As the students tracked through the forest they came across little opposition for the Grimm. The few that they came across where swiftly dealt with. When they came across a small stream Jaune told the rest to stop.
"This is a good place to set up camp"
"That's nice Foxy but we don't have any camping gear" Yang said.
"We don't need any camping gear, we will make our own shelter" Jaune replied. The other hunters look at each other. While some of them had a few lessons of survival at their combat school, they all were all with camping gear. The blonde fox saw this and sighed.
"Ok then" Jaune began "Let's start with food. Does anyone know how to find food in the woods"?
"Ren and I can do that" Nora said excited. Ren simply nodded.
"That's good" Jaune nodded back "You two will find us some food in the forest. If you encounter Grimm that are too hard to win against, Nora shoot a grenade in the air. In fact everyone that goes in there should do the same thing".
"You got it boss man" Nora was already running back into the woods. Ren ran after her to catch up.
"Now Yang, Ruby and Pyrrha, your job is to find as much logs as you can of all sizes. If you girls find any pine tree, cut off a few branches". The girls nodded and went to do their task. Jaune turned to Blake next.
"Blake, see if you can catch some fish if there are any. I will come to help after I assign Weiss what to do". Blake nodded with an eager look in her eyes. 'She is way too obvious'. "Ok Weiss, your job is not really needed but it will safe us some time tomorrow". Weiss looked very annoyed by this. She didn't like doing things that were meaningless.
"And that would be"?
"Making a compass" Weiss just raise an eyebrow. That was it? She knew how to do that.
"Can't you do it yourself"? Weiss began "Just rub a magnet against a needle and got your compass and I'm pretty confident that you know how to make a puddle". Jaune drew Crocea Mors and grabbed the stick he was carrying and started to make one end into a point.
"I don't have a magnet" Jaune continued to sharpen the stick. "Then how do you expect me to make a compass"?
"With this" Jaune held his now pointed stick at Weiss. The heiress just looked back, unimpressed.
"Are you an idiot"?
"Nope" Jaune thrusted the stick straight into the ground. "It's called the shadow-stick method. Its use the sun to determent West and East by the shadow the sun cast". Jaune placed a rock at the end of the sticks shadow. "This is your West point. After fifteen minutes you mark the next end of the shadow. Do that for about an hour, then place a second stick over the rocks and you will know which way is North, South, East and West".
Weiss looked sceptic. "Are you sure it's accurate"? While she was impressed with the method, she didn't trust something some primitive. Jaune smile at the heiress. "Weiss, if you do this method correct it is even more accurate than a compass made by Atlas".
"How"?! Weiss demanded. The Faunus shrugs his shoulders. "You're going to have to ask my teacher. She knows the ins and outs of this method. She teaches here so you can ask her whenever you like".
"So you asked me to do it because it needs to be perfect".
"No. While true that you need to be precise with this method, we just need to know the cardinal directions for if we wake up and don't know which way South is". Jaune looked at the white haired girl. "You actually have tree tasks. First is to make the compass. Second is to look out for Grimm. And your last task is more to do that you just easy to spot. Our fellow hunters need to find where our spot is and if you are there it's much easier to see. Plus you don't look like you got the strength drag heavy logs across the forest".
"Fine" Weiss signed. She went to the compass in making while keeping an eye out for Grimm.
As Blake and Jaune were catching fish, Blake had little success. Her weapon wasn't made to catch fish and she didn't have a fishing rod. She looked at the fox Faunus only to see him standing in the water, bent over and completely motionless. "What are you doing"? She asked. "Luring fish in" came back the reply. She nodded. Fish were naturally drawn to dark places.
"You need my help to catch them"? The disguised Faunus asked. "No need to" Jaune suddenly swung his left arm hard through the water, launching a few fish onto the bank of the river. Jaune quickly took his helmet off as he rushed to the shore. He grabbed the fish and put them in his helmet. Placing the helmet upside down, the blonde went back into the river just to do the same thing again. The splash had alerted Weiss but she quick went back to her duty. Silence returned back to the camp. This continued for some time till Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha came back with a lot of logs and, surprisingly, a few young dead trees.
"Hey Jaune we're back. We stumbled upon these dead trees so we took it with us" Ruby said happily.
"Thank you Ruby" Jaune replied. "I forgot to tell that I needed those as well". Jaune took the threes from Yang and started to cut off the branches. "Say Jaune, why do you need young trees"? Pyrrha asked.
"It's going to be the support beam that the rest of the structure is going to use" The blonde Faunus said as he started to wedge one between two trees. At one point he even started to hang one it. The tree didn't budge.
"Oh that's looks like fun" Nora commented, having just arrived with Ren. They had collection of berries and nuts. Jaune spotted a few Morels as well. "Looks like dinner is going to taste good" Jaune said. Ren nodded. "So that is going to be the base of our sleeping place"?
"Yup" Jaune then called Weiss and Blake over. He explained that he was going to show how to build the hut so that when finished the rest could build one to save some time. He started with adding two other trees. He wedged them between the first tree and into the ground. He pushed hard on them to test the strength. The fame held firm. He then grabbed two large sticks around the same length and rammed them into the ground. He told the rest of the gang that in would be the entrance. He added a stick from the other side to hold the sticks where they were. He then laid sticks of appropriate length at a slight incline against the framework. When he was done it looked like a primitive hut. He then started to throw debris from the floor over the hut saying it would insulate it. When he was done with that, he picked up the pine branches, that Pyrrha had taken with her and add them over the hut. He laid the rest of them on the floor inside the hut that would act as an improvised bed. The whole process took about twenty minutes.
"So that's done" Jaune said while clapping his hands clean of filth.
"Are you sure it's stable"? Weiss asked. While she had seen the Faunus hang and push the hut, it still didn't very strong.
"Ren can you climb on top of it and start to jump on top of it"? The blonde asked. The dark haired male looked unsure but still he climbed onto the hut and started jumping. The hut stood once again stood firm. Jaune then asked what his weight was.
"71 kilos"
Jaune turned to Weiss. "Will that answer your question"? Weiss nodded. "Ok everyone back to work. Nora, go with Ruby and the rest. After you come back, you and Weiss will build the next one. Ren you're in charge of making the food". As everyone went back to what they were doing Jaune called Pyrrha back.
"Sorry about that but could I have your sash"? The fox Faunus asked. "I will pay you back. I just need a piece of cloth". Pyrrha just smiled. "Sure, here you go but what are you going to use it for"?
"You will see" Was the vague reply. When Pyrrha caught up to the rest, she was asked where her sash as.
Needless to say Yang was having a blast.
When evening came around, the group of teenagers sat around a campfire. They had finished building the other huts, gathered lots firewood and enough food. They had enjoyed the meal from wooden bowls.
Yes, bowls.
The blonde Faunus had made bowls from a three he had chopped down. He had burned a hole in the pieces of wood, then cleaned them with water and scrubbed the leftover charcoal with Pyrrha's sash. It made life a bit easier. They talk about what they would expect at Beacon or just simply had some small talk. When night came Jaune had offered to keep watch till morning but was met with stiff resistance. Working together for halve a day to get a roof above their heads, enjoying a meal they had made and earned brought people together. Weiss would have the first shift, followed by Ren, Blake, Jaune, Yang and then Pyrrha. Nora and Ruby weren't chosen because Ruby was the youngest of them and was already falling asleep. Nora wasn't very good at staying still and quiet at the same time. So the rest went to sleep, hoping that no Grimm would find them.
If they knew was would find their camp, they would've wished it was that the Grimm had found them.
Jaune's eyes flew open. He quickly grabbed Crocea Mors but didn't unsheathe it. He searched for his phone to see what time it was. It was five to one am. Perfect excuses to walk outside his hut without saying some lame excuse like I need to pee. When he got out he saw an almost asleep Blake. He walked over to her but was loud enough for her to hear him so he wouldn't be startled. He told her it was his shift. She thanked him and went to her hut and promptly fell asleep. When Jaune was sure she was asleep, he snapped his head to face the forest. His eyes became slits while two fox ears sprung from his head. His tail split into three. Jaune wasn't a fox Faunus.
He was a kitsune.
The reason he his real from show was because he felt a sinister present and moments later someone trying to put a spell on him. He was now looking the thing straight in the eye. The creature looked like a skeleton and was covered in a green slimy substance. The lower half of the skeleton was missing but it stood at two meters in length, the slime strong enough for it to use it as legs.
It was an abyssal spectre.
Jaune grabbed his bearing sword and slipped into his battle stand. One of his tails tips lit up in blue flames. He wouldn't attack it because his semblance would fuck him over if he couldn't fight it off. If it would attack him, he would simply stall until Lurmina came to investigate why he was spiking his energy signature up.
The spectre looked at the kitsune. He had thought it was a Faunus. He was more than willing to attack the fox spirit, for the reward would be great. That was till he saw the number of tails. That meant it was still a young one, he could beat it with relative ease. Sadly it also meant another thing.
There was and adult kitsune around.
While he was strong, he was nowhere near strong enough to take an adult on. It was also clear that negotiations were of the table if the aggressive, if the stance of the young one was anything to go by.
So he left.
There were still enough Grimm around to feed on.
Jaune let out a sign of relieve out when it spectre was gone and Lurmina had arrived. He told her what had happen. She told him she would keep an eye out for it. Just because it was scary looking didn't mean it couldn't be smart. If it was smart, maybe it could be made to go to Zannost, where it go live in peace. Maybe even start a family. If it was vengefully, she would kill it. When Lurmina left and Yang woke up for her shift, he still didn't fell back asleep.
He stayed awake so that no other monster would sneak up on them.
When dawn came, the hunters in training quickly left camp so that they could have a nice shower. But they first had to wait the ceremony was done.
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark". Opzin said. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. Form this day forward, you will work together as team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester". As the team left the stage Ozpin continued with the ceremony. "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. Form this day forward, you will work together as team Juniper, led by Jaune Arc". Jaune put his fist against his chest as a form of salute. "And Finally, Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose, Blake belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. Form this day forward, you will work together as team Ruby, led by Ruby Rose". That caused a number of reactions. One of them being Yang hugging her sister.
"Things are looks up to be an interesting year" Ozpin said to himself.
Hello there. SoWriteIt here. This took way longer than I had planned. Having to help organize a wedding takes way more than I thought. And there is another one coming as well. It's like the whole family wants get married. Nothing wrong with that but in mean that chapters might delayed.