Rhia jumped and looked up to watch the airship as it flew away. Brick was only two places behind her, she would see him drop in a minute, but Sin jumped long before she did. Looking back in the direction the airship came from she wondered how far they had traveled since Sin dropped. She knew Alena would find her eventually, but what of Brick and Sin, she wanted to find them too, she liked them.

"Please be ok," she said looking back in the direction of the area Sin jumped from, "We'll see you soon."

She turned to chase after the airship hoping to find Brick before anyone else, and after him, they would find Alena, and she would help them find Sin. Rhia wanted them to be together, she had made some friends at the Desert Mast, but she liked Sin and Brick. Sin was funny, and even though he didn't speak much, she knew Brick was a gentle giant. The two of them along with her and Alena would make a great team; all she had to do was find them.

She heard something and slid to a stop just as something erupted from the sand throwing her back. Landing in the sand, she looked up to see a king taijitu, the white half of the serpent Grimm was looking around unable to see the prey it had sensed. Rhia noticed she was mostly buried in the sand, concealing her from the Grimm so long as it did not look directly at her. Reaching toward her leg, she grabbed one of her tonfa and leaped from the sand, running for the serpent Grimm while it wasn't looking.

Flipping her weapon around as she swung, the end of her weapon struck the massive snake in its eye. Reaching for the one strapped to her other leg she turned after hitting it and hit it again, the Grimm's head snapping to the side as its eye was blinded. Landing on her back, Rhia scrambled back to her feet her weapons pointed at her enemy as it turned its eyes to her. Pulling the triggers on her weapons, Rhia backed away as she fired the pair of short rifles aiming for the Grimm's eyes hoping to keep it blinded as she retreated, but she stopped when the sand beneath her shifted, and the other half of the king taijitu emerged.

Jumping away as the black half of the Grimm appeared Rhia locked her two rifles together and reached behind her waist for her third one. Aiming the double barrel weapon at the dark half and the single barrel at the white half she once again tried to back away as the two massive snakeheads advanced on her. The black head lunged first, and Rhia fired the double-barreled rifle stopping its attack and jumping back as the white head lunged next.

Flipping her weapons around Rhia swung her right tonfa first once again catching the white head in the eye before she turned and swung the combined tonfa in her left hand nailing its nose before jumping on top of its head. Flipping her weapons once again, Rhia jammed the barrels against the snake's head and fired the rounds piercing its skull killing it. The black head attacked as she killed its other half, its head swinging in from the side knocking her back.

Scrambling to her feet, Rhia turned and leaped to the side to avoid the Grimm's other head as it lunged at her with its mouth open, attempting to swallow her whole. Spinning on her heel Rhia locked her third tonfa together with the other two and aimed the triple barreled weapon at the snake's eye as its head emerged from the sand. The weapon kicked up in her hand as she pulled the trigger forcing her to take a step back to keep her balance, but the king taijitu's head fell to the side with a faint hiss before its body began evaporating.

Brick landed on one knee, his fist driving into the sand as he hit the ground. Slowly he stood up surveying his surroundings before looking to the southwest Rhia had jumped before him and another student, Alena was scheduled to drop later, but Sin had gone far earlier than the rest of them. Turning back to the southwest the large faunus began walking he knew Sin would seek him out first and since Rhia was closer Brick wanted to find her first before moving on to find Sin.

He was sure Rhia could handle herself; he had seen her fight before back when he and Sin first met the sisters, but Brick could also tell that Rhia was not as strong as them or her sister. She was definitely faster and more agile than the three of them, but she was physically the weakest he wanted to find her first to make sure she was ok. His feet sank into the sand with each step, he alone weighed over a hundred kilograms, but his weapon added an extra forty-five on top of it. He broke into a run charging through the sand hoping to find Rhia before any Grimm could.

He stopped when he heard the howling and when he saw their red eyes he reached for the heavy shield on his back. They were resting when he ran by, but now they were aware of his presence and quickly moved to circle him. Brick stood still, watching as the beowolves surrounded him he counted six in total with an alpha leading the pack.

The one to his left attacked first running forward and jumped at Brick with its claws raised, but Brick held his ground turning away from the assault only to swing his shield arm out in retaliation. The heavy shield slammed against the beowolf's side knocking it to the ground, and Brick turned raising one of his boots before stomping down on the Grimm's head crushing it. He heard the alpha howl as the first of its pack fell and the rest charged in to attack.

Raising his shield Brick blocked a claw attack by one of them before throwing all of his weight behind the punch that followed; his punch fractured the beowolf's skull killing it in a single blow before Brick whipped back around his backhand strike knocking another one away. The alpha lunged at him, and again Brick raised his shield defending against the swinging claws, sensing the attack coming from behind him Brick released his shield and turned grabbing the Grimm in mid-lunge and turning around hurling it into its pack knocking them down. The alpha reached over the planted shield and swung at Brick its claws glancing off the bear faunus' Aura as he turned to meet its eyes.

Rearing his fist back Brick hit the alpha with an uppercut, knocking the Grimm into the air before turning his attention to the two trying to flank him. Waiting for the pair to lunge at him Brick stepped back and grabbed both of the monsters by their throats lifting them up and slamming their heads into each other crushing both of their skulls between his hands. The alpha attacked again, jumping at Brick from behind while he was distracted, but once again its claws only scratched his Aura and not the flesh beneath. Grabbing the Grimm by the arm Brick yanked it forward and slammed his forehead against the alpha's snout, and as it reeled back, he pulled it forward again grabbing it by the head with both hands. With an angry grunt Brick crushed the alpha's head between his hands and kicked its body back as it began evaporating in a black mist.

The last of the pack slowly back away as Brick killed the alpha, the Grimm had lived long enough to know when it was fighting a losing battle. The last beowolf turned to flee, but Brick picked up his shield and took one of the dust enhanced cannonballs from the rack on the back of the shield. Dropping it into the centerpiece, he raised the shield and slid open the slot at the top so he could aim and with a pull of the trigger, fired the red orb toward the fleeing Grimm's position. The gigantic faunus watched as the cannon shot exploded, fire erupting around the point of impact with the fleeing Grimm caught in the center.

Alena landed the blade of her naginata in one hand her trident in the other. She stood ready as she looked at her surroundings, there were no signs of any Grimm, but she could hear the sounds of battle in the distance some of her fellow students had entered combat. Closing her eyes, she thought of her sister. She could sense her a few miles away.

Securing her supplies and reconnecting the naginata blade to the end of her trident she began running toward her sister's location. She would not stop she would continue running until she found her. She saw a battle several meters away from her a group of students fighting the Grimm, but she didn't stop only Rhia mattered. She passed by the battling students continuing to run eventually passing another group of students ignoring them as they called out to her.

She was so focused on reaching her sister that she didn't notice it, something had grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground. Looking over her shoulder, she saw she was in the talons of a nevermore. It had grabbed her duffle bag carrying her with it. Her first thought was just to undo the strap of the bag to drop and let the Grimm fly off, but she hadn't checked what supplies she had yet, what if it was something Rhia would need.

Flipping her weapon around to the naginata side, she stabbed upward injuring the avian Grimm causing it to release her. Landing on her hands and knees Alena removed the supply bag from her back dropping it at her side. Disconnecting the naginata blade from her trident, she stood ready while the nevermore circled her. Seeing the Grimm preparing to dive toward her Alena aimed her trident and pulled the trigger, the center prong firing a single shot at the giant bird's body. Firing a second time Alena watched the Grimm turn away and begin to circle her again.

The Grimm was nearly invisible against the dark sky as it continued to circle its prey. If it wasn't for the inherent night vision, the faunus possessed Alena wouldn't be able to see it. The nevermore turned toward her and spread its wings flapping them at the girl below raining large dagger-like feathers around Alena.

Running to the side, Alena evaded the feathers that would have ended her and aimed her trident at the Grimm once again this time pulling a secondary trigger that caused her trident to fire and impale itself in the side of the avian. Pulling the trigger again the shaft of her weapon reeled her back toward the anchored trident and Alena slashed at the Grimm's wing as she zipped past it. The nevermore's turn caused Alena to swing as she reeled back toward the trident embedded in the Grimm's body, swinging past its wing and around to its back she drove her naginata blade into its body.

The nevermore shook and rolled trying to force Alena from its back. Pulling her naginata blade free Alena ran toward the monster's head slashing at its body as she ran along its back. Once she reached the monster's head, she leaped off slicing the Grimm's eye as she fell before reeling back toward her trident and unhooking it. Rolling as she landed Alena looked up tracking the wounded Grimm as it once again circled her flipping her weapon around to the bladed side as it dived toward her.

Waiting until the last second Alena jumped to the side and raised her naginata blade the Grimm's weight carrying its wing through the blade as it flew by. With its wing cut off the nevermore crashed into the sand growling as it raised its wounded body up and turned to face Alena again, but once it turned toward her Alena fired her trident into its chest again. Running around the nevermore Alena wrapped the cable of her weapon around its feet before pulling the trigger causing the weapon to reel itself back tripping the wounded Grimm. Jumping onto the monster's back as it fell Alena ran toward its head and stabbed her blade through its skull finally killing it.

Dropping to the ground as the monster vanished in the same manner as all slain Grimm, Alena reconnected her weapon and returned to the spot she dropped her supply bag. Thankfully her supplies were undamaged, laying in the middle of the feathers the nevermore fired at her. Slinging the bag back over her shoulders, Alena took a moment to catch her breath and closed her eyes once again thinking of Rhia.

She was still a ways off, but she could sense her standing up she ran in the direction of her sister's aura. The cries of the Grimm echoed through the night as she continued running, this time she would not stop until she found her sister no matter what got in her way. As she got closer, she could sense another familiar aura alongside her sister's. It was Brick's; they were together. Sliding to a stop atop a hill spotted the bear faunus walking next to Rhia.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Alena called out to her sister before running toward them. Hearing her sister call her name Rhia turned around and ran into her sister's arms as they met.

"Are you ok?" Alena asked her.

"I'm fine," Rhia told her, "Brick has been with me for a while. What about you?"

"I'm alright," Alena said hugging her again; "I'm glad you're not hurt" she looked up to Brick, "Thank you for looking after her."

Brick remained silent as he nodded.

Alena released her sister and looked toward the spire in the center of the desert, "Alright let's head toward the spire."

"What about Sin?" Rhia asked her, "Shouldn't we try to find him?"

"If he's smart he'll head for the spire like he was told to," Alena said, "Besides why should we waste time going after someone on the other side of the desert?"

"What if he needs help?" Rhia asked her, "What if he's in trouble or doesn't have the right supplies to survive on his own. We have to help him".

"There are others closer to him than us" Alena told her, "He'll be fine."

Rhia shook her head, "No, I'm sure he'll be ok, but" she looked back to Brick who was silently waiting for them, "Brick said his priority is finding Sin and well…I want them to be on a team with us".

"Why?" Alena asked.

"We're going to be sorted into teams of four after this is over" Rhia said remembering Professor Eden's words, "I want them to be a team with us. I like them".

Alena sighed, "Fine. But he's too far away for me to sense his aura. We'll head toward the spire, it's at the center of the area, if he's smart he'll head for it as well, and if I sense him we'll head over to meet up with him".

Rhia hugged her, "Thank you, Alena."

Alena set her supply bag on the ground, "Before we go let's check what supplies we have" opening her bag she saw a tent, a map and a single can of food and a canteen of water.

"I've got stuff to make a campfire" Rhia said, "And a compass."

Alena looked over at Brick, "What about you?"

Brick opened his bag inside another tent and more food and water than what Alena's held.

Alena closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder again, "Alright this will be good if we have to set up camp for the night. Let's get moving".

Focusing their attention on the spire at the center of the desert the three faunus began walking. After a couple of hours the group stopped to rest, the spire was still miles away from them. At their current pace it would be another four to six hours before they reached the spire and if they found Sin by then, they could choose one of the cards Professor Eden mentioned and make their way back through the desert and toward Shade. The question was, when should they sleep.

They had until noon to return to Shade, but the problem was figuring out the proper time to rest. They could sleep now or when they got to the spire, but once the sun rises in the morning the desert will get hot fast, and as it gets closer to noon, it only gets hotter.

"Something is bothering me about this" Rhia said, "Why is our deadline noon? That's more than enough time to make it to the spire and back with a few hours to spare".

"We have made good progress so far" Alena agreed, "We could have this done before sunrise if we didn't have to stop and rest."

"Then why do we have tents?" Rhia asked, "Stopping to set up camp would only waste time so would taking them down so unless we're just supposed to leave the tents out here what is the point of bringing them if we could have this done in one night?"

"It is part of the training," Brick said, "Teaching us to carry things that are crucial to our success. Not for today, but in the future. Should we become huntsmen we will often find ourselves in the wilderness and must learn how to set up a campsite for ourselves and ration what resources we have".

"So this is just another test then?" Alena concluded, "Mixing in survival training with our initiation."

"I say we ditch the tents" Rhia said, "We'll move faster if we only carry food and water anything else will just slow us down" she opened her bag, "Pool as much as we can into a single bag, keep the map and compass and distribute the food and water as needed".

Alena nodded, "I agree these things are only going to slow us down."

Opening their bags, they removed everything except their food and water as Rhia folded the map and slid it into her pocket along with the compass. Lifting the bag with the food and water Brick slipped it over his shoulder and followed the two girls toward the spire. The hours ticked by as they marched through the sand staying close to each other in case a Grimm attacked them and eventually they arrived at the foot of the spire.

Along the walls of the spire were cards nailed to the walls, "Poker cards?" Alena asked seeing them.

"Some are missing," Rhia noticed seeing many of the cards were missing, "All of the aces, the kings, and threes."

"Maybe that's how they decide the teams" Alena guessed, "You're teamed with others who picked the same card…"

"What is it?" Rhia asked after her sister trailed off.

Alena closed her eyes, "I sense Sin's aura close by."

"He's here?"

Alena opened her eyes and walked around to the other side of the spire where she saw Sin sitting against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"He's sleeping" she said, "Why can he sleep at a time like this?"

Feeling a heavy hand on her shoulder, Alena moved to the side as Brick kneeled down and pushed Sin's shoulder with his finger. A snore escaped Sin's mouth as he fell to the stone floor of the spire and woke.

"Is it over yet?" he asked.

"You're lucky your life isn't over," Alena told him, "How can you fall asleep out here? You do know there are Grimm here don't you?"

Sin looked at her before yawning, "I was tired" he said slowly getting to his feet, "Besides you all took your time getting here" he looked to Brick, "Glad to have you back brother."

Brick nodded as Sin looked at Rhia, "I'm happy to see you again."

Rhia smiled nervously and looked away, "I'm…glad to see you're ok."

"Aside from being really tired, I feel fine" Sin told her, "So" he yawned again, "Now that we're all back together what's the deal with these cards?"

"Alena thinks that's how they are going to determine our teams" Rhia told him.

Again Sin yawned, "I guess that makes sense. So let's grab matching cards and get out of here, I miss having a real bed".

"Which ones should we pick?" Rhia had asked before Sin reached for the two of hearts.

"Did you know" he began as he pulled the card from the wall, "That poker cards are closely related to tarot cards? Especially the suits, the club suits are the same as the wands. The diamonds the same as pentacles, the spades are the swords, and the suit of hearts is the suit of cups".

He turned to Rhia handing her the card he picked, "The two of cups symbolizes a deep mutual understanding and intuition as well as balance and unity in a close relationship and even a declaration of love."

Rhia blushed when she heard his last words, "I…did not know that."

Alena stepped between them, "If you're done flirting with my sister its time to leave."

Sin took the two of diamonds while Brick took the two of clubs while handing Alena the two of spades. With their cards chosen Rhia checked her compass and looked to the east it would be twenty miles before they reached the border of the desert, but as long as they remained together they would make it. The sun rose, bringing the night to an end and the heat began beating down on them almost right away. They had held off, now was as good a time as any to use the supplies they had kept.

Opening his bag, Brick handed water and food to his friends as they continued. The heat in the air distorted their perceptions making their destination seem much farther than it was.

"Ok" Sin gasped as he marched through the sand and the sun, "No offense to Professor Eden" he gulped down some water, "But what kind of idiot would subject people to something like this? I've been here for a year, and it wasn't anywhere near this hot when we were in town".

"We'll be fine" Rhia said drinking the last of her water, "We're almost there, I think."

Brick stopped and reached for his heavy shield, holding it above his head he pressed the switch at the bottom of the handle causing the sides of the shield to extend outward covering them from the sun.

"Oh Brick" Sin hugged his friend as he stood under the shield's coverage, "You magnificent bastard I love you."

"It's still hot" Rhia said stepping under the shield with her sister, "But at least it will protect us from the sun" she looked up at Brick, "Are you ok holding it like that? It looks heavy".

Brick smiled and nodded at her before he began walking becoming a mobile source of shade for his friends.

Another few hours and they had finally made it back to the border where an airship was waiting along with Professor Eden and the students that had already returned.

"I'm glad to see you all made it" Eden said to them as they approached.

"Hate you" Sin grumbled as he passed her, "Insanity, heat, want bed" entering the airship Sin collapsed on the floor and immediately began snoring.

"Do you have your cards?" she asked them to which they nodded, "Good, keep them with you until we return. There are more food and drinks on the ship to help you restore your strength while we wait for the rest".

"He sure sleeps a lot" Alena said hearing Sin's light snores as they stepped onto the ship.

Brick nodded.

"At least we're done now" Rhia said, "I would say we deserve a rest."

After the last of the students returned, the airship returned them to Shade where they would gather at the arena with the academy's staff and upperclassmen students all present in the stands. Professor Eden stood alone in the center of the arena with a large screen behind her showing the images of every first-year student. The screen would change showing close ups of four of the students as Professor Eden called their names they stepped forward, and she would assign them to a team and give them a name.

"Rhia Teysa" Professor Eden began, "Sin Saber. Ulrich Mauer. Alena Teysa. The four of you claimed the set of twos. From this point forward you will work together as Team Rust" she looked to Rhia, "And you Rhia will be the leader."