In a short amount of time, the small group of children redressed themselves out of their sleeping garments and into battle attire, no heavy ornaments of course, this was merely a beginners training. The Noa wore a black, cotton shirt with red pants and, to his luck, Jaune's old armor which somehow fit the boy well. The pink-haired boy made a few adjustments of course, relocating the left spauldron to the right; leaving his left arm unprotected, yet his right arm could act as a shield with the added metal. Adelheid wore blue pants with a button white shirt, though she kept the button shirt open, revealing a white muscle shirt underneath. One particular trait she had was the lack of...volume and height, same as her mother in her youth.
"What're you looking at?" Adelheid asked as she glanced at her cloths looking for an abnormality.
To which Noa glanced away. "Uh, nothing." He responded, in complete honesty.
Still, Adelheid's lack of steel allowed for more agile movements on her part. Though, Noa was unsure how to feel with stone golems roaming about aimlessly in that artificial forest. As an added insurance, he equipped a small wooden shield to his right arm. Not exactly the best form of protection against a golem, but it gave him a calmer mind. Adelheid pulled her hair back, though a few strands flowed freely over her face. She also wore leather braces, accompanying her attire were small quivers of throwing knives around her waist. Not entirely certain how those would work on stone Golems, though, Noa had no reason yet to question her weapon choice. Next to come up was Mochi, unlike her friends she wore her simple black dress, but to accompany her attire was a small caplet, she almost looked like a priest. She swung her hammer around a few times; her eagerness to test it out was the complete opposite of a priest. Lastly was Blake, though her attire was far different than her friends. She wore what seemed like a long silk dress dyed violet, a caplet reaching just past her chest, and a Jade circlet with two small rectangular emerald stones and an Onyx stone adorned between them. While only Blake knew what the middle gem stood for, the others assumed her circlet was just for decoration.
"I thought she was the princess in our group." Mochi gestured to Adelheid. Blake smiled to her friend's comment; she faintly pressed her fingers against the side of the circlet.
"This is my weapon." She stated. The others stared at her in confusion, but knowing Blake, she probably has some sort of enchantment in that little crown of hers. As the four of them positioned themselves near the entrance to the forest, Blake pulled out a remote with a single button and pushed it. What followed was the sound of a clock ticking. "Ok, here's how this will go; we're going to be thrown into the forest so make sure you improvise your landing. Head for the center, that's where the artifact is. When you land the first person you make eye contact with is your partner."
"For what, this test?" Adelheid asked. To which Blake shook her head with a sly smile, "For life."
Both Mochi and Adelheid stiffened, whoever they make eye contact with first will be their combat partner for the rest of their lives. Secretly, the two made a plan of whom to search for when this began. But it was until their minds were made up did they realize what Blake said. "Wait! Thrown?!" The two yelled. Before getting the chance to explain, the ticking stopped and four pads beneath them launched the unsuspecting kids into the forest. From the viewing booth, Emerald watched as these children were participating in the traditional rite to become hunters. The green-haired woman took out what was left of Blake's spellcard, and glanced to the flying child. She truly was something, to use her own aunt as a carrier for her eavesdropping schemes, so Blake now knew the whole truth and even with that, she kept it to herself. While she had the opportunity to show this to Jaune, Emerald decided to let the girl do what she wanted with the information she had because it was apparent she used her knowledge quite well. The day before this was a rocky terrain, and overnight she transformed it into a dense forest. Not to mention creating multiple golems was a well-deserved achievement. One thing she noticed about Blake was her 'weapon', though not sure how a circlet could be used in combat, what caught her attention were the gems adorned to it. The emeralds were puzzling, and somewhat nice, but the onyx gem did raise a red flag as to how much she knew in regards to yesterday's conversation.
As the four were free falling into the forest, the emotions were mixed. Blake was somewhat calm, Mochi was laughing hysterically; her tone was a mixture of fear and excitement. Adelheid had fear written all over her face as the distance between the ground and her grew ever closer. Noa was concerned, though; the upcoming tree lines presented a perfect landing opportunity. Once they were nearing the ground, each of them deployed their methods of landing. The gems on Blake's circlet began glowing; a large chunk of earth burst out of the ground and provided a landing stone, hovering above the ground rather than create an impact. Mochi used her hammer to act as her landing cushion; using the tree branches as brakes. She burst through a few bushels before landing, or more correctly, crashing into the northern end of the forest. Noa had the same strategy, though he himself used his shield, embedded with aura, to break through the thickets and crash on the western half of the forest. Adelheid, sadly, was launched unprepared and her mind was scrambled with what to do in this situation. Luckily for her, or perhaps unluckily, she landed on a large tree that cushioned her fall, but for the moment she was entangled within the vines. Every moment she struggled for freedom was in vain, indicating that her predicament only grew worse.
From the booth, Emerald was impressed, somewhat, by their methods. Blake's circlet must be used to store aura, or perhaps enhance her abilities, either way she was handy in forging and strategy. Which is the opposite of what she could say for Adelheid, the girl was lucky to be caught between vines rather than landing face first into a tree. As for the other two, using their weapons as landing gear was resourceful, and their aura levels were low so conserving their strength before a fight was a good plan. Perhaps for the only time in her life, Emerald was glad to see the idea of hunters and huntresses returning to Vale. Her only concern was that only four were willing to take on that title while others would shy away in hopes that their lives won't be targeted by the Atlesians. The cameras around the arena allowed for multiple views and angles to track their progress, though what remained to be seen was how these kids fought as a team.
Adelheid was currently trying to free herself from the grasp of the vines, though when she landed her sword fell to the ground and was not exactly within reaching distance. And yet no matter how much she struggled, her entanglement worsened.
"Why did I agree to this?" She pondered why she was so quick to join Blake's idea of becoming a huntress, perhaps in the hopes that it would get on her mother's nerves. Or maybe it was on the premise of escaping the old and doing something new. To her relief, she heard footsteps approaching, though her breath was cut short as those faint steps became heavy thuds followed by a loud mumble. She glanced up to see a face with a pair of empty, stone eyes. The golem's left arm was fashioned to appear as though it were a hammer, while the right looked more like a normal hand. Its blank, unreadable expression made this situation all the more frightening due to the fact that she couldn't tell what it was going to do. Either ignore her or set her free; both preferable alternatives to treating the trapped child as a piñata. The two stared at one another in awkward silence before the golem made a loud mumble and raised its hammer arm. Adelheid was panicking, if she didn't act quickly this thing was going to literally smack her around, or his first blow could be all that needed to be done. Before the hammer came down on her, a silhouette charged from the thickets and bashed the golems head, cracking the surface of the rune atop its head, thus disabling the beast entirely. It literally crumbled to pieces, allowing Adelheid to sigh in relief. Her savior approached and swiftly cut the vines atop her, thus allowing the child to be free and hit the ground with a thud. Painful was the landing, but free and safe from the golem made it a small price to pay.
"You ok?" Adelheid glanced up to see a pair of light brown eyes and a somewhat dorky grin. The white-haired girl couldn't tell, but her expression was an extremely gleeful grin. It would seem the divines were on her side, her first contact was Noa and he saved her no less. After taking a moment to relish in her victory, a hand offered her up. Happily, she accepted, though being the dense boy he was, Noa was utterly confused as to why she was so happy after almost being a golem's whacking sack.
Emerald smiled slyly, she knew full well how the mothers of these two would react, more so if they were watching this moment. Still, it was nice to see Noa starting off with a better impression and set of skills than his father when the man attended Beacon. She flipped the cameras to view the progress of the other two, which is to say they had yet to meet but we're having some fun.
Mochi's landing attracted three golems to her location, although, these stone men were slow, not entirely bright, and their weak spot was directly atop their heads; their runes. Mochi was having a fun time swinging her hammer and knocking them down. Her attacks, however, were not aimed at their heads so they just kept getting up no matter the cracks in their bodies. Still, the girl continued to smack the stone men around, unaware of one approaching from behind.
"C'mon is that the best you got. Surprise me with somethin'." Mochi exclaimed as her last strike destroyed a golem's leg. Almost as if by her words, the fourth golem mumbled loudly behind her. The bunny girl turned her head to see the stone beast with its hammer-hand raised to swing.
"Clever girl." Mochi whispered before receiving the hit dead-on. Her body was sent flying across the open plain until she crashed against a tree. A bit of blood trickled from her mouth, she was surprised, and slightly entertained. She tried to raise herself up, yet felt a stinging pain in her left arm, she tried moving it, but the pain was excruciating. While taking a moment to collect her thoughts four long shadows hovered over her. She glanced up to see the golems, given the added time, were completely regenerated. She was careless, and clearly outmatched, her weapon knocked away from her and she couldn't move her left arm. Obviously she still needed ways to go, but for now "Okay, I give." She announced, though the golems merely stood emotionless, mumbling softly, and then the fourth raised its hammer for another strike. Mochi barely had enough time and energy to move before the hammer came down on her. "Hey! I said I give!" She shouted, though the stone men nearly ignored her surrender and continued pursuing her with the intent to completely eliminate her. At that moment, all the fun in this test was lost, fear began to solely dominate Mochi's mind. Her legs were sore from slamming against the tree, and her vision was slightly foggy as it changed constantly from clear to groggy. But at the moment, all she knew was to escape the golems trying to kill her. Every swipe was a near miss, though; very quickly her stamina was being drained. If she didn't come up with a plan or at the very least escape, these monsters were going to pummel her to paste. She was nearing the dense forest, a perfect place to lose these bulky beasts. Sadly, she tripped on a rock and slammed down on the floor, yet with little luck, just as she fell, the fourth golem's hammer swung where she stood. Slowly, Mochi turned her head to see the four golems towering over her, all of which raising their hammers. For that moment, Mochi felt regret for many things, one of which was not saying how she truly felt to someone close to her. Just as the hammers were about to come down on her, a large boulder slammed down on the fourth's head, destroying the ruins and catching the attention of the other three. As they turned to their attacker, three more boulders struck their heads, all crumbling as quickly as their runes disappeared. Mochi was surrounded by what remained of these golems, and the lingering fear that her life was about to be ended. Emerging from atop the rubble was a face that sunk her fear, and raised a faint grin.
"Careless as ever." Blake remakred as she made her way down to her friend. "You ok?"
"Peachy." Mochi exclaimed sarcastically. "But I think my left shoulder is dislocated, It hurts and I can't move it." The bunny girl caressed her left shoulder, the mere touch made her cringe in pain. Blake grasped a gentle hold on her friend's arm, and chanted "Pain, Pain go a-" and with a use of good strength, she forced the bone back into place. "-way!" Mochi cringed, crying softly to herself as she felt the excruciating pain all at once. "The pain didn't go away." She whimpered.
Blake planted a soft kiss atop the girl's forehead. "It'll pass, I promise." Using both hands, Blake surrounded her injured friend inside a small dome. Almost instantly, Mochi's wounds were healing, all but the blood was disappearing. Mochi couldn't have been more grateful, and more so now that she realized the little one was her partner now. But for Blake, her thoughts were pondering on why these stone men didn't halt at Mochi's surrender. She specifically designed them to be easy and allow the combatant to stand down. So begged the question; who are what is the cause for this malfunction. It hit her that her brother and Adelheid were still out there facing similar opponents. Blake used her aura to manipulate the stone heap beneath them into a living stone-turtle. Mochi flinched at the rise of another creature, though luckily Blake knew how to ease her when fear or pain enveloped her. "This one is mine; it will get us to the center faster. Rest, you deserve it. Take it easy and recover your strength." Although not fully trusting of these creations, Mochi placed a great deal of trust on Blake and had no reason, nor the strength to argue.
Emerald held her breath for that match; thankfully Blake arrived in time to intervene. This was getting both dangerously fatal and increasingly interesting. As she continued to watch the kids, another visitor had entered without notice and blew a small gust of wind around Emerald's neck. She yelped somewhat loudly before turning to see her guest. Coco was grinning widely, though it vanished as she saw the booth's screens. Some were replaying the quick skirmishes, one in particular showed Mochi's almost quick demise. After taking a moment to explain this situation, even Coco questioned the idea of children becoming hunters at such an early age. From what they were able to see in the videos, it was apparent who was ready for combat, and who wasn't. Noa was calm, precise, and quick in his attacks, paying close attention to any weak point his enemies had before striking. Although a novice in many accounts, the boy was well enough to begin adept training. Eirin was strong and brutal with her new toy, but her careless pride got the best of her this time. Had Blake not intervened, the cost would've been fatal. Adelheid had yet to partake in any form of combat, though judging by her powered shout when receiving her weapon proved she might make a good candidate for adept training, if her meekly attitude didn't halt her progress. And lastly, there was Blake, inarguably the most unique of the bunch, as well as the most frightening. Not only did she forge two weapons for her teammates, she also modified them to enhance their personal abilities. What worried the Vale Veteran was the fact that Blake knew about Eirin's parents and the Onyx crystal. Although, after watching the girl use her aura for such frightening techniques and spells, Coco preferred it if Jaune and Neo handled their child.
Mochi had fallen asleep atop the stone turtle, her snores were soft and her wounds were nearly healed completely. And yet, it wasn't even five minutes since the two set off to find their friends in this forest. Blake continued to worry over what interfered with her golems, it wasn't the first time she summoned simple ones like these, but never did they disobey an order she gave. Was she abusing her powers, was she really in control? Luckily, she placed a failsafe for these golems; all of their ruins would disperse as soon as the artifact in the middle of the forest was removed from its pedestal. With any luck, they'll reach the artifact before any more 'accidents' occur. As of now, it was apparent that neither of them was ready to take up arms and fight. Noa and Blake were trained by their father, but even then the experience was nothing compared to the adults. Mochi and Adelheid were the only ones with very little training experience. As their ride made good headway, a small rustle nearby caught Blake's attention. What emerged soothed her breathing; Adelheid and Noa arose from the thickets, both somewhat dirty and with twigs in their hair.
"Hey sis, mind if we join you two?" Noa asked while scratching the back of his head nervously. Now that the four were together, the small walk to the center would be the final step of their test. Noa and Adelheid were worried upon seeing Eirin with small trickles of dried up blood near her mouth. Blake did explain of course, though the two with her were beginning to question the nature of this test. As the stone turtle made its way to a clearing, a small pedestal could be seen amidst an open plain. Atop it was a single stone object in the form of dagger. The pedestal itself was surrounded by four large spires.
And yet, there weren't any golems guarding it. Blake sensed a few nearby, but none were the ones she assigned to protect the artifact. Things weren't right, Mochi was still recovering from her wounds, and Adelheid wasn't exactly capable for battle yet. "Princess, watch Mochi. Noa, with me." Blake wasted no time taking control of this little team, while doing so she undressed. Removing her caplet and dress, revealing another attire beneath. She wore what seemed like a dark shade of pink shorts extending just pass her knees, a similarly colored sleeveless jacket, though beneath it was what looked like a black swimsuit.
"Sis, what are you wearing?" Noa asked, somewhat worried over his younger sister's attire.
"Something mom gave me, but I made some adjustments." Blake replied nonchalantly. "Let's go." Without waiting, she used a small pulse of aura to push her towards the artifact. Noa used the same technique, but with the added armor his advances were shorter. Blake reached the center first, yet, she refused to so much as try to remove the dagger. Something didn't feel right, and it wasn't just the malfunctioning golems. Once her brother arrived at her side, she gestured him to wait before trying to reach for the small blade.
"What're we waiting for? Let's end this."
"Something doesn't feel right." Blake's worries were correct, for when her brother impatiently tried to remove the dagger from the pedestal; a stone hand caught hold of Noa and sent him flying backwards. The sudden realization hit the young blonde; these spires were altered, they were the golems. The grey spires broke off from their guard and formed arms with blades attached to the left beneath the palm, and pieces of their backs reformed into shields for their right arms. One attempted to grab Blake, though her instincts kicked in, and she quickly retreated. The golems, rather than follow, stayed on guard. These weren't ones she created, and yet they felt familiar. Using the aura stored in her emerald gems, she summoned two golems of her own.
Noa rushed to his sister's side, readying his long sword before she gave the signal to charge in. Though, the initial rush into battle was met with stiff resistance. Blake's pyro and aquatic spells were completely bouncing off the shields and surface of these golems with no effect whatsoever. Distance was her main form of attack, which works well against heavy stone beasts, but if her attacks were doing no damage to these things then she might as well throw rocks. Noa wasn't having a good time either, during his first strike, which was blocked by the opposing golem, another appeared from the side and used its shield to knock him away. A small trail of blood tricked down the side of his head. The golems his sister created, which were meant to aid him, were destroyed with a single swipe. Noa staggered for a few seconds before rejoining his sister. The two regrouped, and then tried a new tactic. Sadly, it ended same as the first; Blake's spells having little to no effect, and Noa being knocked around.
Meanwhile, Adelheid was left to watch over the perverted bunny while her partner was fighting without her. It was at that moment that a hardened feeling within her chest tightened. She clenched her chest, but had no idea as to how to react.
"Sucks, doesn't it?"
Adelheid turned to Mochi, whom had awoken due to the explosions coming from the battle. The young bunny girl gripped her hammer tightly as she watched Blake and Noa jump into battle yet again. "We have to stay on the sidelines and do nothing but watch the fight unfold. Not being able to assist the people close to you hurts, right?"
Adelheid didn't respond, but the words of her friend were true. Her hesitant trance was broken when Mochi picked her up and forcibly placed Dawnstar in her hands. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to help my partner before things get too ugly. You in?"
The princess nodded, and the two jumped off the stone turtle and rushed in to aid their friends with unflinching determination.
Noa was wavering as two golems approached him. His last failed attempt ended with his upper spauldron dented, and a few scratches on his unprotected arm. He raised his longsword and readied for an attack, though what came next was a deafening voice that staggered and confused the golems. It was then that Noa saw their runes through a small opening in their chests. With precision aim, he used his aura to dash at the open golem and strike its rune. The beast took only a few moments to crumble. The pink-haired boy turned to see his partner smiling at him. Though their celebration would be put on hold as the remaining golem recovered, and charged at them.
All the while, Mochi had smashed through the other two golem's legs, both tumbled and attempted to recover their stance with both their arms, leaving their chests wide open allowing Blake to strike both with makeshift stone arrows aimed precisely at their runes. The golems crumbled within seconds, and now the four could direct their last attention on the remaining stone men. As the four surrounded the last golem, Noa and Adelheid were preparing a distraction. A small rumbling sound behind Blake caused Mochi's instincts to glance behind them. In mere moments she dashed to her partner, and pushed her out of the way as a regenerated golem swung its hand and sent the bunny girl tumbling over the hardened ground.
Landing a few yards away, Mochi arose slowly off the ground. "Not again." She mumbled tiredly.
Noa noticed the fourth approaching from behind him, he quickly gripped Adelheid's arm and brought her close to him. "We'll handle them, get that artifact!" And without waiting for her response the boy used a great deal of aura to throw her towards the pedestal. As she flew towards the center of the field, the last she saw of Noa was him being smacked aside by a golem with blood trickling from his mouth. Blake was using her aura to conjure stronger golems, though even they were no match for these silver four. And this was taking its toll on Blake as her soldiers were barely able to hold their ground. Yet, her own resolve was dwindling as she watched her brother and partner knocked around with little effort. Adelheid landed a few feet away from the pedestal, her eyes were watering heavily as she watched her partner continue to stand up and try to keep not just one, but two golems from reaching her. All the while she saw Noa growing tired from holding them off on his own. With little delay, she removed the blade from its place. Three of the golems crumbled instantly, yet only one remained, and it was currently hovering over Noa with its hammer hand ready to pummel him. Mochi had collapsed to her knees from her exhaustion, she was currently using her hammer as support to try and stay up. Blake had no aura left to conjure; meaning all she could do now was watch. Adelheid dashed to her partner's side with a small aura boost, though when she reached them she stood with her arms wide open in between the golem and her partner.
"Stay away!" She shouted, but the golem had no intention of ceasing. It raised its hammer for one last strike.
The young princess gripped Dawnstar and channeled whatever aura she could into it. "I said; STAY AWAY!" Adelheid's amplified shout was now louder, and with more power. The golem shook violently and eventually cracked to its core, literally. As soon as its runes were destroyed, the last golem crumbled. And with that, any form of power or lingering aura was gone, allowing Blake to finally relax. Mochi allowed her body to completely collapse on the soft grass beneath her. Adelheid collapsed in front of Noa, her tears ceasing to end. The boy held his own against two golems, though he paid for it with many wounds and a broken right arm. The princess refused to meet her partner eye to eye, mainly due to the fact that his left eye was shut with blood trailing over it. Head wounds bleed a lot, but it wasn't a good thing to have little to no injuries and your partner nearly beaten to a pulp. Even though this was their victory, Adelheid felt bad towards the cause of his injuries; her not being able to handle at least one on her own. If not for her boosted momentary confidence, no doubt she wouldn't be sitting next to her breathing partner. Mocha was a beast in her own respect; no doubt she could handle two opponents at a time. Blake was more of a strategist, within time she could probably come up with a plan to take down an enemy. Noa was able to hold his own in a fight, and in this day and age, surviving was lesson not to be taken lightly. And yet, what special powers did she have other than shouting?
"I'm sorry." Adelheid whispered. "If only I was stronger..." Her words were beginning to drown in her own sorrow.
Her partner's response was a gentle press of his forehead against her own. "I'm still alive, thanks to you. Don't put yourself down, you're plenty strong. Thank you for saving me, partner." Noa's words helped, for the moment. Mochi joined in the comfort of still being alive by tackling her own partner. The two fell down hard, but laughed all the same, disregarding the pain.
In the booths, Coco and Emerald were breathing lighter now that this was over. The kids had plenty of wounds, but it wasn't anything these women wouldn't heal before the mothers had a chance to see. All in all, this was quite the test. Speaking of which…
"So they succeeded?" The two jumped as Weiss entered with her arms crossed showing a slightly annoyed expression. While she didn't approve of her daughter being so close to Noa, she couldn't deny that the boy was of good character. Still, with the trials that are soon to come, her daughter would need all the support she could get.
"W-Weiss...how long were you there?" Coco asked hesitantly.
"I just arrived, though what angers me is that the two of you didn't intervene. What about this made sense to you?! Children taking a hunter's rite of passage?!" Her icy scolding pierced through both women, flinching every time she made so much as a blink.
"Regardless, the test is over, and Jaune's golems should no longer be a problem." The former heiress added.
"J-Jaune's golems?! You mean those silver ones were his?!" Emerald was somewhat surprised, but Coco was genuinely shocked that the blonde had a hand in these stone beasts.
"Yes, he sensed his daughter's activities when she created these stone men. Sometimes children tend to forget who taught them to use their power. On the other hand, we only intervened when we found her in the lower level."
The two women were confused, allowing the heiress to fill them in, partially. "The Lower level contains an artifact we'll need in the future. But for now, make sure none of the children go near it. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go prepare breakfast. Please make sure they wash up." Weiss exited the booths and the mountain, retreating back into her house where Neo had just awoken. Jaune on the other hand could be seen in the field healing the injured. His appearance did worry Blake, but it also gave her a sense of relief.
The conversation at breakfast was filled with anger from the mothers, and small praises from the other adults. Before eating, Neo and Weiss chewed their children out, scolding them for going through with something so obviously dangerous. Then again, Weiss delievered most of the verbal discussions, but both were equally terrifying. Mochi was scolded by Coco, which wasn't as heated as the others, but still quite vivid. After which Coco and Emerald spoke of the amazing feats these kids performed, including Adelheid's last minute save. Weiss felt a hint of pride in her daughter, she was as honorable and brave as her father, but her sudden interest in Noa was worrying to say the least. Neo was a bit saddened, with this accomplishment; no doubt her children would grow up too quickly from her on. Her kids would be too caught up in their training they'd have little time for her.
"So, Jaune, of all our little hunters here, who should be the leader of the group?" Weiss's question brought all eyes on him, the blonde sat quietly in the hot seat. He took a moment to thing it through before coming up with the best candidate. "Well, Mochi has the courage, Adelheid has tenacity..." As Jaune's gaze shifted to his son, the boy was eagerly awaiting.
"...you have the fire in your belly."
"See, I got the fire in my belly." Noa boasted to his sibling.
"Yea, it's called gas." Blake's retort created a wave of laughter around the table, even an almost audible chuckle from her mother. No matter the circumstances, these two will still poke fun at the other for the sake of enjoyment.
"But, I believe Blake is more suited to be the leader of this team." For a moment, Weiss questioned putting a girl as young as Blake a team leader. Then again, Ruby was pretty young for a huntress too. This child is only nine; she still had ways to go of course, but could she handle such a responsibility? Coco and Emerald had no arguments to make after watching the test unfold. Blake wasn't the oldest, or strongest of the group, but she had much more to offer than age or brute force. The members of her team also didn't seem opposed to the idea, thus, Blake was made the official leader of BANE.
The new family shared a small moment of peace after removing the topic of hunters and huntresses from the table. Unbeknownst to them; Jaune and Weiss managed to locate a few survivors from the Henan attack on the travel back home and asked them to carry a rumor with them; a lie to have seen the infamous Valen traitor heading north to Atlas. With that little lie, no doubt the government officials will reinforce their borders and the military will be on a mass search. Runa was hidden within the thickets of the forest, along with a small protection from heavy land vehicles with jagged terrains. A small platoon of soldiers stayed behind to clean up the mess, but within hours the Atlesians abandoned Henan and moved north to track down the traitor. A feeling of peace returned to this valley. Even so, the attack left many without homes and with memories they would rather forget. The days of mourning would go on for another few months, in the meantime, the rebels and Valens worked together to fortify Runa. For many, they proposed to act on the rumor and head north to aid Jaune Arc in a possible coup, to break this land free of Atlesian grips and perhaps reform the kingdom of Vale. To those who were unaware of Jaune's new identity, their support for the once traitor grew to newer levels. While the blonde wanted to reveal himself to the people, it was best if they knew him as Gildarts, lest Winter returns and tries the same tactics she used in Henan. The villagers could at least honestly say they've never seen him.
Days came and went, with little sign of the Atlesians the people began to breathe easier. Soon, those days of Atlesian absence became months and soon after, five years passed with news of Atlas finally giving up on finding the traitor. That single rumor sparked a long and costly campaign. Most of the damage was done to the Schnee family when it was the new heiress that claimed she battled the blonde turncoat. Money and reputation was the cost for this family when Winter delivered to her father, in secrecy, the news of what truly happened to his daughter during the uprising. His money was invested solely on acting on any and all leads in the hopes of finding his daughter first, and taking care of her before she could shame the family name.
Thankfully, under the guidance of the former warriors the training of the small group progressed exponentially. Blake was advancing in her spells and creating frighteningly new spellcards. Noa and Adelheid were progressing in their attack patterns and strategies. Mochi on the other hand was quite the handful; her attacks were always quick and incredibly painful. Within time, team BANE became the first team of hunters to be formed since the fall of Vale. Their resurrection began to spread to other nearby settlements, inspiring others to form four person teams and train to become hunters. Soon, hunters and huntresses began forming again, independently around the many villages in the region. Some joined the ranks of Coalition and Valens in their raids against the Atlesians. Raids that started becoming successful again, and costly for the kingdoms. This development began to worry those in power within the other three kingdoms. Should these new teams prove extremely useful in their work with the former rebels and Valens, no doubt their next aim would be to overthrow the governments that wronged them. Such a revolution would weaken their current positions, and ultimately their populace would discover the crimes allowed by their leaders. It took only three nods and a single pen swipe to order the last decree; SCORCHED EARTH. No matter the allegiance, no matter the moral scale, an uprising would not be allowed to even come to mind. The order to finally eradicate every single remnant of Vale and its culture was passed. Once all the dissenting slums were burned, the kingdoms would only need to build over the remains. But then again, that would depend on if there were to be any remains left. And with the ashes, the proof of their crimes would vanish under lies of how the people of Vale died off.
In the five years that passed; Adelheid, Noa and Mochi turned seventeen. Blake might've been the youngest, being nearly fifteen, but her age wasn't what defined her as a team leader. She devoted most of her time to her studies, coming up with new forms of spells and keeping an eye on Mochi. The bunny girl herself would wander into the forest, often to test her limits on the nearby Ursa and Beowulf dens. Her little trips ended with a majority of the Grimm packs dead, and her returning with an eerie smile. Surprisingly, Adelheid and Moa grew closer, although, the boy was still quite dense. And the young girl wasn't exactly the aggressive type like her mother. Still, it didn't worry Weiss much that her daughter's partner was a clueless idiot like his father. However, he gained her admiration when he proved more than often willing to lay his life on the line for his partner. On various missions they were given, if the situation seemed to be getting out of hand, Noa would place his focus solely on assuring his partner was safe while disregarding his own wellbeing. By now, the pink-haired boy sported a few scars on his arms and chest, but looks didn't mean anything to him. All the while, every time Adelheid saw his scars, she was reminded of how weak she was viewed in his eyes, and how stronger she still needed to become. Neo and Weiss were both saddened to see their children grow up so quickly, but the training would help them in the days to come. Coco and Emerald did their best to cope with living under two frightening mothers, a man with many secrets yet to uncover, a child with a new stock of spellcards to play out, a perverted bunny with a warhammer, a white-haired Faunus going through feelings her mother has yet to explain to her, and lastly a boy so dense he makes a rock seem transparent.
Throughout the five year period, Jaune searched for one of his journals he believed was lost in the Henan incident; little did he know his daughter was at work attempting to decipher the code in which he hid a majority of his secrets. There was limited time to work on the code, and very few places she could safely hide it. Sharing a room with her brother was easy enough, he respected her privacy, but the last thing she needed was one of the adults finding the book. And today, as any day she had free time; Blake was attempting to read her father's journal. He purposely hid major sections of the book, the question is; why? What could possibly be in these books that her father would not allow for just anyone to read?
Jaune glanced towards Emerald and Coco, lastly his wife. Weiss kept her eyes glued to the floor, neither of them wanted to remember the discovery they made, nor did they want their friends to know what else occurred in Vale all those years ago. But, judgement was approaching, the genocide order passed by the three kingdoms had reached Runa, and the plan to save their young was needed now more than ever. Jaune began with the origin of the crystal, which stood on a pedestal before them. The women were surprised to see the Onyx crystal first hand, more so the strange power radiating from it.
"The Onyx crystal is more than just a weapon, in my research, I discovered on property this thing has that defies our level of understanding. For now, think of it as a weapon, and the thing with weapons is; they need maintenance. Cinder wanted power, not just any power though; she wanted to wield a power that would bring the world to its knees. For that she dwelled into many research files that she stole from the Schnee's data archives. In one of these files she found the file on the Onyx crystal. To this day we have no clue as to how she acquired it, nor where it was hidden all this time. Luckily, when she first had it, the thing was as powerful as a novice spell caster."
"It was when she sought for a way to reenergize the crystal that we planned to steal it and use it against her." Weiss added.
"When I worked for her, I found some books and logs referring to the ruins of Eva, an old civilization that supposedly created an ultimate weapon to defeat the Grimm, but were in turn destroyed by their very own creation. For a time, we didn't make the connection…but that was our mistake. Here is where our story becomes darker; when we couldn't find any other connections, I researched any and all I could on Eva, especially the civilization's culture. I found that something they practiced in excess was 'essence snaring'. Which, as we discovered during the uprising, was how Cinder gave the crystal the power it needed." Jaune finished, holding back the information that even brought him into momentary despair, and extreme hatred towards the woman.
"So, if it was almost out of power, what exactly did she use to charge that thing?" Emerald gestured to the crystal? The blonde knight and his former partner kept their silence; the weight of their knowledge was withholding the secrets to powering the Onyx crystal back to its full state. With Jaune and Weiss unwilling to respond, the answer came from an unexpected source.
"Essence; Life." All eyes darted to Blake, standing at the door way with her circlet in her hand, and her father's journal in the other. Her eyes were devoid of life, and her expression was similar to an emotionless corpse. Yet, the reddened portion of her eyes showed she cried heavily at some point before arriving. Blake had finally decoded the book and its secrets. However, it was evident now that she regretted ever learning this secret, for the conclusion meant one thing. "Cinder Falls used the life force of humans and Faunus alike in Vale to fuel the Onyx crystal."
Ugh! Classes start soon, and the damn heat is too unbearable. But enough of my troubles hope you all enjoyed your summer, and this chapter. Sorry for the wait, i'll try to have the next one up sooner, until next time!