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(Peach PoV)
I ducked under Rosé's sword as she back-flipped slowly away from me and brought her sword down. A cry left her lips as she swung it down. I tried to step inside and get into her range but she jabbed her sword upwards at me upon her landing. She moved like the Prof did sometimes. Not often but you could see it in the way she covered her landings and the way she used her movement to feint.
The difference was that when Rosé hit you she usually only got a quick two piece. Three at best. When Cloud hit you he had so much range and speed and he hit so hard that he just had this buffet of options to combo you with. Like a whole tray of food on which every single morsel was tasty. Rosé didn't have that going for her. She was good but she was beatable. Cloud had once hit me with a falling upwards aerial into the air then appeared above me and spiked me hard into the ground. Rosé just didn't have that kick to her. There were starters and routes in Cloud's combo tree that I just had no answer to.
I sidestepped and high shielded with my right elbow against her sword. I fired with my left hand out from beside my face in a head hook that caught her on the jaw and made her stumble. I stepped with her as she was knocked back and put on her back foot. She was flat footed and back pedaling. It was my chance. I shot a cross with my right that caught her on the chest. I quickly jabbed and hit her right in the lip. It was my third hit without trading so my Roll-up was getting going.
She tried to step away and ward me off with her sword. I pushed it aside and chased her as she tried to trail around me. I kept her pressed against the edge of the ring and punched her four times. Cross. Left body-hook. Left head-hook. And I finished with another cross that had the force of a train behind it. I pivoted my hips with each blow.
The last cross caught her on the cheek and blew her off her feet and out of the ring. I double eliminated her. Knocking her aura into the red at the same time I knocked her out of play. I panted hard in the ring. My own aura was yellow from taking trades with her before I was able to get in.
I walked over to her and hauled her to her feet. She waltzed over and reclaimed her sword; we were both breathing hard and sweating.
"That's the match. And we're… what? Five minutes from the end of class? We'll call it there. You're all dismissed. Good luck with your missions every one of you," Cloud called up. Rosé and I got ready to hit the showers in the locker rooms and rinse off quickly. Cloud hadn't given us any notes. Sometimes it was like that and we frequently went in for one on one training with him where he gave us more details. Sometimes you just needed to practice with someone around your level. And that was fine.
Rosé and I both walked out of the locker room in our uniforms. Cloud was still standing near the arena and working on his data pad.
"Heya 'Prof,'" I got his attention and he looked over at me. "I don't suppose you have our mission, do you?" I wondered.
"I've had a glance at most of the teams' missions. I'm still not supposed to tell you. It's, like, thirty more minutes. Just wait that long," he dismissed.
"Don't be like that. You can tell us," I sashayed up to him.
"But I still won't. You ladies will do fine and sometimes you gotta wait."
"But I'm not the patient sort," I informed him with a toss of my hair. I got up close to him and leaned back a little to push my chest out. He reached out and put two fingers on my forehead and gently shoved me back. I beat his hand away with a scowl and he grinned down at me. I took that teasing. We take those. Plus his aura tasted good on contact with me.
"Today you'll have to be. The missions are a big deal. They're good learning experiences for getting your feet wet."
"What mission did you go on when you were here?" Rosé asked.
"A quick search and destroy out at this village called Mensel. A Sabertooth Puma was picking off civilians and my team and I killed it and came back in like two days. It was short but it was my first real hunting trip and my first time actually leading and callin' the shots for real. When you're assigned, take your time, take a deep breath, and handle it. Your whole team is each more powerful than I was when I was your age."
There came a man by the door who I didn't recognize. I think Rosé did because she hesitated slightly. The Prof glanced over. He lowered his data pad.
"Can I help you, mister…" Cloud trailed off.
"Augustine. Marcus Agustine," the man said and he stepped into the room. "I came looking for you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Strife," his voice was clipped but polite and friendly. He gave a congenial smile at the three of us.
"You're Councilor Agustine," Rosé said. "I don't know if you remember me…"
"Councilor?" Strife paused. Then he sighed.
"Princess Gainsborough. I'd heard you started training to be a hunter. Congratulations on making Beacon," Augustine spoke slowly like he was savoring each word. "Professor Strife, might we adjourn to your office? We have much to discuss."
They were coming for him, then. I didn't think they'd be so brazen or for a Councilor to come himself. At the same time we were getting our missions Cloud would be getting one of his own. Something too dangerous for any other hunter or team of hunters. It wrenched my gut a little. This… this would be how he died. At least in all likelihood. He'd mentioned as much.
Cloud nodded once.
"Follow me, Councilor. Excuse me ladies. And best of luck with your assignment."
"Goodbye, Professor."
"Later Prof," I waved. He didn't grant me a backwards glance as he walked towards the exit. The Counselor followed him out.
"So it's started, then?" I murmured to Rosé.
"My father was able to get his hands on Cloud's Atlas ratings. My dad told me at the festival dance. I suppose that there's no reason to think that the Councilors and other officials wouldn't be able to see them."
"I wonder where he's being assigned… I bet his weekends are pretty much gone at this point. Along with holidays," I gambled with her.
"Cloud will be safe…" Rosé trailed.
"I mean… as safe as he can be. Sure. They won't be sending him on normal missions. They'll probably have him hunting Grimm in the enormous category. Or adaptive regenerators they couldn't otherwise put down. Or murderers like Adam Taurus," I shot back. "They'll be the most dangerous missions on the continent if not the planet."
"We should be going with him…"
"We couldn't handle it."
"You don't know that," Rosé fired at me.
"He'd get killed trying to protect us. We'd only be getting in the way," I sighed. I knew how she felt. I wanted to be able to help but the fact was that I'd only drag him down and possibly get him killed. "I feel useless. What's the point of having all this power if I can't even help people I know?"
"I feel that," Rosé echoed. "I feel that. But we're not that powerful. We're just… we're in training. We're just kids."
"So is he," I pointed out.
She nodded. "Yeah. It used to bug me when he called me a kid but then he was all like 'I'm a kid.' So I couldn't really be mad at him."
"Yeah but he's a really powerful, really messed up kid."
"Let's head to the auditorium. It's time for our mission."
"Fingers crossed it's a good one," I managed.
"I don't even know what a good mission would look like if I saw one," Rosé confessed.
"Yeah, that's fair. Me neither," I agreed.
We walked to the auditorium in silence. Both our heads were in the clouds. Would they even start him on an easy mission or just drop him in feet first? I had no idea and even if I did there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it or do to help him. Where was all my strength? I couldn't even help the guy I liked. Like at all.
We joined the rest of our team and team CMAD at one of the holographic displays in the auditorium.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi," Daisy greeted.
"What's up with you two?" Crystal asked.
"Councilor what was it? Agustine? Counselor Agustine came by after combat class. He and the Prof took off to chat," I murmured.
"Does that mean that they know?" Pine wondered.
"Probably," Rosé nodded.
"I don't understand," Fox said.
"Well the Prof is really strong. He said it was only a matter of time until the Vale Council got a hold of his ratings and started asking him to go out on missions," I informed him.
"What kind of missions?" Mars pressed.
"The kind most hunters don't come back from. Most teams don't come back from," Rosé answered.
"Because he killed Raven Branwen? Because he's that strong?" Mars continued.
"Yeah. All of that," I nodded.
"He could always refuse…" Crystal trailed. "He's a free citizen. He doesn't have to go."
"But will he?" I asked.
"Probably…" Crystal trailed. "Probably no. Yeah. He'll agree."
The headmistress was up at the podium and she paced forward to the microphone.
"You will all be assigned your missions today. They will impact your grades in Grimm Studies and Combat but much more importantly they will impact the lives and liberty of the citizens of Vale. Serve with distinction and pride when you set out with Beacon's authority. You all have the capability to do well but failure looms around every corner and presses in on all of us. This will be the first time your training wheels are off and we set you loose to do some real good for Vale. When you do your work remember your training. You did not come this far to fail now," Goodwitch stepped back and pressed her scroll. Text and tables went up on all the displays.
"Let's see… team CMAD…" Fox looked down the list.
"Here it is," Daisy pointed at the screen. "Police Investigations. Here in Vale."
"Here's us," I found RYPP. "Search and destroy. Junon."
"I've got the details…" Rosé was browsing her scroll. "Something's been terrorizing the outer hills and has killed five civilians already. And the report is dated. They sent out for hunters from Vale and we're what they're getting. We're leaving tomorrow by airship at five in the morning."
"So early?" Yuma squeaked. "Well… I guess they really need us out there…"
"What do you guys have?" Pine asked Crystal who was looking at her own cellular device.
"Some kind of serial killer?" Crystal wondered. "They're a vigilante who's been killing suspected White Fang members. They've killed seven people in the last two days. They've killed eleven people total. All of them were faunus."
"Oh wow," I said. "When do you leave?"
"We're meeting with the detective in charge of the investigation tomorrow at one in the afternoon down at the Eastern Vale Police Department," Crystal answered.
"A serial killer… yikes," Pine murmured. "That's pretty dark stuff."
The headmistress was on stage still looking over the crowd of students chatting about their missions. The Prof came in and walked around until he was behind her on stage. He tapped her shoulder and once he got her attention he jerked a thumb over his shoulder and started talking.
Goodwitch nodded twice nice and slow while he explained whatever it was he was up to. She shot something back. He shrugged. He made to step away from her and she put her hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned back and listened to her parting words. He nodded once and stepped away.
"There he goes…" Crystal pointed out.
"Should we say something to him?" Yuma asked. "Wish him luck, maybe?"
"Yeah. Come on," Rosé agreed and waved us on.
"His office or his dorm?" I asked.
"Let's try his office first," Crystal decided.
We went to his office and knocked on the door but there was no response. Then we tried his dorm.
He was just leaving with his weapon over his shoulder and in a black tunic rather than one of the shades of blue or purple he usually wore. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He stopped when he saw us. Then he paced forward in our direction and met us in the middle of the hallway.
"You're leaving?" Rosé asked. "Already?"
"The plan is to be back tomorrow," he said. "You all have your missions?"
"Search and destroy," I said.
"Police investigation. Some serial killer is setting up shop in town," Crystal continued.
"The serial killer came up on my radar. I'd hope to manage it before the police got involved," he said. He brushed a hand through his hair.
"You knew?" Daisy wondered.
"I tend to make serial killers my problem. I… I was going to handle it but maybe you kids will. If I do take care of it I'll make sure it doesn't impact your grade."
"We're not worried about that," Daisy waved him off.
"What's your mission?" Mars asked.
"Search and destroy. This Hydra," he said. Hydras were adaptive regenerators. You tended to get them young or not at all. "An old one." Or not. "It's making its way up the coast. They've tried everything short of ballistic missiles to stop it, distract it, or slow it down. It's killed almost a half dozen eight man teams in the last month and they're running out of options. I don't want it to get any closer to the city so I'm headed out pretty quickly here. And you all?"
"Tomorrow at around five in the morning for us," Rosé informed him.
"We're staying in town but we're meeting the police detective in charge of the case around one o'clock," Crystal said.
"Well I'm not sure when I'll be back but it seems like I'll miss you ladies," he pointed at us in team RYPP. "So if I don't see you again then best of luck and good hunting."
"Good hunting," Pine echoed.
"Be safe," Yuma mumbled.
"How are you going to kill it?" Rosé asked. "How do you kill something like that?"
"I'll cut off all of it's heads and split it in half. And if that doesn't do it, then nothing will. They wouldn't call me if it wasn't an emergency. I have to kill it or push it off course. And if I don't kill it, I don't know who they're going to send next. I can't really afford any mistakes and I really can't afford to fail or to push it off course either. But then neither can you students with your missions. People will get hurt if we do. It's not an option for us," he finished. He rested one hand on the too-long handle over his head. He gave it a little squeeze and I let out a shaking breath I didn't realize that I was holding.
"But we'll see you again, right?" I pressed.
"Everyone's missions go smoothly and we'll be right back into classes. Bing, bang, boom. No problem. You kids can go out and celebrate afterwards. Celebrating victories is just as important as avoiding failure."
"You should join us," I murmured.
He smirked and shook his head. "No, I don't think so…"
"It'll be fun," Rosé picked up in my stead.
"No. Really. It's quite alright." He gave me a confident grin that made me feel a little less empty and a little more secure. He could do this. It would be fine. He could handle it. "I should be going, Take my dog on your search and destroy mission, won't you? He'll come in handy," he murmured. "Excuse me."
He walked down the corridor past us and outside. He pulled his sword from his back and swept in front of him. In the little courtyard he gave the sword a wave like it was a giant magic wand. He took off like a jet. He left the ground so fast it threw up a cloud of dust.
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-WG