Chapter 10
I woke up feeling peaceful and relaxed. Thankfully I had gotten enough sleep after following yesterday's events: I took the girl of my dreams to the school dance, asked her to be my girlfriend, she accepted, I told her the darkest truth about myself, she stood by my side and promised never to leave, dance battled with a pair of power-hungry twins, had my crossdressing teammate take my place and fell asleep with my girlfriend in my arms. Who knew that so many things could happen in one day? But now, it was the start of a new day and a new mission to complete.
I sat up in my bed and Phoenix wasn't at my side. I felt my heart sink and looked around the room to see Sapphire and Robyn still asleep, but where was my beautiful redhead girlfriend? I heard the bathroom door open and saw her come out changed in her battle armor.
"Good morning Jet." She said quietly, as to not disturb the others.
"U-Um morning Phoenix." I said scratching the back of my neck.
"I woke up a little earlier so I can get changed into all of this." She said referring to her armor. I nodded and got out of bed.
"Well, I suppose that I should get changed as well." I said.
She nodded and I walked into the bathroom and went through my daily routine. Once I put on my gauntlets, I walked outside of the bathroom to see Sapphire waiting with her stuff to change into.
"Mor-" I started.
"I'm not waking her up this time." She interrupted and walked into the bathroom.
"Okaaay then…" I trailed off. "Well Phoenix, it appears that I've been assigned a pre-mission for our actual one."
She chuckled and gestured toward Robyn. I grabbed a pillow and held it up in front of me as defense as stood a good distance away from her.
"Robyn!" I called. "Your show just got cancelled!"
She shot up and reached out towards me but I threw the pillow I had in my hands at her. She caught it and clutched onto it tightly before throwing it back in my face hard and causing me to run into Phoenix.
"So much for using that pillow for defense." I muttered in pain.
Robyn stomped towards me and lifted me up with one hand. I tried to resist her iron grip and I looked at Phoenix in desperation, but she looked too stunned and terrified that a 5'3 girl knocked down two beasts nearly twice her height in one throw.
"Another word about my show, and I will personally see that you meet your premature end." She said groggily, as though she were still asleep.
"Yes ma'am." I said shakily.
"Good." She said dropping me on the floor and walking to her drawer to get her clothes to change into.
Phoenix helped me up and I gulped in fear as Robyn walked past us and headed towards the bathroom Sapphire was walking out of. Sapphire looked confused to say the least, but got the picture as Robyn walked towards her.
"Morning Robyn." She said sweetly. Robyn perked up and spared Sapph a smile and greeted her as well.
"I swear, I did not expect that." I whispered to Phoenix.
"I'm pretty sure nobody did." She whispered in response and meanwhile Sapphire looked oblivious and unknowing about the raging crush the 5'3 beast had on her.
Once Robyn was ready, we all walked to the dining hall where everyone was buzzing with excitement and anticipation for the missions that would be assigned to their team. I walked to the counter and got my usual food: bacon, eggs, toast, bacon, a side of hash browns, bacon, pancakes and of course, no breakfast would be complete without bacon. We sat next to Team SHDW whose slutacious pair was glaring down their opponents from the night prior. I rolled my eyes and sat next to Snow anyway.
"Don't be so cold, Snow." I said jokingly and he shoved my shoulder.
"Whatever man." Snow said trying to get away with the fact he lost horribly last night.
"What? You froze up on the dance floor huh?" I continued with my onslaught of puns.
"Seriously man, that's getting annoying." Snow said attempting to enjoy his meal.
"Alright alright. But seriously you need to cool down a bit." I said trying my best not to give it away that it was completely intentional. Nobody really spoke afterwards, as we were all anxious for our first mission, which is a big step in becoming Huntsman and Huntresses.
"Will all first year students please report to the amphitheatre"
After finishing my meal, I bused my tray and walked with my team as well as Team SHDW to the amphitheatre. When we walked in, Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin were at the stage and waiting patiently as the hoard of first years flooded through the doors. I turned around to see how many more students were left and I noticed Team RWBY walk in, but that wasn't the strange part, what was strange to me was seeing Ruby walk in with a rather large backpack. I've never seen her, or anyone on her team, bring one into battle.
"Quiet, quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Professor Goodwitch said.
"Today we stand together, united. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale: The four kingdoms of Revenant. On this day nearly 80 years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who freighted with who, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and all forms of self expression, and as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opossed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come and it is a trend that is continued to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond can not last without effort, which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first years students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsmen or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week, but no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training and remember to do your very best."
Everyone began to clap and I do have to say, his words were quite touching. I just hope that everything goes well during our mission, for not only us, but everyone as well. We walked up to the screen where we would decide what we would be doing over the course of this week. As we scanned through the missions available, we found this search and destroy mission in the Emerald Forest and the job was basically to keep the Grimm in check.
"Alright team, so how about this one?" Robyn asked.
"I don't mind." I shrugged.
"Me neither." Phoenix said.
"Same." Sapphire responded.
"This one it is then." I said typing in our team name. A notification said to meet the Huntress we would be shadowing in the courtyard. It also said that her name is Amethyst.
"Ok let's go out and search for 'Amethyst' at the courtyard then." Phoenix said.
We walked out of the amphitheatre and watched all of the first years going off and chattering excitedly about the missions they signed up for and whatnot. As we approached the courtyard and I saw a tall girl standing in the center of the area and appeared to be waiting for someone. She had short and wavy lavender hair and was wearing a dark grey and black outfit consisting of a sleeveless waistcoat, a undershirt, knee-high boots, wrist guards, thigh guards and sheer leggings. She also had protective armor around her waist and thighs. Once she looked up, I saw a slight flash of surprise across her pale face but it was gone just as quick as it appeared.
"Are you Amethyst?" I asked, once we were within hearing range.
"Yes, and I would conclude that all of you are Team JSPR?" She said in a sweet and slightly concerned voice, it almost struck me as motherly.
"Yeah, I'm Jet Schwarz, the leader of Team JSPR, this is Phoenix Right, Sapphire Stone and Robyn Blue." I said gesturing to each individual as I stated their names.
"Nice to meet you. As you know, I'm Amethyst and you'll be shadowing me for what should be a rather easy mission. Not entirely easy, but more manageable if anything. So as a basic rundown, you'll meet me here tomorrow at noon to take off towards Emerald Forest. It'll be a 3 day mission so all you'll really need are you weapons, sleeping bags, food and really all of the essentials. Make sure not to overpack, otherwise it could hinder our effectiveness throughout the mission. If you have any questions, please let me know." She said.
We looked at each other and shook our heads. While my Team had nothing else to say, I looked back at Amethyst, who happened to have a scar running across her nose and cheeks. She looked back at me and I looked away so she wouldn't get the wrong idea about me staring at her scar.
"Well then, if that's it, I'll give you my scroll number so you can call me if you have any complications or last minute questions. I'll see you here tomorrow at noon then. Goodbye everyone." She said waving and walking away. On the note, we began to make our way to our dorm and I noticed Team RWBY boarding a ship and Team JSPR, Sun and Neptune waving them off.
"Well she was nice." Sapphire said.
"And pretty...cool. Pretty cool." Robyn said.
'Nice save Rob, nice save.' I thought.
"Well, let's just hope that this mission runs smoothly the whole 3 days." Phoenix said.
"That's all we can hope for at this point. Hopefully everything will be fine." I said as we walked into our dorm.
"I'm bored, what are we even going to do before our mission tomorrow?" Robyn asked laying on her bed.
"Well, it's not like there's much to do. We might as well pack for our trip." Sapphire said while rummaging through the closet in search of a backpack.
"Might as well." I said reaching for a drawstring bag underneath my bed.
The entire night consisted of us getting all of the materials we needed for tomorrow in order. Sapphire basically became the mom of the group and made sure we had enough of everything and even made us pack extra underwear. Although it was quite annoying, I thought that it was nice of Sapphire to go out of her way and double check our bags.
"Thanks mom." I said to her when she finished.
"No need to thank me Jet, I wanted to make sure that we were prepared for tomorrow. Also, please don't call me 'Mom'. I'm not old and I don't wish to have kids at this time." She said lightly punching my shoulder.
"You basically act like one. We have become your darling children." I said.
"Oh dear, if you guys were my children…" She said putting her face in her hands.
"I'm just kidding Sapph." I said laying down in my bed.
"I think you'll make a great mom Sapphire." Robyn said smiling at Sapph.
"Thanks Rob." She said smiling back.
"Well, I think that we've had enough talk about parenting and futures for one night. We should get to bed so we can have enough rest and energy." Phoenix said.
"Alright." I said.
We took turns changing into our pajamas in the bathroom. As usual, I was the last one and when I walked out of the bathroom, the room was dark except for the bright moonlight that shone through the windows. I could already hear Robyn snoring and Sapph's lighter breath, indicating that she was asleep. I walked towards my bed where Phoenix was waiting for me.
"You ready for tomorrow?" I asked her, as I slid into the empty spot next to her.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She said, facing me.
"We'll be fine as long as we watch out for each other." I whispered. She looked unsure and I looked down at her. I gave her a small peck on the lips and she smiled.
"Good night Jet." She said quietly.
"Good night Phoenix." I said holding her tightly as we both drifted into sleep.