Chapter 18: A New Den

"Why me? Why is it always me that gets stuck with this kind of thing?" I sigh and look around. Scouting is not something I enjoy. I mean, I'm good at it, especially with the whole teleporting thing going for me, but it's not exactly something I enjoy. I sigh quietly as I see the den come into view. I almost curse out loud when a Taijitu comes from the whole instead of an Ursa. Shit. This is bad. This is very bad. We weren't prepared for Taijitu. We brought our A-game for Ursa. This is why they invented scouting!

I take a step back but over balance and trip. Shit. It heard that, didn't it? I look over, and sure enough, those beady, red eyes are staring right at me. God damnit. I have absolutely no luck, do I? I push myself up slowly, trying not to alarm the Grimm. I would rather not get into an altercation in front of a fucking den full of some of the largest Grimm in this forest. Its gaze follows my every move, and I see it begin to coil.

In a speed that I had no idea idea that I could reach, I take off in a diagonal, weaving through the trees and jumping over roots. Please don't trip. Please don't trip. I can't afford to die without warning my team. I push myself to get to the camp. When I know I'm about thirty foot from the rest of the group, I yell, "Taijitu incoming!" I try to catch my breath as I break through the trees and skid to a halt. "There's a den. Not Ursa." I pant and pull my weapon. I need to think about doing more cardio if I'm winded this easily. I suck in enough air to stop my lungs from wanting to break through my ribs in a quest for oxygen before taking on a defensive stance.

Qrow knocks me in the head. "Way to go, sis. Send you out for Ursas and you bring back Taijitu. What luck, right?"

I bare my teeth at him. "Shut the hell up, Qrow. I'm the scout in the group. It's not like I literally go looking for dangerous beasties."

Tai laughs. "Isn't that what scouts do, though?"

I roll my eyes. "Not the point, jackass."

Summer comes up to complete the diamond, standing to my left. "Guys, focus. We need to listen for them. They don't exactly make much sound in the first place."

I take a calming breath and listen. It should be coming from the direction I was running, but there's a chance that there's more or that it doubled back after I broke through the trees. There, that's it. I position myself toward the small hiss and scrapes. "To the left!" The snake Grimm strikes near Summer, but she blocks masterfully. I smile as more Taijitu surround us. "Shit."

Summer lets out a soft laugh. "At least this test will be interesting."

"Interesting, my ass." I huff and pull out a blue blade before charging it with my Aura. I do a diagonal slice, sending ice shooting from the blade before disappearing into a portal and landing right above the monster. I land on its head and impale its eye with my blade. That was too easy. Where's your other half, big boy?

Just then, I feel its presence looming over me, the evil radiating off it contaminating the air. Well, shit. I dive to the right, out of it's striking distance, or so I thought. I come up on my knee in time to see the blur of white and red stop inches before it hits me. Summer, in all of her speed and glory, blocks the strike with a combination of her Aura and blades before delivering a massive blow under its chin. The blade gets burrid to the hilt, and the snake starts to try to shake her off. Summer yanks the blade from the Grimm and knocks its head away from her in one smooth motion.

I stand up and jump in, flipping over the head and sliding down the body, trying to get its attention. It follows the true annoyance to it, meaning me. I smile a bit. This should buy Summer enough time to strike. I trun around and back up to a tree, blade out in front of me, ready to strike if Summer doesn't get here first. I white blur circles around the tree, depositing rose petals into the air, before halting beside the Taijitu's head. With a practiced blow, she lands her blade in its eyes, making it shake its head twice before falling to the ground lifeless.

"How many cam in, Summer?" I look around, trying to find any more traces of danger.

She scoffs. "The boys are taking care of the last one. That asn't the challenge I thought it would be. That wasn't exactly a den, Rae, but I appreciate the warning. I'd rather be overprepared than underprepared."

I sigh and nod. "Yeah. Is this the end of our test, though? I mean, we defeated them."

Summer smiles and pulls out her com. "STRQ to Beacon. Taijitu eliminated. Over."

A crackly voice comes from the device. "This is Beacon. What the hell are you talking about Taijitu for? Your mission involved an Ursa den. Over."

Summer loses her smile. "See, about that, Beacon, there were no Ursai."

"You forgot to say 'Over.' Over." The voice on the other side had an amused tone to it.

"Shut the fuck up, Garnet. Over."

"But you said 'Over' that time. Over." A laugh sounds before the com cuts off.

Summer turns to me with a scowl. "He's being an ass. Has he been hanging around Qrow too much?"

I shrug. "Possibility."

She laughs. "You're no help either." She presses the button and speaks into the com. "Requesting pickup. Over."

"ETA ten minutes, STRQ."

Summer busts out laughing. "Who didn't say 'Over,' now. Over." There's no answer from the other side, and I bust out laughing, too. "That should have been such a hollow victory, but it felt so good."

A/N: Not much true development, really, but Graduation is coming up, and I wanted to throw in their final combat test and all. It's not much, really, but it's something. I'm seriously open for a conflict after grad, so I'm probably going to be throwing you all for a loop in a couple of chapters. Big baddy maybe, or internal conflict, external conflict. I have no idea yet. I'm leaning towards big baddy myself. Internal conflict is rather dull to me. Complete AU, guys. This will not flow into canon.

I do have a account. The link is on my account. Any contribution would be much appreciated.

I hate to say this, but money talks. It's so cliche, I know, but really, it's the anxiety of disappointing people that actually pay me for this kind of stuff that motivates me. I mean, yeah, I do need a creative outlet, and I'd write anyway, but incentive is nice, especially to a freakin broke college students. Sorry if it sounds like I'm begging. I'm really not. I'm just getting a bit of a rant out of my system. Thanks for reading. I love all of you. :)

Don't worry, updates may be infrequent now, but they'll really pick up after finals. There's probably going to be even more stories and all after the two I have up are done and written.

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