"I can't believe we're finally going on our first mission! Ooh who do you think our huntsman is? do you think hes super cool? Oh I hope so!"
"Calm down rubes, I'm sure whoever it is they're great." Yang calmed her extremely excitable sister
"Oh? Is that so? Well then I hope I don't disappoint." A similar but much more developed voice cut in, taking the attention of the four girls who were waiting for their huntsman assignment.
Aurum Lazuli stood in front of them where before there was nothing. The girls stood dumbfounded, as to how the laid back teacher had appeared out of nowhere. Aurum smirked and said, "Well girls, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get this show on the road, one thing though... I need to check your bags, make sure you guys are only taking the essentials."
The girls all nodded and opened their bags for Aurum to look in, with the veteran huntress only being interested in Ruby's bag in particular, but once she looked into the bubbly young girl's bag she was dumbfounded to only find cookies and huntress essentials. She then realized that her father would have no reason to send Zwei if her mother was alive to watch the house. Shrugging off the unexpected, she gave the all clear and the five boarded the Bullhead with no delay.
Elsewhere, Neo sat idle in the guest dorm on her chosen bed, a note from her mom was her hand, the note read, 'Take a patrol mission in between Mountain Glenn and Vale, tomorrow at about 5PM, we will be there, we'll need backup, I'm counting on you. Love Mom 3'
Neo folded the note and calmed her nerves, this was her chance to make a difference, to help stop her mother's horrible past.
"Neo come on, we're gonna be late, you wanted to go on this mission specifically so bad, why are you dilly dallying?"
Neo laughed off the rest of her nerves and called back with a smile on her face, "Alright Scar, I'm coming."
Neo got up and got ready for her first actual mission. I cant believe it rose... My first mission, Our first mission together... I have been on countless missions before Neo. I'm glad I get to be here for your first.Neo smiled, Thanks, and tell Mom I'll be waiting. I Will Neo.
"So Ms. Lazuli, why did you choose to shadow this mission in particular if I may ask?" Weiss asked, reminding Aurum of a similar conversation in her past.
"Yeah, I'd expect a kick butt huntress like you would go with a fourth year team, or maybe a solo mission, not shadowing some first years." Yang added
"Well Miss Xiao Long, Miss Schnee, You see, this mission would normally be restricted to first years, However, I took it upon myself to let Ozzy change the mission parameters to allow you firsties to go on it, with the caveat that I tag along of course. This mission was originally going to be accompanied by Dr. Oobleck."
Yang gained a confused look, "Oobleck? He doesn't strike me as the fighting type..."
Aurum directed a piercing glare at the girl, "Never underestimate anyone... Oobleck is S ranked for a reason, and while He may lean more towards being a Historian than a Huntress,he can still fight better than most, and his work is some of the most valuable work a Hunter can do."
Yang was cowed slightly but Weiss picked up on her line of questioning, "What do you mean Professor?"
"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'Learn from history, Lest you are doomed to repeat it'? It's an important lesson, Oobleck is an antiquarian, a historian, he analyzes the world around us, and the stories it can tell, and in teaching that history to others, ensures tragedy does not strike again. In my opinion, its some of the most noble work out there."
The girls were silent for a bit, until Aurum spoke up once again, "Alright girls, here's our drop off."
The girls looked to each other, and then back to Aurum, only to watch as the teacher leaned backwards out of the Bullhead tumbling down to the ruined city below.
Once on the ground, the 5 regrouped, and the younger girls all looked to Aurum for instructions,
"Alright girls, so... Who knows their history of Mountain Glenn?"
Team RWBY all gave Aurum a weird look, but she just shrugged it off, "Okay, so to drop the pretenses, I know why all of you are actually on this mission, why you picked this one specifically..."
Team RWBY tried to look as innocent as they could, but then Aurum continued, "Miss Belladonna, that's a curious name... where have I heard that name before..."
Aurum taunted, her left hand coming to rub her non-existent beard as the feigned heavy thought,
Blake cringed
"Oh!-" Aurum held up her index finger like she just remembered a profound idea,
"I remember! The Chieftain of Menagerie is named Ghira Belladonna isn't he... GASP Miss Belladonna, are you related to the Chieftain of Menagerie? But how can that be, considering you're human and all..."
Aurum's eyes, which had been wandering the sky above Team RWBY then fell to Blake, specifically the bow on her head, "Hmmm, I wonder..."
Blake sighed and reached up, untying her bow, letting her cat ears out for the group to see.
"See now was that so hard... now anyways, back to what I was saying, It's like Noon right?"
Aurum looked to Weiss for confirmation, the Heiress was startled for a moment, but nodded her head.
"Okay, then we've got like, 7 hours to kill before dark, so I'm gonna collect some samples and take some photos, you guys kill all these pests. Kay?"
Team RWBY looked to each other and all around, then yang said, "Uh, Professor, if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by pests?"
Aurum looked up from the ruin that she was inspecting, and over to the blonde, "Uh, all those Grimm running right towards you down that road over there?"
Yang turned to look, as did the rest of Team RWBY. All of them noticed the small group of Grimm and they quickly began fighting.
As the day Progressed, Aurum did some basic archeology, and some historian work, documenting the ruins of Mountain Glenn. As she did this, she made sure to take breaks and ask the member's of team RWBY what their motivations were, hoping to foster that same conversation her team had the last time around.
"So, Yang, was it? Why did you want to become a Huntress?"
"Well, to fight monsters and save peop-"
"No. That is what you do. I want to know why you do it."
"Oh... I guess... I'm kind of a Thrill seeker, I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can, and I I get to help people along the way, that's even better, Its a Win-Win y'know?"
"Hmm, I see."
More time went by, the team thinning the herd around the Ruins throughout the day.
"You know professor, I was kind of hoping I'd get to see a Professional Hunter in action y'know?"
"Ah but Yang, I am in action, while it may not seem like it, not every job is action packed, and being a huntress isn't all about killing Grimm. I may be world renowned for my ability to kill Grimm, but my skill set isn't just that of fighting. I'm studying, learning from the mistakes of the past, and collecting data that can change the outcome of the future. Right now, you're doing two things, Thinning the herd, and letting me do my work, both are critical parts of any mission. This is a job, and you all signed up for it."
"How about you Weiss? Why did you choose to become a huntress? Surely you could've just gotten a cushy job up in atlas."
"I'm a Schnee, Its a part of our legacy, as soon as I leaned I could fight, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life, It's a matter of Duty, of Honor."
"Interesting."
...
"So Miss Belladonna, you certainly seem driven, why did you want to become a Huntress?"
"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... Someone has to stop it."
"Alright... How?"
"Uhhh"
"I see."
After the day had wound down, the WBY of team RWBY started to set up camp, while Aurum and Ruby set out to secure a perimeter. As they did, they came across a lookout point, where several Goliaths could be seen in the distance.
"Woaaahh... What is that?"
Aurum chuckled a bit, "That's a Grimm Ruby."
Ruby turned to look at Aurum for a second, and then back to the Goliaths, pulling out her weapon, she said with conviction, "Lets Kill it."
Aurum chuckled at her younger self's over zealousness, "Sorry kiddo, but your gun would only agitate them, and while I'm sure I could probably get two or three, a whole pack of six? Heh, I'd need Theodore or Xanthe to back me up for that many, maybe Oz or your Mom would work too."
GASP "You know my mom?"
Aurum Chuckled once again, "Yeah I do, through Oz. But anyways, those Grimm are way out of your league kiddo."
"Why exactly, I mean, I get that they're big, but they cant be that dangerous right?"
"Those Grimm are called Goliaths, And they're old Ruby. The older Grimm get the smarter they are, and those Grimm have undoubtedly lived for Centuries, They're so old that they're most likely no longer mindless. They're tactical, intelligent."
"But what if it attacks us?"
"Don't worry kiddo, those Grimm aren't concerned with us, they're so smart because they've learned, after attacking our borders time and time again, they've figured out that if they attack, they die. And they know that killing one human, only brings more."
Aurum turned away from the overlook, motioning for Ruby to follow.
"Professor... Ive been wondering."
"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?"
"Uh... no, I've been wondering... Why did you want to become a huntress?"
"...Well, to be honest, when I grew up, my mom used to read me stories about heroes and monsters, and how the huntsmen always saved the day. Then when I was young, she passed. She was a huntress herself you see, and one day she went on a mission and never came back. And from that day forward, I knew I wanted to be like her. Because I wanted to stop anyone from having to grow up like I did. And one thing a wise huntsman once told me on my first mission really resonated with me. It changed my outlook on places like these. Ruby, what do you see when you look around you?"
"uh... lots of ruins, dirt, broken sidewalks..."
"I see lives that could've been saved. When I look around at the ruins of this place, I see ways that people could have done better, and I want to strive to help others see that too, because once you see it. You can work on making it better."
Ruby stood still in thought for a second, "That's... actually a really cool way to look at it."
"I know it is kiddo, I thought the same thing when I first heard it. Now lets get back to camp, its starting to get chilly out."
Aurum sat up in her sleeping spot, waiting to hear the conversation she knew was about to unfold, and lo and behold she did, the entire conversation had gone by just as it had before. Aurum gave herself a small high five, and allowed herself to drift off, knowing that because Zwei wasn't here, she was safe to wait out the day.
Sup Sorry the chapter is so late in the day, I had to do my taxes this morning, cus y'know, the deadline is like, 4 days from now. I lost a W-2, and had to call HR from my old workplace, It was a mess, but hey, we got a chapter out. Yipee.