"Are you still mad?" Goose's question was innocent enough, and despite her current annoyance, she couldn't bring herself to be as upset as she wanted to be. She had overreacted, and now that she was going to be stuck with her… ex step-sister? In law? Whatever, the title itself didn't matter. Point is, they were stuck with one-another regardless of how they felt. And Belka certainly had something to say about this arrangement. Granted, even if it was as well intentioned as it sounded, being in the middle of fighting off an Ursa Major wasn't exactly the right time to be bringing this up. Belka thrust the curved edge of the naginata up into the massive beast's shoulder. The blade of solid light sinking into the muscle, but doing little more than superficial damage. The beast swung its massive paw at her in response, forcing Belka to jump back and giving Goose the opening to move in and make her own strike, her blade making a deep cut along its gut. A blow that would have handily disemboweled a standard Ursa.
"At this school? For shooting us several hundred feet in the air? Yes. Very." Belka shot back, regaining her footing and with a twirl off Morgan, switching the naginata into its ranged mode, firing a beam of energy at the beast, only for it to bounce right off the thick armor plating. She swore under her breath, as all she had succeeded in doing was once again capturing its attention, which Goose used to again move in, swinging down with Glücksfall, chopping into its neck in an attempt to decapitate the beast. An attempt that failed, resulting in little more than black smoke obscuring her vision and a very, very upset Ursa. The Major turned its head, snapping its wide jaws at Goose, who raised Glücksfall to keep it from biting down into her flesh. Belka, readying Morgan once more, continued peppering beams into the Ursa, trying to get it to back down as she called out. "Is now really the time for this?"
"Why not? It's just an Ursa." Goose would have shrugged if she wasn't holding back well over a ton of personified destruction, almost every inch of her Aura straining around her weapon and arms just to keep the monster from biting through it. Growing irritated with the lack of progress, it spun around, taking the girl off her feet and opening its jaw as it did so, throwing Goose onto the ground, where she landed on her shoulder and slid across the dirt, too dazed to react in time as the monster started to charge her. Thinking fast Belka took aim at its eye, taking the shot and scorching the glowing red orb in its skull.
"A Majo- Look I'm not mad. Why would I be mad when it wasn't even your fault!?" Belka called out, hoping to end the conversation so they could focus on dropping the Grimm that had, once again, turned its attention onto her. The Major, driven by a newfound pain on top of its usual lust for bloodshed, charged. Belka waited, she would definitely land a blow, but there was no guarantee she'd actually hit her target rather than just the plating around the eye. So instead she formed a plan, reverting Morgan back into its naginata configuration, and readied herself. At the last possible moment, she jumped to the side, and with her opening now clear, Belka spun her weapon like a buzzsaw of light, slashing it across the jaw and severing the tendons within, causing the heavyset maw to immediately go slack on its right side. At the very least, this seemed to do something, the beast's gallop rapidly turning to an uncontrollable stumble with the pain, and, just as Belka had hoped, it failed to stop its momentum in time, slamming head first into the tree behind her. Hoping the sickening crunch of bone was its neck snapping from the impact, she turned her back on the fallen beast, only to see Goose rolling her shoulder, wincing a bit as she did so.
"Weeeell… you know what? Actually, nevermind, you're right." The Branwen girl said dismissively, obviously avoiding eye contact with the Gele, something Belka noticed immediately, walking right up to Goose with her hands at her hips.
"Wait, no, what does that mean?" Belka asked, not even attempting to hide her irritation. She wasn't going to stand for that sort of response. After all, she wouldn't take it from one of her nieces, so she certainly wasn't going to take it from her. "Did you intentionally knock me out of the air?"
Rather than getting a proper response, Belka found herself suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and pulled into the taller girl's body, who spun them around as she did so. The next thing she knew, something slammed into them from the side with an immense amount of force, throwing them through the air and into a nearby tree. Her vision blurred for a moment from the impact, but she could hear the guttural roar from the Ursa Major as it stood up on its hind legs, its towering height made even more clear than before as they slowly got up from the ground, Belka spitting some blood out of her mouth as she was made aware of her now split lip.
"Oh, nonono! I just mean because of my Semblance." Goose explained sheepishly, being the first of the two up on their feet and getting ready to fight once more, seemingly more bothered by the implications of what she had just admitted than the bleeding claw marks along her side. Was she still trying to have this conversation now, especially after the hit they'd just taken!?
Getting a good look at the Major, she saw that its mask-like skull was one good hit from shattering like glass. Despite its posturing, the beast was on its last legs, they just had to deliver that last critical blow and bring it down. As the first to recover, Goose moved in first, narrowly avoiding the full force of its arms being brought down from overhead and thrusting Glücksfall into one of its paws. Just as the barrels met abyssal flesh, she pulled both triggers, blowing the beast's paw into countless black and white chunks, and leaving it with a stump that furiously leaked black tar. Meanwhile, Belka took the opportunity to load Morgan with a cylinder with her family sigil engraved onto it, a vial of Dust designed specifically to be used by her watched as the glow from within Morgan's internals changed color to a deep crimson as she charged up the shot and took aim at the Major, which looked ready to throw itself onto Goose. Preparing herself for the subsequent flash, she took the shot, a blood-red beam of immense heat, charged by some of the purest fire Dust money could buy, shot out of Morgan, aimed squarely at the Ursa Major's head. Before, she was doubtful that a concentrated blast would have accomplished her goal in killing the beast, but with its mask in its current state, it may as well have been tissue paper, a hole completely punched through its head by the blast, the insides still smoking from the blistering heat.
Standing on the other side of the beast as it fell, Belka used her weapon as a sort of cane, holding herself up, but somehow managing to maintain her ever-present indignant stare as she panted and heaved. Now that they knew for a fact that it was dead, she wanted to know exactly what Goose meant about her Semblance.
"Explain."
Goose sighed, but realized this was probably something that needed to be explained sooner than later. She took a seat on a fallen tree, her Aura closing up her wounds as she did so now that she could actively focus on it rather than slaying the beast, the sight reminding Belka to do the same.
"Well you see, I'm not like Lumi and Liz, I didn't get the Schnee Semblance." Now that got Belka's attention. Wasn't it supposed to be genetic or something? She had to hold back a smirk, oh that was rich. For someone who was so much better than her according to her nieces, all because of what side of their lineage she hailed from, Goose not having the Schnee Glyphs was absolutely hysterical, poetic even. Goose didn't seem to pick up on her amusement though, too busy fidgeting with her feather. "I sorta… mess with luck, like my Dad, stuff that's unlikely to happen is a lot more likely around me, both good and bad, and I can't really control it all that well."
So her Semblance was… unconscious probability manipulation? By the Gods that sounded tedious. And did she say that her father's Semblance was similar? She almost felt bad for the Schnee matriarch, dealing with either of those semblances non-stop for years on end, let alone both at once, sounded mind numbingly infuriating. A thought that made her realize that it was a situation she'd soon find herself in, now that she'd be attached to Goose by the hip for the next four years, something that soured her already less than positive view of the girl.
"Well that certainly explains it, you're just as much of a mess as your father." Belka said, using her admittedly limited knowledge of the man gained from her own dad's recanting of the man. A surly and terribly uncoordinated drunkard much like his ex-wife. For the first time since laying eyes on her, Goose looked legitimately upset.
"Stop it." Goose stood up, walking right up to Belka, leaving her weapon on its side by the trunk but balling her fists and looking down at the smaller girl. Ah, there it was, the girl's real nature. Trying to intimidate her as soon as she heard something she didn't like, regardless of how true it was. Belka just scoffed in response, if her "partner" thought a few extra inches in height was going to shut her up, she was determined to prove her wrong, instead stepping even closer.
"Oh, do you have a problem with me?" Belka asked, daringly raising an eyebrow, silently praying for Goose to actually make the move she seemed to want to make. But instead, she just crossed her arms with a huff that was more adorable than intimidating.
"Yes, you're being mean!"
"Mean? Seriously?" Belka could have laughed. "Mean." Was she a child? She soon found her question answered, the growing pout on Goose's face confirming her assumption almost instantly
"Yes, 'mean' like some kinda bully! You don't know my Dad, or me really. I could say stuff about your dad, but there's no reason to. I'm not talking to your dad, I'm talking to you."
That wiped the smirk right off of the Gele girl's face. Goose couldn't possibly have known, but that had hit rather close for the purple-eyed girl, causing her to flinch harder than any threat of actual violence would have. And what was worse, she had not a single answer or retort to counter the claim, having knowingly gone for something she knew from experience would sting.
"I… yo- look, let's just get initiation over with." Belka said quickly, trying to hide her face which contorted with confliction. She hadn't been wrong exactly, the girl was a mess and that Semblance was going to be irritating at best and infuriating at worst, but… maybe she had crossed a line. Even if she didn't like the girl, that was uncalled for. The reaction wasn't unnoticed by Goose, who paused, tilting her head in sudden intrigue. She hadn't actually expected that to work, she just wanted to get it off of her chest before it could build up and fester, so she didn't actually know how to follow up on that, let alone that it had legitimately gotten a reaction out of her. Unfortunately she didn't have the chance to try and continue the conversation as the ground beneath them started to rumble, the girls stumbling into each other, and the trees around them shifting and threatening to fall. Then, almost as soon as they had started, the tremors ended.
"What was that?" Goose asked, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in and, letting go of Belka, looking around confused as the Atlesian next to her did the same.
"An earthquake?"
"No it wasn't, we have them all the time in Vacuo. Look at how the trees are tilted like they were dragged from underneath, that was something moving around." she said, pointing to the trees and how they'd tilted diagonally, as though the roots had been dragged by something beneath the surface.
"In the ground?" Belka asked, trying to ignore the chill she felt run down her spine, something had moved that close under them, something clearly big. It was a miracle they had gone unnoticed… or more likely just luck. The girls shared a look of mutual worry, their spat forgotten for the moment. It seemed they had far bigger things to worry about.
"What do you think it's heading for?"
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Scarlet was starting to get mad. Okay no, she was already mad, now she was starting to get livid. Lumi was getting on the last of her nerves with this shit, first it was not letting her ride the summon and having it move at a weird-ass pace that had Scarlet doing some kinda jog-walk in order to keep up with, like one of those godsforsaken escort missions that every video game on the planet insisted on cramming into the story a few years back. Currently, it had turned into her giving Scarlet the silent treatment, something that was driving her up the wall, because while she could handle arguments, she utterly despised silence. Her parents were both bullheaded and held strong opinions, and as a result she could more than handle a screaming match. But silence was suffocating and just left her with her thoughts, which in turn made her think back to the various spats they've had, which in turn only got her more and more irritated. What's worse is that she knew it was bothering the blond as well, the way she kept glancing back at the Faunus made that pretty clear.
"You're quite stubborn, you know that?" Lumi called out from over her shoulder, trying to sound casual despite having been fidgeting like a dust addict for the last few miles. "Just apologize, and I'll let you ride Sebastian the rest of the way."
"Apologize for what?" Scarlet scoffed, seeing the idea that she was the one that needed to apologize as ridiculous. "You're the one making a big deal out of this and dragging it out. I thought we agreed to try and get along."
"When I thought I'd see you in passing as Jin's friend, it didn't mean I wanted to get stuck with someone like you." Lumi said, refusing to fully face Scarlet as though she wasn't worth the time of day. If Scarlet couldn't admit that she was in the wrong, then Lumi didn't see a point in trying any further. Stopping dead in her tracks, the bovine woman actually growled back, something Lumi would have laughed at if they weren't wasting precious time.
"Someone like me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Do you really need it spelled out for you? Not a surprise." Lumi sighed as the Sabyr stopped in its tracks, turning around so Lumi didn't have to, now looking down at Scarlet rather than up for a change.
"Well then by all means, allow me to elaborate. You're an ill-mannered, crude, and exceedingly obnoxious brute of a woman. Frankly, I don't know what Jin or that other boy who seemed to just follow you around like a lost little puppy see in you."
"You leave Jet the hell out of this!" the redhead shot back, actually able to feel her blood pressure rise at that. First of all it wasn't even true, and more importantly, who the hell did she think she was? As if she knew anything about Jet! Lumi, meanwhile, seemed to be relishing in the way she made Scarlet fume with anger. So much, in fact, that she couldn't help but push just a bit more.
"Make me." the Arc-Schnee taunted from atop her mount.
Reaching down for her blades, Scarlet lowered herself to the ground and widened her stance, at this point more than willing to put this little brat in her place, screw the initiation! As soon as she did so, Lumi's face immediately seemed to lose all amusement, as well as color. Almost immediately, the Sabyr jumped off to the side of the path and took a defensive position, bringing a terrified looking Lumi with it.
"Move!"
Her partner's scream caught Scarlet off guard, but not as much as a guttural roar from Sebastian that, even though she knew he was friendly, still made her jump out of her skin. Then she felt it, the very earth beneath them shaking violently. But that didn't explain Lumi's reaction, nor Sebastian's. Turning around, doing all she could to remain standing in the midst of the seismic storm, Scarlet found herself staring straight down the gaping maw of what looked like a massive worm, countless teeth pointing out from their circular structure, spread open by four mandibles with tusks almost as long as she was tall. Scarlet barely had time to move, so when she stumbled back her heart skipped a beat, as in that fleeting moment of a mistake, it was immediately too close to properly dodge. Scarlet's depressingly short life flashed before her eyes. Mom and Dad taking her to the park with the lake she'd grown to love, Aunt Emerald bringing Lupin home for the first time, Dad giving her Wilt when she started attending Signal, Mom teaching her to dual wield Wilt and Bleed, The days she spent by the lake with Jet…
The visions were interrupted as an unseen force pulled her off of her feet and sent her crashing onto her back, a deep violet, almost black Glyph having launched her out of the Grimm's path. Without thinking, Scarlet scrambled to her feet and over to Sebastian, not hesitating in taking Lumi's hand. The small girl, having a surprising amount of strength, pulled her partner up onto her saber-toothed steed with one hand and immediately commanded her summon to take off as fast as he could manage, just as the massive Grimm started to turn around and fully emerge from within the earth. Taking a moment to breathe, Scarlet realized she had been holding onto Lumi for dear life, practically crushing her ribs. Finally letting up, Scarlet sheathed Bleed as to keep a grip on the girl commanding the Sabyr.
"I thought you didn't like me." The Faunus said while looking back at their pursuer. It was following them directly now, displacing earth and foliage alike as it seemed hellbent on chasing them.
"So that means I want you to die!?" Lumi snapped back. Okay that was on her, it was admittedly a pretty stupid question, not that she'd admit it though, and besides, that thing was still after them, gaining ground simply smashing through the obstacles that the girls had to take care to avoid and maneuver around, something that took precious moments they didn't have. As it reached closer and closer, its cavernous mouth opened back up, a swarm of tentacle-like tongues shooting out from within and reaching for the girls. Still clinging onto Lumi, Scarlet swung Wilt with reckless abandon, managing to sever the closest tendril and keeping the others at bay for the time being.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Scarlet shouted, watching as the swarm of tentacles joined together to form a far thicker mass that gradually moved in. Lumi looked over her shoulder to deliver a response, only to start yelling as she saw the congealed tendril moving in, instead pouring as much of her Aura into the summon as she could. Her efforts allowed them to gain a bit of ground with Sebastian's newly enhanced speed, but not nearly enough to be out of the colossus's range.
"Some sort of Grimm, obviously!"
"No shit!" Scarlet yelled, once again infusing her blades with her blood before channeling her Aura through the weapon on top of it, swinging her blade in a horizontal arc and throwing out a blood-infused Aura slash that severed a good chunk of the banded together tentacles. "How do we kill it?!"
"I don't think we can!" Lumi shrieked, just trying to get away from the serpentine titan as she steered Sebastian through the obstacle course of a forest, dodging and weaving in between the trees, creating a natural barrier between them and the countless appendages protruding from the beast's mouth, and giving them time to think. Scarlet pulled her scroll from her pocket, opening the map and checking how close they were from the objective, which happened to not be far at all, and they were only getting closer.
"Not alone… Head to the objective!" The Faunus ordered, reaching around and putting her Scroll in front of Lumi, showing her just how close they were to their goal.
"You want to bring that thing to the other students?!" It didn't really surprise Lumi that her new partner would come up with a plan like that, but their options were very slim.
"Better we bring it out into the open and attack it together, rather than risk letting it ambush the others!"
The duelist sighed, she wanted to find something, anything to counter her partner's utterly suicidal plan in favor of something more immediate and far less risky, yet there was nothing that came to mind. She swore, her Mother and Father would have been able to deal with something like this single handedly! Yet, they were forced to conscript the help of others.
They just had to make it there in one piece first.
Exiting the forest, Elizabeth and Lao finally reached their objective, a sizable clearing deep within the forest that held what looked to be an ancient structure, only it was far too pristine to be more than a decade old. The structure itself was quite simple, merely a series of stone pillars surrounding a flat platform with a series of pedestals arranged in a circle within it. Lying upon each pedestal was what must have been their objective, Grimm Masks, something considered morbid and taboo by all but the most desensitized of people. To Elizabeth, there was just something so inherently wrong about wearing something that mimicked the beasts hellbent on destruction they had sworn their lives to defend civilization against. So, seeing them used as the relics they were tasked with retrieving was something that gave her pause. As the first to arrive, she and Lao had their pick of different designs. Some she recognized, like one based on an Ursa's skull, or a Manticore's mask with its massive jutting horns, but then there were others that were foreign, like the simple curved plate with a single hole in its center that Lao was already holding, having made the choice for her, apparently unbothered by the sight.
She should have expected he would gravitate towards something so plain and expressionless. So far, it was suiting him perfectly, his face hadn't so much as twitched in a way that indicated emotion. All attempts at small talk had utterly failed as well, receiving little more than one word answers or in some cases not even granted that courtesy, just getting hums or nods to indicate that he had indeed heard her. Needless to say, it was beyond tedious being the only one to carry the conversation. But, a desire to get to know one of the people whom she'd be working alongside for her final years of training compelled her to at least try.
"So, where are you from?" A simple question, and one she hoped would spark something of a conversation.
"New Kuroyuri." Again, he spoke as though he had been called upon to read in class, and seemed to be straight up refusing to elaborate. The name sounded Mistralian, he certainly could have said something about that.
"Really, what was it like?" She asked, hoping that he'd say something to elaborate on the matter.
"Nice."
And that was all he had given her, nothing about the culture, his childhood home, his parents or… well anything. She may as well have been talking to the mask in his hand for all the opportunity that gave her to get to know him. Okay, this was getting her nowhere, what would her parents do? Well, Dad would more than likely just work in silence and focus on the objective, so he'd probably like the boy as is. Mom would have backhanded him the first time he ignored he gave her a non-verbal answer, seeing it as disrespectful. Okay, both were bad ideas, and Cassia was pretty much a slightly more sociable version of their father, so there weren't exactly many other choices. What would General Polendina do? Probably hold his hand through the process of how two normal people had a conversation. Wait, that actually wasn't a terrible idea, maybe if she gave him an example of how normal people talked, he'd catch on?
"Well, I grew up in Atlas, my parents were both military so they were pretty strict. Would you believe that this is actually the first time I've been on my own without an escort of some kind?" There, a proper opener to a conversation.
"I suppose I can see it. You seem to be very efficient." Lao said matter of factly, using all the emotion of a man filling out his taxes. But, it was more than two words and something she could actually respond to, so the pigmy girl considered it to be a small win at the end of the day.
"Hey Liz!" Looking over at the deep but gentle voice that called out, recognizing it as her cousin's dear friend. Jin had seemingly just emerged from the surrounding treeline, and shortly behind him was Jet with his weapon still drawn. The two boys seemed to be the second to arrive at the destination, both seeming to be a bit more winded compared to the other duo.
"Jin, glad to see you've made it in one piece. Have you seen Lumi or Goose?" Elizabeth asked, taking a better look at the pair, taking note of the holes in The Golden Path's gauntlets and the dirt along the edges and back of Jet's jacket.
"Not yet, you guys are actually the first people we've ran into." Jin said with a shrug, seeming to be unbothered by the sign of combat, unlike his partner who didn't seem to be paying too much attention to the conversation, instead scanning the clearing for any threats. Jin meanwhile was too preoccupied with the redhead next to Liz, looking apologetic as he held his hand out to the stranger. "Oh, my bad, it's nice to meet you, miss…"
Jin trailed off, giving what he assumed was an unfamiliar young woman a chance to introduce herself. Elizabeth watched in irritation, had it been any other boy she'd already be rolling her eyes at their overreaction to the mistake. Yet with her partner, a small part of her was hoping he'd get mad, huff and stomp his foot, or just do anything really. But, that part of her was left disappointed as Lao kept his cool and simply corrected the blond.
"Jin, it's me, Lao." The boy corrected, surprising both Liz and Jin by the revelation. Elizabeth was more surprised that these two knew each other, while Jin was more reacting to… different factors.
"Lao!? But you're… pretty!" Jin blurted out, in shock over the apparent drastic change the other boy had gone through the last time they had seen each other. Granted, it had been years ago but still, he'd expected Lao to look more like his Dad then the ginger barbarian Mom had tested her cybernetic arm against countless times in the past.
"Thank you?" The sudden confusion in Lao's voice was the first real emotion his partner had heard him express. Even so, she couldn't enjoy it as she now had another unanswered question.
"Hold on, you two know each other?"
"Oh yeah, my Moms know Lao's parents, and Lumi's Mom and Dad were on teams with both. We're practically one big family!" Jin proudly declared, pulling Lao to his side, still just as stoic as before but nodding along, supporting the sentiment. Elizabeth had to do a double take at that, Lumi knew him too? That was news to her.
Looking over to the other neutral party, she saw Jet similarly a bit taken aback, but more so due to the fact that his partner seemed to somehow know just about everyone they'd come across so far, aside from him, Scarlet and Luna. He and Liz shared a knowing look, silently agreeing that it was odd.
"Small world I guess." Jet said absentmindedly, his attention more on the podiums holding the ''relics'' that they had been sent to retrieve.
"We'll keep an eye out, you two grab a relic and we'll head back together." Elizabeth said assertively, volunteering her and Lao as lookouts, something that Lao didn't seem to mind. Not that she could tell at a glance, but she gave him a chance to at least speak up if he was opposed to the idea, something he didn't do, so Liz assumed he was fine with it.
Now a bit more comfortable with the backup they had gained, Jet led the way up, looking over the white and red masks with the same scrutiny he'd give any sort of mission. Masks based on various Grimm types laid out before them, a bit morbid for his taste, but he guessed they did about as well as anything else. A Nevermore, Beowolf, Ursa, Nevermore, a Gei- hold on were they repeating? Looking over the entire spread it turned out yes, they were. Nearly every mask had a counterpart save for the Beowolf, some mask in the shape of an angry human skull minus the jaw, and the Geist which, upon doing a double take, he saw was being held by Lao.
So that's how they were doing it.
"So does it actually matter what mask we pick?" Jin asked from his spot at the side, looking down at one of the Nevermore masks.
"Yeah, I think this is how they're deciding teams." Jet revealed, getting the larger man's attention. The monkey tailed man then walked over, similarly looking at the group of masks as his partner had.
"What makes you say that?"
"Look around, most of these are in pairs, see the mask that matches the one they had grabbed?" Jet pointed to the Geist mask over on the podium, before nudging his head back to their fellow students. He watched as Jin maintained a completely blank look on his face as the gears turned in his head, before beginning to slowly nod as he caught on to Jet's theory.
"Oooh, so I guess we could make sure we ended up on a team with those two if we wanted to, huh?" They certainly could, and there were quite a few good reasons he could think to do so. Elizabeth had the Schnee semblance, which could prove to be invaluable in their training, and Jin seemed to be on good terms with Lao, which would save them time getting to know a pair of strangers. Yet, it meant he and Scarlet would be on separate teams…
"Yeah, but we probably shouldn't try to gain the system, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be random." Jet spoke, a bit quieter than usual. Jin looked over, curious over the change in tone to see the other boy staring at the Manticore mask, staring right at its horns. Jin chuckled, but didn't say anything, instead just reaching out and grabbing the horned mask.
"Good point, and in that case, let's just go with this one."
As the boys returned to Liz and Lao, movement made itself clear in the distance, the very trees shifting as something moved closer in the distance, the four teens not knowing what to expect other than a creature too massive and fast to be anything natural. Each of them raised their weapons and got ready to cut down the threat as soon as it made its way out from the treeline. Except it didn't, the movement seemed to just… stop, leaving the group confused and waiting. Before any of them could question it, a much smaller, glowing white beast carrying two figures burst from the treeline. A wave of confusion hit the boys, not sure what to make of the glowing steed.
"Lumi?" Elizabeth questioned, squinting at the white Sabyr as it sprinted forward. There was no way in hell they had been the cause of that mess behind them, even with the Grimm they were perched upon. Unlike his comrades, Jin seemed to relax, almost as if forgetting about the commotion that his friend was seemingly escaping, instead just getting excited at seeing a certain horned redhead clinging to his Lumi.
"Hey guys, you made it!" Jin called out, walking forward a step, only to then stumble as the ground beneath him started to rumble and shake. But, unlike the light tremor that had startled him before, this was different, the ground feeling like it was being torn apart right beneath his feet, the others also struggling to stay standing at the sudden shaking beneath them.
"What's going on?" Liz asked, using a glyph to steady the group.
"Another earthquake?" Jet wondered aloud, looking over to the approaching girls and hoping for some sort of explanation. There was no way this was a coincidence.
"Spread out!" Scarlet screamed at the group, confirming Jet's suspicions. However, there was no time to ask, because even while under the effects of the Glyph, he and the others could tell that the seismic shaking was reaching its crescendo. Jet jumped from his spot without a second thought, Lao and Jin doing the same, Elizabeth however was just a moment too late, and as she moved, the ground erupted, throwing rocks and dirt into the air as the colossal Grimm shot up from underneath where they were just a moment ago. While she was far enough out of the way to avoid being swallowed whole by the Grimm, a stray rock flung by the beast burst up and slammed into her leg with a loud snap, sending the girl to the floor, clutching the wound as blood started to gradually seep through her fingers.
The beast towered over them, its thick white armor plating and jet black skin now clear to see as it moved vertically out of the ground like a tower of black and white. Despite having no discernable eyes to see with, it looked around from its position half buried within the ground, clearly sensing the teens surrounding it. Eventually, its nonexistent gaze settled on Elizabeth, the pain from her fresh wound acting like a beacon of negativity. It wasted no time and dove down from above, looking to devour her in one bite. Not having time to move, Elizabeth raised her good arm and put as much of her Aura as she could into a Glyph that miraculously blocked the bite just in the nick of time. A smarter beast would have simply backed up and moved around it, but thankfully the Grimm, despite its clearly aged appearance, was far from intelligent, instead acting on pure instinct as it tried to move through the barrier. The others acted immediately, Jin opening fire with Hephestus at full auto,aiming the Dust rounds between the thick bony plates, and while the shots hit their mark, it seemed to be more of an inconvenience to the titan. The same could be said for Lao's chakrams, which, despite having carved through Beowolves like butter less than a few hours ago, simply bounced off the beast with naught but a scratch left on its hide. Lumi, meanwhile, ran in with Sebastian, Scarlet reaching down and grabbing Liz and pulling her onto the friendly Sabyr just as the worm's mandibles reached around the Glyph, the immense pressure shattering it as it dove back into the ground, sending seismic waves through the ground as though it was rippling water.
The teens regrouped on the platform holding the masks, Lumi and Scarlet helping the small girl down off the Sabyr. While the platform likely wouldn't last too long, it was the closest thing to safety the group had at the moment.
"I don't know whether to thank you for saving me, or slap you for bringing that thing to us." Elizabeth mumbled, bringing her good hand up to her wound and immediately wincing, her nerves feeling as though they were on fire from just a light touch.
"Okay, we don't have much time, what are we gonna do about that thing? All of our shots are bouncing right off, and Lao's bladed frisbee thingies did nothing as well." Jin asked, looking out over the clearing, the dirt lifting slightly as the creature moved around, circling them as though it was a shark. The group watched on, no one really having an answer. After all, how do you kill something you can't harm? Scarlet, meanwhile, was forming a plan.
"Well if the body is too tough, then we gotta go for the mouth." Scarlet said as she turned around dramatically, only to be met by various stares of confusion and disbelief. The only one who seemed to have even a little faith in the idea presented was Lumi, who, upon seeing the hesitation from the rest of the group, stepped up to her partner's side.
"She managed to cut off a few of its tongues when we were being chased. She's right, or, at the very least, it's a better idea than wasting our, ammo, Dust, and energy trying to punch through its armor." Scarlet turned to the duelist, surprised that the girl was backing her, but moreso grateful about the act. Either convinced, or seemingly accepting that they didn't exactly have a better idea, the students started to get ready for combat.
"It's better than my plan of having Jin try and float us all out of here." Jet joked dryly, reaching out and pulling a grenade from the green light of his Semblance, only for just about everyone but Scarlet and Lao to jump at the sight. Liz in particular did a double take at the military grade equipment that had somehow ended up in the hands of a boy her age.
"Where did yo- you know what it's not important right now. How many of those do you have?" Elizabeth asked, trying not to sound more accusatory than grateful in the moment.
"Just the one." Jet admitted, a silence covering over the group as they realized their success and possibly their very survival hinged on the one grenade in his hands. Swallowing hard, Scarlet stepped forward, beginning to give orders.
"Right… Okay, Lumi, you and I will draw it out above ground. Jet, I need you and Jin to be ready to lob that grenade into its mouth as soon as it comes for us." She then turned to Lao and Liz, a cursory glance at the girl's discolored leg being all she needed to make a verdict. Having her help would just put her in danger, and Lao was gonna need to stay with her in case she needed to move. "You two, I need you to stay here and be ready to back us up if something goes wrong, okay?"
"What? No, I'm not ju-"
"We've got it." Lao said, interrupting his partner and shooting her a surprisingly stern look, she was in no shape to move and she knew it. Elizabeth hesitated, but sighed as she conceded to the two redheads, sitting upright against one of the podiums, and drawing Due from its holster at her side.
"Fine, I'll do what I can with my Glyphs from a distance."
Scarlet nodded, it was a compromise that she could live with. Once again climbing onto Sebastian, Lumi led them out first, almost immediately catching the creature's attention as it circled around to chase them once more. With the Grimm hot on their tails, all they had to do was to lead it back to the boys, who were already floating overhead, Jet waiting with his grenade at the ready.
"You'd better hope this works!" Lumi muttered, as despite knowing this was their best bet at survival, she still couldn't shake the seeds of doubt, especially since the consequences of failure was them getting ground into mush by the monster's veritable blender of teeth.
"Upside is if it doesn't, you don't hafta put up with me anymore." Scarlet laughed at her own admittedly bad joke. They could very easily die in the next few seconds, yet for some reason she wasn't afraid, maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through her. Regardless, she remained focused, glancing back at the worm tearing through the earth behind them. One shot, they had one shot to make this count.
"Is this a game to you!?" Apparently so as Scarlet laughed in response. Oh that girl was so getting an earful once they weren't in the immediate threat of death! Just a bit closer and Jin and Jet would toss the explosive into the beast's vulnerable opening.
That had been the plan, but the Grimm was relentless. A tongue shot out like it had before, but this time, rather than reach for one of the girls, it was aimed at their mount, snaring up onto Sebastian's leg and tripping him up, throwing Scarlet and Lumi to the ground. Before either of them could react, the worm dove in, its mandibles brutally impaling the white Sabyr, causing it to turn into a cloud of white mist that faded away by the time either girl realized what had happened.
Jin felt his heart leap out of his chest at the sight, he nearly panicked and threw Jet in prematurely. However, a barrage of powerful Dust rounds and a pair of chakrams hitting one of its scales with pinpoint accuracy and managing to chip off a few flecks of bone managed to catch it's attention, turning to the pair still on the ground as Lao grabbed Liz and got ready to move the moment things went south. Looking down at his partner one last time, Jin was met with a nervous yet firm nod from Jet. So, with a powerful throw, Jin sent Jet towards the Grimm like, well, a jet, pulling the pin on his grenade as he cocked his arm back, ready to throw it into the mouth of the colossal worm. Yet, the beast could still sense the negativity around it, tilting its head towards Jet as it sensed fear, its mouth opening up and giving him the perfect target. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to act on it as the beast promptly spewed a deluge of acid at the boy in mid-air. Panicking, Jet tossed the explosive early to try and maneuver out of the way of the caustic barrage, managing to escape with only his arm getting splashed with the foul liquid. The grenade, however, was completely drenched, and the already primed dust within reacted to the acid burning away at it before it found its intended target, the explosion being just close enough to blow a chunk of armor off around its mouth, and also knocking Jet to the ground with the shockwave, shattering his remaining aura.
"Jet!" Scarlet screamed as her friend fell to the ground, landing in a heap. Moving as fast as her legs would take her, Scarlet ran up to him and pulled off the now steaming jacket, throwing it to the side as the acid ate through the sleeve; some of Jet's skin already burned away by the caustic ooze. Checking for a pulse, Scarlet almost cried when she felt the strong and steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He was alive, just stunned. However, the feeling of something moving behind her snapped her back to reality as she turned, only to see the creature bearing down on her, ready to bite down on the both of them. Lumi formed a Glyph under the beast, channeling her electric Dust into it and dilating the flow of time within, slowing the titan down as best she could. However, it seemed like she was too late as, even slowed, Scarlet wouldn't have time to move out from underneath its maelstrom of teeth.
That was until a beam shot out from behind her, a bright yellow laser that crackled with electricity, burning right through the now exposed flesh of the damaged mandible, the beast's shovel-like tooth tearing away from the surrounding flesh and falling to the ground, giving Scarlet just enough room to lift Jet into her arms and dive through the opening, narrowly escaping certain death as the beast's head bored into the dirt.
"We're gone for a few hours and this is the mess you get into?" Belka's haughty voice asked from the treeline, shouting to gain their attention.
"I guess they can't be trusted without their aunts around huh?" Goose joked, nudging Belka with her elbow. Despite herself, the smaller girl chuckled. She and Goose would certainly have their hands full if this sort of thing was any indicator. The salt and pepper haired girl squinted, seeing the cow faunus clutching her friend upon the stone ruins, immediately beginning to worry the girl. "Scarlet?"
"Back them up, I'll cover you!" Belka said, similarly noticing the less than stellar situation the others found themselves in. She took aim with Morgan once more and fired another ionized beam at the massive worm's armor, the residual electricity from the blast crackling along the bone plates across its body. Not just having to deal with the assault from a distance, the beast suddenly had a certain floating monkey boy moving in quickly from above, his jovial attitude and complete refusal of the laws of gravity masking him from its senses.
"WAAAA!" The furious and unusually high pitched yelling from Jin was punctuated with a series of rapid fire kicks, each one packing enough power to shatter the bony plating of a lesser Grimm with ease, the concentrated and constant force eventually managing to knock a single plate of armor off of the immense beast. Scarlet probably would have busted a gut laughing at the monkey boy's ridiculous war cry if she wasn't tending to her friend. It was a good thing too, as the beast dove into the ground once more, and she suddenly found herself having to use her body to shield Jet as the beast once again kicked up a storm of shrapnel-like rocks as it dug below the surface. As she braced herself for the stone to crash into her, she was pleasantly surprised to hear a loud BANG from Glücksfall as Goose shot the rock out of the air, running up to the redhead and kneeling down to look over Jet's writhing form.
"Is he okay?" Goose said while maintaining her guard, Glücksfall's twin barrels ready to act at a moment's notice. Seeing that their immense foe had retreated for the time being, Belka, Lumi, and Jin moved to their friend's side just as Jet started to come too.
"I'm fi- AH!" He yelled as his exposed flesh brushed against the grass, immediately focusing his aura on his arm, neutralizing the remaining acid and closing the wound as he panted in pain, all while Scarlet kept her hand to his back, holding him upright.
"He will be, but we gotta deal with that before any of us are safe." Scarlet said, looking back at the cavalcade of moving dirt, tracking the massive Grimm as it moved around them. Belka, meanwhile, looked at Jet, they had to get him out of here, he was a sitting duck and being grouped up like this was the worst possible position they could put themselves in.
"We'll get him to safety, can you keep it busy?" Belka asked, the two women meeting each other's gaze for just a moment, but it was enough. Scarlet's worried look gave way to determination as she nodded at the Gele.
"I'll sure as shit try." Scarlet said, getting to her feet, she, Lumi, and Jin staying behind and watching as Goose carried Jet away on her back towards the ruins with Belka in tow. Scarlet started to think that they could hurt it, even if just a bit, but they'd have to focus all their power on one spot. It wasn't a great plan, in fact it was terrible, but it would work as a distraction until Belka and Goose came back. They should focus on the missing mandible, it would be an easy target. Hell, if they could somehow get everyone concentrating on that area, they could more than likely take it down, but it was too fast for that. Maybe if Lumi slowed it down again? No, if last time was any indicator, it was simply too large for her magic doodles to affect it for more than a few seconds. If only there was a way to speed them up rather than slow it … that was it!
"Okay so what do we do?" Lumi asked, readying her blades in a defensive manner, mostly for a sense of safety as she knew her trusted sword and dagger would do virtually nothing to the beast on their own.
"Keep it busy." Jin said, rolling his shoulder, ready to strike the moment the worm came back around.
"We'll do more than that, I think I know how to kill it." Scarlet declared, already infusing the blood conjured by her Aura into her swords, Wilt and Bleed each starting to carry a light glow. Jet and Lumi shared a glance of disbelief, yet Scarlet's confidence was unquestionable, at the very least she believed whatever ridiculous plan she'd thought of would actually work.
"Are you sure? How?" Jin asked with a tilt of his head, yet before Scarlet could speak, the worm changed course once more, heading right for them. Panic set in and the three tensed up, ready to move in an instant.
"No time, Lumi, you know that thing you did before where you slowed that thing down?"
"Yes Scarlet, I know how my Semblance works!" Lumi responded in a way that made it clear she thought the very question was idiotic. Ignoring the sass, Scarlet just smirked as she asked her next question.
"Well, can you use it to speed me up instead?"
Lumi opened her mouth to once again give her a sarcastic response when it clicked what Scarlet was getting at, her lips instead pursing into a smirk as the Arc-Schnee scion pulled a vial of electric dust from a pouch on her hip, the look in her eye almost worrying Jin as he tried to figure out what they were planning, all while the spark in Scarlet's eye burned even brighter as she realized where this was going.
"It would be trivial." Lumi said, already preparing to summon a Glyph.
"Okay, great. Jin, when we get a chance, you gotta throw me at the side where it's missing its tusk-tooth-mandible thing."
"But last tim-"
Scarlet quickly cut him off with a finger smushed up onto his lips, shushing the large boy before he could protest.
"This isn't last time, we have one shot at this, we do it right this time or we're ALL fucked." Scarlet reminded them both, If they had any more time, they could have set it up just a bit more, but as things stood they had to move immediately. Scarlet ran in with Jin following slightly behind, and predictably, the beast rose up to try and bite at its prey, yet she was ready and with the right timing effortlessly leaped over the beast's maw, cutting twin slashes into its exposed head. Jin, meanwhile, took advantage of the beast reacting to the pain and used his semblance to float over the maw as it passed, punching down with as much force as he could muster, piercing its thick hide with the force of his strike, sending black ichor spilling out and coating his hand in dark muck.
The beast roared, the vibrations from its throat shaking the very air around them as it once more raised up to tower over them. Yet the moment it did, it was bombarded with munitions from the side, everyone on the platform opening fire in a concentrated effort to bring the beast down. Seeing their chance, Scarlet and Jin shared a glance and immediately went into action. Scarlet ran at him as he linked his hands together, the bovine Faunus using his hands like a stepping stone, and then with a powerful heave, he threw Scarlet into the air, her arc stopping just over the beast's missing mandible. That was the moment Lumi activated her Glyph, a clock-like symbol forming at Scarlet's feet which she pressed against for a brief moment, the energy of the electric Dust infusing itself into her body instantly and sending what felt like millions of volts of electricity into Scarlet, accelerating her nervous system to inhuman levels. While she couldn't fully appreciate it with her focus on the task at hand, time practically moved at a snail's pace for Scarlet, the bullets raining into the beast's side moving as slowly as someone casually walking down the sidewalk. Kicking off the Glyph, Scarlet swung her crimson covered blades at the missing tooth, her blades piercing the exposed flesh with little difficulty. Then she began to spin, rotating her body like a Faunus buzzsaw, and with Lumi's aid, rotated hundreds of times a second, carving through the thick flesh and bony armor until it started to peel away or shatter under the sheer amount of force it was receiving. Gravity did the rest, pulling Scarlet back down to the ground as she landed on her knees, already splattered with the worm's inky black blood, soon becoming drenched as countless liters of the dark liquid poured down from the open wound. The colossal creature bellowed in agony as its body was suddenly split open, blood and shredded innards spilling out as the beast fell over on its side. It finally expired a moment later as its body, and thankfully for Scarlet, its blood, began to disintegrate, casting a great plume of black smoke upwards as several tons of Grimm flesh withered away at once.
With time suddenly snapping back to normal, Scarlet could hear the cheers and footsteps as the group ran up to her, although she couldn't tell which was which, mostly because of the way the sky above her spun and wobbled, then her stomach churned in a familiar but unwelcome way just as she saw a mop of green hair lean over her.
"You did it Scar!" Jet said leaning over her, his smile excited and wide for once rather than the perpetually smug smirk he'd inherited from his parents. If nothing else, she'd consider that a win.
"Yaaay… now… you guys should probably back up... I'm about to hurl."
"Hey, you guys all made it!" Juliet called out, running up excitedly as she and the others emerged from the treeline, only to pause at the dirty and wounded state of her peers, tilting her head as she was joined by the other girls.
"What… what did we miss?" Luna asked innocently. Her question didn't receive a proper answer, just the sight of Scarlet rolling over and spewing her breakfast all over the grass.
Ruby practically could have cried seeing the massive beast fall, a part of her couldn't believe they'd actually done it. A Sandscourge of that size would have been a challenge for her, let alone a group of students she could easily handle even without her beloved weapon. She chose not to ponder on the improbability of the result she witnessed, instead simply reveling in the knowledge that her students were fine.
"I knew they had promise." Glynda's voice was soothing, bringing a hand onto her friend's shoulder as they both watched on at the victorious sight. The woman similarly seemed relieved, her eyes staying on the redheaded faunus as she dry heaved. Despite the… less than flattering sight, Glynda couldn't help but feel vindicated in her choice to accept the girl. If she continued to perform at this level, she'd prove to be an excellent Huntress.
But they had more pressing matters to attend to, like the fact that the Sandscourge, much like the Mockingbird, wasn't even native to Vale. In fact, the initiation had been almost nothing like how it had been planned out, the Ursa major was supposed to be the most dangerous thing the students would encounter, since more intelligent and cunning beasts like the Alpha Beowolf and Mockingbird were too much to throw at her fresh faced initiates, and the tired, bloodied conditions of them reflected that, almost like her thoughts were affecting the very atmosphere of the room. Ruby turned around, her previously overjoyed and relieved face more pensive and thoughtful.
"As happy as I am to hear it, we have more pressing matters." The voice of Koji, the combat professor, spoke from the Scroll on the desk, the call open to himself, Oobleck, Touko, and of course, Glynda and Ruby.
"A Sandscourge right? Those are only found in Vacuo, and even if they were in Vale, an individual couldn't get that big, not without being detected by every seismograph in the city first." Touko said, sounding like she was pacing based on the rhythmic clanking sounds that came with her voice.
"So… those Grimm…" Ruby started, but she couldn't bring herself to finish verbalizing her thoughts, already knowing the answer. After all, she'd been in the same situation enough times to recognize it first hand. She felt stupid about not seeing it sooner, of course Glynda would have told her about Grimm being brought in, and while the Mockingbird was explainable, even if that explanation was flimsy at best, there was no explanation for a Sandscourge of that size migrating all the way from Vacuo without any previous signs…
"A Beowolf old enough to learn from its mistakes and make complex informed decisions in the midst of combat. A giant, particularly destructive Sandscourge that seems to have appeared out of thin air since when we last surveyed the area, and multiple Grimm types not native to this Kingdom, such as a troop of Beringel and a rogue Mockingbird." Glynda said with a sigh as she steadily listed off the Grimm that simply shouldn't have been in her exercise. She didn't want to admit it to herself, let alone to her colleagues, but there wasn't any other logical explanation for the chaos that had just unfolded in front of them.
"One of these anomalies is already more than enough to warrant an investigation, but this many, all at once, accounts for nothing else but clear sabotage."
"Do you think…" Bartholomew's voice was unnaturally slow and hesitant. It made sense, all of them remembered the events that led to the Fall of Beacon, so the fact that someone was sabotaging them meant the very real possibility that Salem was ready to act once more.
"I don't see any other possibilities, this was an attempt on our student's lives." Glynda said matter of factly, keeping her voice steady as best she could despite the growing fires of rage within her.
Ruby looked back on the screen as she stared at her students, her nephew, her cousin and her goddaughter, fear creeping into her mind knowing that someone had tried to snuff them out before they were even officially Hunters, like a snake eating eggs before they hatched. It was a reality of the job, that they could be killed at any time, but it disgusted her that someone would go as far as to target those who weren't even legal adults yet.
And the worst part was she couldn't tell any of them.
Scarlet chugged the water as fast as her throat would let her. To say she felt sore from the Glyph's after effects was an understatement. Apparently, it wasn't just her perception of time that had been effected, but her whole body, and considering she had made thousands of cuts into a Grimm with armor plating that could shrug off most forms of explosives without issue, she was understandably in desperate need of some R&R, something which she'd be taking care of as soon as the team naming ceremony was taken care of. On the bright side, Lumi was actually being nice for once, patting and rubbing her back as she panted, hunched over on the bench to the side of the stage, waiting to be called upon.
"You should make sure you eat a proper meal afterwards as well, my time dilation also speeds up your metabolism." Lumi informed her partner, almost sounding like a nagging mother, which, while feeling a bit strange, was a welcome change from the open antagonism she'd been subjected to before.
"Next up, having retrieved the masks of the Nevermore, Juliet Tanner, Rosaria Watson, Elena Kokkinos, and Luna Lucerna. From here on out, the four of you will be known as team Jewel." As the headmistress said this, the letters "J W E L" appeared on a screen above them, with a photo of each member accompanying their corresponding letter. "Led by… Juliet Tanner"
The girl in question threw her arms into the air, not bothering to contain her excitement at being appointed to the position of team leader. Rosaria and Elena both nodded, acting more professional, whereas Luna didn't hesitate to walk over and congratulate her new leader, who immediately threw an arm around the smaller girl's shoulder, dragging her into the cheering as the other two women of JWEL shared a knowing look.
Scarlet chuckled at the display, and were she not completely exhausted, she would've cheered for the girl too. After all, that sort of excitement was hard not to find contagious. Yet, for now, she just focused on finishing her water bottle as another team was brought up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jet and Jin approaching, and, without thinking, Scarlet stood up, only to immediately be hit with a wave of nausea, dropping back down with a groan. The boys both looked down on her with worry, only to wave them off before they also started to dote on her.
"I'm fine, just gotta eat something soon, that's all." she groaned, leaning back and trying to get over the way her head spun.
"So, what mask did you guys end up picking?" Jin asked in an attempt to steer the conversation away from their friend's nausea, seeing as she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Lumi immediately latched onto the muscular simian's query, holding up the horned Manticore mask proudly. Jin and Jet shared a glance, Jin giving the smaller boy a knowing smile. Jet's little theory had proven dead on the money, and now it seemed to be paying off.
"We selected the Manticore, a proud and mighty beast, the graceful curvature of its powerful horns signifying both its strength and nobility." She could have gone on for hours, simply because there was plenty to say about what the beast represented, courage, royalty, power, and so much more that resonated with her. Yet, it was clearly lost on the three idiots before her.
"Oh, is that why? I just picked it because it looked cool." Scarlet said casually, causing Lumi to deflate at the oversimplification, a reaction that immediately caused Jet to chuckle.
"Honestly, it's a more mature answer than I was expecting. I thought she'd say it was because they were both horny." Jet joked, mimicking Scarlet's tone. Lumi cringed at the crudeness of the statement, even more so once Jin chuckled along with him, she'd expected better of him at very least. But, then again, they were boys, oh gods above that was going to be something she and Scarlet would have to adjust to…
"Pffft, okay that's good. Can I change my answer? I wanna go with that instead!" Scarlet said, her smirk reaching from ear to ear. Lumi groaned, okay, it looked like she'd just be the one needing to adjust. She decided to look somewhere else, her eyes drifting back to the stage, just in time too, as Goose, Elizabeth, Lao and Belka each stepped up to the stage, the majority of them maintaining a professional pose with their hands behind their backs, except for Goose, who just stood with her hands in her pockets and a wide smile on her face as she stood before Glynda.
"Belka Gele, Goose Branwen, Elizabeth Ironwood, Lao Ren. The four of you retrieved the masks of the Geist, from today onward you four will be known as team Bagel." The new team, minus Lao, reacted a bit predictably at the name, almost assuming they'd misheard the headmistress until the screen above them displayed the familiar spread of letters above them, labeled "B G E L". Glynda took a moment to allow them to accept their new moniker before finishing the ceremony with one final statement.
"Led by Belka Gele."
The response was more… mixed than with JWEL's reveal. Elizabeth's jaw dropped in a mixture of silent disbelief and indignation, and the only reason she didn't outright reject the appointment was Glynda's stern stare, one very similar to what she'd get from her mother when talking back would get her reprimanded. Belka herself looked stunned for a brief moment, then, seeing the look on her nieces' faces, her prideful smirk returned, raising her head up high. Of course she'd be the leader, it was only natural considering the rest of her team's… demeanors. Goose raised her hand in celebration, inviting Belka for a high five. But, still on her high, Belka simply ignored her partner, instead shooting her a glance meant to reprimand her, yet the look was lost or possibly just ignored in the excitement. Unsurprisingly, Lao just nodded in silent acceptance, not seeming to feel one way or another about it. Even Lumi reacted with more emotion, huffing at the idea of that girl being appointed leader to a team, sure, over Goose or Lao she could maybe see it, but being appointed over Elizabeth? No, probably just a decision to avoid accusations of nepotism.
"Did she say team Bagel? Like, the food?" Jin asked, rubbing his head in confusion.
"It's not that bad, Glynda was going to go with team Bilge. The acronym would have been almost as bad as team Cement's." Ruby laughed from behind the bench, startling Jet and Lumi, while the two Faunus were completely unfazed by her seemingly sudden appearance, having heard her approach. Scarlet just glanced over her shoulder, still feeling a small amount of annoyance from their first encounter, something the assistant headmistress noticed, her smile faltering just slightly as the two briefly made eye contact. "Anyways, I'm supposed to let you know that the four of you are up next, you'll be given a leader and officially be made a team in just a minute."
By now, they'd been expecting to be placed into a team together, especially since the teams before them had all been assigned based on their matching masks. As they started to head off to the stage, Ruby reached out, impulsively taking Scarlet's wrist. A move that caught them both off guard, the horned redhead particularly going rigid at the grab, her amber eyes firmly locked onto Ruby's own silver orbs.
"Miss Ta-" Ruby suddenly hesitated, after all, Jin was right there. On one hand, she didn't think Blake and Yang would have told any of their kids about Adam, but on the other, she didn't want to be the one to rip that band aid off. Lumi was already giving her a strange look as well, and even if she didn't have that personal connection, she was intelligent enough to put two and two together. Oh, why was she overthinking this so much? Screw it, just try to act casual… even though she just grabbed a student by the wrist. "Scarlet. I wanted to congratulate you, I saw what you did to the Sandscourge, that took a lot of guts. And… to apologize for being so… weird when you introduced yourself."
Scarlet nodded along, still uncertain and clearly uncomfortable with the unprompted contact, something Ruby quickly corrected by letting go of the girl. As soon as she did so, Jet took his place next to his friend, standing behind her almost protectively. Meanwhile, Jin and Lumi both just looked confused at her uncharacteristic actions.
"It's cool… no hard feelings, really." Scarlet said, and, despite sounding genuine, she still took a step back. Ruby sighed, doing the same. This was so… weird, and she wasn't exactly making things easier by making her student feel uncomfortable. She decided to just let them be for now, turning around to go inform the next set of students.
"Scarlet Fall-Taurus, Jet Black, Jinzi Belladonna, Lumi Arc-Schnee, you each retrieved the mask of the Manticore, and as such, the four of you will henceforth work together as team Sigil." Once more, the screen lit up, displaying the team name as "S J J L". By now, the precedent had been established enough to indicate to Jet who the leader would be, Juliet in charge of JWEL, Belka leading BGEL, so he wasn't all that surprised when Glynda confirmed the pattern. "Led by Scarlet Fall-Taurus."
"Me?" the girl in question asked, would she be leading this team? She'd expected it to be Jet if anything, maybe Lumi, but her? Looking to her side, she was met by the stares of her team, Jet giving her that same confidence he'd had in her for years, Jin's smile and thumbs up indicating much of the same despite the lack of history between them, but Lumi looked… conflicted, yet she nodded, accepting the appointment without protest.
Well… if they didn't have a problem with it, who was she to argue?
Lumi lay in bed, her normally immaculate hair loose and messy as she tossed and turned beneath the covers, trying in vain to fall asleep. Her heart raced as she looked over to her partner. The horned woman lay face down, a pair of little pool noodles cut down to size crowning her horns to keep her from accidentally impaling her pillow as she slept. Jin hadn't been able to hide his chuckle at the sight when they retired for the night, and she nearly burst out laughing at the time. Yet now, she couldn't even crack a smile.
Ruby's hesitance at her name had been bothering her, Ruby didn't act that way, Mother had always spoken about her godmother as the fearless leader she had followed into battle countless times and had gotten her father and Lao's parents to follow her across Mistral with her conviction alone, that wasn't like her.
She saw her hesitate, and Ruby Rose didn't hesitate.
So, as the others slept, she did her research, the small space around her head illuminated by her scroll. She had opened the page hours ago, yet a part of her still couldn't believe the contents of the article, or the implications of it, causing her to lose precious sleep. At the top of the page was a blurry picture of a man, red hair and horns pointed back along his head, and wielding a very familiar crimson blade. Yet, nothing was as damming as the name attached to it.
Adam Taurus: The Crimson Bull of the White Fang