"Shield up, shoes tied, ready to roll!"
Jaune jumped out of the bullhead in advance of his comrades, having grown more eager as a fighter since the incident with Cardin and the Ursa.
Nora was the next to land, her knees bending outwards to absorb the shock travelling through her body. Pyrrha and Ren soon followed.
As the four members of team JNPR stood up together on the ground, they turned their heads up to the Bullhead in anticipation.
Outlines of red, white, black and yellow emerged. The first landed on the ground with a flurry of red rosepetals in its wake, the second jumped gracefully down a series of white glyphs akin to massive snowflakes, the third tucked and rolled on the ground as though performing parcour and the last simply crashed down on one knee and the opposite fist with a thud.
One by one, they stood up, revealing themselves to be none other than their neighbors and sister team RWBY, comprised of one Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long.
"Took you guys long enough!" Nora quipped, enthusiastic as ever. "Let's break some stuff!"
"You all seem awfully chipper for a group technically in detention," an older but equally jovial voice remarked them with a certain mirth.
Turning in the direction of its origin, they saw none other than the aptly named Professor Port emerging from the trees to meet them.
"Well," the youngest of the eight students admitted, "there are worse ways to spend it, sir!"
"Professor," Jaune took it upon himself to ask, "while I appreciate that we aren't sitting in a classroom after hours... why exactly are we out here?"
The professor's mustache ticked up at the sides ever so slightly in response.
"It seemed to me your teams are mostly comprised of more practical learners, seeing as some of you," he did not deign to make any gestures as to who he was specifically referring to, although both teams turned their heads to their respective leaders and the ginger in no particular order, "seem to be struggling as of late in either written or practical assignments, or both… The way I see it, the Grimm in the area may be just what you need to sharpen your skills properly in preparation for—"
He was cut off by the familiar growling of Beowolves.
"Wow, look at all these Grimm…" Ruby chirped excitedly. "Let's get 'em!"
Weiss sighed, before muttering to herself.
"And I thought today would be relaxing."
Blake's ears caught her teammate's words, but she did not remark them. Ever the insightful straight woman of her team, she armed herself in turn preparing for the ensuing battle.
"Let's get down to business."
And of course Yang, like her little sister, took her own spin on a more lively, optimistic approach, slamming her fists together as she hyped herself up.
"What a beautiful day to pummel some monsters — let's start this mission with a Yang!"
None responded to her overdone wordplay — but they made quick work of the dark creatures as they hacked, slashed, smashed and blasted them into smoke and ashes.
"Well done, students!" the aptly-named Professor Port addressed the teams. "It seems you've been paying some attention in my lessons after all."
Neither Weiss, Pyrrha or Ren opted to tell him they'd simply been relaying their notes to their teammates — no doubt it would have only put them all in deeper water.
"Now, where was I…?" the elder muttered to himself. "Ah, yes — As you know, we've been having some trouble with the Security Network in this area; we need boots on the ground to investigate. That means you, team! Onward!"
Beneath her bow, Blake's feline ears started to twitch.
Her head perked up somewhat, and her face started to contort into one of confusion and focus.
"Blake?" Ruby gave her an inquisitive look, noticing her Faunus teammate's baffled expression.
She turned her head to look at her leader.
"... I can hear something coming our way."
The others turned to face her.
"What is it?" Ruby stepped up to inquire.
She shook her head, still perplexed.
"I... honestly have no idea," she admitted, "But from what I can tell at least, it sounds like some kind of—"
CRASH! Something fell between the trees, cutting her off mid-sentence.
The eight teens jumped at the sound, their weapons at the ready — it seemed some Grimm had yet to be taken care of.
No other sound was made for a few moments thereafter.
Then Blake's eyes widened at something that, once again, only she could hear, and she dashed ahead to the source of the sound.
"Blake, wait—!" Ruby called out, but the young leader's words fell on deaf cat-ears as the older girl dashed through the bushes — her own partner quickly following suit.
They stopped for a moment as they gazed upon the figure of a man sprawled flat on his back in the middle of a crater.
Then they dashed to his side as their teammates and sister team emerged after them.
The group of Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-Training surrounded the strange man, their immediate elder fishing through his bag for the emergency medical supplies he'd made sure to take along — one could never be too prepared in a profession like theirs.
"He's still breathing...!" Blake sighed in relief as she gingerly placed his head in her hands.
As Yang gave him a quick once-over, she quirked an intrigued eyebrow.
He was very extravagantly dressed: he sported a long, deep violet coat over a three-piece suit a few shades redder, a pair of glossy black dress shoes, and a button-front of a similar color with the top button loose and a — no doubt he'd blend in quite well amongst Atlesian or Mistralian elites.
As she turned her eyes to his face, she found herself barely suppressing an enticed smirk: For a man with hair as silver as his, he seemed to have aged incredibly well — his skin was smooth with only a few obvious lines, and his features beneath these were sharp and foxy; the way in which his thick, wavy locks curled between one another over his head into a coiffure that seemed a strange but marvellous blend of messy and neat complimented them perfectly.
"My, my," she purred gently. "Now where did you come from~?"
Blake caught her partner's expression, and stared flatly at her in turn.
"Seriously?" her tone was even and unamused — and somewhat disturbed. "He's gotta be at least twice our age — can you not?"
The blonde tensed up, realising she'd muttered her thoughts aloud.
"W-Well, it's a fair question!" she retorted, an embarrassed blush evident on her face. "He can't have just appeared out of thin air!"
Their interaction was cut short by the professor as he fished out a stethoscope.
"Miss Belladonna, roll him onto his side — he might choke on his own tongue otherwise. Both you and Miss Xiao Long keep him steady, or he might jump unexpectedly." He placed the earpieces in his ears. "Or he might be too injured to move — I'm going to check his heartbeat, just to make sure he's alright."
The two girls nodded — one more eagerly than the other — as Yang placed the mystery man's head in her lap, Blake held him gently but firmly by the arm and shoulder, and the professor placed the disc of the upon the left side of the strange man's chest.
His thick eyebrows pinched in concern for a moment.
Then confusion.
Then his eyes slowly started to pop out from behind them as they raised up his forehead, seeming as round as the disc of the stethoscope itself.
He slowly moved the same to the right side of the man's chest.
Then he moved it back to the left.
Then to the right again.
He blinked twice, then thrice, in uneven succession.
Slowly, he pulled the stethoscope off, his face set into a countenance of dumbstruck disbelief.
The two girls looked at him strangely, and even the rest of the group glanced back with their curiosity piqued at his silence.
"Sir?" Blake tilted her head.
He simply handed her the device.
"... Listen for yourself, Miss Belladonna; I don't know if I believe what I just heard."
She gave him a curious but cautious stare, before obliging him.
Her eyes widened as she followed the same course of action he had done moments before.
"What?" Yang leaned in over the mysterious man's face, intrigued. "What's up with him?"
Golden eyes slowly turned up to stare into lilac.
"... He has two hearts...!"
The blonde brawler blinked, staring blankly back at her; the rest of the group, now enticed by the bizarre turn of events, turned around to stare at the cat Faunus as well.
"... What do you mean, 'two hearts'?" Weiss exclaimed.
"I mean he has two hearts — one on each side of his chest!" she insisted, before offering Yang the stethoscope. "Listen!"
"Hang on," the blonde raised her hand in a gesture to halt, before laying the man on his back with his head turned to the side, placing her head upon his left breast and her hand on his right. "Maybe there's something wrong with the device. Lemme—"
Her eyes widened as she cut herself off, and after a moment remaining in that position as if to confirm she wasn't imagining things, she raised herself off of his form and stared down at him with eyes as wide as saucers.
"… Oh my God, he really does."
"Argh..." the man groaned slightly, his voice already evidently colored in a strange, melodical accent (and no small degree of pain) as he sat himself up with a hand rubbing the back of his head. "Bloody hell, that hurt… Teach me to close down the gravitic anomaliser when crossing—"
He only took a moment longer to open his pale blue eyes and address the group of teenagers staring down at him in disbelief.
He stared back at each of them in turn, his gaze suggesting nothing beyond some confusion at their attire — and wary alarm at their weaponry.
"... Um," he slowly brought himself to his feet — a gesture done at greater speed by the three individuals who had been kneeling around him moments before — as he removed his hand from the back of his head to raise it in greeting. "Hello — would any of you happen to have picked up a distress signal anywhere near here?"