Somewhat important Author's Note at the end of the chapter, hopefully will answer some questions.

Chapter 9

(Miles Outside Mantle, Day 2)

The night hadn't been much of a respite for Whitley or Flynt. Back and forth bickering led to a revelation that the youngest of the Schnee family hadn't expected. Their shifts for sleep hadn't been optimal either, with the two consistently having to leave the relative safety of their treetop camp to exterminate grimm.

When morning finally came, the two teens sluggishly packed up their camp, and after surveying of the area around them, dropped down the ground below. Flynt took out his tracker and moved away from Whitley, no doubt to communicate with his longtime friend. The youngest Schnee took a moment to appreciate scenery he'd only seen in paintings, pictures, and documentaries, as he waited for his companion.

A few minutes later and Flynt returned, still looking groggy, but a tad refreshed after exchanging messages with Neon. As they took a slow pace in the direction of the slope, the white-haired boy debated how to try and persuade the trumpeter to alter his course.

"Ahem, Fly-"

"Lemme stop you right there." The older teen interrupted as he kept his eyes ahead of him, talking strong steps with purpose. "We have around 12 K left to hoof it, then we can go ahead and split up once we get to that slope." The way Flynt said it conveyed that the end of their shared travel couldn't come sooner, but Whitley was more perturbed by his squad mate's declaration.

"Split up!? My pardon, but you can't be serious." The youngest Schnee looked to the trumpeter with a newly founded alertness shooting throughout his being. The darker teen turned to Whitley and simply adjusted his glasses before he looked back to the path forwards and continued his march.

"And why not? You and I ain't gonna to do anything but draw grimm with the negativity between us, and we have a bigger problem: our conflict of interest." He spoke factually, able to be polite despite the contempt he held for his company's family as he continued.

"You want to adjust our course and change our pace to get to Mantle, to safety, as quick as possible, and I get that. But for me? Finding Neon, finding my team. That, comes first above all." As he finished speaking, he fiddled with the valves of his trumpet to check his weapon instrument's dust levels, satisfied to find he would almost assuredly have enough for his unplanned stay in the frozen wilds.

Whitley's patience had run thin long ago but couldn't find it in himself to muster any anger towards his companion after having learned of his past, causing him to almost implore Flynt to acquiesce to his proposal.

"Flynt, I don't want to leave my team, or my squad," As he said this, the white-haired teen let a pause hang in the air before he spoke again. "alone in grimm territory. But, I also have faith in my partner's, my teammates', and my squad mates' abilities to safely traverse the wilderness, return to Mantle, and pass this blasted exam."

This caused the older teen to stop before turning to look at Whitley with an unreadable expression and his full attention. Not a word was spoken between them. Then, the trumpeter took off his shades to clean them for a moment and spoke to his companion.

"Not gonna lie Schnee, I wasn't expecting that…but I have faith in all of us too," He paused his response to examine his sunglasses before he returned them to their resting place in front of his eyes. As he was doing this, Whitley looked at him confused with a question dancing on his lips.

"Then why don't y-"

"but, I also know that if I find them, that I'll be able to fight my hardest, knowing that they are right there besides me. I can't fight at my best not knowing how my team is doing. I trust them, they trust me, and while I know that any one of us could make it to Mantle alone, I don't want to wait for them at the finish line, I want to make it there with them."

As he said his piece, he turned back to the path that lead to his friend, to Neon, conviction unwavering. Walking behind him, silent and in thought about how he had decided to approach the exam, Whitley thought hard about what Flynt said to him.

Two and a half hours later, the two students were marching up a hill, until they finally reached the peak. From their elevated position they were able to view for a few miles in each direction. They both knew that they'd reached the slope. Flynt pulled out his tracker to send a message to Neon and waited patiently for a few minutes for a response. Whitley sent a downcast look to his squad mate, before taking out his map to gauge what path he should take to avoid unnecessary danger or detours, since he would be proceeding solo.

He heard repetitive footsteps to his side and turned back to where the trumpeter had been standing patiently, only to see the darker skinned teen pacing quickly while gnawing on his thumbnail, anxiously observing the tracker's display.

"Flynt? Is everything o-" Whitley began, only to be cut off by a worried Flynt.

"She's not responding." The sunglasses wearing teen had already tried re-sending his coded message, but still no change. From the side, the younger teen tried to reassure his company.

"I'm sure she's fine Flynt, she's likely just preoccupied with something on her end." He said it tiredly, but in his best effort to give the trumpeter some form of comfort, to whom it didn't go unnoticed and, not that he would ever admit, unappreciated.

Suddenly, a light began to flicker on and off on the screen, prompting both teens to turn their attention to the screen.

The light blinked three times. 'S'

The light stayed for three seconds. 'O'

The light blinked three more times. 'S'

The light disappeared from the display.

Whitley had never seen a look of anything but confidence or positivity from the darker teen, prior to look of resentment that was still burned into his mind from last night. But the look Flynt wore now was all wrong, he was the man who could make any bad feelings evaporate. But the horrified, frantic, worried grimace he wore spoke volumes. In an instant, Flynt scanned the area around them, ignoring the questioning calls from Whitley, before he spied a hollowed tree laying in the snow.

He summoned his trio of clones to assist him in dragging the hollowed tree to the edge of the slope before he hopped inside. He cast off and used his clones to help him maneuver while one of them propelled them faster down the long slope by playing the trumpet weapon behind them.

As Flynt barreled off in a makeshift toboggan, Whitley stood dumbfounded, and knew that whatever the message had said, caused the normally suave teen to panic. He looked to the direction of Mantle, knowing that it would easier, safer, and justified for him to continue doing what would keep him alive and would likely help him to pass.

So, he had absolutely no idea why he instead took off in the direction that the trumpeter of team JCKP did just moments ago.

"So Partner, what is your favorite color?"

"Hmm, white." Jaune answered after a momentary pause. Penny nodded her head before she continued asking him a wide array of question as she had been for the past hour and a half.

"I see, and what about your skill with the guitar? You play so well; did someone teach you?"

The blonde's eyes shifted to a faraway look as he continued walking with his android partner. His tone changed as well, something that hadn't escaped the ginger teen as she walked besides him through the valley.

"Well…when I was younger, my former family really didn't want me to follow in my father's footsteps and becoming a huntsman. So, they tried enrolling me in all types of activities to try and take my mind away from being a warrior or maybe find some hidden talent I had with anything that didn't have to do with fighting."

Penny felt slightly guilty about making her partner relive some unpleasant memories, but before she could begin apologizing, Jaune's face shifted to one of someone who was recalling something pleasant as he resumed speaking.

"But when they had me learn an instrument, the guitar, and stuck me in musical lessons, it cemented my dream to be a huntsman. My guitar teacher was a huntsman when he was younger, and whenever we had our lessons, he would reward me with stories from his huntsman days. Eventually he told me and my family that he would be leaving Ansel soon, so I had a lot more sessions with him than I usually did."

Jaune smiled as he stopped and looked up to the sky for a moment before he fell back into pace walking, Penny in-step with him at every moment, and a smile on her face mirroring her partner's as she listened to him speak.

"So, on the last day he was in town, after our lesson he told me two things; one of them was what I needed to hear, the other was what I wanted to hear."

Penny, who had been listening intently, enraptured by the tale of the man who'd managed to make such a mark on her best friend, asked the obvious question. "What did he tell you Friend Jaune?"

Jaune smiled as he held up a finger and responded with words he'd been told once. "The life of a huntsman is dangerous kid, and quite a bit rests on your shoulders. There will be times when you're hurt and wanna lay down, but you can't. You have to get up and keep fighting. And if you go down again? Get back up."

It was a grim sentiment, but it was not untrue. Penny nodded to the blonde as he held up his second finger and spoke again.

"But I've never seen anyone as determined as you. Just a boy, but so cocksure in what, no, who you want to be. If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don't let some idiot talk you out of it. Jaune." At this he paused and pointed directly at his android partner as he recalled the final words his teacher said to him.

"You can be a huntsman." Penny started to clap energetically, wide smile in place. Jaune rubbed his neck slightly from having been so caught up in the moment, but before he could begin to feel embarrassed, Penny had already moved on to the next topic as they continued their walk. The leader of team JCKP just chuckled as they continued their trek towards Mantle.

The next few hours had been uneventful save for the conversation between the two huntsman students, not having run into more than a handful of grimm due to the positivity flowing from the two. The taller teen and his companion both had their trackers activated to see if they were ever near any of the other students, but to this point, hadn't spotted any of the other students.

By the time they'd reached the bottle-necked opening of the valley they'd been traversing, the two of them had already received their fill of appreciating nature's beauty, and instead opted to continue the long march home.

"So partner, you were saying earlier that you have some ideas to increase our team's combat efficiency. Would you be willing to share some of them with me?" The curious voice of Penny cut through the silence of the forest as Jaune nodded to her with a thinking look.

"Well for starters, I want to make some formations for us. That way, any time we end up in a fight, we can just fall into some basic formations and from there I can give out orders where they're needed." The former Arc replied, earning a nod from his partner.

"That sounds like a well thought idea Partner! Would you already happen to have some formations in mind?" At this, Jaune nodded and was about to go in depth explaining some of them, before a blinking light on the edges of their trackers caught their attention. They both focused on the blinking light, and saw it flickering on and off.

"Hey Penny, you think that there's something wrong with that that person's tracker?" From besides him, his partner made a thinking face before she answered.

"Unlikely Friend Jaune, the technology in these trackers is quite reliable and well maintained. However, it seems like there is some sort of pattern to the light's flickering." The blonde leader immediately gave his attention to the display before he asked him partner to point out the pattern to him if the light began to flicker again.

A few moments passed before the same light began to flicker again. Jaune watched the display as Penny pointed out the pattern to him, and he thought intensely for a few moments before a possibility dawned on him.

"Penny, what if this is some sort of code?" The ginger to his side's eyes widened, not having considered the possibility of the flickering being a form of communication.

"If your speculation is true Partner, then that would mean that the most likely form of code they're using is Morse." Before they could begin to try and decode the message, a second flickering light appeared on the display. They watched the second light flicker three times, settle for three seconds, and flicker three more times before disappearing, followed by the light that initially caught their attention.

"Partner Jaune, if I'm interpreting the message correctly, then…" she trailed off with a worried tone.

"What is it Penny?" The girl in question took a moment to be sure of her answer before she responded to her leader.

"Then it was most likely a distress call." She answered finally, causing Jaune to take a deep breath to compose himself. As he was about to speak however, his shorter ginger partner spoke again, her words causing him to freeze in place.

"I also have reason to believe that Friend Neon was the one requesting help." Jaune looked back to her and spoke worriedly.

"Are you certain?" Jaune's words were quiet, but they spoke volumes. From her place standing next to him, Penny nodded with a grimm expression on her face.

"There is almost a hundred percent likelihood that Friend Neon sent the message, as the other blinking light was specifically messaging to her, by name." She finished as she began to run a diagnostic on herself and Floating Array.

"Probably Flynt." The tall blonde looked to his android partner and after receiving a nod from her, began to think of the best course of action.

"Penny, you wouldn't happen to have any idea how far away we are from them, or how far they are from each other…would you?"

She nodded to her organic partner and responded. "We are roughly 40 kilometres away from where I project our teammates will intersect, and they are," She paused as if to study something before she spoke again. "15 kilometres away and closing fast on each other." Penny motioned for Jaune to follow her in the direction they were needed, as they began to run in the direction of their friends.

The blonde stared at her for a moment with a curious expression as they moved, causing her to shyly rub her forearm as she explained how she was privy to that knowledge.

"…I may have interfaced with the technology in my tracker so that I could try and locate you faster once the exam began."

"Wait a minute. Whatever knocked us out so they could put us out here for this exam shouldn't have affected you, right?"

Penny jumped to maneuver over a large fallen tree as she answered with a matter of fact tone. "Well, I can 'smell' like you can, but that function is more to identify possible poisons or air pollutants so that the appropriate safety measure can be reached. However, they wouldn't affect me, as you suspected."

Jaune nodded to her as she explained, filing away this knowledge mentally in the event that its use was required in the future. Having paused to give her best friend a chance to process what he was told, Penny spoke again.

"I was scheduled for a full self-diagnostic, which takes several hours, the night we were all moved. When I awoke, I was without you, Neon, or Flynt. After reading the note, I determined that it wouldn't be against the rules, so I bypassed the security in the tracker and obtained access to the main functions and subroutines. From there, all that was left to do was find everyone else."

"…You're really something Penny. Don't ever change." The ginger in question smiled brightly as she saluted her team captain. Her face shifted to a more serious look as she spoke to her partner again.

"Partner. If Neon is in trouble, I can get there fast enough to assist, but…" She trailed off uncertainly, looking off into the distance.

"But…?"

She looked back to her friend as she finished voicing her line of thought. "You wouldn't be able to accompany me." She looked conflicted, as did her partner, but she quickly explained her reasoning.

"Not that I don't want you to accompany me! But to get there in time to help, I would need to move at my top speed. We are a bit over 24 miles away from Neon, and I could get to her in less than an hour, but you wouldn't be able to keep up with me." She finished as she stopped moving and shifted into a sprinter's stance.

"Hold on there, Partner." Jaune's 'leader voice', as dubbed by the rainbow faunus of team JCKP, caught the ginger's attention as she looked to her leader, who adopted a look of deep thought.

'If Penny is moving as fast as she's making it sound like she will, then I wouldn't be able to do anything besides slow her down. Think Jaune, how are you gonna cover that much distance fast enough.' He was interrupted from his thoughts by the gentle voice of his partner.

"Jaune…they need help. Every second we spend doing nothing puts them further at risk."

Jaune's grip on his weapon tightened. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't think of a way to travel fast enough to assist his team. His grip slacked, and just as he was about to give the go-ahead for Penny to run towards Neon, he had a thought.

It was crazy, dangerous, desperate. But it just might work, and that was all he needed. He looked over to his partner and gave her a command that confused her.

"Throw me." The shorter girl stared at Jaune for a moment as if he'd grown a second head before she responded.

"You want me to…throw you, in the direction that Neon and Flynt are?" To his credit, the blonde didn't exactly think this was a good idea per se, but given the situation, it was his only, and therefore the best, idea that he had.

"It's the only way I'd be able to catch up to you guys in time to help out. If you throw me before running towards Neon and Flynt, I can use my weapon's umbrella form to travel towards all of you. And I can give you some aerial guidance since the tracker has a radio that works up to 10 kilometers." His partner looked uncertain still as she voiced her thoughts to her organic friend.

"I see…while this theoretically could work, wouldn't you use a good deal of your gravity dust to make this possible?"

The tall blonde shrugged his shoulders as he answered his partner.

"I really only use gravity dust when I'm airborne, so I don't think this will cause any major issues. Besides, most of my gravity dust in exchange for being able to meet up with my team sounds like a good trade."

Penny smiled at her partner's words before she relented and grabbed hold of Jaune's hands.

"Jaune, the force that I'm going to throw you with will be rather significant. Please reinforce at least the upper half of your body with your aura to prevent any major damage."

His skills in protecting himself with his aura had come a long way from when he didn't have it to begin with. He may not be completely efficient with it yet, but he was steadily improving. As his upper body glowed, he sent a nod towards the ginger android, and she nodded back.

Slowly she began to spin her partner around, progressively speeding up until they were a blur, before suddenly she released him in the direction of the rest of team JCKP. She watched for a moment to make sure he was okay as he became a spec in the sky. She shifted back into a runner's stance with her head held low to focus. After a few seconds, her head snapped up and her eyes glowed before she took off, leaving a dust cloud behind her as she moved.

Neon considered herself to be rather fortunate.

From having met Flynt when she was young, to getting accepted into Atlas a few years back, the years had been pleasant with more ups than downs. And even despite a few close calls here and there, she still had all nine of her lives left.

But as she was running through the frozen tundra helping Ivori carry an injured Kobalt through the snow, she was wondering if maybe her luck had run out. Behind them, Ciel had her revolvers trained on their pursuer, an injured, but no less hostile and tenacious, sphinx.

Its right eye was leaking black mist, its left wing had been clipped, and various mist seeping scratches and cracks littered its body and bone armor.

The scratches and cracks were a courtesy of Ivori and Neon respectively, and the clipped wing was delivered by Kobalt, but had promptly earned him a savage blow from the sphinx, turning to mule kick the falling blue-clad teen. To buy her team time, Ciel had gone from a more guerrilla style of fighting, to a last stand type of shooting.

She quickly put herself between her squad mates and their enemy, and would fire rapidly whenever the sphinx would attempt to close the distance she was keeping to retaliate, which had resulted the bone armored monstrosity taking a lucky shot directly to its eye, causing it to approach them more carefully. However, Ciel knew that her stalling tactic would only last for so long.

They needed help, and while she could only hope her Flynt and Whitley were really going to come assist them, things weren't looking good from the timely girl's perspective.

(A/N)

Hey guys,

I'm still alive and very much so invested in this story, and somehow in good health. Work and the online course I'm taking online for college, (since they were so damn cheap), have been taking up a great deal of time.

Also, while this story has been mostly spontaneous, recently I have been thinking ahead for moments and scenes I want to write in, like the moment we are all waiting for, the reunion, the dance, the Vytal, etc.

Since this whole trial by fire was rather spontaneous as a matter of fact, writing through it was rather odd. A lot of things got written, a lot of things got deleted, a lot of things got re-written; it was a process that was enlightening to say the least.

So I feel that with this chapter being so damned short, I should probably go ahead and let you all know now. This will not be the new normal chapter size. I'm only using this short chapter size for this one and maybe the next 3-4 chapters, which will conclude the midterm exam arc.

Also, if you all don't like the short size of this chapter, I'll keep this one up and update it when I've finished writing what would be the next chapter, and just figure out how to transition to that, so that you have a normal sized chapter.

Honestly, writing consistently is difficult. I get distracted by quite a lot, but! I will not let that deter me from working on this story and making it something special.

One last thing before I close this out; I feel I should probably somewhat dissect Jaune and Penny's approach to the conflict in this chapter. In theory, robotic muscles can be up to 1000x stronger than a human's. Remembering how Penny yanked down an airborne bullhead trying to escape with floating array like it was no big deal, including aura and possibly dust enhancements, I feel like it would be possible for her to swing Jaune at an angle high enough, with enough velocity, for him to get there eventually with the use of his own method included.

On the Jaune side of things, I think he could survive this. In the official animation, in the fight against Cordovin, Jaune ran towards Nora to save her from the attack coming from the mech. The very, Very, incredibly large mech. On top of getting hit with all that mass, he was running towards the attack, which, while not enough to significantly change the force of the attack, still would make it a tad worse. Aura is crazy.

Anyways, thanks for reading this if you did, and if you didn't, thank you anyways, I'll try and think of a way to keep you all updated with the progress of new chapters.

DM me if you have any questions!

B.J.H.