Lily wouldn't have said that she wasn't a morning person. She was, however, a person that did not like being woken up and sent trudging through a forest on a summer morning.

Nora had insisted that they had no time to lose when it came to looking for these Grimm. Lily had wanted to be annoyed with her personally, but it was easy to imagine that she wanted to get back to Ren as soon as possible. Besides, it was probably best that they find the Beowolves quicker anyway.

All the same, it didn't stop Lily from being tired and cranky when they'd been looking for two or three hours now and had still not found them.

"Are we sure those hunters didn't just see a big cat or something?" She asked dryly. "Because I don't think a plain old Beowolf is this good at staying hidden."

Astra bounced up beside her. "Aw, lighten up Lily!" She chirped. "I know we haven't found anything yet, but we're still learning!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Right, of course. Learning is so much fun." She caught Astra frowning at her and sighed. "Sorry," She managed. "I'm tired. And honestly, I expected less…tedious work."

Nora grinned over her shoulder at her. "Sorry to disappoint you," She chuckled. "But this is a good two-thirds of what huntsman work is. Boring stuff." She shrugged. "The other three always liked it. I never have." She grinned. "But hey, helping people is helping people."

For a moment, Lily wondered what she meant by 'the other three', until she remembered that Nora's team had once been more than just her, Jaune, and Ren. A small part of her whispered, does she hold anything against my mother too? Does she partially blame her for Pyrrha? She shook her head slightly. No, she reminded herself. None of them do. Jaune already told you that.

She remembered what her mother had told her once about Nora, that she'd been one of the first to start to reach out to and trust her after she'd left Salem. Like Emerald, Nora had been an orphan as well. She'd sympathized with Emerald and admitted that she could have ended up in the same position had she not found Ren instead. Lily forced herself to put away her paranoia. Things weren't as she'd always thought. It was fine.

"Hey!"

Lily was jerked out of her thoughts by Luna's call. She was standing by a thick holly bush, staring into the dirt. "I think I've found something."

The group joined her by the bush. In the earth where she was looking were traces of large, splayed paw prints, too large to be from any kind of cat or canine. Looking up slightly, Lily also noticed that some branches of the holly bush were snapped and broken, as if a large creature had blundered past it.

Nora inspected the tracks. "Yep, those are from a Beowolf," She confirmed. "They look a couple of days old though."

Cobalt frowned. "Does that mean they could have wandered too far away for us to find them today?"

Oh, please no. Lily begged inwardly.

Nora straightened up and looked thoughtful. "Not necessarily. Beowolf packs tend to stay within one area; they don't roman like most other Grimm."

"Right," Luna added. "And if they've been spotted several times in this forest over the past few days, that means they're probably still hanging around."

Nora glanced around. "I saw more broken branches about half an hour ago," She told the group. "They could have just been from an animal, but it seems more likely now that it was one of the Grimm." She sighed and added quietly enough so that Lily could barely hear, "At least, I hope so."

Astra grinned. "Great!" She gave a little hop. "Let's go and kill them!"

Nora smiled at her. "I like the way you think, kid."

As they set off again, Lily found herself watching Nora. Even despite what they'd found out last night, she was still surprised by the older huntress' more cautious attitude. When she'd first met her, she would have expected her to be more like Astra; excitable and bouncy, ready to dive headfirst into action. But while Nora still kept up a cheery demeanor, she'd been more hesitant, and almost nervous in the way she constantly glanced around. Were it anyone else, Lily wouldn't think anything of it, but in Nora's case, she wouldn't have expected even something like pregnancy to hold her back.

She sped up to walk beside Luna, figuring that if anyone had an explanation, it would be her. Nora would have been like an aunt to her, after all.

"Hey," She kept her voice down. "Can I ask you something about Nora?"

Luna glanced ahead at Nora, then back at her. "Sure, what's up?"

"She's just acting…" Lily searched for the right word. "…Different than what I was expecting. Which I kind of get, but two months isn't that far. I've seen other people be active while pregnant for way longer." After all, her own mother had been working for several months while expecting her, and probably would have done so for even longer had she not been fired. Although, truck driving was probably a lot safer than huntsman work.

Luna gave her a curious look. "Weren't you say last night that she should've thought twice before coming?"

"Yeah," Lily replied. "But from what I've heard about her, I would have thought she'd be doing her job for as long as she could before stopping, no matter what anyone else said."

Luna stared at Nora for a moment, her face creasing with concern. "Yeah, well…she has good reason to be hesitant. More than most."

Lily felt a prick of curiosity. "Why's that?" Luna looked uncertain, and Lily quickly added, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I'm sure it's not my business."

Luna sighed. "No, it's just…" She cast another uncertain glance at Nora, before lowering her voice further. "The first time she was pregnant was at the same time Yang was with me," She explained. "She went on a mission with Ren at five months and encountered a group of bandits. They noticed, and…"

Lily felt a hollow feeling in her gut as she realized what Luna was getting at. "Oh." She whispered.

Luna's face was washed in sympathy. "Nora almost died…the baby wasn't as lucky."

Lily didn't even know what to say. She stared at Nora, sorrow coursing through her for this woman she barely knew. "That's…horrible." She'd often privately thought of having a family herself one day. The idea of what Nora would have gone through wasn't something she thought she'd be able to bear herself.

"It crushed her," Luna explained, staring at the ground as she walked. "She didn't leave her bed for weeks, didn't eat, barely drank anything. Nobody could console her. When she got her second chance with the twins, she barely left the house." She looked back at Nora. "She yeah. I can't really blame her for being so cautious."

Lily was about to reply when she noticed Cobalt right in front of her and stopped walking before she crashed onto him.

"Why did you "

"Shh," Cobalt hushed her urgently. His gaze was focused as his ears twitched. "I can hear something. Something big."

Luna stared at him as Astra and Nora turned to look as well. "The beowolves?"

"I think so," Cobalt replied quietly. His ears angled slightly to their left. "Just up ahead. There's more than one."

Nora's eyes narrowed. "Good." She started forward, but Luna stepped in front of her.

"I'll lead," She stated. "You won't be fighting unless you have to, remember?"

Nora nodded. "Right."

Lily found herself at Nora's side as they walked, now wanting to help protect her as best she could. It seemed odd to her, at first, that she'd feel such a strong desire to guard someone she barely knew, especially someone who was far more capable than her. Then again, that was part of being a huntsman- protecting anyone however you could.

They pushed through the trees until Luna stopped at the edge of a slope that dipped down into a deeper part of the forest. Among the trees, three large shapes ambled around in the low light. As one of them moved into a patch of sunshine that shone through the trees. Lily froze.

"Those are "

"Alphas," Luna finished, eyes narrowing. "The mayor didn't mention that."

Astra pulled Light of the Party from her back and extended it to full-length, slamming her fist on the yellow button to extend nasty spikes from either end. "What's the plan?" She whispered to Luna, looking fully ready to launch herself down there and start macing the huge monsters.

"The team attack," Luna whispered back. She separated Striking Shadow into its two halves and passed one to Cobalt. "Line them up as best you can. Nora can stay to the side in case we need her."

Lily stared dubiously at the hard spikes of bone that almost covered all three Grimm. "Are you sure it'll be able to get all three?"

"Maybe not," Lily replied, "But even if we can just get one at a time, it should be fine. Let's go."

She leaped down the slope. Lily pulled Evening Jade from their holsters and rushed down alongside her team, keeping herself in front of Nora. Time to complete the mission.

She fired off a few rounds, immediately catching the Beowolves' attention. The bullets bounced off their hides like it was nothing to them, not even leaving a mark behind. It did, however, seem to annoy them. They each let out bellowing roars as they turned on the group and charged.

Lily dove around a tree to avoid one as it came for her, firing more bullets that still barely did anything. Through the trees, she watched as Astra tried to swing at another one, only for it to move out of the way and the mace to collide with a tree, sending splinter of bark everywhere.

Lily's bullets were only succeeding in pissing her Beowolf off, and it was chasing her much more than she was herding it. Looking around, she could see that the other two were doing the same, splitting up rather than grouping together.

She almost ran into a tree in her effort to avoid the Beowulf as it swiped at her with massive claws. Shit.

"Luna!" She called. "It isn't going to work; they're too smart!"

Luna glanced at her as she and Cobalt both tried to stab the third Beowulf with their weapons. It shook them away with a snarl and snapped at Cobalt, missing him by an inch as he leaped away.

"She's right!" He told Luna urgently, tossing the half of Striking Shadow that he held back to her. "We need a new plan!"

Lily could see Luna's mind racing. She was clearly trying not to panic.

The Beowolf charged at her again, and she ducked behind another tree, her heart pounding. As she turned and fired more rounds, it advanced on her. As it opened its jaws and lunged, something flew into its side and it turned, roaring with pain as Cobalt leaped over and pulled the object- Lily realized it was Stoneheart- out again. It still barely seemed weakened.

As Lily backed up, she noticed Luna and Astra were right by her. The Beowolves had turned their plan around on them, corralling them into one group.

"Now would be a good time for that new plan, Luna." She hissed, standing back-to-back with her.

Luna narrowed her eyes. "Right." She called to Astra, who was swinging desperately at the air in an effort to keep a Beowolf back. "Astra! Get up a tree! Cobalt, you too!"

"What about me?" Lily asked as Astra and Cobalt dodged past the Beowolves and began to scale the thickly-branches trees.

"Guard Nora," Luna instructed her. "And don't draw attention to her."

So, I'll be doing nothing, Lily thought privately. She pushed the thought away. Protecting people was something. With a quick nod to Luna, she bounded away. Luna poked at the third Beowolf to draw its attention from her, allowing her to get to Nora with it noticing, before climbing a tree of her own.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Nora asked as Lily joined her. She noticed that she'd drawn Magnhild.

"I think we're okay," Lily replied, watching her teammates climb. "Luna's come up with something."

"Get as high as you can!" Luna called to Astra and Cobalt. "They won't be able to follow us. If we can aim right, we can use the momentum of a jump from this height to drive our weapons in deeper."

The Beowolves were snapping at the base of the trees like dogs after cats. Lily tensed, though she knew these Grimm weren't exactly the best at climbing. It was all she could to not to instinctively fire at them, though she kept her weapons aimed, just in case.

She watched Luna pull herself onto another branch, the snarling and howling of the Beowolves filling her head. It was killing her not to actively do anything.

As Luna steadied herself and stood to reach higher, Lily froze, noticing the way the branch was joined to the trunk. In her years of plant studying, she'd seen that kind of join before. It was splintered, weak. It wouldn't hold Luna's weight. And she was up much too high for a fall, with an Alpha Beowolf waiting at the bottom.

Lily's blood ran cold. She needed to warm her but doing so would attract the Beowolf's attention to her. To Nora. Something Luna had specifically ordered her not to do. Maybe it would be fine. Maybe she'd get to the next branch before this one broke. Maybe

The branch snapped. Luna screamed as she fell towards the Grimm's waiting jaws, Striking Shadow falling from her grip.

"Luna!"

Lily lurched forward, desperately reaching out as Luna fell through the air. At her movement, something changed on the tree's trunk. What had been a small offshoot suddenly shot out, thickening to full size, leaves flaring everywhere.

Luna hit the new branch with a thud, scrambling to grab a hold of it. She was much lower down now, winded but okay. The Beowolf stopped snapping, before backing up slowly, its bright yellow eyes fixed on Luna. It was going to jump.

With no time to process what had happened with the branch, Lily flicked Evening Jade into blade form, glancing back at Nora. At the older woman's nod, she launched herself forward, running, jumping, and landing squarely on the Beowolf, sinking the blades deep into its hide. With a roar of agony, it turned with a lunge, throwing her off, doing more damage to itself as Evening Jade was torn roughly away from it.

Lily tore up grass as she landed heavily, the breath thrown out of her. The Beowolf's attention was away from Luna now and fully on her, stalking towards her with a snarl. Lily scrambled backwards, trying to get back to her feet. The Beowolf prepared to lunge, but a yell from Luna caught its attention as she appeared from behind, jumping and shoving her spear into its back.

As it howled in pain, and shook Luna off, Lily got to her feet. She prepared to shoot at it again now that it was weakened, but there was no need. A loud shot sounded, and a cloud of pink grenades descended upon it. The monster exploded into a cloud of pink and black, and Lily glanced back to see Nora lowering Magnhild with a grin.

One down, two to go.

Still hearing fighting, Lily turned to see Astra and Cobalt wrangling with a Beowolf each, both of the remaining Grimm clearly weakened. Exchanging a nod, Lily and Luna rushed forward to help their teammates finished them off. Lily dug her blades into Cobalt's, and Luna threw her spear at Astra's. Each blow finished them off.

As the smoke of the defeated Beowolves faded away, silence filled the forest, aside from heavy panting from all four members of the team. With a loud groan, Astra flopped dramatically onto the grass.

Cobalt looked around, his eyes widening. "We did it." He gasped.

Astra's head shot up, her energy seemingly returning in an instant. "We did it!"

"Congratulations, Team LLAC," Nora announced as she joined them, pride clear on her face. "You've completed your first official huntsman mission."

Lily felt dizzy, her head still spinning from the chaos. They'd really done it.

The forest was quiet for a moment more, before Luna let out a gasp.

"Holy shit! Lily!"

Lily glanced at her. "Huh?"

Luna's hands were on her head as she stared at her, lavender eyes wide and amazed. "You unlocked your Semblance!"

Lily stared. "I…what?"

Luna waved her hands at the tree she'd been in. "The branch didn't come from nowhere! You did that!" Her gaze fell to the broken branch that she'd fallen from. "And you…saved my life."

Astra gasped at Luna. "Oh shit, you almost died!" She flew over and wrapped Luna in a hug so tight she was almost knocked off her feet. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Letting go, she turned to Lily, her eyes sparkling. "Lily, you saved Luna with your Semblance!"

Lily's legs felt like they wouldn't hold her. She sat down with a thud, her head spinning even more. I…unlocked my Semblance?

"I…are we sure it wasn't just a trick of the light?" She couldn't let herself believe it so quickly. "Maybe it was already there…"

Cobalt gave a chuckle. "Come on, we all saw it. It was definitely not the big before you reached out like that."

"And hey," Nora pointed out. "If you're not sure, why don't you try again?"

Lily blinked. She gazed at the grass she was sitting on before slowly, hesitantly, running her hand over the smooth blades. They grew, stretching up until they were twice their height, and even seeming a little brighter than they had before, the blemishes on some of the fronds vanishing.

"Wow…" Astra breathed.

Lily stared. Her heart caught in her throat. She really had saved Luna's life. She'd grown that branch, and this grass. She'd unlocked her Semblance. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. "I…I can't believe this…" After all these years.

She sniffed, finding a wide grin spreading across her face as tears fell over her cheeks. "I unlocked my Semblance." She'd waited eighteen years to be able to say those words.

Astra dropped to her knees beside her. "Is this a hug-worthy moment?"

Through awed sniffles, Lily managed to nod. Astra wrapped her arms around her, and Luna and Cobalt kneeled to join them. Lily didn't even feel bad about crying. She made no attempt to stop.

She'd always liked plants. Always felt connected to them. She'd named herself after one. But for the connection to go this deep…she couldn't have expected it. She could grow them. She could control them, heal them. What better power could she have asked for?

She'd saved her friend's life, unlocked her Semblance, successfully completed her first mission. You did it, Lily, a small voice whispered in her head. You did it.