Chapter 7: Scouts or Flag Bearers

"CAPTAIN!"

Shinai shot to attention, turning on his heel towards where Lance was standing at the edge of the treeline, his hand going to his blade, ready to pull it free. "What?"

The greatswordsman slowly brought his gaze up to meet the samurai's, a bright, giddy grin crossing his face. "LOOK!"

His leader began to pick his way over to the blonde huntsman, the other three turning towards the swordsmen as well. The duo locked gazes, Lance stepping aside to give Shinai a better look.

The samurai reached out carefully, pushing the foliage out of his way to stare into the well shaded stretch of the forest-

The path ahead was torn to shreds; bramble, bushes and soil torn and upturned in something's wake. A motley of bear-like tracks wildly covered the dirt and mud, heading away from the quintet of huntsmen.

Shinai leaned back, turning to the others with a sharp whistle. "Ursa tracks."

"Very well done, Mr. Zaffre!" Port called as he jubilantly began to trek over to the swordsmen. "Excellent spot!"

"Oh, you know, no biggie- let's go kill some shit!" Lance called back, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Language, my boy! But yes, the search portion of our journey has concluded! But, do not be too excited; we still must face this threat with the utmost caution and planning. Can't simply jump haphazardly into a melee after all!"

Oracle snorted. "Sorry, Teach, we prefer to make our plans on the fly."

"That may very well work for you in the Emerald Forest, but we are out here in the wild now; trust me when I say that we are in their territory, and we should treat our situation accordingly."

"Whatever gets us there faster..." Ulysses muttered.

"Gotta concur with the big man," The gunslinger continued. "Sorry to be pushy, but we're... feelin' a little pent up."

"You'll have your chance, Miss Carmine, don't you worry. For now, we forge onwards, hunting our prey! And when we come upon them, we will piece together our plan, and then-"

"Destroy." Lance whispered giddily.

"Precisely."

Ulysses nodded, walking past the rest of his squad to begin prying the foliage apart with ease, stepping into the darkness beyond. "Let's go."

The blonde huntsman turned to Shinai, an almost thankful and knowing grin planted on his face. The samurai gave a short nod before following after Ulysses and Port.

Oracle flicked the side of Lance's head as she passed him. "Don't do anythin' stupid, blondie."

He smirked, pulling his greatsword free from its sheathe. "Wouldn't dream of it, cowgirl."

The campground was quiet as Sise returned the bedrolls to his bag, dark bags hanging under his eyes.

Rainier was quiet as he performed his morning rituals, yellow eyes cast in a well-guarded blank stare, devoid of his usual exuberance.

Phalanx stood resolute and solitary a few meters away from the rest of the group, arms crossed over its massive red metal chest, the boy inside refusing to speak.

Gail had scaled a tree after quickly eating her meal, perched in a branch with a book in hand, under the guise of keeping an eye on the camp's perimeter.

Daria watched her team quietly, deep in thought, brown eyes watching their every movements.

'Do they believe in you? That's your problem. You just need to ask more questions.'

Shinai's words echoed through her head, dark gaze falling to the dirt below, hands gripping into fists. Slowly, she rose to her feet, looking around to her silent and crestfallen team. "Hey, everyone, could you tune in for a second?"

Tsuki blinked and tuned into the conversation, tired eyes looking on in interest.

She cleared her throat uncertainly. "I, uh... I want to apologize to you guys... I... uh..." She sighed. "Listen... I'm not a great leader. I know that. I suck at this... I just... you guys are some of my closest friends... all of you. Heck, you guys are some of my only friends, and... I'm sorry. I know that... I've let you guys down. Rainier was right; I shouldn't have been the one leading this team-"

"-Daria-" The aforementioned faunus tried to cut in weakly.

"-No, Rainier. You were right... Oz shouldn't have picked me... but he did. And... I think we've gotta live with that... I'm failing you," She looked to her teammates in turn. "...But I make this promise to you... I'll do better... I'll be better. You guys deserve better... I'll be your leader. I swear it."

The small clearing fell into silence, Tsuki looking between the thoughtful quartet of students.

Rainier gave her a small smile. "...You needn't promise anything... funny, isn't it? How things change..." He rose to his feet. "...You are my leader. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Phalanx's gaze shifted to her silently, the glowing blue-green of its visor pulsating softly. Gail similarly looked down to her leader for a moment, a tiny grin claiming her face. "...Thank you."

Tsuki followed the motion of his students as he rose from his perch, looking out to his team. "Get packed up, we'll be leaving in five," He began to march away from the camp- stopping beside DRGN's leader, stalling for a moment. Finally, he gave her a small nod, the outline of a smile visible under his mask before continuing on his way.

Daria watched him go quietly, turning back to the treeline and the splash of blue visible amongst the leaves. "...Hey, Gail." She called out, a meep greeting her from the trees.

"Y-yeah?" The quiet huntress answered back, not moving from her position.

"Could you come down?"

"Oh… uh, yeah." A few moments of rustling filled the silence before the archer dropped down, a book held tightly to her chest.

Daria mulled a thought over for a few moments, deciding carefully on how she wanted to voice it. "So… Gail. Honey. Where… do we need to go?"

"What do you mean?" Gail asked quietly, fidgeting under the attention.

"Well… you're a hunter, right?"

"I mean… I was?"

"So you'll know what we're looking for. I figure you should take the lead, you know?"

"O-oh. Well… um… I guess we'll just keep an eye out for any signs. I… never really found a trail yesterday… sorry."

"No, no, you're fine. Take your time. We've got all week, don't we?"

Rainier watched his two teammates for a moment, swallowing hard. "...I'll be above. I'll call if I spot something, yes?"

Daria nodded. "You're okay. Be careful though, and don't stray. If a fight breaks out, we'll need you."

The faunus nodded back and leapt into the trees without another word, drawing a sigh from the team leader. She strutted over to Phalanx. "Nash? Nash, baby?"

The slitted eyes of the suit looked down to her. "Yes?"

"I need you to come out."

"Why."

"Please? For me?"

There was an audible swallow and a few moments of silence, before the head split in two, sliding down into the suit proper, and Nash's tussled hair popped out. His eyes were excruciatingly tired, and his cheeks were stained with tears.

"Oh, Nash." She muttered, using the mech's knee to heft herself up and sit on Phalanx's shoulder. Daria turned her eyes to Tsuki, mouthing 'Words, later'.

Surprisingly, the veteran huntsman managed a content smile, nodding shortly.

The youngest member of the team climbed out of the suit and sat on the rim where the head of Phalanx had been, leaning against his leader. "Y'know that I love you guys, right?"

She nodded. "I know. I know."

"AHAHA!" Lance cackled as he cleaved the beast in half, greatsword gleaming in the sunlight. "FINALLY!"

He charged forwards, Iron Maw held out behind him in one hand, the other dangling limply as a dangerous, pent up light filling his blue eyes.

Ulysses was right by his side, towering over his partner, and looking just as distinctly ready for violence, trench long forgotten, flail held firmly in black taped hands.

Shinai was a few feet behind them, alongside Professor Port and Oracle- the gunslinger firing off bullets at the ursai around while the teacher looked simply content to watch, a small smile planted on his mustached face.

"Laughing Coffin!" The samurai barked, and the two forerunning huntsman switched positions.

Ulysses let out a grunt as chain spilled from his tank top, Avenger crashing onto the ground. Lance nodded with a grin and leapt, the brooding teen's flail following after him. As the chain met him, the blonde swordsman latched onto it with his legs, as if climbing a rope, and held his greatsword out above his head.

The chain- and partner- falling behind Ebony, he grunted and began to swing his weapon and passenger around in a circle, heavy boots smashing against the ground as he picked up speed, Lance cackling as he spun wildly. The duo reached the midst of the ursai pack, the grimm-like bears blinking in surprise as Lance's Iron Maw cleaved into them with an inordinate amount of momentum, Ulysses expertly spinning Avenger with a surprising level of grace.

Shinai nodded to Oracle. "Setting Sun."

The gunslinger grinned. "Setting Sun!"

The two took off in unison, rushing towards the battlefield, Shinai's hands firmly holding the handle of Shi En and Oracle's guns held barrels up. The samurai grunted and vaulted off of the ground as she loaded a golden cartridge into her main hand revolver. The two dashed passed the rampaging Lance and Ulysses, Shinai high above the swinging swordsman, and Oracle sliding beneath him, and passed the majority of the ursai pack.

Standing a short ways back, looking sufficiently miffed, was an ursai alpha; towering compared to even its bear-sized compatriots, and riddled with bone plate. It roared in defiance of the two huntsman, even as Oracle began to flow with golden aura, eyes glinting brightly with the energy. She grinned and slid to a stop, far enough away from the alpha to have some breathing room.

With a relaxed exhalation of breath, she fired with her loaded revolver, a low 'boom' filling the clearing as the aura spilled from her into her bullet, flying through the air-

And falling just perfectly enough so that it was right beneath Shinai as he descended, the samurai spinning vertically and cleaving the supernova-encased bullet in half.

The two halves flew on anyways, separating from the momentum- just enough so that they slammed into the ursai's shoulders, its arms falling to the ground with a pair of dull thumps, a pained roar following the grimm as it crashed down back first.

Shinai rolled through with his landing and strode forwards quickly, katana twirling, silver blade shining in the sun as he prepared to plunge it into the beast's throat-

Only for it to roar and push upwards off the ground, massive form bodily taking the samurai down, teeth gnashing as it reached for his head- the blade of Shi En the only thing holding it back. Shinai growled and glared the alpha down, teeth grit together.

With a deafening 'boom' of a cannon, the grimm's head was simply… gone, replaced by billowing black smoke. Standing above it, was Professor Port, face not belying the seriousness of the situation.

"Right pickle you've found yourself in, Mr. Kyani!" The teacher said, stepping to the side and lowering his weapon down to his waist. It was a fairly rudimentary blunderbuss, golden barrel looking somewhat like a trumpet, and two axe blades stuck out from the bottom of its stock. Port reached down and helped Shinai up with a firm hand, dusting the samurai off.

"...Thank you."

"My pleasure! Never forget; alpha class grimm are very stubborn creatures, and a little thing like vivisection is never one to keep them down."

Shinai nodded, purple eyes affirming as he filed the information away for later.

The two huntsman turned their attention to the melee dying down ahead of them, Oracle having joined it and firing a near never-ending stream of bullets.

The professor hummed to himself as he picked his way through the now decaying into smoke corpses of the grimm. "Mmhm! Top work, children! You handled these quite… handedly!" He chuckled to himself. "Another sweep of the area to see if there are any stragglers, and then we'll be on our way back to Beacon."

Lance, however, didn't share the professor's enthusiasm, face crestfallen.

"Aw, come on, hon, you got to fight some grimm. What else did you want?" Oracle asked, patting her teammate's shoulder.

The swordsman sighed, kicking a pebble away. "…I wanted to fight a Feilong."

Port chuckled. "Oho, my boy- no you didn't."

"That friggin' dragon again? Let it go, hon." Oracle muttered, mulling the thought over.

"Ah, yes, the King of the Seas!" The teacher called back. "Trust me, it's better this way, my boy! You'll have plenty of chances to fight bigger and badder grimm once you graduate, as I'm certain you all will. Why, my first mission after graduating, myself and a friend of mine were on the tail of a king taijitsu…"

Shinai sighed, sharing a look with Oracle as she rolled her eyes with a smile. As one, the five huntsmen took off on one last leisurely march.

Gail dashed forwards with ease, picking her way through the forest faster than the other four could keep up, eyes never leaving the ground- and the trail of Creep prints that littered it. "The trail's warm!" She called back, never looking to her teammates.

With a start, Tsuki froze in place, muscles tensing. "Tch." He hissed, before moving like a blur.

With a magnetic whir, his greatsword removed itself from his back into his hand, handle still held over his shoulder, arm trembling-

As he pushed against the golden blade jabbed into his own sword, the man at the end of the other sword scowling as he pulled his golden spear back, preparing to jab forwards again. Sise turned on his heel, greatsword swinging out around him, driving the hulking man back out of range.

The man was enormous, standing at least six inches taller than the veteran huntsman. He was sun-tanned, hair a deep gold and flowing out from his head like a mane. The bottom half of his face was covered in a white, thick mask, modelled like the bottom half of an animal's skull, a scar reaching up across his cheek from beneath it. He was dressed lightly in red and gold, cold, dark eyes staring at the students before him, a lion's tail flicking out lazily behind him.

"Who are-" Sise began, only to be interrupted by a shocked scream.

Daria brought her ringblade up instinctively, parrying away the sickle and sending it tumbling through the air. It only took a moment before a flail replaced it, swinging wildly at the girl's head.

Phalanx's hand struck out and caught it firmly in the air, before ripping it out of the air and swinging it above their heads. With a rather shocked yelp, a body came flying from the treeline, soaring through the air- before crashing headfirst into the ground with a… bone-shattering crack.

Without hesitation, Nash's head replaced his mech's, blue eyes wide with horror as he stared at the crumpled body on the ground ahead of him. "Oh… oh my…" He whispered.

And then.

Slowly. Very, very, slowly, the body began to straighten up, like a puppet, cracking and groaning of bone-on-bone filling the silent forest. The figure's head slowly righted itself back in place.

The woman groaned as she rotated her neck as if… she had simply had a kink in it. Her black hair was short cut, nearly pixie-ish, the top of her face concealed in a half mask. The white mask was leaner, with sharp angles as opposed to her partner's, and two horizontal stripes lay above her eyes. She was dressed more conservatively than her apparent partner, covered in shades of green and pale golds, outfit hugging her form snugly.

Nash frowned and slowly descended back into his mech, helmet reclaiming its position as Daria marched over to him.

No one was given a chance to react to the two assailants, as another body came tumbling from the forest- this time it was a more familiar one's;

Gail.

She groaned as she rolled across the ground, bow spilling out beside her. All eyes glued themselves to the spot she had come from-

Walking from the shadows was a taller man, taller than his partners, and well muscled. Black hair was messy around his head, and his face was covered in a full white mask, modelled after a more bovine skull, framed by two more much more natural looking curved horns, like a ram's. He was dressed in loose, dark blues and blacks, his dress more ornate than the other faunus', a similar theme of gold ringing him.

All three of their masks were lined with swirling, red designs.

Tsuki hissed in a breath as he whirled about, watching the triumvirate surrounding them. "Shit." He whispered.

Daria looked up to him with confused eyes.

"Cerberus."

Shinai breathed deeply as he waved his hands in soothing circles in front of him, legs crossed beneath him as he meditated, Shi En laid out across his lap. He hadn't had a chance to do this since the mission had began, and it was long overdue- the sounds of nature chirping away in the forest, the waterfall crashing behind him and rippling the water surrounding his rock, himself suspended in a tranquil pond created by the fall. He released a breath. No one but himself and the silence.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

Shinai let out a slow breath, legs slowly uncurling out from under him.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

He breathed in through his nose, hand coming to rest on the handle of Shi En.

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump.

He released the breath slowly, muscles coiling.

Thumpthumpthump-splish-shling.

Shinai leapt up from the rock he was sat on, high into the air, feet pulling up just in time to dodge the glowing orange blade cleaving through the waterfall behind him, steam rising into the air. He flipped backwards, through the waterfall, landing solidly onto the rocky ground on the other side, Shi En held in his armored glove tightly.

Vegas Gold grinned as he turned to the samurai, pulling Dragon's Fang back to his side. "Long time no see, samurai."