A few days had passed since the incident with the Red Claw. At first, it was all Lazula heard anyone talking about- which was big, considering the Vytal Tournament was fast approaching. In the days since, talk had wound down to a spare few comments in passing. Yet Lazula could feel a certain tension across campus. The gear stolen by the Red Claw seemed to have vanished entirely. And, as huntsmen in training, there was a collective, unspoken understanding among the students of Sentinel that if something big were to happen, they would be the ones tasked with sorting it out.
Returning from the Sparring Team's warmup jog, Lazula slowed to a stop outside the doors of the SFC. Just behind Midas, as per usual. She retrieved her bottle from the pile of belongings outside, and drank deeply upon catching her breath.
"Heya!"
Lazula nearly choked with surprise.
Moka laughed. "Didn't mean to startle you. I think I met your partner the other day!"
Lazula swallowed. "Oh. Snow?"
"Yeah! Your brother, too. And a couple of his friends! Ichigo and Rowan, I'm pretty sure?" she smiled sheepishly. "I don't think Snow liked me very much though."
"What makes you say that?"
"She was really quiet," Moka recalled. "...And when I was talking she kinda just stared at me!"
Lazula smirked in amusement. "She probably likes you fine. That's just how she is."
A burst of vibration at her wrist drew Lazula's attention from Moka. Her Holoband rang as well. Odd, considering she always had it set to silent. She heard the distinct electric jingle of a ringing Holoband from somewhere else in the growing crowd, and searched for its source. Near the door of the SFC, Midas put a finger to his wrist, and a screen appeared beside him as he separated from the team.
Lazula answered the same call, and saw her father.
"Good afternoon, Headmaster," Midas greeted.
"Is something happening?" Lazula questioned. She tried to keep her voice down and shuffle inconspicuously out of earshot, but a murmur of curiosity had fallen over the Sparring Team.
"I have an urgent mission for both of your teams concerning the Red Claw," Headmaster Skye reported. "Bring your teammates, and report to my office in Skye Hall at 7:00pm."
"Yes sir!" Midas cheerfully confirmed.
"Got it," Lazula declared.
The call ended.
"Well, looks like we might have to cut practice short today," Midas announced. "Lazula and I were just called to a mission briefing. Let's skip challenges today. I planned to go over some skills for fighting dust wielders, but let's save that for next week too and just go over some basic techniques."
A wave of disappointment washed over the Sparring Team, but they followed their captain inside. As Lazula rejoined the crowd, Moka appeared at her side once again.
"You're gonna fight the Red Claw?" Moka inquired. Before Lazula could reply, she continued; "I heard from Ichigo that one of the guys who works at Nautilus saw some kind of bird faunus with big black wings and a scythe leading them, but then he changed his story. All recordings from the Organds and security cameras got deleted too!"
"Let's not go around spreading rumors like that," Midas cut in. Neither Moka nor Lazula had noticed him, yet he stood almost uncomfortably close.
"Oh, I wasn't trying to," Moka replied innocently. "I just thought that might be something worth knowing, if you'll be fighting them."
"The Red Claw's leader is a bald woman with a snake's tail. I've fought her myself," Midas insisted, voice empty of its characteristic affable vigor. "Anything else is misinformation."
At the base of the lift up to Headmaster Skye's office, Lazula realized it was the first time she had ever personally seen Team MDLN in one place. Desmond, the swarthy gentle giant, had impenetrable defense between his gun-augmented shield and sheets of gleaming silvery blue armor. The wide-eyed and purple-haired Lavender was the team's assassin, with her blinding speed and tonfas that combined into a bow. Last left Nikole, the dainty, notoriously quiet silver-haired girl who preferred to speak through stony glares and razor-sharp wire. The four were Sentinel's top team before being dethroned by Lazula's own, but outside of tournaments, she felt she had only ever seen Midas.
The light next to the lift glowed and the doors opened, allowing for the eight to crowd in. The lift was silent and smooth. Lazula looked out the glass on one side, watching the Academy shrink beneath her. After a handful of seconds, the doors opened to the Headmaster's office.
Snow bumped into Lavender as she exited, and the silver-haired huntress responded with a glare. Snow blinked and tilted her head slightly as she stared, vacant silence her only reply.
Eight cylindric stools raised from the floor across from the Headmaster's desk as the two teams approached. They looked rather hard, but Lazula sunk in with pleasant surprise upon sitting. Her parents faced them, with a few familiar faces standing off to the side. First was Mrs. Kurayami, Ichigo's mother and the chaperone of her team's first mission. Then was Mr. Verdi, Laurel's father who was, like Mrs. Kurayami, a renowned huntsman in his prime. Last, Ms. de Sultana, an understudy of the two who currently taught first-year Combat Fundamentals.
"Welcome in," the Headmaster greeted. "This should be a short meeting, but it's an important one."
"As I'm sure all of you have heard, last weekend the Red Claw stole millions of lien worth of product from Nautilus Incorporated," the Headmistress reminded. "Total losses include five airships, and twenty units of combustion dust. Delmar Blanco of Nautilus has asked our help in returning the stolen goods."
The Holographic screens shielding the Headmaster from LSLI and MDLN blinked from sight, and were replaced by a perfect hologram of Port Cyrreine, the edges of each building glowing pale blue. The Headmaster swept his hand in front of the map, scrolling to a second peninsula a dozen or so miles past the Eastern Docks. The edges of the hologram were fuzzy this time, before refining to display the top of each tree. A pair of structures sat on a flat slate above the water's edge.
"We've tracked the airships to this location," he said. He nodded to the youngest huntress at his side. "Officially, these warehouses have been abandoned for almost five years. But according to our reconnaissance efforts, things are going on there that shouldn't be. Multiple suspicious individuals near the site, trucks entering and leaving late at night, you get the idea. We tried speaking with people who live in the area, but despite its proximity to the city, hardly anyone does."
"We're going to steal airships from the Red Claw?" Lazula interrupted.
"Almost," Headmaster Skye recognized. "You will play an important role in my plan to steal them back." He swept his hands past each other, zooming in on the warehouse complex. A high fence surrounded it, with a main gate for each side not facing the water. A set of roughly man-shaped icons appeared in front of one fence, reminding Lazula of chess pieces. "We'll park our airship, undetected, a safe distance away. I want Ichigo stationed inside to keep an eye on the location of each ship. I'd also like for you to establish a connection to each one, and override any controls the Red Claw may have put in place. I'll provide all the tracking data you'll need."
"I already have it."
"You..." the Headmaster began.
"It wasn't all that hard to get. I was actually gonna tell you, but then you called us here anyway."
"Well. Glad you're on our side. Regardless, upon reaching the perimeter, I want Desmond, Lavender, and Nikole to spread out along the fence, securing each gate to ensure no one makes it in or out."
"Got it," Desmond confirmed.
"The rest of you will continue through the main gate," the Headmaster narrated as the chess pieces advanced into the complex. "You'll be facing the Red Claw from here, and Grimm are a possibility as well, so be careful." Two icons split from the group and worked their way toward the smaller warehouse, leaving four for the larger. "Lazula, Midas, Snow, and Laurel. You clear out the main warehouse, where they're keeping the airships. Wait there until Pierce and Cascara have retrieved the dust from the secondary warehouse, and Kita arrives with the Organd pilots. When we've retrieved all five ships, our mission is over."
"That's a lot to remember, Headmaster!" Midas replied, cracking a grin.
Headmaster Skye smirked. "I'll remind you of what to do when it needs to be done," he assured. "As long as everyone does their part, I'm confident we'll succeed. We'll set out at this time tomorrow evening. Get some rest tonight, and classes for you all are optional tomorrow, by my order."
As Combat Fundamentals was an essential class for all first-years at Sentinel, it was broken up into three different classes to allow for more professor-student interaction. By pure coincidence, CRLN and LSLI were in the same 9:30am class, taught by Cascara. CRLN, including Noxis for the first time, sat together in their usual spot next to Team LSLI. Lazula and Laurel's seats were vacant.
"Man... Laurel and the prof aren't here today," Rowan lamented, watching the stag faunus substitute make his way to the stage. "Why did I bother coming?"
"Lazula's gone too," Caspian noted. "Where is everyone today?"
"You haven't heard? The Headmaster said our classes are optional today. We're going on a mission tonight," Ichigo explained.
Rowan turned his head. "Wait, so why did you bother coming?"
"Headaster told us Grimm might show up, so I'm just doing stuff to keep my mind occupied," Ichigo said, fidgeting with the corner of his laptop.
"I enjoy going to class," Snow added.
"There might be Grimm?" Noxis repeated. "What kind of mission is it?"
"You know how the Red Claw stole those airships? We're supposed to take them back tonight," Ichigo explained. "We're going with Team MDLN, my mom and Laurel's dad. Oh, and the professor's coming too, which is why she's not here either."
"He's taking LSLI, MDLN, and some professionals. That's some serious manpower," Caspian commented. A part of him knew why he wasn't included in the mission. He'd just get in the way of skilled professionals and the students who were just as strong, after all. But still, to know his own father kept him off such an important mission stung a little.
"Please be careful," Lilly pleaded. "Do tell Lazula and Laurel as well."
The darkness of the peninsula just a handful of miles outside of Port Cyrreine struck Lazula. The night sky behind her glowed with the city's life, but below her was a sea of black. Her objective was lit by the few bulbs that hadn't yet given up, bathing the area in a light of sickly green. What had once been a hard-light dust fence was haphazardly replaced by chain link. Much of it had begun to rust and degrade.
Mr. Verdi walked over. Though a family friend that stood shorter than Lazula, he was one of a sacred few people who intimidated her. It could have been due to the scar crossing his now-bionic eye, or the fact he spent time as both a career criminal and White Fang Commander before becoming a huntsman. Lazula had never asked specifics from him, nor Laurel. But she got the feeling that if he had been caught, he'd still be in prison.
"Even though this isn't your first time facing Grimm, I want to make sure you kids know what we're putting you up to," he addressed. "The Grimm don't have minds, but if they did, the only thing on it would be killing you. They have no concept of mercy. On the bright side, they also have no aura. That means you can cut them down without having to waste time whittling down their shield first."
"I've fought the Red Claw before," Midas added. "We're a lot stronger than most of them, at least. But don't get careless."
"Good advice," Mr. Verdi recognized. "And, if the Red Claw is anything like the White Fang, they won't hesitate either. A mistake here could kill you." The ship continued to descend. Out of the window, Lazula could make out the canopy rising above them. "Alright. Pep talk's over. Remember the Headmaster's instructions, and let's do this."