Chapter Nineteen
Walking out of Amakuni's class, I still refused to call her professor, was a relief. I was very glad that I had access to a workshop of my own, so that I only needed to be there for lessons, but I could put up with that level of unprofessionalism.
I'd gotten through worse.
"Soooooo, that went well," Ruby commented, glancing over at me. Looking around, I noticed my other teammates all observing me as well. Some were subtle, like Pyrrha, some, like Nora, were not. The fact that she was staying between me and the windows, speeding up and slowing down to do so, was. . . comforting?
"I think so. I can deal," I reassured them, Nora looking at me suspiciously before falling back next to Ren, moving forward a half step when I raised a hand to run it through my hair, before once more falling in line with her partner, eyes narrowed.
Laughing, I shook my head. "So, let's grab some lunch, and then see about our field trip?"
"Our what?" Yang asked, confused.
Weiss sighed in a put-upon manner. "Don't tell me you didn't even read the course descriptions! Wednesday afternoons we travel out to gain field experience! They didn't say who taught it, though."
"Well, as long as it's not her," I said jerking my head back towards the workshop, "I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Oooh, I hope it's the headmaster!" Nora cheered.
"Why?" Pyrrha asked, confused.
I looked over as well, similarly curious, as Nora explained. "It's simple! All of the teachers are kick-butt huntsman and huntresses, so, obviously, the head teacher has to be the kick-buttiest of all! It's the law of authoritative butt-kicking!"
"I don't think that's how it works," Ren disagreed, only to have Weiss, of all people, side with Nora.
"Now that you mention it," the heiress mused, "General Ironwood is headmaster of Atlas Academy, and the head of their military, and Winter does say he is a combatant without peer."
"And the headmaster of Sanctum Academy was a former champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament," Pyrrha agreed.
"And didn't dad say the Principal at Signal could kick his ass?" Yang asked Ruby, who nodded in confirmation.
Ren looked to Blake, who shrugged. "Homeschooled," was the entirety of her answer. "Same," I added, when he looked in my direction.
"I stand corrected," he noted, prompting laughter from the others, including a chuckle from me.
DR
Fed, watered, armed, and armored, we all waited in the meeting hall. There were over a dozen teams, all suited up and ready to go, most of which I hadn't seen since the teams were formed, Beacon at least in its first year, auto-assigned students to their classes so that everyone ran through the Gen-Eds together, which meant that CRDL shared every class with our teams, but also meant that we all went through every class as a team.
I could see the benefits, helping to create and maintain team cohesion early on, it just also meant that over half of the people here I didn't know at all. I could take any of them, I was sure, but given how every student had a superpower, even if some didn't know what it was, it wouldn't exactly be a complete steamroll.
The back door opened, breaking me out of my thoughts, and Goodwitch walked in, along with another woman, a little shorter, and a little less endowed. Young looking, if Glynda was a teacher, but sexy, this woman was a scientist, but sexy. Dark skinned, and with reddish-yellow hair, had a high-collared white jacket, two rows of buttons the same color as her hair down the front, ending in a pseudo-miniskirt. She wore long black gloves, that seemed like some sort of plastic or rubber, that ran up to stop mid-bicep.
Similarly, she stepped in wearing high heeled boots of the same material that stopped at mid-thigh, leaving a gap where her stockings could be seen, and her hair, tied up into a tight bun, looked to be held in place by a what appeared to be a pair of scissors, or maybe a surgical clamp. She wore a clear visor that covered her eyes, the top hidden by her bangs, and held a thick clipboard, the type that doubled as a carrying case.
I had no idea who she was.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Glynda called, everyone quieting, "I'm sure you've all read the syllabus, but in case you haven't, this class is to help get you all used to Huntsman work in semi-controlled settings. You all have proven yourselves in the initiation. However, while you are gaining valuable lessons in class, it is how you use those lessons that truly matters. Learning to fight your classmates can help basic skills, and give you experience you can use against bandits, but, as I'm sure you all know, fighting the forces of Grimm is very different. Here is where you will gain the experience you need to do so."
She looked right at me, as she finished, and I nodded, glad the point was addressed. I'd've preferred it if she'd mentioned it earlier, but that jived with what I'd seen of the woman. A lot of bad teachers knew their subject, many times at an expert level, or more, but they didn't remember that their students didn't know what they knew.
That meant, although the syllabus didn't say anything about this class serving as the Grimm side of our combat instruction, Goodwitch knew that it did, so my comments in her first class were obviously me being stupid, dishonest, or just trying to appear smart while making her seem dumb. With that lens, her curt reaction to my puppet suggestion made more sense. Mind you she hadn't said that we'd be practicing against Grimm at the time, likely because it was so obvious to her that it clearly didn't need to be said, being something that each and every student at Beacon knew.
Except for the fact that I had no clue, not having ever been a student at this school before.
But, as I was learning, Glynda was an Administrator first, a Huntress second, and a Teacher a distant third. I had a feeling that, if the school had a dedicated combat instructor, she'd happily give up her class to focus on other things. With that in mind, I couldn't really hold her lack of teaching ability against her.
Against Ozpin? Absolutely. But against her? Not really. This was very obviously her making the best of a bad situation. However, this was also her not working to get better at it, likely not receiving the feedback from Ozpin that she needed to push herself to do so. Without that, she wouldn't put aside the time needed to improve her teaching skills as she was busy dealing with her other jobs.
"As such," Glynda continued, once the students quieted down, "you will be given various tasks to complete, in a reasonable time limit, and it will be up to you all as to how you complete them. However, these tasks will always be secondary to your safety. There will always be the opportunity to flee, and a safe area nearby to return to. Furthermore, these exercises will, at least in your first year, never take place where Thrillers or other such Grimm have been spotted, so your classmates should be able to assist if need be, before a professor can arrive."
I nodded, vaguely remembering that type of Grimm. Humanoid, but monstrous, they imposed a targeted silence effect as part of their attack, rendering their victim unable to call for help. However, they were nocturnal, though not burned by sunlight like some Grimm, and easily dealt with on their own.
Unfortunately, they travelled in packs.
"Additionally, there will always be two professors with you. This time, it will be myself, and Professor Peach, our Plant Sciences and Medicine instructor," Glynda stated, her riding crop swishing out to indicate the other woman, who smiled merrily and waved her free hand in greeting. "You all will be taking her class in the spring."
The woman with peach colored hair stepped forward. "It's good to meet you all. I can't wait to see all your cute faces this spring, but, until then, please listen to what I say. I'd hate to have you suffer horrible, torturous deaths at the hands of the Grimm! And you will, if you think merely getting into Beacon is enough to survive out there!"
The statement was said with such effusive jubilance that what she had actually said took a second to sink in. Students started to mutter, Cardin's "I can handle myself!" carrying over the others.
Almost faster than I could see, only my training with Pyrrha letting me catch the movement, Professor Peach pulled something from the bottom of her clipboard and threw it at the leader of CRDL, who yelped, a thin metal spike bouncing off his face, the Aura taking the blow, but still giving him the pain as if it'd struck true. "Hey! Wh-" was as far as he got when he suddenly dropped, like a puppet with his strings cut.
As he did so, I could see a thin line of green on his face, from where the projectile had hit. It hadn't done any damage, but it had left a streak of something on the boy.
Glynda sighed, muttering, "Must you do this every time, Thumbelina?"
The other woman nodded. "Everything in nature adapts, even the Grimm," she announced to the class, everyone now paying careful attention. "Aura has existed for centuries, but those with an awakened Aura are still rare, from an ecological point of view. However, there are adaptations, so thinking yourself safe just because you have Aura will get you killed, and quite dreadfully at that! So, if we tell you to wear gloves when handling something, or to avoid an area, or to run if you see a certain plant, animal, or Grimm, you will, or you will likely die, as Mr. . ."
"Cardin," Kobe offered.
"As Mr. Cardin would've, had he been alone, even if only separated from his group by a few dozen meters in a forest! So, what will you all be doing?" the somewhat psychotic woman asked sweetly.
We chorused a jumbled mess, which generally distilled down to 'Listen to you'.
"Very good!" she clapped. Reaching behind herself, she tossed something to Cardin's teammate. "Wipe it off with this and he will regain consciousness in a few minutes. Just make sure not to get any on you! And throw it away in the bin as we leave, or else!"
With a cheery smile, Professor Peach stepped back, allowing Goodwitch to take the lead. "Today's assignment will be simple extermination, as I'm sure you've all done before. We've had an increase in low level Grimm, mostly Beowulfs, as well as a few Ursas, in Forever Fall Forest."
I felt a trace of nervousness run down my spine. Had that been because of me? I made sure to close the portal Home, but the Grimm had seemed to almost be able to sniff out the entrance.
"Each team will be responsible for eliminating five Beowulfs, or a single Ursa, in the three hours you have available," Glynda instructed, causing Yang to snort, shooting me a 'really' look when I glanced over.
"Remember," I whispered to her, and our larger team, "That's what most of our classmates fought in their entire initiation."
From in front of us, a guy turned, having overheard and asking, "What did you fight?"
"Bullhead-sized Nevermore," chirped Ruby proudly.
The boy looked at her skeptically. "Suuuure you did," he drawled, before turning back to Goodwitch, who asked, "Any other questions?", even as Yang scowled at the disbeliever, Ruby just looking sad.
"I do!" Weiss waved. "How will this class be graded?"
"Pass/Fail!" Professor Peach replied with a smile.
"Oh, uh, how do you fail?" the albino asked, unsure.
The mad scientist grinned, and comforted the Schnee, "Don't worry. You'll know if you failed, because you'll be dead!"
DR
In our seats on the one of the two airbuses, the larger, slower, and less armored cousin of the bullhead that was ferrying all of the freshman to Forever Fall, we waited, and I couldn't help but be worried. I had no information on this outing, likely being something that had happened in the background of the show, but the more I saw, the more my half-memories of watching the first two volumes seemed more and more fragmented, like a fever dream when compared to the reality I was living in.
I knew Oz was the reincarnating Wizard. I knew Penny was a Robot. I knew Salem straight up couldn't be killed. But more and more, I was stumbling across things I just didn't know. Some of them were common knowledge here, like how cities were almost all effectively city-states, and, despite nominally being part of the same country, were all effectively self-governing enclaves. Others, like why Salem couldn't be killed, were things I couldn't find, as even the Grimm Queen's existence was apparently secret, for some reason, and even the most discrete of searches got me absolutely no results. Oh, there were myths of there being a 'Grimm Queen', but they all treated her as non-human, and none of them touched on her non-killable status.
I wasn't stupid enough to search for her by name.
As such, while part of me wanted to believe that this would be fine, as the only time one of these trips made into the show was as a character piece for Jaune, when everyone was collecting sap. However, I'd already set the butterflies a-flappin', and now I didn't know what whirlwinds they'd kick up, nor when the storm would start.
And with my luck, it was a when, not an if.
"What's got you so worked up, Jauney?" Yang asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Feelin' sick? Cause I don't want to see the return of Vomit Boy."
"I'm fine," I replied, a bit annoyed at the appellation. "There won't be a showing Vomit Boy 2: Ralph Harder. I was just really nervous about getting in that first day."
"I heard it got good reviews," Ruby teased. "And you had nothing to worry about, Jaune. You were awesome! And there's no need to be worried this time. It's like you said, it's just like the test to get in, only without the catapults."
"But the catapults were the best part!" Nora objected. "Or was that the violence? Nevermind, it was the violence."
Pyrrha, from her seat beside me, laid a comforting hand on my leg. "I'm sure we'll all do fine, Jaune. We faced far worse foes before, and we've all been training, you most of all."
"Thanks," I smiled, taking a deep breath and relaxing.
Alex, the girl with the rocket tonfas, laughed from the next row of seats over, looking at me and shaking her head. I shot her a questioning look, and she just shook her head again.
The flight out didn't take that long, a bit slower than I could fly myself but with a much greater carrying capacity and endurance because, you know, machine.
~"We're approaching the landing zone. Prepare to disembark,"~ the voice of the pilot announced, and we got up, even as the back door opened, a stiff wind blowing into the cabin. Looking out the window, the trees were still speeding past, and I wondered just exactly how we were going to land.
I'd assumed the ships would touch down, but, then again, landing strategies were apparently a thing.
Looking over, I could see Goodwitch standing by the open doorway, waiting. The ship slowed, spinning about, and I could glance out the open backdoor of our ship and see into the cabin of the other airbus, where Peach stood, waiting in front of the other students.
Making my way towards the exit with the others, I could see a few Grimm milling about, growling and snarling upwards towards us. "Wait until the landing zone has been cleared, then disembark," Glynda commanded, stepping off the edge of the boarding ramp.
The students pushed forward, a girl with teddy-bear ears almost pushed off before they realized what they were doing and backed away. Professor Peach dropped down as well, out of sight, and I started to make my way through the crowd.
"'Scuse me," I said, pushing aside a guy in lime green. "I can fly, 'scuse me."
Getting to the front, I leapt off, wings extending, and got a good look at what was going on.
It was a slaughter.
Glynda was standing in the middle of a brilliant purple tornado, streaks of solidified telekinesis ripping the Beowulfs around her to shreds. Professor Peach had somehow picked up a series of blood red tentacles, five per hand, each one tipped with a glinting blade. Looking closer, I realized they were made of grass, the same grass that grew underneath her feet, in long tendrils, each one grasping what looked like a scissor blade.
As Glynda cleared half the field with sheer power, the botanist, with her plant tentacles, ran into the remaining Grimm, tendrils slicing limbs, necks, one Beowulf tossed into the air by one appendage, only for four more to stab deep and rip it to pieces.
It was certainly a reminder that, while the Wizard didn't hire based on pedagogical ability, he did hire based on combat effectiveness. And that, unless I went full Dragon, it was very likely that, if I tried to fight them, I would lose.
Within a couple minutes, the field was clear, Grimm corpses littered everywhere, slowly evaporating in a thick black mist. The bodies around the field flew into the air in groups, carried by Glynda's semblance, to make a small pile in one corner of the grove, and the other students started to disembark, jumping out of the Air Bus. I glided down to land next to Pyrrha, who dropped down into a superhero landing, only a faint glow showing that she used her own Semblance on her boots to slow herself down right before impact.
Blake hit with a roll, and Yang let off a shot to break her momentum right before she hit the ground, the team forming up, Ruby's setting down nearby. As the other students assembled, seventy or eighty huntsmen in total, Glynda turned to address the class, spinning, interlocking rings of purple forming under her feet as she lifted herself up. "All right students. You have three hours before our transport returns. Make use of that time. Remember, each team must kill five Beowulfs, or a single Ursa."
"Happy hunting!" Professor Peach added cheerfully, waving a hand, five blood-red tendrils making shooing motions. "We've pulled and cleared the locals, and if you need help we're just a scroll-call away!"
Looking back, I saw the air-busses returning to Beacon, or at least Vale, the area we were in maybe big enough for one of the ships to land safely, and it was currently full of students. Turning to Ruby, I asked, "Together?"
The smaller girl bit her lip, glancing over at our teachers, even as the other teams were spreading out, a couple running off into the forest, but most slowly ambling past the tree line. Looking to her team members. Weiss stared back, not saying anything, but both Nora and Ren gave her nods of approval, hers energetic, and his solemn. "I, yeah, together!" Ruby decided. "Ms. Goodwitch said each team, not that the teams couldn't work together. Alright, let's go hunt some Grimm!" she cheered, Nora replying with a cheer of her own, while Weiss just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
Looking around, seeing most of the students giving the pile of dead Grimm a wide berth, I started to walk towards it with a "This way!" we moved around it, the same odd sense of wrongness that I felt whenever I stepped from Home to Remnant redoubled around them, but soon enough we were on its other side and heading into the woods, the closest team already almost out of sight.
"Oooooh!" Nora chirped after several minutes of walking, once we'd long since lost track of our classmates. "I see! We walked around those stinky Grimm because the others wouldn't go near it, so now we have all the Grimm in this direction all to ourselves. Ooooh! Do you think I can find another bear-horsey!"
"If you do, you'll fulfill your team's requirement all on your own," I pointed out.
The ginger looked at me suspiciously. "That's not a no."
Rather than respond, I looked to Ruby, who caught my look. "Oh, yeah. If you find an Ursa, you can ride it, I guess. Just be careful!" she requested, trying to do her job as leader.
"Pah!" the Valkyrie scoffed. "Do I look like someone that needs to be told to 'be careful', or 'watch where you shoot your grenades' or 'don't eat your weight in pancakes'?"
"Yes," Ren replied, without missing a beat. "Yes, you do."
Rather than be put off, she just replied with a cheerful, "And that's why I've got you as a partner, Rennie! Now, let's get going! Momma wants an Ursa skin rug!"
The hammer wielder took off into the forest, as Weiss asked, "She does know you can't skin an Ursa, correct?"
"I have told her such several times," the girl's partner replied, blandly. "Though you are welcome to try if you think it will help."
"HORSEY!" came the distant yell, followed by a deep growl.
"We should go," Ren stated, taking off at a dead run, and the rest of us followed.
DR
Plunging my sword into a Beowulf's snarling jaws, and ripping it out the side, deflecting its dying swipe, I kicked it away, turning to intercept another as it leapt for me, only for the distinctive sound of Ruby firing Crescent Rose to come from my side, the Beowulf's trajectory suddenly changed as it lost part of its ribcage. However, that wasn't always enough to kill them, and I leapt forward with a "Thanks!" as I stabbed deep into its wound, bereft of armor, and continued the work she'd started, ripping it nearly in half.
Turning back, I saw her and Weiss were being pressed back by an Ursa, Ruby darting back and forth with her Semblance to keep it away from her partner. I charged in with a warning of "Knight to Red," slipping around her to block the Ursa's swing. It would've missed her, but, close as I was, and strong as I was, I knocked the Grimm off balance instead.
Weiss's, "Knight back, White Ice!" got my attention, and I leapt towards it, hitting the creature feet first and using it as a platform to jump high and backwards, wings flaring as a large icicle sped below me, slamming into its head, encasing it in Dust-hardened ice.
"Red in," Ruby announced, speeding forward, telling me she was doing so, and going at the Ursa with her scythe as it flailed, trying to free its head. Turning my attention to the side, I saw one of the small, two legged Grimm known as Creeps breaking from the tree-line and charging Weiss quieter than a Beowulf would.
"White back, Knight in," I commanded, and Weiss turned to look at me in confusion, not seeing the danger. "Jump back Weiss!" I yelled as I dove towards her, and she did so, only catching sight of the small Grimm as it leapt at her from the side. It missed her, barely, and I hit it at speed, the force of my shield alone enough to crack whatever passed for its internals, killing it.
The code we'd put together was ad-hoc in the extreme, only emerging in the last few minutes as our casual fighting got a bit. . . frenzied.
Glancing to the side, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were holding off a trio of Ursas, while Blake and Yang were double teaming a not-so-small pack of Beowulfs, while another pack snuck up on them. Glancing around, seeing no one else, I commanded Weiss, "Keep an eye out!" for all the good it would do, and took off flying.
"Black, Gold, Knight on your Left" I warned, Blake not responding, but Yang giving me a nod and a grin as she shot a Beowulf point blank, its head almost vaporizing under the blow. Skidding to a halt, the six Beowulfs, seeing they were spotted, bayed and charged, but, without any friendlies in the zone, and getting a little tired of this, I tried something different.
Instead of meeting them head-on, with sword and board, I paused, wings flaring and breathed. From my lips came a stream of prismatic flames, that washed over the charging Grimm, and they screamed.
The sound, not bestial and aggressive, but of pure agony, shocked me for a moment, my flames cutting off.
Most of the Beowulfs that'd tried to charge me had seemingly melted under the assault, leaving behind absolutely nothing, not even a corpse, while the largest, and most armored, charged through the flames with single-minded determination, though it'd lost an arm, and most of a leg, ignoring its wounds as it bellowed in berserker rage.
I met the Grimm with another blast of fire, the force of my breath physically knocking it backwards, and once again it screamed as it started to fight through it, then, suddenly, ceased to be, dissolving into nothingness as the flames around it dimmed.
Before I could do more than look at where it used to be, a claw hit the back of my head, sending me tumbling forward into my flames, even as I felt the phantom pain of my skull cracking as my Aura took the impact for me, but told me what would have happened without it.
Rolling forward, my mouth filling with flames, I saw the pack of Grimm that Blake and Yang had been fighting had seemingly ignored them, and were charging straight for me. Not wanting to hit my teammates, I breathed down, over my legs, spreading the flames out in a splashing circle around me. The Beowulfs closed, with something between a snarl and an animal scream, as they tried to wade through the fires, but they were burning, melting away, as I, with sword and shield, strode through my own inferno and dispatched them.
A few more Creeps ran from the forest, trying to leap over the flames around me to attack, but I blocked one, tossing it into the flames, where it practically evaporated. The second I sliced in two, and the third I met with a small belch of flame that I blew into it, the rainbow fire seemingly curling around the creature as it vaporized.
Stowing my shield and reaching down, I gathered up some of the Flames into my palm, feeding them with my own reserves, my gloves already as infused as I could make them, and tossed it at the last Creep, which tried to dodge, but took the hit in the side. Rather than catch fire, the concentrated Flame carved a path straight through the creature, the flames diminishing as it did so, but still alight when it landed on the grass.
Grinning ferociously, I sheathed my weapon and gathered another two handfuls of my Flame, once more doing as I'd learned and feeding them from my inner reserves without having to physically blow out more, charging the last Ursa that Pyrrha was fighting. "Knight to Bronze," I called, "Bronze out." Pyrrha nodded, understanding what I was saying, and ducked under the creature's clumsy claw, leaping to the side as I rushed the creature. Her shield was raised in defense, but the Ursa turned to face me, ignoring her completely, and bellowed at me, starting to meet my charge with one of its own. With a matching roar I leapt up to it, avoiding its wide, slashing paws, as I slammed into it and thrust flame-covered hands into its face, the creature trying to bite me as I did so.
The white bone, which could easily turn a blade aside, was like stiff clay in my hands, coming apart as the flames around me dimmed, and I carved through its skull and into its glowing red eyes. Standing on the creature's shoulders, it opened its jaws in pain and rage, and I breathed a thin stream directly down its throat.
I leapt up, barely dodging one last swipe of its massive paws, flapping away as the creature dissolved underneath me, not into its distinctive black mist, but the top half vanishing in an instant, leaving only it's arms, legs, and the bottom third of its torso. Those body parts, hitting the ground, only a second later started to mist, the creature unequivocally dead.
Staring at my last kill, glancing around and seeing the attack over, I laughed in relief, and at the adrenaline that was surging through me. I was a third of the way down my internal reserves of flame, but they were already starting to re-stoke themselves, and I'd be back to full in a few minutes.
"Uh, Arcs? You're hot, and not just in the fun way," Yang called, pointing in the general direction of my crotch. Looking down, I saw flames still burned on my feet, all the way up to my thighs.
Focusing on them, I pressed them into my clothing, the spiraling patterns shining across my jeans for a brief moment before it settled, leaving my pants a bit stiff, but they were broken in as I stretched. It'd make them tougher, not nearly durable as my gloves were now, but every little bit helped.
Looking around, the Grimm were dead, dissolving into black mist, and the others were approaching me, shooting glances to the side, where my prismatic flames still burned. With a thought, the flames dropped, infusing the grass and trees, and rendering themselves harmless.
"Well, that got a bit hairy," Nora commented, smiling, but it had a little bit of a worried edge to it. "I was expecting some fun, but I guess it's possible to have too much of a good thing. Except for Pancakes."
Blake nodded, "We've met our requirement two dozen times over. Ten times in that last group alone. We should head back."
I looked to Ruby and Pyrrha, both of whom nodded. "Sounds good to me," I agreed. It was at that moment that I realized I was lost. "Anyone know which way camp is?"
"This way," Ren said instantly, turning and walking off in a seemingly random direction, and we started to follow.
"So, um, maybe we didn't have that many Grimm back home, but is this normal?" I had to ask, the numbers we'd just faced unusual from my memories of the show.
"No," Blake said, even as Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha all said, "Yes."
Glancing between the groups, I replied, "Can I get a huh for 200?"
For a moment, I was worried I'd made an out-of-universe reference, but Remnant apparently had Jeopardy as Ruby explained. "Sometimes we'd get Grimm packs on Patch. Not often, but something like this? Yeah, this happens. Normally they headed straight for town, and the teachers at Signal would take care of them."
"Argus often dealt with groups this size, or larger, but they almost never breached the walls," Pyrrha agreed.
"But the . . . group I. . . travelled with almost never had to deal with Grimm in those numbers," Blake objected, stumbling a bit as she tried not to name the terrorist organization she'd been a member of.
Nora and Ren shared a glance, the former commenting, "Then they were a small group."
"They weren't," Blake disagreed vehemently, looking just as confused as I was.
Weiss glanced at her, before offhandedly commenting, "You must have been travelling with mostly Faunus."
"Excuse me?" the Faunus demanded, cat ears under her bow twitching a little in anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What?" the heiress replied, caught off guard at the other girl's anger. "I didn't mean anything by it! It's just that Grimm tend to leave Faunus alone, at least more than they do people. If you didn't see that many while you were travelling with a large group, either they were happy all the time, or they were mostly Faunus."
"But, if that's true, why do they have such a hate-on for our Light-Knight?" Yang asked, slugging me in the shoulder, and I had to second that question, only to remember that, despite what others thought, I was not a Faunus.
"They didn't last time," Nora observed. "Did you insult their mothers or somethin'?"
I paused mid-step, forcing myself to continue. "I don't think I did," I said slowly. I hadn't even met Salem, and I hopefully wouldn't for a very long time. I couldn't be scried, either, so she couldn't've seen me from afar to sick her minions on me. And if she had, it would likely not just be Beowulfs, Creeps, and Ursas. "Do Grimm even have mothers?" I deflected. "Where do they come from?"
"No one knows," Ruby shrugged. "They show up everywhere, even on islands, and ones that couldn't've just, you know,swam there. But Nora's right. They seemed to be really not like you. Do you know why?"
"Oooh, maybe we could weaponize it!" Nora cheered. "Bring 'em close, and then I hit 'em with a full volley from Magnhld!"
"Except you'd be firing your grenade launcher at Jaune, Nora," Pyrrha chided.
The ginger shrugged, "It's a work in progress."
"I. . . I don't know," I shrugged, honestly having no idea what it was. I'd thought it might've been because I was a Dragon, but I was a Dragon last time. "What's everyone at?"
"Probably back at the safe zone," Ruby replied, looking around, "But I thought we would've run across another team by now."
That wasn't what I was asking about, but, now that she mentioned it, it was odd. "We'll find out. I meant how are we with our supplies. Aura, Bullets, and Dust."
A quick scroll check showed everyone was still in the eighties to nineties, with Pyrrha still at 100%. Personally, I was at 85%, the last hit having drained a bit, and if I had a more normal Aura reserve I would've been in the fifties. One on one, in a flat environment, I could probably just overpower my teammates, but I was well aware that, even though I had improved, I was still the worst combatant on my team for these sorts of situations.
Well, discounting special abilities, Draconic or Semblance based, I was probably still better than Weiss. So there was that.
Ammo wise Ruby, Yang, and Nora were both halfway through their stocks, the others still up around the three quarters mark. In terms of Dust, the only one who really used it was Weiss, and her revolver/rapier apparently held a lot of it, so she'd barely gone through a third, and had a full reload hidden in the pouch that rested against her lower back.
We could start to hear the sounds of distant weapons fire after a few more minutes, closing on the glen. A trio of Beowulfs tried to jump us, but a sniper-shot from Ruby, a flying Javelin from Pyrrha, and a hammer-blow from Nora as she leapt right for the lead attacker killed them all near-instantly.
Continuing without breaking stride, except for Nora, of course, we continued to approach the safe zone, the sounds of fighting, if anything, getting louder. The closer we got, the more it became apparent that the noise wasn't coming from around the clearing, but from the clearing itself.
I looked to the rest of my team, and started to ask if I'd misunderstood how this task was supposed to go, but a girl's scream of pain rang out over the Grimm growls and sounds of combat, and I quickly found myself practically alone, the others dashing off to help.
Blake and Weiss, the only other two left, exchanged looks with me, and we took off after the others, not sure of what we'd find, but knowing it wouldn't be good.