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I am making no money from this.

Chapter 13: Relax

The first year students' field trip to the Yongheng Plains had been over a month ago and for those who called Breaktide Academy home life had once again fallen into a rhythm and routine during the intervening period.

After their respective performances during the field trip assignment both Team MARZ and Team WULF had earned a mild degree of notoriety amongst their classmates and had become the standard by which their fellow first year students were often, if unofficially judged against with the latter being widely regarded as the first and foremost amongst the freshmen and whilst this acknowledgement did not make them more popular amongst their classmates as such it did grant the two teams a level of respect that saw them not only routinely sought out for sparring, help with studying or more sociable activities outside of classes but also approached by older students such as Team BASL and invited to train with them which likely only widened the gap between Teams MARZ and WULF and their peers.

On a more personal level Astra Mars and his fellow team leader had grown steadily closer as friends, the two of them joking constantly even as they constantly tried to outshine one another; the Deer Faunus having seemingly found their stride and begun to genuinely embody some of the swaggering confidence that had previously been nothing more than a hollow defence mechanism. Despite this there was clearly something going unsaid between the pair, flashing and sparking in moments where the competition grew the most fierce and Astra's attempts to upstage Wolfram began to more resemble efforts to impress him yet the two team leaders steadfastly refused to acknowledge or discuss whatever it was that was developing, pointedly ignoring it no matter how obvious it was to everyone around them.

Regalia's confidence and self belief had become unshakeable, whilst the Racoon Faunus remained something of an eccentric element in almost any social setting due to her relatively unique upbringing having the chance to speak with her mother and introduce her team-mates to Clan Aiktishaf had managed to dispel any last, lingering doubts about her actions that she might have had and now the former nomad was a truly invaluable part of Team MARZ both in and out of missions as her irreverent humour and sunny disposition had become part of the glue that held the team together as much as Astra's leadership.

Zirconia for her part was much as she always had been, the Grasshopper giving away little about herself with her team-mates knowing almost nothing about her home life other than that she was a native of Neo Vale like Astra yet had been privately educated and from what they could gather was highly sheltered and naive in some regards; training however was another matter and it seemed that the Professors were yet to find a lesson that could truly test her limits as alongside her dry sarcasm Zirconia also seemed to have a fathomless supply of willpower and endurance beneath her mysterious and taciturn exterior, rising to meet every challenge placed before her without complaint; earning the attention of countless hopeful individuals who dismissed in turn without a second glance or in many cases a single word.

Athena-Jade finally felt truly at home at the Academy; the Bear Faunus throwing herself into her studies full-tilt and, much like Wolfram Ironside measuring herself against Astra and engaging in a seemingly endless competition with them yet it was now an entirely friendly and good natured affair with none of the anger and bitterness that had marked their early interactions. Athena and Regalia had an odd, yet workable friendship as the two of them were sheltered, no matter how the pale and snowy haired young woman might object albeit in entirely different ways. Athena and Zirconia's partnership and friendship had continued to develop at a steady pace despite how little she really knew of the Grasshopper Faunus, she had made a conscious decision not to pry or force issues but still the Bear Faunus was utterly intrigued by her partner. Athena-Jade's rivalry, one-sided and unwilling as it had been with Diabla Fuego of Team WULF had been put on the proverbial back burner and in some ways morphed into something more productive and arguably more healthy as the Mantle born Huntress had been disallowed from any further sparring matches with the Bear Faunus whilst both Athena's and her own team-mates kept her aggression in check as best as possible when they were together outside of lessons which had forced Diabla to limit her actions to desperately trying outshine Athena at every turn to prove some still unknown point to herself which had, almost perversely allowed her to become a more likeable and functional team-mate as she tried to encourage her team to adopt her own ruthless regime of self improvement and yelled encouragement from the sidelines any time a member of Team WULF found themselves competing against Athena.

Just as she did when Ursinia Red used a hip toss to throw the Bear Faunus across the arena with an almost insultingly casual lack of effort.

"Oh come on! Can you at least make it look difficult?" Athena growled as she flung up a series of glyphs directly in front of herself to block any incoming attacks from the Scorpion Faunus before using the glowing surface of one of them to vault off of and return to her feet with a needlessly acrobatic display that served only to pander to the crowd. The rules of the sparring match were simple, weapons had been disallowed and despite her Professor's stated reasoning Athena suspected that it was due in part to the damage that Mould Breaker and The Adventurer would cause if pitted against one another whilst Semblances were permitted, which should have given the Bear Faunus advantage; something which only made the way she was being kept at bay and manhandled with impunity more galling.

"I mean I'm sure I could but would you appreciate me lying to ya like that honey?" Ursinia replied, beaming brightly as she did.

"Okay, that's it!" Athena yelled, dropping her glyphs and bolting forwards to attack before leaping into the air and conjuring a whirling storm of glyphs around the arena which surrounded Ursinia and stretched from mere inches away from the taller and darker woman to the very edge of the arena where the protective shielding enveloped it, the glyphs appearing at various heights and angles allowing the Bear Faunus to leap from one surface to the next and force her opponent to try and defend against an attack that could come from any angle until finally Athena flung herself into Ursinia's personal space and dropped low to deliver a spinning leg sweep which she expertly strung into a one-handed handstand kick, the armoured heel of her footwear striking her opponent in the jaw whilst she used her free hand to try and grab Ursinia's leg and drag her even further off balance.

Only for the Scorpion Faunus to counter-attack.

"Oh crap" the words escaped Athena in a nervous whimper as Ursinia caught the leg she hand been kicked with, the absurd level of physical strength she possessed allowing her to hold Athena fast as her tail whipped around and stung into the hand supporting the Bear Faunus's weight which left her Aura flickering but did not break skin or inject any poisons into her bloodstream however from there Athena was left unable to support her own weight and left entirely at Ursinia's mercy which the taller woman exploited by taking both of her legs and bodily throwing her across the arena, leaving her wincing in pain and hissing through gritted teeth as she impacted against the forcefield around the perimeter of the ring.

"Nothing personal honey, I've just wrangled critters a lot bigger than you" Ursinia chortled, to which Athena-Jade responded by leaping to her feet and letting out a low, animal snarl with her sapphire eyes narrowing and the sharp black claws extending from her fingers in sudden anger as they perceived insult incensed her.

The fact that she was barely five feet tall and by far the shortest of both her team and her siblings was something of a sore spot.

"Come wrangle these hands!" Athena yelled as she went thundering into the fray once again, mild annoyance at herself piercing through the red haze as she realised how abysmal her choice of retort was and chiding herself that even Astra could have done better. Ursinia took up a wide stance like that of a wrestler and Athena struggled to form a plan as she charged, realising that another head on attack would only see her thrown around like a rag-doll again yet before she could do so both she and her opponent were brought to an unceremonious halt as the whining drone of the forcefield powering down gave only the briefest warning before a blade fitted to a rope went hurtling between the two fighters to sink into the back wall of the lecture hall that their battleground served as the focal point of, the taut rope between them serving as a barrier and announcing to all who saw it that the sparring match was over.

"We seem to have run out of time, neither of your Auras were broken….however if we were to work on points Ursinia would be the clear winner" Professor Arslan Altan's voice carried through the colosseum like lecture hall that she presided over for all of the first year students to hear.

"Although it was a good showing from both of you, certainly entertaining to watch" she continued, the bell signifying the end of the lesson; the first class of the Friday to interrupt her yet none of her students rose to leave and the platinum blonde spoke again "Whilst I do not personally set any assignments beyond the expectation of you maintaining your health and physical ability my colleagues have asked me to remind you, as they will no doubt reiterate themselves that your first official training mission is drawing closer….This means that your health is even more important, whilst you will be shadowing trained and experienced professionals the danger will be real and unavoidable; it is also important that your studies are of an acceptable standard and any team with outstanding assignments or students felt to be lacking in proper effort an application will be prevented from partaking, a stain against your records which I'm sure none of you want. You're dismissed"

With that Athena-Jade trudged and limped towards the rest of Team MARZ, being one of many students who failed to suppress a groan at the feeling of the pressure and demands placed on them being increased once again.

She would not allow herself to fall behind however, failure of that magnitude was simply unacceptable.


"Okay, I'm done. I've got no more to give" Astra's words were punctuated with the dull whack of their face striking the hardback surface of their textbook as they closed it and flopped dramatically down onto the surface of their bunk; that their antlers didn't prevent the contact spoke volumes of the sheer size of the textbook in question.

Classes had continued as scheduled and without incident for the rest of the day, with the teasing between Team MARZ and WULF regarding the sparring match between their members remaining largely friendly; Wolfram having no ill will towards Athena and merely taking the opportunity to sing his partners' praises to the point of her becoming mildly bashful whilst Laser had been good natured and had even managed to get Athena-Jade to laugh at her own expense and Diabla's occasional sneering comments about 'amateur behaviour' were quickly silenced by Zirconia calmly and quietly asking the gruff woman to remind everyone of her score during Professor Rose's last assessment. Eventually classes had ended however and Team MARZ had returned to their dormitory to change and begin their weekend, only for the four of them to find it to be less of a respite than they would have liked as Professor Altan's warning, echoed by each of their Professors in turn had prompted them to begin work on their assignments with a fresh sense of urgency.

An urgency which Athena-Jade maintained as she glowered in Astra's direction.

"Seriously?" she demanded "It's only been a few hours-"

"No, it's been a few hours every day on top of classes" Astra countered firmly "There's more to life than studying, I'm calling it a day and taking the weekend off"

"Even when our first mission is on the line?" Athena's eyebrows vanished into her hairline in open shock at her leader and friends' apparent blasé attitude, something made worse by the snorting laughter that escaped the Deer Faunus

"It's not on the line" Astra retorted with an irritatingly total self assurance "We're already ahead on most of our assignments, we're not behind on anything….we'll be fine; we can take a break; hey Regalia you wanna do something this weekend?"

"Hey! We were still talking!" Athena-Jade snapped, the casual dismissal from Astra who had turned away from her to drape themselves over the edge of their bunk and talk to their partner below them incensing her only for her own anger to irritate Astra in turn, their sea green eyes narrowing for a moment as they shot a glare in her direction.

"I'm not telling you what to do AJ, you can stay here or work in the library all weekend again if you want, but you're not gonna force the rest of us to go along with it" they turned their attention back to Regalia, voice softening as they added "Like I was saying you wanna find something to do?"

"We could head into Port Alistair?" the Racoon Faunus offered

"And do what?" Astra shrugged

"I don't know, anything!" their partner answered with a wide, hopeful grin "We've been living in Port Alistair for months now and we haven't even explored the place; I haven't seen anything of the city except the take-outs and you always supervise me there" the last part of her sentence was delivered with a pout which both Astra and Athena who was still listening to the conversation couldn't help but grin at.

"I trust you with my life….but not with my food" Astra intoned solemnly before breaking down into a fit of laughter as their attempts to remain serious failed; Regalia, being raised within Clan Aiktishaf had a rather eclectic palate with tastes formed by being raised eating whatever was available and an eagerness to explore and experiment that had led to some truly questionable concoctions which each of her team-mates had tried to forget but could still sometimes faintly taste even weeks later. The comment merely made Regalia pout more, though Athena brought a halt to the teasing as she chimed in

"That's actually a good idea, you mind if I tag along?" the Racoon Faunus's face morphed into her usual cheery smile and Athena continued "We probably should actually get our bearings in the city, I mean I can barely remember the way back to the airship terminals and I only kinda remember the way to Aunt Ruby and Penny's house 'cos I got a taxi there; there's gotta be a mall or something….I wanted to restock everything before the mission and make sure nothing catches us by surprise-"

"You really don't have an off button do you?" Astra laughed "But sure, if we're all heading into the city then I'm gonna text Wolfram and see if Team WULF wanna join us….it'll be fine Diabla won't start a fight in the middle of the street"

"No that's much more your style" Athena replied slyly "But that's cute, shall we try and get Team WULF to leave you two alone for a while or-"

"Okay firstly shut up, I was literally stopping a burglary and you would have done the same; secondly shut up….with no witty comeback attached"

"None of your comebacks are witty" the Bear Faunus shot back with a roll of her eyes, the conversation fizzling out and trailing off as Regalia returned her attention to a textbook that she was glowering at as though it had personally offended her, the Racoon Faunus not allowing her inexperience with academia to beat her but hardly enjoying the process of studying whilst Astra simply drew their scroll and began typing a message to their fellow team leader despite Team WULF's dormitory only being a short distance away. After a few moments' of relative quiet Athena realised that there was one member of Team MARZ who had remained silent during the discussion and she promptly rolled off of her bunk and hoisted herself up onto Zirconia's where her partner shifted her mechanical legs to make space before brushing jet black hair that had fallen in front of one of her mismatched eyes aside and removing her headphones, Athena catching a brief snippet of what sounded like the soundtrack to something she had watched on television as a child; the kind of music that Zirconia often played more classical renditions of on her violin before the music was silenced and Zirconia stared at her partner with a silent but perfectly understood question etched into her expression.

"Uh, we were all talking about heading into the city tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" Athena asked, baffled as to why the words were difficult to utter and why even after so much time together she found herself, not exactly intimidated but almost stunned by the effortless aura of detached, aloof coolness Zirconia exuded. There were moments where the veil was lifted however and glimpses at what lay beneath could be seen and heard, with one such glimpse coming as the mysterious young woman glanced away for a fraction of a second with something akin to embarrassment before admitting

"I um….haven't spent much time just hanging around with people my own age"

"Hey I didn't really get to hang out at the mall in Atlas all that often" Athena assured her, privately delighted to find common ground with her partner "Come on it'll be fun"

"Okay" Zirconia nodded after a moment of thought before quickly adding "We should make sure we have everything we need for our first mission-"

"You too?" Astra sputtered from across the dorm, evidently having been listening "No wonder you're partners-"

"Astra shut up, you suck" Athena countered bluntly, though entirely without malice before making herself comfortable and turning back to her partner "Hey Hops, you got any preferences for our first mission?….Personally I hope it's something big, my brothers' first mission was crazy, my Mum's first mission had them walking into a White Fang base; it's gotta be something we can brag about"

"See now that's something I can agree with" Astra chimed in, once again interrupting "Give us the biggest, nastiest Grimm and let us cut loose…..probably won't be though, we'll probably end up shadowing someone dealing with small stuff. As long as we don't get stuck with perimeter defence it's fine"

"I just hope that the Hunter we're shadowing is interesting" Regalia added "If we're supposed to be learning from someone then they can't be boring who just does everything by the manual"

"That's fair" Athena nodded before turning back to Zirconia and trying once again to get the opinion of the person she had initially asked "What about you, I'm guessing you're gonna look super cool whatever mission we end up getting so-"

"I became a Hunter because I think helping people who can't defend themselves is important" the Grasshopper Faunus murmured quietly "As long as we're doing something useful, something that makes a difference to someone's life then everything else is irrelevant"

There was a moment of silence as the rest of Team MARZ found that they couldn't argue with that at all and quietly re-evaluated their own answers; a peaceful quiet that was broken by Athena-Jade's Scroll when her adoptive sister Coral called to berate the Bear Faunus for being too busy to stay in touch, much to Astra's amusement.


Barely a few dozen feet away from Team MARZ's dormitory Team WULF were in their own living quarters engaged in a similarly predictable routine.

Diabla had spent several hours after class poring over textbooks with a single-minded and resolute determination to grind through one assignment after another, Professor Arslan's stern warning prompting the self reliant and self motivated young woman to ensure that she would not be the weak link of her team or jeopardize their first training mission; eventually however Diabla's willpower had faltered enough for her to begin straining her body instead of her mind and the dormitory was currently filled with faint grunts and metallic squeaking as she used a pull-up bar that had been affixed to the frame of the bathroom door whilst clad in a pair of sweatpants and a tank-top, reaching the high triple digits as she counted to herself.

Ursinia was in the midst of a text conversation with her grandparents, the fact that the Scorpion Faunus had moved away from the small rural village she had been born and raised in being the impetus for the wizened old matriarch of the Red family to embrace modern technology, or at least attempt to with admittedly variable results though Ursinia still steadfastly to inflict even the mere concept of memes upon her Grandmother despite the insistence from her friends that it would be funny.

Wolfram was sprawled on his own bunk, shirtless and comfortable with his smokey blue, almost faded looking hair cascading over his shoulders and pooling around him after after a shower with his textbooks and the rough draft of an assignment he had truthfully been putting off for a few days now but still had no doubts that he would complete before it was due scattered haphazardly around him. Like Ursinia Wolfram was fiddling idly with his Scroll though rather than texting friends and family he was currently scowling in annoyance at the news that a local sports team he had supported since his childhood, a team whose inaugural match at their home grounds was one of the fondest memories he had of his father had been beaten soundly in their latest match; he consoled himself with the fact that he was not a gambling man and had at least not lost any Lien in the process although any further attempts to search for a silver lining were interrupted by Laser letting out a defeated sigh, Wolfram glanced in the direction of his perpetually shifty team-mate with the expectation of seeing him struggling with his own assignments however the vibrantly blonde Vaccuan was instead, somewhat predictably surrounded by a small mass of copper wiring and other easily recycled and thus easily saleable parts that had donated by or salvaged from other students during their time in the academies' workshop.

"Lost something?" Wolfram asked despite his better judgement

"Nah, I just weighed it up and it's probably gonna pay out less than I was hoping; the only scrap traders who're gonna deal with something this small are Vaccuans which means they'll wanna haggle me down to chump change" Laser replied with his usual slightly nasal inflection "It's barely worth the time or cab fare to get into the city for just this….you wanna go out, maybe find a casino…..I can make it worth your while?"

"Nah man, you're not dragging me into whatever shit you're gonna pull in a casino; I'd rather just give you the Lien myself" Wolfram shook his head only to find himself brushing still damp hair from his eyes, his current comfort far outweighing whatever amusement he might find in watching Laser cause havoc.

"Come on Wolfram, you know it'll be fun….we won't even have to be in the casino for more than hour for me to get what I need for a month or so, then we can go-"

"I said no!" Wolfram's voice was like ice and steel, the temperature almost palpably dropping as he pulled himself from his comfortable position to fix Laser with a steely gaze that made it clear that his word was final; he was willing to tolerate and help his unscrupulous friend wherever possible and had done so for months now in ways that allowed the wiry and skulking teen to keep a sense of pride and self respect however it was simply not in Wolfram to let such an open challenge or question to his leadership go unanswered.

He had been made a leader and so he would lead, there was nothing more to be said.

"What in tarnation are y'all caterwauling about now?" Ursinia demanded as she looked up from her scroll, sizeable muscles tensing in apprehension as Wolfram and Laser locked eyes, neither of them seemingly willing to allow the other the last word on the matter; a situation that was prevented from becoming needlessly volatile only by the sound of Wolfram's scroll announcing that he had a text message, upon scanning its' contents with a smile slowly creeping across his features which informed all of his room-mates about the identity of the sender he spoke again though in a much more amicable tone.

"Astra says Team MARZ are heading into Port Alistair tomorrow, says they haven't even really explored the city yet" a soft chuckle slipped from Wolfram before he caught himself and turned to Laser "So you're in luck, anyone else wanna come?"

"Not really. I was gonna spend it training" Diabla grunted, having paused her impromptu workout for at least long enough to listen and give an answer which was admittedly an improvement from Team WULF's earlier days.

"Darlin' that's about what we expect" Ursinia chuckled and no matter how clear it might've been that the comment was meant as a joke Wolfram couldn't help but wince slightly upon hearing it. Ursinia Red was beyond all doubt the glue that held Team WULF together in ways that Wolfram himself could never hope to and to see that even her warmth and kindness had run dry and that she had seemingly written of Diabla as a lost cause in terms of friendship, whilst even Laser seemed content to allow her to continue trend of isolation was uncomfortable and tugged at a part of the young man that he often tried not to acknowledge. Wolfram stared at the scroll in his hand, the message from Astra still needing a response and then glanced to Diabla and paused for a moment to consider his options and what kind of leader he wanted to be; he had no delusions about getting to the bottom of whatever Diabla's problems were in a single day, nor did he especially want to become a source of emotional support for anyone but he could not in good conscience allow his team-mate to push herself to breaking point on a daily basis alone and in silence, especially when he privately had the utmost respect for her dedication and willpower.

And so he made a decision and his decision was, as always final.

"Change of plan. We're hitting the gym tomorrow, full day session….I'll tell Astra that we can't make it" Laser's grumbling went ignored as Wolfram met Diabla's fiery stare and gave his most private team-mate a silent nod which Diabla returned, a brief look of confusion marring her features before giving way into the slightest trace of a smile which Wolfram decided then and there was worth it; the fact that Team WULF's dorm fell silent for a moment suggesting both Laser and Ursinia had seen the exchange and both understood and supported what their leader was doing.

Which still didn't stop Wolfram from privately swearing to himself that if Diabla made him regret missing a chance to hang out with Astra there would be hell to pay.


It was a small, but infinitely welcome mercy that Menagerie's often hellish climate had abated somewhat during recent weeks and that the sun currently beating down on the island Kingdoms' Capital City of Port Alistair was bright and warm without being uncomfortably so with a breeze that whipped through the streets being largely welcome and only occasionally venturing into unpleasant windiness. Summer was over yet on Menagerie it meant little and the natives would likely continue to enjoy the weather for at least another month or so.

Except for during the night, where the temperature routinely reached inhospitable lows.

Such concerns were far from Team MARZ's minds however as it was still only mid afternoon, which on a Saturday meant that there was still plenty of time for the four of them to continue exploring the city that they could all agree that they had waited far too long to venture into. They had awoken relatively early that morning, something that Athena-Jade would normally have committed some act of violence over on a weekend and quickly prepared themselves before heading into Port Alistair, using the tram system that served as the cities' primary form of public and transport which Astra had noted was comparable to the monorail network in their home city of Neo Vale, albeit far smaller and lacking the three dimensional nature of transit system built to function within a Hive City. The Deer Faunus had initially been somewhat subdued, teasing from Athena-Jade which Regalia had steadily grown more confident in adding to doing little to stir them even if their friends were entirely accurate in the assertions that Astra was only sulking because Team WULF, or specifically Wolfram Ironside had chosen not to join them; a fact that Astra would certainly deny if directly challenged however that mild gloominess had been cast aside almost the moment Team MARZ had disembarked from the first tram of many and realised just how much Port Alistair had to offer.

They had forgotten just how massive the place was.

Living at Breaktide Academy and rarely venturing outside of the campus whilst being cognizant of the fact that Menagerie was by far the youngest and smallest of the Kingdoms had allowed them to forget that Port Alistair was a Capital and boasted all of the amenities and tourist attractions one might expect; something that had filled Regalia with an utterly uncontainable sense of wonder that demanded to be satisfied and with that in mind her team-mates, at Astra's discretion had turned what had initially been little more than a glorified supply run into a trip to an animal shelter which doubled as a zoo, the facility being the only place on Menagerie where many animals that had been introduced to the Kingdom could be found in their original and unaltered forms. Following this Team MARZ had made their way into the bustling heart of the city where the Racoon Faunus had been awed by the biggest cinema she had ever seen and promised herself that she would attend a movies' premiere screening there one day.

Athena-Jade and Zirconia had tried to remain at least partially focused on their original goals for the day, taking small notes to familiarise themselves with the way to important directions and where tram stops and other facilities were in case they were ever stranded without their scrolls however this had quickly given way to Athena delighting at the sheer amount of posters and other advertisements showing products sponsored by not only Ruby and Penny Rose, but also their children and her cousins the twins Summer-Pyrrha and Tai-Jaune which had led to the Bear Faunus snapping as many pictures next to them as she could and sending them to not only her siblings but the cousins in question, much to their exasperation. Zirconia had stared longingly at an art gallery and a building that was promised to become the first museum of Menagerie's history, promising herself that she would return to them soon although any air of sophistication or mystery that she might have had was promptly ruined when the Grasshopper was so enraptured by street musicians that she revealed her sheltered and privileged background by trying to pay one with a credit card.

Astra, as always wanting to display an air of unflappable coolness and collected calm had tried their best to seem above it all; reminding his team-mates that they were from a Capital City themselves only to be promptly shushed by Regalia and reminded by Athena-Jade and Zirconia that they too hailed from Capital Cities. Following this the Deer Faunus had simply allowed themselves to be honest and simply enjoy the day only to find themselves disgruntled even further still when something about their behaviour brought street vendors peddling wares clearly intended for tourists flocking towards them; a mild dilemma which Astra had responded to by simply rolling with the punches.

Much to their friends' amusement.

"You look tacky as hell" Athena laughed, making sure to get several photographs.

"No idea what you mean" Astra shrugged, smile tugging at their lips as they adjusted their jacket and popped its' collar once again whilst beneath the fiery red garment their usual sleeveless black gi and red belt had been replaced by a white t-shirt emblazoned with the words 'I came to Menagerie and all I got was this T-shirt to hide the sunburn' which had been sold to them by a vendor who had apparently once run a similar venture in Vaccuo.

"We look great" Regalia nodded in agreement, her signature goggles were absent and instead she wore a pair of ludicrously oversized and heavily tinted translucent sunglasses which were shaped to resembled the blades once wielded by Fox Alistair, the Hunter and member of Team CFVY whom the city was named after and whose weapons formed part of Breaktide Academies' emblem.

"Shall we ask Professor Adel for her opinion on your fashion choices?" Zirconia asked, almost coyly though with her signature cape like scarf lowered and hanging loose around her neck the slight smirk she wore was plain to see.

"Frankly my dear I don't give a damn" Regalia quipped back in a voice far removed from her own, clearly quoting some classic movie or other which earned a round of laughter until a particularly fierce gust of wind rustled the clothes and hair of the four teens and served as a reminder to Athena

"Hey, you think maybe we should find a Dust store or something….we still need to take care of stuff"

"Uh yeah sure" Astra shrugged "Which way?"

"I have….absolutely no idea" Athena admitted, shuffling slightly as she realised her oversight "I didn't think this city was so big, I didn't think I'd need to search for one beforehand"

"We could ask…." Zirconia trailed off, realised the folly of that line of thought as she turned slowly on the spot and saw just how many people were going without their business without sparing the four of them so much as a glance.

"Let me help" Regalia grinned, tapping at her temple and allowing her eyes to become slightly unfocused as she activated her Semblance; only for her expression to falter

"What's up?" Astra enquired

"There's just….so much here" the former nomad mouthed the words out slowly "I tried to use Look-See to hone in on Dust but it's everywhere, I can't get anything specific"

"Okay" the Deer Faunus nodded, understanding the limitations of their partners abilities "We'll split up and search in pairs for the stuff we need….we can meet somewhere in the city or back at Breaktide later?"

"If you're sure?" Athena-Jade cocked her head, not entirely sold on the idea but not wanting to voice her misgivings.

"Yeah it'll be fine" Astra shrugged "I need to find a mall anyway, these sneakers have been wrecked since the field trip"

"Then let's go" Zirconia said simply, something of the stoic and focused demeanour she affected when in battle rising to the surface now that she had a goal to apply herself to; with no more to be said the Grasshopper turned and simply chose a direction to set off in, placing a hand on Athena's broad and muscular shoulder as she went with the Bear Faunus surprising even herself with how willingly she allowed herself to be guided away.

"So do you have any idea where we should be looking?" Regalia asked quietly, reluctantly accepting that it was time to focus on more practical matters.

"Yeah, I'm from-"

"A big city, you said" she cut off her partners' somewhat smug comment with a sigh only for Astra to reply with a finger gun and a wink

"Exactly" they laughed "So we're looking for a mall, any mall is gonna have somewhere selling Dust and even if it isn't the grade we need the staff there will know where to get it….So, how do we find a mall on a Saturday, simple we look for the teenagers heading to the mall and follow them; can't miss they'll all be annoying as hell"

"That, actually makes sense" Regalia blinked in surprise as she realised how obvious her partners' rationale was even to someone like her, whose only real experience with massive shopping centres was seeing them in movies.

"Honestly….it's kinda like being back home" Astra admitted before spotting a group of youths and deciding to set off after them, noting as they did that somehow the air of control that they affected suddenly felt a little less forced; the welcome familiarity giving them a sense of confidence that they had been lacking since the title of team leader had been placed on their shoulders.


If Team WULF had been privy to just how much Team MARZ were enjoying their first foray into Port Alistair its' members would likely have mutinied against Wolfram for deciding against joining them.

The four of them had, as planned spent the majority of the day thus far in the campus gym which was relatively well attended even on a Saturday, with many students choosing to catch up on parts of their fitness routines that they might have allowed themselves a little too much leeway with during the week due to the demands of their classes which in turn left many of the machines, free weights, other equipment and sparring mats occupied though not to such an extent that Team WULF had needed to wait, something that Wolfram was pleased with albeit in a grim and frightening way as it allowed him to push his team harder and further, in his mind waiting for space to become available in addition to any breaks between sets would have led to a training regimen that was far too lax for his liking.

Ursinia was currently using a treadmill that had been modified to suit those with an unlocked Aura and pushing herself to an absurd degree, a glistening sheen of sweat coating her and her hair being freed from its' customary twin braids and worn in a deep scarlet afro that was kept from becoming obtrusive by a bandanna wrapped around her forehead as she was forced to break into a full sprint for several minutes at a time; the herculean task having been demanded of her by Wolfram who had noticed that whilst his partner was easily one of the strongest and most physically intimidating students in their class her stamina could still be improved. Life on a farm had given her a degree of hardiness that would be impressive to any civilian but could easily by matched or outpaced by many of the monsters that the students would soon find themselves hunting.

Laser's hand to hand combat had been deemed lacking and unacceptable, the wiry teen was certainly capable of overwhelming one or even several opponents through misdirection, trickery and underhanded tactics that bordered on viciousness all disguised with countless dramatic flourishes yet in terms of simple, raw stopping power the Vaccuan teen left a lot to be desired and so Wolfram had enlisted the help of Team BASL and the Fox Faunus Basil Underbrush was currently sparring with Laser as part of a mixture of weight training and boxing.

Wolfram intended to help with his team-mates' only partially voluntary self improvement soon enough and despite the grumblings of those same friends he was more than willing to push himself to the same extremes that he demanded of others and had already managed to leave Ursinia deeply concerned for both his health and sanity by breaking first boards, then bricks and then progressing to sheet Atlesian steel until his hands were bloodied and bruised in an effort to condition his body until the recoil of his weapon no longer pained him.

Currently however he was spotting for Diabla.

The final member of Team WULF was the one who, as expected needed no guidance or pointers in her workout and was currently bench-pressing an impressive amount, her Semblance only giving her an illusion of strength in the form of increased damage output meaning that the single-minded Huntress still needed to train for those situations were other applications of physical abilities were needed. Wolfram had volunteered to spot for his team-mate not because he doubted her technique but instead because he had finally forced himself to admit that it was time to tackle Diabla's personal problems, whatever they might be.

A task that the young man found himself wholly unprepared for.

"You okay?" he began in his usual gruff tone, taking a swig from his water bottle and already regretting starting the conversation. Diabla let of a strained grunt that might have been an answer is she lowered the weight bar back into place.

"I've got this" she hissed out, sucking in a sharp lungful of air and wiping her brow with the back of her hand. Wolfram considered simply leaving the matter there only to promptly curse at himself inwardly for the weakness he was showing; he had been made a leader and he would lead, personal comfort be damned.

"I don't just mean this" he sighed, leaning over the bench and gently resting on the bar to prevent Diabla from lifting it "I mean are you okay?….I'm supposed to look out for you guys and I never know if I should be worrying about you or not-"

"Why would you worry, I do my job" there was something bitter and angry creeping into her tone which Wolfram thought might be progress in a twisted kind of way.

"And you do it well, really well" he nodded "But it's all you do though….We have to drag you anywhere we go otherwise you'll spend every day either here, the shooting range, the workshop or the library. Diabla we've been here for months and you haven't made any friends"

"I didn't come here to make-"

"Yeah I know, I get it, you've said it enough times" Wolfram fought the urge to snap "So you're not a people person, cool I get that but work with me here….we've been sleeping in the same room and I don't know shit about you, hell I still don't know what the thing with you and Slate a while back was about"

"Oh that's not finished, we'll settle up-"

"Don't" Wolfram raised a hand, preferring to have plausible deniability "Just level with me, we're all grown ups here and I don't wanna be in your business unless I have to be….Just tell me if you're not okay, if there's something going on at home that you need to deal with….I don't think I've ever heard you mention your family" Diabla's fiery orange eyes seemed to burn with some deep and unfathomable fury for a moment before her entire body seemed to crumple to such a degree that Wolfram doubted she could lift the weights above her if she tried whilst grief, sadness and something else that Wolfram couldn't quite articulate filled her features and after a tense, awkward moment she spoke; her harsh and biting Mantle accent sounding more vulnerable and open than her team-mate would have thought possible.

"I don't have a family Wolfram"

"Oh….oh shit" his hands ran through his hair and his steely grey eyes widened as he searched for anything to say "Look, you know about my old man right….I get it, if you wanna talk about it-"

"Absolutely fucking not" the usual fire and venom was back in her voice and Wolfram was almost glad to hear it as she added "It's not the same, I….No, we're not doing this I don't want your fucking pity"

"Good 'cos you weren't gonna get it" Wolfram snorted, the scathing retort seemed to calm Diabla, anchoring her and bringing the conversation back to a level that she had a frame of reference for.

"I earn everything I get" she muttered, cryptic words coming as a guttural snarl before she let out a sigh and added "Either get off the bar and let me lift or get out of my way so I can find a punchbag….I wanna hit something"

"Hey! Are you two seriously slacking off after the boot camp shit you've put us through today!" the furious accusation came from Laser and echoed through the gym, causing a wave of raucous laughter and jeers that Wolfram had no intention of allowing to go unanswered; if Laser wanted to continue questioning and challenging his decisions then there would have to be swift and severe consequences.

An answer to that particular conundrum entered the gym only a moment later.

The student body parted like a wave as Headmistress Coco Adel and Student Counsellor Yatsuhashi Daichi strode into the gym side by side, both dressed in gym clothes and clearly ready to begin sizeable training sessions of their own; Wolfram watched as Professor Adel, a Huntress whom the word formidable failed to adequately describe held out her fists so that her former team-mate could tape and wrap them and an idea quickly formed in a stroke of pure, spiteful genius. He locked eyes with Laser, whose visage morphed into stricken terror as he realised exactly what kind of sacrificial play his team leader was about to make.

"Wolfram no" he mouthed.

"Wolfram yes" he mouthed back before turning to Coco and calling out in a far too innocent voice that convinced nobody "Professor Adel! I know it's a Saturday and your day off but I'm trying to make sure I've got all the bases covered before our mission, I wanna make sure we're ready for anything….Kinda feels like we should be training against the best"

"Oh you're gutsy kid" Coco chortled in response to the open declaration of war from the freshman student "I'll tell you what….the four of you against me, no Semblances; let's see if you've got those bases covered"

"Thank you Professor" Wolfram nodded, stepping away from the weights and allowing to rise whilst pointedly ignoring the murderous looks Laser and Ursinia were shooting him even as he forced his own doubts and concerns aside; he was not foolish enough to think that he could actually win the fight he had just agreed to after all, instead it was simply a matter of remaining conscious and upright for long enough to maintain a measure of self respect.

"Well" he shrugged, turning to Diabla and offering a smirk that she did not return "You wanted to hit something….think you can hit her?"


The sun was already far passed its' zenith, though it was still yet to dip below the skyline of Port Alistair and instead painted the horizon in a gleaming gold that was reflected from countless surfaces in the distance whilst the inevitable freezing chill that would come with nightfall was kept at bay a while longer as Astra and Regalia made their through streets that were far less crowded than those of the inner city.

The two of them had found the mall they had been looking far and contacted their team-mates, with Athena-Jade transferring a generous amount of Lien to the Dust Faunus's account along with a series of specifications so that they could buy the Dust for the entire team; from there Astra had eagerly sought out a new pair of pristine white and it all honesty equally impractical white sneakers to replace the worn out, faded and battered pair that they were currently sporting whilst Regalia had been taken in by the sheer size and scope of the shopping mall yet at the same time finding its' bustling confines far less claustrophobic that she might have expected after a childhood spent within the metallic gangways of the Aiktishaf. Eventually the pair had departed and set out in search of something else to occupy their time, which was had the two of them had found themselves meandering through streets in what seemed to be a largely residential area that they were not entirely sure how they had found their way to, a faint but unmistakable scent in the air informing them that they were heading roughly in the direction of the docks or at the very least the coast.

"I think we're lost" Astra finally admitted after trying to ignore the reality for a while, adjusting the weight of the bag slung over their shoulder "Wanna head back?"

"I can find the way back anytime" Regalia answered brightly, far more certain of her Semblances' abilities at this distance from the centre of the city "Hey these houses….are these like where you grew up?"

"Way nicer" Astra answered honestly "Where I grew up….you saw those big tower blocks a while back; think kinda like those but more cramped"

"That….doesn't seem like a lot of room for anyone" Regalia noted as she tried to estimate how many families lived within the grey utilitarian slabs of Atlas-inspired architecture and then compare that against the cramped innards of the dune crawler she had been raised aboard.

"It isn't" Astra confirmed "Honestly, wasn't exactly the nicest or safest place to grow up but y'know we made do with what he had; my parents did everything they could"

"You miss your family too?" Regalia asked, noticing the way Astra's shoulders sagged slightly; the Deer Faunus seemed to be on more than pleasant terms with his family and spoke them regularly, the Racoon Faunus herself having briefly encountered the working class couple by appearing in the back of a video call.

"Yeah" Astra nodded "I wish we could talk more….I mean we talk pretty often so I dunno, I wish we could talk about more maybe?"

"Heh my Mum thinks I'm an odd little duck too" Regalia snorted, unable to keep a smile from her face at the term of endearment her mother had for her.

"Mum and Dad were never sold on the idea of me being a Hunter, Dad still thinks it's Felix being a bad influence on me….And since Felix isn't his kid things can get a little tense between everyone" Astra explained, speaking more openly about his family dynamic that he had expected to before shrugging nonchalantly and forcing a smile into place "Parents though right? I love 'em and I know they're supporting me….I just wish they got it y'know, like they actually saw what I'm trying to do"

"They will" Regalia assured them, suddenly resolute "My Mum's starting too, yours will too"

"I mean Felix has literally saved the world and Mum's still more bothered about the injuries he got doing it" the Deer Faunus fought back a grimace before adding "I mean okay it was an arm but still….all of Remnant"

"You really look up to him?" Regalia asked, knowing the answer before ever seeing Astra's nod "I hope I get to meet him some day, all Hunters are cool but your brother sounds like one of the coolest"

"He is" Astra's chest puffed up with pride, the effortless charisma that their half brother exuded was something the Deer Faunus had tried to model themselves after "So, anything else you wanna do today? I thought I might be able to find some cheaper stores out here, I don't wanna keep paying those prices unless AJ wants to keep paying but I think we're on the wrong side of town for Lien store bargains"

"There's so much" Regalia answered, suddenly giddy at the thought "None of the settlements my clan visit are anything like this city, there's so much stuff I've only ever seen in movies here….I mean we went to a zoo today! I wanna see every-" Regalia fell silent and cocked her head in confusion whilst Astra whipped round, shifting their weight and raising their fists as a sudden commotion reached their ears.

"There!" the Deer Faunus hissed out as they honed in on the source of the noise only for their eyes to widen a fraction "Wait….is that Professor Scarlatina's kid?"

"I think it is" Regalia affirmed and the two of them watched in shocked and confused silence as the dark haired and notably tall Rabbit Faunus who greatly resembled his parents picked himself up off of the ground and dusted himself off, adjusting his jacket and checking a pair of sneakers that put Astra's to shame for any sign of dirt or damage before throwing a series of obscene gestures in the general direction of what Astra quickly realised was a small, family owned convenience store that they deduced only a moment later that the Rabbit Faunus had just been thrown out of.

"Okay something's going on here, let's find out what" Astra murmured to Regalia before setting off, crossing the road and making their way over to the younger teen at a brisk pace whilst trying their best not to seem aggressive or threatening.

"Hey kid….you live at Breaktide right? The Professors' kid….Fox?"

"Yeah" the boy nodded, panicked tension giving way to a sense of visible smugness "Oh I know you guys, you're on AJ's team"

"How come you just got thrown out?" Regalia asked, nodding to the store and instantly reverting Fox back to their skittish and guilty nervousness.

"Relax man I'm not gonna tell your parents" Astra laughed, pausing for a moment before adding "Unless you got caught stealing, then you deserve it"

"I'm not stealing" Fox snapped hotly, letting out a disgruntled huff before giving a real answer "Look, I used to date Ruby Rose's daughter and some of her friends said there's a party tonight; they're all in college now but they said I can come if I can get my own drinks"

"College block party, nice" Astra mused, reminiscing about several such instances from recent years that they privately swore their mother would never know of.

"Beach party" Fox corrected

"Even better" Astra grinned, disregarding the cold that those attending such a party would have to contend with.

"Right" Fox smirked "But I just got turfed out, I didn't wanna risk using fake ID in case they recognise me and call my parents….Hey….You guys are student Hunters, you've got ID; come on you've gotta help me out"

"Gotta is a strong word" Astra noted, not liking the idea of being strong-armed but still willing to play along.

"Come on it's a college beach party" Fox whined "Everyone there is gonna be hot, it's probably the last one of the year, the DJs are awesome and you're Hunters….come on everyone will love you guys! Besides the party isn't on the main beach, it's in one of the little coves where there's a blind spot"

"That sounds….either really suspicious or really stupid" Regalia noted, something about the last part of the explanation catching her attention.

"You make a convincing offer though" Astra chuckled, folding their arms across their chest and making a show of giving the idea some consideration before turning to Regalia "I mean we could buy him some drinks if we were feeling generous….what do you think, is 'probably illegal beach rave' on the list of things you wanted to try out in this city"

All misgivings from a moment ago were promptly forgotten and Regalia's bright purple eyes were wide with excitement as she considered the idea and nodded enthusiastically; realising that the offer was something straight out of a movie and that she would be a fool to not try it at least once.


Whilst Astra and Regalia were continuing to familiarise themselves with the central hub of Port Alistair and it's immediate surroundings Athena-Jade and Zirconia had taken advantage of the fact that their Dust and other purchases had been attended to by enjoying a pleasant afternoon, wherein the Bear Faunus entertained herself by trying to deduce anything she could about her partner from the occasional scraps of information that the mysterious young woman occasionally provided.

Initially the pair had returned to the art gallery that Team MARZ had passed earlier that day and Athena had thoroughly enjoyed herself watching as Zirconia had flitted from one exhibit to the next, her rasping yet cultured voice more excited and body language more animated than Athena could remember seeing as she explained the context and history of each piece that caught her attention, revealing an expansive vocabulary and wealth of knowledge as she did so. Athena herself had been more than happy to simply take it all in and enjoy her partners' company; the smaller and vastly more muscular of the two Faunus had more than a little knowledge of classic art and various schools of thought surrounding it as any student subjected to the rigours of an Atlesian private school was expected to, though her knowledge of modern art was barely passable and she would freely admit that she preferred other creative mediums even in the rare instances that she did have enough free time to explore them.

Currently however the two of them were watching the sun slowly set from comfortable seats outside of a cafe situated on the edge of an open plaza, the peaceful silence between them being broken by Athena as her sapphire eyes narrowed into a focused squint and she offered a hypothesis.

"Vaccuan Dust mine, I know they're officially nationalised by the Kingdom but….something involving them"

"Excuse me?" Zirconia arched an eyebrow and gave her a bemused expression.

"I'm still trying to figure you out Hops" the Bear Faunus flashed a toothy grin as she leaned back precariously on her seat and continued "Private education, top of the line cybernetics, more Dust than even I carry on me and my family own the SDC….you're rich, like filthy rich but I don't know you, all the super rich and famous families meet each other and galas and balls, not just the ones from Atlas but I've never met a Shadowmoon before; so either you're related to a crime family….Or your family doesn't have any business in Atlas, which means it's probably a Vaccuan Dust mine"

"That is indeed solid reasoning, an astounding level of deduction" Zirconia's mismatched pink and orange eyes twinkled as she leaned across the small table the two shared and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper "But completely incorrect and based on a false premise….you assume that my guardian and I have the same name"

"You don't….Well I….dammit" Athena grumbled, slumping forwards on her chair and folding her arms across her chest in a pout; Zirconia gave a quiet laugh, though her eyes darted downwards and her expression faltered by a barely perceptible fraction as she offered an explanation "I'm adopted, I lost my parents when I was a child but I never gave up their name….An old friend of my father took me in, that's part of why he's so protective of me and why I never really had many chances to make friends"

"Rich girl problems right?" Athena snorted, slumping forwards further still and allowing her elbows to rest on the edge of the table before gesturing to their surroundings and mumbling "Honestly just hanging out like this, in the middle of a city like I'm anybody else….I could never do this growing up in Atlas, it was always either at the manor or a friends' mansion"

"I can imagine that your parents had to struggle to give you any amount of privacy from the press" Zirconia nodded in understanding "My guardian….he's a private man, none of his enterprises have his name directly attached to them; but your family are one of the most well known in Remnant and you….well, you're easy to spot in a crowd"

"I mean as long as it's a crowd of eleven year old kids, otherwise I'll get lost in it" Athena snorted, Zirconia being quietly thankful that her partner had seemingly missed the way she had fumbled her words.

"It's not just the press" Athena added quietly "Sometimes it's not safe to be as high profile as my family is….especially considering who my family are-" she trailed off, her words interrupted by a long yawn that made her jaw pop audibly; as she stretched and made herself comfortable again she was left rubbing the back of her recently reapplied undercut upon seeing Zirconia staring at her intently, the Grasshopper Faunus turning the tables and studying Athena before speaking quietly

"Is that what keeps you awake at night?" Athena sputtered and tried to deflect the question but Zirconia continued "I know you had regular nightmares when we first joined the academy, I know that you still have them sometimes….Perhaps I'm prying but if you want to talk about-"

"Good evening, can I take your orders? Also, the manager would like to offer you a complimentary Saturday special!" a cheery and chirpy voice, though one that was obviously false and forced; a thin veneer of pleasantry stretched over the soulless gulf that customer service left in its' wake and both Athena and Zirconia turned swiftly and with sudden jerking motions to see the waitress that had approached them whilst they were distracted just as she placed a single, oversized milkshake between the two of them.

"Uh...no thank you" Athena-Jade answered absently to which the waitress responded by retreating away with a smile. Athena sipped at the milkshake, using it as a convenient excuse to not immediately answer Zirconia's questions about the nightmares that she had not kept to herself as well as she had hoped only for her partner to deliver another utterly stunning series of words.

"Why did they give us one drink with two straws?" Athena blinked in confusion then looked down at the milkshake she was still currently drinking from and upon realising that Zirconia was correct was promptly left choking and sputtering, pushing the glass away from herself and thumping at her chest to clear her airways before finally managing to wheeze out a mortified answer.

"Oh my Oum….they, they think this is a date!"

"Why?" Zirconia looked utterly nonplussed and more nonchalant than Athena could comprehend at that moment, after a few moments of indescribable awkwardness wherein the Bear Faunus tried to ignore the fact that her cheeks were currently crimson, her outfit was now stained by strawberry milkshake and find any words at all she was granted respite by the sound of her scroll vibrating, only for fate to display a twisted sense of humour.

"Astra has managed to find a 'probably' illegal beach rave and they're asking if we want to come" she explained, answering Zirconia's silent question "This sounds sketchy, so I guess we're gonna have to go and stop them from doing something stupid-"

"And that decision has nothing at all to do with the fact that you're interested in the idea of an illegal beach rave?" Zirconia's uneven gaze twinkled with rare mischief once again and Athena-Jade grumbled wordlessly before letting out a begrudging sigh.

"I mean kinda, it probably won't end on the news here right? y'know 'Weiss Schnee's daughter goes wild' or whatever other trash they come up with"

"Probably not" Zirconia nodded "And to be entirely honest….I have always been mildly interested in seeing what the appeal of these parties is" Athena heard her partners words and a toothy grin split her face as the two of them shared a conspiratorial look, the Bear Faunus feeling as though she had been given license as she rose from her seat and wiped her outfit down.

"I'll tell 'em we're on the way".

Author's Notes:

So, we're basically doing another "Two parter" like the last two chapters were although this will have even more character building in comparison to the amount of action.
Then we'll be going into the volume finale.
Also, off topic but I'm considering writing some more My Hero Academia stories although I haven't got any concrete ideas planned out yet; I also watched Jujutsu Kaisen and naturally the amount of ideas that the show set up but didn't fully explore makes me want to write something.
On top of that….we all saw the leaked CW Powerpuff Girls script and how utterly abysmal it was; well I shared some rough ideas from an old group chat I was in some years ago and it got a fair amount of traction which means I might even end up writing a Powerpuff Girls story….because why the hell not.

That being said, let's summarise shall we?:
Okay so I know I've jumped ahead by a month a couple times now but honestly that's just time works, weeks blend together….especially this last year also Vol.01 of this story is gonna end at roughly the same point in the year as Vol.2 did in canon, namely the end of the first mission.
Team MARZ and WULF are steadily becoming 'Those' teams of their year group.
Astra is a pansexual disaster.
Nice little recap of how things are going, AJ still wants to be the best but she's not being a total ass about it now and it's more healthy.
Arslan knows better than to have the girl with the laser cannon and the girl with the pistol grip grenade launcher use their weapons in her classroom….But you can't tell me you didn't want to see this fight.
AJ just does not have the one liners for this….I mean Astra isn't much better, Regalia just steals from movies and Zirconia goes for silent bad-ass so it's something they all need to work on.
More set up for the upcoming mission, I mentioned it at the start of the field trip as well just because I don't want it coming from nowhere.
If you're stuck doing assignments on a Friday you have my sympathies.
Yeah it's finally time to actually explore the setting, y'know that big city outside of the campus walls.
"I trust you with my life….but not with my food" we all have a friend like that….and Regalia just making the most absurd concoctions ever is on brand, and also something I have been known to do.
The bickering between AJ and Astra is great.
Zirconia, manages to look cool and brooding even when she's doing homework whilst listening to anime soundtracks…..In my head she was listening to "Mukanjyo" by Survive Said the Prophet, it's the Vinland Saga opening.
Of course they all wanna be super bad-ass on their first mission.
Diabla needs to get a hobby.
Ursinia is a mood, I've had to teach my Nan how a smartphone works.
I'm gonna say something controversial but, when Wolfram lets his hair down it has the same effect as Ren letting his down, there's more than one….I wanna say Wolf-Sexual, but I know how the internet would take that.
Also I make a couple of references to things like a team and stadiums first match or the museum opening to remind people just how relatively young Menagerie is as a Kingdom.
Did Wolfram overreact, absolutely….Is whatever Laser was planning on doing some bullshit that should probably be nipped in the bud, also yes.
See he's absolutely an abrasive ass-hole, but there's a good guy under there somewhere….Or at least a friend and leader good enough to stop Diabla from isolating herself.
When I was writing the centre of Port Alistair I was thinking of when I visited London, specifically around Oxford street.
Someone pointed out that the start of "Before the Dawn" actually reads a little like the start of my first RWBY story "The Downward Spiral" and while I'm not sure I agree you can consider the novelty t-shirt here my answer to the ones from there.
"Frankly my dear I don't give a damn" of course she said that, of course she did.
Regalia's Semblance has limits.
Astra's logic works, I personally don't need to use it though I have some sort of homing instinct that will take me to Footlocker in any city.
Wolfram is that mother-fucker in the gym, training in a baggy hoodie and a beanie hat, not even listening to music; the one that's there to fight demons.
There are no words for how much Wolfram does not want to be having this talk.
She doesn't have a family….notice how she never said they're dead though.
Wolfram Ironside everybody, he is completely happy to get his ass kicked by Coco as long as Laser learns some manner in the process.
Honestly the Astra and Regalia talk was fun, the two pairs of partners in Team MARZ are actually really similar in some ways and with these two it's that they know their families would prefer it if they weren't Hunters.
Okay so we won't see Team FADE for the first mission that Team MARZ go on, but it's definitely not ruled out.
Regalia in a big city is like a kid in a sweet shop.
Fox, seems like an ass but honestly he suffers from the same problem that Whitley does in canon; namely that he's a normal teenager surrounded by super-people.
So remember how there's defences around Menagerie's coast that Athena saw on the flight there….this party is in a blind spot.
So Athena-Jade took Zirconia to an art gallery and proceeded to watch her get all excited about it.
See what I said about the partners being similar, AJ and Zirconia are both used to being sheltered/singled out because of their family name or money.
Oh we nearly got a proper heart to heart….don't worry there's gonna be pay-off.
Okay but hear me out, was the waitress really that far wrong though? Also if anybody is starting to ship these two their ship name is "Buggy with the Bear"….and if you get that joke then congrats, you're as '90s as I am.
See there's the thing Athena-Jade tries to be the responsible one but deep down, she wants to be at that party just as much as Astra.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I can't imagine Regalia ever letting a sidecar happen to Clunker.
You made a Transformers G1 joke…..congrats, you are now my new favourite reviewer.
Yeah, I think you posted your review literally as I was formatting the chapter for posting on Ao3.
It was you! I knew someone mentioned a Locust Grimm before.
Ruby is indeed a troll and mama RUsset is indeed a bad-ass.
Okay so it just hit me...With Regalia idolising a culture that she hadn't really lived in and only really experienced through movies and other pop-culture before joining the academy...Does that make her the equivalent to a Weeaboo in this context?

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