Chp. 17: Encounters Pt. 2

Feldspar, Vacuo

A Vacuan bullship makes its landing outside the settlement of Feldspar. Team CFVY, Kendra, and Kelly all stepped off the bullhead and started to walk up to the settlement.

"So this is Feldspar?" Kendra asked.

"Should be. There have been some negative energy spikes here lately, like in the book," Coco said.

"If there is, then Gus and his grandfather are here," Velvet said.

"And Carmine and Bertilak are here escorting them as well," Yatsuhashi added.

"So you all remember what our objectives are?" Kelly asked.

"Find the two rogue huntsmen and bring them in and get the Caspians to Oscuro Academy," Fox answered.

"Then let's do this," Coco said.

"Remember, we can't let them know we're on to them," Kendra said.

The settlement the group walks in consists of several poorly arranged tents, walls made out of trucks and vans, and adobe homes. It did not have any defenses of any kind It also has a fully-operational support CCT tower. Everyone walks around and notices that nobody seemed to be around.

"Where is everyone?" Kelly thought.

"They are all around us. I can sense them," Fox answered.

"Should we say something?" Coco asked.

"I guess we should," Velvet said.

"It's okay everyone! We're Huntsmen from Shade Academy!" Kendra said.

They waited for a response. Soon people started to come out to greet them. An old woman with spiky gray hair and a leathery face walks up to them.

"Greetings, huntsmen. I'm Slate," the woman now known as Slate introduced.

"So what are you kids doing here anyway?" Coco frowned at being called a kid to which Slate noticed.

"Everyone's a kid to me. Didn't mean nothing by it," Slate said.

"Shade Academy received some information that there has been some disturbances going on in this area. So we come to investigate," Coco explained.

"Come inside and I explain," Slate said. "We also have two huntsmen inside."

"Huntsmen?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Bertilak and Carmine," Slate replied.

"Yep. They're definitely here," Fox sent.

The group follows Slate inside a large tent. The inside of the tent appears to function as a tavern. Slate picks out a table at the center for everyone to sit at. A perky Faunus with a pig snout came over.

"Today's specials are crab burgers, crab steak, crab cake, and crab rangoon. All very fresh," the waitress rattled off the offerings.

"I'm gonna need an ale, Topez. Make it two to start, and keep them coming," Slate said to the waitress now known as Topez. "And as much as I love crab anything, I've been dreaming about your spicy bat stew for days. Got any of that left?"

"For you? Anything," Topez said.

The group went and gave out their orders to Topez.

"I'll get those orders right-" Topez was suddenly shoved aside by a man.

The man is a tall, broad and muscular man standing at six feet and six inches tall. He has a green mohawk and matching goatee. He wears a brown, hooded cloak and a green chest plate over a black tunic. He also has a mace on his belt. He has a long scar along his right forearm. This is one of the two Crown hired huntsmen, Bertilak Celadon.

"Hey," Yatsuhashi said as he rose from his seat while Velvet checked on Topez.

"Bertilak, apologize to the girl," Slate said.

"I'm sorry you were in my way," Bertilak growled. "Now run along, piggy."

Kelly got up from her chair, walked up to Bertilak, and slapped him hard across the face.

"I'd say you're the real piggy here, asshole," Kelly said.

"I apologize," Slate said to Topez as he helped her up.

"Well, well. What do we have here," Bertilak said as he stuck a toothpick in his mouth. "Not everyday you see a new huntsman in these parts."

"Guys, this is Bertilak Celadon. He's one of the two Huntsmen here," Slate said. "By the way, I never did get your names."

"Oh, right. I'm Coco and this is Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi. Team CFVY," Coco introduced.

"I'm Kendra of Team CFDT. And that's Kelly of Team GRMA," Kendra said.

"So you're all Huntsmen in training?" Bertilak asked with a look of shock and annoyance.

"Team GRMA and Team CFDT, huh? I've heard about you," a voice called.

Everyone turned to see a young woman with long back length wavy auburn hair with a single silver streak. She also has golden eyes, freckles and a black stylish tattoo on the right side of her torso running down to her upper leg. She wears a dark navy cropped long-sleeved shirt with a metal chain-like top attached, a silver shoulder cape with crimson trimmed and her emblem on it, crimson torn off booty shorts that match her tatter scarf and thigh-high black leather boots with folded over tops and small lace-up detailing. She wears goggles on top of her head, a black belt with sheaths for her Sai weapons, a single belt on the right sleeve and her left leg. She also wears worn bandages wrapped around her wrists. This is the Rattlesnake of the Sand, Carmine Esclados.

"Out of everyone that defended Beacon and Vale, you two and your teams from what I've heard fought more ferociously than anyone else. I'm impressed," Carmine said.

"Thanks," Kendra said.

Coco couldn't take her eyes off of Carmine because of her outfit, despite knowing her real intentions.

"I apologize for anything off-color my partner says. If he hasn't offended you yet, trust me, he will," Carmine said.

"So basically he's Cardin in the future," Kelly thought.

"Most likely," Fox sent.

"I'm Coco Adel," Coco said, extending her hand.

"Carmine Esclados," Carmine introduced as she grabbed Coco's her and shook it firmly.

"You have to tell me where you shop," Coco said. "I love you outfit."

"This old thing? I've had it forever. Picked it up in Mistral years ago," Carmine said. "I want you purse by the way. Who's the designer?"

"Coco Adele," Coco answered.

"You made it yourself? Must be one of a kind. Careful, or I might have to take it from you," Carmine said. "So, you guys just passing through?"

"We got information about some disturbances within this area, so Professor Rumpole sent us out here," Kelly answered.

"And who gave you this information?" Bertilak asked with a glare.

"Does it matter? We're glad to have some back up. The more, the merrier," Carmine said.

"So what's been happening here?" Coco asked.

"Trouble has been following us around. Every few days something gets people here worked up for no reason. Arguments and fights break out, people get afraid, and of course all the negative emotion brings Grimm More and more of them every time," Slate explained.

Team CFVY, Kendra, and Kelly already knew that the mood bombs going on and already knew that it was Gus' semblance, Emotion Amplification, that's the cause of this, but continued to play along.

"And how long has this been going on?" Kendra asked.

"About the month. Half of the folks here survived three separate attacks at as many settlements," Slate explained. "Tuff, Schist, and just earlier Gossan. We lost a lot of good people along the way."

"Would have been more if not for us," Bertilak said.

"Cool it," Carmine said.

"So you guys are here because of all this?" Fox asked.

"No, we just help out on occasion," Carmine said.

"Then why are you here?" Kelly asked.

"That's none of your business, sweetheart," Bertilak said.

"Anyway we better get ready to get going and check on the Caspians," Carmine said as she and her partner walked away.

"Who are the Caspians?" Coco asked, despite already knowing who they are.

"Edward Caspian and his grandson, August. They seem nice, but they don't socialize much," Slate said.

Topez walks up to the group and gives them their orders.


Somewhere close to Oniyuri, Mistral

Meanwhile in the forest, Jacob opens his eyes and sees Ruby, Robert, Britney and Qrow slowly get up and are all outside their crashed bullhead. He then sees the second crashed bullhead across from them as Team JNPR and Alex walk out.

"Is everyone okay?" Alex called.

"We're fine, but our pilot's dead," Qrow said.

"Tyrian is still out there," Robert said.

"I'll go and find him. Just stay here," Qrow said as he then transformed into a crow and flew off.

"You may want to get your weapons out, just in case," Alex said.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and looked around.

"Ren, can you try and find him again?" Jaune asked.

"I'll try," Ren said, extending out his hand.

Everyone waited for any reaction from Ren. As he tried to find Tyrian using his aura, everyone was unaware that Tyrian, with his coat off, was right behind Jacob with his stinger pointed at his back. Ren opened his eyes and quickly turned to Jacob.

"Jacob, behind you!" Ren shouted.

Jacob quickly turns around and opens fire. Tyrian jumps over Jacob as the Huntsman in training transforms God's Trust into its sword form and swings at the scorpion Faunus as he blocks. Robert runs at Tyrian with Sweet Kisser and thrusts it at his stomach, but Tyrian quickly dodges. Tyrian slashes at the two boys as they desperately block and parry his attacks. Ruby dashes in with Crescent Rose and swings at Tyrian who jumps out of the way and runs at Britney. He gave a couple of slashes at Britney which she was able to block, but then he stood by his tail and kicked her in the head and chest, sending her away a few feet. Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha, run up towards the mad Faunus. Nora swings her hammer downward at Tyrian, which he was quick to step away. Jaune and Pyrrha slash and swing their swords at Tyrian as he was blocking all their attacks while laughing. Tyrian sweeps his leg at Jaune and Pyrrha's legs, tripping them and making them fall.

Ren charges up and slashes at Tyrian as he parries away his attacks. Tyrian thrusts his stinger at Ren's head as he moves away from each attack. Ruby and Robert charge at the Faunus. They both slash at Tyrian as he blocks their attacks and slashes at them. A bullet flies past Tyrian's head and he turns to see Alex shooting at him with his assault rifle. Tyrian charges at Alex ready to strike with his weapons. Jacob runs up to Alex to his aid. His arm brace suddenly extends out as he runs in front of Alex just as Tyrian makes his attack. Everyone notices that his arm brace is now a shield that Jacob held vertically and it had successfully protected the U.S. marine from Tyrian's wrist blades. Jacob quickly bashes Tyrian's arms away and swings his sword at him, but Tyrian quickly blocks his sword with his tail. He jumps a few feet away from Jacob as he sees that everyone has him surrounded.

"Well, this is a fine predicament that we all got ourselves into," Tyrian said.

"Cut the crap you psycho. We know that you were sent to get Ruby," Britney said.

"Oh, so you know. That I am here to whisk away the rose," Tyrian said as he dramatically swung his hand. "But I am also here to take someone else other than her."

Everyone was confused by what he meant and wondered who else he wanted to capture.

"Who else are you looking for?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's certainly not you," Tyrian said. "Or you. Or you. Well, you do interest me."

As Tyrian spoke he pointed at Pyrrha then at Nora, then Ren, and lastly at Jaune.

"It is you that I also seek," Tyrian said, pointing at Jacob.

"Okay, Ruby, I get, with her silver eyes and all. But why me?" Jacob asked.

"Because you not only helped the rose best poor pathetic Cinder, but our Queen has reason to believe that you seem to have knowledge of our plans at Beacon," Tyrian explained.

"So Salem wants me in her clutches too, huh? Well I say let the bitch witch try and get me if she can," Jacob said.

"How dare insult our divine savior?!" Tyrian angrily shouted.

"She ain't my savior I'll tell you that. By the way look behind you," Jacob said with a smirk.

Tyrian turns around and sees Qrow behind him as he quickly punches him in the nose, making him clinch his nose in pain. Qrow glares at Tyrian and pulls out Harbinger as Tyrian looks back up.

"As I live and breath, Qrow Branwen. A true Huntsman has entered the fray!" Tyrian said as he mockingly bows.

"Tyrian Callows, wanted for several murders all across Anima believed to be dead. And you aren't taking either my niece nor her friend," Qrow said.

"Oh, so you have heard of me? My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve these two. So, that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen," Tyrian said. "Now I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?"

Tyrian assumes a crouching position. "You took the words right out of-'' Qrow couldn't finish as Tyrian rushed at him.

Qrow blocks two strikes with Harbinger, then slashes at Tyrian who jumps trying to pierce Qrow as he lands. Qrow dodges then swings but Tyrian back-flips away and rushes back in. Tyrian quickly stood by his hands and spun around kicking Qrow in the face. Qrow steps aside and gives out a downward strike, but Tyrian flips back to his feet and avoids the attack. Tyrian attacks again as Qrow parries away several trusts of his tail. Qrow swings a horizontal strike at the scorpion Faunus, but Tyrian dodges as Qrow slices through a tree. The tree then falls on one of the crashed bullheads, causing it to explode. The force of the blast pushes Tyrian towards Qrow as he punches him to the ground. Qrow smirked knowing that this was the work of his semblance, Misfortune.

With a look of frustration, Tyrian quickly gets back up to his feet and his eyes and arms start to glow purple. Everyone knew that Tyrian was now starting to activate his semblance, Aura Disruption. Qrow transformed Harbinger into its scythe mode. Qrow and Tyrian rush at each other and both viciously try to attack each other and block and dodge each other's attacks. Ruby and Robert transformed their weapons to their sniper modes and tried to aim at Tyrian, but the clashing between Qrow and Tyrian was too fast for them to get a clear shot.

"I can't get a clear shot," Robert said.

"Me neither," Ruby said.

"Fuck it. I'm going in!" Jacob said as he ran into battle.

"Wait up!" Ruby called as she followed Jacob.

Qrow slashes at Tyrian as he jumps back from the attack as his eyes and arms stop glowing and readies himself to attack again while laughing. Jacob runs up to Tyrian and bashes him in the head with his shield. Tyrian swings his tail at Jacob's feet which he was quick to jump over his attack. The Faunus then slashes at the boy who parries his attack. Jacob bashes the Queen's Servants aside then spins around and slams his shield at Tyrian's head and slashes at his chest with his sword. Tyrian quickly recovers, but Ruby swings her scythe at his legs, making him fall to the ground. Tyrian kicks Ruby in the face as he jumps back at his feet. Tyrian threw several strikes at Ruby as she struggled to block his attacks. Qrow jumps in front of Ruby and throws several strikes of his own at Tyrian, pushing him back. Tyrian gave two upper slashes at Qrow, then two kicks at Ruby. Jacob shoots at Tyrian in the side. Frustrated, Tyrian then shoots back at Jacob as the Terran Huntsman in training quickly raises his shield and protects himself from the bullets.

Suddenly, a small object lands in front of Tyrian's feet. Alex looks at the small object and to his shock, it was a flash grenade.

"Everyone, look away!" Alex yelled.

Everyone but Tyrian does what Alex said and the flash grenade detonates, blinding and deafening Tyrian. Several armed men in uniforms run out of the bushes. One of the men stood out from the rest as he calmly walked up to the Faunus. He wore a black silk-blend kosoda kimono top, a pair of hakama pleated pants, and a pair of black sandals. He has slick-back black hair and brown eyes. Qrow, Ruby, and Jacob walk next to the man while the soldiers have their guns pointed at Tyrian, along with Team JNPR, Robert, Britney, and Alex.

"She'll... forgive you," Tyrian said to himself as he slowly backed away.

He turned around and ran straight into the woods. Qrow, Ruby, and Jacob turn to the man as Team JNPR, Britney, Robert, and Alex walk up to them.

"Um... hi,"Ruby sheepishly said.

"こんにちは: Kon'nichiwa (Hello)," the man said with a bow.

"I'm sorry what?" Jaune asked.

"He said hello. It's the Japanese military," Britney said.

"I see you are American. I am Major Hayashi Kunio," the man known as Hayashi introduced.

"Sergeant Alex Barker," Alex said with a salute.

"Ruby Rose," Ruby said.

"Qrow Branwen," Qrow said.

"Jacob Gordon," Jacob said.

"Jaune Arc," Jane said.

"Pyrrha Nikos," Pyrrha said.

"Nora Valkyrie," Nora said.

"Lie Ren," Ren said.

"Britney Connor," Britney said.

"Robert Franklin," Robert said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Hayashi said.

"Not to be rude or anything but, do you have a place to rest?" Qrow asked.

"Of course. Our base is not far from here," Hayashi said. "Please follow us."

The group of travelers followed the Japanese as they started to make their way to their base.