Chapter 13 – lucKy

"Stance first. Footwork is the basis of all swordsmanship."

"Stance. Got it." Jaune widened his feet to match Adam's pose.

"Good. Try to mirror my movements. Eventually, you'll be able to respond to an evolving situation on the fly, but today we're just going to focus on a couple of the most common actions you can perform. Watch and repeat."

If Glynda Goodwitch genuinely thought that it would take her class the two hours she'd allotted for sap collection in Forever Fall, she was sorely mistaken. Adam had filled up enough bottles for him, his entire team, and Jaune Arc within thirty minutes. Since he had the spare time and a little privacy, he decided to sneak in a lesson for Arc. Ruby's sister hadn't seemed all that pleased when Adam pulled him away, but Jaune was happy to go with him, so there wasn't much she could do.

Arc was weak, useless, incompetent and an incredibly fast learner. It seemed like the problem wasn't that he was lazy or stupid, but that he simply hadn't ever been taught to fight before. Adam found the young man's resolve quite impressive…for a human.

As Adam demonstrated and Jaune replicated, Adam decided to fill the silence with some business talk. "So, what has Goodwitch been up to?"

"So, I went to her office hours for the past three days, and I followed her afterwards – at a distance, of course – and I watched where she went. The teachers have a residency building just for themselves on campus. She went inside, and she didn't come out."

"How long did you wait?"

"Two hours the first night, then thirty minutes the next two nights."

"Well done." Personally, Adam would've continued the stakeout for a lot longer, but it was probably better for an amateur like Jaune to not stick around for too long. He wasn't nearly as practiced at going undetected, so the risk wasn't worth it in this case.

Jaune swung his sword into the air in a near-perfect imitation of Adam's own strike. "Why're you interested in her, anyways? You some undercover government auditor or something?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I mean, you're…mature."

"I'm only three years older than you. I'm not some gray-haired old Faunus."

"Yeah, but…like, apart from Ruby, everyone else here is seventeen, or sometimes eighteen depending on their birthday. Why're you, you know, not?"

Adam sighed. "You see how well I fight. I'd been working as a freelance huntsman for many years now after having apprenticed with a professional. Then, a new law in my local province required me to be accredited. So here I am."

The best cover was one that kept close to the truth – the fewer lies you had to tell, the better. James hadn't exactly taken him as an apprentice, but describing his mentorship of Adam would be enough to answer any questions about specifics if Jaune or any others decided to go prodding. Furthermore, he had a plethora of stories from the White Fang if anyone asked what real huntsmen did in the field. All he'd have to do was change the names and leave out the more criminal bits.

"So, about Goodwitch?" asked Jaune. "Why're you having me watch her?"

"No reason."

"Oh, come one, dude. I told you my secret. Why won't you tell me yours?"

"Because I'm not the one getting free training."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "But I'm not gonna do anything illegal or creepy like film her in the shower."

The less Jaune knew, the better. The only reason Adam had even chosen to employ Jaune was because he knew the blonde boy couldn't squeal. Even if Goodwitch caught Jaune, he couldn't admit that Adam was blackmailing him over forged transcripts. That was one of the main reasons Adam had sent him after the Deputy Headmistress instead of his partner, Pyrrha Nikos. It hadn't taken much for Adam to squeeze the secret out of Jaune, and he figured that Jaune might be just as forthcoming to his dear partner. If she caught him keeping tabs on her, Jaune might just surrender the truth about his records (and Adam's knowledge of it) to get out of trouble. With the Deputy Headmistress, though, no matter how wrathful she got at the invasion of privacy, it couldn't be as bad as the expulsion he would face if he came clean to her.

There was also a very real possibility that the killer, be they Goodwitch, Nikos, Rose, or Schnee, would notice Jaune sneaking about and assume that he was the person they'd been sent to Beacon to kill, not K. That was why, on their first night of real training, Adam had installed a program he'd requested from James onto Jaune's scroll when he wasn't looking. It was a simple aura monitoring subroutine, but it would tip Adam off if Jaune's aura started dropping. The training would also hopefully help the boy last long enough to survive until Adam could organize K and come to his rescue.

Alternatively, it would be easy enough to intentionally sabotage Jaune and use the boy as a sacrificial pawn to flush out the killer and uncover their identity. There was only one problem with that: it was wrong. Human or not, Adam wasn't going to send a civilian to a gruesome death just to make his mission easier. K operated with minimal oversight, which meant that it was up to each individual Faunus on the team to keep himself or herself in check. An off-the-books strike team couldn't exactly host an HR department.

And I've probably already gone too far by forcing Blake to shack up with Ruby and bleed her for intel.

That one still hadn't sat well with Adam. They had agreed to use seduction as a tool, but K made decisions as a team. Adam had no authority over the others and definitely no right to decide who Blake was going to pretend-date. A fresh wave of shame washed over him at the memory of how he'd emotionally strong-armed Blake into agreeing. To call into question her commitment to the mission and her professionalism was psychological manipulation, plain and simple. He wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to apologize, but he knew that he certainly owed her one.

It wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Ruby was a sweet kid, and Blake felt dirty toying with her feelings like she was going to have to. Still, Adam had made the right call – Ruby was too close to them to ignore, and K needed to fully utilize any advantage it could, including what might have been a spark of attraction that she showed towards Blake.

And he was right to remind me that I need to keep my head in the game. Just because she's a sweet kid doesn't mean I should forget the mission. Lives, literal actual lives, are on the line here, including my friends'. If they died because I got distracted, I'm not sure how I'd live with myself, or if I'd even choose to continue living with myself.

Perhaps it's best not to dwell on such dark thoughts.

"Hiya, Ruby. What're you up to?"

Ruby turned around from the tree she'd driven her tap into and smiled a sticky, pink, messy smile.

"So at first I was all, 'Oh, I should get my own sap and not use the stuff that Adam got quickly because it was unethical to cheat' so I started going to town on this here tree. But then, when the sap started coming out, I realized that there was no actual difference between the sap he'd gotten for us and the sap I was collecting, so I've just been drinking it."

"Directly from the tree?"

"What? Pssssh, no, I'd never. That would be super unsanitary – Adam would have a fit. No, I just cup my hands and then slurp it up when it pooled up in them." Ruby outstretched her palms and showed Blake the mixture of saliva and syrup that coated them.

"Oh, you've got some on your cheek. Hold still – just let me…take care of…everything…"

Blake made sure to pause between each phrase as she breathed out the last line. Gently pressing her fingers to Ruby's cheek, she slowly wiped the sap off, letting her hand linger for just a moment longer than necessary.

"No need to waste it," Blake said as she placed the sap covered fingers inside of her own mouth, sucking it off. The sap actually tasted horrible – it was far too sugary to be considered a food, which explained why Ruby loved it – but Blake made sure to plaster a twinkling smile across her face the entire time. She even put on the perfect touch by licking her lips afterwards.

"Ohhhh, ew, ew, ew!" Ruby squealed with delight. "Blake, that's super groooooooss! Oh, you're gonna get germs or something that way!" Snickering as she turned around, Ruby pointed to the tree. "There's plenty of sap in here. Don't worry; I'll share."

Blake batted her eyes. "Are you sure there's enough sap for us both?"

"I'm sure. I've been eating from it for a while now."

Blake stepped up to the tree and grabbed Ruby's hands into her own. "Can you show me how? I've never done this before."

"No problem. It's easy! Here, so you gotta make sure the spigot is flowing or you'll be sitting there forever…"

One hour later, Blake was an expert on tapping trees and no closer to t̶a̶p̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ romancing her team leader. It was like every flirty phrase or innuendo she threw at Ruby bounced off and landed on the floor in a sticky pile of sap and platonic failure. The shield of innocence that surrounded the girl was so thick that it was impossible to penetrate.

Blake had been so sure that she and Ruby had had a moment before, back when they'd hugged. Unfortunately, it seemed like that moment had passed and now Ruby had forgotten that it ever existed.

Maybe I was wrong and there never was a moment. Maybe I misread the signals and Ruby was just being friendly.

Blake looked over to her team leader, who was currently removing the tap from the tree and looking around the forest floor frantically.

"Oh, Grimm! I forgot where I put Adam's sap! And Goodwitch told us to be back in less than 10 minutes!"

It was like Ruby was a child or something. She had to be old enough to get into Beacon, but Blake was surprised she wasn't going on about cooties or something.

Does she not like girls? That could explain it. Maybe Adam should be the one to NOPE NOPE NOPE bad idea never under no circumstance absolutely not.

Blake shook her head vehemently. That would be a disaster and also the funniest thing I'd ever see.

Adam would understand why it hadn't worked out. Forcing something would only be detrimental to their goal of getting Ruby to open up to them. From now on, Blake would leave the seduction to Adam and Ilia. She could focus on locating the aura machine instead.

"Hey, Blake?"

The Faunus looked up at the human girl. Ruby's eyes were sparkling.

"Thanks for spending time with me. Today was the best – it really buttered my biscuits. I know that I'm not the best leader and I'm kind of an awkward fourth-wheel interloper in your guys' gang, but it means a lot that we got to be together today. I'm really lucky I got to be your partner."

This was it.

This was a moment.

In that split second, Blake didn't consider the aura machine or romancing Ruby or the list of suspects or any of that. It was clear now why she'd failed to break through Ruby's shell before – she'd been trying. Romance had to be natural, grown from friendship first, which itself grew from trust.

Blake knew what she, as a friend, would ask right now, so she went ahead asked it. "Ruby, who were you looking for in the Emerald Forest when we met you?"

"Oh. That." Ruby kicked at the ground with her boot and fiddled with her jars of sap. "It was Yang. I had asked her if I could be her partner, and she'd said no, but I wanted to find her anyways. You have to understand, Blake, this was before I had friends or even knew people. I hadn't even known Jaune for a full day! I was hoping to find her when I bumped into you guys, so I panicked and tried to say that I'd already found her. In my own stupid way, I thought that I could just ignore the eye contact, leave, and find Yang.

"But I'm glad it didn't work out that way, Blake. I'm glad we're partners. I love Yang, but she was right – I needed to branch out and make new friends. No matter what, you, me, Ilia, and Adam are a team, and nothing will ever change that. I promise!"

A team.

When K left, Ruby would be all alone. Not just bereft of a partner but of her entire team. Literally everyone she'd bonded with at Beacon.

"Y-Yeah," Blake managed to mutter before it became too much. "I'm going to go and…I'll just go. Deliver the sap and…" Blake couldn't even finish whatever she was trying to say. "I'll go."

Ruby nodded and gave Blake a thumbs up. "K!"

"And that's the eighteenth reason why Weiss is the greatest team leader in Beacon," said Dove Bronzewing.

Ilia offered an affirmative grunt as desperately tried to remember why she'd signed up for this. If being with Blake and Adam made Ilia feel like she was home, then spending time with Team Sword was the metaphorical equivalent of having your house ransacked by the Grimm, then getting evicted, then dying of a respiratory infection.

Dove wouldn't shut up about how much he wanted to shoot his gross fluids into the Schnee. It was simultaneously both extremely sad and extremely sad. It was just sad – nothing else.

Cardin was clearly vying for the rank of lieutenant-hood or a medal of honor or some shit; the massive boy had vowed to collect sap for the entire quintet of them, though all of the trees he'd selected had yet to yield any of the precious fluid. Ilia declined to mention that the trees he was choosing, while all large and imposing, weren't of the sap-bearing variety.

The fourth one, Russel, said so little that Ilia wondered if he was mute. He was gathering his own sap, though, rather than depending on Cardin like the others had.

Weiss herself was tickled pink by all the praise and adulation to the point that she had…she had…ugh.

Okay.

This was not a joke.

Instead of getting her own sap, she'd agreed to 'motivate the troops by regaling them with one of her delicate ballads.' Those had been Dove's exact words when he'd made the request to his leader, which she'd accepted. It was like a giant circle jerk, but everyone was trying to jerk off the same woman while also jerking themselves off. Ilia would admit, the song had been okay, though. A bit pitchy, but still good.

"Now, as for the nineteenth reason–"

"Hey," said Russel. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Cardin. "I don't hear anything."

"Me neither," said Dove.

Ilia put a hand to her ears, but the only sounds she could make out was the babbling brook, the wind blowing the leaves, and the growling of the Ursa Major. "Nothing. You sure you're not hearing things?"

"No, wait," said Weiss, shushing them with her hand. "I hear it too."

"Is that…" Cardin fearfully began.

"…a Grimm," Weiss finished. "Draw your weapons, men. We've got a monster to slay."

Ilia kicked herself off of the downed tree on which she sat and readied Lightning Lash. Even the most humungous of Ursai were as threatening to a pro like her as a praying mantis.

…but maybe this Ursa would get lucky today.

The beast came barreling through the trees straight at Cardin, who swung his mace futilely at its shoulder. It barely made a dent on the bone plating, and the Ursa swatted him away like he was nothing. One hit and his aura broke, as did his mace.

Dove tried his luck next, attempting to run at it from behind and slide between the bear Grimm's legs and stab it from underneath. Unfortunately for him, grass and leaf-covered forests didn't tend to make for good sliding ground. Friction stopped him before he could get into position, and the Ursa sat on him like a stump. Ilia cringed in sympathy; that Ursa looked heavy. Sorry, little guy. I'm sure the slide would've looked really cool if it worked.

Russel and Weiss didn't charge the beast and instead stuck to ranged attacks. Dust-launched rocket bursts and piercing slivers of ice flew at the Ursa, forcing it to actually surrender some ground and retreat from their clearing towards the treeline. Their triumphant grins turned into terrified looks of fear, though, when the Ursa wrapped its paws around a tree's truck, pluck it out of the ground, and hurl it in their direction. The massive projectile forced both hunters-in-training to let up on their assault and dive out of the way. With their defensive perimeter broken, the pair of them didn't have time to get a coordinated assault going before the Ursa was on them again.

"Don't worry, you guys!" shouted Ilia. "I've got this."

Lightning Lash flew through the air and wrapped around one of the giant spikes shooting out of the Ursa's back. Ilia yanked on her whip and leapt onto the beast's back.

"Die, you monster!" Ilia swung her whip around its neck and grabbed onto the tip with her free hand. Pulling tightly, she proceeded to completely waste everyone's time by attempting to choke a creature that didn't need to breathe.

Given how Team Sword fought, I doubt they'll think anything of it.

The Ursa reached around with a clawed hand, grabbed Ilia off of its back, and slammed her onto the ground in front of it.

"EEEEEEEIIIIIEEEKKKK!" Ilia exaggeratedly screamed, laying it on extra thick. This poor Ursa is probably confused out of its wits. "Help me! Someone, save me!"

"Get off of her!"

Cardin Winchester, without aura or a weapon, jumped into the fray and broke a tree branch across the Grimm's back.

"Cardin!" shouted Dove, throwing his sword. "Catch!"

Cardin did catch the sword. He then stabbed the sword uselessly into the Ursa's back leg, nowhere near the head or center of mass. Ilia hid a grimace; he really was an idiot. The Ursa was now trying to smother Ilia with its chest, but she was at full aura and in no true danger. There was probably a bigger threat of her developing an aneurysm from how much Team Sword's antics were stressing her out. To encourage them to pick up the pace, she let out a fake whimper.

"Leave her alone!"

The tip of Weiss' rapier poked through the Ursa's stomach and tickled Ilia's nose, presumably having been driven through its back from the other side by its wielder. A decent blow, and far better aimed than Cardin's, but still not enough to kill it. Ilia decided to expedite the process and quickly drove her whip throat the Grimm's throat. The second it stopped moving, she withdrew her blade to prevent the others from seeing it.

The body disappeared, and Ilia saw Weiss standing victoriously, her rapier still held out.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, Weiss!" Ilia leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the neck of her 'savior.' "You killed it! I would've died if it wasn't for you!"

"Uh…think nothing of it. I merely did what any true huntress would do."

"And you, Cardin." Ilia went over to the big heap of testosterone, stood up on her tippy toes, and gently kissed him on the cheek. "You held it off long enough for Weiss to land the killing blow. How brave!"

"Oh, gee," Cardin murmured, turning beet red. "It was nothing."

"We all played our parts," Weiss announced magnanimously. "I was only able to kill it because Cardin pinned it down, and Cardin was only able to pin it down because he had Dove's sword. It was a team effort."

The one member of the team who had been left out, Russel, was staring at Ilia. His eyes then wandered over to inspect where the Grimm had been, then back to Ilia. Her breath hitched when his pupils darted to Lightning Lash.

"Definitely," the mohawked boy said at last. "You guys kicked ass. I just wish I could've helped."

"No worries, Russel," said Cardin. "We've got four years ahead of us and glory aplenty for Team Sword. I'm sure you'll get your turn."

"That's got to be some sort of record for biggest Grimm kill by a first year team," declared Dove. "Today was a great success!"

He was right. Today was a great success. Sure, Ilia might have been able to impress Team Sword by slaying a massive Ursa Major singlehandedly, but that was more likely to leave them feeling upstaged or emasculated. They were a proud team, to the point of chauvinism. On the other hand, there was nothing that those types of humans loved more than saving a damsel in distress.

Ilia made a mental note to keep a close eye on Russel, though. Something…Something was very wrong with the way he'd responded. He'd seem through Ilia's game, but he hadn't called her out on it. The worst part was that she had absolutely no idea why.

Omake

Blake: Are you sure there's enough sap for us both?

Ruby: *slaps roof of tree* This bad boy can fit so much sap in it.