Chapter Three- First Assignment
"Wake up lazy butt!" said a voice
Crimson woke up groggily. "What…"
"It's morning! It's morning! it's morning. IT"S MORNING!" Orchid said bouncing around the room
"Orchid why are you so energetic this morning?" Crimson said and reached for his glasses.
"Because it's the first day of class, of course!" Orchid said, giggling.
Crimson sighed as he sat on the side of the bed. Above him, Rebecca was still sleeping peacefully through Orchid's celebratory bouncing. He knew that if he let Rebecca sleep,she would miss class completely. So he grabbed his pillow and stood up. Facing her bunk, he smirked and whacked his sister with it three times.
"Hey!" Rebecca groaned and swatted at her brother.
"Get up sister of mine, we gotta eat soon." Crimson said as he tossed his pillow back on his bed.
"Yeah, Yeah" Rebecca sighed and slid out of bed. "So, we feeling better now?"
"Yes, actually." Crimson said without a second thought. "I'm sorry I lashed out at you guys." He turned to face Orchid and Diesel. "All of you."
"Hey, no problem." Diesel patted Crimson on the shoulder. "We're a team, remember? We don't let stuff like this bother us."
"Besides, we know you get grumpy. You're always grumpy actually," Orchid laughed to herself.
"Okay, what was in her coffee this morning?" Rebecca asked.
Diesel just shrugged. Rebecca sat on her brother's bed. and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. While everyone was distracted by Orchid's morning cheer, Crimson gathered his clothes and slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
"Well, I'm gonna get five more minutes of sleep." Rebecca yawned and laid back down. She wouldn't get that time as Crimson came out the bathroom.
"Come on Becca, up with ya." Crimson tried to lift her out of bed. "We need to eat, and then head to class." said Crimson who just exited the bathroom.
"Uggh...do I have to?" Rebecca said with a groggy look.
"Yes, you do." Diesel said with a serious tone. "You're not getting in trouble for being tardy. Now get up and go take a shower."
Rebecca got out of bed and gathered her things before heading to shower. "Yes, dad," she said with full sarcastic intent. Diesel would have replied if he hadn't already climbed back into bed.
"What about Diesel? Shouldn't we wake him up as well?" Orchid asked with worry in her voice.
"Let him sleep." Crimson said as he began to gather his things. "He's got a two hour window before second period." Crimson said.
Orchid was a bit miffed. "He's lucky." She said.
Crimson chuckled. "It's not his fault. The one class he wanted to take in the morning was full, so he decided to leave that slot open."
Ten minutes later, Rebecca came out of the bathroom dressed for class, leaving the bathroom free for Orchid to head in.
"So, you sure you're alright, brother of mine?" Rebecca said with concern
Crimson nodded. "I'll be fine. Besides, Diesel is absolutely right. Just cause we have a problem with Blake, doesn't mean we should prevent him from getting to know her."
"Well I don't trust her," Rebecca said with anger.
"You have good reason not to," Crimson mumbled as Orchid came out of the bathroom, giddy as ever.
"Okay, guys, let's get going! First day of class, away!" Orchid grinned. Her and her teammates gathered their things and headed off to breakfast, leaving their leader to sleep. However, his sleep was disturbed by a knock at the door.
"Uggh….coming." Diesel said as he groggily got out of bed. He slowly climbed out of bed, and staggered towards the door. He was surprised to find Blake at his door.
"H-Hello. Good morning." Blake said with a smile
Diesel rubbed the sleep from his eyes. " Blake? What are you doing here? ...shouldn't you be in class?" Diesel said
"Well, Ruby said you don't have a first period class, so I thought we could know, without your team starting a shouting match." Blake said making Diesel chuckle
"Hey, you want to get some breakfast?" Diesel asked confidently.
Blake grinned, then nodded. "Sure."
Diesel quickly changed into his school uniform, then joined Blake outside his room. The two of them left the dorms and walked through the sparsely populated courtyard to the dining hall. Despite it being an hour since breakfast, luckily there was still food available for them.
"This is pretty good." Diesel said as he munched his food.
"So tell me about yourself Diesel" Blake said.
"Let's see. I am the only son of the Artorias family. Our family has been strong supporters of Faunus for 25 years. My mother has participated in every Faunus rally and protest since she was a kid. Me and my sister, despite being close friends of the Blackwelll's, we do not support their mother's anti-Faunus beliefs." Diesel said with seriousness in his voice.
"Your mother? Who exactly is your mother?" Blake asked with curiosity.
"Milla Artorias." Diesel Artorias.
"Wait you mean "Reaper Milla"? As in the women who was willing to use force to get equal rights for all Faunus?" Blake asked with surprise.
"Yep, that's the one. Let's just say that my mother and Crimson's mother don't see eye to eye. My mother detests their mother for her Faunus hate speech, and Faunus purging ideals." Diesel said.
"Then how are you such good friends with Crimson?" Blake asked.
"Let's just say, that Crimson has had a rough childhood. He was alienated because of mother, even though he didn't hate the Faunus. After his mother tried to pass a Faunus relocation bill in the aftermath of their family being attacked by the White Fang. No one wanted to associate with them. We moved into town a week later, and I happened to see him playing alone with his sister. That's how the four of us met." Diesel said.
Blake sipped her coffee while listening to Diesel's story.
"So you saw them just after the attack?" Blake asked.
"Yeah why?" Diesel asked with concern.
"How were they?" Blake asked with concern.
"I could tell Crimson was determined to create his own identity, and not be judged by his mother's actions." Diesel said.
Blake smiled slightly. "What about Rebecca?"
"Other than the glove she wears on her hand, Rebecca didn't change at all. If anything, her views on the Faunus got worse." Diesel said.
"I see." Blake said with sadness in her eyes.
"I already can tell that you and Crimson has issues, deep rooted issues that will have to be solved, otherwise you two won't be able to take the next step forward. A tree can have many branches, but without roots it cannot live." Diesel said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Blake said.
"You'll figure it out. For right now, we have to get to class." Diesel said as he took both of their plates and Blakes cup and emptied them.
When Diesel turned around, Blake was standing behind him.
"You want to go together?" Blake said with a small blush over her face.
"Sure. You know the way?" Diesel asked.
Blake lead Diesel out the room. As they walked in the hallway, Blake grabbed Diesel's hand. Blake felt like she could place her trust in Diesel.
"To think that he's related to Milla." Blake thought as her grip on Diesel's hand got tighter.
While Blake and Diesel were getting to know each other, his teammates were sitting through their first period class. The Blackwell twins were sitting in Grimm Studies, taught by professor Port. The Blackwell''s sat in their customary class position on the front row with notebooks open. Their weapons, which were required for an in-class exercise, were in standby mode: Crimson's gauntlets had collapsed into metallic white fingerless gloves, and Rebecca's sword was stored in a holster on her lower back with the blade retracted into the handle. Despite their studious appearance, the twins were doing two different things during Port's lecture. Crimson was jotting down notes, while Rebecca was doodling. Something her brother noticed rather quickly.
"Becca, what are you doing?" Crimson asked with a whisper.
"Passing the time of course." Becca whispered back. She was hard at work doodling an image of her and her brother fighting a crudely drawn pack of Ursa.
"You should be listening!" He said quietly. Rebecca shrugged.
"If he says anything important I'll just copy from you." Rebecca says nonchalantly.
Crimson sighed, growing tired of being his sisters unpaid notetaker."You can't copy from me forever."
"I know what I'm doing in the field brother of mine." Rebecca said confidently. Though her brother rolled his eyes, her boast didn't fall on deaf ears.
"Is that so, Ms. Blackwell?" Professor Port stopped at her desk and looked at her. Rebecca was unphased. She smirked and sat back in her seat and crossed her arms.
"We've had Grimm show up on the outskirts of our property from time to time. They made good practice." Rebecca said.
Crimson countered her assessment."I don't know if the small ones around our house really count as practice, Becca."
"And? We got to fight bigger ones at Signal." She glared at her brother, then turned her eyes onto Professor Port. "The point is, I can handle myself in any situation."
"Oh ho ho!. That's the spirit I like to see out of my students." Professor Port chuckled. "But if you are as skilled as you say, maybe you'd like to be our volunteer for today's demonstration?" He motioned to the four solid metal cages against the left hand wall. The only port allowing vision into the box was obscured by metal bars. The reason they needed their weapons for today's class was obscured within.
"Fine, I could use the exercise anyway." Rebecca smiled and stood from her seat. She exited her row and walked towards the right, Phlox Glow's handle gently rocking in it's holder as she went. As Rebecca prepared herself, Port continued with his speech.
"Now, as I was saying. Our enemy is not as static as the historians would make you believe. The Grimm are cunning, ferocious, and cruel. Take them for granted even for a moment, and they will crush you without remorse or mercy!"
"Dramatic much?" Crimson mumbled to himself.
"Your classmate, who has so graciously volunteered, will give you all just a taste of how to deal with these beasts!" Port said triumphantly. As he finished, Rebecca gripped Phlox Glow's handle with her left hand, pulled the handle from it's resting place on her hip. After a brief delay, the blade unfurled from the handle.
At first glance, Phlox Glow looked more like a ceremonial blade than an actual weapon. the handle and face of the four foot weapon was royal purple, trimmed with gold on the pommel and guard. The cutting edge of the sword was decked out in the signature pinkish color that gave the sword it's name. The ornate colors brought a few oohs and ahhs from the students, except Cardin Winchester, who was sitting close to where she was standing.
"What happened Blackwell, brought your baby sister's toy to school by accident?" he scoffed, making the rest of his team burst into laughter. Their laughter was cut short when Rebecca pointed the seemingly innocuous handle in Cardin's direction. With a swing and the press of a button, Rebecca unfolded the blade, stopping it inches from digging into the side of Cardin's neck.
"What was that? You don't like your head anymore?" Rebecca said in a mocking tone. "That's great, cause I could use a few practice swings." She gently pressed the side of the blade into his neck, taking care not to draw blood...yet.
"H...hey! Stop playing around!" Cardin said nervously.
Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I'm very serious. Now if you say the magic word, I might let you go."
"M-magic...w-word?!" Cardin stammered.
"I didn't stutter." Rebecca leaned forward and turned an ear towards Cardin. " Now, what's the magic word?"
Cardin thought for a few seconds before mumbling "I'm sorry."
Rebecca smirked and pointed the tip of her blade at Cardin's mouth. "Speak into the microphone please."
"I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry!" Cardin shouted in terror. Satisfied, Rebecca pulled her blade back and giggled softly.
"See, was that so hard?" She beamed.
"Now now, Ms. Blackwell I understand that Cardin can be a bit...rash. But let's save our aggression for the Grimm, shall we?" Professor Port said.
"Yes sir." Rebecca nodded and turned to face the four cages and held her sword in front of her face.. "Alright Phloxy, let's do this."
"I can't believe she's still using that name." Crimson muttered to himself.
Rebecca stood with right arm forward, her left hand holding her sword high behind her. She gently rocked back and forth as Professor Port walked behind the cages. The room went silent, all eyes shifting from Rebecca to the cages and back.
"Now...let the demonstration commence!" Professor Port slammed the top of the cage with his fist three times. The loud clanking caused the cage to shake and rattle before the door burst open, and a small Beowulf burst out of it and charged straight towards Rebecca.
"Huh, so that's what was in those cages." Rebecca stopped her rocking and held her ground. The Beowulf charging on her was smaller than the ones seen in the Emerald Forest, but still stood eye level with the young huntress. It was no less dangerous either with it's razor sharp claws and teeth, though the spikes normally seen on it's legs were not fully developed yet.
Rebecca held her ground, allowing the Beowulf to make the first move. It sprung into the air with jaws open and it's razor sharp claws extended. Rebecca was not intimidated by the display of force. She rolled to her left as the wolf came down, and dashed forward.
Instead of dispatching the creature with her sword, she punched it in the side of the snout with her right hand, then lowered her shoulder and rammed the creature into the wall. The impact shook the classroom, and made the students jump in their seats. Before the creature had time to recover, Rebecca took two steps back, readied her sword, and stabbed it's side. She then quickly turned the blade Horizontal and swung Phlox Glow to the right, tearing through it's ribcage and lobbing off an arm in the process.
Rebecca grinned and raised her sword with it's point down, and drove her blade into it the Bewoulf's Spine. The creature writhed in pain then went still, smoke billowing out around Phlox Glow
"Easy, peasy." Rebecca giggled to herself as she withdrew her blade. Her revelry was short lived as she was rammed into from the side and sent sprawling onto the floor. She got back to her feet quickly to find two more Beowulves staring her down.
"Don't lose your focus, Ms. Blackwell." Professor Port taunted.
"No shit…" Rebecca grumbled before dodging backwards to avoid a flurry of strikes. Though her classmates were wrought with anxiety as they watched, Rebecca showed no signs of stress despite being outnumbered. She dodged backwards again and found herself with her back against the wall with two hungry Beowulves staring her down.
"Back's against the wall Ms. Blackwell." Professor port said.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Jesus, what is this guy, a commentator?" Rebecca pushed off from the wall and lept into the air. She flipped over the Beowulves and landed with her back to them. She gripped Phlox Glow and twirled, slashing at the seemingly stunned creatures. Once she finished her spins, she drove Phlox Glow ave into the chest of the Beowulf on the right, before turning on her heel as she withdrew her sword only to decapitate the one on the left.
The room was in stunned silence. Rebecca Blackwell stood proudly with her back to the class. three Beowulves dead at her feet. The acrid black smoke partially obscured her from vision as if she were a creature from another world. Rebecca let out a sigh of relief, and admired her handiwork when a thought crossed her mind.
"Wait, there were FOUR cages…"Before Becca could turn, she felt the paws of the Beowulf latch onto her shoulders. It's mighty jaws came crashing down on her neck, but instead of penetrating flesh, the creature's teeth slammed against a steel like covering that was suddenly covering Becca's neck.
"Stupid mutt." Rebecca spat, and swung her blade backward, stabbing the Beowulf through the chest, before side-kicking the creature across the room. The weapon contracted back into the handle, and the purple hue around her neck disappeared as she glared at her teacher. "Any 'other' surprises you want to spring on me today?"
"No, no. I think you've done quite enough for today Ms. Blackwell." Professor Port praised his student as Rebecca headed back to her seat.. "You certainly have an instinct for battle. What drives such intense fighting spirit?!"
Rebecca stopped in her tracks and shrugged. "Some people tried to kill my family, now I'm going to kill them. Nothing more, nothing less."
Port furrowed his thick brows. "Revenge is a bitter pill Ms. Blackwell. You would be wise to remember that."
Rebecca turned her head and cut her eyes at Professor Port. "As long as I get what I want, I don't care."
The class stared at Rebecca as she took her seat next to her brother. She crossed her arms and kicked her feet up on the desk.
"Showoff." Crimson muttered under his breath.
"You know me best, dear brother of mine," Rebecca smirked back.
Professor Port cleared his throat. "Now thanks to Ms. Blackwell, you have seen just how ferocious and deadly the dreaded Beowulf can be! But that pales in comparison to what lies before you during your mission in the Emerald Forest, where the full scope of the Grimm's fury will be unleashed against you!"
"The way he's talking, you'd think we were about to fight a war.." Rebecca said.
"Every fight with the Grimm is, dear sister of mine." Crimson replied.
"Now class, who wants to be next? I have one more creature of Grimm to anyone who wants to take a chance?" Professor Port boldly shouted
"I will Professor!" Orchid said with enthusiasm
"Good, step up to the front of the class." Professor Port said
Orchid stepped up to the class.
"Ready your weapon Ms. Artorias."
Orchid removed the handle from her belt which transformed into Emerald Fang, a saw blade that could extend to increase her swing range and which fired semi-automatic rounds.
"Release it Professor" said Orchid
The cage door opened, and a medium sized Black King Taijitu slithered out.
"Oh ho, wasn't expecting this were you Ms. Artorias? Take caution to not get caught!" Professor Port boomed
The Taijitu reared it's head and lunged at Orchid, who dodged immediately. As soon as she turned around, the Taijitu lunged at her again making contact with her arm.
"Orchid, are you alright?" yelled Rebecca
Rebecca then saw blood drop from her arm.
"Oh that's not good." Rebecca said with concern.
"Uh oh…" Crimson said quietly.
Orchid's aura turned from green to blood red, and her hair flared up. The Taijitu lunged at Orchid again. She extended her saw blade.
"What is she doing?! Orchid stop, are you trying to get killed?!" Rebecca yelled
Orchid turned her blade backwards and drove the blade directly into the Taijitu's jaw and sliced off the top half of it's mouth.
"Oh ho ho! Excellent work, Ms. Artorias. May I say, that was excellence use of your semblance!" Professor Port boomed with excitement
"Thank you Professor." Orchid said with her usual cheerful smile. and she collapsed her blade back to its portable form and headed back to her classmates, save for Rebecca and Crimson, were completely in shock. The only thing waking them from their confusion was the ringing of the bell signalling the end of class.
"Well class, we are out of time. Don't forget, 3 page report on Grimm and how they contribute to our society, due by the end of this week." Professor Port said "And don't forget, the spring evaluation mission will be at 8am sharp this Saturday. For our new transfers, this will also serve as your official introductory exam. Don't be late or it'll be an automatic fail. Class dimissed.