A/N: Hey y'all, Time for the next chapter of JPLL! Please, I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to favorite, follow and review! I love hearing from you guys!
"God, everything is so... Red."
Perci couldn't help but mutter her thoughts out loud, as their team, amongst several more, were led by Glynda deeper into the forest of Foreverfall, the red trees covering all the eye could see. At least from what she understood, Peach asked Glynda to make sure they all get some sap or some bullshit for her stupid biology class, though at that point Perci just saw it for what it was: Just more work that the teachers should be doing, being forced in the students.
"Man... Fucking Peach. Makin' US go get her shit." She pouted, looking at the red sap trees with discontent, though for now, all she could see on the faces of her so called friends were much more pleasant expressions.
Leila, noticing her temper tantrum, turned around, looking at her with a hint of disappointment. At this point she expected her partner to have wisened up a bit, and it was unfortunate to hear her usual dribble and complaints all the way there. "Come now, Perci. Helping the teachers as best we can is part of our responsibilities as students here. After all, we are in Beacon to learn. Not make jokes and slouch around all day."
Perci sighed, rolling her eyes once. "Man... Some days, I swear the ruler up your ass is even higher up then Glynda's..." She waved her head, and Leila, not intending to start another scuffle with her partner, simply turned her head away, paying more attention to the scenery. "But you do have to admit. It IS nice to be out here. The color is quite pleasant, for a change of pace compared to other forests in the area."
Jin, listening in on the conversation, jumped it. "Yeah! It's pretty here!" The smell of sap and the color being so vibrant made her want to go wild and just run around, though Glynda already told her in advance to stay put, and not get lost. Hue was walking alongside her, holding her hand, having drawn the short straw for looking after Jin on this particular mission.
"I do have to admit, the color difference between the Emerald Forest and here is quite striking." The faunus added, feeling some branches from the trees touch her horns as she walked, forcing her to duck every once in a while to get past some of the fauna in the area. "I do wonder what Professor Peach would need the sap for..." She mentioned, and before Perci could come up with one of her crazy conspiracy theories, Hue gave her a stern look, Leila joining in. "And no, Perci. Peach isn't using the sap to make some superpower serum, or some other sort of nonsense."
Perci gave them only the briefest of gazes, before turning her head the other way and stepping forward to get away from the group. "Fuckin' fuck..." She muttered to herself, under her breath, wanting to get away from the bullshit for now. "Fuckin' party poopers ruinin' my fun..."
As she walked away, Leila could only sigh. "I wish we could do something to help her grow out of this... It is unbecoming for a Beacon student to be so selfish."
She felt a hand touch her shoulder, looking back and seeing Ash wave her head slowly. "Meh, don't worry about it." She lifted her head up, watching Perci march quicker with her hands stuffing her pockets and not even bothering to look back. "Perci seems like a tough cookie, but I have a hunch she'll open up sooner or later. Just give her time."
"Mmhmm!" Undine joined the conversation. "And besides, it's her deal, so who cares!" She quickly cheered the mood, walking by the others, before realizing someone of them wasn't close to the group. "Hey! Copper! Get over here!" She called, waving to her teammate with her hand, and Copper, silently nodding, approached them slowly. "Man C, you really gotta start showing up more, you know? Sometimes I swear I can't even recognize when you're around!" Undine grinned, and Copper nodded again.
So far, Copper was one of the other enigmas, at least when it came to JPLL and ACMM. She barely spoke, barely ate, and overall, no one knew a lot about her. While Undine's love for seafood was already a fact each of them could recount, when it came to Copper... Almost nothing concrete, besides the fact that her home is Atlas and her father raised her alone, came up. Sometimes, Ash or Melody would try and talk to her, but she outright avoided the conversations when she could, always having an excuse to run off or do something for one of the teachers. "...Alright. I will try to remain closer to the rest of the team." She finally responded after being close to the rest of them.
"You really should," Melody mentioned off hand. "I mean... What if something happens and none of us are around? Being stuck with a grimm alone is not something I'd want to have to handle, to be sure." The rest of them nodded, Melody herself walking a bit closer to the center of the seven, slight hints of fear already drifting off her voice. It was a known fact at this point that Melody wasn't the bravest warrior out there. Why she chose to become a Huntress was something that she kept to herself for now, but at the very least, she reassured everyone that there wasn't any threatening involved with it.
As the group walked, after a short while, a weak, but cheerful humming sound was heard amongst them. The tune, in it of itself, was slow, yet happy, recounting childhood memories and experiences. They looked around, searching for the source of the voice, until realizing that Jin herself was just singing behind a closed mouth, her body happily wobbling to the rhythm of the lullaby. "Hey, Jin, that's a pretty sweet song!" Melody smiled at her. "Can I try?" She closed her eyes, listening carefully. Before long, when she opened her mouth to sing, Melody managed to capture the tone almost perfectly, even correcting some of Jin's own fibs and mistakes.
The moment she heard the blonde's voice come out, mimicking the same song engraved on her heart, Jin stopped singing herself, listening in. At first, it sounded a bit unfamiliar to her, as she had not heard another sing this song for such a long time, but before she knew it, her body resumed the waving motions, almost creating a dancing motion to the beat. "Wow! You sing just like Mama!"
The rest of the group paused. After the incident with Ash and the investigation into Jin, talking about her became a bit of a taboo amongst the group, and while they never truly ignored her, she decided, for the most part, to just let her live on her own. However, seeing as she talked, and not being one to ignore, Leila turned to her, giving her a gentle smile. "I see... Was your mother a good singer?"
"Yeah! Every night, she'd tuck me in under a tree, and sing me this song! It's my favorite!" She exclaimed, and when she realized Melody stopped singing, she nudged her shoulder, though with her force it was enough to shake the poor girl to a degree. "Hey! Heeeey! Can you sing some more?"
"A-Alright..." Melody sighed, and resumed the song, looping the parts she managed to memorize from Jin as they walked. Jin circled her, happily enjoying herself, the rest of the teams being swept away into her cheerful mood. Undine started circling Melody, singing with her, Ash clapped her hands to the beat, and while Hue didn't respond with much, a soft smile did manage to make its way to her face. Leila smiled just as much, though her face signified her grin was that of a polite person, rather than one who is genuinely happy. Copper, on her end, said nothing, like she usually did, looking at Jin's happy, beaming face every once in a while, and not much else.
"Alright students," Glynda spoke up, stopping in place, and addressing the students. Melody stopped singing, paying her full attention. "Now, I want each of you to take one jar, and fill it up with sap. And please, be aware of your surroundings. There ARE Grimm in the area, after all." She then left them to their devices, sitting nearby, watching the students do the task given to them.
Leila went ahead, picking up a jar for each of her teammates, handing one to Perci, Hue, and Jin. Jin, of course, dropped the jar not soon after, having no idea what it was for, and smelling the sweet scent of sap in the air, wandered off on her own again, looking for something to eat, Hue running after her with both of the containers in her hands.
Undine sighed, having filled up half of her jar. "God, this smiley sap... So icky..." Her skin shuddered to the touch of the cold, sticky substance, wanting to just get the assignment over with as soon as she could. After about ten minutes of filling up sap into the glass bottle, she turned her head, seeing Copper struggle with it just as much as she did. Wanting to help her teammate, she approached her, trying to act friendly as best she could. "Hey... Copper."
Copper stopped her movements, standing up and turning to her fully. her eyes, though jade in color, were as cold as icebergs. "Yes?" She asked with a single word, before turning back to the tree, trying to drain as much of the sap as she could out of it.
Undine always felt unnerved by her teammate. The rest of her friends in Beacon, she could handle easily. but Copper? It was like she was just not there half the time. "So... I've noticed that you... Uh..." her confidence quickly leaving her, Undine was left as shy as they first met her, all the way back on initiation day. "D-Didn't finish your work yet. Do you... Want some help?" It was quite difficult for her, communicating with people she couldn't read well. Even Perci didn't give her as much of a hassle as Copper did.
Copper stopped again, seemingly thinking about her offer for a short while, before nodding. "...Yes. That would be greatly appreciated, Undine." She stood back up. "Would you please assist me in finding more trees rich with sap?"
Hearing her partner respond to her positively shot a surge of confidence right through her heart. She felt it, this was gonna be her chance to finally bond with her partner! "Great!" She called out, pointing towards one of the more secluded parts of the forest. "let's go over there, C! We could get all the sap there before someone else finds us and our secret spot!" She came to yell, as enthusiastic as she was, remembering to lower her voice right at the last second.
Copper took one glance towards the spot her partner chose to know this was a bad idea. "This is not wise. The Grimm could easily surprise us there." She explained, though at this point Undine was desperate to have this one thing go for her, she just grabbed Copper's hand, who showed little to no resistance.
"Nah, don't worry, we'll be fine! I mean, I'm sure YOU of all people could easily deal with some grimm!" She started dragging Copper towards the distant treeline.
As the two of them walked, Leila couldn't help but catch them in the corner of her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm... I wonder where the two of them are going. This is outside of the boundaries Glynda told us to be in..." She kept pondering, coming to follow them though Perci's voice cut her train of thought, as sarcastic as she always was.
"Oh please, who cares about Fish girl and that... THING." Perci shrugged, and Leila giving her a displeased expression.
"Perci! Copper is NOT a thing! She is a living person, just like the rest of us!" This, for Leila, was past the line of good taste. Regardless for Perci passing that line with almost anything she said, at least. "I will not abide you insulting her like that with your speech!"
"Oh bite me, you bitch!" Perci's foul mood was showing in full bloom. Being forced to do something like that against her will only managed to piss her off. "I'm not here to listen to your fucking lectures! Let's just get this fucking sap and be done with this shit so we can go back! Good god wasting our weekend doing fucking chores for Beacon..." She grunted, gruff and salty, ignoring Leila and going back to the monotonous job of filling up the jars. That, however, didn't stop Perci from sneaking some of it to herself, out of Glynda's line of sight. What she'd do with it, she didn't fully know just yet. The fact of the matter was, she wanted some.
Having had enough of Perci's temper for now, Leila decided to turn her attention to the wandering pair. Making her way throughout the foliage, she soon heard a sharp whistle, coming from behind her, as Ash approached the nun, looking concerned a bit by the expression on her face. "Oi, Leila. Something's up?" She asked, getting straight to the point.
"Well... Undine and Copper just wandered off to who knows where, and honestly I do not think it was a good idea." Leila explained. "So, I resolved to find them in hopes of convincing them to get back to the main group."
Ash looked at her, the height difference being quite noticeable, before giving a relieved noise. "Oh... Man. Had me scared there for a second, like Jin going wild or something." So far, Leila doing it a bit perplexing that Ash didn't even flinch, staying as calm and collected as ever.
"B-But Ash... What if something happens to them? There are Grimm running amok, who would protect them if they get ambushed?"
All Ash did was place a firm palm on Leila's shoulder again, shaking her head a bit. "Leila... Don't worry, alright? I'm sure that the two of them would do just fine on their own. It's not like either of them is as cowardly as Mel." She chuckled, Melody, hearing her in the distance, huffing her face and turning away, walking off to collect some more sap. "I know it seems like the two of them can't communicate, and trust me, Copper doesn't make it any easier, but I've seen them in sparring sessions. When push comes to shove they'll know what to do."
Leila's face lifted, staring at Ash with hopeful eyes. "Are you absolutely sure? If something happens to them and I won't be there in time..." Her voice was already filled with guilt, and Ash merely shook her head again.
"If you won't be there in time, they'll still be able to take care of themselves." She reassured her. "I trust them, alright? You should too."
"Y-Yeah..." Leila searched for them one last time, scanning the treeline with her eyes just to make sure. "I-I guess you're right."
For Copper and Undine, things couldn't have gotten worse.
About a few minutes after wandering off on their little adventure, searching for the perfect spot to collect sap in, they encountered a small pack of Ursai, each of which instantly signaling them out and charging at them. Undine was the first to react, though after one of them tried to strike her down, she seemingly vanished right into the ground, her weapon dropped to the floor where she once was, leaving Copper to fend for herself. She fought as best she could, managing to fell at least two of them, but by the time the last one approached her to finish the job, it was too late to call for help. Even if she could, her naturally weak voice wasn't able to reach that far, and she couldn't leave Undine behind.
The growl of the Ursa was as near to her face as it could get. It stopped for a second, sniffing her general direction, as if making sure of something, before opening its maw to devour her head whole. She didn't know what to do, and, left at the mercy of the world, readied her drives to stand her ground.
When a yellow flash pierced the area from the trees to her right, dashing right into the grimm.
Jin reacted far faster than Copper could estimate. She didn't know whether she would come or not, but seeing as the two of them were in trouble, Copper at least ran the risk of having to rely on her.
"Copper!" Hue called out, running close to her, helping the small girl to her feet and carrying her away to a safe distance. "Are you alright? Where is Undine?" She questioned her, Copper quickly replying by pointing to the patch of ground she vanished in, Oceanline still just laying there as she left it.
She looked to the side, watching Jin struggle against the armored grimm. Sending her claws at the beast, she could barely scratch the thick bone plating, though the Ursa, just as much, had trouble damaging her tough frame, leaving the two of them at a stalemate. It raised a claw, aiming to crush Jin into the ground, though she managed to move out just in the nick of time, rolling around it, and sending her dust claw into its back. Managing to crack the porcelain colored coating on the grimm, it bellowed, charging her with its massive weight. Jin looked at it, focusing her entire body to the present moment, steeling herself and planting her feet deep into the ground, an eerie brown light emanating from parts of her body. Hue watched with great interest as the girl tapped into the dust within her, channeling the earth element through it, and hardening her body, making her resistance even greater. When the impact actually happened, Jin was pushed back, the ursa trying to run her over, failing miserably against the sheer toughness she exhibited.
"H-Hello?" Suddenly, Hue heard a voice, coming from behind her. She turned away from the action for a brief moment, only to see Undine, or at least, her head, sticking out of the ground where she vanished. Quickly running to her, she offered her hand, Undine waving her head politely. "No... Hold on a sec. Still trying to get the ropes of this whole semblance business." She chuckled awkwardly, and soon enough, her body started to pop out of the ground, slowly ascending, until she was fully free from the earth, standing on her feet.
"Is your semblance still new to you?" Hue asked, mildly curious, Undine nodding her head positively.
"Well... I guess so? I mean, I've been hunting fish and taking care of aquatic grimm for years now, but I've only recently started using my semblance. Can't say it's easy..." She chuckled a bit, trying to push past the initial pauses and stutters, slowly rebuilding her confidence. "And... Yeah. You've just seen me use it, with... Mixed results."
"Hmm..." Hue looked again towards Jin's direction. Right now, she was busy pummeling the ursa into submission, and seeing as the battle was currently in her favor, she returned her attention to Undine. "And do you mind if I asked what did your semblance do?"
Undine nodded, trying to explain. "Well... It's kinda hard to explain, but I guess I can 'dive' into things?" She made quotation motions with her fingers, giving an occasional look at Jin and her fight while talking. "I can only do this with stuff that contains me, and I can't bring things like my weapon yet, but I've been practicing. Hopefully one day I'll be able to get the gist of it better. Anyway... Shouldn't we do something about that?" She pointed to Jin again. This time, the ursa managed to push her back, and Jin gave a loud roar, hacking at it with frozen claws.
"Indeed. Allow me." Hue nodded, and dashed to Jin's assistance, drawing her blade and preparing her semblance. She conjured three streams, swirling them around the ursa, and closing her fist, the light string she made shrunk, exemplifying her control over her unique power, and trapping the grimm to boot. Though she couldn't do it for long, it gave Jin just the opening she needed, diving in and slamming herself with everything she had into the ursa, finally delivering the decisive blow and killing it, as it sank to the ground, lifeless and decaying.
Undine watched her, using her power like that with such skill. She couldn't help but feel a sort of admiration for the girl and what she could do, hoping one day to master herself just as much. Hue looked at her back, though soon enough Jin dashed towards her, ignoring Copper entirely, as Undine found herself deep in the giant's bosom, feeling first hand one of her famed bear hugs.
"J-Jin..." She tried to struggle her way out, to no avail. Jin just kept hugging her, looking Undine in the eyes, tearing up a bit.
"A-Are you okay?!" She called out. Any aura that was hurt was something that she could never stand to watch, ever, and seeing her friend damaged even a bit was enough to make Jin worry more than ever. Undine nodded her head, talking as peacefully as she could to her.
"Y-Yeah, Jin. I'm fine. Now... Can you please let me down? It's kinda... Choky. In here. You're choking me." Being direct as she could, and her breathing truly impaired to a degree, Jin finally letting her down. Undine fell to her feet, backing up a bit, looking at Hue with a curious expression. "How the hell do you survive those?" She whispered to her.
Hue shrugged lightly. "It helps that I've had to endure worse at home," she concluded swiftly, getting up, and looking at her scroll. "Either way... I believe that we should be heading back soon. Jin, let us go back." She started to pace slowly, turning her head to Undine and Copper, who finally managed to get back up to her feet. "Are you two coming?"
Copper nodded, and Undine gave Hue a thumbs up. "You know it!" The four of them, each sans Jin carrying her own bottle full of the sap, made their way together towards the main group, where the rest were waiting for them.
As soon as she saw her friends coming back, Leila rushed in, looking rather worried. "Where in the name of Lord were you?! You had me quite worried." She asked them, and Hue gave her the brief rundown of the events that led to them being late. Once hearing the whole story, all Leila could do was sigh, her heart being at peace. "Hmm... At least you are safe and sound. Take this as a lesson, Undine. Stay where you are told, it is safer that way."
"Yeah," Perci cut in, Leila bracing herself for yet another cynical, snarky remark. "If you're a wimp!" She laughed out loud, and as the group made their way back to Beacon, Perci and Leila found themselves knee deep in an argument about the law and the various implications it had of the people.
From there, Glynda made a quick count of the jugs filled to the brim, making sure they had enough. Once she was satisfied with the amount, she turned to the students.
"Great work, everyone. Now, let us get back. I am sure all of you are starving after working all day." She started the return journey, the teams she requited following suit. Laughs were common in the air, and spirits were high as always, team JPLL and ACMM quickly melding in the good mood just as much.
As they walked, Perci took one look at her side. She saw CRDL, lead by Cardin, walking shamefully at the side of the group, like JNPR, with that Pyrrha Nikos girl Leila couldn't stop blabbering about, seemingly bonding more than before. Seeing them, a group of complete strangers at first, now fast friends in the midst of battle, actually reminding her of her own team, for a change.
And a soft, though hidden smile crept across her face, as the teams made their way back.