Here's chapter 93, everyone.
Winter sighed, having went through a good bit of Anima with her team already. "This is so ridiculous. There is nothing here, just like the last island… I hope the General wasn't given false information."
"Ma'am, there was something behind the bushes." One of the soldiers said to her, so Winter barely glanced over, watching as a few Beowolves stepped out, so she sighed and used her semblance, summoning a single King Taijitu.
The summoned Grimm hissed at the Beowolves and instantly attacked, biting into one, while constricting the others and crushing them. The two soldiers with Winter didn't think she'd use her summoning ability that fast, but with how impatient she was getting, Winter was tired of it.
"Simply more Grimm. This area is more than likely home more Beowolves. While we're here for the strange sightings of larger animals, we can still clear out Grimm here." Winter commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am!" The two soldiers then kept their weapons at the ready, as Winter was thinking more about what they could be doing on the mission, since the Grimm were only in the way at that point.
"The other teams still report the same findings. Just Grimm, so maybe the sightings were just wrong and the ones who sent in that report only saw larger Grimm, believing they were animals."
Winter shook her head a few times. "No, Grimm are too distinct for that. Even if there was someone who only saw them with one eye. There has to be more to this."
Animals that were considered a threat to humanity is what the report was made to sound like, and while it sounded ludicrous, Winter knew she couldn't just stop the mission just because she felt like she was wasting her time.
As the Atlas Specialist was continuing to search one of the islands of Anima, she came across a few tracks that weren't the same as the ones she's ran into before, so she knelt down and examined the tracks for a few moments. "You two, over here."
The soldiers ran over, looking down in shock at the larger tracks on the ground. "W-Whoa, I think that might classify under what we're looking for, Ma'am."
"Don't be so sure just yet. Remember that some Grimm are larger than others." Winter said as she got up and pulled her saber out. "Be sure not to harm the animals we're here looking for, so yes, you will need a bit of hesitation in your attacks."
"Yes, Ma'am." The two soldiers said again, keeping their rifles ready for any large Grimm that may appear in the forest they had entered, since the tracks led them to one.
Winter noticed the tracks were larger than normal, and of a bear, so an Ursa would be a good guess. Still, Winter wasn't ready to simply let the tracks go without further investigation. "One of you contact the other teams to update me on their own investigations. Tracks, sightings, anything."
One of them nodded, as she began to contact the others, and Winter hoped that they'd find something soon, or else she'd rip her own hair out from wasting so much time on the mission.
"Miss Schnee, we're here." Klein called out, and Weiss got up, slowly walking over to look out at where they were landing, and she grimaced at the sight.
"Oh…" Weiss held her hand up to her mouth, taking in the sight of the destroyed village in the distance. "It's completely ruined…"
Ruby was next to walk over and she too was taken aback, so she gently took Weiss' hand in her own. "Don't worry. We're gonna help fix this place up like Jaune said."
Weiss sighed and chose to whisper. "There's only so much we can do though…"
"It'll be enough to help them feel better." Ruby said of Ren and Nora, who were both staying seated, feeling nervous about seeing their old home in ruins. "We have to be positive, for them."
Hearing that was another hit of inspiration for Weiss, as Ruby was the kind of person who put others before herself. "You really know what to say, you dork."
Ruby let out a smile, since she knew by that, Weiss was feeling a little better. "You say a lot that makes me feel better too, Wolfy."
Weiss groaned, since Ruby hadn't called her that for a bit, so she hoped she would've forgotten about it. "Ugh, you're such a hassle." She walked back over to the others, and Yang was the one holding Zwei that time. "Remember to keep him here."
"Don't worry, Ice Wolf." Yang looked down at Zwei and grinned. "You gotta be good for Klein okay, Zwei? I don't wanna see you running out of the airship to fight with us. It's too dangerous and besides, Klein is gonna need backup too."
Zwei nodded and barked, confirming he would listen and stay behind, so the blonde girl smiled as she set him down.
Pyrrha was fixing her armor up a bit as she got up. "Sir, I'll be outside of the airship to guard you and our transport." Before she walked over to the exit, Jaune placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hmm? Jaune, what's wrong?"
"Before you said two of us will be guarding the airship," He glanced over at Zwei. "And I don't know if a dog counts as the second, so I'm gonna stay here too to defend them with you." Zwei growled a little when the blonde boy said he doesn't count as a second, so he chuckled nervously and moved further from the dog.
The scarlet haired huntress in training smiled, nodding at his suggestion of staying. "That's a good idea, Jaune. Having more of us here will make sure we have a way back home still."
Jaune looked over at Weiss, hoping she could handle getting the others to still fix up Kuroyuri a bit, since it was his idea in the first place. The white haired girl simply nodded, assuring him that she'd be good for it.
Nora sighed and got up, as she helped Ren up. "You ready to go back home?" She let out a small smile, trying to be as positive as she could be.
Ren took a deep breath. "As ready as I can be," Both of them walked to the exit of the airship, as their friends let them off first.
Klein had landed a decent distance from the village, and since the airship he flew in on wasn't that big, spotting it wouldn't be as easy. The others walked out next, with Jaune and Pyrrha staying close to the airship.
"Oh man…" Yang remarked, looking at Kuroyuri. "I know we saw it already, but seeing it up close…" She said silently so Ren and Nora wouldn't hear her.
Blake's cat ears drooped, and she looked over at Ren and Nora, who were both silently looking out at their old home, hand in hand as the wind blew past them. Ruby's cloak was blowing in the wind, and she walked up to the two. "Hey… If you guys need a bit, we'll give you the space you need."
Nora squeezed Ren's hand and shook her head. "That means a lot to us, but it's okay. I think we'd rather get over there and make sure any Grimm around leave…"
"Kuroyuri is the resting place for many… I'd like it to be respected properly." Ren said as he continued to look on at the village. "Let's go."
Ren began to walk to Kuroyuri with Nora in hand, both knowing that it was going to be hard on them to be back again. While the others, excluding Jaune and Pyrrha were following them, Weiss caught something on the corner of her eye.
She felt like she saw something moving near the mountains, but when a bush at the same spot rustled a little, she shook her head and continued on.
Behind the bush was a large bear, and it walked to another spot to watch the students. It started to sniff towards them, and its eyes went wide, catching a familiar scent.
Willow was stretching from her day of training, and as Raven walked back into the cabin, she raised an eyebrow. "You're just going to stay dressed in that?" The white haired woman asked while looking at Raven's normal huntress attire.
"No one said I had to look nice. Besides, I leave my clothes in the places I stay at when I travel. So I didn't feel like getting back there to change." Raven explained as she realized Willow was looking at her blade. "You're going to tell me to leave my weapon here… Aren't you."
"Raven, you can't bring weapons into a restaurant. You know this." Willow said as she crossed her arms. "Don't argue with me on this, since I am not about to have you cause a scene there."
The black haired huntress was taken aback. "W-What? Who said I'd cause a scene. If anyone there tried taking my sword, I'd just leave. I don't need their fancy catering anyways."
"Ugh, you are not getting out of this because you want to carry around a sword with you all the time." Willow complained. "Just leave it here so we can go already." She was back in her home attire herself, since the dinner idea was just on the spot.
Raven rolled her eyes and placed her sword under the bed. "Fine. Hurry up so we can get this done already." She secretly didn't want Willow to know that she was actually fine with going with her for dinner.
"Hmph," Willow grabbed her purse from the counter and got up. "I swear, sometimes you can be more of a pain than Jacques."
"At least when I hit you, it's…" Raven stopped herself when she realized what she said. "Willow, I didn't-."
Willow had frozen on the spot, sighing to herself as she shook her head. "Don't say anything else… I'd like to eat something before returning home please…"
Raven watched her leave the cabin, and she sighed, feeling like the biggest idiot. "Damn it…"
"Okay, before we get there, now is the time we start scouting the area." Ruby said, and the others nodded. "Weiss, you and I can get the north and east of the town, and since Jaune and Pyrrha are back at the airship."
Yang was proud of her sister for taking charge, and she was next to speak up. "Blake and I can take the west, but since you and Weiss are taking the north and east-."
"I think we'd rather take two sides, the south and east." Ren requested, and Ruby raised an eyebrow. "It's our home, so I'd rather not burden any of you with scouting more than the rest of us."
"Ren it's really no big deal, and besides, Weiss is going to use her semblance. She's a lot better at tracking than the rest of us that way." Ruby explained.
Hearing that made Ren feel bad, since he didn't want the others to do so much work for them, since it was their home and request to go there. Nora just squeezed his arm and nodded with a smile. "She's right. So me and Ren can take the south."
Ruby nodded back, and she looked to Weiss. "You ready?"
"I am, but remember what I said earlier." Weiss closed her eyes and focused on her 'semblance'. A moment later, the familiar light enveloped her and she was on her paws.
The rose girl picked up her partner's clothes and put them away, except for her wolf pendant, which she tied around Weiss' neck. Ruby smiled at her partner and looked to the others. "Alright, remember that if you run into any Grimm, try to lead them away from the town."
Everyone nodded and started making their way near their scouting positions.
Weiss and Ruby chose to start with the east side first, and the white wolf was sniffing around for any Grimm she's fought in the past. "Hmm, nothing yet, but that doesn't mean we're safe, Ruby."
"Right. New Grimm we haven't fought could show up after all."
"Honestly I wouldn't be surprised. I've only fought Grimm during initiation and the mission we went on, so the scents I've picked up are limited." Weiss stated, and continued sniffing around.
Ruby was on high alert herself, though she was a little surprised that they hadn't even run into any Beowolves yet. "I'm wondering if those hunters that fought here cleared them all out."
"I don't know for sure, but all I can say is that an abandoned town like this is perfect to house Grimm, so even if they were killed near here, that doesn't mean more won't show up." Weiss reasoned.
"It's a gamble for sure, but as long as we're here making sure nothing can get the jump on us, then we'll be good." Ruby said, not knowing what had actually been around them.
Raven messed up, and now they're finally in Kuroyuri, so no more delays on that. Winter herself has something to deal with too, and she's gonna be in for a big surprise.
To JJ- I have motion sickness too, so I get the pain which is why I wrote that part in. Honestly it's so annoying to deal with. As for Raven and Willow, well, you can see the tension built between these two. They're still fun to write, but they also have their differences here and there. We'll see how long it takes for Blake to warm up to Zwei too.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 93. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 94.