Black Dawn Forest, 40 miles SW of Fort Beacon
15:34
Day 12 of Hunter training for RWBY Squad
Ruby and Weiss walk through the endless trees, Ruby carrying her folded Crescent Rose and Weiss carrying a map, occasionally glancing at the handheld GPS device strapped to her wrist.
"Alright, I figured it out," Weiss says for the thirty-something time. "The map is outdated, so I thought we were in a different grid box. We just need to walk another five hundred feet this direction, then turn north, and the target should be straight ahead."
"Are you sure this time?" Ruby mutters when she sees the same tree for the fifth time.
"Of course! Counter Wind had far more complicated road and walking routes, and I handled that no problem. This is a cakewalk."
They walk for another two hundred feet.
"Wait, this doesn't look right," Weiss says, holding the map closer to her face. Ruby rolls her eyes. "We're in E24, right?"
"Sure," Ruby says. She's never touched the map before.
"Well, if we're going on where E24 was when this map was made, then we'll have to move south by southeast starting about fifty feet to our left, then move around a heavy cluster of trees, then turn north. If we're going by where E24 should be, then we move north by northeast for a few hundred feet, pass a formation of boulders on the side of a cliff, and the target should be in a clearing just north of that."
"You have no idea where we are," Ruby says. Weiss turns to face her.
"What!? Of course I know where we are! This map is just old!"
"Whatever you say, lead the way," Ruby mumbles. Weiss continues walking forward, abruptly stops, turns right, and continues forward.
"Alright, that's it," she says after another ten minutes of random course changes and Ruby looking for more familiar landmarks. "We must have passed it by now. It's this dumb map, it's-"
"Enough with the map!" Ruby blurts out. "Just admit it, we're lost. You're lost."
"I am not lost!"
"Oh, we're not? Then explain how we've been at this for five hours and still only two miles from where we started?" Ruby asks, holding up her own GPS device. Weiss looks at her own for a minute.
"This map is shit," Weiss says, holding the paper up. Ruby takes it and looks at it.
"Which way were you holding it?" Ruby asks. It's a local Faunus-made map, there's no compass and an unreliable legend, with little color variation for the terrain and whatnot.
"Uh, what?"
"You're half right. It's a bad map, but not outdated."
"Alright, how about you lead, team leader?"
"I will." Ruby starts looking closer at the map, comparing it with her GPS.
"Oh please," Weiss scoffs. "I led an infantry company halfway across Counter Wind no problem, how's a rookie supposed to know any more than which way is up?" Ruby crumples up the map in anger.
"Fuck you and your Counter Wind bullshit," she says through gritted teeth. "I've been in combat before."
"Oh yeah, grunt? Where?"
"In the-" Ruby's mind freezes when she remembers Penny's face, the mess hall exploding, get getting tossed to the ground as everything she thought she knew about war changed. She can still feel the heat of the massive flames through her AURA.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Weiss says, turning around and walking away. Ruby throws the map on the ground, walks up to a tree, crouches down, and springs twenty feet into the air, leaving two small craters where her feet left the ground. Weiss turns around, startled. "The hell are you doing?"
"Reconnaissance," Ruby answers, and springs once more, snapping the large branch off like a twig. She pulls the receiver of her rifle forward and looks through the scope. "There's a large grove of redwoods in this direction, maybe a mile or two out. Looks like where our target is supposed to be. Guess you didn't lead us that far off course."
"I didn't lead us anywhere off course, it was the ma-" Weiss is interrupted by Ruby dropping to the ground from over 40 feet in the air, her advanced leggings absorbing the fall, creating a shockwave that makes Weiss stagger back.
"We can go straight to it, this way," Ruby says, folding and putting Crescent Rose back in its sling. Weiss hesitates for a moment, and then follows.
Half an hour later, after continuous hiking through the woods in utter silence, Ruby holds up her fist.
"What? We're not anywhere near the target yet," Weiss says.
"Ozpin said that there are motion sensors set up around the target," Ruby says, scanning the area. They are a few dozen trees away from the edge of the clearing. "We can take the shot from here."
"W."hat do you mean 'take the shot'?" Weiss asks. "We'd have to be at practically the top to see over the tree line
"And?" Ruby asks, looking up at a tree. She springs up halfway and climbs the rest of the way, afraid that this tree isn't strong enough to survive her leggings.
She reaches the highest branch that she's confident will hold her weight, and unslings and unfolds Crescent Rose in one swift motion. Using one hand to hold onto the trunk of the tree and balancing the barrel of the rifle on a nearby branch, she peers through the scope at the gove. Sure enough, in between the first row of redwoods, a white mannequin dressed up in old BDUs stands out in the open, held up by wires attaching it to the trees.
"I got it in sights, climb up," Ruby says, dropping Crescent Rose and letting her dangle from the sling. She unravels a line of rappelling rope, drops it down to Weiss, loops it around the trunk, and holds onto her end. Weiss grabs the rope and slowly aligns positions one leg, then the other on the trunk, testing the strength. Ruby keeps her grip solid, and Weiss starts climbing up.
"Isn't it usually my job to remind everyone about little details like motion sensors?" Weiss asks as she climbs. "Since when were you this careful about, well, anything?"
"I'm a scout sniper, Weiss," Ruby replies. "If you think you know anything about sharpshooting, collecting intelligence, terrain navigation, and speed that I don't know about, you're mistaken." Weiss snorts.
"As if you've ever been able to use those skills in the line of duty," Weiss says. Ruby has half a mind to let go of the rope for a second or two, if not for anything but her own satisfaction. Although, technically it is true; Ruby hasn't shot anyone yet, only save her entire base.
Weiss grabs onto a branch next to Ruby's, and Ruby pulls with all her might on the rope, hoisting her up onto it.
"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Weiss says, looking at the ground, which seems miniscule from this height. She closes her eyes and looks away.
"Beautiful view, though," Ruby says. Their tree is a few feet taller than the majority of the trees in the forest, and they have a great view of the vast woodland of Viktor Speeder, the snowy mountains of Oak Whiskey to the west, and the far off plains of Counter Wind to the east. The only thing ruining the scenery is the rising black smoke of far off battlefields on the other side of Viktor Speeder, where HKC and UFF troops fight endlessly.
"I'm gonna be in that soon," both girls think silently to themselves.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Weiss speaks up after a moment of silence. "Where's the target?" Ruby braces Crescent Rose against her shoulder and aims towards the grove. She is in a sitting position on one branch, has the rifle resting on another smaller branch in front of her acting as a bipod, and her extra hand keeping the sling taught to minimize sway.
"I need an exact range when the tree sways all the way to the right," Ruby says. They're so high up, they're constantly on the move, the wind rocking them back and forth. Ruby begins to think that maybe they should've braved the sensors.
"You seriously think you can make this shot?" Weiss asks. "This is stupid, let's just take it from the ground."
"Nope, everything is flat on the ground and the grove is in a valley, we'll be detected long before we have a shot on it." Weiss sighs and raises her spotting scope.
"Range: Niner, one, four." Ruby adjusts the knob on her scope, lining the shot up when the tree sways to the right. "Wind: From four o'clock to eleven. Four miles per hour." Ruby waits for the tree to sway again, then quickly adjusts her crosshair." Elevation: point eight mils down." Ruby compensates for the elevation. She tightens her grip on the sling, not wanting the rifle to move a centimeter off course.
"On target," she says.
"Send it when ready," Weiss says, and looks away from the scope and at Ruby, watching the intensity in her partially concealed face behind the scope. Ruby holds her breath as the tree sways to the left. She gently rests her finger on the trigger, and the tree begins to sway to the right.
More pressure on the trigger.
The x-axis of the crosshair begins to line up with the mannequin, and the tree starts to slow its swaying again.
Ruby starts to breath out.
The y-axis lines up perfectly.
BANG!
Crescent Rose sends its payload, and Weiss darts back to the range finder. A second later, the upper chest of the mannequin explodes, sending white dust and fragments in all directions.
"Hit," Weiss says. Ruby lets out a sigh of relief, and folds Crescent Rose back up.
"See?" Ruby says, smiling at her squadmate. "Piece of cake."
"Holy shit, Ruby," Weiss says, mouth agape. "That was perfect, and the tree was...Holy shit."
"Told you I could shoot," Ruby replies. She looks down at the ground, then at Weiss. "Want a ride down?"
Blake Dawn Forest, 75 miles SW of Fort Beacon
16:56
Day 12 of Hunter training for RWBY Squad
Blake and Yang move carefully through the forest, the opposite side of where Ruby and Weiss are. This side is more dense, each tree and average of mere feet from each other, with lots of low hanging branches. Despite the overbearing weight of her AURA, Ember and Celia, Yang is able to move through the terrain with little problem. Blake, on the other hand, moves better than no problem; she flows with the terrain, never hitting a branch, stepping on a twig, or making any noise whatsoever.
"The Airborne trained you well," Yang says. Blake simply nods.
A few meters later, she stops suddenly next to a tree and looks at it. She unsheathes her knife and digs it into the bark, scrounging around inside the wood. After some prodding, she takes it back out, with a small motion sensor embedded in the blade.
"Seriously, how are you finding those?" Yang asks. "That's like the eighth one so far, and I don't think you missed any."
"They smell funny," Blake replies without thinking. She freezes in place when she realizes what she said.
"Smell?" Yang repeats, sniffing the air. Fortunately, she's not too knowledgeable of the Faunus to know that they have an extremely heightened sense of smell, and are capable of detecting the smell of virtually anything. Blake thinks quickly.
"It's a joke in the Airborne," she says. "Because we're so good at tracking that it's like we rely on the scent of the enemy."
"Really?" Yang asks. "I've got a good buddy in the Airborne, and I never heard of that one."
"It's just from my unit."
"Which unit? My buddy-"
"Drop it, Yang." They stop moving and stare at eachother for a second. Blake's heart is beating out of her chest.
"Alright, sorry for prying," Yang says.
"Let's move," Blake says, and continues moving forward. Another ten feet, and she finds another sensor in a tree; they're getting more concentrated as they move.
"I was raised near a forest just like this one on Patch," Yang says as Blake pockets the sensor.
"Patch?" Blake asks.
"A little island off of the west coast of Vale. Fishing and lumber community of a little less than five thousand. Nice and quiet, great place to raise a family."
"Big family?" Blake asks. Normally she'd just stay quiet, but she thinks she oews Yang for snapping at her; if they're gonna work together, she shouldn't get on her bad side.
"Not really," Yang replies. "Just me, my dad, and my little sister, Lara. I never knew my mother. From what I've gathered, she left when Lara was born. I don't think it was on very good terms, because my dad got really distant. Like he wans't really...uh…"
"There?" Blake finishes.
"Yeah, I guess. He kind of gave up on being a dad and kind of just lived it us, like we were roommates. On the bright side, it made me independant at an early age."
"Not a very bright side," Blake says, remembering her own childhood.
"Maybe not for me, but definitely for Lara. She's a lot less tame than me. She probably wouldn't have made it very long on her own. Hell, I practically had to tie her down to keep her from coming with me to the VAF recruiting center."
"So why'd you join?"
"I needed to get out of there, off of Patch. I always wanted to go to exciting places, and I guess the military came up as the cheapest route, with all the rising Faunus tensions and all. I'm trying to raise enough money to move Lara and my dad to the mainland. I don't like Patch's vulnerability."
"Don't worry, if they're on the west coast, then they're sure to be behind the Human fleet's positions. If anything somehow punches through that, they'll have plenty of time to evacuate."
"Yeah, maybe, but better safe than-hold up," Yang says, raising her fist. "See it? Dead ahead?"
"Roger," Blake says. A few hundred feet ahead, through the dense spotting the mannequin propped against a bush, covered in leaves and branches. "It must be completely surrounded by motion sensors."
"Think you can get close enough to take it out in one shot?" Yang asks. Blake surveys the area. She can't smell any sensors in the immediate area.
"Yeah, it should be safe for the both of us for another hundred feet or so," Blake says. The pair continue their trek through the forest, but with greater care in each step.
"So, where did you grow up, Blake?" Yang asks.
"A little border country called New Tango. Near the Federation Peninsula."
"Oh, how was that?" Yang asks. Blake remembers the human-faunus relation faunus, the anti-faunus and anti-human protests and riots, the abusive pro-Fed militia, the looting, the everyday fight for the next meal, her friends dying, martial law when the White Fang moved into her neighborhood, which turned out to be her great escape.
"Not good," she answers simply.
"I can imagine," Yang says. "Any family?"
"No, never knew of any family. I mostly grew up with other kids my…" Blake trails off, standing still.
"Your what?" Yang asks.
"Walk back a few feet, but step in your footprints," Blake orders urgently. She looks down at her foot.
"What is it?" Yang asks worriedly, taking a few steps back.
"I think I stepped on a landmine," Blake answers. She can feel the weight pushing on her right foot.
"Shit, they really didn't want us to pass this exercise," Yang says. "Think it's real?"
"They used real mines in the Airborne training, and this sure as hell feels real."
"Alright, so I guess this complicates things a bit. I'll go find a rock to put underneath it."
"Not a good idea. If they used a Fed mine, then it'll activate from any form of pressure change, not complete pressure release like human mines."
"Ok, so...you're stuck?"
"I guess."
"Oh." Yang looks around awkwardly. "Now what?"
"My MP7 is barely inside effective range of the target," Blake says, sniffing the air around her. She smells the lingering scent of the sensors, but also something new that she missed before. Kind of like the metal of the motion sensors but also something similar to the smell of grenades. "And there's probably more mines around. Think Celia can reach it from here?"
"Yeah, but I doubt it'll strike it on the first shot." Yang thinks for a moment. "Hold on, I have an idea." She takes out Ember, opens the revolving cylinder, takes out one of the buckshot shells and replaces it with the slug. "Can you crouch down? I'll have to go over your head?"
"What exactly are you doing?" Blake asks, getting on one knee. Yang scoots to her left, aligning herself with the mannequin.
"Long range shotgun shooting," Yang answers. "Hey, can you toss me your scope?" Blake slides the scope off her MP7, slowly rotates her body while keeping her foot on the mine, and throws it to Yang, who slides it on her picatinny rail.
"Have you ever tried that before?" Blake asks. Yang takes aim at the mannequin.
"Absolutely not," Yang replies. She slows her breathing, slowly presses down on the trigger, and fires.
Blake both feels and hears the giant piece of lead zip over her head, in between the trees, and into the face of the mannequin, which explodes into millions of pieces and releasing a fine, white mist.
"I'll be damned," Blake says. "Nice shot."
"Thanks," Yang says. "Now then, about your mine... You think someone will come to disarm it after a while?"
"Can't disarm Fed mines. Once they're armed they're armed."
"How do you know so much about Faunus equipment?" Yang asks.
"New Tango had mines everywhere from the First War," Blake answers. She didn't even have to lie about that one. "You learn a thing or two from hearing cattle and dumbasses wandering into unmarked fields every once in a while."
"Wow," Yang says simply, then gets an idea. "Alright, I know what to do," she tells Blake, and drops Ember and Celia.
"Diving off of it won't work, if that's what you're thinking."
"Course not. I'm gonna dive on top of it."
"You what!?"
"My AURA is supposed to absorb damage, right?" Yang asks, beating her heavily armored chest. "So, I shouldn't be hurt from just one landmine."
"Are you insane?"
"A little," Yang says with a smile. She takes a few steps back. "If I dive, can you move out of the way right before I land?"
"Yes, but-"
"Perfect. Good luck," Yang says, and starts running towards Blake.
"As if I'm the one that needs luck," Blake thinks silently.
When Yang gets five feet from Blake, she jumps up with all her might, arms spread forward. A fraction of a second before she slides to the ground, Blake springs up with her left foot, her right foot leaving the ground. She can instantly hear the click of the mine being activated. She lands on her back a meter away from Yang, who drops straight onto the exploding mine, muffling the sound of the explosion. Both girls lay where they are as the surge of adrenaline quickly dies down.
"Yang?" Blake calls out. The blonde doesn't move. "Yang!?" Blake shouts, standing up and walking over.
Yang lifts her head, laughing.
"I can't believe that worked!" she says. Blake shakes her head.
"You seriously have a death wish," she says. She extends her hand, which Yang takes.
"Easy to have one with this suit," she says as Blake helps her up. "Wow, I feel front heavy now." Blake taps her chest.
"It's a lot denser than what our armor usually is," she notes. "It must've soaked up everything that came out of the mine."
"Yep, looks like it," Yang says, pointing to where the mine used to be. All that remains is a dark black scorch mark and a small hole where it was laid. She walks over to her weapons and slings them around her shoulders. "Well, that was fun. Hey, you think I can go head to head with a tank shell?"
"I highly recommend not getting any crazy ideas," Blake suggests. Yang smirks.