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Chapter 03: Hammerfall Canyon

Astra and Athena-Jade had already been awake and physically if not entirely mentally and emotionally prepared when at precisely oh five hundred, exactly as promised Headmistress Coco Adel and her friend, lover, team-mate and trusted right hand Velvet Scarlatina entered the empty and unused classroom that the initiates had slept in, informing them that they had one hour to prepare themselves and make their way to the same landing pads that they had arrived at the previous afternoon from which they would be taken to the location of the trials that served as the final obstacle between each of them and their places at Breaktide Academy. A healthy breakfast had been offered but none of the initiates, of which perhaps a little more than two dozen remained had accepted to which Astra had privately noted seemed only reasonable, the Deer Faunus's own stomach being a tightly clenched knot that plummeted to new depths every few moments that would certainly prevent them from eating and so after dressing and rechecking their weapons and other equipment one final time the soon to be students had made their way out into the morning sun and arrived at the landing pads with time to spare.

Then they had been brought to their current location, a facility that to many of the incoming students beggared belief.

"Woah!" someone exclaimed as they stepped out of the transport and witnessed the sight first hand.

"The ones' in Neo Vale are bigger" Astra shrugged, earning themselves a warning glare from Athena-Jade who clearly wished to keep the mystique of the place, even if not for her own sake.

They had been flown beyond the limits of Port Alistair, the small flock of glistening aircraft soaring over the barren wastelands of cracked, scorched and blasted earth covered with a layer of red dust and ancient detritus hinting at what had once existed before the Great War and Salem's influence that separated the various towns, fledgeling cities and villages and the attendant farms around them that the Spring Maiden made possible which had sprung up across the island Kingdom for a little over half an hour before arriving at their destination; an aerial platform hovering easily over a hundred feet above the ground and kept aloft by a combination of the faintly green and ominously glowing synthetic Eco-Dust developed by Weiss Schnee as she led the SDCs' research and development department powering a series of immense thrusters and stabilisers and simple masses of glistening black Gravity Dust rigged around the base of the platform, a single chunk comparable in size to a small house and likely worth a simply incalculable sum was wedged into its' underside. The aerial platform itself was largely circular, save for four massive thrusters protruding from it equidistant from one another on massive armatures; whilst truly a marvel of technology Astra was indeed correct about its' scale and whilst there were anti-gravity platforms larger than the entire campus of Breaktide Academy hovering above their home city their current location was home to a single large structure whose sleek and streamlined appearance gave it an air of the futuristic and overall had a design that seemed to be a blend of defensive outpost and observatory; a domed building with a communications tower along with radars and other such equipment rising from it in the centre of the platform and a sizeable amount of space between it and the edge, where in addition to landing pads there was a second series of metal platforms sparsely arranged around the perimeter, interspersed with defence systems including anti aircraft guns and shield generators.

As grand as the entire platform was it hung in the air and looked down upon something grander still, a huge canyon whose smooth crescent shape seemed to have been carved artificially and stretched out further than even Faunus eyes could see, arcing towards the coast of Menagerie as if to annex part of it from the mainland by creating a trench so wide and deep that the aerial platform and the building upon it could easily rest within it several times over. Many of the arriving students, likely those not native to either Menagerie itself or the Kingdoms of New Vale and perhaps Atlas took several moments to take in their surroundings whilst Astra used that time to take stock of the teens themselves, wondering which of them they would find themselves working and living alongside for the next four years until they locked eyes with Athena-Jade and the two of them gave one another silent looks of reassurance. Astra's gaze fell to the Bear Faunus's weapon which hung from the back of her waist, fastened to the many belts she wore in its' current collapsed state which resembled a pale silver metallic cylinder with armour plating of a spotless white laid over it and miscellaneous components that gave no true indication to what it became. Astra's own weapons were currently in their own dormant state, a pair of fiery red armour plates with white trims and circular protrusion mounted in their centres attached to Astra's forearms whose presence explained why the Deer Faunus wore a jacket with short sleeves; the things were loosely triangular in shape though rounded and swept backwards with their elongated points reaching to just beyond the elbows whilst the entire form of the weapons was convex and bulging away from the arms, almost matching them in width as though what the weapons unfurled out into could not be adequately contained in such a small form. Out of the corner of their eye Astra saw Professor Scarlatina leave, departing into the observatory-like building that the aerial platform housed presumably to report to those who operated it whilst Professor Adel herself made her way to one of the smaller metallic pads scattered around the perimeter of the platform, each of them raised off of the ground and far too small to house an aircraft; as she adjusted her signature sunglasses and beret it became clear that the headmistress was about to speak and so Astra gently nudged Athena's shoulder and took a moment to straighten themselves out and appear as ready as possible whilst the Bear Faunus bounced the balls of her feet, seemingly raring to go until the Headmistress spoke.

"Welcome to the Hammerfall Observation Outpost, below us is Hammerfall Canyon….I suppose that some context will help with the explanation that I'm about to give you. As some of you can likely see, this canyon was artificially made and loops around to cut off part of Menagerie; this is because early in the reclamation of the island back when we still weren't sure of any lingering results that Salem's presence here might have had a large scale spawning pit was discovered and rather than attempt to fight it and whatever it spat at us directly those in charge at the time decided to use some of the biggest weapons they could fit on an airship to perform a sustained barrage on the area around it, creating this canyon. Over the last couple of decades or so the Grimm from that giant Spawning Pit have steadily been drawn towards the settlements and many of them have found themselves trapped in the canyon, meaning that it is now utterly infested with the Creatures of Grimm" Coco paused and regarded her students over the brim of her sunglasses, carefully scrutinising them for any sign of fear or reluctance before continuing

"This outpost is a more recent addition and was completed at roughly the same time as Breaktide Academy itself, it exists to monitor Grimm activity and study them; with what we know about Grimm evolution and the levels of intelligence they can reach now it seemed like a good idea to have something like this set up….That being said, I'm sure you can all figure out where your initiation will be taking place"

"In the canyon?" someone, a Scorpion Faunus with a distinctive country drawl in her voice gasped out

"You had your chance to leave" someone else, a young woman with close cropped hair and a gaze that could best be described as intense spat, seemingly disgusted by the show of concern

"Quiet down!" Coco interjected, silencing the interruptions and forcing the conversation back on track

"Yes, the initiation will take place in Hammerfall Canyon and as stated yesterday there are Hunters on standby including myself and Professor Scarlatina, however the danger will be real and you will be relying on your own abilities….This is what you've all trained for. The initiation will proceed as follows; each of you will be deployed one at a time into the canyon where a series of, let's call them 'Relics' have been scattered, your objective is to find these relics in a simulation of a retrieval mission, at which point you will find directions to your extraction point which you will need to make your way towards and defend until you can be transported to safety with the team-mates you have gathered over the course of the mission, a simulation of the kind of encounters you can expect to face in real world missions. Are there any questions?"

"Uh yeah" Astra raised their hand, rolling their shoulders back in a determined effort to not seem uncertain in anyway despite needing information "You said we're gonna pick our teams while we're down there….Do we get to choose our own partners?"

"No" Coco answered bluntly, dousing the hopes of many of her students "Your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with during the initiation, teams will be formed based on the corresponding sets of relics gathered by various groups of partners. These teams are final and non-negotiable. Any other questions?" There was a moment of tense silence which began to stretch and grow awkward until Wolfram Ironside strode forwards with a sigh, clearly annoyed that he would have to ask the question himself since nobody else was going to

"How do we get down there" he paused, realising that his question might possibly have sounded unintelligent and hastily added "I mean I know that we've all got landing strategies but where are we jumping from, the back of the transports? I mean that would be pretty redundant, teams would just be whoever hitched a ride together"

"No" Coco repeated "But a good observation; you'll all be deploying from….actually perhaps it would be better to show you it first hand, who wants to go first?"

"You wanna?" Astra mouthed to Athena-Jade, the Bear Faunus giving a silent nod as the two of them realised that if one of them were to deploy first they would be able to simply hold their position and stay out of view until the other arrived, making their plan to become partners an almost certain success; filled with the same adrenaline and sense of fiery, frenetic urgency that had filled them as they charged into the Dust shop to prevent a burglary the Deer Faunus took a single step forward, a swaggering display of outward confidence.

Only to be halted by a bandage wrapped arm across the chance.

"Not a chance" Wolfram chuckled before turning and winking at Astra "I'm up first….see ya down there"

"Step onto the platform please" Coco instructed, gesturing to the raised and circular pad beside her which Wolfram did without question and once upon made a small show of flexing and stretching, features filled with excitement and almost feral glee which faltered only slightly when Coco removed her sunglasses to display a smirk filled with the same devious delight and held up a small device like a remote control.

"Good luck" with those words and the press of a button the small circle was revealed to be not a landing pad but rather a launch pad, or more accurately a catapult which hurled Wolfram in a high arc over Hammerfall Canyon. The prospective students of Breaktide Academy found themselves sharing silent looks of abject horror and disbelief as they glanced at the ring of similar catapults surrounding the outer edge of the observation outpost and it became apparent exactly what kind of insanity they had become party to.

A realisation only made worse by Wolfram's manic cheer far in the distance as he began to fall.


A flock of avian Grimm, relatively small things with torsos barely larger than the average adult human rather than the terrifying sizes that a Nevermore could grow to and with an emaciated, slender and almost ghoulish appearance more akin a vulture or other carrion bird than one that actively hunted its' prey had taken up residence within the walls of Hammerfall Canyon where they skulked and roosted until anything that could reasonably be described as prey came within range of their beaks, talons and cruel swooping attacks; the arrival of such potential prey had been announced and preceded by a sudden outpouring of the emotions that the Creatures of Grimm fed upon, launched into the canyon from above in a series of high arcs.

Thus whipped into a feeding frenzy the flock of half a dozen vulture Grimm had taken to the air with a cacophony of piercing shrieks and soared over the blasted and barren wasteland that was the base of the canyon, wheeling and circling as they sought out the source of the dread, panic and thirst for violence that had whetted their savage and base appetites only for the a fierce, wordless war-cry to alert them to an attack coming from above rather than below.

Athena-Jade Slate had been launched into the canyon and was ready to show all of Remnant what she was capable of.

Despite her professed desires to distinguish and differentiate herself from her family the young Bear Faunus had never been more happy for the fact that she had inherited the famous and incredibly useful Schnee Semblance which, as had been proven in several initiations at various Hunter academies across Remnant, made landing strategies almost too easy; so easy in fact that Athena was almost glad of the challenge when she saw half a dozen vulture Grimm hurtling towards her as she fell towards the ground, Grimm that she knew by name and reputation but had not yet encountered in person, Grimm with the rather unimpressive moniker 'Scree'.

"Okay, I can do this!" Athena yelled out to herself forcing her hands to remain steady as she focused her Aura and mind in order to use her Semblance and then quickly calculated the angle before creating a series of glowing, pearly white circular Glyphs in the air and promptly collided with the first of them. Rather than fall or try to regain her balance the Bear Faunus lunged from one Glyph to the next in a series of great leaps, forwards and downwards towards both the ground and the oncoming Grimm whilst at the same time reaching behind her to grasp at her weapon which she quickly unfurled, revealing its' true size and form.

She had named it 'Mould-Breaker'

Where the rest of her family favoured swords, be they precise rapiers, oversized and intimidating great-swords or expertly crafted and balanced sabres Athena-Jade Slate had chosen to take to the field of battle wielding an enormous war-hammer; the collapsed cylinder that had been stored at her back expanded, becoming both wider and longer to form an oversized head, pale silver in colour with pristine white armour plating covering its' upper curve and a series of small vents which led towards a circular opening towards the rear of the head whilst the entire thing was supported and held by a shaft roughly as tall as Athena-Jade herself, the upper two thirds being covered with more white plating whilst the bottom third was unadorned silvery metal leading to an opening that clearly served as the barrel of some ranged weapon, between the head and shaft of the weapon were several armoured and protected mechanical components whose appearances could not be guessed at with a simple outward glance though a moment later the destructive power of the weapon was proven beyond al doubts as Athena swung at the first of the Scree to reach her.

Shattering its' skull and reducing the Grimm to mist and fragments with a single blow.

Squeezing a hidden trigger on the shaft of the weapon revealed the purpose of the vents and opening on the head of her hammer as the upper section Mould-Breaker was engulfed by an ethereal and pale green glow that shone from within it, an Eco-Dust fuelled thruster akin to that used by more modern airship albeit scaled down tremendously turned the simple swing of Athena's hammer into a rocket-propelled deathblow that both ripped through its' intended target and pulled the Bear Faunus off of her own glyph, sending her flipping and pirouetting through the air until she decided that she had allowed herself to free-fall far enough and created another series of glyphs below her feet which she leapt and bounced between until another shriek pierced the air and alerted her to the Grimm in pursuit.

"You vultures are worse than the press!" she exclaimed, adrenaline coursing through causing the taunt to be accompanied by a burst of laughter as she swung her right leg out in front of her and across her body before throwing herself into the air whilst flipping and using her leg as this axis around which she spun in a move often called a butterfly flip; the Scree that led what remained of the flock failed in its' attempt to dive and attack her from behind as Athena flipped over it and brought Mould-Breaker downwards in a destructive arc that struck it in the centre of its' back and destroyed the thing entirely. Again Athena fell, the ground drawing perilously close as it rushed up to meet her and the remaining quartet of avian horrors came surging towards her, swarming the young woman without a moments' respite which only served to push her to more dangerous and extravagant methods of combating them; the Scree fanned out and came at her from all sides so the Bear Faunus again created a Glyph, only to throw herself forwards off of it and grapple with a Creature of Grimm in mid-air, locking the shaft of her weapon behind its' head whilst managing to place a foot onto the uppermost section of its' weak and skeletal chest and begin applying pressure until finally a pained squawk and the sound of shattering bone filled the air as the broke the neck of the Scree and a third Grimm perished. With the Grimm she had been using to keep herself aloft gone Athena-Jade curled herself into a ball and simply allowed herself to plummet, wind howling in her ears until it rose of the din of the monsters she fought and finally she let out a yell of pure, desperate fury and held Mould-Breaker overhead before bringing down onto the skull of a fourth Scree in a rocket powered strike which ended the monster with ease and allowed the Bear Faunus to plough the mist that it left in its' wake, leaping from a final series of glyphs before finally her feet reached the barren ground and she came rolling and skidding to a halt at the base of Hammerfall Canyon.

With the two remaining Vulture Grimm close behind her, already mid-dive with their talons extended

Athena-Jade wasted no time on words that the beasts would not comprehend and simply pulled herself into a crouch whilst twirling Mould-Breaker in her hands and causing the weapon to transform. Parts whirled, shifted and relocated with a series of mechanical clanks until the still glowing head of her hammer formed an under-slung ammo drum or power supply of some kind whilst the shaft retracted to form a barrel that was still sizeable yet not needlessly long with armoured cables stretching between the two components whilst the entire assembly was supported by two handles, Athena's left hand gripping the weapon by a handle mounted where the bulk of its' mass gave way to the narrower barrel and her right clutching at a trigger mechanism located at the rear.

Mould-Breaker doubled as a laser cannon and as she rose to her full height Athena-Jade prepared to fire from the hip.

The screaming and frenzied pair of monsters came crashing down upon her yet before they could reach her the Bear Faunus aimed her weapon up at them and spread her feet enough to keep her balance before firing, spewing a crackling beam of jade coloured light which was wreathed with crackling and coruscating arcs of white lightning up into the air with a low, thrumming base note that Athena felt in her chest as much as heard; the weapon shuddered in her grasp and her fingers began to tingle and grow numb after only a moment yet with a single violent jerking motion she brought the destructive forces she had unleashed slashing through the sky and through the bodies of the final two Scree, ending them instantly as their bodies simply shattered like glass under the impact.

"Holy crap, holy crap" Athena breathed out, head and shoulders sagging as she shifted her weapon into its' hammer form once more and allowed the light to fade from it as she simply used it prop herself up as she took several deep yet shaky breaths, Faunus senses straining to pick out any sign of Creatures of Grimm that might yet attack whilst at the same time trying to get her breathing and heart, which currently thundered against her ribs under control. After several moments that were almost peaceful in comparison to what had come before them Athena's head snapped up and any who saw her would have been left in both awe and concern at the expression she wore, a smile where grim resolve and fiery determination met simple effortless confidence and self-assurance as the last of the doubts left by the nightmare that had troubled her only hours ago slipped and faded away to be replaced one simple mantra.

She was Athena-Jade Slate and she had the situation entirely under control.


The sight of several initiates, including Athena being hurled from the observation outpost and through the air like rag-dolls with their own skill being the only thing capable of preventing a fall that would end in certain death had been enough to humble Astra Mars and by the time they had been called forwards they had developed a healthy level of trepidation and respect for the challenge before them.

It was at times like these the Deer Faunus really wished that they had discovered their Semblance.

Whilst Astra was yet to discover which intrinsic and deeply rooted part of their psyche and inner being would manifest itself as a superhuman ability and had no idea if said embodiment of their very soul would even be useful to them in their current predicament that was not say that they were in peril or even particularly inconvenienced; they did still have their weapons after all.

Astra's weapons were named 'Buckshot Ares' though the name was a holdover from a previous design that no longer quite fit them; the devices having been reimagined and rebuilt almost as often as Astra had experimented with their own expression and appearance over recent years before settling on something they felt suited them. The weapons had begun as a pair of shields, each with a shotgun fitted under Astra's arm yet after several overhauls, made possible with materials and resources made available to them despite their working class background due to being a favoured student of Yang Xiao Long and also their father, for all his worries and protestations scrounging what Lien he could and also finding parts through his connections within Blake Xiao Long's Faunus and workers rights group and the many jobs he had worked before starting his own business they were much more versatile and potentially lethal. When deployed the implements that had begun as shields, red in colour with a white outer trim and a small Dust filled, circular emitter of some kind fitted in their centre faced forwards, the pointed end of their sleek, curved and rounded triangular forms facing forwards and when fully extended reaching several inches beyond Astra's knuckles; where once they had been faced downwards to protect the largest possible amount of their users' body they now served as the casing for a forearm mounted bade which extended further still and could be enhanced with Dust whilst underneath each forearm, replacing the previous shotguns and remaining covered by the protective shields was a compact yet undeniably effective mini-gun with six rotating barrels.

The Buckshot Ares were, as Professor Xiao Long had noted quite possibly over-designed however to Astra they were perfect, intimidating and eye-catching things that took inspiration from some of the most iconic weapons used by Hunters whilst still being unique, all whilst having a blend of ranged, close quarters and defensive capabilities which made them suitable for almost any task.

Including Astra's landing strategy

"Okay let's do this!" the Deer Faunus called out with a triumphant cheer intended solely for their own benefit as they deployed their weapons and held their arms over their head, bent at the elbow and squeezed on a hidden button that caused the Buckshot Ares to transform slightly again, simply rotating so that their forward edge pointed towards Astra's elbow as they did when collapsed before the pair of shields connected and the emitter within each of them flickered into life with a low whine, revealing that they were equipped with Hard-light Dust that Astra had taken the time and care to chemically stain a pale, pinkish red so that the sheet of hexagonal hard-light panels that emerged from the sides of the weapons fitted the overall colour scheme of their outfit. As Astra hung on tightly despite the weapon being strapped to their arms and the sheets of rosy hard-light that had formed rudimentary wings began to cause enough drag and resistance to slow their fall it became clear that the Faunus had used their weapon as something akin to a hang-glider.

Finally Astra reached the base of the canyon and quickly brought their Buckshot Ares to bear in its' combat mode, shields forward, blades extended and mini-guns loaded and deployed.

"Let's do this" they breathed out, the words offering less reassurance than they did in the familiar darkened streets and back alleys of Neo Vale yet still they persisted and scanned their surroundings, Faunus hearing straining as hard as their eyes for any sign of Creatures of Grimm that might have seen or heard their arrival. From the ground Hammerfall Canyon seemed even more vast than it had from above, the sides of the deep valley that had been carved by aerial barrage rising up on either side far in the distance whilst all around him was cracked and almost entirely lifeless ground covered in reddish brown dust that formed swirling clouds at every slight breeze, with only small scattering off weeds, dried out thorny bushes or the occasional cactus to show that Menagerie was not entirely desolate after Salem's influence and that this island was not inhabited solely by monsters any more. As neat as the overall shape of the canyon had appeared from the air, a single arcing curve torn into the island the reality of the chasm was far less ordered or predictable, with boulders, dips and craters littering the ground in the wake of previous initiations and the presence of the Grimm.

A presence that made itself known in short order.

"Here we go" Astra hissed out as they caught sight of a cloud of dust in the distance that was the product of something thundering towards them rather than the wind, the wind however did carry the sound of howling snarls which gave the Deer Faunus enough warning that they were dealing with a small pack of Beowolves long before they managed to make out their forms through the dust and haze that was illuminated by the glow of their bloody crimson eyes. Astra adjusted their stance and then quickly aimed and fired the Buckshot Ares without hesitation, holding their arms steady despite with an enormous feat of strength despite the spinning barrels and recoil conspiring to throw them wide and the Deer Faunus was rewarded by yowls of pain and the hazy cloud darkening to an ebony smog as Grimm after Grimm was torn asunder before they could close the distance.

Yet four of the Beowolves made it through.

The tattered and bloodied remains of the pack came rushing forwards with their animal rage and insensate bloodlust only heightened by their kins' demise, with the first to reach Astra bounding across the ground on all fours and leaping into the air with its' maw wide and claws extended only to be brought to a halt before it could lunge at the Faunus's neck when Astra covered their face and upper torso with their forearms and therefore their shields as well, foregoing another use of Hard-light Dust which was an admittedly rare and expensive commodity and instead taking the brunt of the Grimm's pouncing attack before meeting it with even greater force, the Beowolf struggled against the surface of Buckshot Ares for a moment before being launched back into the air and bisected neatly below the ribs as Astra lashed out with both of their arm-mounted blades faster than the eye could see.

The remaining trio of monsters were on them in a moment however and Astra quickly engaged another Grimm, countering its' attempt to lunge at them by leaping into the air and delivering their right knee directly into its' snout with enough force to crack the bone mask of its' skull before throwing a left hook which sent the blade mounted above their wrist tearing through the neck of the beast and reduced it to smoke and fading fragments of darkness. The second of the trio allowed Astra no respite at the Deer Faunus was forced to hastily carry the turning motion of their punch into a spinning sweep as they crouched low and kicked at the Grimm's legs, sending it toppling to the ground as it passed before quickly leaping on it and driving their blades through its' back before the thing could scrabble to its' feet; leaving Astra to face a single Grimm, armed with their weapons, Aura, training and the knowledge that this was not like their interference in the burglary only two nights ago, there would be no warnings for the use of force and the only consequences would come from failure.

With that thought firmly in mind the Grimm and the would be Grimm Hunter charged at one another with matching wordless yells of furious intent.

The last Beowolf surged upwards, leaping from all fours to a bipedal stance and attempting to snap at the throat of its' prey at the same moment Astra leapt into the air and came crashing down on the monster with their right arm reared back for a crushing blow before striking with precision and force, arm smashing into the waiting jaws of the Beowolf and the blade of Buckshot Ares bursting from the back of the Grimm's skull. The Beowolf faded away in a matter of moments and Astra let out a shaky sigh of relief, scanning their surroundings once more without daring to collapse their weapons in case the violence simply attracted more enemies, possibly from above or below as there was truly no telling what lay in Hammerfall Canyon.

"Okay, we're off to a good start" they breathed out, debating whether it was more likely that the relics they needed to recover were located beneath the shadow of the observation outpost or towards the ends of the arcing canyon all whilst accepting a simple and undeniable reality of the situation.

They really needed to find Athena-Jade, the two of them would have much better chances working together.


Wolfram Ironside, being the first student to land in Hammerfall Canyon and begin their initiation had already racked up a number of Grimm kills that he was certain would go some way to giving him bragging rights over his peers upon his return.

Not that he considered his current conquest and the swathe he cut through the monsters to be by any means enough.

Being fired from one of the catapult like contraptions fitted to the edge of the observation outpost floating above the canyon had sent him further than he had initially expected and as he began to fall the young man had quickly realised that he was hurtling towards the vast wall formed by the rock-face that had been carved into by lasers and missiles; having no idea what would happen if he simply climbed out of the canyon and having no desire to find out Wolfram had deployed his weapons and used them to slow their fall, simply driving a blade into the rock and clinging to it tightly as the laws of physics were put to work before leaping the final few feet to the ground and readying the weapons for their true purpose.

Wolfram's weapon came in two parts and was collectively known as 'Berserker' firstly there was the shield that had previously rested across his back in a partially collapsed form, a large, heavy and angular thing with a glossy black finish and thick band of gunmetal coloured trim laden with sharp studs whilst his emblem of a snarling wolfs' head was embossed upon its' centre; the second part of the weapon was the short-handled axe featuring a single, broad and almost hook-shaped blade that Wolfram held in his right hand, both weapons featuring Dust chambers and components which made it clear that they possessed another form whilst having a mismatched appearance which gave their wielder the air of being both the heroic knight protecting the people and at the same time a rampaging marauder. Berserker had been put to use shortly after landing as a hole in the rocky wall was revealed to be the entrance to a nest of Deathstalkers, the scuttling arachnid horrors attacking with all the murderous frenzy that the Creatures of Grimm were known for, they were in truth small and unremarkable examples of their species with none of them having a body larger than a small car yet they made of this through sheer weight of numbers as they swarmed over one another, chitinous limbs and armour plates clattering together in a nerve-rattling chorus as they fell upon the human that had wandered into their domain.

Only to be ripped to shreds.

"IS THIS REALLY ALL THEY HAD TO THROW AT ME?" Wolfram demanded, incredulity lost beneath a red mist that slowly settled over his vision as the hatred he had for the loathsome monsters' before him took hold. A Deathstalker lunged at him and was beaten back with ease, Wolfram swatting its' snapping pincer aside with a backhanded blow from his shield before swinging his axe and cleaving through its' tail before it could sting him, rising a booted foot he delivered a front kick that was closer to a simple stomp that flung the thing back and brought its' skull into the path of a downward swing of his axe. The instant the Deathstalker faded away another scuttled forth to take its' place and enraged young man continued his assault, eager to see that it shared the same fate and leaping onto its' back to hack and chop away at its' armoured carapace before simply taking his shield in both hands and driving its' edge through the entirety of the monsters' body, falling to the ground and landing in a crouch as the Grimms' corporeal form gave way beneath him.

Realising a moment later that he had allowed himself to become surrounded by the Grimm.

"I'LL RUIN ALL OF YOU BASTARDS!" Wolfram roared, voice echoing above the sound of scraping chitin and low buzzing, hissing and clicks that escaped the Deathstalkers and to make good on his threat the young man, with stormy grey eyes wild covered his face with his shield and simply charged with little regard for his safety, hacking and swinging wildly with his axe and feeling stingers collide with his Aura as he drove through the swarming tide until finally he used the back of a Deathstalker as springboard from which to leap and throw himself clear of the mass with an Aura fuelled effort.

Rolling to a stop and landing in a crouch he wasted no time and continued his attack anew, grey eyes still gleaming with manic and almost unhinged glee as his features were pulled into a tight smile Wolfram combined and transformed Berserker, slotting the axe vertically into the shield component with its' blade facing backwards and shaft lodged into a slot within the bracket that held it to his arm; from there the combined axe and shield detached and the broad, glossy black and angular form of the shield cracked and split before curving in on itself with armour plates and cowling repositioning themselves until the entire assembly had become an enormous pistol-gripped weapon that could only be described as a hand cannon with the blade of the axe serving as the hammer of the pistol whose barrel was both longer and broader than the left arm that held it aloft. With Berserker transformed Wolfram braced himself and fired, holding the pistol in one hand and sliding back several inches across the dusty ground as he fired into the rapidly encroaching horde of Grimm, unleashing a Dust-fuelled fireball that crashed into the Deathstalkers with an echoing, booming report; again and again Wolfram fired until the sounds of the scuttling monsters was lost beneath the explosions and then silenced entirely as the last Grimm faded and even then the young man continued to fire until a dull, bone-deep ache began to set into his left forearm and pierce the fury that clouded his mind in a way that nothing else yet had.

"Damn it" he snarled to himself in annoyed frustration at his own limitations as he shifted Berserker back to its' melee form and took several seconds to flex the fingers of his left hand and massage the throbbing and bandaged forearm before fitting his shield back in place, panting and catching his breath the whole time. As he looked around and saw no signs of more Grimm approaching and with the last of the adrenaline crazed madness fading away to the back of his mind Wolfram let out a slow, deep breath and forced himself to focus.

Taking great efforts to remind himself that killing Grimm was not strictly the job here, no matter how much he enjoyed it.


Velvet, or Professor Scarlatina to those initiates currently making their way through Hammerfall Canyon had made her way into the building mounted upon the hovering anti-gravity platform so that she could first present herself to the individual currently in charge of its' operations, the arrival of the party from Breaktide Academy had naturally been announced as they approached however Velvet still felt it was simply good manners to thank the staff of the facility in person for the allowances and accommodations they had made. From there Velvet had been led into a dimly lit and meticulous room lined with screens and furnished with a comfortable swivel chair placed before a computer system so expansive its' presence almost seemed to be a calculated act of bragging; from this room the Rabbit Faunus could use the outpost for its' intended purpose and simply observe events in the canyon as they unfolded.

She was pleased to see that so far the initiation process was going as expected.

Coco had explained the rules, objectives and parameters of the test to the hopeful teens and instructed each of them in turn to take a position on a different launchpad. What the students had not been told however was that each catapult, as well as facing in a different direction due to their circular arrangement also fired at a slightly different angle on each axis and was set to a different level of strength and tension in order to randomise the deployment of the would be Hunters as much as possible; without this critical knowledge many of the teens who had either connected during the previous days' orientation or had known each other before arrival had naturally attempted to game the system by trying to ensure that they were deployed from adjacent landing pads only to have their plans scuppered in short order, this was of course another part of the test which aimed to see how the initiates functioned with their plans rendered useless and new circumstances thrust upon them.

At Breaktide as at Beacon partners and teams would be built around attempts to control and subvert apparent fate and destiny by the those willing to take matters into their own hands.

"How're they looking down there?" Coco's familiar, husky voice asked curiously as she leaned over Velvet's shoulder, breath warm against the Faunus's neck; Velvet had heard Coco's arrival but hadn't risked looking away from the screens for even a moment so instead simply waited for her long time romantic partner and former team leader to announce herself.

"Pretty good" she murmured "Honestly the landing strategies are always fun to watch….I feel weird copying students' weapons but I swear these kids get more creative every year"

"Got a favourite?" Coco asked as she made herself comfortable on Velvet's lap, using the presence of only a single chair to her advantage; Velvet waited until Coco had properly sequestered herself before giving an answer with an amused and sardonic smirk down at her

"Now it would be unprofessional of us to play favourites" she paused a beat before nodding at one of the screens "But Russet….I thought she might struggle without her jetbike, happy to say I was wrong; that weapon of hers has an answer for everything"

"Coming from you that's one hell of a compliment" Coco noted, removing her sunglasses after being forced to concede that they were only a hindrance in the darkened room "Anyone partnered up yet?"

"A couple of groups" Velvet confirmed with a nod, a thoughtful expression crossing her soft features before she expanded "A few of them managed to salvage their plans and work around being thrown off course by the looks of it, a couple of people look like they've decided to partner with someone else and then use that partner to help find the person they were originally looking for-"

"And the rest are scrapping their plans and rolling with the punches"

"Not everyone goes in with a plan" Velvet reminded, shrugging as she added "I think some of them decided to take whatever comes their way before they even knew what the mission was, no pre-existing connections means no worries….like these two here, by the looks of things they're gonna run into each other pretty soon if neither of them change course but nothing about it looks planned"

"Let's see" Coco peered at the screens that had been indicated and watched with healthy respect for her young charges as she saw a woman with close cropped hair and an intense glare that seemed to come from her very soul rather than just her face ploughed into a pack of monsters and dispatched them with merciless efficiency and reckless abandon in equal measure whilst in another screen displaying an area that was, as Velvet had stated not a great distance from the first a wiry and almost sickly looking young man displayed more strength and agility than his appearance would suggest as he cleaved a serpentine monstrosity known as a King-Taijitu in half with the sword he wielded with an almost comical amount of flourish and showmanship.

"Definitely not premeditated" Coco confirmed with a nod "I remember their transcripts and interviews, long distance obviously….could be an interesting pair. Anything else worth mentioning?"

"Yang and Blake's son's half sibling had a good start and Arctus and Weiss and Gang's daughter is impressive"

"Gonna get recordings of their progress? I know, I know classified….but we can at least show Ruby and Penny"

"I think we can bend the rules that much" Velvet nodded with a smile, Coco remained silent and watched the continuing progress of the few dozen teens as they battled through tides of monsters to seek out both one another and their objectives, a faint sense of nostalgia washing over her though it was quickly interrupted by something more tangible and immediate.

"Y'know I wish I'd brought popcorn for this but I didn't think ahead"

"Well lucky for you I did….and so did Yatsu" Velvet answered, reaching into a hidden pocket on the inside of the unbuttoned flannel shirt she wore and producing a sealed bag of Yatsuhashi's home-made snacks.

"Oum I love you guys" Coco beamed, tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth and reacting with less gravitas and decorum than the situation probably called for as one of her soon to be students executed a particularly impressive series of attacks on a horde of Grimm.


Athena-Jade Slate was forced to admit, after spending at least an hour in Hammerfall Canyon that things were not going exactly as planned; though her confidence and resolve remained undiminished and were, if anything only bolstered by the challenge.

Her initial plan to contact Astra had been thwarted as her Scroll, a Hunter grade model that her older brother had bought for her several years ago which was at least theoretically suited to the task was unable to get any kind of signal which implied that it was being actively jammed, likely by the observation outpost in an effort to prevent any such flagrant bypassing of the rules of the initiation. From there the Bear Faunus had been forced to choose a new course of action and so had worked out the rough trajectory of Astra's flight into the canyon as best as possible and set off, there were still more variables than she would have liked especially considering that she had no idea what the Deer Faunus's landing strategy might be but taking charge of the situation and acting was preferable to doing nothing. She had trudged through the dust and rubble, using her limited height to her advantage and keeping low to the ground whilst keeping watch for any potential friends or foes as she searched for both the acquaintance she intended to team up with and the relics that they had been sent to retrieve although so far all she had found in the canyon was one pack of Grimm after the next; many of the monsters had been Beowolves and whilst the lupine beasts were one of the more common and less dangerous varieties of Grimm the sheer amount of the things, acting in small packs of no more than a dozen or so at a time gave Athena pause and left her wondering if some sort of pheromone had been used to draw more threats into the canyon, such things were certainly possible and Coco Adel most certainly had the authority to order it.

Though Athena's current concerns were much more immediate.

"And stay down!" she yelled with a mix of naked ferocity and ecstatic pride at her own abilities as she first weaved under the swiping claws of a Beowolf that lunged at her whilst bipedal before thrusting the base of Mould-Breakers' shaft up into the underside of the things' jaw and following up by twirling the enormous hammer and bringing its' head down onto the monsters' skull, the Grimm was smashed into the ground in an almost cartoonish display, tongue lolling out before its' body faded away yet the small and powerful Bear-Faunus had no time to appreciate the sight as the remaining members of the pack beset her again in the next instant.

"Nope!" Athena exclaimed with an air of almost playfulness that belied the steadily mounting tension she felt as eight Creatures of Grimm came rushing at her in a wide semi-circle as they attempted to flank and overpower her, in response the pale young woman brought the Dust powered booster mounted in her hammer thrumming into life and swung the weapon in a wide arc faster than the eye could see with crushing force that broke the lead Beowolf in half, body entirely shattered above the haunches whilst the sheer momentum of the attack carried Athena into a wild spin that she forced into something more graceful as she used it to sidestep the rest of her assailants.

The seven remaining Grimm came rushing at her again and to halt them the Faunus flung a glyph, larger than herself up directly in their path which she the sprinted towards and threw herself at, planting a foot on its' glowing surface and kicking the glyph forward into the pouncing monsters as she flipped backwards; the manoeuvrer was at least partially successful as four of the seven Grimm were flung back and landed atop each other in a savagely snarling tangle of limbs however three of the pack managed to weave around the sides of the glyph and continue their assault unhindered, for them Athena had skills and raw power to spare as she proved when she launched herself at the first of the trio, Mould-Breaker held over her right shoulder and threw a high, turning kick from her right leg which flowed seamlessly into a spinning heel kick from her left which connected with a sickening crack as she snapped her leg back at the knee and sent the Grimm staggering, leaving it open as both of her feet touched the ground again shoulder width apart and in perfect position as she swung her hammer downwards and diagonally to reduce the Beowolf to wisps of smokey nothingness. The second of the trio pounced and arced into the air only for Athena to spring upwards to meet it, smashing the head of Mould-Breaker into its' ribs and then twirling the weapon dramatically, catching it in the gut with the shaft and smashing her foe into the hard ground back first; before the Beowolf could recover Athena had pressed her advantage by manifesting one of her ubiquitous glyphs directly above it to leave the beast snarling, scrabbling and thrashing but ultimately trapped as she placed a foot in the centre of the glowing circular construct and forced it downwards with all her might to crush the Grimm.

Leaving herself open to the attack of the final member of the trio.

"Damn it!" the pained yell escaped Athena almost of its' own volition as she struck the ground with a heavy thud and rolled to a stop, Mould-Breaker slipping from her fingers as the Beowolf tackled her and as she pulled herself into a crouch, sapphire eyes blazing with determination, sharp teeth bared and black, curved claws slowly extending from her fingers the Bear Faunus realised that the four members of the pack that she had subdued with a well placed glyph had untangled themselves and were stalking towards her with their jaws snapping hungrily and eyes glowing as they followed the lead of the one to tackle her. Bracing herself Athena's eyes darted from her opponents to where her weapon had fallen and as it became clear that the closest Grimm intended to lunge at any moment she quickly tried to calculate if it was possible for her to reach them weapon in a single roll or bound or if she would be forced to engage the monster in hand to hand combat.

Before she could make the decision it was taken away from her however, the Beowolf simply exploding as something collided with its' spine with all the force of a comet and reducing it to a cloud of darkness.

"What the-" Athena trailed off as a figure rose out of the fading smog and she realised that it was one of her fellow initiates. The young woman, standing at a little over five and a half feet tall was a Grasshopper Faunus as was made abundantly clear by the limbs she stood on; from the knees downwards her legs were cybernetic prosthetics with a distinctly and unmistakably insectoid design, arching out behind her and upwards at an angle before bending down again to reach the ground where they ended in what could loosely be called feet though were in truth simply a form of stabiliser with a short toe like protrusion facing out in each direction, the legs had the hallmarks of an Atlesian design, cowling that had once been a pristine white now painted a bright silver though Athena could safely say she had never seen anything quite like them before. Above these the young woman wore a pair of black knee-length shorts with zippers running upwards from the bottom of the legs, likely to make getting them on and off easier and holding them up was a heavy silver belt made of interlinked metal components with an oval shaped buckle featuring two decorative compound eyes, on the young woman's left hip the beginnings of a holster could be seen though whatever weapon she carried was hidden from view by a black with a white outer trim hanging over it, displayed on the bottom third of this cape was a stylised letter Z which likely served as the wearers' personal emblem. The unknown Huntresses' torso and, if Athena were entirely honest, not unremarkable chest were covered by a black garment that could best be described as an armoured corset, the kind of thing that had been popularised by people such as Ruby Rose decades ago yet had steadily faded back out of fashion, this corset in particular featuring heavily polished silver buttons and being worn over a white button down shirt whose sleeves ended just below the shoulder with elegant ruffs, whilst her hands and forearms were covered by black leather gloves that clung to her form and reached the elbows with bright silver armour plates being present on both the knuckles and the length of the arm in a segmented design. Her appearance was given a debonair and almost roguish flair to it by both a silver piece of armour strapped over her right shoulder which had been styled to resemble the skull of some sleek and streamlined insectoid Grimm, possibly a Queen Lancer with its' mandibles splayed just wide enough to accommodate the woman's arm and the ragged cape that she wore around her neck, a garment that had clearly been a uniform jet black once but now faded to grey at the tips and was worn like a scarf with its' length trailing behind the young woman dramatically in the breeze whilst some of it remained bunched up at her neck where it fallen from covering her face.

The Grasshopper Faunus's skin was faintly tanned to a warm beige and had a strong, well built physique with noticeable curves that were complimented and balanced by the sharpness of her features, her cheekbones were high and prominent and her somewhat thin mouth was pulled into a determined scowl; Athena however found herself staring at the young woman's eyes almond shaped eyes which she had realised were different colours, her right being a pale orange and almost tropical tone whilst the left was an equally faint shade of pink with the pair having the sensation of staring into some particularly brilliant gemstone. The Grasshopper Faunus's right eye was partially obscured from view by her her shimmering, raven black hair hair as a curtain of it fell forwards and reached to just below her chin whilst the rest of the vast mane was tied back behind her in a mass of spikes that jutted outwards in all directions to give an appearance of organised chaos.

Time seemed to grind to a halt as the pair regarded each other for a moment, with Athena struggling to comprehend exactly what had happened until the remaining quartet of Beowolves made their presence known as they charging forth. Without a word Athena's apparent saviour turned away from her, right hand flying to her left hip and withdrawing the weapon there which unfurled and revealed itself to be a more than sizeable handgun finished with a glossy black cowling which despite being loaded with a magazine also featured a silver, oval shaped mechanism running through it which housed two cylindrical chambers which Athena quickly realised housed sizeable amounts of a variety of Dust, indicated by the various vibrant colours on display; the most prominent feature of the weapon however was the long black and cylindrical barrel it featured that easily doubled its' length. The weapon discharged four times in rapid succession and the Beowolves were sent scattering, one of them being ended as a round which Athena-Jade realised must have been infused with Gravity Dust tore through its' torso. The three Grimm that remained came snarling at her from different angles and Athena quickly rushed to retrieve Mould-Breaker in an effort to help yet it was quickly proven to be unnecessary as the rescuer whose name she was yet to learn shifted her weapon into a close combat mode; the twin Dust chambers rotating out to the side and laying flat along the body as the bulk of the pistol repositioned itself and the cylindrical barrel lengthened and shifted until the entire thing resembled some strange hybrid of a rapier and a cane.

"Fire! Lightning!" Athena was given pause by the voice that filled the air, realising a second later that the distinctly computerised voice which had exclaimed each word with a slightly different tone and inflection had in fact come from the weapon itself as the length of what could not truly be called a blade was first wreathed in flames and then by crackling arcs of electricity. The Bear Faunus watched, struggling to keep herself from gaping as the Grasshopper Faunus weaved gracefully and artfully around the wild attacks of the first Grimm before retaliating with a powerful, single handed slash which cleaved it through the midsection which she followed into a leaping spin that allowed her step into the guard of a second Beowolf and decapitate it in a single blow. The third beast came hurtling directly towards her and without a single sign of panic of hesitation the silent Faunus simply twirled and flourished her weapon as if to remove it of some unseen taint before holding it in a position that Athena had seen her own mother use countless times when practising.

"Hard-light! Gravity!" the computerised voice declared and Athena saw the minute shift in the cylindrical chambers mounted on the side of the weapon before the Grasshopper Faunus unleashed her next attack; the Hard-light Dust she employed formed a solid mass which the Gravity Dust propelled forwards with the result being a beam of translucent blue light lancing forwards to impale the final Grimm between the eyes before flickering away. There was another moment of silent stillness, the passage of seconds only provable by the breeze blowing the Grasshopper Faunus's cape-like garment out behind her until she collapsed and holstered her weapon before turning and regarding Athena-Jade once again, with the Bear Faunus finally managing to form words now that the initial shock had worn off.

"So I guess this makes us partners right? Hi, I'm AJ" the Grasshopper Faunus said nothing and instead simply pulled the cape up over the lower half of her face to cover her nose and mouth before turning and beginning to walk away.

Which Athena would have found annoying to say the least if it wasn't for how cool her new partner managed to make it look.

Author's Notes:

So the initiation has started and we've clearly met all four members of Team MARZ even if we don't know one of their names yet and we've also briefly seen all four members of our secondary team in this chapter as well.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
A good breakfast is important….but RIP to anyone who actually ate something before initiation.
Our first look at Menagerie outside of Port Alistair.
I was trying to create something that matched the Emerald Forest and the "Old Vale exclusion zone" from FADE: Legacy in terms of scope with the canyon, you'll have to let me know if I succeeded.
First look at the weapons, Yang's best students always seem to end up having forearm mounted weapons; see Amethyst Wukong in FADE.
A little backstory and reasoning to make the world feel lived in and also tie it back to the other stories in the series.
Yes that was the same person who stared out AJ last chapter who called out the Scorpion Faunus.
Also, some reasoning for the way the initiation works as it does and what exactly it is that they're testing for.
Wolfram has a brain in there, not just dumb muscle.
Coco enjoyed that way too much….Also, in my notes before starting the chapter I was gonna have Wolfram yell Cowabunga on the way down, honestly I feel like the Goofy scream would fit better.
Vulture Grimm are so obvious I'll be disappointed if we don't get them in canon, especially heading into Vaccuo; also the name Scree is both a synonym for detritus and a probably pretty close to the sound they make.
Weiss's landing strategy was graceful, Athena-Jade is a living pinball.
Yes you read that right, those arms aren't for show, AJ's got a rocket hammer and drops lines like "You vultures are worse than the press!" while using it.
That step over into a butterfly flip is a good example of her fighting style, Astra uses a lot of Cobra Kai inspired karate (So Tang Su Do) but Athena-Jade is basically using Capoeira but with a hammer which, combined with her glyphs made that aerial fight really fun.
Okay the best way to describe Mould-Breaker is to imagine Magnhild but it turns into Coco's mini-gun, but instead of the mini-gun it's actually a weapon closer to Penny's floating array or a laser from an Atlas warship.
Oh yeah Astra had to get real humble real quick.
No Semblance yet confirmed, which fits what we've already seen of Astra not really knowing who they are and trying to be someone they're not.
So there's the Buckshot Ares, I liked the idea that since weapons are an extension of the soul that Astra has redesigned their weapon over and over again until its' not really recognisable as what they initially planned because they're still not sure about who they are.
Practically though it's a pair of shields that are facing forwards, they've got a mini-gun and a blade fitted to each of them and appearance wise I based them on the weapons carried by the Gundam Full Armour Unicorn, though obviously with more RWBY-esque trappings.
That hang-glider trick was unashamedly based on Jaune's Vol.7 landing with the hard-light wings, I was originally planning on Astra having a landing very similar to Wolfram's but I felt like it just didn't suit them.
Ah the old 'Tiger Knee' to the face, a personal favourite.
That heroic money shot of the two of them jumping at each other would have been in the trailer if this was a real show.
Also, as cocky as Astra is note the difference in their feelings after taking a pack out to AJ.
Wolfram does have a Semblance, we'll see it later on but I wanted his landing strategy to just be raw, straightforward force.
Honestly that description of his weapon, Berserker giving him an appearance halfway between the knight and the barbarian is the kind of dichotomy I want to set up early on with this character.
Basically Berserker turns into a handgun that looks like Ironwood's Vol.8 penis compensator would if Jimmy wasn't compensating….But note the effect it had on him.
Of course the catapults were randomised like that, I'd argue that they probably were at Beacon as well.
Also, have some Cross-Hares.
Velvet being hyped about her students just felt right.
So Regalia is in the canyon and has a cool weapon, obviously we'll see it next chapter.
Obviously the two kids Velvet had Coco take a look at are gonna become important as well, we've already seen them both.
AJ already having a Hunter Scroll is a little callback to FADE.
Yeah it's more Beowolves but come on, if you're this far into the series you know I've got some better Grimm designs in the bag….Wait til you see what's coming.
AJ's fighting style on the ground is fun as well, especially when she uses glyphs and a rocket booster.
TA-DA, we have the fourth member of Team MARZ; the same Faunus who stopped Regalia and Wolfram from fighting outside the academy. Shout out to the Grimm Campaign for showing that a Faunus can just have straight up animal legs, the idea of Mechanical Grasshopper legs was already in my head but that just cemented it.
A lot of her design was inspired by various Kamen Rider characters which goes with the Grasshopper theme (Including her name which we'll get next chapter) with the stylised shoulder plate coming from Sabre, the cape/scarf started as something like the original Kamen Rider but evolved into something more like Aizawa or RWBY Batman and the weapon and belt being based on Black RX's RevolCane; I was originally gonna give her flak armour and compound eye goggles but AJ got the armour and Regalia has goggles.
I don't give a fuck about heterochromia being cringe, when you get her name it'll make sense why her eyes are like that.
If you want an idea of what her hair looks like, it's a cross between Momo from MHA, Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo and Mega Pidgeot.
I'll be honest the fact that her weapon announces her attacks wasn't something I originally had planned, it was just something that occurred to me as I was writing that ties in more with the Kamen Rider aesthetic; like the way Zero One Riders' drivers announce which Prog-Rise key they're using, also like I said it's based on the RevolCane which was called the Electro Sabre in the western adaptation, so it's more of a sword than Ozpin's staff but still not really a sword if that makes sense.
The Hard-light move was based on the Laser Lance Command from VR Troopers.
I think our new girl just outshone Vol.1 Blake in terms of bad-ass anti-hero entrances.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Chloe_Anderson50, Funlander, Proto 150 and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I'm glad you all loved this absolute dork of a Racoon Faunus.
Reese and Arslan do indeed deserve more love.
Well the initiation has only just begun, there's a couple chapters left to go in the canyon.
As for Winter not making team leader, AJ only really mentioned immediate family but honestly I could see Winter going either way where either she was made the leader officially OR she basically pulled off a Vol.1 Weiss but more successfully and basically became the unofficial team leader, then again I can see just going and doing her own thing as well.
As for how far will this story go...MARZ is going to be the end of the Spiral-Verse, I have an endpoint for this thing in mind, but we're a few years from that point and this story is probably gonna rival FADE in size, possibly be even bigger.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.