November had come. The blazing oranges and reds that had adorned the many trees throughout campus had fallen to the ground and settled into a layer of brown mush, as Autumn leaves did when the season began to fade into Winter. Days and nights became colder under steel grey skies, a humid chill on the seafaring winds.
On one such day, all of Sentinel Academy's first-year students filed into the school's main lecture hall. They ignored their soaked clothes and the smell of dozens of rain-drenched bodies packed into the room, eagerly awaiting the words of Headmaster and Headmistress. The raucous chatter of the crowd settled with them into the seats of the hall as the Headmaster walked to the stage, his cane tapping the hard wood with each step. Headmistress Skye followed.
"As most of you are aware, Sentinel Academy curriculum mandates one mission per school year, assigned directly by the administration," Headmaster Skye began. "And, as most of you are aware, you will be assigned, and will begin, your first mission today."
The Headmaster allowed an excited rumble to overtake the audience before continuing.
"Many of you are quite skilled already. As I look to you, I see great talent, and even greater potential. However, each team has something we find to be lacking."
The Headmistress cleared her throat. "You have been assigned missions and huntsmen based on what we in the administration believe your team needs in order to recognize its potential," she continued. Another rumble rose from the stands, this one of Holoband vibrations. "A description of your mission, as well as the huntsman or huntress you have been assigned, is now available. Please, take this time to check your Holobands."
"Daaaaamn, dude!" Rowan marvelled. He flashed his screen in front of Caspian's face, apparently to indicate the huntress Team CRLN had been assigned, an olive-skinned brunette with a mole under one eye, and a gaze Caspian felt could analyze him through the screen.
"Cascara de Sultana..." Caspian read. He began to mutter. "Practical-Applied Combat Training is what we need? I'd say more like basic team cohesion, but..."
"That's not the important part! Do you see her?" Rowan pushed.
"Yeah, I guess she's pretty cute. She's like... ten years older than us, though."
"So?"
"So, there's no way she's interested in us," Caspian asserted. He opened his own Holoband to look into the details of his mission. "She probably doesn't want to be stuck with four teenagers for half a week, so don't make this any harder for her than it has to be."
"Just you watch," Rowan insisted. "By the end of this, I'll have her Holoband number."
"Or a black eye."
Laurel laughed from Lazula's far side, holding her screen out. "Hey, that's a familiar face!"
On the scroll was Mrs. Kurayami, head of Sentinel Academy's security, professional huntress, and Ichigo's adoptive mother.
"We'll be doing a 'Deep Woods Survival and Exploration' mission?" Lazula read. It could be fun, she thought, but she would have rather done something combat focused.
"Is that like a free camping trip? I don't mind," Laurel replied.
"If it's with my mom, it'll probably be pretty hardcore..." Ichigo commented.
Headmaster Skye cleared his throat to quell the audience one last time. "Some of you will be working within the kingdom of Vale, while others will be assigned missions outside its borders. Though the Creatures of Grimm have returned, I am confident in your safety, and your skills, should you need them."
"The huntsmen and huntresses to which you have been assigned are outside, on Blue Square," the Headmistress added. "After finding them, you will be with them until Thursday. We have decided to provide Friday as a day off, giving you all time to rest and reflect on what you learned."
The Headmaster bowed a bit. "As of now, your missions have begun."
As the students cleared out of the hall and into the weather, Headmaster Skye turned to the Headmistress with a nostalgic smile. "Remember our first mission together?" he inquired.
"I always will," the Headmistress returned, her smile growing to match his. "Of course we had to deal with... 'you know who,' but I prefer to remember watching the stars with you."
As soon as the doors opened to Blue Square, Caspian was buffeted by a wall of wind and rain. He bowed his head and braced himself, breaking through the mass of students and into the cold air. A buck faunus in a brown denim jacket holding a long wooden rifle stood by the entrance, leaning against one of the pillars supporting the hall. That was someone's huntsman, but not his. Caspian paused, looking for someone close enough to the portrait he was provided.
"I've found Mrs. Kurayami," Snow announced. She was turned to the right, facing Slate Library. "She's outside of the library."
Caspian looked. Beside Ichigo's mother must have been Cascara, with an expensive-looking brown jacket, sash, and belts decorating a sleek black bodysuit. Segments of the suit looked raised and rigid, a light fitting of armor. Caspian pointed her out to his team, and all eight teens approached the huntresses. Based on her picture, Caspian thought Cascara wore her hair in a sleek bob, heavily favoring her right side. Close up, he could see a thin ponytail tied low behind her back.
She put a hand on her hip and nodded once as they neared. "Team CRLN?"
"That's us!" Caspian confirmed.
"I'm Cascara de Sultana," she greeted. "I'm a huntress on Headmaster Skye's payroll. I also work under Mrs. Kurayami as a member of the security team." She had a no-nonsense manner of speaking, words cutting straight to the point with a tone as if speech itself bored her.
"Pleasure to meet you," Rowan cut in before Caspian could introduce himself. He ran a hand through his hair. "Rowan Brown. Huntsman in training, and I don't mean to brag, but I was the first to pass the entrance examination."
"Pleasure." Cascara turned to Caspian.
"Caspian Skye." He laughed nervously, mind reaching desperately for some follow-up. My dad is the one who pays you." His eyes went wide, and he raised a hand to cover his mouth. "I-I did not mean it that way, I- didn't mean to seem- ...Sorry."
"I'm Noxis Orion," Noxis introduced. For once, Caspian was glad he had cut in.
"And I'm Lilliane Corvis-Braun," Lilly said with a slight bow of the head. "Nearly everyone just calls me Lilly, though."
"Pleased to meet you all," Cascara addressed. She turned back to Caspian. "You're team leader, correct?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Let's exchange Holoband numbers. Should we get separated on the mission, it's good to have a point of contact."
Rowan's jaw hit the bricks at their feet.
Team LSLI had no need for introductions. Their parents had grown close during their time at school, then as the huntsman band Twilight Crusade. The team, apart from Snow, had practically been raised together with Caspian, Rowan, and Lilly, so that each parent was a trusted family friend to Lazula, one who felt as close as an aunt or uncle.
Lazula brushed Lilly's arm to get her attention. "It sounds like we're going to be completely isolated. I doubt we'll be able to communicate, so stay safe."
"Thank you, I'll try," Lilly returned. "We must catch up once we've both returned!"
"You stay safe too, lovely!" Rowan called to Laurel.
She remained focused on her Holoband.
"I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see that face again!"
Laurel cast a side-eye to her heckler. "You'd find another poor girl to harass."
Lazula had seen nothing but trees below the airship for half an hour. She hadn't even been told where exactly her team was going. When her Holoband last had service, they were travelling due South. Judging by how long they had been in the air, they were over the massive tract of the continent claimed neither by Vale nor Vacuo. There were a few hardy villages dotting the land, and they lived in relative safety since the defeat of the Grimm decades before.
Still, Lazula couldn't imagine living in such isolation. Most couldn't, which must have been why the land stayed so remote.
Ichigo was on his laptop until service had cut out, after which he pulled an old-school handheld from his bag. Laurel was next to him, and had retracted Snake Eyes's blades and slid off its string covers, plucking the notes to one of her band's songs. No amplifier, but it would have to do. Snow did as she always did in an airship. She was silent, gazing out the window with a blank face that could have meant anything from intent, curious interest to utter boredom. From time to time, she would look to Laurel, watching her fingers dance across the strings and marbled green body of her guitar.
The snake faunus leaned back, shaking out her wrist after a particularly complex riff. "Song requests, anyone?"
"Actually, may I interrupt?" Mrs. Kurayami proposed.
Laurel shrugged, and set Snake Eyes to her side. "You're the huntress," she conceded.
Mrs. Kurayami thanked her with a nod. "You already know the general point of this mission, but I believe I should brief you further" she began. "We are landing in an area of Sanus relatively untouched by humans or faunus. There will be a village several miles away from our camp, but we will not have contact with them unless there is an emergency."
"Do they know we're there?" Laurel asked. "Even without Grimm, bandits are still an issue. If we come running out of the woods into their village, they might not take too kindly to it."
"It was difficult, but we have established contact with them, yes," the huntress confirmed. "We have enough food and water to last us one day."
"Wait, one?" Lazula questioned.
Mrs. Kurayami nodded. "One. This is precisely the point of this mission. Your team ranks among the top in combat skills, but all of you, apart from Snow, have had comfortable upbringings. A huntsman must be resourceful, and must grow used to difficult working conditions."
"In other words, not a free camping trip," Ichigo mumbled aside to Laurel.
"Upon landing, we will set up a tent," Mrs. Kurayami continued. "We should have enough food and water to last until tomorrow, after which we must hunt and gather it. Our airship will return for us on Thursday. It will not be easy, but I am placing my faith in all of you."
Lazula looked from Ichigo's mother back out the window. The endless pines blanketed the hills, white crags and spires jutting out from within at random. It all seemed a world away from the bright lights, swarms of airship traffic, and glass skyscrapers of Port Cyrreine. It was beautiful.
Yet, as the ship began to lower into the trees, a peculiar unease rose in Lazula's gut.