Have a double update this time, to make up for the lack of update last week. I won't bore you with the details as to why, just that it was important to me to stop for a bit.
The air above the Emerald Forest was mostly still save for the rain and a lone baby Nevermore that was flying above the trees. It heard a small whistling over the thunder just before it was smashed into feathers and black mist by a speeding girl, with only her yell of "Fuck you bird!" signifying that it even registered as a being to her. Raven put that small bump out of her head and focused on where she most definitely was going to land, her hand moving to rest on her sheath and put her finger on the trigger as she started counting down mentally.
When she hit zero Raven pulled the trigger and caught the sword as it shot out of the sheath, using the momentum to cut a large branch off a tree and landing feet first on it to ride it down to the ground. She kept a grip on the branch as it hit a couple other branches before landing on the ground, where it ground a small trench into earth before coming to a stop and letting Raven hop off it and sheath her katana.
Raven stretched out an arm and looked around the forest for any of her teammates. "Alright, one of you has to be close to me. So which one…?" Raven looked up just in time to see a streak of white rose petals zoom over her above the tree top. "Naturally it's you," she whispered waving a way a stray petal that floated down to her. Even so she still took off in a run in the direction that Summer had been flying, "Still, could be worse."
Taiyang was having a grand time tree hopping over the forest, shouting with every branch he kicked off of and may or may not have accidentally destroyed. Just a small side effect of his semblance, though he didn't particularly care since, in his words, it 'was sweet to look at'. When Taiyang had decided that he had gone far enough he turned around in midair and, with his arms glowing yellow with Aura, he grabbed a branch that slowed him down before it broke under his grip.
Hanging in the air for a split second Taiyang flipped forward and landed in a crouch at the forest floor, holding the position for a few seconds to absorb the shock before hopping up and pumping his fists in front of him. "Yes, killing it again!" he said to himself and threw a few quick punches, "Too bad nobody saw that."
"Oh I saw it." Taiyang jumped and turned to see Qrow walking up to him as if he hadn't been flying though the air a minute ago. "Hey Tai."
"Where did you come from?! Say something next time Qrow!" Qrow shrugged and Taiyang sighed and started walking though the woods. "Why couldn't I have landed next to Summer or Raven?"
"Bad luck, and it's better if you didn't land near them anyway. You'd have spent the alone time flirting with them non-stop Mr. 'three for three.'" The pair were quiet for a minute before Qrow realized what he had said and shuddered. "Why the hell did I say that? That didn't happen, ok?"
"Agreed," Taiyang said quickly when a noise from their right, loud and clear over the rainfall, brought them to a halt. The looked to where the noise came from and saw several red eyes peering at them from the darkness. "Already?" Taiyang asked and looked behind him at a couple more glowing eyes behind some trees.
"Seems that way," Qrow answered drawing Harbinger and holding the sword across his shoulders while Taiyang widened his stance and balled his hands into fists. "You ready?"
"Always."
Summer was more than happy to let momentum carry her through the air, ready to simply repeat her 'landing strategy' from a year ago now. When she started approaching the trees she Blinked around several trees as she aimed for a nearby clearing. Fast approaching the ground she Blinked forward so most of her momentum was horizontal and got her feet under her for a landing.
Even with Aura it still hurt when she touched the ground and immediately tumbled forward. She rolled onto her shoulder twice before she was able to get her hands under her and catch herself. She kneeled on the forest floor for a moment to catch her breath, ignoring the rain beating down on her cloak, and stood up to brush off her hands.
'Good job Summer, you didn't hit a tree again. Already a good sign over last year.' Shaking her head at the thought Summer checked the compass on her watch to orient herself in the right direction before drawing York and set off into the forest. Her thought briefly went to her teammates before she squashed them and focused on the trees in front of her.
'They can handle themselves,' she thought seeing a Beowolf that had stumbled into her path, though it only had enough time to look at her as she jumped over it and spun her body so she beheaded it in a quick motion before landing and continuing her run. After another minute and a few more small time kills Summer slowed her pace to a walk to give her teammates a chance to catch up while she looked around the darkness.
"We really should have packed flashlights," she sighed and made a mental note to add that to their ever growing list of necessities. A tree shook nearby and Summer looked at it slowly drawing Soleil and aiming it at the brush once it had transformed. "Come out with your hands up or I shoot," she called out and, after counting to three, pulled the trigger.
The Ursa that came barreling out certainly didn't appreciate that. Its red eyes bored into Summer as it charged and swung one of its massive arms at her, which she ducked under and jumped away to create some space. She pressed a switch on her sword's handle which caused the blade to glow red and give off small bits of flame as she ran at the Ursa.
It reared onto its legs and made to swing at Summer again when she Blinked toward it and stabbed York into its neck. The Ursa roared in pain at the fire inside of it and tried to knock Summer off when she jammed her pistol into its mouth and fired three times. It fell back dead with Summer on its chest, who sighed as it started fading away, just in time to notice a second Ursa coming her way.
"Oh you co-" she started to say as she tried to pull her sword out of the dead Ursa, though not fast enough as the Ursa was on her and managed a hit on her, knocking her away and onto her back with her body flashing white with Aura. Once she was settled Summer aimed at the Ursa as it charged at her, then she saw a flash of red and the Ursa stopped with a wet gurgle before collapsing onto the ground.
"I have to say, I'm getting real sick of saving you from Ursa Summer." Summer watched as Raven pulled her sword out of the Ursa's head and jumped down in front of her. She swung her blade clean and sheathed it before offering a hand to Summer. "The least you could do is get cornered by something else for once."
"I'll try," Summer said taking the hand and letting Raven pull her to her feet. She walked over to where York was lying and picked it up, hitting the switch to turn the fire off. "I didn't see the second Ursa, so thanks for that." She didn't need to look back to know Raven was rolling her eyes, so instead she double checked her compass and asked, "So have you seen either of the boys?"
"Nope, didn't bother looking when I saw you overhead. They'll be fine though, Tai's tough as nails and Qrow's good at turning misfortune to his advantage, ironically enough."
"You're right. Hopefully the next time we see them they'll be either alone or with nothing bigger than a Beowolf. Knock on wood, of course." She heard a light knocking as Raven obliged her and started leading the way though the woods with Raven next to her. With the rain that got through the trees beating down on them both Summer sighed and said, "This is going to be another long night. I wish I had more coffee."
"I think Tai has some, though don't quote me on that."
"All the more reason to meet up with him soon."
"Qrow, coming your way!" Taiyang shouted as he tossed a Beowolf at Qrow. The sword wielder effortlessly spun around and cut it in half with his sword before he flipped the blade down and fired a shot at a Beowolf to his right. Qrow couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction at how its head blew apart and looked around for any others, though the only Grimm was one that Taiyang was currently fighting. Qrow watched as Taiyang punched the Beowolf in the stomach and, when it bent over, he grabbed its jaws and pulled it apart until he heard a snap and threw a punch into its mouth, the fist coming out the back glowing yellow.
"Why do you have to show off all the time?" Qrow asked as Taiyang pulled his arm out of the Beowolf's mouth, shaking his hand as it steamed in the rain. "You could have just snapped its neck."
"You gotta have fun somehow Qrow," Taiyang answered and pulled out his compass (Summer made sure they all had one, after what happened in Mistral last year). "So north is that way," he said pointing to his left, "so that's where we should go. You think the girls are together?"
"By now, definitely. We should get moving if we want to catch up with them." Qrow put his weapon back on his lower back and started walking with Taiyang following behind him. "Let's hope this is as hard as it gets."
"I could stand to fight a King Taijitu. It would help with our score at least."
"Please don't say that, I don't want to literally trip over a giant monster again, and you know it will happen if you do."
"…Yeah, good point." Taiyang couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, which got him a look from Qrow. "It's nothing," Taiyang said waving a hand, "it's just hard to believe so much has happened in only a year, you know?"
"I suppose. It wasn't fun at the time though."
"Oh god no."
"If only we checked when the rain would stop," Raven said adjusting her hood again as she looked up at the sky.
"Weather is a fickle and unpredictable mistress Raven," Summer said turning over the Rook in her hands before putting it away. "And even if we did know it probably wouldn't matter much. We'll be done before the rain is with any luck." Summer rapped her fist against a tree, much to Raven's amusement, and the pair continued walking with only the rainfall and the distant crack of gunfire to break the silence. So when Raven let out a small chuckle, Summer couldn't help but ask, "What's so funny?"
"You." Summer turned to Raven and stared at her for a moment. "It's just hilarious how much you changed in just a year, when you get down to it."
"I could say the same thing about you. It's weird for you to get nostalgic Raven," Summer said shaking her head, "And you're exaggerating, I wasn't that bad."
"No, you really were. A year ago you wouldn't have cared if any of us died, and now you worry when you don't see any of us for five minutes. A lone wolf to a pack mother; that's a change, no matter how you look at it."
"That's just because I learned," Summer answered her face falling into a look of annoyance, "especially after Qrow's incident with the Rapier Wasp hive. Stuff like that can only happen so many times before it becomes natural to worry for the safety of all you idiots."
"Fair enough. They never did find out how that got into the locker room did they?"
"Nope." That was certainly a mystery for the ages that Summer was more than happy to let die.
"Do you hear that?" Raven stopped and asked suddenly. Summer stopped with her and, after listening for a minute, shook her head.
"No, I just hear the rain. Are you sure you-" that was when Summer was proven wrong when a Beowolf dashed through the trees in front of her and Raven with a screaming Maribelle on its back with her crook around its neck. The odd sight was gone just as quickly as it appeared, leaving the pair in an uncomfortable silence that was getting all too common nowadays. "Well… at least someone's having fun."
"I guess," Raven agreed with a sigh, "I bet CFVY doesn't have to deal with this shit."
"Probably not." Summer checked her watch and grimaced at the time. 'How has it only been half an hour?!' she thought as she started walking with Raven taking the lead. After a couple of seconds of silent walking, Summer brushed some hair out of her eyes and said, "Hey Raven, do you mind if I say something?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just… about the whole 'change' thing. Well… I know it's odd to bring this up right now, but that promise I made to you, I do intend to keep it. I just wanted to say that while we have a dull moment."
"You're right, that is odd to bring up right now." Despite that, Raven couldn't help the small smile as she added, "But thanks, I'll look forward to it." Summer returned the smile and, after a moment of silence, suddenly looked forward with narrowed eyes. "What's up?" Raven asked just as Summer vanished in a burst of petals, leaving Raven to shake her head in exasperation and chase after the trail.
Things were going considerably better for Team CFVY, or at least they were making good progress even with the Grimm attacking them. Not that they were having trouble with that or anything between Fox and Yatsuhashi's skills with their blades, Coco's handbag, and Velvet's everything. The latest pack of Beowolves was dispatched just as easily as the last one as Coco landed a solid hit on its head with her handbag. She sighed and stepped over its disappearing corpse toward Fox as the other two members went to scout ahead.
"Do you hear anything else Fox?" Coco asked. Her red headed teammate listened for a minute before shaking his head and standing straight. Coco hung her handbag back over her shoulder and shook some rain off her arms as she walked in the direction that her team had walked in.
"I did hear some screams earlier, but it sounded like MRGD," Fox said carefully moving past the trees. "They should be fine despite that, right?"
"Tardiness aside, they do rank pretty high when it comes to speed. They'll all be fine as long as they don't get bogged down." Coco heard a noise in front of her and reached for her handbag, but stopped when she saw it was just Velvet coming back. "Did you find something Velvet?" Coco asked once Velvet was close enough.
"We found the ruins we're looking for just up ahead," Velvet answered jerking a thumb behind her. "Yatsuhashi is keeping it clear of Grimm in case they come along. We're not the first ones there either." Coco nodded and motioned for Velvet to lead the way, which the rabbit Faunus did with gusto.
"How's Yatsuhashi doing by the way?" Coco asked as they walked. "That King Taijitu did come out of nowhere after all."
"He's alright, his Aura took most of the hit after all. We probably should have cut off both of its heads before it got away. If it finds someone else right now it's going to be bad."
"It got away too fast, at least for me. I thought Fox had it anyway."
"I was busy with the Ursa," Fox added, "And don't you have a minigun Coco? Why didn't you use that against it?"
"I'm not made of ammo Fox, and I'm not going to waste what I have on something I might miss anyway. Oh well, no point worrying about it now. If we run across it again we'll take care of it."
"Here we are," Velvet said suddenly as they approached a small cliff overlooking a set of ruins. She hopped off and slid down the cliff followed by Coco and Fox, rushing over to Yatsuhashi who was standing guard at the ruins. "I'm back! Did you have any trouble?" Velvet asked Yatsuhashi, who simple shook his head no and moved to follow Coco into the ruins.
The team looked around the ruins out of curiosity, mostly looking at the other 'relics' that were sitting on various pedestals, either singular or in pairs. Coco walked down the line of gold relics, taking a quick note that the Rook was still missing from the lineup, before she found the Bishop and took her own relic out of her handbag and put it out on the pedestal.
"Well, mission complete," Coco said out loud to her team. "Now we need to- Fox, behind you!"
"What?" Fox turned around and raised his arms just as a Beowolf leaped out of the forest and rushed for him. Fox blocked its claws with his weapons and kicked it in the chest to knock it backwards into the air. Then a burst of rose petals shot toward the Beowolf and a sword was stabbed through its throat. The Grimm groaned for a minute before it was yanked out of the side of its throat, leaving its lifeless body nearly beheaded as it fell to the ground while its killer landed a few feet in front of Fox, her white cloak billowing out behind her before she stood up and sheathed her sword.
"Thanks Summer," Fox said as the girl walked over to him.
"Pay more attention Fox!" Summer said coldly and jabbed a finger into Fox's chest, "Even a Beowolf could end your life if you're not careful." She shook her head and walked past him and the rest of CFVY into the ruins, only glancing back when Raven jumped off the cliff and ran up to them.
"Oh that's why you ran off," Raven said looking at the almost gone Beowolf, "A little warning about that would have been nice Summer."
"By the way, that counts for us," Coco said motioning at the Beowolf.
"Whatever, there's more where that came from. So, have any of you seen our lesser halves around?" CFVY shook their heads along with Summer who had just gotten back from placing her relic. "That's just great. Now we're going to have to go find them, which will probably take a while on top of the hour we've been in here. That'll be fu-"
Raven was interrupted when the white head of a King Taijitu landed in the clearing, causing everyone to jump away from it with Raven shouting a loud curse. When the head started moving on its own everyone reached for their weapons, stopping when they saw the cause of the movement was someone opening the mouth from the inside. CFVY was surprised when a disgusted looking Taiyang managed to wrench the mouth open enough for him to step out and slam it shut, though neither of his teammates had much of a reaction to that.
"That'll teach you bitch," Taiyang said dusting his hands off before he noticed he wasn't alone. Then he asked, "Hey, what's up?" while casually walking up to Raven.
"Not much, aside from your entrance," Raven said and jerked at thumb at the ruins, "We're done with the thing by the way."
"Ah cool, was it hard?"
"Not really, aside from visibility," Summer said walking up to her teammates and waved as she said, "Hey Qrow!" said teammate simply returned the wave as he walked up to them with his thumbs in his pockets.
"So…" Velvet said looking at the disappearing Taijitu head.
"Oh that?" Taiyang said following her gaze, "Qrow and I were just minding our own business, as we do, when we… may have tripped over a King Taijitu."
"Literally?" Summer asked, which caused Taiyang to sheepishly nod, "This is the second time. You guys have bad luck with giant Grimm."
"No kidding," Qrow said shaking his head, "it wouldn't have been such a problem if some jackass hadn't cut off one of its heads and just left it like that. It was pretty pissed off, but we took care of it."
"Heh heh, I can't imagine who did that," Velvet said, her tone forcefully casual.
"Was it you?"
"…We were going to go back for it."
"Well, my team killed it so we get the points for it," Summer said with a smirk.
"Bullshit, we did half the work!" Fox retorted, ignoring Yatsuhashi's complaint of 'language.'
"Let's just count it as a kill for both of us ok? That night's going to be long enough as it is," Coco said checking her watch. "It's only midnight? Oh yeah, plenty of time to kick your ass Summer."
"We'll see about that. My team's more than ready to meet that challenge, right?" Summer said looking back at her team, Taiyang and Qrow nodding while Raven rolled her eyes.
"Can you stop flirting already? I want to get this over with," Raven said walking away into the forest. Taiyang and Qrow stifled a laugh at their leader's mortified face at the comment and followed the black haired girl.
"F-flirting?! Wait, come back! We still need to talk strategy!" Summer shouted and ran after her team, leaving an amused Team CFVY behind her.
"They are right, we should get going as well," Velvet said walking up to Coco, doing a double take when she saw the leader's face. "A-are you blushing Coco?"
"What, no I'm not, shut up! Let's go kill monsters!" Coco replied in one breath before walking away from Velvet, unfolding her handbag into a minigun in the process. The Faunus blinked in confusion before moving to follow Coco, with Fox and Yatsuhashi walking behind her.
"I want to go to bed," Fox said with a sigh. Yatsuhashi only nodded in reply. So started Team STRQ and Team CFVY's long night of trying to one up each other, and with only one minor incident of friendly fire to speak of.
Coco had gotten separated from her team thanks to an errant Ursa, though the bear Grimm soon learned the error of that when it found itself on the wrong end of Coco's gun. The same could be said for its brethren, who also ate a hail of lead without Coco even needing to stop her gun's spin. Admittedly she did have a little bit of fun and didn't let go of the trigger until all the Ursa and a line of trees behind them were all down.
When she finally did and folded her gun back into her handbag she felt proud enough to smile, until she heard a rough voice shout "Coco!" Said girl looked around until she saw Qrow standing up from behind one of the trees she had downed in her little rampage. "What the fuck?!" he angrily shouted at her. Coco felt her stomach sink and felt a chill run though her body that was unrelated to the rain.
"Uh… I'm sorry Qrow!" she finally shouted back at him. Qrow just angrily waved her off and walked away from her into the woods practically radiating anger. "Really, I didn't mean-" she was cut off when Qrow drew Harbinger, unfolded it into a scythe, and cut down a tree he passed by with a gunshot ringing through the air.
Coco stood there until Qrow was well out of sight and let out a breath she had been holding. "Trigger discipline. Gotta remember that."
So aside from that, the exam was going well as far as Ozpin could tell through the security cameras. "So I take it you won't need me anymore Professor Ozpin?" Port asked looking at the camera feed on his own scroll.
"Not for tonight Peter," Ozpin answered changing the feed to show Maribelle on top of a rolling Boarbatusk. "Aside from some expected bumps, it seems the second years are doing quite well. And some are already on their way back. I can handle the rest of the exam from here."
"In that case, I'll go get some rest for tomorrow," Port said putting his scroll away and stroking his mustache. "If you need anything else, I'm just a call away like always."
"Thank you." Ozpin glanced at Port as he nodded and walked back to Beacon Academy. After that he returned his attention to his scroll, not once noticing a small fly watching him from the grass.
The hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and soon Summer's watch was beeping to indicate the alarm she had set had come. She finished off the Creep she had been fighting with a bullet to the head and checked her watch. "Four o'clock already? Time flies when you're having fun I guess," she said stepping onto the Creep with a little more force than necessary and took out her scroll. With a few taps she started a group call with the rest of her team and waited for them to pick up.
"Hey Summer," Raven said once she had picked up.
"Did you see the time Rae?"
"Yeah, just as you called actually. Guess we should start heading back yeah?" Two more beeps were heard, meaning that the two boys of the team had just picked up.
"Sorry about that, Qrow and I got caught up in some naysayers," Taiyang said with Qrow grunting in agreement. "So are we done here?"
"Yeah, and I was thinking of doing our usual exit routine," Summer said glancing up to the sky. The rain had died down somewhat during the night, but not enough for Summer to stop worrying about it. "Does that sound good Rae?"
"Yeah, perfect," Raven said with a sigh, "Someone's going to have to be an anchor though. Any volunteers?"
"I'm feeling kind of burned out," Taiyang answered, rubbing his neck from where he was standing, "So I'll head back. Will you guys be alright in the meantime?"
"I think we can keep racking up kills while you head back," Qrow said. "No matter what, I think we should all be out of here in half an hour."
"I agree with that. Let's keep it up until the very end, so no rush ok Tai?"
"No problem. I'm off," Taiyang said before hanging up. Summer hung up as well, taking a breath as she put away her scroll and checked the ammo in Soleil.
"Half an hour huh?" She asked herself setting another alarm on her watch, "Plenty of time to have some more fun." She blinked at her own words and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Fun, I say. I really have to get out of that mindset." She heard a growl behind her and turned around to see a pack of Beowolves advancing slowly. Despite her earlier words, Summer couldn't help the smile grow on her face as she drew her sword.
A few minutes later at the top of the Beacon cliffs, Team CFVY was making their way back up to the top with Velvet being the last one up, doing a little flip once she was at the top with a little "Ta-da," to finish it off.
"We're all very impressed Velvet," Fox said in response, ignoring that Coco was clapping at the sight. Velvet couldn't help a giggle at the sight, managing to get it under control as Professor Ozpin waked up to them.
"Professor Ozpin, Team CFVY reporting in," Coco said standing at attention.
"And well done, like always," Ozpin said with a nod. He tapped on his scroll a couple of times and added, "And with you four here that only leaves Team STRQ. Not for much longer though."
"And the results?" Coco asked carefully.
"You'll get them tomorrow. I don't think any of you have anything to worry about in any case. Go get some rest, you all earned it." Coco nodded and led her team away with a wave, Velvet taking a moment to look back at the forest before following. Ozpin turned back to his scroll just in time to see Taiyang approaching the cliffs at a run and moving to meet him.
Ozpin got to Taiyang just as he reached the top of the cliff. Ozpin quirked an eyebrow wondering how he had done that, but a quick look over the edge and the series of fist sized holes leading up answered that question. "So you're the anchor for Raven today, Mr. Xiao Long?"
"Yep," Taiyang answered massaging one of his fists. "The other's should be here soon though."
"I'm sure they will. It's simply a matter of time." Ozpin moved closer to the edge of the cliff, staring at his scroll as it showed a video of the Branwens engaging with some Ursa, Taiyang silently coming up to his side with his arms behind his head.
"Hey Professor, can I ask something?" Taiyang asked, with Ozpin answering with an affirmative hum. "Were you… you know, bluffing about the whole 'holding us back a year' thing?"
"What do you think?" Taiyang and Ozpin's eyes met, the latter with the smallest of smiles on his face, and Taiyang sighed and shook his head.
"I think you're too good at the whole 'bluffing' thing."
"It's an unfortunately essential part of my job, as much as I hate to admit." After a moment of staring between the two, Taiyang sighed and crossed his arms.
"Oh well, no harm no foul I guess. It certainly got everyone going in any rate." Taiyang heard the smallest of buzzing and, after a moment of listening, zeroed in on the sound and slammed a hand on his arm. He pulled it away, not seeing any bug but was glad that the buzzing was gone. "Damn mosquitoes," he whispered not noticing the glance from Ozpin or knowing about the headache he just gave someone in the forest.
Like almost every other time she was in the thick of it, Raven was having a blast or at least as much as she could have fighting for her life against Ursa. Then again, big slow Grimm work best for her speedy style of attack, which the pair she was facing off found out when she dodged a downward swipe from one and ran up its arm and lopped its head off with one swing and jumped off toward the other one.
She couldn't help the smile when she saw the Ursa looking at her as she fell toward it and stabbed it in the chest. She then used the momentum of the fall to spin around her sword, plant her feet on the Ursa's head, and kicked off to drag the sword down the Ursa splitting it open. She kicked off it again, pulling her sword out in the process, and landed in a roll as the Grimm fell dead behind her.
Raven stood up, swiping her blade clean out of reflex, and looked to find Qrow finishing off his own battle with a single gunshot punctuating the air as he sliced the Ursa in half horizontally, the arms falling to the ground before it folded over into black mist.
"Very impressive Qrow," Raven said with an eye roll as she walked to Qrow as he folded his scythe back into a sword. "So, are we good to go?"
"Yeah, I think we're pushing our luck here," Qrow nodded and put Harbinger away and turned to his sister. "Care to do the honors?"
"Naturally," Raven replied and slashed her sword through the air, creating a portal next to her. Qrow walked through first while Raven sheathed her sword before following a second later. The emerged on top of the Beacon Cliffs with Taiyang and Ozpin looking over at them. Raven glanced around as the portal closed behind her and asked, "Summer's not here?"
"Nope, I haven't heard from her since our call," Taiyang said rubbing the back of his head.
"And she seems to be out of range of the cameras," Ozpin said closing his scroll and putting it away.
"Seriously? Where the hell could she be then?" Qrow asked looking out at the forest.
"She must have lost track of time again," Raven said pulling out and opening her scroll, "I'm calling her now." She rang up Summer's scroll and held her own up while the it rang. In the forest Summer was mopping up the remaining Beowolves when her scroll started ringing. So naturally, she couldn't help but sing along with her ringtone as she finished up.
"We pretend in the darkness~," she sang out loud as she Blinked toward a Beowolf and stabbed it in the throat with Soleil and yanked it across its neck to split it open before jumping to the next one. "We pretend the night won't steal our youth~." The next one got a kick to the face, knocking it down so Summer could stab it in the chest with York as the last one leapt at her from behind. "Singing me the sweet songs of seduction~." Summer jumped into the air with a spin and planted a foot on the Beowolf's chest, launching it over her toward a tree while she landed and pulled York out of the vanishing Grimm she was on in a reverse hold and Blinked over to the tree.
"Let me be the fool, fool, fool,~" she sang slashing in time with the last three words to take off the Beowolf's arms and head. The head barely settled when Summer slammed the blade of her sword through its eye and finished, "who will live and die for you.~" Summer glanced around the clearing she was in, humming along to her ringtone the whole time, before sheathing Soleil and finally pulling out her scroll and answering the call. "Hello Raven, what's up?"
"What's up is we're all waiting for you to finish up!" her partner said angrily on the other side, "It's almost 4:30 you know and you're literally the only one left in that forest!" Summer checked her watch, seeing Raven was right, and pulled York out of the ground to sheathe it.
"So I am. Well I'm done with the last pests I ran into, so I'm ready whenever you are."
"Well 'whenever' is now. Portal's coming your way." Summer rolled her eyes and looked around the clearing again, stopping when saw something floating past some trees.
"Wait stop!" Summer said into the scroll and Blinked behind a tree to hide from it.
"Oh my god, what is it this time?! Another Beowolf you have to stab 48 times? An Ursa you need to incinerate slowly?" Summer ignored her partner as she peeked around the tree, squinting a little in the darkness to make out the shape of what had to be a Creature of Grimm.
"I don't know what it is. I've never seen something like this before."
"What do you mean you've never seen it before?" Raven asked in annoyance while Taiyang and Qrow crowded around her to listen in on the conversation.
"I mean, I've never seen this before. It's definitely a Grimm, but I don't know what kind." Summer replied.
"Is something wrong?" Ozpin asked shifting his umbrella.
"Hold on," Raven said covering the receiver with a hand, "Summer says she's looking at some new Grimm type now. Want me to just bring her in?" Ozpin tapped a finger against his hand, trying to ignore the chill running down his spine, before he shook his head.
"No. Put her on speaker please." Raven quirked an eyebrow but did what she was asked anyway.
"You're on speaker Sum, and Ozpin's here too," Raven said holding the scroll in front of her for everyone to hear.
"Like I was saying, I've never seen this before. I mean… what the hell is it?" Summer said along with some rustling noises.
"Calm down," Ozpin said, his voice utterly serious. "Can you tell what it looks like? I can narrow it down from there."
"Um, ok. It's still really dark, but I think it's about 5 feet long. It's floating on its own, there's a lot of tendrils hanging under it. It… looks like a jellyfish."
Ozpin's eyes widened and that chill turned to ice through his whole body as he turned away from his students. "What? What is one of those doing here? That can't be good, not at all."
"You can't see this Summer," Raven said, bringing Ozpin back to the present, "but Oz looks like he's about to have a heart attack."
"Professor, what am I dealing with here?" Summer said, now showing worry, "It looks like it's going somewhere." Ozpin thought for a moment before sighing and turning around.
"That is most likely a Seer," he answered tightening his grip on his umbrella, "It's… a specialized Grimm used primarily for long distance communication."
"Communication?" Qrow asked quirking an eyebrow, "For who?" Ozpin only had to look him in the eye, his face the very picture of dread, for the team to understand. "Oh shit…"
"That thing is used by Salem?!" Summer asked, a little louder than was probably necessary. "This is bad. What should I do?"
"She needs to get out of there," Taiyang said pointing to the forest, "If something like that is out there, then one of her agents might be there too! That's way too dangerous!"
"Opening a portal now might put her in danger, depending on how fast it is," Raven said shaking her head. "Listen Sum, if you can sneak away-"
"I'm going after it." Summer said suddenly.
"W-what?!"
"If one of her agents is here, then it's our duty to find out why they're here. I won't do anything dangerous, just watch from a distance and then call you when I'm done for a pickup."
"No, that is an awful idea! We are out of time anyway, so get somewhere open and-"
"It's just eavesdropping! I can do this."
"Summer-"
"If she goes over the time limit, I'll wave it," Ozpin said suddenly stopping the conversation and getting a glare from Raven. "But listen Summer, Seers are very dangerous despite their appearance. Do not get seen either by it or whoever's calling it."
"And if I am seen run like hell, I understand. I'll call when I'm clear one way or the other." The call ended and Raven shut the scroll with her hands shaking from how hard she gripped it.
"To hell with that, I'm going after her," Qrow said running to the cliff edge and jumping off. Ozpin moved to the edge to watch Qrow as he moved into the forest, his fingers once again tapping aggressively against his umbrella.
"What's your problem?!" Raven said stomping over to Ozpin and pointing to the forest, "If it's so dangerous in there, why keep her in there?! Are you trying to get her killed?"
"Of course not Raven," Ozpin responded coldly and glanced at the brunette. "I do care about the safety of all of my students. That you still seem to think the opposite is insulting, not just to me but to Summer as well. She is both skilled and smart enough to know when a fight can't be won, and she'll have Qrow there to help her soon enough." Ozpin looked back the forest and added, "Unfortunately, this is something we need to know about. Seers are never alone and are usually accompanied by one of two things."
"Yeah, I know. Either one of her 'agents' are around or-"
"Something far worse," Ozpin finished darkly. "If it's the former, it just means we have some holes in our security to patch."
"And… if it's worse?" Taiyang asked worriedly.
"Pray that it isn't." Both Raven and Taiyang blinked and tried to ignore the chill down their spine as they looked at the dark forest that their teammates were now in.
Ruby was just about done with her spying and had ordered the Grimm Flies to die somewhere out of the way, aside from the one watching Ozpin that had gotten squished. With that done and the Seer on its way Ruby took a deep breath and ran her right hand through her wet hair, enjoying the feeling of both the drops from her hair and the sky hitting her skin.
After a minute of waiting she pushed off the tree she had been leaning against and walked out of the thicket of trees. She glanced to her right to see the Seer floating toward her and changed direction to meet it in the middle. She nodded at the Seer and clenched her hands behind her back while it surrounded her with its tendrils and the colors of its core swirled in a mess of red and black until a clear image showed in it.
"Queen," Ruby said moving her right hand over her chest and bowing slightly, "I've finished my inspection at Beacon Academy."
"At ease General," her Queen, Salem, said to which she complied. "So what have you found at Beacon?"
"It's mostly the same as last year Queen," Ruby replied shaking her head, "There might be a few stand outs among the new crop, but ultimately nothing to worry about going forward."
"We've said the same about Atlas and Haven." Ruby blinked at the sudden voice before closing her eyes.
"I wasn't aware that you were here as well," Ruby said opening her eyes as the image shifted over to Weiss, who seemed to be sitting down with her hands folded under her chin.
"So is Blake. As for Yang… who knows where she is." Weiss shook her head, annoyance on her face, before she asked, "So would you like to know what we found?"
"Of course. Why don't we start with Atlas."
"Well, as I've told Queen just now, the new initiates in Atlas Academy is more of the same; patriotic ingrates who want to join the military 'for the glory of Atlas'. As for the tips Little Weiss had… I really would like to know where Ironwood finds those freaks."
"Do we need to worry about those ones?"
"No." Weiss lowered her folded hands to her lap and smiles softly, "If they were something to worry about, I'd make sure they'd never leave the Academy." The image then shifted away from Weiss in a swirl of red until it showed Blake, shaking her head and adjusting her mask with a tentacle.
"Haven remains well within control," Blake said running the tip of her tentacle down her face, "The Lion knew his place the moment he saw me and gave me what I wanted with no hesitation. There's nothing new to report in any case."
"I still don't trust him, no matter what he says," Ruby said with a scowl and squeezed her hands behind her back. "We still need to keep an eye on Haven."
"Agreed. I'm heading back to the castle now." The image of Blake faded in time for the smiling face of Yang to appear in the red.
"Hey Rubes! You're looking kind of drenched there aren't ya?" Yang said leaning closer to her seer as Ruby rolled her eyes. "I bet you wish you were here in the Shade with me, eh?" Yang couldn't help the small chuckle at her own little joke, ignoring Ruby's head shake.
"What have I said about puns, General Yang," Salem said suddenly, causing Yang stop her laugh and flinch away from the Seer.
"Q-Queen?! I… didn't know you were there." Yang managed to collect herself and stood up straight, clearing her throat as she said, "I apologize for that."
"Just give your report on Vacuo."
"I hate this Kingdom. Everyone here is the same no matter when we come; A bunch of freeloading idiots drinking wine and rebelling against 'the man' and none of them know how to wear a fucking shirt!" Yang got more worked up as she ranted, small licks of flame coming off of her body as she went on, before she stopped and cleared her throat to calm herself down. "I think it says a lot about this place that that one idol team from last year still seems to be the one we need to watch out for. What was their name again? Lavender or something?"
"NDGO," Ruby corrected.
"Yeah, that's the one. Everyone else is too busy getting high on hash or whatever to do anything."
"That's not a plant that they use in Vacuo, but I see your point General Yang," Salem said as her image appeared in the Seer. "You all did excellently. I believe it's time to move forward with our operations, especially since the Vytal Festival is being held this year."
"What do you need us to do?" Ruby asked, "Should I stay here?"
"No, Cinder has the initial steps in Vale well under way. I need all of you back here so we can discuss what to do afterwards. It's going to be a long year for us."
"Understood Queen," Ruby said along with Weiss and Yang, who no doubt also mirrored her action of bowing to Salem as her image disappeared from the Seer. The floating Grimm's tendrils fell underneath it into a neutral state and Ruby let out a small breath of relief. Even if she didn't have the capacity to feel emotions, speaking with and generally being around her Queen still somehow made her nervous. 'Maybe that's just an innate instinct when around her?'
Ruby shook her head and closed her eyes at the thought. 'What does it matter in the end? The Griffon I took is still around, so I should-'
The snap of a twig suddenly filled the air and Ruby snapped her head to the side, her red eyes glaring into the darkness toward a group of trees. The Seer noticed as well and started floating toward the noise until Ruby forced it to stop with a hand. "No, you leave. That's mine," She ordered looking right into its core. The Seer gave a low hum and started floating away into the forests. Seers were far too valuable to waste, especially given the sheer time and effort Queen Salem needed to make them.
With the Seer on its way to safety, Ruby held her right arm out and willed her scythe into form as she walked toward where the noise came from, its blade lightly brushing against the grass as she walked. Unconsciously Ruby lowered into a combat stance as she approached the trees, the small splashes from both her footsteps and the dying rain being the only sounds she could hear. She meticulously checked the trees, walking around the base and looking up into the branches, over and over for the next minute all the while feeling a small flicker of hatred grow in her chest at the situation.
When that was done, finding nothing, Ruby moved to an open spot and closed her eyes, her hands moving to grip her scythe properly as she focused her senses for anything to give away what had made the sound; any small sound, the faintest scent, the errant waft of fear and dread, anything. She stood stock still, coiled like a spring ready to snap, until she finally heard a faint rustling in a bush to her left and pounced, shooting like a bullet to the brush and swinging her scythe across it.
Leaves from the bush flew into the air from the force of her swing, a nearby tree that had gotten caught in the swing fell to the forest floor with a crash, faint red rose petals wafted though the air from the sheer speed, and from the bush she saw a small rabbit shoot out of the bush, squealing in fear as it ran for its life.
Ruby watched the animal for a moment before standing up straight, spinning her scythe so the blade was facing downward, and ran her left hand down her face with an irritated sigh. "I got worked up for nothing," she said aloud and turned to go to the clearing. She heard a rustle of feathers and the caw of a crow at that moment, giving the black bird a small glance before continuing her walk to an open space in the trees and raised her hand to call the Griffon to her.
Two caws and Ruby stopped, turning her head slowly back to the bird and watching it carefully. Not that the bird was all that unusual, but something didn't feel right about it now that she really looked at it. 'I almost forgot who's territory I'm in. What's it looking at?' The bird fluffed its feathers and cawed again, its head shifting a little to glance behind the tree it was resting on.
Ruby's eyes narrowed at the tree and gripped her scythe in both hands as she moved to the tree. At the edge of her vision she saw the crow look at her and took off suddenly, cawing wildly as it did. She felt the faintest hint of fear coming from behind the tree, which gave Ruby more than enough cause to dash to the tree and cut it down.
Instead of the splatter of blood she had expected, a stream of white rose petals filled the air from where her scythe struck. Ruby barely had time to be confused before she saw a flash of white on the trunk as it hung in the air, focusing on it in time to see it was a young girl in a white cloak finding her footing on the bark. She pushed off of the tree toward Ruby and swung a sword at her, the blade catching Ruby on her horns and knocking her down. She managed to get up into a crouch in time to see the girl sheathe her sword and run away into the forest, the cawing of a crow echoing along with it.
"No," Ruby whispered grabbing her scythe and standing up as she let out a roar of anger and hatred into the air. With that done she took off after the girl, her eyes burning red and her heart yearning for the desire to see her blood spilled.
'Oh crap oh crap oh crap!' was the only real thought Summer Rose had had for the last couple of minutes. The Seer had been one thing, but whatever that thing that was chasing her now was on a whole other level. The very brief glimpse she had caught of its eyes when it heard the rabbit was enough to put the fear into her, and that was before it had tore through a tree like tissue paper.
A roar filled the air, anger and hatred and bloodlust all rolled into one, and Summer Blinked up to a tree branch to look behind her. She had barely seen it coming, the red eyes streaking though the darkness, when it was on her and smashing its body into the tree she was in. The tree shook and Summer Blinked away, looking behind her through rose petals to see the tree fall and the Grimm rolling past it. Summer hit the ground running, hearing the sound of it getting to its feet and running after her not even a second later.
'Move! Don't think, move!' Summer pushed herself to run faster though the forest, following the cawing of a crow and Blinking to the sides or above whenever the Grimm got a little too close for comfort. Once she Blinked toward it and very narrowly missed getting hit by it, the blade of the scythe coming an inch away from her face. The only good part of the situation seemed to be that it was seemed to be so focused on catching up to her that it wasn't actually caring how fast it was going. As it turned out, Momentum was a bitch to everything.
The third time that Summer managed to lose the Grimm this way Summer hid behind a tree, both to catch her breath and to look around for an exit. She already had a plan for how to get out, she just needed to know where it was. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing her hearing away from the Grimm growling loudly and stomping around looking for her. She heard a faint cawing to her left, which she was sure her pursuer heard as well. She was proven right since the tree she was hiding behind was cut down by the Grimm just after she Blinked that way.
Even with her guide Summer was aware enough that she was running on fumes, while her pursuer seemed like it had near endless durability and endurance. Summer would be caught eventually if she didn't leave now. The caws were much closer now and Summer Blinked one more time.
Which was when she found the trees end suddenly and she landed roughly on the ground before running into the clearing. After a few seconds of blind running she was stopped by the ravine that formed part of the natural defenses of the Beacon Cliffs. She looked down into the endless darkness and mist below her, the scattered ruins of decades old ruins showing though, weighing her options mentally until a crash behind her made her decision for her. She backed up, took a deep breath, and jumped. She had fallen for a split second before something yanked on her cloak and she was pulled backwards into the cliff wall, the fabric choking her as she was pulled up.
"Got you," a woman's voice above her said, echoing with a very unnatural reverb, and Summer felt a familiar pit grow in her stomach.
'I'm going to die if I don't do something!' she thought as she gripped her cloak digging into her neck and grit her teeth. She was pulled up one more time and Summer looked up, her eyes meeting the Grimm's red ones, and she realized there was only one way out of the situation. Another jerk up and Summer reached for Soleil, drew it, and slid it under the hem of her cloak and cut herself free just as the Grimm reached a hand out to her. She was weightless for a split second before she fell into the darkness, with only the slowly brightening sky and the Grimm's red eyes in view before the mist claimed her.
Ruby couldn't help but be impressed with the girl; not many people had the guts to resist as well as she had, let alone drop herself to certain death just to avoid being killed by her. "Well, the jokes on her, I got what I wanted. She's still dead either way." Ruby lifted the white cloak up to her face and sniffed it, committing the scent to memory before reaching out and letting it go. She watched the white fabric drift down the ravine for a second before she turned around and walked back to the forest, the scythe she had planted into the ground already vanishing into thin air.
"I've already wasted too much time. Queen's still expecting me back." The first tree Ruby passed she heard a caw, so she looked up to see a crow looking down on her. She almost had half a mind to kill the bird right there, but instead decided to slam a fist into the trunk to scare the bird into the air if only to relieve a bit of frustration. As the crow landed and cawed angrily at her, Ruby couldn't help but glance back at the ravine as she walked. 'I'll make sure when I get back to Queen's castle,' she thought looking back forward and calling out to her Griffon.
Once Ruby was gone from sight, the crow she had scared took off through the tree tops and carefully flew down into the ravine. It circled down carefully, its red eyes piercing the darkness until it found a white cloak hanging on a outreaching rock. It landed on the cloak, looked it over carefully and clawed at it with its feet and let out a series of three caws.
A burst of rose petals appeared next to the crow and a pair of gloved hands grabbed the rock, scaring the crow into the air to watch Summer swing back onto the outcropping. Summer made sure her feet were planted solidly on the rock before she pressed her back against the cliff and took a deep breath, both her breathing and her body shaking from the very close call she had just managed to get away from. She had managed to gulp down a few breaths of air when a rustle of feathers sounded and she looked down at the crow that had landed on her cloak.
"Is it gone for real?" she asked the crow, which looked at her askew before cawing once. Summer heaved a heavy, relieved sigh and felt her eyes tear up a little as she carefully held out a hand to the bird which, after a second, flew onto it and let her pull it into a gentle hug. "Good bird. You saved my life again," she whispered to it as she stroked its back and smiled softly when it nestled its head against her neck, the two holding the position for a few moments before she let the bird out of the hug, where it hopped onto her knee.
Summer carefully pulled her scroll out, tapped Raven's portrait on the screen, and held it up to her ear as it rang for only a second when Raven picked up. "Summer?! Are you ok, we heard some of those crashes from up here!"
"I'm alright Rae," Summer said, her hands still shaking a little from the adrenaline, "Well, still alive in any case. Can I get the hell out of here now?"
"Yeah, coming your way." The call ended and Summer shut her scroll and put it away just in time for a portal to open up in front of her over the drop. The crow cawed and took flight into it while Summer grabbed her cloak, wrapped the majority of it around her arm, and jumped in after it. She emerged on the other side on top of the cliffs and almost immediately fell backwards when she saw her team and Ozpin.
"Summer!" Taiyang yelled running up to Summer as she hugged her legs to her and pressed her forehead to her knee. "Are you ok?"
"I…I…" she started to say.
"I'm sorry Summer," Ozpin interrupted walking up and crouching next to her. "We could hear that carnage from here. If I had known-"
"Stop," Summer waved a hand, "Going in was my choice. I just… need to catch my breath."
"But what the hell was that?" Qrow asked rubbing his arms, "That was a Grimm right? I wasn't imagining that?"
"No, you weren't, and you didn't even see what happened before it found me." Summer pulled her head up and flattened out her legs as she added, "The damn thing was talking!"
"Talking?" Ozpin said just as surprised as the others, "How is that possible?"
"I swear I heard it talk to the Seer! It was also smart enough to thoroughly search an area I was hiding in, and I think it found me because of Qrow. No offense."
"None taken," Qrow said with a wave. "So what was it talking about?"
"I could only catch bits and pieces, but I definitely heard 'Queen'. I also heard something about Atlas and Haven Academy, which can't mean anything good coming from it."
"I still find it weird that Grimm can talk. What kind can do that?" Team STRQ looked at Ozpin, who had been looking more and more unnerved as the conversation went on. After a moment he took a breath and asked what he had been dreading.
"What did it look like? A Beowolf or an Ursa?" Summer blinked at the question and shook her head.
"No, it wasn't like any Grimm I had seen before. It… looked like a woman."
"What?!" Raven shouted and looked at her brother, who only shook his head. Raven put a palm to her forehead and shook her head. "A Grimm that looks like a woman? There's no way…"
"Yeah, a woman in her late 20s or early 30s, I couldn't really tell with everything that happened. It's kind of a blur even now." Summer looked up at Ozpin to see his face utterly pale and his eyes wide.
"I… take it that's the 'worse' you mentioned earlier?" Taiyang asked carefully.
"Go back to your dorm," Ozpin said seriously and started walking away, "You passed your exam too, so don't worry about that along with the Grimm."
"W-what, wait!" Summer said scrambling to her feet and following Ozpin, "but what about the first years?! They're going into the forest in a few hours! If that thing is still out there, then they're just going to be launching into a deathtrap!"
"I'm well aware of that Miss Rose," Ozpin replied, "and rest assured that we will take the proper precautions. By the time they go in, we-"
"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Summer shouted throwing her cloak on the ground. "That Grimm threw itself into a tree hard enough to snap it like a twig and got back up like it was nothing and sliced through even more like paper! We need to go in there and kill it before even thinking of sending first years in! If they cross paths with it, it's just gonna-"
"I'M VERY MUCH AWARE OF HOW DANGEROUS IT IS SUMMER ROSE! MORE THAN YOU ARE!" Summer, along with her teammates, stopped and backed up at the sudden burst of anger from their normally calm headmaster. Ozpin, after seeing his shocked students, took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose gently. "You've been through a very harrowing experience and I understand why you're concerned Summer. I share those same concerns entirely, and if it were up to just me I would do just what you said.
"But the fact is that it isn't; I'm the headmaster of an academy starting a new year, which means the Council is expecting a new year of Huntsman. Not even I could defy them on this, especially when the reason for possibly postponing the initiation isn't public knowledge for a reason."
"It isn't?" Qrow asked looking back at the forest, "But-" he was interrupted by Ozpin raising a hand.
"We will take precautions. Our staff is going to be in the forest for the initiation anyway, so we'll comb the forest beforehand to make sure it is gone. As for what that is, if you really want to know then I will tell you tomorrow."
Summer blinked and looked back at her team; Taiyang sharing her own look of concern while Qrow and Raven had these looks of cold fury, the former doing a much better job at hiding it than his sister. Nonetheless they all nodded at her silent question, which she returned and looked back at Ozpin. "Yes, we would like to know what we're dealing with."
"After team placements then," Ozpin said gradually returning to his usual demeanor. "Until then, I would advise you get some rest after tonight. I'm sure you all will appreciate that." With one last nod Ozpin started walking back to the Academy, leaving Team STRQ to collect their thoughts.
"You know, I agree with everything he said for once," Raven said quietly and grabbed a few locks of her hair to knead in her hands.
"Are you ok Rae?" Taiyang asked, gently putting a hand on his teammates shoulder. The brunette didn't move to take it off like she usually did, instead taking a deep breath and shaking her head.
"I will be," she said and started the walk back, "Come on, I'm tired as hell."
"I hear that," Qrow said following his sister and rubbing his neck. "My arms are killing me."
"…I bet you'll be glad for some sleep then, huh Summer?" Taiyang asked looking at his leader, who was just picking her cloak up off the ground and brushed off some grass.
"Yeah, I guess," Summer answered and started following Taiyang as they walked. Not even a couple seconds of walking later Summer looked back at the forest and made up her mind, clenching her fist in the process.
