AN: And we're back! Things I have done since the last update: written and published a 1,200 word fic, (Listen Up, Strap In) Notify Your Next of Kin, finished and published a 15,000 word fic, The Crosses They Bear (both exclusive to AO3), outlined 2 new fics and moved. The only one of those things I was expecting when I published chapter 7 was the 15k fic. What have you been up to?

Despite starting preparations for the tournament and dance, team CFVY still had one major thing they had to do before they could relax and enjoy the festivities: their year two mission.

For it, they had a full job board at their theory, they could pick anything they wanted. In practice, they worked with one of the professors at Beacon to pick something suited for the team - and they would then be able to advise from afar if the team ran into issues in the field. (In an emergency, the professor would even join them in the field to help directly, but it was a rare occurrence.)

Coco bit back a frustrated groan when she saw that Professor Port was going to be theirs.

She tried to reassure herself that all the professors at Beacon were capable hunters, but Port's in-class stories left a lot to be desired. She also couldn't shake the mental image from their last mission, when Port's weapon had caught Fox across the face.

They sat down with him two weeks before the dance that would kick off the tournament to look over their options.

"What types of missions are you looking at doing?" Professor Port asked as they settled in. "We have some fairly standard search and destroy, rescue…" He clicked through various listing as he spoke.

"Would love to go out to one of the smaller towns and help there; something like a rescue mission would be good." While search and destroy would have been fine, Coco wanted to have more interactions with the greater population of Remnant - and with someone to give advice if it went wrong, it seemed like a good choice.

Professor Port nodded, looking through the available missions. "Here's a new one - we heard from a huntsman in a small village outside of Vale. A recent landslide cut them off from normal supply lines and could use some help." He looked over the mission parameters. "You'll need to hike in from some distance out - the bullheads can't get in close, as Botan is well-protected by the mountains surrounding it."

Coco looked to her teammates. "What do you think? Shouldn't take too long, we'll be back in plenty of time for the dance." She pulled up a map that displayed the area. It looked to be about a two day hike from the nearest drop point. "Day and a half in, three days there, day and a half out?" she mused out loud. "Could even stay a few extra days if needed." A week wasn't a bad length for their second year mission. It wouldn't even normally require a hunter, but with the roads inaccessible, there was no safe passage - and with scroll reception being spotty outside of the kingdom, it was better to have a professional handle it. Few others would risk being attacked by grimm in the forest surrounding the area.

Of course, bandits were always going to be a risk that far outside of the kingdom, but there wasn't anything they could do about that other than prepare for a potential attack.

Professor Port chuckled. "I would hope that it wouldn't take even that long. You are only there to deliver supplies, though if you were to stay a day or two and help with repairs, that would be not only acceptable but noble of you! As a second-year team, you're expected to act independently on this mission. In this case, you will coordinate with the local huntsman to determine what's needed." He started to tap away at the display. "All I ask is that you check in regularly with me so I know how you're doing."

"Of course," Coco said, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement. "Let's do it."

Professor Port started to enter in the appropriate information. "Excellent! The bullhead will be here as soon as possible to take you to the drop point. However, I will need one thing from you before you go - a secondary point of contact. Last year, you, Ms. Adel were that person if the hunter you were shadowing had fallen off the grid. However, since you'll be acting independently this year, we'll need you to name a second in command." His nose twitched and he added, "Many leaders put their partner down, but it's not a requirement."

Coco drummed her fingers on the table, looking over her teammates. Fox was already shaking his head, and she agreed. Sure, they were partners, and pushed into the situation he would have done fine but he wasn't the best choice of her team.

On the other hand, Velvet had shown she had a great head for strategy. This was a good time to acknowledge and showcase her contributions.

"Velvet." She looked to her teammate. "Unless she has an issue with that."

Velvet flushed and ducked her head. "Not Fox?"

Coco shook her head. "You're a better choice, plus if I fall out of contact, chances are Fox did too." They were dancing around saying 'killed' - it wasn't something she really wanted to think about, but it was a possibility.

Velvet studied Coco's expression for a long moment, then looked over to Professor Port. "That - that makes sense." She looked to Yatsuhashi but he shook his head.

"I trust your judgment, Velvs," he said.

She nodded. "If you're sure."

"Then that's settled," Coco said with a reassuring smile. "Anything else you need from us?"

"A fine choice!" he said, moustache twitching as he looked over his notes. "I believe that's everything. You leave in an hour and head to an outpost to get supplies and then you'll be taken to the drop point. From there, you'll hike in." He pulled out a paper map and offered it to Coco. "Good luck and stay in touch."

The small town was a welcome sight after a day and a half of traveling. It was a remote mountain village, as promised, though clearly had been around for some time. It was flanked on three sides by sheer cliffs and the road leading into it wasn't exactly easy to traverse - doubly so now that there had been a landslide blocking several miles of cleared path.

But there was something off about it - there was no one out on the streets. Not a single door was open - and no houses were lit up - every single window was shuttered tight. Even though it was a little past eight at night, there should have been someone there.

The whole town was eerily quiet.

Fox tilted his head back and forth, trying to get a sense of what was going on around him, shifting into a defensive stance subconsciously as he did.

One of Velvet's ears fell back as she looked around. "Something's wrong."

Coco nodded, both her and Yatsuhashi dropping the leads they carried for the horses in favor of reaching for their weapons.

The town was panicking, and none of them could figure out why.

There were many different forms of panic - the most commonly depicted in the media was people running through the streets, screaming. It made for a good visual in hunter vs. grimm movies, however it wasn't the most common - people tended to know better than to do that because of its use as a plot device.

Instead people shuttered their doors and quietly panicked inside their own homes, pretending that they weren't - denying that they had any sort of negative emotion that could attract the grimm.

It was far more dangerous, because often people wouldn't call for help until it was too late to do anything about it.

At least they were there now, ready to fight. It wasn't too late.

A single figure emerged from the guard tower near the gate entrance, a weathered huntsmen wearing a deep rose-colored shirt and black pants. "Team CFVY? From Beacon? I'm Thulian - I sent out the request for help," he said as he approached.

"That's us. I'm Coco." Coco nodded to each of her teammates in turn. "Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi." She relaxed incrementally with Thulian there - leader or not, it was good to have experienced backup.

"Glad you're here. As you can see, the situation has deteriorated since I first put up the ad asking for backup." He gestured to the closed off buildings. "Let's get to the inn, we can unload the horses there and I'll get you up to speed."

Their information had been accurate; there hadn't been an attack, it was simply the landslide causing an increase of tensions.

"The mine is shut down, essentially, until we can dig out the road. We were just about to send out a big shipment of dust - we have no more storage space, and until we get it cleared most of the town can't work." He rolled his shoulders, half shrugging and half trying to relax. "It's being cleared as quick as we can, but the rocks aren't easy to move and the Schnee Dust Company is stalling on letting us use some of the mining equipment to help the process go more quickly."

He let out a long sigh. "I'm hoping we make some real progress this week. This town has been around for nearly five years now and there's plenty of dust and natural fortifications to keep us here another ten if we make it through this rough patch. I know that this isn't really what you signed on for, but if you could stay a couple extra days and help make sure we're not going to get hit by bandits - or, with this panic, grimm - I'd really appreciate it."

Coco barely spared a glance at her teammates - they were already nodding just like she knew they would be - before agreeing. "I need to call our supervising professor, make sure he's aware of the situation, but we had discussed the possibility of staying a few extra days if needed."

Thulian nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you go on up to your rooms, unpack, give him a call and then I'll give you the grand tour. If you hear any screaming…"

"We'll come right down. Thanks, Thulian."

The four of them trudged upstairs. They had just the one room with two beds, but it'd be plenty of space for the four of them. Luckily, they were long enough that even Yatsuhashi and Velvet wouldn't have any issues fitting in them comfortably.

"So…" Coco started, looking at the two beds.

"Might as well just sleep in partner pairs," Velvet said. "Unless you're uncomfortable with that."

"That works just fine, not anything I haven't done before with Fox."

His face flushed a dark red, but he didn't say anything to contradict the assertion.

Coco dumped her pack on their bed and then pulled out her scroll. The signal wasn't the greatest, even with the communications array, but that was to be expected. Anywhere outside the main cities had spotty service at best.

There was just enough of one that if she stood in the far corner of the room she was able to call out to Professor Port and talk with him briefly about what was going on.

Since they had discussed staying longer from the start, he easily gave his blessing. "Call me on Saturday to check in. That should give you plenty of time, plan on being picked up Monday, though! We can't have you missing too much school."

The signal was wobbly and his voice kept cutting in and out, but he was understandable. "Sounds like a plan, professor. We'll talk to you soon." She slid her scroll into her pocket and shifted her purse slightly so it was sitting more securely on her shoulder. Her teammates had already dropped what they didn't need and were adjusting their weapons as well. "Let's go tell Thulian we're sticking around for a little longer."

He wasn't able to completely stifle the relieved sigh when Coco told him they were staying. "Thank you. I know this isn't really what you signed up for, but it may make a huge difference." He looked over the four of them. "So what are your weapons?" Thulian asked, pointing to Coco and Velvet in turn. "I take it your bags pack a little more punch than they seem."

Velvet looked over to Coco, trying to decide if she should pull a weapon and demonstrate or simply describe hers.

"It's a collapsable gatling gun," Coco said, shrugging one shoulder. "The bag is heavy enough and durable enough to double as a melee weapon."

Thulian raised an eyebrow, but nodded. It would have been easier to simply show him, but it would set an awkward precedent for Velvet.

"I can replicate weapons," she said, pulling out her camera. "I take a photo and get a hard-light replica I can use to fight. It works with my semblance." She nodded at Thulian's bracers. "May I?"

They were simple enough, but had blades coming off either side, as well as some sort barrel on either for ranged. Coco tried not to glare at him while he mulled it over before nodding his consent.

Once Velvet had stowed her camera again, Thulian turned to Yatsuhashi. "Do you have a ranged weapon?"

Yatsu cocked his head. Some would consider the sword that was nearly as long as Coco was tall a 'ranged' weapon, but he didn't have one otherwise, so he simply shook his head.

"Right. Let's go outside, I'll show you what's where as best I can."

The first thing he pointed out when they walked outside the inn was the large tower near the gate he'd emerged from when they first approached. "We have people take shifts on watch up there. There's a siren in the event of a grimm or bandit attack." He let out a snort. "We'll be able to rest at night at least."

It was definitely one of the benefits of working in a town directly and helping with its defense - there were more people to share the workload.

"The communications array is on top of it too - we don't have a great signal out here even when it's working, and it goes down frequently."

Coco smiled when she heard Velvet start describing the layout of the city for Fox in hushed tones so as to not interrupt Thulian.

"Blacksmith - should be more than willing to let you peruse their selection of weapons and take photos for Velvet's as well as most basic maintenance." He gestured to the building next to it. "Pharmacy, doctor - if you're injured or sick go there. They'll be able to fix what ails you. Dust shop next to that, though only your basic stuff can be found there. Schnee doesn't see a need to keep it well-stocked." He let out a derisive snort.

"We keep the main gate shut and barred at night once the sun goes down - too many bandits in the area to risk leaving it open for anyone to waltz on through." They walked on through the darkened streets - mostly houses, the village couldn't be much larger than 200 people. "Mountain itself keeps us safe for the most part," he added, gesturing up to the sheer cliffs.

It was extensive protections for a town so far outside the kingdoms, but it was what was keeping it going. Without such defenses, it would have likely failed many years prior.

Add in a huntsman to the town and the place was pretty much set as long as people kept their cool.

The five of them made their way back to the inn with that thought looming over their heads.

They had to keep their cool - because no matter how many fortifications there were, if something big hit there would be no saving the town.

The next day was relatively quiet - they got to know some of the people around town and met Mayor Azure, who a mild-mannered politician who had mostly been involved with the mining aspects of village, leaving the protection and fortifications in Thulian's capable hands.

No one batted an eye at the team - most were relieved to see that they were there at all - however, there was still a wariness in everyone's stance. No one's smile was quite bright enough, no one's children came out to say hello.

They took what victories they could - at least they weren't adding to the tensions simply by being there.

The people of Botan were scared - and they had every right to be. Even with five hunters in town, there was so much that could go wrong. So many towns had risen and fallen throughout the years, the loss of one didn't even make the news anymore.

Botan was an outlier for its persistence.

The first night was easy enough to crash in their room and fall asleep as if the four of them didn't have a care in the world, but when the next day came and went without a single grimm sighting, they became restless.

They tried to pretend they weren't anxious - even as well-equipped as they were to take on the grimm, it was nerve wracking to simply wait. They wanted to go out and hunt the grimm - but that wouldn't help, not with hundreds of square miles of wilderness around them. There was no telling where the grimm would come from - or from how far away.

When they got ready for bed that night, they did so in almost complete silence as they moved around the small space.

When the siren went off several hours later, alerting them to a problem, they were all on their feet in seconds, none of them looking like they had gotten much - if any - sleep.

It took Yatsuhashi all of two minutes to get dressed, scrambling to arm himself. They all tripped over one another here and there as they tried to find their things - carefully laid out the night before, but no one was quite awake yet and they didn't want to turn on the lights and ruin what little night vision Coco and Yatsuhashi had.

"Velvet - you and Yatsu stick together," Coco said as they made their way outside. She fell into leader-mode quickly, even though she usually didn't do mornings.

The four of them wouldn't split up unless it was strictly necessary, but it was good to have a plan in place. Shit happened, especially on missions like this.

The town was no longer the quiet ghost town they had seen for the last two days - a small group of maybe twenty people of all ages and genders had come out of their homes at the sound of the siren.

But when they climbed the wall to figure out what was going on, it wasn't the grimm attack they had been preparing for - it was a group of bandits.

They weren't common up here in the far reaches of the mountains, but apparently the promise of full dust stores and the landside preventing Botan from getting reinforcements meant it was a tempting target for those who were desperate enough to resort to thievery.

But it also meant that the struggle with negative emotions and grimm was far from over. Yatsuhashi could just make out the falling faces in the small crowd as they realized this wasn't the grimm battle they were prepared for - fighting humans was a different ballgame.

For one, it was far more difficult - aura and armor as well as more advanced tactics made it a bigger challenge than even a greater number of grimm. It was also messier. With grimm, the bodies vanished on their own and cleanup was restricted to damaged buildings and fortifications.

With humans, you had to face the bleak realities of bodies and blood.

There was a reason bandits usually heralded a grimm attack.

The four of them shifted uneasily - while they could fight the bandits, it wasn't what they had been expecting, and would almost certainly keep them here longer than they'd originally planned.

But they couldn't think about that - the focus had to be on the current happenings; there would be time enough later to prepare for grimm.

Team CFVY and Thulian leapt off the town's front wall to engage in close quarters, a couple of the villagers following, though the majority of them stayed where they could shoot without much risk to themselves.

Yatsuhashi tried not to think too hard on it - sure, some bandits were people just at the end of their rope with nowhere to go, but many were hit and run thieves, those who lived their entire lives stealing from the handful of towns that managed to survive outside the kingdoms' walls and made a career out of it, not caring about the ruined lives they left behind. It was easier to think of the lives that would be saved.

At least, that's what he told himself as he unstrapped his sword from his back.

It was the first time he'd had to use his skill on humans outside of a friendly sparring match, and as he waded into the fray, he pointedly ignored the shattering auras around him.

He wanted to beg them to stop fighting, but he knew they wouldn't, so he didn't waste his breath.

It wasn't even that big of a band - fifteen, twenty at most, but they were armed to the teeth and were more than prepared to fight. It seemed odd that such a small group would try to take on the heavily-fortified town, but that was a problem for a different day.

One managed to get a shot in, clipping Yatsuhashi's arm and he swung around, grabbing the bandit by the face and throwing them across the battlefield.

Another approached, this one wielding some sort of polearm, at which point the fight was on.

He was able to mostly keep the weapon off him, but he struggled to close the distance between them as neither weapon lended itself well to close entanglements.

Switching to a one-handed grip, he pushed the haft of the weapon away from him.

A shot rang out, causing him to pull back and reevaluate as a second bandit came in close - drawing his attention away from the first.

He could handle it - it'd just be a bit of a challenge.

And he did love a challenge.

Shortly after they'd engaged the group, an explosion shook the walls at their back, echoing through the entire town. Velvet's ears laid flat at the pain from the sound - she looked over her shoulder to see that the tower seemed to be on fire. While they had been focused on the majority of the bandits, a small group of them had slipped around and laid dust charges at the base of the wall and were now firing repeatedly on the watchtower.

"Coco!" she shouted, gesturing behind them. Her leader let out a curse - they needed to preserve it to be able to spot any incoming grimm in the next couple of days.

Thulian ran back into the city, already bleeding from several wounds. The townsfolk were working hard to douse the fire around the newly-formed hole, but it looked like a bandit had slipped through the opening and so Thulian went off to track them down, as well as deal with the tower.

As for the rest - they were slowly retreating, pulling back and disappearing into the forest. More than half were dead or too injured to move.

Velvet grabbed one of the villagers who was about to chase them down and finish them off - Botan had also suffered several losses and people were understandably looking for revenge.

There was no point in killing them - it would just mean more bodies to bury and it wouldn't dissuade them from returning if they really meant to hit the town again.

"Don't," she said, emphasizing her point. "The sun is almost up and we're going to have a long day ahead of us.

Cleanup was going to be brutal - fixing the tower and the wall would have been bad enough, but there was now a ticking clock looming over the town.

There'd be a grimm attack, likely within the week. Fortifications would have to be repaired before then.

Perhaps that was part of why the bandits had run - leave and then come back after the grimm had softened up the town.

Velvet looked around the battlefield, grateful to see each of her teammates still standing.

She was closest to Fox, so she went to him first - a couple of minor scratches but nothing major.

"I'm fine, Velvs," he said when she gave him a hug. "What about you?"

A loud crash - like a collapsing building - made them jump and they all rushed towards the sound.

"Shit," Coco said.

The watchtower was covered in scorch marks and had several holes blasted into it, the top several levels had collapsed onto one another, taking the communications array with it.

Mayor Azure approached the group, lips pressed into a thin line. They were carrying a shotgun in their hands. "Thulian had run up there to see how damaged everything was before it collapsed, but I don't know how safe it is to go in there."

The building creaked ominously at their words, shuddering in the light breeze that had picked up before the bottom levels gave out with another deafening crash.

Coco looked at the mayor, whose eyes had gone wide with shock. There was no way someone could have survived that, and they were now cut off completely from the rest of the world.

Now that the fight was almost over, Coco could see what they had actually planned - take out Botan's tower, let grimm destroy the village, and then come in and make off with the unguarded dust stores.

It was a good plan, she had to admit. One that was now up to the four of them to try and stop.

AN: As a reminder, you can always find me on Tumblr (MaryKay91 or lydiarogue) or Reddit (lydia_rogue) to find out the status of updates, ask questions or send prompts! I love hearing from y'all.

Edited to say: I have gone through and made the required changes to bring this into compliance with the end of volume 4. If you got emails saying there were a bunch of updates I'm sorry, that's all it was.