Chapter 10: First Taste
- ASH -
The Students were gossiping all morning, today teams will be sent on their first real mission. A first taste of being real huntsmen and huntresses. Excitement and anxiety were working hand in hand today. Assignments were listed everywhere, for the most part it seemed that teams got to pick which kind of job they'd be interested in. First years would be supervised by a professional of course, they weren't going to let go of the leash this early in their training.
"All these assignments and nothing to do. Anyone got an idea what we should go for?" Ash asked.
"I think we should choose the one that involves hunting grimm." Billy answered.
"I think that's all of them, I could be mistaken." Ash said. He skimmed through them. "Well most of them at least."
"Are we really ready for this?" Lyra asked. "I mean we haven't exactly been top of our class lately. In any of our classes."
"Yeah, the fact we are failing history right now isn't exactly inspiring confidence." Ash replied, he pointed at a random mission. "There, we'll go for a nice hike and hunt a grimm."
"Wow, you definitely know how to pick them." Morgana said with a smirk. "It says the grimm in question is believed to be responsible for the death of over two dozen people in the last month alone. Including five huntsmen."
"You've got to be kidding me." Ash muttered. Billy patted him in the back.
"I think we can take it." Billy said. Ash broke out into laughter. The idea of them succeeding where five fully trained huntsmen failed seemed slim at best. He heard heavy footsteps and the sound of a boisterous voice emerge from the crowd surrounding them.
"Excellent choice!" The voice cried out, Ash recognized the voice, he almost fell asleep. Professor Port gave him a firm pat on the back. "The kind of mission a strapping young me might have picked back when I was a simple aspiring huntsman."
"Don't tell me, you're our huntsman?" Ash asked. He could already picture it, him getting torn apart by grimm because he was too busy not paying attention. Bad enough he makes them fight monsters in class.
"Alas, I am destined to mold another particular band of unsuspecting heroes." He said. Ash could hear his brain celebrating. "You will be in good hands however, you will be working with the venerable Godric Rasmatas!"
"Who?" Ash asked. He immediately regretted it, Port was uncharacteristically at a loss for words and had the look of a man who just lost all faith in humanity. To add to it, Billy and Morgana had the same dumbfounded expression. It was like just kicked a puppy in front of them.
"How could you possibly not know who Godric Rasmatas is?" Billy asked. "He's a legend!"
"Precisely, he is no mere huntsman, he is the huntsman!" Professor Port bellowed. "He's a man we should all aspire to."
"I've never heard of him either." Lyra squeaked. They turned their stares towards her, her face went beat red.
"Did someone say Rasmatas?" A voice called out, Arthur and his team cut through the crowd.
"You've heard of him?" Ash asked
"Heard of him? Last year he was the huntsman assigned to our team. The man's a legend!" Arthur exclaimed.
"Remember when that goliath was stampeding our way?" Gabriel said. They all immediately broke into laughter.
"Right, and without any hesitation he pulled out a bungee cord and made a giant slingshot!" Lancel cut in.
"And then he launched Rudd at the beast." Gabriel continued. Rudd gave a nod. "Best thing I've ever seen."
"I have to admit, I've never seen nor heard of a man killing a grimm by slingshotting another man at it before I met him." Arthur said.
"This is Rasmatas we're talking about." Port said. "This is the man who killed a dozen ursa in a single sitting with nothing but a rock, a branch and his fists."
"They say he killed a nevermore by shouting at it." Billy added.
"If it were anybody else I'd doubt it." Arthur said. "But if anyone could, it'd be Rasmatas."
"We have to take this job." Ash said. "No questions, we have to take this job."
"Ash there's something you should..." Morgana tried to interject but was immediately drowned out by the booming voices of Port, Billy and team ALGT, who telling the story of how Rasmatas battled a dragon on the back of a nevermore. Complete with sound effects.
"Let's go!" Ash said excitedly. The briefing said they were to meet outside near the bullheads. He didn't waste time and led the way as quickly as he could. Billy was still telling stories to whoever would listen, or just happened to be near him.
"...and then he took the snakes head and beat it's other head to death. Classic." Billy said with a hearty laugh. "Oh you have to hear how he stopped the ursa major when he was eight."
"Maybe we should have a moment of silence in honor of Rasmatas." Morgan said. She lowered her voice. "And my sanity."
"How much further?" Lyra asked. Ash skimmed through the directions.
"He should be right about.." Ash said. He turned and pointed. Before him was an old man leaning against a cane. He looked like he was a hundred and ninety, as if death was playing cards on his back at this very moment. His beard was long and tied at the end by a small braid. He wore a bright pink robe, more of a house coat, over a pair of polka dot shorts. He looked like he just escaped from a mental ward, or he just forgot to get dressed on his way out the door. Ash didn't quite know what to say. "...here?"
"Students!" he said in a hoarse voice, it sounded like he was struggling to breath. "You must be my team! I'm Godric, Godric Rasmatas!"
"I was trying to tell you earlier." Morgan said. "All those stories are at least forty to fifty years old."
"That's it, I'm out." Lyra threw her arms up in the air. "I'm not getting ripped apart for nothing."
"This has got to be the happiest moment of my life." Billy said. His toothy grin was indeed the widest Ash had ever seen. He buried his face in his palm. He had a bad feeling about this.
- GWYN -
She felt a warm cloth brushing against her forehead. Small beads of water dripped down her skin and along her parched lips. She opened her eyes. The light was blinding. She could see Natasha smiling down at her. Her stomach churned and her head felt like it was pulling itself apart. She certainly has had better morning than this.
"You okay?" Natasha asked, her voice sounded like it was echoing. She could barely hear it, it seemed to be masked by a screeching howl. "You've been tossing and turning all night."
"Can someone turn that noise down?" Gwyn asked. Natasha glanced around the room.
"The wind?" Natasha asked.
"Yep, turn the volume down a bit." She said. She stretched as far as she could, her legs were pretty stiff. Why were they so stiff? She covered herself in her blanket. "What time is it?"
"Twelve?" Natasha said. It took far longer than it ever needed for her to piece together a one word answer.
"Twelve? We have a mission today!" Gwyn rolled off her be and collapsed into a heap of blankets. "We're late!"
"Don't worry, our assignment doesn't start for another forty minutes." Natasha helped her back on her feet. Her legs felt like they were made of jelly. "So we have forty minutes to straighten out, well, you."
Thanks, I think I need tea, or hard painkillers. Whichever is available." She groaned. She kissed the back of her own hand. It didn't have the effect she was hoping for. "Figures."
"She up?" A voice called out. Orin stepped into the room. "You look like you need something disgustingly greasy."
"Thank you, I'd still prefer a couple of painkillers. Maybe a bubble bath too." Her head felt like it had caught fire. She put on a pair of dark sunglasses. "But I'm open to anything about now."
The cafeteria was nearly empty. Most of the students had started their assignments, those that were here were on their way out in the next few minutes. She was staring at the greasiest plate of eggs she had ever seen. It seemed to have changed color at some point and went an almost orange. She scarfed it down, it tasted pretty awful. She really didn't feel much better.
"So what is our mission?" Gwyn asked.
"Search and rescue, a hiker recently went missing." Natasha explained. "It's pretty deep in the Emerald Forest."
"Why would someone go hiking in the Emerald Forest?" Gwyn asked. "It's not exactly the safest place."
"Probably another thrill seeker." Natasha said with a shrug. "Back home it was almost daily reports of hikers or drunks going missing. They see a huntress slay a beowulf and get it in their heads they can do it themselves just fine."
"You don't talk about your home much. What's it like?" Gwyn asked.
"Cold." Natasha said. Gwyn wasn't sure if that was actually an answer.
"That's it?" Gwyn asked. Natasha frowned.
"I haven't lived there in a long while, I moved around a lot. From Atlas to Mistral to Vale. Home stopped being home ten years ago." She said. She glanced down at her plate. "It's just an old memory."
"Ever want to go back?" Gwyn asked, Natasha shook her head.
It didn't take long before Gwyn remembered the most important part of their mission. They were working with a professional. Her headache was gone and she was soon jittering with anticipation. They reached the bullhorns to find a single one left.
A woman was leaning against the bullhorn. She was dressed like she was going out for a casual jog, in a far warmer climate. She had a soft turquoise scarf, practically see through, draped around her neck. She didn't seem to be carrying any weapon and only a small backpack. She waved politely at them as they approached. She looked young, really young. Gwyn wasn't sure what to make of her, she seemed a little too fresh. She couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"You're my newbies right?" She asked. Gwyn could hear Kol growling. Figures, if he's ever going to be sensitive about anything it'd be his skill at hitting things.
"We're here for the search and rescue mission." Orin said. "I assume that's us."
"Perfect, I only just got here myself." She said. "My name's Naia and I'll be you're huntress, overseer, drill instructor, or babysitter or whatever, for today. Alright let's get started!"
The bullhorn roared to life and soon Beacon was fading away in the background. Nothing but forest was looming below. Naia seemed nice enough, Gwyn thought. She just couldn't get over the fact she barely looked older than her. She wasn't exactly giving off a vibe of experience or wisdom. She was kind of bubbly. Not a trait you'd expect from a professional huntress.
"Alright, we are looking for a man named Flynn. He's a hiker and general thrill-seeker that got himself lost out here. We'll touch down where he last made contact and we'll wing it from there." She said with a big smile. Winging it, on a rescue mission. Gwyn was starting to doubt this more and more.
They landed in a clearing, they debarked the bullhorn and readied their weapons. The bullhorn immediately took off. Now they were alone, in a grimm infested forest with no escape. All in all a great way to start the day. She was starting to feel the headache come back. Naia let them take point, she looked like she was more interested in sightseeing.
"Gwyn, watch your step!" Naia shouted. Gwyn held her foot of the ground. She glanced underneath, a giant stinking turd. Close call.
"Thanks, I'd hate to have to burn these shoes." Gwyn said. She stepped around it.
"Actually I was more worried about the smell, last thing we need is a grimm catching our scent right about now." Naia said. "That's primo deer feces, not exactly high on the food chain around here. We're here to rescue a hiker, it's best not to raise much attention."
"Right. I knew that." Gwyn mumbled. Who knew, deer feces could change your entire perception of someone. She paused and glanced the ground over, three sets of footprints going in three different directions.
"Alright, you four are splitting into pairs. Gwyn and..." She said, she glanced over the group for a moment. She almost looked like a dog picking up a scent. "...Natasha you'll go with Gwyn, Kol and Orin will be our second team. I'll go straight ahead, Team one goes down this left trail and team two will take the trail to the right. I'll go straight ahead, maintain radio contact and don't attack anything if you can help it. Immediately report to me when you find something, anything. Copy?"
They nodded, she casually strolled down her path. The team split up as ordered. Gwyn waited until they were a good distance away.
"So what do you think of Naia?" Gwyn asked.
"She's pretty thorough." Natasha said. "She barely even glanced at the ground and found the tracks."
"I know, she's pretty amazing." Gwyn was starting to go into full squee mode.
"Alright calm down." Natasha said. Gwyn couldn't help but grin. "Don't want to attract grimm with all that giddiness."
"Alright, I'm calm I swear." Gwyn replied. She took several deep breaths. She wasn't any less excited.
The trail was getting harder to follow. Port gave a short lesson on tracking a couple days ago. Well, he started to but then got a little too engrossed in one of his many examples. She knelt down low. There was something not right about these tracks.
"What is it?" Natasha asked.
"Something isn't right." Gwyn said. She pointed at the tracks, Natasha nodded. "Ideas?"
"It almost looks like another set of tracks on top of the first one." Natasha said. Gwyn scratched her head.
"Wait a minute. There was only one track a few steps back, where is the second one coming from?"
They retraced their steps and followed the trail. They eventually found a single set of footprints coming from out of a bush. It looked like the owner of these tracks was trying to step in the other set. In fact, the tracks leading out of the bush looked like someone smudged it. It was no wonder how they didn't notice it before. They took a few steps beyond the bush, the tracks were coming from the same direction they were originally going. They decided to follow the first path.
The path was starting to narrow, the steps had branched up side by side. A bush seemed to be blocking their path. Carefully they stepped around the bush and looked for the trail. One set of footprints, leaving a trail of drag marks. It was only a few steps further before they found where they led. Before them was a village, destitute and abandoned. Gwyn froze on the spot. She slowly began to step back.
"What is it?" Natasha whispered. Gwyn glanced around, small trees scattering the area were oddly shaped. They almost all looked like silhouettes.
"I was here last time we were in the forest. We need to report this, I think I know what happ..." Gwyn stopped. She felt numb. She felt something weird pressing against her neck. She ran her fingers along it and pulled out a small dart. She saw another dart hit Natasha right in the chest, they both collapsed. Gwyn struggled to stay awake. Shadowy shapes were stepping from the bushes. She glanced around as best she could. Some of those trees were gone. She could barely fight it anymore. In an instant everything went black.
- ASH -
The bullhorn was soaring over the trees. Ash wasn't sure how long they've been flying. It was pretty far from Beacon, a lot farther than any of their other trips. Ash tried to ignore the open doors, he still remembered the last time he had to free fall and wasn't keen on doing it again. Lyra looked like she was having the exact same thought. The thought crossed his mind about how Lyra even survived that free fall. She didn't exactly have a weapon and didn't understand aura or semblance. He pushed the thought out of his mind, another time. Billy looked like he was absolute awe of Rasmatas, his childhood hero just inches away from himself. Morgana looked bored more than anything else.
"Almost there!" Rasmatas cried out with a hoarse voice. "I can smell the grimm from here."
"Really?" Billy asked. If he smiled any wider it might stick. Ash tried to ignore they were descending fast. He could feel his stomach rising to his chest.
The bullhead came to a stop, they were in a clearing. The grass was tall, as were the trees. Bushes surrounded the entire clearing. Ash was happy to have solid ground under his feet. The bullhorn roared to life and took off. Rasmatas strolled casually into the bushes.
"Are we supposed to follow him?" Ash asked. The fact Rasmatas didn't come back solidified that theory. He tried not to sigh and followed.
Beyond the bush was another clearing. It was filled with the bodies of dead grimm. Rasmatas was kneeling over one of the corpses. He poked the wounds and licked his finger. Ash tried not to think about how disgusting that was.
"Oh come on. We were separated for five minutes." Ash said. Rasmatas looked surprised to see them. That was beginning to get old.
"I merely stumbled upon this. Judging from the wounds, these grimm were killed by other grimm!" He stroked his chin. "Curious, grimm fighting among themselves. This is quite unheard of.
"Not all of them look the same." Billy said. He was right, some of these grimm were the usual black fur white masks, however a staggering number of them were inverted in coloration. This wasn't exactly the first time they encountered grimm like this.
"An excellent assessment William!" He said. He ran his hand through the beowolfs fur. "This reminds me of the King Taijitu. Only not so conjoined."
"When we were in the emerald forest on our second day at beacon, we encountered bewolves like these. One of the was exceptionally big." Ash said. Rasmatas nodded slightly. He muttered quietly under his breath and then nodded again.
"I've heard rumors of strange grimm sightings. It's really quite remarkable, you can learn an entire lifetime of knowledge on grimm." He said in a bit of a rambling sort of way. "You think you know everything, only to discover something extraordinary, something that you never thought possible."
"What do you mean?" Lyra asked. She poked the beowolves with Maibaum. "is this really that big of a deal, an albino grimm?"
"An entirely new species, or subspecies, of grimm that attack other grimm is a big deal? No, this is one of the greatest discoveries of the last century. Territorial grimm fighting among each other in the wild. It's fascinating." He said with an almost youthful sense of enthusiasm. "More importantly, however, is the fact that these bodies are fresh and yet they are still here!"
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"When grimm die, their bodies disperse, they dissolve." Rasmatas said. Ash remembered the Khalkotoroi and reached for his weapon. "These ones are still here and I'd like to know why.
He pulled out a large knife and started a messy deapitation of one of the dead grimm. He pulled the head clean off, Ash felt the sudden urge to puke. He pulled a jar out of his coat, Ash wasn't sure how he managed to store that considering it's size. He placed the decapitated head in the sealed container.
"Any idea what we're dealing with?" Ash asked. Rasmatas ignored him, engrossed in the severed head.
"Last time I saw a pack of grimm this size they had a pack leader." Billy said. "It was far bigger than these."
"Really?" Rasmatas asked. He studied the bodies. "Perfect, the lack of remains the beast might be still alive. We need to investigate the area, it might be hurt and probably hasn't traveled far."
"So how do we find this one grimm?" Lyra asked. "The forest is full of them, what are we supposed to do?"
"Excellent question, with a simple answer!" He said triumphantly. "We hunt!"
Ash scanned his surroundings. Plenty of bodies, lots of trees, very little visibility. Also the tiny thought about how they were burning daylight. In his last few months at beacon, he realized he had no experience hunting. Sparring, killing, scavenger hunting, and yet what he'd assume to be the most important class a huntsman could take would be tracking. Then again, port probably covered that while he was asleep.
- GABRIEL -
"Alright Lancel, two more inches to the left." Gabriel said. Lancel angled his weapon, Arondight slightly. He wiped the scope with a cloth. Gabriel looked back through the binoculars. "Now!"
Arondight let out a loud roar, the bullet soared through the air a good two or three miles into the head of a particularly ugly ursa. It's head exploded like a watermelon. Lancel bolted his weapon and loaded the next shot. Gabriel never could get over how big those bullets were.
"Good shot, so I didn't see you at the dance last night. Where were you?" Gabriel asked. Lancel chuckled.
"I don't kiss and tell." Lancel said with a smirk.
"So there was kissing. Who?" Gabriel asked.
"I don't even know." Lancel said. He wiped the lens of his scope again. "I never got her name."
"You sly dog." Gabriel replied. "I knew all that nerd persona was just an act, you got moves. Moves you need to teach me right now."
"I really don't have any moves, I think she was drunk." Lancel said.
"My man!" Gabriel held his hand up, Lancel frowned. "No worries, I can high five for the both of us."
"You know we can hear you?" Arthur asked. Gabriel picked up his scroll and held it up to his face, he could see Arthur's face glaring at him.
"Hey Arthur, forgot I left you on speaker." Gabriel said with a big grin. "What's new?"
"I'm wondering whether you two are even doing your job." Arthur said. He was certainly all claws today.
"We're doing it!" Gabriel shouted. "We killed like, twelve ursa. We're on top of this."
"We've be neck deep in beowolves for the last half hour, in between dismemberment's we've been listening to the two of you prat on about who ate the last bag of chips and what nail polish you use." Arthur spat into the mic. "Do your damn jobs."
"You're just upset because your big date didn't go so well." Gabriel said with a shortly lived laugh. Arthur glared and hung up. "Well, I suppose you'll be burying me out here."
"His date went that badly?" Lancel asked.
"She left pretty quick. Friend told us she didn't feel well or something." Gabriel said.
"Yeah that dance really started turning sour in the last hour or so." Lancel said with a nod.
"That's because someone decided to increase the portion of alcohol in the punch bowl around halfway through." Gabriel replied.
"That explains a lot really. Like that spontaneous dance number. And that one kid who was complaining all morning about how he woke up in the middle of the night because some idiot was running on the roof." Lancel said. "Wow now everything makes sense."
"Actually he spiked it after all that happened." Gabriel said. "So unless someone else spiked it before him, then that was all just completely coincidental."
"Well, if someone else spiked it first, that would explain why so many people got sick by the end of it." Lancel said. "Shame Rudd couldn't make it."
"He was sulking all morning." Gabriel said. "That faunus girl he likes, he saw her today. He couldn't work up the courage to talk to her."
"The guy's a mess, he sleeps in his armor." Lancel replied.
"I know right. Poor guy." Gabriel shook his head. "He and Arthur must be having a miserable time right now."
"From what I hear, your night didn't go any better." Lancel said. Gabriel jabbed him in the side.
"Alright, you heard captain frowny face. Let's get back to work before I have to bury you out here." Gabriel said. Lancel gave him a smirk. "Alright, aim five inches to the right."
Arondight gave another echoing roar. The ursa's chest exploded and it keeled over. It quickly dissolved. Bingo, Gabriel thought. He spotted for another grimm. Another ursa stepped into the clearing.
- ASH -
"I don't think Rasmatas likes me." Ash said. Rasmatas was far ahead of them. For the last hour or so, every time Ash tried to ask him a question he seemed to ignore him. Half the time he seemed surprised to see him.
"Nobody likes you Ash." Morgana replied.
"Your knife is twisting into my heart right now. I'm serious, it hurts." Ash said. He patted his chest with his fist.
"I like you!" Billy called out from the back.
"Thank you Billy!" Ash called back. He turned back to the others. "I'm serious though, he acts like he doesn't want to acknowledge my presence."
"Has he?" Lyra asked. "I hadn't noticed."
"He sounds surprised to see me when I talk, like he forgot I existed." Ash said. Lyra laughed.
"Maybe he's gone senile. He is a bit ancient." Lyra said. Ash frowned.
"I'm telling you, he hates me." Ash said. "I have a sixth sense when it comes to when people hate me."
"So why haven't you realized that we hate you Ash?" Morgana asked.
"That hurts." He replied. She smirked. Rasmatas held up a hand. He seemed to be sniffing the air.
"We'll make camp on that hill." Rasmatas shouted.
They set up tents. The hill had a good view of the surrounding area, they were in a gentle and well forested valley. Billy set a fire and Rasmatas skewered four juicy looking steaks on a spit. He had Billy rotate them over the fire. Rasmatas sat away from the others, watching over the forest. Ash decided it was a good time to mingle.
"So, our mission, what are we hunting?" Ash asked.
"I figure we are hunting whatever caused that mess back there." Rasmatas said. He stroked beard. "The locals have been reporting sightings of a massive grimm. We aren't the first to go after it, but if we are prepared we might be the last."
"So we are hunting a huntsman eating grimm and we know nothing about it." Ash said. "So we're going in blind?"
"Being a huntsman, you will find yourself going in blind plenty of assumption that you will always know what you are up against is a naive one." Rasmatas replied. Ash could have sworn there was a tone. Rasmatas started sniffing. "The steaks are done."
"They smell delicious." Ash replied. He quickly realized he was drooling.
"It's a shame there isn't enough for all of us." Rasmatas said. "As team leader you often have to put the needs of your team above yourself."
"Aren't you technically our team leader on this mission?" Ash asked.
"I'm just a feeble old man advising you. Would you deprive an old man his lunch?" He replied. Ash frowned.
- CALICO -
Calico awoke to the sounds of water crashing against the sandy shore. He climbed out of his hammock and dressed. It was back to work again. He was running out of time. He stepped out onto the beach, the sun was high in the sky. He skimmed through his scroll. Rojo left him a message, apparently there was a fire in Bastion penitentiary. A cell block burned to the ground, a dozen dead, more injured. Eleven of the twelve dead were members of the white fang. One of them was unlucky enough to share a cell with one. Bruno Flint. Bad way to go out. This seemed like the sort of job Victor would do, the White Fang hate loose ends.
The walk to O'Malley's was uneventful. As was the bar itself. It was dead quiet, in a way he hasn't ever seen before. Even the barman was nowhere to be found. He felt his hand grip Ranger. He cautiously crossed the room to the counter. There was a glass on the counter, someone's drink was still in it. He wasn't sure what he just walked into but odds were it wasn't good. He heard a loud bang upstairs. He stepped to the stairs, pulling Ranger out. He climbed the stairs as quietly as he could, though the creaking wood refused to comply. He heard several louder bangs, followed by a loud crash. Calico approached a door, the noise was coming from the other side. He opened it slowly.
Two men were hanging from the ceiling, one was still like a statue, the other was struggling and kicking. Calico recognized both of them. Rojo and O'Malley. He tossed Ranger and yanked it back hard, cutting Rojo down. He flicked Ranger around O'Malley's rope and cut it. Rojo gasped as he hit the ground, O'Malley wasn't moving.
"What happened?" Calico asked. Rojo coughed up a lung.
"Victor. One minute I'm enjoying a drink, next thing I know I'm being dragged off my stool and hung from the roof. He must have gotten O'Malley while he was on break." Rojo said. He removed the noose from his neck. "Poor bastard."
"I guess he knew we were looking for him." Calico said. He closed O'Malley's bloodshot eyes. "O'Malley paid the price."
"What do we do now?" Rojo asked.
"I guess we comply. At least, until he gives us an opening." Calico said. He couldn't take his eyes off O'Malley. They were never close, but he was so still. "Then we kill him."
"I doubt his bosses will like that plan." Rojo said. Calico shook his head.
"It needs to be done." Calico replied. "Whatever it takes."
