Luna was just about as nervous as she'd been for initiation. Missions were a whole new step in her training. Sure, she'd been present a couple of times when her parents had been on missions, but she'd never participated. And she'd certainly never led a team for one. She was already dreading the day when there'd be no trained huntsman to shadow and she'd have to be completely in charge.
She'd already chosen what mission they'd be going on. They were to locate and clear out a tiny pack of Beowolves that had nested somewhat close to a village outside of Vale before they got close enough to it to be a threat. It was simple, and there was very little chance of things going wrong, but that didn't stop Luna from worrying.
Beside her, as Glynda and Coco began telling teams which teachers would be chaperoning them, Astra squeezed her hand.
"We'll be fine," She whispered. "try not to worry."
Luna sighed. "I can't control it," She whispered back. "You know my brain doesn't work that way."
Astra shuffled closer so that their shoulders brushed. "I know," She replied gently. "But you'll be okay anyway. We're all here for each other." She grinned. "Nothing can touch us."
Luna wasn't convinced, but she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down anyway. She didn't want to ruin this for Astra by panicking the whole time.
Coco approached the team, nodding as she seemed to notice that Storm and Yarrow stood beside Cobalt. "Good, you're all together. So, here's the thing,"
Luna felt a worm of worry. Was something wrong? Would their mission have to be changed?
"With the number of first-years this year being as large as it is, we don't have enough staff here to lead missions without almost completely clearing the school of them," Coco explained. "So. each of your teams will be led by two different huntsman that are graciously dedicating their time to helping you." She smirked, before adding, "Actually, just between us, they just owed Jaune a favour."
Luna almost sighed out loud in relief. There was nothing wrong, then. They just weren't being led by Beacon teachers.
"If you're all ready to go, they're waiting at the docks for you." Coco finished.
Luna pulled her backpack closer around her shoulders and glanced at her team. "You guys good?" She was met by nods of agreement and a grin of enthusiasm from Astra.
As they began to head away, Luna paused as Cobalt briefly hurried back to wrap Coco in a hug.
"Be careful out there," She heard Coco whisper. "Look after your teammates."
"I will." Cobalt pulled back and rejoined the team, who continued onward out of the assembly room.
Astra bounced alongside Luna, skipping lightly through the hall. "So, who do you guys think our mysterious chaperones are gonna be?"
Lily chuckled teasingly. "Hopefully someone who can handle you."
Luna smiled, having a feeling that wouldn't be a problem if her assumption was correct. She kept her mouth shut wanting to preserve the surprise.
"I hope it's not someone too strict," Cobalt sighed. "It'd suck if we wound up with someone who was more used to barking orders at a veteran team than handling a bunch of teenagers."
Again, Luna didn't think that would be an issue in the slightest.
When the group reached the docks, Luna's suspicions were confirmed. She'd recognize the two huntsman anywhere; they were family, after all. So many times, Yang and Blake would drop her and Blaze off at their house whenever they had a mission to go to with their whole team. Nora would always let them stay up late watching TV with her own children, and Ren would make pancakes in the morning. Luna had always been happy when her own parents returned, of course, but she was always sorry to leave Ren and Nora.
Astra hadn't been paying attention as they'd approached, but the moment the group stopped in front of the two adults, she froze on the spot as she stared at Nora. A squeal rose in her throat as if she were a kettle that had almost finished boiling.
At first, Nora didn't seem to notice, clapping her hands and greeting the group cheerfully. "Great, you're here! Who wants to go and kick some Grimm ass?"
At that, Astra swayed and stumbled. Luna dove to catch her girlfriend before she fell to the ground.
"Wow," She chuckled, lifting Astra back to her feet and remembering what she'd told her back before they'd even started dating. "You weren't kidding about the whole fainting thing, huh?"
Nora blinked at Astra. "Is uh…she okay?"
Astra seemed to recover quickly, darting right up to Nora with the widest grin Luna had ever seen her with.
"It's such an honour to meet you!" Astra gasped. "I've heard so many stories about all the things you've done and how cool you are and I'm honestly your biggest fan!" Her words came in a tumbled mess and her eyes glowed with awe. Luna didn't think her affection for her girlfriend could grow any more than it just had.
Nora grinned at Astra, unsurprisingly unbothered by the attention. "Biggest fan, huh?" She looked Astra up and down. "I'll be the judge of that." She leaned close to Astra. "What's the name of my weapon?"
Astra scoffed. "Magnhild, obviously."
"At what age did I become an official Huntress?"
"Nineteen."
"How far did I make it in the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament?"
"The second round."
Nora leaned back, nodding approvingly. "Impressive," She smiled. "I'm still not sure you're my biggest fan though." She turned to Ren and winked. "That title is already taken."
Ren rolled his eyes affectionately. "Come on, let the kid have this."
Nora placed her hands on her hips and glared at him playfully. "Are you saying you're not?"
Ren grinned teasingly. "I never said that."
"Hmph," Nora turned back to face the group. "Well, I'm taking this one," She nodded at Astra. "She seems fun."
As Astra looked like she could almost die of excitement, Luna stepped forward with a small wave at her aunt. "That'd be my team, then."
Nora gasped as if she'd only just noticed Luna was there. "Luna!" She embraced her niece with a warm hug, before pulling back and giving Astra another look. "Of course!" She gasped. "If this is your team, this must be Astra Katt."
Astra squealed. "She knows who I am…" Her voice was breathless.
Nora turned to Lily. "And you must be Lily," She noted. "I've heard good things about you." She then smiled at Cobalt. "And Cobalt, of course. How've you been doing? Keeping Luna from stressing out too much?"
Cobalt grinned at Luna, who glared playfully back at him. "Absolutely."
Nora glanced at Ren. "Well, you can handle the other one," She told him. "I've made up my mind."
Ren looked at Storm and Yarrow, raising an eyebrow. "Are there only two of you?"
Storm rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward. "Yeah, uh, the other two members of our team weren't…really suited to being students here."
Ren nodded. "I see. This may complicate things a little, but I'm sure we can make it work."
Luna looked over as the bullheads that were docked started whirring up, ready to lift off. Nora glanced at them too.
"Well!" The ginger-haired huntress announced. "Time to get going! You all ready?"
"Whoo!" Astra pumped her fists in the air. "Let's do this!"
Before following the team to the bullhead, Luna watched Nora turn to Ren and gently grab his hands.
"Promise me you'll be okay?" She asked softly.
"You know I will," Ren's reply was just as soft. "Where this concern coming from? We've gone on separate missions before."
Nora chuckled, though it almost sounded forced to Luna. "I know that," She replied. "I'm just making sure."
Ren planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll be fine." He promised.
As Nora turned to head towards the bullhead, Luna snapped her gaze away, feeling bad for eavesdropping, seeing Cobalt do the same, though she had a feeling that Cobalt would have heard them even if he hadn't been meaning to.
"Alright, you four," Nora grinned cheerfully at the team as she boarded, as if her gentle worry for Ren earlier had been nonexistent. "You ready for your first mission?"
Astra clung to Luna's arm in excitement. "I have never been more excited about anything." She insisted. Luna found herself wishing she could kiss her on the forehead as Ren had done to Nora, but held back. They simply weren't there yet.
"Quick disclaimer," Nora announced as the Bullhead began taking off. "I'm no teacher and I've never led a bunch of teenagers on an official mission before," There was Nora's good old bluntness. "But I do know a thing or two about fighting and I'd say I'm pretty good with kids, sooo this should be great!"
Luna was almost ready to dismiss the concern she's seen the older woman show before, until she heard her whisper under her breath,
"Gods, I hope they'll be okay."
Luna replied without thinking. "Hey, they'll be fine. April and Li have been in charge by themselves before, right?"
Nora looked startled, as if she hadn't expected anyone to have heard her. "Of course," She smiled at Luna and chuckled. "I was just thinking out loud, don't worry about it. It's only a mother's instinct to worry about her kids."
Yeah, but you usually don't. Luna replied quietly, somewhat confused. Nora cared about her children more deeply and strongly than most parents Luna had ever seen, but she also seemed to have complete and total faith in their capabilities. It wasn't like her to stress about leaving them to house-sit, just like it wasn't like her to worry so openly about Ren being separated from her.
She shrugged it off. Maybe Nora was just worried about leading a team for the first time, and it was making her anxious about everything else as well. If that were the case, Luna couldn't blame her. They'd begun the mission, the bullhead heading away from the school. There was no going back.
Then she felt Astra cling to her arm again and rest against her shoulder as she gazed down at the view below. Luna let herself relax a little. She had her girlfriend, her team, and one of the most capable fighters she'd ever known with her. Everything would be fine, she had to convince herself of that. A good leader had to remain level-headed, especially on missions. This was no time to be anxious.
