Happy belated Valentine's Day! Had a great weekend celebrating with my wife. I made dinner (and it actually tasted good!), then we played The Oregon Trail card game, which ended up being a lot of fun, but extremely unforgiving. Six trips so far, and I've only survived once. Then, we went and got a couple's massage the next day.

Naturally, I put off writing until after all of that was done, so my streak of starting late continued. But on the bright side, I'm actually posting it on time this week! Shorter chapter, but had a lot of fun with it. After my usual notes at the end of the chapter, I'll have a quick note on another hobby of mine. But for now...

Storytime!

A faunus Huntress!

Sure, Sona wasn't a fully licensed Huntress yet, but that had to only be a matter of time. Not only was she a Huntress-in-training, but she'd been made leader of her team, too! Adam had never considered such a possibility. Then again, he hadn't really thought about Huntsmen that much, either. This far out, you only saw one when they were on a mission. They'd show up, kill the Grimm, then move on to the next mission. If you weren't meeting with them, you might not even see them at all.

But this time was different. Since Mazarin had put Father Bernard as the point of contact, the team would need to work directly with him. Plus, he was the only one around who had seen the Alpha. They wouldn't need him when the fighting started, but other than that, Father Bernard would be a critical part of their mission.

And if Adam stuck with his father, he'd get to see them too.

"So…" Father Bernard drawled out, "now what?"

Sona froze, apparently as in the dark as Father Bernard. "I…I'm not sure, actually. Mister Passerine?"

"Jai," their Huntsman corrected. He sighed as he came closer, shaking his head like a disappointed father. "Kids these days. What are they even teaching you in Haven?"

"Hey! We're just first years!" Carina complained.

"Not out here, you're not," Jai flatly shot back. "This isn't a classroom. Grimm don't care if you're a seasoned Huntsman or some kid still learning to control your aura. The moment you step out of that campus, it's go time."

"But you're-"

"Carina, enough," Velma growled, adjusting her glasses as she cut off the taller girl. "Sorry about my sister. She gets a little carried away sometimes." Sona and Pyxie laughed at the angry huff from Carina. "As this is our first mission, perhaps you could suggest how we should proceed, Mister Passerine."

"That's better," Jai replied, ignoring the formal use of his name this time. "Well, you're here to kill an Alpha, right?" All four girls nodded. "Can't kill it if you can't find it, so maybe you should start figuring out a plan to track the thing down."

"We could scout the area to look for signs of Grimm activity," Velma posited.

"Maybe we can spot something using the bullhead," Sona added. "We can cover a lot more ground that way."

"Canopy's too thick to track anything from the air," Jai pointed out. "Scouting the woods isn't a terrible idea, since you want to make sure the village is safe first. Remember, the safety of others takes precedent. But why not start by narrowing the search area a bit?"

The four girls stared blankly at him, leaving Jai to jerk his head subtly in Father Bernard's direction.

"Oh!" Apparently, Sona caught the hint. "Father Bernard, your caravan was the one to encounter the Alpha, right?"

"It attacked us on the way to Katai," Father Bernard confirmed. "Mazarin managed to fight it off, thankfully."

"Report said you got in on that action," Jai commented.

"The report exaggerates," Father Bernard insisted. "I stabbed it once and got slapped away for my trouble. Mazarin did all the real work."

"You said it was between here and Katai. That's east of here, right?" Pyxie asked.

"Almost directly," Father Bernard answered. "We were at the rest area a little over halfway to town."

"Did you see where it ran off to?"

Father Bernard stopped to think for a second. "South? Maybe southwest? I can show you on a map inside."

"Now we're talking," Jai joyfully interjected. "But we also need to go talk to the mayor. Or whoever's in charge out here."

"I can take you to Mayor Watterson's office," Father Bernard offered.

"It's the tall building, right?" Father Bernard nodded to Jai's question. Other than a few houses, the buildings in Shizukana were almost all single-story. "Great. I'll take Sona and Pyxie to meet with him. Best to introduce yourselves to the local authorities. The sisters can stay here and gather more info."

"Actually, maybe the team leader should stay. The mayor won't take long to meet, and the payment's being handled by Katai, so I think she'd benefit more here."

Jai eyed Father Bernard for a moment before giving instructions. "Alright, you heard the pastor. Sisters and I will go meet the mayor. Sona and Pyxie are on research duty." Velma looked disappointed, but they all assented. "Father, a word?" The two adults stepped aside with Adam in tow as the team discussed specifics. "Mind telling me what that was about?"

Father Bernard glanced over Jai's shoulder to make sure the girls weren't listening. "Our mayor is…he's not a huge fan of faunus."

"He gonna be a problem to my girls?"

"Nothing like that," Father Bernard assured him with a mortified look. "He's just…well, he'll just be a lot more agreeable if Sona isn't the one talking to him."

Even though Mayor Watterson wore his title with pride, he was more of an organizer than a leader. In a place like Shizukana, people pretty much managed their own affairs. The mayor mostly kept track of the town finances and made sure the small number of guards were equipped. Anything else that needed done was typically handled by the citizens directly. The mayor would hold a monthly meeting for people to bring issues to the town's attention, such as a leaky roof or damage to one of the towers, and someone would volunteer to take care of it.

Still, he was technically the leader of the town, so meeting with him would be a good idea, even if he wasn't the friendliest person.

"Ah." Jai nodded in understanding. "Appreciate the heads up. I'll talk to them after the mission about stuff like that, but for now, I'd rather they focus on the task at hand."

"I'll leave it to you then."

"Girls, we've got work to do!" Jai called "Let's go find the mayor and introduce ourselves. Shouldn't take long. We'll meet back here to discuss what to do next."

"Good luck!" Sona waved as half her team departed with Jai. Adam doubted they'd need luck to talk with the mayor. Patience, maybe, but not luck. "You said you had a map for us?"

"Of course. It's in the house."

Father Bernard led the two girls inside, pointing them to the couch in the living room before hastening to his office for his maps. Pyxie scanned the room, pausing on little details as she took in the surroundings. Sona, on the other hand, zeroed in on something else.

"So you're Father Bernard's son, right?" Sona asked as Adam claimed a nearby chair. He froze under the sudden attention. "You were there when the Alpha attacked, right?"

The memory of that night made Adam shudder. "Y-yeah. It was really scary."

"I'll bet. But it sounds like your dad was quite the hero."

As Sona hoped, that seemed to brighten Adam up a bit. "He was really brave! That thing knocked Mazarin down and tried to eat her, but Dad jumped on its back and stabbed it! It smacked him away, but he didn't get hurt too bad."

"That's really lucky. Even a smaller Grimm can be really dangerous."

Adam didn't need to be told that twice. He shook off the haunting images of his first Grimm encounter. "Mazarin was really strong, though. She chased it off after Dad saved her. It barely even hurt her. That aura stuff is awesome!"

"Ah, so you know about aura, do you?"

"Only a little," Adam admitted. "I learned about it from my books, and Mazarin explained it to me. She barely got hurt taking that thing on. She's really cool." Adam glanced around, then leaned forward to whisper, "And I think she likes my dad."

Sona giggled, ignoring the way Pixie rolled her eyes. "Guess he made quite the impression on her."

"Here we are!" Father Bernard announced as he returned with a large map of the area. Adam clammed up suddenly. Father Bernard stared for a second before asking, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." The fact that both Adam and Sona answered in unison proved less than reassuring.

Father Bernard looked to Pyxie, but the pink-haired girl simply shook her head, refusing to get involved. With a defeated sigh, Father Bernard set the map on the coffee table and pointed. "This is Shizukana." His finger traced a little to the east. "And this is Katai. The attack happened at the rest area between. Here."

Sona took a photo of the map with her scroll while Pyxie studied the area. After several seconds, Pyxie shared her thoughts. "You said it ran to the southwest, away from Katai. Probably retreating to familiar turf. I'd guess it's lurking around here."

Pyxie pointed to an area nearly halfway between Shizukana and Katai, deep in the woods.

"If this is the first time anyone's encountered it, then it's probably been pushing up from further south. Expanding its territory a bit." Pyxie tapped the line on the map marking the highway. "Trade picks up this time of year, so it probably sensed the activity on the main route. But when trade quiets back down in the colder months, it might come looking for a village instead."

"You think it'll come here?" Adam asked. The last thing he wanted was to see that monster again.

"Normally, no. Katai has more people, so it's a bigger Grimm magnet." Pyxie sat back from the map. "But we've got no idea how far it ran. Might wind up close enough to be drawn here."

"But that's not gonna happen," Sona hurriedly added, "because we'll hunt it down first." Adam knew she was just trying to calm him down, but with how confident she sounded, he couldn't help but trust her.

"Someone sure did their research," Father Bernard complimented as he folded the map up. "Not many city kids know that much about trade patterns."

"Velma looked it all up before we came." Sona cruelly robbed Pyxie of her victory, causing the short girl to deflate a little. "We'll locate your Alpha in no time."

"Can you really track a Grimm that easily?" Father Bernard asked.

"Not always," Sona admitted. "But this isn't a regular Grimm. An Alpha may be harder to kill, but it's a lot easier to find. You've already narrowed down our search area a lot," Father Bernard smiled at the recognition, "but Alpha's tend to draw lesser Grimm to them. That much activity is bound to leave traces. Plus, the other Grimm end up helping us track the Alpha."

"How's that?"

"Simple. As the lesser Grimm join the Alpha's pack, the surrounding areas have less Grimm. So if we find some lone Beowulves, we're probably going the wrong way," Sona explained. "Ideally, we should find no Grimm at first, then a whole pack."

"And we'll be the only people that far from the villages, so if we don't find them," Pyxie's grin bordered on feral, "they'll find us."

Small talk soon took over as they waited for the rest of the group to return from visiting the mayor. After asking if the girls wanted him to turn up the heat, Father Bernard excused himself to work on dinner, leaving Adam to pepper the two girls with questions. He kept an ear out as he worked to make sure Adam didn't overdo it, but Sona and Pyxie handled it well, entertaining the young faunus easily. Most of Adam's questions revolved around their time at Haven, naturally.

"So how did you become a team?"

"Initiation," Pyxie answered.

"It's sort of a challenge for all the new students," Sona elaborated, figuring Adam wouldn't know much about Huntsman Academies. "They scatter us in the woods and give us objectives to complete. Whoever you meet along the way is your partner, and then two sets of partners are made into a team."

"So you found Pyxie, and then Velma and Carina became your team?"

"Actually, Pyxie found me," Sona laughed. Clearly, there was a story there.

Unfortunately, Pyxie didn't seem much of a storyteller. "You were noisy. Figured I'd find a whole team, but it was just Sona plowing through every branch she could find."

"I wasn't that bad!"

"I thought I'd found a trail in the woods. Turns out, it was just you."

"Not all of us were raised out here!"

"You're from outside the city?" Adam latched onto the singular detail. He'd always assumed Huntsmen all lived in the capitol.

"I was born a few villages east of Katai," Pyxie admitted. "My dad actually visited Katai a few times, but that was before I was born."

"That's why we picked this mission," Sona added. "Pyxie knows a little bit of this area, and afterwards, we can visit her hometown."

"My family doesn't live there anymore," Pyxie explained with a shake of her head before adding, "We moved to a larger village close to the capitol when I decided to become a Huntress. Wanted to be closer to the bigger prep schools."

"But someone has to remember you back home, right?"

"I already agreed we could stop on the way back. You don't have to convince me anymore."

"Are there many Huntsmen like you?" Adam questioned. "You know, from smaller villages."

"There's a handful of us, I'd wager." Pyxie shrugged, unsure of exactly how many. "Most of those that get accepted to the Academies are from one of the prep schools, which are mostly in the cities. Some kids will travel to attend during the school year, but most live near the school."

"And what about you?" Adam turned to a surprised Sona. "A-are there many Huntsmen like you?"

Sona tilted her head, trying to discern what he meant. "Like me?"

"You know…" Adam gulped nervously before reaching up to tap one of his horns. "Faunus Huntsmen."

"Oh." Sona chuckled at the innocuous question. "That's one of the great things about being a Huntsman. Anyone can become one! All that matters is that you want to protect people."

"And that you're strong enough to actually fight," Pyxie added.

"Well, duh! But what I mean is that most people don't care about who you are or what you look like." Sona practically beamed as she looked Adam in the eye. "All they care about is what you can do."

"Really?" That sounded…wonderful! A place where the horns on his head meant nothing. If only everywhere could be like that.

"Yep! In fact, the Headmaster of Haven is a faunus, too."

"The Headmaster?" Adam didn't know much about Huntsman Academies, but he knew what a Headmaster was. With only four official Academies on Remnant, having a faunus as the leader of one was huge! A Headmaster had to be a strong fighter and a good leader. Someone people could place their complete trust in.

A true hero.

"We're ba-ack!" Carina sang as she practically burst through the front door. The edge of the large battleaxe across her back caught the leg of the entryway table, nearly knocking it over. She turned away at the last second, only for the handle to punch a small hole in the opposite wall. "Gah!"

"Carina!" Velma shouted at her sister. "I told you we needed to make that monstrosity collapsible. Now look what you've done!"

"Oops."

"I swear I can't take you anywhere," Velma growled.

"I am so sorry," Sona apologized as Father Bernard poked his head out of the kitchen to see what had happened. "We'll get someone to fix that."

"Guess again, kiddos." Jai brought up the rear of the trio, forcibly turning Carina sideways and practically shoving her into the living room to spare the hall any more damage. "After you handle the Alpha, your next mission is drywall repair."

"Can't we just pay someone to patch it?" Carina asked.

"You can, but then you'd never learn your lesson."

"They don't have to-"

"Oh, but they do, Father." Jai tapped the wall next to the new hole. "Besides, these girls need to know more than just how to swing a weapon. Some basic life skills will do them good." Jai turned on the team of girls, though his eyes seemed fixated on Carina the most. "You're here to help people, not destroy their homes. Weapons off until you can learn to control them better."

"But-"

"Weapons off." Carina's mouth clicked shut mid-protest as her team leader repeated the order. "He's right. Our job is to protect people, not destroy their homes. Father," Sona pulled the compound bow off her back, "is there somewhere we can put these?"

"Um…the hall closet, I guess?" Father Bernard didn't exactly have a weapons rack for them to use.

"Great." Sona nodded to her team, handing her bow to Pyxie to store alongside the girl's short sword and shield. Velma gently placed her bladed staff alongside her sister's battleaxe before closing the closet. "We'll collect them before we leave tonight."

"You're going out after dark?" Father Bernard asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Don't worry about us, Father," Jai assured him. "We're setting up camp near the woods tonight. Hunt starts tomorrow. Easier to track something when you can actually see more than three feet in front of you."

"As much as Sona would love to see us try," Pyxie grumbled. "We can't all have faunus vision."

"Hey, don't be jealous!" Sona laughed.

"Faunus vision?"

The entire team stopped in confusion at Adam's question, but it was Sona who spoke up. "Yeah, you know. Faunus-vision." Adam's blank stare proved he didn't know. "We can see a lot better in the dark."

That was news to Adam. "We can?"

"You didn't know?" Pyxie asked, nudging Velma. "How can he not know?"

Adam had never really thought about it. As far as he knew, the only difference between him and other people was that he had horns on his head. So being a faunus has advantages?

"It makes sense, actually," Velma stated, pausing to take her glasses off to clean the lenses on the edge of her orange blouse. "Adam wouldn't know his vision was different, because that's all he's ever seen. He'd have no way of comparing it against normal vision because he's always had faunus vision. Plus, it doesn't develop fully in faunus until adolescence, meaning he'd only have slightly better vision at his age. The change will be gradual as he grows."

"Huh! Neat."

"I'll be able to see in the dark when I'm older?"

Sona smiled as she lightly tapped her finger against her temple. "You'll see clearer than others, but it varies from faunus to faunus. I can see pretty easily in low light, but there's a cat faunus at Haven who can navigate a room in almost complete darkness. Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

"Food's ready!" Father Bernard advised as a timer sounded from the kitchen.

"Awesome!" Carina exclaimed, nearly barreling through Velma. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Velma commented as she dusted off her dark red skirt. "Though it does smell amazing."

"Hard to believe they're sisters, eh?" Sona commented as Adam watched the two opposites. Carina stood several inches taller than Velma, who just barely edged out Pyxie in height. Velma's brown hair framed her face, barely falling past her chin, while Carina's blue ponytail easily reached past her shoulders. Velma's orange blouse and red skirt seemed simple next to the blue and gray light armor that her sister sported.

"Whole family's weird," Pyxie said as she passed by them. "Isn't that right, Sona?"

Adam looked up to Sona curiously. Sona sighed, "They're my cousins." A loud thump sounded from the next room. "Distant cousins." Velma shouted angrily at her sister. "Sometimes not distant enough."

Dinner was usually a quiet affair, but not tonight. Pyxie quickly filled Velma in on the details from Father Bernard, holding out her scroll to show the photos of the map. Carina tried to muscle in to see, but all she did was start a fight with Velma after nearly crushing her. While Sona entertained Adam with stories from their training at Haven, Jai and Father Bernard sat off to the side watching the chaos.

"Are they always like this?" Father Bernard asked.

"Only met them yesterday, but from what I can tell, this is calm for them." Jai shook his head at all the madness. "Not unusual, though. They've got a ton of energy and we train them to fight constantly. Keep them cooped up too long, and things can get a little rowdy. Give them an outlet for all that energy - like a Grimm, for example - and you'll see how all that training pays off."

"You really think they'll be okay out there?"

"Your Grimm doesn't stand a chance," Jai promised. "And if it gives them any trouble, I'll be there to help. This isn't my first rodeo."

"So what's the plan, then?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" Jai loudly cleared his throat, instantly summoning everyone's attention. "Alright, girls. What's the plan for tomorrow?"

Sona wasted no time detailing her strategy. "I figure we'll head to the rest area in the morning by bullhead and begin the search from there."

"It'll be a tight squeeze landing a bullhead there," Jai pointed out.

"We're not landing," Sona countered. "We'll drop you, Velma, and Carina there, then Pyxie and I will scan the area from above. If either team finds anything, we'll radio the others in before engaging."

"You won't see much from the bullhead. Canopy's pretty thick out here."

"Doesn't mean we won't find anything, though. The bullhead can cover a lot more ground and even help us deploy rapidly if we need to."

"Fair enough," Jai allowed. "But that's for tomorrow. Tonight, we camp near the trail." The team began to clean up, putting their empty dishes in the sink as Jai thanked their host. "Appreciate the meal, Father. We'll check in with you before we head out in the morning. With any luck, we'll be celebrating a victory together soon."

"Why not stay here?" Father Bernard asked. The girls slowed their pace to listen in better. "Between our house and the church, we've got plenty of space. Has to be better than sleeping on the ground outside."

Jai considered the offer, but it was Sona who answered first. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense!" Father Bernard insisted. "It's the least I can do for you all. Plus, I'm running low on bedtime stories. Maybe Adam would like to hear another one of your adventures before bed."

Adam's face lit up at the idea. "You have to stay tonight!" Adam tugged on Sona's sleeve, begging her to accept. "Please?"

Sona hesitated, but Adam could tell she wanted to stay. After debating it mentally, Sona deferred to Jai. "If it's alright with you…"

"Don't see why not," Jai shrugged, drawing an excited cheer from Adam. "I'll do a sweep of the area before it gets too dark. Leave me the couch."

One victory secured, Adam set his sights on continuing the momentum. "And maybe tomorrow, we could ride in the bullhead?"

"Adam…" Father Bernard's stern warning came too late. "This isn't a joyride. They have work to do."

"Actually, it might be helpful to have you come along, Father."

"Me?" Father Bernard wasn't sure what to think of the suggestion. "Despite what Mazarin wrote, I'm no fighter."

"But you do know the area better than any of us," Sona reasoned. "There's been no reports of avian Grimm in this area, so it should be perfectly safe in the bullhead. Plus, an extra set of eyes wouldn't be a bad thing. Or two sets."

Adam bolted to his father's side. "Can we, Dad? Can we?" Father Bernard raised an eyebrow at the sudden begging. "It'll help them find the Grimm faster. With Sona and Pyxie there, we won't be in any danger. So can we go?"

"And the fact that you've never ridden in a bullhead has nothing to do with it?" Adam quailed at the obvious truth. Despite his reluctance, Father Bernard couldn't quite dismiss Sona's reasoning. With a defeated sigh, Father Bernard prepared to surrender. "I guess we can-"

"Yay!" Adam interrupted with a cheer.

"But only if you promise to behave," Father Bernard added, tempering Adam's excitement slightly. "You stay seated the entire ride. No going near the edge. And the only time you get off that bullhead is when we land back in Shizukana. Understood?"

"Got it!" Adam quickly agreed. He would've accepted almost any conditions if it meant getting up in the air. "We're going flying tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow, yes. But right now, it's time to get ready for bed."

"Already?" Adam asked, looking out the window. "It's not even that dark yet. Can't I stay up a little longer? Just until Jai gets back?"

"I won't be long," Jai said, having waited by the door during the discussion of tomorrow's extra bullhead passengers.

"I'm not saying you have to go to sleep right away," Father Bernard amended. "The girls will probably want to clean up before bed, so I need you ready sooner so they can have your bathroom. You can use my shower as well." The last part was addressed to their guests.

Sona saw the opportunity to help Father Bernard out. "And afterwards, I'll tell you all about our first spars at Haven and how I trounced Pyxie."

"It was a lucky shot," Pyxie growled. "Make sure to ask her about our rematch. I like that story a lot more."

"She's a bit of a sore loser," Sona stage whispered, making sure everyone heard.

Adam didn't need any further motivation, dashing off to his room to start getting ready. The shower had barely warmed up before he finished washing, enduring the cold spray for the promise of more stories. As promised, Sona was waiting for him when he got back to his bedroom, along with Pyxie, who seemed intent on adding her own commentary to Sona's stories.

Adam marveled at their tales of Haven. Team spars. Practice fights. Grimm excursions. Even the classes sounded fascinating. As terrifying as the Grimm seemed, they were nothing to these girls. A single Beowulf had nearly slaughtered Adam. They spoke of entire packs being good practice. Villagers ran to hide when someone even saw a Grimm. Students at Haven had entire classes on how to kill them more efficiently.

And every day sounded like an adventure. Instead of spending all their time learning things like fractions and dividing, they got to study stories of great Huntsmen. Sure, Sona made it clear that they'd had those classes in prep school, but even those had been mixed with weapon design and aura training. It all sounded like the most exciting life a person could imagine.

And right now, Adam was imagining a lot.

"Well, I think that's our cue," Sona said as Velma announced the shower was free. "Maybe I'll see if those two have any stories they want to share next time."

"Do you really think you'll find that Grimm tomorrow?"

"We'll try," Pyxie assured him. "Even if we don't, we'll hunt it down the next day. Or the next. But we aren't going anywhere until we've made sure Shizukana is safe again."

"Because that's what Huntsmen do," Sona added. "Whenever someone's in danger, we'll do whatever we can to help them. That's why I became a Huntress."

A question had been eating at Adam all night. Figuring he wouldn't get a better opportunity, Adam asked, "Do you…do you think I could be a Huntsman someday?"

Sona and Pyxie exchanged nervous glances, aware of the minefield they had suddenly stepped in. Sona tiptoed as best she could through the subject. "It takes a lot of work to become a Huntsman."

"Years," Pyxie added.

"And you'd need to find someone to train you early on."

"Not to mention the cost."

"Maybe you should talk to your father about it." Sona desperately sought a way to back them out of the conversation without crushing Adam's dreams. It wasn't exactly impossible for someone like Adam - Pyxie had come from a small village like Shizukana - but the majority of students came from the cities and had money saved up in advance. A poor preacher's boy from nowhere would have an uphill battle from the start.

"But if Dad agreed…do you think I'd have a chance?"

Pyxie jumped on the opportunity to throw Father Bernard under the bus instead of them. "You never know! But maybe tomorrow you can watch us and see if that's really what you want to do, then talk to your dad after." Pyxie gently pushed Sona toward the door, hoping to make a quick escape before they could get dragged back in. "Anyways, make sure you get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day!"

"Goodnight, Adam." Sona lingered at the door for a moment. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Night!" Adam cheerfully answered before Pyxie dragged Sona away and let the bedroom door close behind them.

Despite their obvious hesitance at his question, Adam couldn't help but feel energized at his new plan. He'd always dreamed of traveling, but what better way than going around saving people? He could go from village to village, helping those that needed him most. He'd prioritize missions based on need, not the size of the reward. Maybe he'd even travel along the trade highway from time to time, clearing out the Grimm before they even became a problem. He'd be the savior kids like him needed. A hero to the helpless.

By the time he went to sleep. Adam's mind was made up. Tomorrow's mission would be the first step on his path to becoming a Huntsman.

And suddenly, young Adam wants to be a Huntsman. He dreams of being a hero. A savior of those in need. That definitely won't get twisted later (cue Lionize music).

How much do I obsess over names of random characters? Well, Team SPVC and Jai are a group allusion to Jason and the Argonauts, specifically through their names. Obviously, Jai symbolizes Jason, but the four girls relate to the constellation Argos. The constellation Argos was originally a combination of Carina, Puppis, and Vela. Some include Pyxis as well. Instead we have Carina, Sona (anagram for Naos, the brightest star in Puppis), and Velma. They're all related to each other, while Pyxie is the extra member. Together, they make Team Space, since I'm referencing stars (that part was accidental, but still cool in my opinion). Furthermore, Sona is a blonde ram faunus - a reference to the Golden Fleece.

Did I spend more time designing this team than I normally do writing in a week? Maybe. Did I then try to come up with a name for the mayor and literally use a name from my bookshelf (complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson)? Absolutely. Nothing I do makes sense, but we roll with it anyways.

Unrelated to writing, I also stream on Twitch a few times each week and recently hit 500 followers! To celebrate, I'm doing a special stream next Saturday, 26 February. Would love to see you all there as I thank my viewers "a bunch" by having a banana-themed stream. For the record, I can't stand the taste of bananas, so there'll be a lot of suffering for me. The things I do for my handful of fans. Anyways, if nothing else, pray for me as I try to endure a brutal stream with a bunch of special plans, all of which are sure to make me question my life choices.

Next chapter: Team SPVC starts their mission to hunt down the Alpha.