Chapter 3– Partners

Two years earlier. I walked across the front driveway of our mansion. The cobblestones have been cleaned yesterday. I still noticed a few little amounts of water, calmly remaining in the holes and the basins all over the driveway. The huge mansion itself was built on a brick foundation; the walls and the windows were beautifully decorated with dark wooden planks, symbols, vines and such stuff. The rooftop was covered in nearly pitch-black roof tiles. The wall was also covered by trees and plants. My sister stood at the massive steel front gate, together with my father.

"Hey, little brother, where have you been?"

"I was busy, you know that. Did I miss anything?"

My father pointed at my sister. She was wearing her dark blue battle skirt. That meant that she had been off fighting someone again.

"You should have come with us. Anthracite took out the traitor within seconds. All on her own. She is ready."

He looked at the ground.

"But I am not sure about you, Darkin. You still haven't taken part of such a mission. When are you finally going to realize that you can't always run away from it?"

I came to a stop only a few meters away from them. My sister angled her head.

"Right. You are still hanging out with that one girl from the village, am I right?"

"You know exactly that I've abandoned her."

I replied simply. It wasn't true. I still had contact with her. No one could tell me what to do. I wanted to live my own life, and especially not like my glittering family did.

"And I am never going to take a part in this."

"We will see. Sooner or later, you are going to realize that this is the right way."

They both walked past me and entered the mansion. I stood still and stared at the white car which was parked there, ready for the butler to collect it. My father was vain and proud of his title. I wasn't. In fact, I hated it.

"Master Darkin, would you move to the side, please? I need enough space to maneuver the vehicle around."

I turned around and saw Apilred. He was the butler of our family. He was about to place the car somewhere it wouldn't stand in the way.

"Oh, it's you. No, sure, I will move out of the way."

"It was a rather quick conversation again, between your father and your sister, am I right, master?"

"You know. Same old father as always. And, please, stop calling me master. You know that I react allergic to that."

Apilred nodded and took the keys to the car out of his pocket. He came closer to me and spoke a bit more reposeful.

"Don't worry about that. You know him, and I know him even better. He is not going to change. And always remember. I am there if you need to talk to somebody."

"Sure. And even if I could, I wouldn't speak to any other guy in here. Bunch of sellouts and idiots."

"But, these are no conceited kind of words."

I sighed heavily and waved my arms.

"Perhaps I am hanging out with the wrong people. Oh wait, I am not even hanging out with anyone."

We both grinned. We had the same humor. At least there was one more human in this family.

I rubbed my hands over my face. I've never been that tired in my life before. It took me some time to grasp what was going on, because I had wandered around like a mummy until I had my coffee. We sat cafeteria. It was time for breakfast and I had made a splendid recovery, nearly too good to be true. I haven't slept that good for a long time, so it was difficult for me to stay awake. Eda smiled and took a berry from one of the bowls which stood on the table. She held it in front of her mouth and looked at me.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you tired?"

"A little bit. I need to run, and then I shouldn't be tired anymore."

"Huh. That is your own way to stay awake then, huh?"

She asked and ate the berry.

"You could say that. I'm a little more tired than average. I guess I haven't slept that relieved in a long time."

I tried to stay awake, so I grabbed the cup of coffee which I got from the buffet and took a sip from it. The cafeteria was full of students. The noise was a bit loud actually, but I ignored it, so I could speak with my new friends. Pale and Ivory sat down next to us on the table. They were just getting something to eat.

"Hey, good morning, guys."

Ivory greeted us with a cheerful smile. She took a slice of bread and began to eat from it. Eda took another berry.

"Good morning to you. Have you slept well?"

"We sure did."

Replied Pale and drank from a glass of water. The glass had a marking on it, just like all the other cups and glasses. They had the letter H drawn on them in red paint, obviously standing for Haven Academy. Behind the letter was a silver shield. Pale looked at me and pointed his finger at me while he held the glass.

"Looks like you didn't have a great start today, am I right, Dark?"

I made a grumbling noise and buried my face in my hands again.

"He sure had no great start."

Ivory joyfully teased me, surely knowing that she was annoying me. I did not get offended by that. There were worse things I had to endure in my life.

"So, are you ready for the quest today? It is going to take place far away from safety, according from what I have heard."

"Well, either way, Professor Lionheart said that he will inform us today. We shouldn't jump to conclusions then."

Eda said while she let the next berry disappear. I put my hands out of my face and looked around on the table. My hair covered the sides of my face like curtains. I saw the bully from yesterday. He and a few others who appeared to be his companions sat on the other side of the cafeteria. It wouldn't be such a good idea for him to make the same mistake as yesterday. I was not in the mood for him to annoy me. Pale took out his scroll and read something.

"Oh, guys. You ain't gonna believe it."

"What?"

Ivory asked surprised.

"Atlas made a statement; they wanna produce a new type of soldier. Didn't leak much info yet, but seems like they're building a robot army."

"Robots? What kind?"

I asked. That was definitely something new.

"Can't tell. They just say that they're up to something big. Infantry and vehicles are going to be presented to the public in a few days. Top notch technology as they say. Wonder what that's about."

"Dito. Maybe they want to disturb this beautiful peace we are enjoying."

Eda said. She looked excited about the news.

"I don't think so."

I muttered. I knew how the Atlas military and the greater percentage of the people thought. They were easily offended, which was a good way to predict their actions.

"Sure, they are a little isolated over there, and their leadership seems a bit troubling to us, but I do not think that they would really start a war all over again. Also, they just couldn't fight in other environments other than their own. You could easily notice that when they fought against Vacuo."

"You have a point there. But anyways, I must change the subject right now. What are we going to do today?"

Ivory asked. And to be honest, I also wanted to know that.

"The quest is about to begin."

Eda explained. She stood up and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"We are going to collect all the things we need, prepare ourselves, and then we must meet up on the landing platform. I don't know any details."

I shrugged. I stood up and waved my arms.

"Then let's go and find out, shall we?"

"I think we should."

Pale replied and stood up, too. Ivory and Eda followed us. We started walking out of the cafeteria and to the locker room in which we had our weapons stored. Thistle walked out of a room to our right, just as we were about to enter the locker room.

"Hey, good morning, guys. You're also on the way to the lockers?"

"Yep."

I replied, dreaming my way towards the locker. By dreaming I mean that I was captured in an emotion between happy, motivated and totally incurious while I swaggered along with my new friends.

"I have to hold my beauties in my hand again; after all, they are the most valuable things I possess."

"It's the same with me."

Thistle said and walked next to me.

"They are also my beauties. Ran and Can. Those are their names."

"Cool. I called mine Destiny's Sun."

I said. I addressed Pale.

"By the way, Pale."

He looked at me.

"Which name did you give your weapon?"

"I called it Burgund. The name tells you everything, am I right?"

"Right."

He chose the name after the appearance of the weapon. It was completely dark red after all. No, it was burgundy actually.

We stood on a glade of the thick forest that surrounded Haven and the many villages nearby. The Headmaster stood in front of us students, together with Doctor Greystep and another teacher who I haven't met yet. All the new students, including me of course, formed a straight row and listened to the words of the Headmaster. He was explaining the upcoming quest.

"All Huntsmen Academies have the very same ritual. We send the students out to a quest, which is going to test your abilities and skills in fighting, and to test everyone's kind of teamwork. You are going to get dropped out by a catapult of an airship high in the sky.

As soon as you land, you will find yourselves in the middle of a hot spot of Grimm attacks. Your task will be, besides surviving, to locate a cave system which contains treasures.

You will only be able to access the treasures as a team of four students. The team you choose will be the team in which you will fight and learn the ways of a Huntsman's life. So, choose wisely, until your graduation, you will spend the most time of your training in that exact same team. Also, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner until you graduated."

He pointed at himself.

"Every teacher has been strictly ordered not to intervene while the quest is active. Be careful, and stand your guard. Because the creatures of Grimm do not spare anyone."

I looked around in the group of students. Eda listened carefully to his words, while she held her racket in her right hand and moved her fingers to spin it around its axis. Pale played with his Yo-Yo, as always.

Ivory looked around and studied the nature of the forest. A lot of different kinds of trees stood around us all. Flowers, both colorful and magnificent. Birds chirped, and I was probably the only one who noticed that there was a group of deer a few hundred meters away from us. Doctor Greystep spoke up.

"We will hand out maps to every one of you. The cave system is marked on it. There is an abandoned village not far from there, and I am warning you. You shall not enter that area. The village was destroyed recently. We are still investigating what exactly happened there, so please, do everything to avoid that area. We will meet each other at the treasure point."

And with that, we entered the airship which waited for us. A wooden airship built like an arrow head. We all had different expectations of the quest, and most importantly, how it would turn out in the end.

I would bet that Thistle was ready to face every last enemy in her path. She probably was the thrill-seeking type. Eda? She probably would be concentrating on the quests goal. But I guess she would also bring some Grimm down if she had to. Me? I didn't know. I had no idea how this would turn out for me.

But I wasn't concentrating on one aspect of this quest. I could get killed. I could join a team, but the other members may not like me. All those questions shot through my head as we floated across the massive forest. The wind threw my hair everywhere.

"An impressive sight, isn't it?"

Eda asked. She moved to my right and looked down, too.

"Yes."

I replied. Eda looked at the huge forest which reached up to the horizon.

"I mean, how many times do we see the earth from above?"

"Not all too often."

I paused and thought.

"What do you think, how will this all turn out?"

I asked her. She made a serious expression.

"I really don't know. There are going to be some dead students after this, these forests are dangerous. Full of Grimm. Everywhere are lurking monsters. I think that some of us are going to reach their limits."

"We probably will."

I said.

"All part of the plan, for sure."

The female teacher spoke up and addressed every student in the airship.

"Please listen up, everybody. The beginning of the quest is near."

We all followed the teacher into the ship. There were a lot of capsules, lined up in two straight rows.

"Every one of you may enter one capsule. These will bring you safely to the ground. Remember to take on the safety belts."

"I have a question."

Someone piped up in the crowd.

"Of course. What is your question?"

"Why are we going down there with a capsule? Why don't we just jump off or walk?"

"Interesting idea."

The teacher replied sarcastically.

"You could get hurt faster by jumping down, walking could be taking some time and exhaust you until you reached your goal. And those capsules assure that the space between the school and the battlegrounds is far enough. You may now enter the capsules."

I didn't even know her name and I already like her. We all began to split up and get in one of those capsules. Twenty-four capsules. Twenty-four students. Worked out for me. I made my way through the crowd of new students and opened a capsule. These things looked a lot like steel boxes with a seat and a giant window in it. That was probably the case because they were metal boxes with windows. The teacher continued.

"You don't need to sit next to someone you like. It does not necessarily mean that you will land between each other. The capsules are going to travel on different routes. Randomized to say the least."

I sat down in the capsule and put on the safety belt. A male voice appeared and asked.

"Was there ever an accident involving these things?"

"There was one actually. One student died."

It went silent on the ship.

"How did it happen?"

"Its easy. He was a rowdy, and money and connections brought him into the school, however, he didn't follow one rule. He did not put his safety belt on."

My safety belt clicked. Again I ensured me if the belt really sat tight. It was. The capsules closed with two beeping noises. The huge window sealed the capsule, and with a huge blow from below, the capsules were thrown into the air.

I opened my eyes. My capsule landed in a massive tree's crown. I noticed the destroyed twigs and falling leaves behind me which somehow represented a path. It led directly in the direction of the airship. I survived. Nice. Now I had a problem. How would I get down from that tree? I looked around and tried to gather information about my surroundings. Trees. An open field of the size of a driveway.

Flowers. Creatures of Grimm. Many more flowers.

Wait. There were two creatures of Grimm. A Beowulf and a cheetah like Grimm, only having the distinctive bones instead of fur. They did not seem to see me. Or even notice that I was up there. They stared at something to my left. It was that moment that I noticed my current position. Horizontal. Okay. Not bad, at least I didn't land with the window downwards in the mud.

I prepared to leave the steel cage.

I pressed the big red button titled exit in a white color. The capsule opened, and the Grimm did not have enough time to react. I fell from the sky, cut one Grimm apart, made a roll and jumped at the Beowulf.

My jacket began to glow and crackled. Lightning shot out of my stretched out hand, directly at the Beowulf, electrocuting and burning it from inside out. It was one of the best choices in my life to sew some yellow dust into my jackets right arm. I landed on my feet and looked around. The Grimm started to vanish into thin air.

That was a nice start into the quest actually. I brushed some dirt off my shoulders. I was alone, the luck was mine.

Now I had to find someone and make a team. I hoped to find Ivory. Pale or Eda, Thistle. Yellwin, or Gris. They all seemed to be really nice guys; at least they were people who didn't shoot at me as soon as they saw who I was.

And I surely didn't want to get a partner who I never met before. But first things first. I had to study my surroundings. As the teachers said, the forest would be full of dangers. I started walking in the direction in which the Grimm stared. Something must have happened there if they were distracted that easily.

I saw a path. It looked more like a road than just a hiking way. Following it would not be a bad idea, at least that was what my map said. I walked on it for a few minutes, but then there was something on the path.

A giant footprint. It looked like a trace of a huge bear or something, according to my small knowledge about animals. I was about to put my sword away, but I got interrupted by a few loud sounds to my right.

I turned my head around and stiffened my position, and then something awkward happened. The trees broke and fell down as the Ursa impacted and forced the trees to move.

A Grimm which resembled a bear. That explained the gigantic footprint. The only thing I was asking myself was however, how In the world it went flying. It wasn't controlled. It flew over me and landed with a heavy thump on the ground to my left.

I lifted my sword up and turned my face away from the twigs and rubble which followed the creature. I widened my eyes and tried to analyze the situation. The Grimm stared at me with an angered glimpse. Someone shouted at me.

"Out of the way, Darkin."

I ducked without questioning. Many heavy sounding gunshots appeared. A student shot through the path which was created by the Grimm. The student thrust her weapon into the creature with a metallic scratch and killed it. It was Eda. I was really happy to see her. She turned around and stepped off the creature. She looked around and then directly in my eyes with a light smile.

"I guess this makes us partners then, huh?"

"I think so, too. I haven't found anyone yet. But a question right away. How did you do that?"

"What? The Grimm?"

She asked and brushed off dirt from her clean, red skirt.

"I have my ways. As soon as you know how to lift up heavy things, you get a feel for it. All it needs is willpower. And the right armament of course."

"Alright. Technique then."

I said to myself and looked around once more. I was very happy that I met her first. It was a relief for me to become partners with someone who was intellectual and kind.

"Now what do we do next, partner?"

Asked Eda and took out her map. She put it on the ground and unfolded it. She looked at it for a short time and figured out where we were at the moment.

"Our position is south from the goal."

"We have to reach it in time. We shouldn't be the last ones who arrive."

I muttered. Eda kept her stare at the map.

"And why is that? I do not remember the teachers mentioning anything about a time limit."

"No, if we go the same way like the others. They could attract more Grimm, and if we fall behind, we could get the whole horde aiming for us, if you know what I mean."

"Of course. Not bad, Darkin. You certainly got good ideas. What do you say, how should we continue?"

I put my hands in my pockets and sniffed silently. I thought about my plan, then I addressed my new partner.

"I've got an idea. What do you think, Eda? What do you think we shall do?"

Eda smiled lightly. She probably thought about the same thing as I did.

"You want to know what I have in petto? I say..."

She put her index finger at position on the map. She began to slowly slide it upwards and then right.

"I say we go up first, and when we arrive at the river, we can use the water itself to advance quickly."

I lifted an eyebrow up and turned my head to Eda.

"Excuse me? What do you mean?"

"I will show you. It has to do something with my Semblance."

She said.

"Okay, then I guess our goal is somewhere near this one huge mountainside over here."

She pressed her index finger on the map, on the huge red X. We looked up and spotted a lot of mountains in the distance, which also happened to be in the direction of our goal. She pointed at it and nodded.

"It surely looks like it does."

She folded the map and put it in one of her belt bags. She stroke through her curly blonde hair. I only now noticed that she had a few thin highlights of black and red. How didn't I notice it? It was probably because it just blended in perfectly with her appearance. A noise got the attention of both of us.

I tried to figure out what it was. Eda went into attack position. She stiffened and stretched out her right arm. Her racket transformed into its normal style. Her left hand reached out for a grenade. I swung my sword a few times around me. I turned my hand around and held the sword in front of me, aiming the blade at the noises which came closer. The trees in front of us broke and fell. I noticed that some Grimm came towards us. Ursas. We both made back flips to elude the falling trees.

I was in the air. My semblance spawned two trails of the black shadow.

I used the one right from me. It sped me up and brought me behind the Grimm. A swift spin of my sword and the blood thirsty creature fell. I used my momentum to turn myself. I took my knife and landed on the ground. I unrolled myself and thrust the knife at the next creature. My left leg lifted itself up automatically and I spun. I held my sword sideways and slayed it after a lot of cuts. I stared at Eda.

She waited for a Grimm to run towards her. She quickly moved her pelvis up and a feather ball grenade slid out of her belt. She made a spin and hit the grenade with her racket. It flew insanely fast at the creature. The explosion tore it apart. She took a new feather ball and threw it in the air. She took a few steps forward, followed by a very classy maneuver, hitting the feather ball at a forty five-degree angle as it came down. the feather ball flew a quick curve, right into the last remaining Beowulf. Eda smiled and positioned herself in a classy pose.

"Not bad, Darkin. You got some tricks up your sleeve."

She stated and looked around in case there were more threats.

"And you know how to move."

I said and looked around, too, while I took out a piece of cloth and cleaned my sword. I looked at it and noticed something unusual. Instead of having my sword full of blood, it was covered in crusts of dust. I took a closer look at it.

"Hey, Eda, what is wrong with those Grimm?"

I asked. Eda looked at me. Her expression told me that she did not understand what i wanted from her.

"What?"

"Here, my sword is covered in black dust. Not in blood."

"Huh. That's unusual."

She said as she came towards me and stared at my blade.

"Normally Grimm do bleed. I mean, they turn into ashes, but they have blood in them, don't they?"

"I guess so. Maybe those adapted to something."

I replied. Eda shook her head and tried to find another way to explain.

"Adapted. To what? I don't know for sure, do you think this is somehow connected to the quest?"

"It could be possible."

I stated, quickly adding.

"Although it would be strange. Well. We should keep up with the others."

After successfully getting away from that spot, we finally reached the river. The water rustled noisy, which indicated that it wasn't just a small little stream. I looked out for any hazards or students, while Eda crouched down at the river and concentrated.

"So, what is your plan after all?"

"Tell me, Darkin."

She answered. She stretched out her arms and held them above the fresh water.

"Your Semblance. This shadow plus speed thing. Does it work for you exceptionally or can you involve another person?"

"What, like, taking that person with me?"

She nodded and looked at me questioning. I shrugged.

"I never did try it out, you know? What do you think, can it work?"

"I mean. The semblance is something that makes you special."

She kept on concentrating. The water began to somehow decrease in a pattern. Like it was pressed down by a plate.

"I've met people who could only cast the Semblance and use it for themselves only; others did not even work without more people. But it is worth a try."

"Why do you want to know it anyways?"

"Step on the water."

She wasn't joking. She looked at me and waited for me to step on the water, like she said.

"Uhm, what?"

"Step on it. Trust me, it sounds insane, but I can make it accessible. Come on, don't be shy."

I sighed and walked towards Eda. She stood up and pointed onto the area which was supposed to help me to stand on the water. I took a deep breath and walked towards the water.

"I swear, Eda, if this is some kind of joke, I..."

I stopped. I looked down. There was some kind of platform below me, right on the water. It was silver, but not thick or opaque. Bright. I clearly saw the water below it. Surprised, I looked at Eda. She just smiled confidently.

"I always got a backup plan."

I looked at her, and she corrected her statement.

"Nearly every time at least. Anyways, that is my semblance. It allows me to cast shields, to stop whatever may hurt me or others."

"Comes in handy, for sure."

I answered. I imagined everything she could use that kind of Semblance for.

"So, to answer my question. Do you want to try it out?"

"I was not sure at all. I mean, it seemed like a good idea. But did it actually work out? There was only one way to find out."

"Okay. But we have to be certain of what we do. We both step on the platform."

"Exactly."

Eda replied and stepped onto the platform. She held me by the arms, of course, I was... well, feeling something between excited and uncomfortable. She probably noticed it and continued.

"And you cast your speed Semblance. And we both hope that we don't fall off or crash."

I nodded and focused. The dark shadowy line formed in front of me. It span along the river and waited for me to use it. I had to touch it to use it, because the beginning of the line spawned a few inches in front of me. I stretched out my arm and got sucked in. And what do I have to say, it worked. Eda and I sped along the river. What a shortcut. We probably traveled one hundred meters, then we got slower.

"What is going on?"

Eda asked, just as we came to a stop. I breathed in. The only negative one experienced when using his Semblance, was that it worked like his Aura; after using it for quite some time, it exhausts one.

"I am only able to spawn my semblance for a short time. End of the line."

I smiled. I was about to ask how to get off the tiny shield, but Eda, of course, had a backup plan for that as well she used her Semblance to cast a few shields which lead across the river and off the water. And of course, we walked off and were greeted by an interesting sight. I was still wondering how we did not see it in the first place. Eda had no eye for it, she didn't even see it. She crouched down and opened up her map.

"We just covered a lot of ground. We can proceed normally."

I stood still and asked.

"What is that?"

"What?"

Asked Eda confused, then she looked up. She was just as surprised as i was. this thing was so out of place, it did not even seem normal.

"Is that. An airship?"

I asked. Eda advanced towards it.

"It looks like one."

There was a cliff side at least fifty meters away from us. There hung a crashed airship, surrounded by thick trees. It leaned against the cliffs upside down. Moss and ranks covered the nearly intact wooden body. It was a very old model which featured a wooden body and a hot air balloon, but painted snow white with gray and black tiger stripes assorted in a pattern. The balloon was flattened but somehow stood nearly upright. It probably got stuck at the cliff when it slid down, maybe a pointy rock or so.

"It's a Military airship from Mantle. Most likely from the war."

"You think so?"

I looked at Eda. She pointed at it.

"Yes. You see that thing which got painted onto the balloon? That is the sign of the disfunct kingdom. And the two stripes next to it? This is some sort of identification for a bomber squadron. Which simply meant that those things carried explosives around."

"Oh."

I replied.

"Why do you know those things?"

"I do read books, but only the oldest ones I can possibly find."

Eda said with a smile on her face. She turned around to me and gestured to go over there with her head.

"Wanna check it out? there aren't many of those around these days."

"Sure. I guess we can use it as some sort of strategic point."

We walked towards the ship, always expecting a Grimm attack. To be honest, I've never killed Grimm before, only after the attack on my home. The soldiers and butlers took care of any creature which tried to attack. But this was over now. I was about to become a Huntsman, and then it would be my task to protect the people of remnant and to guarantee for their safety. I asked Eda.

"I am curious. Did you ever have to fight Grimm, before you signed up for this?"

She shook her head and looked to our right.

"No. I lived in the Kingdom of Vale. Pretty much in the middle of it. There never was a sign of Grimm around our residence. But I trained for that to happen one day."

We got interrupted by some shots in the distance. We kept standing on one point and looked into the direction of the noises, but they silenced again.

"Huh. Seems like some students are fighting Grimm, we better look out."

Mentioned Eda. I kept one hand on my swords grip. My look wandered back to the crashed airship.

"What if it is a trap?"

"What kind of trap are you expecting?"

She looked at me. I tried to think about it. What could possibly happen if there was a trap?

"I mean, rhetorical question, would we be able to see it, or react to a threat in time?"

"I guess so. You see, we're talking about it, so we should be careful enough. We got the topic in the back of our heads. So it should not surprise us."

I was about to add a thought, but in the exact same second I heard how someone jumped down from a tree, right behind me. The person landed, and I wanted to turn around, but decided to not move as I felt how a blade was held to my neck.

"Tangery? How is this possible? And who did you kill to get a place at Haven Academy?"