No updates for the next several weeks due to some unexpected travel, as of 11/14/2021
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A stone skipped across the ground into a puddle, splashing water on the two huntresses huddled together as they stood watch at the gaping breech in the town wall. Coco pulled off her hood and twisted her head around, eyeing an alleyway where three children had clearly ducked into when she moved. Coco put down her empty cup of coffee, which Port had kindly brought her a few hours ago, and pulled the rain cape tighter around Velvet and herself. With any luck, she thought, it wouldn't wake up Velvet. It had taken a fair amount of convincing to get her to sleep in the first place, after last night's attack.
Another stone tumbled through the air, bouncing off Coco's back as the kids giggled to themselves. Coco stared at them harder and tilted her ear at them to pick up what they were saying. She groaned, catching a snippet about 'animals' and filling in the rest of the blanks on her own. Velvet shuffled and began to sit up, only for Coco to gently press her back down to stay beneath their cape, where her ears were hidden from view. Velvet shot Coco an odd look.
"What's going on?" Velvet said, twisting her body around to look up at Coco and ending with her head in Coco's lap.
"Just some kids being pricks. Don't worry about them, I'll take care of it." She sighed and started to stand up, intending to at least shoo them away and maybe give them a good berating when Velvet stretched out her arms, laying them across Coco's legs to stop her.
"No, just stay here. Don't even look at them, Coco. It won't help."
"You know that doesn't work." Coco glared at the children out of the corner of her eye, but didn't try to stand back up.
"Neither will telling them off. Then it becomes a game for them. Besides, they're just kids."
"That's not an excuse for—"
"They don't know what they're doing."
"They—"
"They're just curious." Velvet persisted, placing the corrected words in Coco's mouth. "They've probably never seen a huntress before, or a faunus. It's a lot of new things and that's okay."
Coco's shoulders sagged after as they fell into a brief silence. "How do you do this, Vel? Why won't you do anything?"
"Because I don't want to, and I can make a choice about that. And snapping at them won't help, not here. I've been pushed enough times to know that." Velvet stayed there in silence for a moment, thinking. She could remember the many times she had this conversation with others, hearing it from her parents for the first time and learning it the hard way at her first counterprotest. And the long talks with Yatsuhashi about it during their first team outing into the Emerald Forest. She smiled at the memory.
"I don't understand it," Coco said, looking down at Velvet as another stone skittered to a stop nearby.
"I told you, they're just looking for a reaction. Maybe to see if what they've heard about faunus is true, or maybe to see what a huntress or a city person or the girl with an origami machine gun will do. But it's up to you what kind of reaction they get."
"Yeah, I think you've told me that before." Coco's expression softened for a moment. "But I don't mean that. I don't understand you sometimes. How can you just stay here, and not get pissed about it or set them straight? I'm already ticked off, and they aren't even talking about me. But you just let it roll off," Coco said, taking out her sunglasses as the morning sun rose above the mountains. Velvet sat up next to her, staying quiet as she watched Coco slip the glasses on with a trembling hand. "Sorry. I've been thinking about this place a lot during my shift. And then those kids, I just—I don't want to be here."
"Hey." Velvet gave her a playful nudge with her shoulders as they sat side by side, hoping to lighten the mood just a little. "You don't have to apologize for thinking, dummy. Seriously though, it took me a long time to come to terms with my own experience. And I'm not okay with this. I hate it and I see it a lot more often than I usually say, even in the city. But I think that maybe if we work hard enough and stick to what's right, then maybe they'll see that faunus aren't, well, whatever they think I am. That's what I hope at least. That's why I wanted to be a huntress, so I could be out here and meet all of the people. You can't do anything without meeting them first, right?"
"It's that easy, huh Vel? Just show them they're wrong. Make 'em see it." Coco started to grin at Velvet's reasoning, about to chuckle at its absurdity while wanting, desperately wanting, it to be true. Until her last wall came crumbling down as another stone whacked against her hand that was holding the rain cape. "I swear to—" She didn't bother finishing, already tense as she snatched up the stone out of the mud and raised it back at the kids, ready to throw.
"Hey," Velvet whispered, moving right next to her. "Hey, let's just pause for a moment, alright? C'mon, just pause." Velvet coaxed her, wrapping her hands around Coco's wrist and pulling down on it. "It's like these kids, they're still trying to figure out this world, just like us. But they're new at it, and they've probably never met somebody from outside this village. They don't know a thing about me or you. So there might still be time to show them who we are."
Coco broke her withering glare to meet Velvet's pleading eyes.
"Let it go," Velvet said, continuing to gently ease the stone out of Coco's clutched fingers. "It's okay to. We don't have to retaliate. We can't, actually. If we do, then we're going to be every awful rumor that they've ever heard, and probably a few new ones too. And they won't believe anything else, because we already showed them."
"But they, they just—"
"They're just kids. They started it, sure, whatever. That doesn't matter, it's not how they see it." Velvet worked the stone free and let it fall back into the mud. "And it's not how things like this stop. And it's not going to stop while we're here, or after we're gone. That takes a long, long time. But what we can do is keep showing them who we are, as people, no matter what gets thrown at us. Because for anything to really change they have to realize it themselves."
Coco let out her breath in a slow sigh. She had recognized a few bits and pieces of Velvet's speech from their past talks, no doubt practised from having to explain her views, repeatedly, to most people in their friend circle. But the reminder helped nonetheless. Coco glanced up at where the kids were, seeing they had already scattered out of sight when she raised her first at them. "Sorry. I've been trying to wrap my head around dealing with this stuff since I met you. Guess I'm still learning."
Velvet cracked a smile as she stood up and stretched, ready to go back and meet their team and start the day. "It's alright, you're Coco Adel! I'll be long dead by the time you learn something."
"Oh hush! Fox has a lot more to teach you before you can pull that joke off." Coco let out a relieved sigh anyway, ever grateful for her team. "Come on, we have to get this wall fixed up before nightfall, and it'll take all afternoon if we don't get going."
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"A variant breed of grimm?" The chief looked up at Coco, and then to Port, as he listened to their debriefing on last night's attack. "Is that even possible?"
"Indeed, and that's our current theory," Port said as he leaned forward in his chair, the wood chair creaking beneath him. It was only the three of them meeting, allowing the rest of the team to keep watch and help with the repairs to the wall from last night's attack. "We know that an ursa with those markings has never been seen before yesterday. Beacon's database confirmed it. Given that we fought it twice, and have seen the aftermath quite closely, its strength was unmatched within the ursa's class."
"And on top of its strength, it showed reasoning and strategy during our fight. More than any grimm I've seen," Coco said, frowning briefly as she remembered the fight mere hours before. With that and keeping watch, sleep had escaped her completely last night. "Probably why it went after civilians."
"Sounds like an older grimm to me." The chief pulled out the map of grimm concentrations and turned it to face Coco and Port. "We've had our suspicions about new grimm entering in the northern valley for some time, given that the ones we typically see there have shifted to the forest around us over these last few weeks. Might have been this."
"I'd concur, this was quite an exceptional situation," Port said. "Variants of known grimm are considered anomalies. Singular, rare, unique, and seemingly random occurrences. That much has held up since the academies were formed, but this ursa was more than just a variant. It lived isolated enough to roam free and grow unhindered, but close enough to have survived skirmishes with civilians. It became experienced, and that's deadly."
"Then there's other experienced grimm out here. Purging them should be our top priority, assuming there should be no more variants—professor?"
"More variants would be unlikely, considering their rarity, but it would be prudent not to ignore the possibility." Port stopped for a moment, falling into a gravely serious tone. "It is also a vast understatement to say that we were lucky last night. That grimm was powerful, Coco, enough to require your entire team to put down, but variant or not, it was still an ursa in the end. There are grimm out there who, in their weakest and most inexperienced state, still outclass that ursa by tenfold. I am proud of you all for your performance, but problematic and unchecked grimm always lead to more. It's never a one and done situation out here."
"Perfect." Coco grimaced.
The chief closed the copy of Port's report on his desk. "Well you all saved many lives last night, and it's shown how much we need you here. And I need to make this clear: I do mean all of you. I've been up to my ears in complaints since last night about your, ah, teammate, but nobody thinks we could've handled that attack ourselves. We might be stubborn people but like it or not, I think you all showed them there's not much of another choice." He checked his watch and stood up, wrapping up their meeting by walking to the door. "Now, I have some final errands to take care of before the funeral service this afternoon. How are the repairs coming along on the wall?"
"It's slow going, but we've gotten some help. Should be up by nightfall. Whether that wall is a viable defence, though, is another matter."
"It's nothing fancy, but it's kept us safe for years until this variant grimm came along. I see no reason it shouldn't work after you all finish here. I've scheduled a night watch for the next week to calm some nerves after last night, though, and an extra day of training on the flak gun tomorrow afternoon."
Coco nodded along as they stepped out of the building, bidding a quick farewell to the chief. It was only an hour or two until high noon, when the funeral would be held, and they had more than their fill of work to do before then.
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"...it is through these difficult times that we must remember the long and good life that each of these young men and women led. We must come together and celebrate their life and be grateful for the time that we had. I loved my son, more than anything in this world, and my favorite memory of him was..."
Velvet squeezed her hands together in her lap to suppress a nervous shiver. She meant no disrespect to the deceased, but the eulogy was quickly pushed to the back of her mind when she could practically feel the glares digging into her back. She wouldn't turn around to catch them or see who it was; not when that meant validating them or stirring up something here, at a funeral service.
She glanced to her right, peering past Yatsuhashi's bulk to spot another gawker in their row. A child this time, leaning forward in his seat and staring blatantly. At least it was innocent this time, but she knew she was just hoping that. She didn't know what that kid's ever been told about faunus, or hell, if he'd ever even heard of a faunus before. It wasn't out of the question, not in such an isolated town like this.
Velvet thought about it for a moment and leaned back into her seat. She didn't know these people, but hopefully, just maybe, one of them was staring at her out of curiosity and not fear or spite. She sat up a little straighter, holding her head high under their glares. No matter what they thought of her, she could always be dignified.
That was, after all, why they were attending. They had intended to from the start—it was only decent of them to, after all—but that was before Port had explained the situation a bit further. Threats, to put it bluntly. Nothing too serious, damage wise, but their message was clear enough: Velvet wasn't welcome at such a charged event.
Yet, not showing up to pay their respects would send an even worse message. That's what the chief figured when he asked them here, and managed to take the worst of the remarks for it, but that still left the team in an awkward spot. Show up and be held in contempt, or keep working and seem aloof and disconnected. Coco had mentioned something about building their trust, too, although she never heard that reasoning before today. But it made sense in a way, they couldn't be seen as holding themselves superior, or better, or even different. Not if they could help it. So they dealt with the cautious glances and occasional scoff and stayed front and center to make sure everybody knew. It was a power play, but only on the surface. The team needed to be seen mourning alongside the village, weathering this with them, because they had no intentions not to.
That certainly wasn't stopping Coco from shooting silent and subtle threats to a few of the worst scoffers. Coco knew better than to cause a scene here, Velvet kept reminding herself, but she was also just as protective—
A distant cry broke her train of thought.
Velvet froze, she recognized it. They all did; Yatsuhashi tensed and Fox winced as another twisted shriek rose over the treetops and rang throughout the town, louder and louder. It wouldn't stop, rising and falling with the wind as each note struck down at them and sent their survival instincts into overdrive.
Grimm. Rationally, it was miles away, but the ungodly sound was crisp and clear, and suffocated any attempts at reason.
Coco recovered first and turned to Port and exchanged a few hushed words until she sat back with a look of bewilderment. Port looked past her to the rest of the team. His usual hearty smile and comforting gaze was pulled into a steely thin line with an intensity and focus that none of them were used to seeing on him. They didn't need him to say anything to hear his intent: they had a job to do.
They each stood up without a word, dipping their heads to the speaker in respect before shuffling out of their row. Her speech had fallen quiet, first from grimm's screeching and now as all eyes were on the huntsmen who were daring to pursue it.
Velvet stiffened as a hand reached out towards her only for it to touch her elbow in a small gesture of support before being quickly pulled back. Her eyes darted to the person as she passed by, caught between suspicion and hope as she tried to get a read on their intentions, until she saw the small round face of a child, wearing a facade of strength that did little to hide the fear beneath. Velvet twisted her head around to watch the boy as she passed by, choosing not to pay notice to the woman who had pulled him back and was now vigoursly scrubbing his hands with a rag.
One person, that's all, but it was enough for all her trouble to be worth it to Velvet. It was a sign that it mattered for her to be here. Nobody else reached out to them as they walked up the aisle, hardly a surprise, but barely even noticed by Velvet as she decided to focus on the one that did. Even if it wasn't specifically for her, because the child was probably too young to know any better, but it was all the same.
"Coco," Port said, once they moved far enough away from the funeral and were on their way to the town's entrance. "You noticed it, too. What was it?"
Coco looked at her team, still unsure. "It sounded like a griffon, but I've never heard one like that before. Not even in the recordings."
"That's because we don't have recordings of grimm in pain. That was a cry you heard, not a howl. With rage, pain, and fury. But you are right, that still didn't sound quite like any griffon or other grimm I know,, not even on the safaris of Vacuo, and it is our business to know every grimm ever documented."
"I—are you sure? It almost sounded like the ursa to me, the one we fought earlier. Almost." Velvet said, and Port froze mid-step to turn and look at her.
He held his stare, judging her words and searching his memory before he conceded. "Perhaps another variant, but the chance of two in the same town are tremendously low. Less than a new species of grimm. It would point to something larger."
"Professor," Yatsuhashi spoke up after a minute, well attuned to the team and sensing tense uncertainty that hung over them. Another variant? A new species of grimm? None of them were keen on that suggestion, and it left Coco with an unusually troubled look. "This seems over our heads."
"Young Mr. Daichi, I will be blunt: there is no time for that. We are huntsmen. Over our heads or not, students or professionals, us five are the most qualified people within two hundred miles to protect these people. So come along."
Coco nodded along, her gaze distant as apprehensiveness pulled at her resolve for the first time in a long time. "This is what we signed up for," she said lowly, convincing herself more than anyone.
Velvet slowed her step to match with Coco, hoping to give her a few words of encouragement when a low rumble snapped her eyes forward. A battered truck sped in front of them and skidded to a stop, running hot and loud with the chief at the wheel. The team needed no instructions.
They quickly clambered in the back, throwing their weapons in and pulling each other up as the chief floored it towards the gate.
"It wasn't that close to the village, was it?" Velvet shouted to the chief over the wind, bracing herself low in the truck bed as it turned sharply out of the town and the gate swung shut behind them.
"No, it's the mine!"
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Coco braced herself as another jolt shook them while speeding down the dirt and gravel road, little more than two ruts in the ground, straight towards the mine. She had her weapon extended and the barrels sweeping over the road ahead of them as the thick forest blurred past.
She noted the deep gullies that ran parallel to the road with only a passing interest. Cleared of trees and underbrush, it would give them a slight high ground should any grimm lay in wait along the roadside. After years of use though, it was now a pitted field with deep, clawed gouges and black stained ground, the grave of countless grimm who had tried to interrupt the miners' morning commute before the forests were properly under control. The forests were empty today, for now at least.
Coco glanced to her side, at Port sitting on the open tailgate with his blunderbuss at the ready, and then to the rest of her team, with Velvet mimicking her machine gun to cover the other direction and Fox and Yatsuhashi swaying with the truck as they stood and kept watch.
The road widened after a few more minutes, breaking into another large clearing that surrounded the mine's entrance, which was buried into the side of the mountain and thoroughly barricaded with an iron door and the stout tips of rifle barrels jutting out from narrow firing slots.
They all climbed off the truck, keeping their weapons aimed at the forest as they followed the chief's lead and formed a tight perimeter around the mine. The door cracked open only a few inches , just enough for a man to slip out and meet them. Callum. Coco recognized him as the mine's foreman from when she and Fox stopped in yesterday during their search. He was gruff and well past his prime, but he had the sinewy build of a working man that dared others to try doubting his ability.
"Three boarbatusks ran straight through the clearing before we heard that call. They didn't give a damn about us, just ran straight past. And then a griffon damn near crashed into the mine as it was fightin' something, sounded like another grimm. Didn't get a good look through the slits, but they scrambled on that way. Grimm fightin' like that, it's something I never thought I'd see and we damn near got caught in the middle of it." Callum slung the rifle over his shoulder. "I can't put my men to work here unless we know what's out there."
"Let's get moving then, maybe we can keep up with them," the chief interjected. "Callum, This is Yatsuhashi and Velvet, the rest of team CFVY, and their professor. Beacon's finest. I hope. Everyone, in the truck."
Callum spared a glance at the rest team CFVY and gave Velvet a look, but nothing more. They quickly piled back into the truck and sped further away from the mine and town, following the snarls and cracking of branches. Another sharp and guttural shriek pierced the air, echoing off the bare mountains that surrounded the mine. Velvet let out a small gasp, her ears ringing in pain from the sound alone; the beast was far too close. They kept driving along the edge of the mountain, paralleling its path until the trail was too narrow for the truck.
"I'll take point. Then Coco. Velvet and Yatuhashi take the rear," Port commanded as the truck stopped and he got out. "We're going on foot, what's the best path there?"
Callum pointed out the way and fell in line behind Coco, once the rest of their group had gone ahead. The cries persisted, occasional but each one brimming with anger and hurt. If Coco hadn't known it was a grimm, she'd dare to say it was a plea for help half the time.
They scanned every leaf of the forest as they trekked deeper into the valley. The screeches died down for a few moments and the quiet of the forest settled in, placing everyone a little more on edge. First a grimm's cry, then lesser grimm fleeing, and now there wasn't a creature in sight.
"The forest is quiet," Callum said. "It's never quiet. There ain't nothing that isn't hiding right now."
"Except us," Coco said quietly as they pressed forward, treading lightly through the patches of mud and over the fallen trees from the recent storms. Her finger held tense and ready next to the trigger as the muzzle swayed with each step. She didn't have to look behind her to know Velvet was doing the same in the back with a frame of her minigun and that the rest were packed together covering their sides.
"Port," Coco said, catching his attention and pointing out a chunk of feathers from the griffon laying on the trail ahead. He stopped and rolled it over with his shoe as he passed by to see the torn and bloodied flesh underneath.
"It looks like a clean cut. Torn off. These feathers are matured, too. It's a larger griffon." Port studied the limp feathers for another moment before kicking it aside. He looked ahead, spotting a few fresh branches that had fallen onto the trail and then up to see broken treetops that formed a path of the griffon's apparent crash landing. "Stay alert, it's close."
Another squak filled the sky, loud and powerful this time and sending a shiver of fear through all of them. It was hardly the same pained and scared cry that they heard before, and for a grimm they couldn't see yet it was unnervingly close.
"Close?" Coco said, as a sudden blast of wind came through the forest, strong enough to shake the trees around them. "It's damn near on top of us. Look ahead, it's in the clearing!"
The group rushed forward as further gusts came down on them from the beating of the griffon's massive wings. They could barely see it, only slivers of white bone and wicked red eyes shining through the trees as it scrambled to take flight before they reached it.
It took off with one last mighty effort, tumbling and clawing at the air as it climbed above the treetops. It found its rhythm quickly and fled, with stray bullets nicking the trees under it and others going harmlessly wide as they were fired blind from the forest trail.
"Shit," Coco said, cursing to herself more as they broke into the clearing, with Port by her side and the rest of the team still running to catch up. They both scanned the sky, planting themselves in the center of the clearing and ready to lay down fire on it when it came back. The rest filtered into the clearing, doing the same for a few moments before they slowly relaxed. "It's gone, just like the ursa the first time."
"Professor?" Fox said as the rest of the team spread out into the clearing and immediately scanned the area. "What happened here? I don't see a carcass, and it feels." He paused as he tried to make sense of what his aura and gut were telling him. "Strange. What's it look like?"
"Looks as weird as it feels," Yatsuhashi said as he and Velvet entered the clearing last, stepping over a freshly torn down tree. "This is a battlefield more than a clearing. Here." He went over to Fox and took his forearm, guiding his hand to feel one of the tree stumps that remained still in the ground, with the top end of it split with long shards of splintered wood and the once attached tree lying in the mud a few feet away.
Fox began to understand, making sense of what his aura was telling him and why the rest of the group stayed there in a hushed silence. The area hadn't been a natural clearing, but the griffon's fight changed that in just a few minutes. There wasn't a tree left standing in the area, only shattered trunks and flattened underbrush.
"There ain't no carcass left, but it won with whatever it was fightin'. Look," Callum said, breaking their silence to point at the ground beneath him. He stepped out of a puddle, black blood dripping from his boots and still warm. The rest of them looked down too; the entire area was stained black, decorated with the lighter browns of splintered wood and white of a single large talon that was embedded into a trunk, almost glimmering against the sunlight.
"A fair amount of that is likely our friend's," Post said, gesturing at a trail of blood he was following that led to drips on the still intact trees, halfway up the trunks having fallen from when the griffon was taking off to flee. "It's injured, badly I reckon. It sounded like it was struggling to fly, too. A fight like that spells a lot of trouble for us. Grimm don't simply attack each other, and it got a crash course in combat today. Then it knew it couldn't win today. It's smart, and it knows we're hunting it. We better take care of this griffon quickly, before it becomes out of control."
A loud thud caught everybody's attention as the chief kicked at a log in frustration. "We nearly had that bastard, so damn close! And now that thing is out there learning and biding its time to kill us? To hunt my people? The hell went so wrong that seven of us can't take down a single griffon in time?"
"Can we track it?" Velvet spoke up, trying to offer some hope and at least divert the chief's anger away from blame. "We have a general direction and griffons reliably nest in the mountains, right? Maybe there's a blood trail, we can use that. If we move fast, maybe catch it still."
"You want to find that thing's nest, where there's more of them? That's insane," Callum said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.
Port shrugged and answered for Velvet. "That's what we do "
"No, she's right," the chief cut in. "And with it bleeding we can set the hounds loose to track it. We can nail it. Finish this tonight."
Port frowned as the chief got more riled and decided to put a firm end to it before hope took hold. "I'm afraid not. Griffons are clever creatures, this one more than others now that it's survived a fight. It will learn and we cannot leave the village vulnerable while chasing ghosts. It will see that weakness and exploit it, and backing it into a corner in its home will be just as foolish."
"So we let it loose and it'll keep killing. But right now it's on the run. It's—"
"No." Port stopped him. "This is not optional. Grimm do not follow the laws of nature. It may be injured now but by the time we catch up to it or make a search, it will be healed and healthy and waiting for us. And if it's not healed like our ursa, then it won't feel the difference. We will be stretched too thin and slaughtered where it hurts the most. Now collect yourself, we're bound to attract more grimm like this."
"But he ain't wrong," Callum said, calmer than the chief but holding in the same frustrations.
"This is what we're here for, Callum. Chief, we will protect your people to our last, but we must be with them to do that. We must be doing our job thinning the herds and, of course, hunting the griffon. But on our terms, not theirs. When we are ready, not when we have the first half chance we see. I did not see the griffon myself, but for it to fight anything that's less than human, and another grimm no less, is an unknown we must not take lightly."
"Fine, professor," the chief said, with a heavy dose of skepticism. "Say we let it go right now. What's your plan?"
"It's already gone by now," Coco corrected him, earning an irked glare. "Respectfully. It's not much of an option." She shrugged slightly and looked to Port.
"That's true. And Coco, as much as things have changed since we got here, it's still your mission. I'll expect a full plan by tonight, but for now I'd like to hear your thoughts."
Coco perked her eyebrows for a moment before collecting her thoughts. "Then for now Vel, Yats, start documenting the area. Fox and I will mark the trail. The wall still isn't fixed, that needs to be done by nightfall and with the griffon out there I'd like us all to get some training on that aerial gun, chief. And any town members who are able. Set up a better watch schedule too and have the gun manned at all times. That should help us make it through the night."
"It's a good start. Chief, Callum, get any dust stores you can too, even the ones slated for shipment. We'll need them to be usable on a moment's notice too. That ought to give us enough work for the evening. And tomorrow, team?"
Fox spoke up, having spent the last minutes still taking in the devastation to the forest. "We have to hunt this thing down. Not right now, but as soon as we can. Find it. Figure out what we're dealing with."
"It's in the mountains. Griffons usually nest near mountain peaks and ours flew off towards the east side of this valley after the fight," Velvet chimed in.
Coco shook her head, remembering her and Fox's day mission into this same valley just yesterday—although with the events since then, it felt like weeks ago. "We can't just go hunting through this valley yet. Hell, we've probably stayed in this forest too long already. From our recon, the amount of grimm in this valley is already through the roof. If we try to cut through and only search for this griffon we'll get a different fight around every corner. We need to thin it as soon as we can, before it becomes another problem on top of this one."
"Then let's start it today," Yatsuhashi said, breaking his silence. "Split into partners. Velvet and I can get a start on thinning the minor grimm for the rest of the day and you two can coordinate getting the town in better shape. I think me and Vel could use some more time in the field, and we can switch tomorrow. Balance it out."
Coco nodded slowly, piecing together a couple of Yatsuhashi's other intended benefits from that plan. Namely, keeping Velvet distanced from the villagers for at least the evening. She glanced over to the rest of her teammates, seeing them all silently agree in their own ways while the chief and Callum looked on, none the wiser. "Good by me. And Port, I'd like you helping in the field with Velvet and Yatsuhashi for the day. Fox and I can handle the town work. Let's get started documenting this now and get a move on then, we got a lot to do. Callum, any help from your men would be appreciated, too."
Port gave Coco and her team a firm and reassuring nod after hearing their thinking. "That's a good plan right there. A couple things to add; I'd see about shutting down the mine while we're working, or working at half capacity at minimum. It'll may ease some of the concentrations."
Coco made a mental note of the changes and quickly set to work documenting the scene they were in, both for their final report and, more importantly, to go over with Port later and try to pull any clues they could about what exactly happened during that fight. And if they were lucky, see what the griffon might have learned from it. The quick flashes of their scrolls' cameras were barely noticed by Callum and the chief, as they stood aside and mulled over the conversation. Not to go unnoticed by Port, of course.
"Chief, we do need your input on this as well. You know your needs best, after all."
The chief stuck his nose up at Port's remark. "Sounds reasonable, but you're the only huntsman here. Do you trust it?
"I know all of my students personally, so yes. I very much trust their judgement. I also find that out here, in the thick of a mission while facing the constant lurking of grimm just out of our sight, there's not much of a choice in trusting a fellow huntsman. And I've never been led wrong by that."
"Students. They're just kids," Callum said, coming over from across the clearing while the rest of the team continued their work and kept a close ear on the conversation. "Kids with a lot of fight in them, but just kids. I have daughters older, not that I don't trust 'em, but we all have a lot of stake in this. It's our lives."
"Then they are young huntsmen. But still huntsmen and no less. And I assure you, we are not here to do a half baked job and leave. We will finish this mission, no matter how long it takes." Port kept up a gentle smile and soft, though insistent, tone as he corrected them. Doubt and second guessing had no place in the backcountry outside the city's protective walls, but that didn't stop it from trying to creep in. Port was familiar with that risk, and broke his serious tone with a slight grin and a look in his eye that all of team CFVY, and every student in Beacon Academy knew very well.
"And worry not," Port continued. "This is hardly the first time I've had to bide my time against a grimm. I once tracked a deathstalker across the Arvincian Desert for four days before it burrowed itself in the sand. I lost it. It was an elder grimm, reknown for slaughtering settlements and caravans, and it was sitting beneath me in the sands but maddeningly untouchable. I had little choice but to wait it out. Set up shelter nearby and wait for the beast to show itself. The nights were so frigid that I had to use powdered fire dust just to stay warm. Now, come along, it's quite the story and it would be a disservice if I left anything out."
Coco grinned to herself as the townsmen were pinned down by Port's story. If anything, it would certainly distract them enough that their emotions didn't cause further problems while they were still in the forest, and Port's tales always did tend to inspire a sort of confidence in man's perpetual fight against the grimm—not that any of Beacon's students would dare encourage him further.
A few distant squawks echoed through the valley and her team looked up at the sky. It was a nevermore, but still distant from them. They breathed a quick sigh of relief and picked up their pace, while Coco stood and used the moment to take in everything that had happened. Her shoulder fell a fraction of an inch as the reality of the scene finally began to set in, along with a growing sense of unease that sat in the pit of her stomach. There was no more adrenaline rush from the hunt to cover up their feelings any more, and no split decisions to distract them from thinking on what was actually happening. None of them caught a good look at the griffon, but one glance at the wreckage told her more than she needed to know. The sense of unease was quickly becoming dread and she could only stick her chin up, bite it back, and keep working. The sooner they were out of the forest and back helping get the town prepared, the better.
These missions never turned out how they were supposed to, apparently.