Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Walk In The Woods.
The flight to the island was much longer than their first mission but just as boring. The only plus side was that this gave the teams a little more time to attempt to sleep though the roaring or the engines and the occasional bump of turbulence made it difficult. Fox was the only one who seemed to have no trouble falling back asleep, the moment he had strapped himself in he slumped back and was out like a light. Yatsu settled back into a meditative pose, which seemed to work for him. Coco and Velvet were another story.
The coffee Coco guzzled down seemed to finally be taking a hold and the girl was bouncing her leg up and down to the beat of a song she was listening to on her scroll, she was regarding a small map of the island and making notes in the margin, Ruby was beside her and the older girl would explain her markings or ask if the wolf had any ideas what they should plan for.
Velvet had a box on her lap and was fiddling with the contents and a screen on the side of it as she looked over a small notebook that she had. Weiss watched the rabbit Faunus with a curious gaze, she had asked what she was doing only for the older girl to wink and smile at her saying she'd see when they landed.
Blake had mostly ignored the others during the flight quietly reading her book but her amber eyes would sweep over the others from time to time occasionally staying on Ruby for a while to make sure her Alpha was fine or to the blonde that was currently slump across from her with a small gaze on her lips. It was a blessing that Yang finally fell asleep, she had been asking about every ten minutes how close they were getting, Weiss had gotten so annoyed that she had threatened to freeze the brawlers mouth shut if she didn't stop asking.
The calm of the waiting teams was broken as Lene's voice came over the comms, "Alright you lot wakey wakey. Our ETA is twenty minutes get your gear around. There's no place for me to put down so this will be an aerial drop, I'll be putting down on an offshore outpost about an hour away so keep that in mind if you need an emergency EVAC."
"Hey Fox, up and at 'em." Coco called as she tossed her pencil at the slumbering boy. Before the pencil could impact with his head his hand whipped out and caught it.
With a large yawn Fox shook his head and lightly tossed back the pencil, "Yeah, yeah I heard." He mumbled, "No need to throw things." Coco shrugged as she returned the pencil to her bag.
"What time is it?" Yang yawned as she stretched her arms above her head.
"Just before noon." Blake answered as she stored her book. "You've been asleep for about four hours."
"Alright everyone listen up." Coco called out as she undid her harness and stood up, she pulled out her scroll and expanded it to allow everyone to see a map of the island. "We'll be landing on the south west side of the island in this small bay." She pointed to an indent in the side of the island. "The research facility we're heading for is located about here." She pointed to another part of the island near the center of the island. "It's about a three hour hike. Grimm shouldn't be a huge deal since none of the recon has picked up any activity on the island for a long time but that doesn't mean let your guard down. Once we get to the facility we are to locate any survivors and provide medical assistance then evacuate them. If there are no survivors we need to find out why the distress beacon went off. Any questions?"
"If there are Grimm do we know which types?" Weiss asked.
"Assume the usual Beowolf and Ursa mix. The island is too isolated for anything exotic." Coco answered.
"Where did the other ship go down?" Yatsu questioned after Weiss nodded. "We might have to back track from the facility if they went back to the crash site."
Coco pointed to a section south of where they were headed, "The craft went off radar around this area. If we have to check it we'll have to do a grid search for it." Seeing that there was nothing else Coco nodded, "Alright we disembark the order will be Yang and Yatsu first, you to take a forward position incase anything comes out of the tree line. Blake and Fox you'll follow them to provide support if needed Weiss and Velvet will follow them and Ruby and I will be last providing long distance support if it's needed. Once we're all on the beach we'll regroup and set marching lines. Everyone good?" Everyone nodded in response and Coco grinned. "Then let's rock 'n roll."
They felt the bullhead start to take a wide arc, "Swiping the area now. Nothing on sensors or on my targeting screens. I'll take another pass before setting into position for you to get out." Lene called as she completed her first arc. Once she did her second pass the bullhead settled with its side to the beach, "And green light to go." The side opened up as the green light near it switched on. Yang and Yatsu jumped out of the ship hitting the beach with a puff of sand, each drew their weapons and took their positions searching for any threats. Blake and Fox followed quickly each going to the partners. Weiss and Velvet hit the ground but stayed slightly back ready to act when needed. Ruby and Coco stayed for just a few moments longer each scanning the area before Coco nodded and jump with out with Ruby right beside her.
"All clear." Coco called into her mic to Lene. "We'll send word when we're ready for ECAV."
"Rodger." Lene replied as the bullhead pulled away. "Good luck and happy hunting."
Once the bullhead was past the bay Coco turned and looked at the group as they gathered on the beach, she motioned for Ruby to come closer to her side. "So that wasn't so bad. Everyone good?" Everyone nodded again, "Good, marching orders Yatsu, Yang in front again. Blake, Fox flanks. Switch sides from time to time and so we can keep track of you. Weiss and Velvet you're our center support if we get into a bind everyone fall to them. Ruby you're with me watching the back, we'll also be watching the flanks back side." Coco looked at Velvet, Ruby and Blake. "You three ears up and noses in the air. Kinda wish we had a fourth Faunus for the front but oh well."
Blake eyed the older team before sighing and undoing her bow. Velvet had the worst reaction of them taking in a large hissing breath before narrowing her eyes in anger, "Blake who…" She started but Coco held her hand up cutting over the rabbit.
"No Velvet." Coco shook her head, "Not the time or the place. If Blake want's to tell you she will." Velvet glanced from Blake to Coco before sighing and giving a short nod.
"Fine. But I want to take a look at those regardless to make sure the damage didn't do anything to you hearing." Velvet's eyes hardened showing there was no room for argument. Blake glance at Ruby who gave a small nod, after a few moments the panther gave a short nod to the rabbit before breaking her gaze.
"Right then." Coco sighed, "Yatsu, Yang lead on." She pointed out the direction they needed to be heading.
"Hey big guy." Yang grinned as she turned towards the tree line. "Highest kill count wins?"
Yatsuhashi looked down at blonde before a small smirk crossed his lips, with a short nod he turned to the forest and headed in.
Coco sighed as she shook her head, "You know I should have seen that one coming."
"You really should have." Ruby chuckled as she followed along as they entered the thick foliage. There were chirps of birds and a few sounds of small animals scurrying about in the undergrowth. As long as those remained they shouldn't have a problem with Grimm. Off to the side the wolf caught a flash of black as Black skirted around a tree. A loud thump from ahead of them alerted her to Yatsuhashi cutting through something that was blocking his path.
"So I'm surprised you haven't questioned Velvet about her weapon yet Red." Coco said from beside her.
Ruby shrugged, "Well she said that'd we'd see it eventually so I just have to wait." She eyed the box that was at the rabbits hips though as she walked beside Weiss. The Heiress was asking Velvet about her notebook and the dust formulas in it.
"I'm sure you'll see it before long." Coco nodded, "So you understand why I set this marching order?"
Ruby nodded, "Yeah I did it like this on our first mission." Coco nodded but motioned for her to continue. "Yang and Yatsuhashi are both forward strikers so it makes sense to have them be in the front. They can also last the longest in a fight so it gives us time to back them up if needed. Blake and Fox are quick and are able to scan large areas, though with Fox being blind I am a bit confused on how he does it. Weiss is a dust mage and can hit at all ranges but she's not as strong as the rest of us so keeping her in the center means we can fall in to protect her while she provides support. I can guess Velvet's sort of the same since you paired them up. And then you and I have long range type guns so we can provide cover for anyone that needs to fall back."
"Right for the most part." Coco nodded. "It's actually pretty nice that our teams have similar set ups. If you were like JNPR or SSSN we'd have an unbalanced set up." Coco saw the confusion in the wolf's eyes so she explained, "JNPR doesn't have a really good answer for long distance engagements, Pyrrha and Nora can put some rounds down range sure but Pyrrha's rifle has a pretty large fall off and if she does fire her javelin off with it the she's lost her weapon. Nora's got her grenades and they do large areas of damage but against smart opponents they'll be able to dodge the arcs of them. Jaune and Ren are both close range fighters so at long range they're at a loss. SSSN has the same problem, they're all mostly close range fighters." Ruby nodded in understanding, "Trick with being a leader is knowing multiple team compositions and how to adapt them so they fit with your own."
"Now to address some of things you got wrong," Coco continued. "First, Fox can see just not in the conventional sense. His semblance is like mine in that it's always active. His semblance allows him to see the world around, for the most part. He can't see details, colors, or writing. But if he walks into a room he can see everything in it at the same time, he knows where everything is located if anyone is hiding in it. However if he's closed off in that room then he can't see beyond it. And as for Velvet, you're right that she's a dust mage and she's not good on the front lines but that's not the reason I put her in the center." Coco nodded up at the rabbit Faunus pointing to her ears, they were standing tall and twitching in different directions, "Out of everyone I'd bet Velvet has the best hearing, even out of you three Faunus. Remember you and Blake are both predator based Faunus while Velvet is a prey base. I know Faunus like to distance themselves from their animal counterparts but I also know that the basic nature is still there. So her hearing is more finely tuned for omnidirectional areas, yours and Blake's hearing is more directional. With Velvet in the center she can alert us faster. Now I know on your team with Blake on the sides you don't have more to worry about it as much but better to be safe then sorry." Ruby nodded as they continued to walk her eyes drifting up to the Heiress who was still in deep conversations with Velvet.
"So you keep your formulas in the notebook?" Weiss asked as she flipped through several of the pages.
"Well not all of us have an eidetic memory so I have to use more mundane methods." Velvet chuckled, "Though I do have the majority of them memorized, I just keep them in there for reference for when I'm working on new formulas. It helps to keep reactions straight when you're putting together combinations."
"Makes sense." Weiss nodded, she had gotten several combinations mixed up when putting together new types of dust just because she was doing too much at the same time. "So is a notebook something most Dust mages keep?"
Velvet shrugged, "More or less. Not everyone likes to experience as much as we do. Take Professor Goodwitch for example, she's more of a traditionalist when it comes to dust. You and I experiment more because of who we are, I do it because I can help Coco invent more Dust infused clothes and with different effects. You do it because you're the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and you want to find more uses for Dust and how to combined them in new ways."
"So would you mind if I took a closer look at some of these?" Weiss asked as she handed back the notebook, "I could show you some of my own formulas."
"Sure." Velvet nodded, "When we get back we can go over them. I can see if we can work something out with Professor Goodwitch to get some extra lab time to work together." Weiss' eye lit up at the idea making Velvet shake her head good-naturedly. "So how are things with Ruby?"
A small amount of blush crossed the Heiress cheeks as she looked away, "Pretty good." She mumbled knowing the rabbit would hear her; she was still slightly uncomfortable in talking about her relationship with Ruby with anyone other than Ruby.
Velvet smirked at the blush, she might only condone teasing Coco when she deserved it but then again Weiss was another Heiress of a well known company and there was something oddly satisfying about teasing usually calm and stoic Heiresses, "Oh only pretty good?" Velvet drew out, "You know I still remember about a week or two ago when there were rumors of sightings of the two of you locked together in a very heated and extremely passionate kiss." The blush on the Heiress face darkened as she continued to look away. "And you never did ask that question that Coco asked you later that day and seeing as we're all friends here why don't I ask again: So who's the top?"
Velvet had to repress a laugh as she heard the wolf stumble behind her and crash into the ground, it seems someone was listening and not paying attention to where she was walking. Weiss' blush got even deeper and was about to yell something out when Coco's voice rang out, "Alright let's hold here and take a break."
Once everyone was back in the group they settled into a loose circle and brought out a few snacks to keep their energy up. Even though they hadn't run into any Grimm their entire walk none of them strayed to far from their weapons and the Faunus in the group kept searching for any unknown sounds. "So shouldn't we have at least run to some signs that the crew past trough here?" Yang asked as she sipped at some water. "I mean if there were a few of them that could move about you'd think that they would have at least look for a way out."
"Maybe." Coco nodded, "Fox, Blake did either of you see signs of people moving about?"
Fox gave a snort before shaking his head, "If there was anything on my side it was too small for my semblance to pick up. And usually people are not that careful when they're in a life or death situation."
"Nothing on my side either," Blake added. "And Fox is right people leave to many tracks to go unnoticed unless they're trained that way. A simple transport crew wouldn't have that kind of training."
"We'd have scented them out by now too." Velvet added, "Or at least Ruby would have. Something doesn't add up because Yang is right if they can be up and around to get a distress signal up and running from an abandoned research facility then there should have been signs of them by now."
"I don't like it either." Yatsuhashi nodded, "This island is pristine, we're the only people who have been here in a very long time."
Coco looked at Ruby who considered what everyone had said before nodding, "The lack of evidence that people have been here is odd. Velvet's right I would have scented them out a while ago if there was someone out here but I've only picked up our scents since we've been here. Maybe they just decided to stay at the facility and that's why we haven't seen any signs of them but that wouldn't make sense, especially if they are expecting rescue. That's one of the first rules of survival; make yourself visible for rescue."
With a nod Coco took out the map and laid it on the ground, "Alright then we're all in agreement that something is wrong here. The question is what? We're about here," She pointed to a spot on the map still a ways away from the facility. "If this is where the cargo ship went down we're about three hours out from it. If we change course now we can head there before the facility, everyone agreed?" Several nods answered her, "Alright then that's what we'll do. If we see signs of movement we'll reassess as we get closer."
With that decided the two teams once again started to move in their new direction. As they grew closer to their objective Coco would call out occasionally to Blake and Fox checking to see if they had found anything. Blake reported seeing a few marks in on trees but they were few and far between and looked to be heading off towards the facility, Fox had come back with a few snapped branches but they weren't much to go on.
On another short stop for water Ruby took a few deep inhales testing the air, a faint acidic tinge tickled her nose, "I smell smoke." She said drawing everyone's attention. "It's faint, a few days old but it's still there." With a few more deep breaths the wolf crinkled her nose, "Definitely bullhead fuel mixed with burn dust. We're about four miles out from the source."
Velvet took a few sniffs as did Blake but neither could pick up what Ruby smelled, with a small chuckle the rabbit shook her head, "Wolves do have the best sense of smell. I'm surprise she didn't pick it up sooner."
Ruby shrugged as she continued to sniff the air, "It's a few days old so it's not as strong, if we had gotten here closer to when it crashed I probably would have. As it is it's really faint."
"Think you can give us a closer direction Rubes?" Yang asked.
"Maybe as we get closer." Ruby nodded, "I'd better go forward with Yang and Yatsu so I can."
"Alright Red, lead." Coco smiled, "Let's see what's going on."
Ruby nodded and started to lead them off towards the downed craft changing headings from time to time zeroing in on it. The scent the wolf had picked up earlier grew stronger as the minutes passed, several times she had to cover her nose to catch a breath of fresh air. She also noticed Blake and Velvet reacting to the scent finally. As they grew closer the wolf picked up another scent that was being masked by the acidic smoke, the putrid sweet smell of decay. Ruby gagged as she caught a heavy mix of the scents. "Coco we might have a big problem." The wolf called back.
"We'll deal when we get there." The brunette called back. "Eyes open everyone." The clicking of weapons being draw filled the air as they broke the final tree line and into the crash site.
The bullhead was buried nose first in a deep trench of kicked up dirt, the wings warped and cracked in odd angles. The metal siding in several areas was torn back revealing the internal workings of the small ship. Black scorch marks showed where the fires had burned at the ship. Boxes of cargo were scattered about the area their contents up spilled about them, a few showed signs of animals gnawing at them. But what drew the teams attention was the three bodies carefully drug off to the side and placed in the shade of a few of the boxes, signs of hastily attempted first aid on each of them.
Ruby, Blake and Velvet had to cover their noses again as the smell of decay and smoke burned their noses. "Well shit." Coco cursed as surveyed the area. "Velvet check the bodies. Yatsu, Fox, Blake and Yang perimeter sweep. Weiss, you, Ruby and I will stay here and provide back up if needed."
"Do you want me to check the bullheads flight data?" Yang asked before she headed out.
"If you know how check it and see if you can find the source of the crash." Coco nodded. Yang nodded and moved over to the crashed ship carefully entering it.
Velvet pulled out a pair of gloves and walked over to the bodies. "Lividity is set and there's no signs of movement." She looked over the first body slowly moving the arm that was in a make shift sling, "Ulna and radius broken, broken wrist. Humerus shattered, brachial artery severed. This one bleed out in a few minutes." Moving to the next body Velvet once again started at the hastily applied first aid this time on the body's left leg, "Fractured patella, dislocated tibia, broken ankle." Moving up the body the rabbit frowned, "Not much internal bleeding. Fractured ribs and vertebra but not fatal. Blood in the lungs but no source." Velvet's frowned deepened. "She should by all means still be alive." Shaking her head the rabbit moved to the final body, "Broken back, paralyzed from the waist down. Fractured skull, ruptured brain aneurysm, probably dead before he knew it." Backing away Velvet shook her head as she peeled off her gloves and walked over to Coco and the others. "Two of them were dead probably right after the crash but I don't know why they left the one with the broken leg. Besides that she was fine and should still be alive."
"What's her COD?" Coco asked as she looked over at the bodies.
"Blood in her lungs." Velvet's frown returned, "I didn't find a source either."
"Hey Coco." Yang called out as she exited the bullhead, "How long has it been since the crash?"
"Six days." The brunette responded. "Ozpin said it crash five days ago and today would be day six."
Yang frowned, "Then we have a problem. Cause unless we somehow went through a rift in time that bullhead says it's been downed for a month."
"Could it be a computer glitch?" Ruby asked with her nose still covered.
Yang shrugged, "The system could have gone wonky in the crash but bullhead computer are usually pretty reliable. Do we have a craft ID number?" Coco nodded and quickly read off the given ID, the blonde nodded, "Well that's definitely this craft."
"Nothing on the perimeter." Blake said as the three of them returned, "Only a pair of tracks heading towards the research facility. They left marks in the trees so we know their general direction."
Coco looked around the area then sighed, "Well there's not much we can do here. If we have a chance we might salvage some of the cargo but right now we need to see if the last two are alive. Survivors are our priority right now. Velvet, you know what to do."
With a heavy sigh the rabbit nodded and went back over to the bodies, grabbing each of their dog tags Velvet snapped the chains and stashed the taken tags in a pouch on her side before letting her hand fall to her weapon. Without looking her fingers rapidly tapped at a screen on the top of it. With a quick ding a slot on the side opened up and a glass ball shot out into the Faunus' hand. The ball was the size of a large marble and looked to be a light red color. With a flick of her hand the glass marble shattered over the three bodies igniting a fire. With a nod Velvet turned back to the group.
Before anyone could ask Coco barked out, "Alright let's move, double time to the research facility. We need to find out what's going on here."
Everyone nodded and set again moving quickly through the trees keeping an eye on the few signs of people that Blake had spotted, they looked like someone had cut the bark away from the trees with a sharp knife but hadn't really paid much attention to a set pattern. Ruby nodded when asked if she had their scent and confirmed that they were still heading in right direction.
"I still don't understand why they left their fellow crew members back at the crash site." Weiss said after a while. "Velvet said that only two of them would have died right away but leaving the third behind doesn't make sense."
"Well it depends on what shape the other two were in." Velvet answered, "If they could move but not well then they may have made the decision that it was best if they left her where they knew where she was. It could have been that they intended to come back but something happened to them once they reached the research facility." She shook her head, "But you're right it doesn't make sense."
"We can't think about that right now." Coco shook her head, "Once we get to them we'll ask but now we need to focus on getting to them."
Suddenly Blake came to Coco's side, "Here's another question: Where are the Grimm." The panther's amber eyes continued to flash around the area. "There are no signs of them anywhere. This island may be remote but we should have run into at least one Beowolf by now, or at least an Ursa. Coco something is very wrong here."
Coco's face darkened as she nodded, "I agree. Something's off and none of this is making sense. Yang said the bullhead's been crashed for a month, those bodies back there while injured didn't show signs of that bad of a crash. There's no Grimm here either. I don't know what's going on but I don't like it and the sooner we get to the bottom of it the better I'll feel."
Coco called for another stop about five miles out from the where the research facility should be located. "Alright let's do a gear check. We may not have run into any Grimm but they may be research facility keeping the two survivors trapped. If that's the case we need to hit guns and Dust blazing. The last thing we need is another injured person because we were caught off guard." With a quick nod everyone checked their weapon and assured that they were in working order. With that done the teams made their final push to the research facility.
Breaking the tree line everyone held their breaths and glancing around for any Grimm, only to find none. Slowly every eye turned towards the facility. The large building was over grown with moss and ivy. The darken windows were covered with grime and dust. Small trees grew out of flat roof sections, some of their roots spilling down the sides and towards the ground. The paint that showed the facilities logo was worn and faded and covered in vines. The only signs of people had been there was a pile of vines and roots beside the main door.
"Well." Ruby whispered, "We're here."
A/N: And CLIFFHANGER! Sorry but I'd be bleeding into the next chapter if I went on. So if you're curious Velvet's weapon is like Honey Lemon's out of Big Hero 6. When I first saw her box I had two ideas on what it could be 1) A ready to go Dust capsule weapon or 2) Pandora's box... Since both seemed equally entertaining I've played with both ideas and this one won out for this story. I may use Pandora's box for another time...
With that: Many thanks to all, please drop in and say hi if you want, and may you find a reason to be happy and smile.