Ch. 2 and "trailer" 2. Introducing the next member of team CNFR. Please review, follow, and/or favorite if you like it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you notice something confusing, or a grammatical/spelling error, please mention it in reviews or PM.
I do not own RWBY; this story is for entertainment purposes and because I want to write it :)
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Alani Nadra hoisted her weapon over her shoulder. The double-bladed battle axe she called Vermilion Slice had a lot of weight to it, and she could swing it with enough ease to deliver a powerful strike to opponents. Before her stood three kids, each around 14 years of age. Hunters and Huntresses in training. As a graduate of Signal Academy, with Atlas connections in her family, Alani had agreed to help train the young Hunters and take them on a practice mission. She had taken them to Forever Fall, knowing there was enough low-level Grimm that would provide enough of a challenge where they hopefully wouldn't get hurt.
"Okay, I hope you three have your weapons ready and your wits sharp," Alani said, a tiny smile on her face. "You three will proceed into the forest, looking for Grimm. I would recommend heading towards the more forested areas. But don't stray farther than the Huit Grove. The Grimm will probably stay far away from our current direction, and closer to the trees, especially the Rapier Wasps; they love the red sap these trees produce." Alani gave each student a look over. "Any questions?"
"You want us to go looking for Grimm?" one of the girls asked in disbelief. She tilted her head to the side, her single, blond ponytail making her head look lopsided. The girl held two sai in a tight grip, but despite her fighter stance, she seemed reluctant to actually fight.
"If you ever want to become a Huntress, you're going to fight Grimm. If you stay on the path I've instructed, you shouldn't run into any high leveled Grimm. Keep your Scrolls handy in case you run into trouble, but trust me, this is good practice. If you choose to attend Beacon, or one of the other upper combat schools, you will learn not only how to fight other Huntsmen, but how to fight Grimm while defending your team and the people of Remnant. No more sitting around and upgrading your weapon or target-practicing." The girl's mouth slid into a frown, clearly not happy with her current situation. The boy and girl to her right shot each other a worried glance, but Alani ignored them. She took her Scroll out with her free hand.
"I'll be tracking your Scrolls," she added as a last minute reminder. "Your practice mission starts now." The three students look surprised, but quickly shook it off and ran into the forest, weapons in hand. Alani watched them disappear into the trees before looking at her Scroll, a map of Forever Fall pulled up. Three dots moved along a dotted line on the map. One dot moved farther ahead than the other, but the three stayed relatively close. Alani leaned up against one of the trees, resting her battle axe next to her.
A scream pierced the air, and despite Alani's calmness, she jumped up, startled. Her hand gripped the handle of her axe. She checked her scroll, confusion washing through her. The three dots representing her students were still on the screen. The dots had stopped moving, and were huddled together. Alone, that wouldn't have worried Alani, but the scream had sent shivers down her spine, and she was sure it had been her students. Deciding that they were in serious trouble, Alani raced into the forest, her weapon in hand. Her spring-attached boots helped her push off the ground in faster strides. She followed the trail, watching as the dot that represented herself neared the three others. She peered through the treeline, her vision filled with shades of red and pink. Finally, after long minutes of running through the forest, a few splotches of color crept into her vision. The kids.
As she neared the three students, Alani's blood went cold. One of the students, a girl with curly teal hair, lay on the ground, one knee propped up. The two other students were standing in front of the girl in defensive positions, the blond girl with the two sai and the dark haired boy with some form a of gun. Before them were two Ursa Major. Not even hesitating, Alani sprung into the air, slamming her axe into the side of one of the Ursa. It let out a groan before rocking over to the side, dazed. Alani ran back to the students, looking down at the inured girl for a split second.
"Are you okay? What happened here? And make it quick!" Alani said urgently, keeping her gaze on the Ursa, who were lumbering to their feet.
"We were battling a swarm of Rapier Wasps. We defeated most of them, but then these two Ursa appeared," the boy, Kai if Alani remembered correctly, said hurriedly, "We figured we could take them, but...I don't know, they were too tough, and while Electra and I were fighting one of the Ursa, the second appeared out of nowhere and attacked Jade! Her leg's been hurt, we don't know how bad-" He was cut off by one of the Ursa's roar, and the next second, both were rampaging towards the group. Alani took a step forward in front of the Hunters-in-training.
"Kai, fire your weapon, now!" she barked, turning her axe so one of its barrels faced her, firing off a few rounds into the Ursa. Kai aimed his own gun and fired off his own rounds that exploded on contact with one of the Ursa. The Ursa slowed for a moment, roaring in rage, but the brief attack barely affected them. Alani gritted her teeth, before barking another command to Kai and Electra. "Get Jade out of here and go somewhere safe."
"We can stay and fight!" Electra half-implored, half-snapped. Alani bit her tongue, not even bothering to look the girl's way. A Huntress never lost her focus during battle, and ignored distractions.
"Go now! You've done enough!" she snapped, then raced forward and jumped. She flew through the air, firing at the Ursai as she began to descend. One of the Ursa looked upward, raising its claws as Alani swung her weapon down, meeting the blades with its massive paw. The edge of one of the blades dug into the Ursa, but before Alani clicked the trigger, the Ursa, slammed its paw into the ground, Alani going with it. Her head snapped forward as she hit the ground, dirt and pebbles flying around her. The Ursa lunged forward, paw moving closer to Alani's face. She raised her arm quickly and sliced the paw clean off. The Grimm creature cried out, stumbling backward as it waved its stump, giving Alani the time to jump to her feet and spit out the dirt in her mouth.
A vision flashed before her eyes, two giant, black claws closing around her head. She leapt backward, landing yards away just as the second Ursa smashed down on the spot she had been previously standing. She sniffed, flicking her wrist; one of the blades flew off, circling the air. The Ursa was dumb enough to stand up, its yellow eyes following the axe's blade, only for the blade to head right towards the creature, slicing its back. Alani bolted forward and dug her weapon into the Ursa's neck. It growled, but Alani stood her ground, staring down the Grimm. She dug her heels into the ground, and pulled the trigger on her weapon, slashing the battleaxe through the Ursa. The body dropped as the head flew off, falling a few feet away. Alani slowly backed away. The Grimm would be gone within minutes. It was part of their very nature; anybody who claimed to have spoils and who hung Goliath heads on their walls were just creative enough to make a fake, stuffed head look real. The Huntress turned, wiping the dirt off her pants and dragging her weapon beside her. She had trained much longer than the three students from Signal, but battling an Ursa was still no easy task. She has assumed that the forest would only have weak Grimm, and that three Huntsmen-in-training would be enough to fight the Grimm. Now she felt guilty that her first chance to train younger Huntsmen had ended with a wounded student. She pulled out her Scroll and searched the map of Forever Fall. It looked like the students had made it back to where the ship had dropped them off.
A shiver ran down her back, and Alani's eyes widened, the image of an Ursa's paw inches from running her through. She flipped backwards into the air just as the second Ursa's claw swiped beneath her. Her feet slammed into the ground, nearly making her lose her balance. She fired Vermilion Slice, watching the Ursa stumble backwards and flail its claws, a stump leg waving in the air. She had forgotten about the second Ursa, had hoped that it fled or had disappeared. She took a step back, ready to sprint forward, when a blur of pink and pale yellow shot past her. The student lighted onto the back of the Ursa and shoved her two sai into its black skin, earning a furious howl from the Grimm. Alani didn't have time to wonder why the girl had come back, or to be angry that the student had disobeyed her orders and run headfirst at the Grimm. She took the distraction as an opportunity. Frowning, she reached into her pocket and dug out Dust fire rounds, replacing the average Dust rounds already in the gun-axe. She positioned her weapon so the barrel on the end faced the Ursa. The girl was rocking back and forth, clinging to her weapons while the Ursa attempted to get her off.
"Get off now!" Alani yelled, and fired. The girl drew her sai out and jumped as the fire Dust exploded upon impact with the Ursa. She screeched as the explosion sent her body forward before Alani jumped up and caught her, skidding back from the impact. The Huntress looked back as she set the girl on the ground. A few trees had blazing limbs, but she figured they would die down. The Ursa was down, and already it had begun to fade into darkness.
"You shot at me!" Alani turned to the blonde girl, who was looking at her indignantly, arms crossed and sai back in a belt at her hip.
"I shot at the Ursa. You got out of the way in time," Alani pointed out. "I told you to go back." The girl grinned at her smugly.
"You needed help."
"Hardly. I would have taken that Ursa whether you were there or not. You made it slightly easier, that's all."
"I was acting like a true Huntress. Wasn't that the point of today? To learn how to fight Grimm?"
"Don't get cocky," Alani warned, "A move like that could get you killed. You have a long way to go." The hum of a Bullhead came from overhead. Alani smiled softly and picked up her weapon. She was going to hit Beacon by storm.