Black mist filled the air as the bodies of Grimm disintegrated into nothing, falling left and right to the blows and blasts of the seven young warriors as they marched the path that had, before the arrival of these Grimm, been the sole connector between two sister towns, the more westerly town having been the one to hire Teams LCA and SBNZ to clear the beasts from the route to reopen vital trade. It was a job LCA was happy to take, where they could let SBNZ act on their own devices but also help them should anything go awry, although hitherto the task had been remarkably simple on account of there being seven huntsmen at work, three of whom were nearly peerless in their field and four of whom were becoming remarkable for their level.
The sound of Laura's signature weapons echoed throughout the woods as the two teams mowed down the monsters, slashing and bludgeoning and burning all of the Ursai, Creepers, and the odd Beowulf that arrived on the scene to avenge their fallen kind, as Conailte continuously returned to and from the town to patrol what they had covered already and ensure the group wasn't flanked or cut off.
Suddenly, the soothing yet commanding voice of Laura Thrush came over everyone's earpieces with an announcement. "Everyone, I see the town. We're nearly done here, one final push should do it."
Beril shot another fireball before turning to Melantha. "Think we might kill more of these than you, if you add it all up."
Melantha gave no response, instead activating the hardlight dust within Reticent Tempest to lengthen the weapon to its nine-foot limit before throwing the sword spinning horizontally like a buzzsaw, effortlessly cleaving through almost every Grimm remaining on the path before Melantha activated the gravity dust in her cloak, pulling the weapon back to cut through the small number of Grimm that had moved onto the path as she brought the weapon to her hands before smirking at the younger girl, whose own smirk had broken into a mouth agape with shock as Melantha finally retorted, "I think you shouldn't get too cocky."
Beril only had time to shut her mouth before Laura's voice was again heard over the speakers. "Melantha, go check the path with Conailte, I'll keep the kids safe and let them handle the rest. We took this mission for them, remember."
The students did exactly as Laura ordered, with Melantha rushing back down the path as Noll bludgeoned the creatures with his flagpole, Sophie slashed them with her twin swords, Beril blasted them with her fireballs, and Phoenix gunned them down with her automatic rifle.
"This stuff feels so much easier now!" Noll exclaimed.
"It feels just like the training exercises at the Academy, even though it's so much worse." Phoenix agreed.
"That's probably because of our training with LCA," Sophie added while slashing through an Ursa. "We're so much stronger now that the harder stuff feels as easy as the old stuff."
"You think we'll ever get as good as LCA?" Beril questioned. Nobody seemed to have an answer, but the job was soon finished as the last of the Grimm fell to Phoenix's hooksword.
As Laura descended to the ground to meet the team, she saw a man running towards all of them, and walked to meet him. "Can we help you, sir? I'm a huntress, and these four are students my team and I are training."
"That's exactly what we need!" The wearied man exclaimed. "Grimm tunneled into our town's power station and shut the whole thing down, and we haven't been able to get in to fix it! We were trying to get the message over the road, but the Grimm were blocking that too!"
"We should have just finished clearing the road, so we'll come over and see what we can do." Laura answered him before activating her earpiece. "Conailte, if the job's finished, collect the reward and come back along the path. Melantha, you come back too, we've got a new mission."
Conailte and Melantha arrived to join the rest of their compatriots, and Conailte spoke first. "I got the payment, and we're awaiting further orders."
Laura nodded. "We need to clear the Grimm out of the power station, keep any more from coming in, and get the station back online. In the meantime, the townies could use help with other tasks, like log cutting."
"Noll and I can get on chopping," Conailte offered. "Always good to have a little 'guy time,' right?"
"Noll, do you want to do that?" Laura asked the younger boy.
"Sounds good to me," the student answered, and Laura nodded.
"I think we can handle the station well enough." Laura mused, before turning back to Conailte. "Make it so. We'll call you two if we need you."
"Alright," Noll answered before turning to Conailte. "But we're not doing any betting. I don't have the money to lose."
Conailte chuckled. "There's other ways to have fun with it. Let's get to work."
As the boys wandered off to get on with their work, Laura turned to the girls. "Alright ladies, let's get the station cleared of Grimm before we figure out what needs to be done from there."
"Beril, Phoenix, you two stick with me. Laura and Melantha can handle themselves."
"Uh-huh, and let's hear what our actual orders are." Beril retorted, turning to Laura, who frowned for a moment before answering.
"Sophie's right. You three stick together." Laura's eyes met Sophie's for a moment, and the faunus could read the younger leader's hurt pride before Sophie glanced away, and Laura sighed as she led the way to the power station with the other four girls in tow.
Sophie's tactics were very defensive ones: never attacking first, she would keep one sword outstretched to block the next strike and keep the other ready for a counterattack, and especially against smaller Grimm like the ones that filled the power station this tactic worked rather well, as every Beowulf and Centinel that struck her was rapidly cut down in retaliation. Phoenix was, of course, weaving through the Grimm with her hooksword, her semblance contorting her body to constantly avoid the slashes of the monsters. Beril struggled in hand-to-hand with the Grimm, and shouted in exasperation.
"I can't use my fireballs or they'll hit something, but punching Grimm is tough!"
"Go ahead and use your fireballs," Melantha answered as she kicked a Centinel across the room and slashed through a Beowulf. "I'll neutralize them before they can damage anything else." To demonstrate her point, Melantha threw a bomb across the building, hitting a Centinel between two important-looking machines, and as the explosion killed the Grimm the shrapnel and fire headed for them turned into smoke before impact was made, mitigating property damage.
Beril activated her weapon and smirked. "Lucky me." The girl blasted her fireballs at all visible targets, and each one turned into smoke before it could hit anything else, including Laura's bracelets which flew throughout the room and put out low-power blasts to stagger the monsters as the others cut them down. As their numbers dwindled and the crew moved into the next room, they saw a gaping hole in the wall leading into a long tunnel without any light visible on the other side.
"That must be how they got in!" Phoenix realized. "The centinels made the tunnel, and the rest of the Grimm are just coming in through it!"
"Then we'll need to figure out how to seal it once we're done." Laura added.
Sophie turned to Beril. "Beril, you cover the tunnel while we deal with the Grimm already inside."
"You always give me the boring jobs!" Beril scowled as she turned her aim towards the hole and began firing. The rest of the group made quick work of the remaining Grimm before they gathered in the center of the room.
"How are we going to close the tunnel?" Beril asked.
"Noll uses earth dust in his flag." Melantha noted. "We could use that to seal the tunnel, and I could use gravity dust to reinforce the walls so they can't come in again."
"I can go grab Noll's weapon," Phoenix volunteered. "I don't want to pull him away from what he's doing with Conailte."
Laura nodded. "Make it so." As Phoenix left, Laura turned to Sophie. "May I have a word with you, in private?"
"Of course," Sophie answered, and the two moved into a side room away from Melantha and Beril, the former of whom stopped Beril from walking any closer to eavesdrop.
"Does Beril normally treat you like that?" Laura asked the younger leader.
Sophie sighed. "She's a little bit prickly, yeah. She'll usually do what I say eventually, but normally not without making some stink about it."
Laura folded her arms as she spoke. "That behavior is unacceptable, Sophie, and it stops now."
Sophie stood perplexed. "What- why are you telling me that? You should be telling Beril!"
"I can't make her respect you. I'm willing to help you figure out what to say and what to do, but it has to be you who talks to her and makes her start listening to you and treating you as you deserve. You are the leader, and she is your second-in-command, and her attitude needs to change if your team are ever to be great huntsmen." The smaller girl put her hand on the young leader's shoulder. "I have full confidence in you, and you need to give Beril that confidence, too." Laura left the room as Sophie stood alone in her thoughts.
The sound of wood splitting and the metal impacts of axes filled the air as Conailte and Noll pulled logs from each of their own stacks, not necessarily trying to perform the labor faster than each other but instead as rapidly as they could get it done. If it was a contest, Conailte would have been winning rather handily, but fortunately for Noll, it wasn't. Their work was interrupted for a moment when they saw Phoenix arrive.
"Noll, can I borrow Gold Standard?" The girl asked. "We need the earth dust." The boy set down his axe for a moment and drew his signature weapon, handing the flag to the girl who took it with both arms and smiled. She said, "Thank you," and punctuated the statement with a short kiss which surprised Conailte.
"You two are together?" The huntsman asked with a hint of pride as he grabbed the next log.
Noll wrapped one arm around Phoenix as he answered. "We've been together since before we even got into the Academy. She'd have probably been the one to ask me out if I'd had your beard, though."
Conailte and Phoenix both chuckled at the remark before Conailte shrugged. "I didn't have it when Laura asked me out."
"Wait, you two are together?" Phoenix flipped the question.
The ginger shook his head as he cut through another log from the pile. "No, we only dated for a few months in our third year, back when we were leaders of different teams. But Laura wanted a man who took charge and I wanted a woman who took charge, so we went back to being friends."
"You two were on different teams?" Noll asked. "What happened?"
"Ironwood took us off our old teams to put us on a team with Melantha, since none of our teams were really evenly matched like yours." The redhead's axe came down, cleanly cleaving through the next log. "Mine and Laura's teams were friends all through Beacon, but Melantha was a stranger to us."
"Where do you think your teams are now?" Phoenix wondered.
"Laura's team is in Atlas, probably just doing routine missions." Conailte answered half of the question as he grabbed the next log.
"What about yours?" The girl followed up as Conailte raised his axe.
"They're dead." Conailte answered as the axe fell, cleaving not just the log he had grabbed but also the stump he had been using as a base, and Noll and Phoenix gripped each other more tightly in response to both. "We split up defending Beacon, and only I made it out." As the huntsman picked up and tossed the pieces of wood into a pile indicating completion, he turned back to the pair, gesturing along his chin. "This beard of mine was actually one of my teammates'. After a while I started copying it to give me something to remember them by. Getting it just right every morning keeps them on my mind, and reminds me why I keep fighting. Last thing they'd want me to do is sulk."
Noll nervously swallowed before he responded. "Guess I won't copy the beard, then."
Conailte gave the young man a smirk. "You have my blessing- but only if you get it right."
Phoenix gave Noll one more kiss before she left for the power station, leaving the two boys alone to continue their work and their conversations.
Phoenix returned to the power station with Noll's signature weapon in hand, handing it to Laura who took a look at the remaining earth dust within the flag itself, woven into the shape of Noll's own insignia which resembled a pair of axes buried in the earth.
"Yes, this should be enough to fill the tunnel- better that than merely sealing the hole." The blonde handed the weapon back to Phoenix. "Start from the far end and work your way back here, Melantha will reinforce this end with gravity dust once it's finished."
Phoenix nodded and ran into the tunnel, with both her own weapon and her lover's weapon drawn to get to work and fight if necessary. While occasionally accosted by a rogue Centinel, Phoenix made short work of them as she continued to fill the tunnel with earth dust, in some parts making the terrain more sturdy than it had been before as loose dirt and gravel was now replaced with solid stone. As she entered the power station again, she used just a little bit more to seal off the hole in totality, as Melantha finished lacing gravity dust over much of the floor and lower walls and finished with Phoenix's newly completed seal.
"Now we just need to restart it," Beril announced, finding the central control and throwing the largest switch. The building gave no response as Melantha checked the console herself.
"It needs a jolt of electricity to get going. We'll need to jumpstart it."
"Do you have enough electricity on you for that?" Laura questioned the detective.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Phoenix asked in response.
"I can transmutate electrical shocks into smoke with my semblance," the umber-skinned woman explained. "But no, I don't have enough on me right now for this. I'll have to go get some electricity or raw dust from somewhere."
"Wait outside and I'll have Conailte take you." Laura ordered before pulling out her scroll and pressing Conailte's image. "Conailte, are you there?"
"I'm here. What do you need me to do?" Came the response over the device.
"I need you at the power plant, Melantha needs to get somewhere quickly. She can fill you in when you arrive."
"On my way." The connection terminated as Melantha left for the main entrance of the facility, leaving the other four girls alone in its halls.
"We can't do much here until Melantha returns. Phoenix, if you'll keep watch, the rest of us can go help around the town in the meantime."
"Of course," the student answered.
"We'll join you in a minute, Laura," Sophie added. "I have something I want to discuss with Beril, if that's alright."
The statement was met with a perplexed look from Beril and a smile from Laura as the latter answered. "Certainly. Phoenix, let's let them be for a moment."
Beril seemed displeased with her leader as the other two girls gave them privacy, stepping outside the building as Beril spoke. "Okay, what's this about?"
"I'm not satisfied with your performance as my second in command." Sophie's response wasn't hostile, but it was firm enough to give Beril pause.
"And what, oh great one, is your problem?" The girl sarcastically answered. Ordinarily, this would have gotten a rise out of Sophie, but right here and right now she wasn't having any of it.
"Your behavior has been entirely inappropriate for your position on this team." The young leader began. "You've routinely belittled and debated me in front of Noll and Phoenix and questioned my orders. It's out of line."
"Well excuse me, but I don't think Laura shares your grievances."
"You are my lieutenant, not hers." The swift response surprised Beril, silencing her as Sophie continued. "Not once has Conailte ever debated with Laura or talked back to her, especially not in front of any of us, because he understands the role of his position as her second-in-command is to facilitate her orders, and that once she's made a decision it's his job to carry it out. If you feel like you can't do that, then I don't need and don't deserve a second-in-command who constantly undermines me- I'll transfer the position to Noll for your comfort. Is that what you want?"
Beril was silent for a moment before her sheepish response, a mere "No."
Sophie folded her hands behind her back. "Then I expect you to make changes to your behavior." With another moment's hesitation and a sigh, she added, "Lieutenant or not, Beril, I would like to continue to consider you a friend and sister-in-arms, if you'll let me, and I'm sorry if I've ended that."
The former bandit raised her hand to interrupt that thought. "You- you haven't ruined anything. It's my fault, I haven't been fair to you. I'd like to keep calling you a friend, too... and starting today, I'll try my best to call you my leader."
Sophie nodded, a gentle smile across her face. "Thank you."
Conailte decelerated just well enough to drop off Melantha at the power station, and as Conailte went back into the village to find Noll or any of the others, Melantha entered the station and found only Phoenix, who spotted her and smiled.
"You got the electricity?" Phoenix asked as Melantha approached the machinery.
"Fortunately, the sister city was willing to let me take some power to jumpstart here," Melantha explained as electrical sparks seemed to emanate from her fingertips. "You got the switch?"
Phoenix nodded and rushed over to the largest lever, yelling to her senior, "Tell me when!"
Melantha turned towards the machinery and, finding the electrical input, released a small yet growing stream of electricity. "Now!"
Phoenix threw the switch and the machinery started humming to life, and through a window Phoenix could see some lights turn on in the village itself. As Melantha released more stored electrical discharge to help supplement the town's power, the younger girl smiled with pride at her party's work.
Back in the village, as the power was restored, the rest of teams LCA and SBNZ helped around the town with smaller jobs- Conailte herded stray sheep as Sophie and Beril chopped firewood, while Laura and Noll fed town livestock. As the sun began to set, the two teams all met in the center of the village.
"Two missions in one day is quite impressive for huntsmen at your level." Laura addressed the student team. "You all should be quite proud."
"So what happens now?" Noll asked as Phoenix returned Gold Standard to its owner.
"For the four of us, that's up to Sophie." Beril answered, arms folded with a smirk. The statement was met with smiles from Laura and Sophie, and raised eyebrows from the other two students.
"We stay with LCA," the younger leader ordered before turning towards the older leader. "We go at your word."
Laura unfurled her wings as she nodded. "Then let's move on to wherever we're needed next."