The morning started off quite quick in Zen's mind. The mission they had been appointed seemed to be an easy one, according to Penny at least; A recon mission south of the Emerald forest, any Grimm there were to be disposed of.
In less than thirty minutes, Zen was to be dressed, finished breakfast, stocked, ready and waiting in the general assembly area where teams were to be assigned a professor who'd watch and assess their capabilities.
Everyone was there by the time Penny and Zen arrived, students from Atlas, Vacuo, Mistral and the local students of Beacon filled the auditorium. As usual, Ozpin was present to debrief the entire room.
"As you know, the Vytal festival approaches, and with it, the number of civilians visiting the kingdom increases with each passing day, possibly bringing their own emotional burdens with it being a busy time of year.
Grimm attacks will possibly be on the rise as a result.
So stay alert, anticipate any changes during your mission, listen to your team leader and remember to have each other's backs.
Although we have the assistance of the Atlesian military if need be, do not hesitate to let your guard down for even a second, you have your respective missions and the kingdoms of Remnant count on you to complete them without setbacks.
To the first years, note the professor you will be assigned may not be one from your academy, I can expect you to give them your full attention and respect as you would your own.
That is all, keep safe and good luck."
With the address complete, everyone but the first years exited the hall, the remaining students then approached the monitors to see who would be their professor taking command of each team. Though at first they crowded the screens out of curiosity, most people figured it was more efficient for their team leader to see rather than have the entire team check.
As Penny returned, Zen noticed two other students approaching them through the sea of people, he recognised one of the individuals, but had no recollection of the other.
Then again, I only remember seeing one of Penny's teammates during the events of the tournament.
Penny had seen them too and now waved them over. They were roughly the same height, the first one Zen noticed was a girl with a dark complexion, who wore a grey shirt, blue skirt as well as a matching beret.
She seemed to walk and behave in a disciplinary manner, firm in her step and back perfectly straight.
Next to her was a boy wearing a uniform similar to that of an Atlesian guard, except his attire was completely black with grey trimmings around the edges, he appeared slender and moved more naturally compared to his teammate.
The way she walks, people would think she was the android. Was all he could think about as the two came closer, their expressions made him feel uneasy all of a sudden.
" Zen. These are my teammates., Ciel Soleil and Sivi Noir." Penny said, smiling as the newcomers came face to face with the pair.
"Please to meet you both." Zen said giving the appearance of confidence whilst concealing his nervousness.
"Likewise, Zen Discovery. However, as part of this team, we expect you are more than capable of handling a combat situation such as the one we will be facing in today's mission in an efficient and effective manner.
We may be down one, but I assume you will be at least an... adequate substitute."
Ciel replied with a tone of authority, never once breaking eye contact with Zen. Sivi simply nodded in agreement since he felt nothing else needed to be said.
"..."
Zen stood awkwardly as he lowered his head whilst averting his gaze from the girl who had addressed him moments ago, feeling as though she was looking down at him.
Meanwhile Penny sensed the slight dent in his pride made by her teammate's comment.
He's probably mentally berating himself, wondering if he may become the burden of the team.
For the redhead, the day Ozpin had assigned Zen as a replacement for her absent team member was both great and indeed exciting news, especially with the progress he has made with her thus far.
If he was such an avid learner in practice...
Shepostulated what he could do once he was outside of a controlled environment, and after some time thinking, came to the conclusion that Beacon's headmaster had made the right choice.
Though she wondered how receptive the rest of her teammates would be once they finally meet him was a question that sat in the back of her mind ever since.
And right now, the leader was trying to process the situation unfolding in front of her.
This wasn't how it was supposed to transpire.
Why would Ciel even phrase her sentence in this manner?
I know she has always had a stringent and orderly nature to her... but she's never cast judgement on someone's skills just after a simple introduction.
An adequate substitute? There has to be a reason?
After a minute's worth of silence pondering, Penny spoke up, bringing order back to the group.
"It seems professor Port will be taking charge of us for today.
I've heard from my friend and her teammates he has quite a personality as well as a lot of fighting experience.
I have a feeling this is going to be an excellent first mission for us. So we should get going."
Once Penny took the attention away from him, Zen immediately appeared to relax somewhat, though she sensed he was still feeling anxious as to how the pair will see him once they're out and in possible danger.
As they left the auditorium, the quartet walked along the halls for a few minutes, the only sound coming from them were the echoes of their footsteps as well as other students who were either ahead or behind the group.
Before reaching the exit to the outside world, Penny halted the group abruptly.
" Zen, is it okay for you to go on ahead? There's something I need to discuss with Ciel and Sivi ."
She said while giving a reassuring smile to him before looking over at the rest of her team.
Nodding with an inane expression to him, Zen continued on along the corridor towards the exit.
As soon as he was out of sight from the three members, Ciel turned to her leader.
"Ma'am, I know exactly what this is about. But I'll still ask anyway, what did we need to discuss?"
"I'm glad you know, but I will still say it to you. It has to do with the conversation you had with Zen."
"Ma'am before you-"
"I know you Ciel . And you're not the type of person to address anyone in the manner you did a few minutes ago.
So I will ask you...why did you talk to him that way?"
"Because..." She remained quiet for a few seconds, which although Penny could precisely time down to the nanosecond if she wanted to, felt like an aeon...and that was not what she wanted.
"The truth Ciel!" Penny almost yelled as her voice took on a different tone from her usual calm and cheerful demeanour, causing the girl being addressed by the android to take a step back uneasily.
"She had her reasons, and I'm not too hesitant in saying I agree with her." Sivi replied, stepping in-between the two girls in an attempt to handle the situation.
"Then what were these reasons which could possibly cause you two to be worried about Zen?"
"We really weren't sure who Zen is, even when we finally saw him in person, we aren't certain."
"..."
Ciel took a deep breath closed her eyes, then exhaled sharply as she stared into Penny's eyes while she spoke, becoming serious as she was when talking to Zen.
"As part of our own rigorous training, we have a responsibility to be fully aware of all personnel who accompany us during missions.
It is essential to obtain all relevant information about said personnel as much as possible, and failure to do so could result in endangering your personal, as well as our safety.
Which, in turn, compromises our overall objective of protecting you during your time here at Beacon. Usually when the individual is a student of Atlas, the search wouldn't be too difficult.
His transcripts appeared to be sufficient proof of his skills and legitimacy, so upon initial inspection, everything seemed to be quite positive, which meant Zen is indeed an ideal addition to our team, and we'd leave it at that.
However, since you are the person we have been tasked with guarding, we must be stringent and make a thorough job of researching Zen's background.
And here's where things start to become a little vague..."
"Vague?"
" We decided to begin researching our newcomer by cross referencing his academic record with that of the fighting school he graduated from." Sivi interjected as he looked at Penny before allowing Ciel to continue.
"At first glance, all checked out fine, the principal and some of the head teachers confirmed he was indeed a student at their combat school, but when we reached out to those who would have graduated roughly the same time as him...they told us that they had never heard of any Zen Discovery.
Just so we weren't being mistaken, I had a close friend 'look' into their data base, and sure enough, we found no correlation with his attendance.
And that was only the start of our problems... personal life, activities outside of academia, his birth certificate... "
"The list goes on, there were just too many holes, inconsistencies...whatever you want to call it, the dots just didn't connect with his record. Seemed like he was off the grid somehow, least that's what we thought..."
"'Seemed like'? Why do I think there is a turn of events during your investigation?"
Sivi remained quiet and turned towards his teammate for a response.
"Well, after coming to the realisation of a potential insurgent in our midst, we immediately relayed our findings to Ironwood...we thought we were onto something, but after a day or so he debriefed us on the situation..."
"..."
" According to the general, though he said the information was classified, the important thing we had to know was that Zen's details are clear and correct, the inconsistencies that were mentioned are due to Zen living under a new alias."
"So after all this, you mean to say he is perfectly fine to be on our team... which I could have told you myself if you had bothered to ask me."
"It was part of our duty to be thorough. We thought you should know just to be safe.
Though with all that has been said, we both still think that any evidence to prove his skills or if he even have any are worthy for our team are...well, negligible at best... especially when you compare him to Ivory."
"What you two should realise as another part of your duty, which you learned when you were given the assignment of not only being my protectors whilst here for the Vytal tournament... is to follow my orders as team leader, and as your leader I will say this now.
There is nothing to worry about regarding Zen's skills, I assure you he is more than able to fight alongside us."
"But ma'am after what we've just described to you, surely you can understa-"
"Ciel . Sivi.
I realise that you two are doing your jobs both as huntsmen and military guards while showing no sign of slacking in either role, I am aware that you are going above your primary directive in order to make sure no harm comes to me.
In saying that, I also am aware you haven't become properly acquainted with Zen, and after what you've told me, jumped to the conclusion he could be a high priority threat simply because he appears to be hidden from available records... all of which has been cleared by our headmaster.
But more importantly, you've forgotten to realise that I have spent several weeks without your supervision while Zen was in my presence, yet no harm has come to me as a result.
And in that time, I have been training him, observing his progression as a fighter.
Beacon's headmaster, who was also keeping a watchful eye on the both of us, one day called us to his office, gave me the news about Ivory and suggested Zen join our team, not only because Ivory's absence would spell omission from the tournament if he didn't, but also because Zen demonstrated his ability to improve, so much so he has made it to here.
Therefore he is more than capable of handling any situation just as either of you, so please reframe from judging his capacity for the mission without observing his actions.
Now, you fully know, let's forget we ever had this discussion and treat Zen as our official teammate. Do I make myself clear?"
"..."
"I said do I make myself clear!"
The redhead turned to Sivi, who pretty much was lost for words, simply nodded in response to her attention on him. To which he, as well as Penny looked over to Ciel ... and after a few seconds she sighed and finally conceded.
"Alright ma'am, if you're sure he is not only a low level threat to this team, but also the right person to be with us as a replacement for Ivory... we will follow your lead and work our hardest alongside our new recruit."
"Well if that's settled, shall we continue on?"
With their confrontation settled, the trio returned to the journey which was their mission, and once outside, they could see Zen wasn't too far from where they exited.
He faced away from them, swords in hand, moving them slowly, tracing the path of his swings, almost as if he were meditating with his weapons, as if nothing surrounding him mattered.
"What's he doing? Surely he knows where we're supposed to go , doesn't he?
Why is he just standing there...was he actually waiting for us this whole time?"
Sivi whispered to Penny, who just smiled before turning to address him.
"You'll soon learn that Zen is the type of person who is worth having on our team because he is someone who values the importance of friendship, and will never ignore you if he senses something maybe troubling you."
"I really can't see why, I mean he's just met us, and after what I said to him..." Ciel responded, almost muttering her words so they wouldn't hear her.
"You'll just have to spend time with him to understand." The redhead replied.
Just as Zen finished following the motion of his swing, he realised his teammates were approaching.
"Is everything alright? Hope you didn't mind that I waited for you guys?"
Penny glanced over to the pair, who merely nodded in return.
"Yes everything is all good, and thank you for waiting for us."
Finally, the group reached the landing pad and began scouting for the ship which had been designated to take them on their mission. In doing so they spotted Ruby and her team, as well as Jaune and Pyrrha who approached them.
"Salutations team RWBY, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, are you all ready for your respective missions?"
Penny said in her always optimistic tone.
"We sure are Penny, gonna be handling a group of Grimm north of the Emerald forest with general Ironwood, should be a good fight, right guys?" Ruby said as she addressed her team, whom of which all gave a thumbs up to their leader.
"Lucky you, Goodwitch is taking us east of forever fall, simple patrolling mission, but hopefully we encounter Grimm or something exciting there." Jaune said with a slight tiredness in his voice.
"Why's that exactly?" Ciel asked.
"Nora's had several stacks of pancakes and an entire bottle of syrup. She needs to burn off the excess energy." Pyrrha said with the same tone as Jaune, but visibly was trying to suppress a chuckle.
"I HEARD THAT!" Nora yelled, as the red head and Ren were already waiting at the ship some several meters away.
"Whelp gotta go, you guys be safe okay." Jaune said as he gave a quick wave before running alongside Pyrrha towards their other teammates.
"How can she hear us from all the way over there, yet she can sleep through her alarm right next to her bed?"
"You too, and you guys take care as well". Ruby replied as she waved to both Jaune and Pyrrha as well as Penny's team, as the rest of her own team were already halfway to their ship, not waiting for their leader.
After everyone had parted, Penny, Zen, Sivi and Ciel noticed Port at the near end of the take off Zone, his light grey moustache poised in a raised fashion, suggesting there was a grin behind it as they approached the bullhead.
"Welcome aboard students, you can be rest assured that you are in safe hands with me leading you to victory.
No doubt you are all aware of the mission, I'll just need to make sure you know your roles when we get to the destination."
He said while everyone climbed into the craft as the engines came to life. Once Port signalled the pilots the all clear, it lifted off the landing pad and soared over the crafts below, awaiting their own take offs.
"When I knew the region we'd be allocated to for the mission and this being your first time fighting in Vale, I had our pilots perform a preliminary areal sweep of the designated location earlier this morning.
They've informed me that their scans detect a medium population of Grimm, most likely Beowolves, Boarbatusks and a couple of Ursae.
With your level of training plus my good self, they should be able to be dealt with within five to ten minutes... provided their numbers don't grow before we get there that is.
Now speaking of training, I have been told this is the first time you are all together as a team?
I take it you have gotten acquainted with each other to some extent?
"No, not really, this is the first time we've met Zen, but we've been told about his substitution for our teammate." Sivi replied with a yell, his voice nearly being drowned out by the roar of the engines."
"Perfect, nothing like a life or death confrontation to get to know your allies. But I assume you have been informed that he will be fighting alongside Miss Polendina, as this will be his first time he will combat Grimm, as well as his 'handicap'."
"Handicap?" Ciel and Sivi looked at each other and in unison, responding by looking over to Zen while acting confused by the news, despite knowing what this meant, but were still curious to see how he'd reciprocate when being confronted.
"Yeah see, I have this tendency to build mounds of dirt and place cows atop of them and call them Allen"
"..."
"Actually I am unable to generate an aura, so that leaves me vulnerable, hence why the armour."
Not quite the response we were going for, but his approach is a little immature.
The pair thought to themselves, though Sivi snickered at Zen's attempt to dampen the awkward situation he was presented with.
"Alright, have your laugh now, but when we get to the landing zone, I need you all to be on high alert, can't have anyone taken by sur-"
Port was cut off mid sentence as he heard the pilot interrupting them through the earpieces each of them were wearing, which allowed constant communication of information to be relayed between everyone on this mission.
"Professor, we just got word from Ozpin, change of plans.
An emergency beacon has been set off by a group of civilians who are being surrounded by a hoard of Grimm... we're the closest party to get there, ETA 2 minutes."
"Right. You heard the lady, we're taking a detour on this mission, be ready when I give the order to drop."
"Permission to speak sir?"
Penny said aloud, after noticing Zen brace himself against the wall of the bullhead as it made a sudden course correction for their new destination.
Judging by how he's clinging to the side of the craft while partially looking both below as well as the interior, I'dsay he seems troubled by the current altitude we're at.
"Ah, yes miss Polendina what is it?"
"With your authorisation, Zen and I will land within the canopy of the trees, allowing him to take a sniping position.
Once I've ensured said suitable position has been taken, I will reconvene with the rest of my team below and assist with protecting the civilians.
As for Zen, he'll meet us on the ground once the threat level has been reduced enough to handle afterwards."
"You two have permission granted." He replied before looking out of the ship as he saw smoke rising above the tree line quickly approaching them.
"Alright, looks like we're approaching the drop zone, so let's see how well Ironwood and his staff have been teaching you.
On my mark...GO!"
As the others leapt off the ship, Penny and Zen scanned for a place to land.
Quickly, yet careful to maintain his balance, he drew his swords and stared down, watching the professor and his other two teammates fade beyond the tree line, he took a deep breath before looking over to Penny.
"I think this is a bad time to mention-"
"You're afraid of heights?"
"Yep...shows doesn't it?"
"It's going to be alright Zen, the jump is a short one, by the time we land, you won't even realise you were ever in the air.
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"I hope you don't mind being given the role of sniping Grimm on your first mission?"
"No, you're the leader, and I know you have to think of where each of us can be best useful in combat above all else, and honestly you're making the right call.
Although I want to see Grimm up close, the whole act of leaping out of the bullhead in a minute will definitely attract more of them, so the further I'm from those civilians, the less time we'll be spending fighting them off."
He replied in a slightly calm yet worrisome tone and somewhat reassuring smile, his eyes darting back and forth between Penny and the outer world.
"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you, guiding you through the landing strategy."
"Hey you two. I know this might be you're first mission with us and we haven't really gotten to know each other, but do you mind and cut the chit chat.
Chances are we'll be ready to pick up those civilians by the time you two are done talking."
The co-pilot said with a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Ignore him, he's just upset coz he didn't anticipate having to do actual work today." The female pilot responded.
"We're just about ready, could you please reduce your speed, we're aiming for the tree line rather than below it. "
"Rodger that."
"Okay Zen, on the count of three we're going to jump, aim for one of those trees below us.
When we get close, I'll signal for you to use your swords to quickly decelerate, then we can find you a spot to take snipers point." She said indicating to the mass of trees that the ship was coming around.
"On my mark, three... two... one...JUMP!"
The pair leapt off, Zen slightly ahead of Penny, his heart felt as if it had stopped, it was beating so fast, the wind whistling in his ears as he moved through the air and the trees that seemed so far, now rapidly grew bigger.
Just as he was a few meters from colliding with them, he felt a hand touch his back, indicating to him he should act now or else become a casualty of this mission. Glancing to his right he saw his teammate, swords in hand.
So Zen started to mimic the red head's actions as they were within striking distance of the foliage.
He raised his swords above his head before digging them into the semi hard trunk of the tree he was passing, greatly slowing him down, he slid lower down the tree until he pulled them out once the two of them found a suitable perch.
Assessing the situation, the pair could hear the screams of fear coming from the civilians not too far off.
"This seems like a good place for you to take aim, you shouldn't have to worry about any Grimm from up here, but just pay attention to your local surroundings as well as what's going on down there."
"Okay. You best get going, I'll start taking out as many as I can."
"If anything goes wrong, don't hesitate to call for help."
"Alright, just be careful."
"Likewise, come down when you're ready or you think you can handle them."
Once the red head was sure he felt confident with where he was hidden, she leapt off the branch and dived below, after which Zen converted his swords into their rifle mode and zoomed with the scope to where the civilians were.
It seemed that whatever vehicle they had been using for their journey was now unrecognisable, smouldering a few meters away, bits of the wreck strewn all around the group.
One larger piece was being used as a makeshift barricade, separating the Grimm from their prey.
A large beowolf swung at a man standing nearby, its claws bouncing off his aura as they made contact, though they made a clean cut along the metal as the strike followed its path.
Zen felt his spine twitch, if I was in place of where that man stood... he dare not visualize the aftermath.
His sights lined up with the beowolf, it's paw reared up ready to strike again, his aim steady, breathing slowed, his heart beating in his head as everything else didn't seem to matter.
His finger began to curl before he squeezed the trigger. A loud bark came from his rifle as a trail of purple energy left the barrel, connecting with its target moments after.
The fierce Grimm that was about to finish off its target fell into a heap, black smoke emanated from where it once lay.
For a brief moment, this seemed to cause the surrounding Grimm to lose interest in the civilians as they looked for where the shot came from, before focusing their attention to the new group that joined the fray.
Zen peered through the scope and fired another two shots, taking both targets down, as he aimed for the forth he could see Penny had regrouped with the others and were already in combat.
Port swinging away with the battle axe, cutting down several beowolves foolish enough to attack him directly.
For his rotund appearance, the professor moved with a sense of rhythm.
One larger beowolf stopped a few meters behind him, giving a loud howl before it hunched down, Port slightly turned his head as he realised the creature was preparing to pounce.
Instead of choosing to face it, the professor slowly raised his right hand, making a fist in the process, almost as if he were signalling a squad of soldiers to cease their movement.
Just as the beowolf was about to leap for the kill, it was immediately halted by a holographic set of bars.
Once the red coloured virtual cage fully formed around it, Port lowered his arm as he finally turned to face the beast.
So that's how he caught the wolf in his story.
He let his blunderbuss do the talking, the minute the shell met with the beowolf, its body jolted from the force, not budging the cage, disappearing like the rest of its slain kin.
After Zen reloaded a fresh clip, he spotted Ciel taking on three Grimm simultaneously, dive rolling away from their swings, before cutting them down as she passed them with a six shooter revolver turned combat knife in hand.
Then his scope focused on Sivi, who kept his distance as he unloaded rounds into several Grimm with his rifle.
After initially seeing Sivi and his attire, Zen had pondered if he was some high ranking/special forces version of an Atlesian soldier, due to their uniforms being so similar.
But after much mental deliberation, Zen came to the conclusion that he must serve in the Atlas army in some form, after now seeing him with a helmet identical to the ones he saw when he was being escorted to Beacon.
Though I didn't see him wearing it while on the bullhead, nor did I see him carry it... so where was he keeping it until now?
As for Penny, she was the one who seemed to be fighting the largest portion of the Grimm single-handedly, not moving at all like her peers, allowing them to attack first as she let her five blades make quick work of them.
After exhausting his final clip of sniper ammo he slowly scaled down the tree to meet with the rest of the group.
But once his feet were planted on solid ground, he reached for both his swords and not a moment sooner, sensing something nearby.
And sure enough, he came face to face with a medium sized beowolf.
That thing must have sensed my presence while I was descending from the tree.
So much for paying attention to my local surroundings.
Within seconds of noticing, Zen's weapons were raised as it leapt at him, he blocked its sharp claws which were now pinning him to the ground, it's large incisors mere centimetres from his face glistened in the rays of the sun.
An image of the piece of metal he saw getting sliced by the first beowolf he killed flashed in his mind, but as it did, he attempted to push back against the Grimm with as much weight he could put behind his weapons.
And after a minute of forcing it back, feeling as though he was going to pass out, he managed to free his left arm and stabbed at its side, causing the beowolf to recoil in pain.
Once he felt most of the weight, as well as the odd charcoal smell from its breath leave him, Zen stood up and flicked both his wrists, allowing his weapons to transform into their secondary gun mode.
He then forced the tips of their blades into the black mass, piercing the hide of the wolf.
Feeling this, it's paws tried to dislodge them but to no avail as Zen pulled the triggers to both weapons, filling the Grimm with several projectile rounds, its body became lifeless as it slumped over, allowing him to pull the guns out with ease.
With that, Zen returned to the group and continued to keep the present Grimm at bay from the civilians.
And whilst fighting one single-handedly seemed like a life and death situation , combating them in an open area whilst being more aware where he could retreat if need be, seemed to be easier for him, then again he was fighting alongside his team now.
For another two minutes of so, the number of Grimm dwindled, and once there were no signs anymore were coming for the time being, Port gave the all clear.
"Alright pilot, do you copy?"
"Yes sir, reading you five by five."
"We're ready for extraction, several civilians, a few minor injuries but all able to be taken to safety."
As the ship landed and the civilians were boarding the craft, all seemed to be going well, that was until another transmission came from the pilots.
"Professor, we got another group of hostiles approaching from the north, and they're approaching us fast, we just need a few more minutes."
"Alright you heard her. We're not out of the woods yet."
"Enough with the jokes sir." Sivi replied as he focused his rifle towards the direction the Grimm were predicted to emerge from.
Seven beowolves and two ursae emerged from the dense forest in front of them, though they never even had a chance to choose who to attack first.
Sivi was the first to attack firing several shots at one ursa, causing it to let its guard down and allowing Penny the chance she needed to launch her blades at it, two swords jabbing at either arm before pulling it towards her, impaling it on the other three.
Ciel rushed the other, converting her combat knife into its six shooter form, firing two shots at its head, before changing her weapon back so she could cut at its legs, causing it to go on all fours which gave her the chance she needed to slice at its throat before finally driving the knife into its skull.
Then the beowolves charged at them, but not before two had been decapitated by Penny's blades, another lashed out at Zen, who dodged the swing and brought one sword down, slicing it's arm clean off before he too decapitated his target.
Meanwhile Sivi and Ciel rushed the remaining five, their weapons peppering the grimm as the raced for the bullhead.
"Alright that's it, but we can- Alert! professor we have another contact, not make it two, BIG contacts, one ground, possibly a death stalker and the other in the air, most likely a nevermore. We need to evac now or else ETD 2 minutes.'
"Alright everyone, climb aboard."
Port yelled as Sivi and Ciel were the first to board, follow by Port. Penny and Zen were a little further from the craft, holding the forward defensive while the civilians were being loaded.
As they turned to run to the craft a yell came from both port and the pilot.
"Creeps 3 O'clock!"
In that moment, the pair were cut off by the snarls of the two legged Grimm, to which the pair immediately reacted, Penny lunging at the more aggressive of the group while Zen slashed and stabbed at those looking towards the bullhead. Shortly after the pair were separated by the creep, Port's voice filled Zen's right ear,
"Hurry back to the ship so-"
"Professor! We won't be able to fit anyone else aboard, we're going to have to leave these two here and make a return trip...and we have to leave now!" The pilot shouted, causing Port to fall silent after doing so.
"Wait, Penny take my place, I'll stay behind!"
"What are you doing Mr Noir? Stay where you are."
" I'm alright with staying, Penny is more important-"
"Nonsense, you are all of equal importance and above all my responsibility."
Once killing the last creep Grimm closest to him, Zen looked over to the bullhead, then down at his swords, for a moment as a thought was brewing in his mind.
After which, his focus turned towards Penny, who must have been pondering the same idea as he did, giving a reassuring nod when she had a respite between her and the next set of Grimm approaching.
Instantly, his hand raced for his earpiece, pressing it almost too forcefully as he yelled in response.
"Sir, take off now, while you have clear air space. Penny and I will be fine...you have the responsibility of worrying about the civilians and their safety. Go now!"
"..."
"Trust me when I say we'll be waiting for you when you arrive."
"...Message understood...stay safe you two. Okay pilot show me what this silver buzzard is capable of."
With the blink of an eye, the craft jettisoned above the treetops and was gone from sight, the sound of a nevermore's caws echoed in the air as the bullhead's own echo died down.
It soared over head, while the sound of trees breaking could be heard, getting louder with each passing second.
That death stalker isn't too far either.
As Penny subdued the last stray Grimm, Zen could see the Nevermore rearing up, hovering just above where it could clearly see the pair, seconds later it took a nose dive and headed straight and true, ready to seize up its potential victims.
Penny stood in front, poised with her blades prepared for the attack, meanwhile Zen turned away, cleared his mind and proceeded to cut along the air diagonally, opening a portal.
Then without thinking or saying a word, he grabbed Penny with both arms and pulled her into the portal along with him.
As the pair fell out onto the other side, Zen quickly got up and mirrored his gesture, closing it as the Nevermore was almost within striking distance, he would have been able to touch its beak it was that close.
Looking around, he sighed with relief at the welcome sight of the landing pad they were standing on before setting off on this 'mission'.
Oh.
After his eyes' came back to rest, he realised Penny, who had been quite surprised by Zen's instantaneous reaction, was still laying on the ground.
"Are you alright Penny? Guess I was kinda anxious about getting the both of us out of there that I...you know..."
He responded while extending a hand to her, which she graciously accepted.
"It's alright Zen. What matters is that you got both of us out of there."
"So what do we do now?"
"I'd say we wait for them..."
Several minutes passed before the professor and the rest of the team's bullhead landed, allowing a medical team who were standing by to transport the civilians to safety.
When Ciel , Sivi and Port disembarked from the ship, they appeared astonished to see the two standing before them.
The professor's bushy eyebrows signalled a sense of relief on his face as he saw they were safe.
"But how?"
"My semblance sir."
"Well that is quite a handy semblance you have my boy.
When you told me you two were going to be fine I would never have guessed you'd be this fine."
He paused for a second, looking over at the bullhead before looking back at the students before him, smiling as he spoke.
"I'll give your team a five minute break Ms Polendina, enough time for the pilots to refuel as well as restocking your armaments.
And then it's off to complete what we were originally sent out to do...excellent work students."
"Thank you sir, we'll be ready before then."
The professor nodded before turning and walked back to the bullhead.
Meanwhile Ciel looked over to Sivi just about the same time as he was looking over to her.
Slowly, the pair took it in turns to speak, garnering the other two's attention.
"Um... Penny, Zen listen, we...we want to apologise-" Sivi started.
"For the discussion which transpired this morning."
" After what happened during the whole evac situation-"
"We just kept thinking that the pilots needed to get back here and immediately drop off the civilians so we could come back for you..."
"But what you've done today, not only just with your semblance Zen, but your ability to fight off the Grimm... I think what I, as well as Ciel are trying to say is -"
"You have demonstrated to us that you are fit for combat within our team, despite having the 'setback' through no fault of your own. Even without an aura, you definitely express the characteristics and dedication worthy of an Atlesian soldier."
"Thank you... you don't know how much that means to me.
I, I don't want you two to think any less of me...and I will continue to, if not, get better at combat."
Zen replied, briefly glancing over to Penny who smiled with a sense of pride before returning his attention back to the pair in front of him.
Ciel paused for a minute or so, then continued, her expression shifting slightly, yet remaining positive in tone.
"That being said, we're unfortunately not going to be in the picture so to speak.
You see, Sivi and I have our own duties to attend to while here, since you'll have your own classes ma'am.
There could be a chance we'll be in one or two of the same lessons together Zen, but outside of missions, we won't have time to train as a group... which implies you're going to need outside help with training other than Penny if you want to be ready for the coming festival.
Though we said you're capable of handling a small group of Grimm and are now part of our team... you've still got a long way to go before you can compete effectively in the Vytal tournament."
Zen merely nodded, contemplating what she just said, before finally addressing her."
"I think I have a few people in mind."
Easier said than done. He thought to himself while looking towards the largest spire of Beacon.
And look who decided to finally post the next chapter...this guy right here.
First I want to say sorry to those who have been waiting, I was stuck with this, mainly the delema of Ciel and Sivi not trusting Zen (or rather why) so that took some time to work out.
Second, though it has taken time, all was not a waste, because I have been working on a few chapters for the future (mainly about how Zen and Blake will interact)
As well as a few other Fan fic ideas for RWBY (one of them being the idea of what it would be like if Zwei and Blake swapped bodies...still thinking about when or if I would post it).
There were other things I would like to mention, but I think you've read enough for the time being.
Again sorry for the late entry, but I am going back to trying to submit within a three week timeframe.
Until next time.