Transcript 1: Hidden "treasures"
Above the undulating red canopy of Forever Fall, all was peaceful. A pair of dragonflies danced an intricate ballad, swooping and chasing each other above the leaves and through the tips of the red maples and redwoods packed densely below them.
A flurry of green combat dress disturbed the dance, splitting the pair as Lina soared through the air, blasting freshly acquired fire dust into the Ursa below. It roared and swiped at the bullets with one clawed hand, and Jasper took full advantage, leaping and driving his left gauntlet into the creature's throat through the hole in its defence. It tumbled over, its head bent forwards from the blow, then snapping backwards as it landed onto its back, where a long blue blade awaited it.
"Good work, team," said Jasper, unequipping Pound Zero as the last of the four Ursi blew away in a cloud of black dust. "It got a little uncomfortable for a minute there."
"Would have been better if you'd let me help," said Nero, not fully satisfied with his team leader's instruction to stay back and conserve his already low aura during the fight. He had complied of course, that is until the second beast had tumbled over towards him, and he'd had no real choice in the matter.
"I'd say blowing one of the bunch clean in half when it lands on your toes was helpful enough," grinned Jasper, gesturing to Quarter.
"Right."
"Anyway," Jasper continued, pointing in a north-easterly direction. "We should be almost there by now, only a few more minutes."
"Unless we run into more Grimm," said Lina, pulling leaves out of Autobeat's crevices.
"Well, yes." Jasper admitted. "It's been slower going than I'd have wanted. I just hope the delays don't cost us the second sceptre by the time we get there. Gale, you scout ahead for a little bit, and I'll bring up the rear this time."
The four young adults strung out like a line of oversized army ants, and soon disappeared as they flitted through the trees, matching the movement of the shadows and the leaves in the soft afternoon breeze that was now gliding through the forest.
Gale preferred to call them "adults-in-training", a term she had dubbed the group a few weeks prior during her 18th birthday. Lina called it an excuse for Gale to party harder, an observation which had not been entirely inaccurate on reflection, given the volume she had been belting out sea shanties and fishing chants from back home late in the night. Gale swore she could handle her alcohol, claiming nobody batted an eye if you had a glass or two at fourteen in Hammerhead Point given the sailing culture, but had ended the night feeling much worse for wear than she had anticipated, and hadn't made a second attempt since.
Most of these thoughts were far from Gale's mind as she snuck across the forest floor, sword raised and eyes darting about for signs of further assault. At least, they were until they came across a small stream a few feet wide, which ran down towards the northern coastline. Gale started visibly as she came across it, and stood there staring down at the water as Lina and Nero drew alongside her.
"What's up, Gale?" said Lina, noticing the small current in front of them. "Afraid of getting your feet wet?" She smiled briefly at her own rare joke, then hopped over lightly. "Come on, you can jump further than all of us put together with those giraffe legs of yours. Or maybe grasshopper legs would be a better description."
Nero shuffled uncomfortably as Gale continued to stare at the water. She'd been standing there for nearly twenty seconds now, and Jasper was beginning to approach in the distance as well.
"Or maybe… a Jackalope?"
Gale's eyes focused and she snapped her head back up reflexively at the reference, twisting her neck reflexively to look for the aforementioned Grimm.
"What? What did you say Lina?"
Nero and Lina exchanged nervous and thoroughly bamboozled glances, just as the soft crunch of Jasper's sneakers signified the leader's arrival.
"Find something, gang?" he asked cheerfully, then the smile dropped as he noticed the group's expressions. Gale's eyes in particular looked frightened… hunted, even. And he knew he'd seen that expression once before.
"Gale, you look like you've seen a ghost," said Nero carefully. "What is it?"
Gale seemed terribly small for someone of her unusual height, and she brushed at her chocolate eyes, which were so filled with tears it seemed impossible there could ever have been any of the mischief or sparkle which normally occupied them.
"I… I don't know!" she choked, covering her face with her other hand and burying it into her collar. "I saw something, I don't know, it was so deep… and…"
Gale slid down onto her haunches and sat down with her knees tucked in, then her stained face appeared over the top as the others looked on in stunned silence.
"I don't remember."
She looked at the trickling stream on her left, then grimaced and turned away again. "I.. feel like I might have seen it before."
"Oobleck's resource lecture?" asked Jasper. "At lunch a few days ago, I thought you were uncomfortable then too.
"Was I?"
"Something like that, when we were talking about our last assignment. You don't even remember that?"
"Nothing. I thought…" Gale shook her head. "No, it's gone."
A dreadful calm seemed to wash over the group as they stood around, interrupted only by the tinkling and falling of red leaves in the now fresh breeze wafting through the forest.
Finally, Jasper broke it.
"We need to get the hell out of here. We'll have to hope there's somewhere to shelter near the second sceptre, because we won't stand a chance with this negativity when the Grimm come, not with two fighters down."
"I'm not down," said Nero indignantly. Jasper really seemed to be digging into him for some reason this afternoon.
"You will be if we get into any sort of fight again. Come on, we'll grab the second sceptre and then buckle down for the night, sunset's only a few hours away now and we need some time for recuperation."
Nero grudgingly agreed, then realised his leader was trying to make the best of the situation, and performing another important task – distracting Gale from the main trauma here, whatever that was. He'd better show his support himself, he thought.
Nero offered his hand to the figure on the ground, and pulled her to her feet. He leaned in as Gale brushed herself off.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Just remember, you've got us."
Lina was waiting on the other side as the remaining three crossed the small rivulet and passed by her. She threw her tiny arms around the much taller girl in grey, and hugged her, perhaps the first time she had initiated the move, or even willingly.
"I don't know what's going on," Lina said. "Or what it will be when we find out. But you'll be ok."
Gale squeezed her gratefully, without responding. Maybe no response was needed, thought Lina.
"Well, it seems Brandy's intel was indeed accurate," commented Ozpin as he watched the group move along on his scroll. "There is something bothering Ms Grigia, although I can't tell what from here."
"It was certainly a good effort to support her like that," said Glynda Goodwitch, staring at her own device. "That definitely qualifies as good teamwork, even if they didn't go about it in the best way."
"I doubt anybody can do it perfectly," replied Ozpin. He lowered his glasses a little as he took in the vibrant reds and browns of the forest below him. "And certainly not I," he recalled. "Even with my experience. Some days, and especially today, I wonder if I could have done better when I met Coral. But I'm still glad I could comfort her when she told me about June."
"What did she tell you?"
Ozpin smiled a wry smile as he recalled that day over two hundred years prior.
"And… I'm a… a 'Fall Maiden' now?"
Ozbourne sat in his stone-walled cabin, crinkled lips open and quill feather still poised in the air where it had been when this young, red-haired girl had burst through his door two minutes previously.
"What does that even mean?" quivered the girl, her face streaked with tears and dull orange dress tattered and dirty from a seemingly long and hasty run.
Now tears of his own began to fall down Ozbourne's face. He still wasn't used to it, even after sixty-plus years of living with this body's remarkable openness and tendency to show what he was feeling inside, even if he tried to hide his emotions.
The girl hesitated as the old man moved slowly towards her, then enveloped her in an embrace that smelt like rubber and old pine needles, but was as soft as the snow which lay round about.
"It means June thought you were a very special person" he replied, silent sobs beginning to ripple through his frame. He hugged the girl for an age, as if the continued action alone were enough to bring back his old friend. Eventually, he stepped back and examined her. She couldn't have been more than fourteen, far too young to have been burdened with this responsibility, let alone thrust into the fight which had continued on for centuries past and looked set to continue for centuries more. But if June, of all people, had seen something in her that was enough to trust her with these powers, he knew he should trust her judgement.
"What's your name, child?" he asked.
"I'm called Brooks, Mister," sniffed the girl in question. "Coral Brooks."
"Well, Coral," said Ozbourne, taking an old leather hat off a nail as he fumbled for the door key in his pocket. "There's someone else who we need to go find first, someone that will help you understand what's going on. Her name is Aurora."
"Who is she?"
"Someone very dear to both me, and to June, who you'll get to know well over the next few years. She is what is called a 'Spring Maiden'."
"But what IS a "Spring Maiden'? What is a 'Fall Maiden'? Aunt Ju wouldn't have told me that if it didn't mean something important. What am I, Mister Ozbourne? Am I going to be okay?"
Ice flooded through Ozbourne's veins as he realised the significance of her words. Aunt? Surely this wasn't that little Corrie that June had told him of, and so often talked about. He hadn't seen her since she was about five years old, but this girl here was so very different. But her hair was the same fiery blood orange colour he had noticed nearly a decade ago, and he had never seen hair that shade elsewhere.
He shook his head. He hadn't been able to bring himself to start a family for centuries now, and he hadn't spent much time watching children grow up in the meantime. Yes, Coral was Corrie alright. No wonder June had trusted her, out of anyone in the world.
"Yes Coral, you will be just fine, it's just that your Aunt June bequeathed you something very special, something few people in this world ever see. I know for a fact that she trusted you very much."
"And I too, like she was my own mother. I've lived with her almost as long as I can remember, but I had to. She was the only one who could take me in."
Ozbourne lifted his eyes to the sky, looking towards the western shoreline and beyond, towards Vacuo. "I think you'll find June was even more magical than you realise."
Transcript 2: Guarded treasures
"What are you waiting for, Jasper?" Nero questioned as his team leader circled the stone column a dozen metres away.
Jasper's green eyes darted up and down the saggy pillar which housed the second sceptre. Cracks had opened up in the dull granite and small pebbles lay littered around the base of the pillar. It felt like it would break if you looked at it, much less the glass box wedged between the upper and lower halves of some explosive sandwich.
"I don't like the look of this pillar. There's only one way to get this sceptre out without the whole thing falling down, and we don't have a key."
"The hell you need a key for?" Lina sauntered up quickly and inspected the other side where Jasper was standing. "Ah. That's… interesting."
"Indeed."
"Can't you just hit the little door off with those gauntlets of yours?" she asked.
"Not without risking the frame as well, and then whole thing would cave in. I doubt we'll get points for just pieces of a sceptre." He motioned the others to join him, and Nero and a very quiet Gale shuffled over. "Reckon the tip of your whip would fit in that lock, Nero?"
The gladiator shook his head. "Wouldn't work, plus if I twisted it, the dust could activate and destroy the box, and the sceptre."
"Why would they go to so much trouble for something like this?" scowled Lina, thoroughly puzzled. "The first one didn't have any of this problem-solving nonsense. I hope we get extra points"
"Who knows. That's probably it though, keeping us on our toes like in the field." Jasper scratched his chin with Pound Zero's metal fingers, and stared at the little silver lock, wondering how he could get through the door. He lifted his head. That was it!
"I'm going to try to go straight through with Glassfinger, like I did Jewel's shield that one time." He wrinkled his nose at the memory of that unfortunate incident. "If I can keep the cracks to the door panel, we'll have a good chance of getting it out whole."
Jasper pressed his fingers carefully on the right side of the case, then focused as the familiar red glow swept over his hand. He closed his eyes, trying to visualise his aura acting over just a small area, big enough to put his hand through, and the glass cracking inwards from the five focal points on his fingers until…
He stumbled forward, suddenly feeling no resistance, then caught the door before it continued on its inward arc towards the sceptre. Bewildered, he plucked the gold and pink staff from its resting place and placed it in the bundle beside the hair dye and other sceptre they had picked up nearly an hour ago.
"Umm, what?" blinked Nero. "Was it open the whole time?"
"No, no, I tried it beforehand." He peered closely at the door, then stared at his hand.
"Well it's open now, dummy," said Lina, growing impatient with these unnecessary games and fancy boxes. "We've got what we came for, let's go find that cave you keep talking about before it gets dark."
"Hang on a minute," said Jasper, placing a finger over the hole. "One of my fingertips was touching the lock before, did I break it?."
This time, Jasper paid close attention as he activated his semblance, watching carefully as the red aura on his hand flowed around the lock in tiny tendrils, then began seeping into the keyhole as the largest gap and path of least resistance. He pulled his finger back slightly, and the door swung with it, never breaking contact with his fingertip. Nero's eyebrows shot up.
"Now THAT'S a handy trick," he declared, watching as Jasper then twisted the lock to and fro with his finger.
"Amazing," breathed Jasper as the red glow faded and he withdrew his hand. "It fills the hole, and so must hold down all the little mechanisms inside while I turn it. A perfect lockpicking device."
"Pretty cool," said Lina as she inspected the second sceptre, seeming to be identical to the first. "Just don't use it to go through all my stuff, ok?"
Jasper laughed, and tied up the little bundle on the ground as Lina stepped back. "Don't worry. I'll probably use it against CFVY before anyone else. And if I can't use it on the battlefield, I'll sure as hell use it to sneak things into their lockers when we get back." He looked up at Lina. "I know two other people who might be in on that idea…" Jasper grinned, and shifted his gaze to Gale, who had been looking on with some interest but hadn't joined in on any of the discussion. She returned a timid smile. Better than nothing, he supposed.
"Alright," said Nero, redirecting the conversation. "Let's go find that cave I was promised."
Glynda Goodwitch stood on top of the northern cliffs on the edge of Beacon academy. The sun hung in the sky, fighting a losing battle with the horizon as it sank towards the inevitable night.
Amazingly, only five of teams had returned so far, the others either choosing to stay and fight on or else hide until it was safe to return. Four of the teams had been defeated and forced to trudge back to Beacon, while Team SYLC had managed to return holding two sceptres in quick time, with Sven Harbinger using his orientation semblance and tracking skills to give the other teams a wide berth. While the four defeated teams had to sit and wonder where it all went wrong, SYLC was well placed with a solid early score. Although not particularly spectacular given their lack of team vs team points, two sceptres and a good portion of Grimm tackled while clearing a path back to Beacon was likely enough to place them close to some of the top teams, and plenty above the others who stumbled.
"Mr Glass continues to surprise," she commented to Ozpin as the other professors prepared to settle down for the night. "His practice with his aura projection semblance appears to be paying off, increasing its utility even if the semblance itself hasn't evolved."
Ozpin chuckled. "I'm just glad Mr Glass's surprises are a little less concerning than we had feared a few months ago." However, at the source of those former worries was another thought, and Ozpin's face fell. "But our fears with Amber are coming true instead," he sighed. "We're going to have to break that terrible knowledge on someone else instead, likely that Mistral student Leo talks about. I detest doing that. Every time it has to be done, and I drag another innocent soul into this war." He raised his hands helplessly. "But what else can I do? Stand aside, and let Salem end the world?"
Coral was aghast. The words tumbling from this old man's mouth were impossible, they couldn't be true, yet he delivered them not as a man insane, but as one well experienced with such matters.
"And she… controls… the Grimm? Coral repeated slowly. First, he had said her Aunt June was some sort of magical being, and that meant… something, she guessed. But was magic even real? Coral didn't even know what to believe anymore. There was some link made when her Aunt had clasped her hand on the ground, some familiar green flash of her Aunt's aura, now washing over Coral's arm… and then she was gone.
Tears filled her eyes again and she tried to push away the images, but they kept coming at her like the unending waves on the shoreline. Aunt June had clutched at her heart as they walked back from their self-defence training session, but although over fifty, she had thought her aunt one of the healthiest and fittest people she knew.
It wasn't fair.
She felt a wave of anger building up inside her. And now this old man was telling her about all these fantastical things, and about all these names which meant nothing to her, and had no importance in her life. This Mr Ozbourne hadn't even told her anything about what her relation was to this, nothing about any of these so-called "Maidens". Come to think of it, he hadn't even let her have time to bury and mourn Aunt June, but had whisked her away some place she knew not where, to meet the "Spring Maiden". The only thing stopping her from abandoning this whole strange business was the fact that her aunt had begged for one thing, and one thing only as she held Coral's hand, and that was to "find Ozbourne", which likely meant listening to his instructions, no matter how crazy they might seem.
It had been nearly three weeks now, and the landscape had since changed from trees and mountains to arid grasslands and then finally, desert. But finally, a shadowy mass in the distance indicated they were approaching what Coral thought – or at least hoped – was their destination.
Mr Ozbourne hadn't told her almost anything until just this morning, which she decided was further evidence that they were nearing their journey's end. He had insisted on taking on all opposition that stood in their path on his own, whether Grimm or brigand, although she kept insisting that Aunt Ju had taught her in these very arts. She had to admit though, this old man showed surprising speed and incredible proficiency in combat which rivalled what she had seen from Aunt Ju. It made her wonder whether he had been the person that trained her, long ago, but why wouldn't her aunt have told her if that was that case?
"Yes, she controls them. And she looks like one of them too, in a manner of speaking."
"She WHA…" Coral stopped herself. Until she met Aurora, this "Spring Maiden" and all explanations were given for what was happening to her, none of this fantastical knowledge actually meant anything to her. "You know what, never mind."
She remained silent as the shadowy grey blur on the horizon became brown, then various wooden structures became visible, and finally they were nearly upon the gates themselves of a large settlement. The ground was a little different here, much grassier and even a little green in patches near a large pool with a pillar-like rock, which looked to be seeping water. Ozbourne piped up again.
"Quite a sight, isn't it? That oasis is the entire reason Vacuo was settled at all, although now the Weeping Wall and surrounding pool is barely more than a puddle now."
Coral passed a cart full of strange-looking meat that reminded her of the seafood smells from around Vale, and passed yet another wooden two-storey shop. So much wood, thought Coral. Well, if it had been an oasis in the past…
"We're here," announced Ozbourne presently, and turned into a small doorway. Coral followed, pushing back the leather straps used to keep out the flies, and they found themselves in a tidy living room with a full leather rug as its sole claim to luxury.
"Who's there?" called a stern feminine voice, as rustling and then the noise of footsteps alerted the pair. "You can't just barge into a place uninvited, especially in the middle of the day! Out! Out, whoever you are!" The footsteps grew closer and more purposeful, and the voice sounded cross rather than intimidated. Finally, a slim woman in a deep purple robe appeared, her brown locks twirling and bouncing about her shoulders. She spied the two travellers, then opened her mouth once again and began to raise her hand, but stopped short when she recognised the taller of the two.
"Ozbourne? What are you doing here?" Aurora said in surprise. "It has been so long, and such a trip, too. And who is… oh Ozbourne, please no."
Aurora seemed to notice the second party in the room, a young girl. A girl that looked a lot like a very familiar face, and surely that could mean only one thing. Not June… she couldn't have been… she was untouchable! Aurora turned away, not wanting the others to see the tears already forming in her eyes.
"It can't be, Ozbourne, say it isn't so! Ozbourne!"
"Hello Aurora," croaked the other party, his voice betraying as much emotion as he felt though he tried to hide it. "I've brought someone you haven't seen since she was very young."
Coral shuffled forward, wondering how she was going to introduce herself, but staggered back in shock as Aurora whipped her face around, tears flooding from her eyes.
Eyes which had now erupted in striking pink flames.
Her mouth dropped open and she pressed backwards into the rough-cut planks as Aurora began floating in the air, and yellow sparks began to fly around her. She bent double, and the sparks intensified around her as she sobbed aloud.
"Coral, get down!"
Coral barely had time to blink before Ozbourne rammed his staff into the ground, creating a green shield of shimmering energy around them.
"JUUUUUUUUUNNNNNEEEEEE!" Aurora howled, arching her back and throwing her head to the sky, as the sparks around her erupted into blinding tornado of grey and yellow, the electricity arcing around the room like a compressed thundercloud unleashing its rage. Coral flinched as a chair smashed into the green protective barrier around her, and watched in horror as pots, knives and even tables were caught up in the hurricane and blasted into and through the dark timber walls.
Coral screamed. It was all she could do in the situation.
The storm lessened for a moment as Aurora broke out of her trance and turned her flaming eyes over in their direction. Then the wind faded and the sparks began to disappear as Aurora lowered herself slowly onto the ground. She dropped the last few inches and dipped her head, the pink fire extinguished. Ozbourne sighed with relief, and the green barrier surrounding him and Coral disappeared.
Aurora opened her eyes as a single tear made its way down her cheek, and took a step towards Coral.
"No!" cried Coral, standing up and readying her fists reflexively
"Oh, Coral," Aurora whispered shamefacedly. "I…"
"Don't! Stay back!" Coral gasped as she tried to shrink back into what remained of the wall behind her.
Then Coral realised she was looking down on both Ozbourne and Aurora, despite her small stature, and she was vaguely aware of a hissing sound right next to her.
"It's okay, Coral, come down now," soothed Ozbourne. His stance was cautious, as was the purple-haired newcomer's, even after that incredible display of power just a few seconds ago.
Coral looked about wildly for the source of the hissing, and in the process realised two things: one, she was several feet off the ground, and two, the sound appeared to be coming from HER.
She caught a bright flash reflecting off one of the haphazardly scattered pots, and with shock recognised her own face in its mirror-like polish. The same flames she had seen in Aurora's eyes were now burning around hers, but instead matched Coral's own scarlet eyes. It was too much.
"Mr Ozbourne, what am I?" she quivered, but it was Aurora that answered.
"You're a very special person, Coral, and your Aunt June gave you an incredible gift."
"A gift?" came the choked reply. "How could this be a gift?"
"A gift to you, and a gift to others in this world if you choose." said Ozbourne. "A protector of this world."
The fight went out of Coral. She floated to the ground and the red flames extinguished as she began to tremble all over. Aurora caught her just before she collapsed, and Coral looked up at her as tears of her own began to roll down her face.
"But why me? I'm only fourteen."
Aurora hugged her, hugged her tight just like Ozbourne had, holding onto the last link to her dearest friend and mentor.
"I always knew she would choose you. In her profession, she never knew when she might suddenly leave you on your own. She stepped in when another young girl's life was turned upside down long ago, and needed people around her who cared when she had nobody."
Aurora stepped back and looked Coral in the eye as people began to poke their heads around outside, wondering what the noise and destruction had come from. Dust explosion, he lied, gesturing convincingly to the metal pots which still occasionally arced with yellow electricity. Aurora spoke in softer tones.
"Now it's my turn to return the favour she gave to me. Or at least, to try. Your aunt always knew how to help others when they were alone."
