, Coco, it'll be fine. We don't know anything about this place yet."

She didn't respond but reluctantly followed as Fox went with the others into the town hall. It was supposed to be a lighter day; typically they'd just receive their mission and integrate into the town and learn the lay of the land. Although today she was itching to be out in the field instead. She stepped into the small building. The town hall's single room was brightly lit as the morning sunlight cast down onto the wide desk in the center of the room and a table against the wall, stacked with radio equipment that ran outside to the relay tower.

"You must be the folks from Vale," the village chief said. He was older, pushing his sixties with a full and graying beard. He looked up from his paperwork as the huntsmen filed into the room, then back down at a file folder he was holding and back up at them. "Ms Adel?" he said, pointing at her for confirmation, and then to the rest of her team as he rattled off their names to put a face to them and flipped through the team's profile that Beacon must have had sent ahead of them. "Let's get to business then, no time for slacking out in the backcountry and our situation has only gotten worse in the past few days."

"Of course," Coco said as they circled around the desk, which the Chief cleared off and laid down a map of the region. A quick start to the mission was more than welcomed at the moment.

"The short story is that the grimm are getting too close for comfort, and they've been acting strange too. We've kept a tight handle on the grimm in this valley for decades. Thin the herd, keep them suppressed and cut off their routes in. It's a balance out here. We like them weak enough to be controlled but strong enough to not let any other grimm push them out and become a new problem for us. It worked up until these last couple months. There was a flood of minor grimm—boarbatusks, ursai, griffons and the sort—that came in through from the northern valley. It was sudden and they were in enough of a frenzy to force us back," he said, indicating two adjacent valleys on the map carpeted with thick forests except for the large clearing where the town was nestled in the southern valley. "They've gotten bolder since, too, harassing our hunters so much that we've had to cut into our winter stores to keep up morale and hope more don't come sniffing fear. We'd like to get this squared away before that becomes an issue."

"Local concentrations? When were they last reported?"

The chief went silent at Fox's question, taking a long moment before answering. "Well that's the thing. We don't know. Our last group of hunters were due back yesterday from the northern valley with updated numbers, but we haven't heard from them. That puts our maps at almost two weeks old."

Yatsuhashi frowned. "Two week is effectively useless. When are they getting back?"

The chief took a seat, looking solemn for a long moment before responding. "Honestly, I think they've been lost. We've been losing a lot of hunters since the new grimm came in and it's gotten worse. We barely had enough volunteers for this party in the first place, it's put us in a tight spot."

The team visibly tensed and the room fell silent. They all shared knowing looks between each other as the chief's words weighed heavily in the air. An entire team going missing was a dreaded occurrence in the huntsman world, and it was a fear that never discriminated. Professionals and students, civilian parties—one misstep was all the grimm needed. It was rarer within the kingdom nowadays, but always lurking on the edge of possibility. It hit them close to home; they all knew it was a possibility in their line of business, but none of them expected it so soon. And worse, this was civilian hunters—not huntsmen trained to face the grimm head on.

The mission had changed.

"We'll find your team, mark my words," Yatsuhashi said, and the team concurred. Their resolve steeled and, for the moment at least, all the heartache they felt last night was forgotten. "Those maps would still help, and their last known route?"

The chief nodded and circled a few regions of past concentrations before waving the team closer. "These are from weeks ago. The hunting team's route trailed along the edge of the northern valley, but if the game there wasn't enough to fill our winter stocks, they were going to follow the river through the middle of the valley," the chief said, tracing a path from the village through the mountain pass and along the base of the mountains that enclosed the northern valley. He paused and boxed in a small area that was already marked; it was just north of the mountain pass that joined the two valleys. "They were last seen here, at the dust mine. They stopped for a resupply at the mine a few days before they were due back."

Coco cocked her head for a split second before her eyes snapped to the chief. A dust mine made perfect sense. After all, the Schnee empire had a habit of targeting outskirt towns where laws didn't exist and people could be made a little more flexible with the proper encouragement. "A dust mine? This is a company town."

"No. Not anymore." The chief returned Coco's stare before he shook his head and pulled out another map from his pile. Not of the mine, but a detailed drawing of the village and the surrounding forests. "We run the mine by ourselves and for ourselves. The SDC hasn't left here a long while ago and it was good riddance. Now I appreciate your concern for our team, but I'm afraid we have other concerns. Grimm sightings are getting more common along the town walls and people are on edge. We need our maps updated and the grimm thinned out before we can do anything else. I'm afraid we have to assume the worst for our friends until then."

The team went silent. Assuming the worst would turn a search and rescue into a recovery mission, and every instinct they had welled up to reject that. Coco spoke out first, her initial distaste for the town only pushing her further.

"We can't do that. It's still early for your team, if we go now there's a good chance we can—"

"No." The chief snapped back. "I'm sorry, but these grimm are clever. They've been testing our borders every day and we don't know how many there are. We could be hours away from being overrun and massacred without even knowing it. It's a bitter reality, but we can't afford to search for our friends right now."

"That's not—"

"Maybe," Velvet said, raising her voice before things escalated further. "We can manage both. A detailed grimm count will take an entire day, but two of us could do a light sweep in the forest and make sure it's not getting that bad yet. And two can retrace your team's path. If there's anybody left, we can't afford to wait either."

"Velvet, was it? I appreciate the sentiment, but that's quite a task for a single day."

"We can handle it. This is what we trained for," Coco said.

"As slim as it is," Fox spoke up, "there's still a chance your team has the counts and just couldn't make it back. It's worth checking."

The chief glanced over Fox, weighing their points while trying to avoid the unseeing stare that Fox was making a point of holding. It was unnerving, to say the least, and Fox was withholding his own smirk as the chief's aura shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I asked you here because Beacon is the best around. If you can bring any of our men, my friends, home then I would be deeply grateful. I only speak from experience—many years worth, but I hope I'm wrong about this." The chief let the words hang in the air but they were only met by the team's determined, near defiant, resolve. He sighed inwardly and pulled out his scroll to transfer the maps. "These are the most recent counts we have, but the grimm have gotten strange recently so stick to the mountain ridges where you can. From there you can get a decent view of the northern valley and it's only a short walk to the mine near the mountain pass. If you're in trouble, go to the mine. It's well stocked for a resupply and well defended. Wou all have full access to anything we can provide there. As for you two," the chief said, glancing at Yatsuhashi and Velvet, "the last sightings have been along the southern wall. It looks to be several ursa now, and boarbatusks frequent that area too. Any worse than that spells trouble for us. Like I said, we like to keep this valley well thinned out but we're losing our grip on it."

Coco nodded along as she listened before turning to Yatsuhashi. "And just recon today. If the grimm need thinning, call us back and we'll take care of it together."

"Well then, you all have your work cut out for you. Ought to get a move on if you want to start your search," the chief said.

Coco gave the chief one last glance over before chalking the comment down as well intended. He seemed professional enough and deep lines of stress were etched in his expression. The gruff attitude was apparently the standard out here, according to most of her old teachers, but she still caught the weariness in his voice. The sorrow as well.

She couldn't help but notice the slight bounce in her teammates' step, and her own as well, from the thought of finally getting out in the field to put their training to use. This was what they were there for, and it certainly lifted her own spirits from the pit they were getting buried in the night before. Even then, it was a heart-wrenching reminder every time she saw Velvet with the beret squished down on her head. The outskirts were hard living, she didn't doubt it, but that was no excuse.

.

.

.

"There's another ursa," Velvet said to Yatsuhashi as she peered through the trees with a small pair of field glasses. "That's five ursa now and six boarbatusks."

"My count matches. The chief was definitely right, it is a lot for just this side of the valley. Let's start heading to the other side for a count and get back in time. Looks like the griffon tally will have to wait until tomorrow unless we can spot one of their roosts."

Yatsuhashi craned his neck as he slid his binoculars into his pack. They had been roaming the forest for nearly six hours now, methodically circling outward from the village and tallying up the grimm from a healthy distance. It wasn't exciting work but the tediousness was relieved by lighthearted conversation and, for Velvet at least, a chance to loosen up the beret so her ears could sway free without concern. They headed towards the village and skirted along the large ring of cleared forest, which served as a no-man's land between the village walls and the grimm in the forest, until they reached the opposite edge of the valley. Yatsuhashi lined up his compass with the map of concentrations and the village, finding their bearings again and tracing out a path to follow.

"Stop," Velvet said, gripping his arm with one hand and her box in the other. "Quiet."

Yatsuhashi drew his sword out of habit before he went silent to listen, trying to sift out the natural sounds of the forest for a moment but picking up nothing. "What is it?"

"I smell blood. Something is—" Velvet stopped herself and her ears perked up when a distinct sloshing sound came from ahead. She formed a simple sword and bladed shield, burying her shoulder into its curve as she pressed her side against Yatsuhashi to cover them both. They scanned the underbrush and the scattered gaps between trees, looking for movement and the telltale red glow of a grimm.

The sloshing quickened and mixed with the running water of a stream. Then a pop and a slap. A paw being dragged through the mud, raised out and set down with another step. Velvet and Yatsuhashi tensed as the sounds grew louder until the long protruding spikes of a large grimm rose above the shrubbery.

Adrenaline rushed into their systems and their emotions spiked alongside it. Not fear, nor panic or hysteria. Necessity had trained out those emotions years ago and replaced them with a hard determination. There was no benefit to attracting other grimm when you were already fighting one to the death.

"Split and flank?" Velvet said, keeping her voice low.

Yatsuhashi gave a curt nod, but the grimm had already taken notice of the emotions pouring off of them. It stood its full height, towering above them and bristling its hardened plates together in display. An ursa major.

Velvet gasped. The grimm's signature glowing streaks snaked down from its mask and criss-crossed until they formed a web of sinister red cracks over its entire body. This wasn't their typical Ursa from the Emerald Forest to say the least.

They stuck to their plan and pushed off each other, both dodging behind trees for cover while they pressed closer when it was distracted by the other. They were huntsman, after all. They knew better than to cower from the beast or feed into its cravings for fear. Not even when it let out a great roar and lunged at Velvet with all its weight.

The ursa's claws, each as thick as her wrist, slammed on her shield. She forced out a deep exhale, tensing every muscle and digging in her heels as the strike drove her back. She held fast, willing more power through her weapon for the inevitable second blow.

Velvet was prepared this time. She watched, waiting until it was almost on top of her when she stuck her shortsword through the frame of her shield.

Its bellow of rage shook the ground. The blade pierced clean through its paw and Velvet ripped it to the side, severing off a claw with it. The sword dissolved away as she retracted its frame and rolled back to avoid the next swing. She found cover behind a tree and stuck out her head before sprinting away, taunting the ursa and luring it towards her.

Yatsuhashi leapt forward, pressing the advantage Velvet was giving him. He braced his sword with both hands as he dashed for its side, aiming right where the hardened bone gave way to leathery hide. One well-placed slash and its boney spike was ripped away, leaving a small but fleshy spot on its back.

The ursa turned on him and bared its teeth with a low growl, feinting advances until Yatsuhashi distanced himself and rejoined Velvet.

"Strange," Velvet said, watching it as she used Yatsuhashi as cover. Her shield hadn't lasted much longer after the two blows and she flicked through the dial on her box to choose another frame. She stepped back out from behind him as Crescent Rose formed in her hands.

The grimm stayed there, letting out a series of grunts and growls as it glared between the new weapon and its bearers. Two people who were dwarfed by its size but had still managed to harm it without spilling any blood of their own. The spikes remaining along its back no longer bristled, but now sagged towards the torn patch on its side. The ursa rose up on its hind legs again and readied another swing, putting all its weight behind its uninjured paw as it came down on a tree.

The tree snapped with a loud crack and fell in front of them. Another tree fell, and another on top of it making Velvet and Yatsuhashi scrambled back in confusion. The patch of forest separating them was completely blocked and the ursa peered at them one last time from over the logs before it went back on all fours and dashed away.

Yatsuhashi gave Velvet a curious glance. Grimm rarely had the self preservation to force them back or stop its own blind attack.

"It's retreating?" Velvet said, equally confused. She had never seen that before. Her wits caught up to her and she lurched forward to pursue it when Yatsuhashi pulled back on her shoulder.

"Normal grimm don't know how to retreat, it's impossible. There was nothing normal about that ursa. Let's not find out what else it can do without support."

Velvet nodded as she squinted to see further over the fallen logs, and hopefully catch a last glance at the ursa. "It was definitely weird, right? I've never seen a pattern like that before."

"Grimm variants don't usually differ as much as that ursa, either. Did you notice how it looked at us?"

Velvet grimaced. "It was sizing us up, like it was deciding. We'll definitely have to come back with the entire team, it might stick around the area, and we ought to see if it's been reported before," she said, taking a moment to mark down their location on her map.

"Keep an eye out, too. We don't know if it really left." Yatsuhashi lowered his sword, but didn't sheath it. "And for you, you better be more careful," he said, meeting Velvet's puzzled look with a light push at a small but deep cut on her upper arm, where the ursa had caught her just above her shield. She frowned and quickly covered it up, cursing her adrenaline for blocking out the pain until later on.

"I am careful, but thanks," she said, begrudgingly, as she pulled her shoulder plate a bit lower to cover it up. "It's fine, it'll heal up in no time."

"Hey, Velvet?"

"Hmm?" She glanced up at him as he studied the low thicket of bushes off in the distance that the grimm had emerged from. His focus was entirely back on the grimm now, and Velvet didn't mind that one bit.

"If you smelled blood, and that's where the ursa came from..." he said, not needing to finish his thought as Velvet was already off, scrambling over the fallen logs in that direction. She didn't speak, turning serious once she realized what Yatsuhashi was getting at, and only waiting a few seconds for him to catch up before she kept going.

They cleared the last of the logs and fell into a quick jog as they scanned the trees for the ursa variant in case it was still lingering around. They slowed when they hit the thicket of low shrubs where they first spotted the beast and the scent hit them both full force. It was putrid and raw, strong enough to drive a normal person away.

They braced themselves and pushed forward, picking through the light underbrush until they were looking down into a gulch with a narrow stream running through it. The remnants of a campsite were along the bank and in the stream. Shredded tents and sleeping bags lay half in the water with the rocks and mud churned up alongside them, while the trees bore gashes that cut deep into their trunks—each a sobering reminder of how one-sided the fight must have been. Neither of them dared to look away, their hope sinking lower the longer they took in the scene. The deep red stains in the ground and on the equipment left little doubt about the outcome.

"Yatsu," Velvet said, shuddering as she let out a deep breath and leaned on him for support. "Call Coco. We found the hunting party."