Helped my parents move into their new house this past weekend. The new place is pretty awesome, but it was weird saying goodbye to the house I lived in for so long. But such is life. And I'm only now feeling recovered from the soreness of loading and unloading three trucks full of stuff. But such is life in your thirties.
Also, after two years, I'm finally going back to the office next week. Gonna miss working from home full-time, but it's a necessary evil, especially since I need to train a few new people. Still get to spend two days per week at home, though, so not a total loss. Don't think it'll impact my writing too much, but we'll see!
"It's so big!" Adam excitedly exclaimed as Sona helped him up into the belly of the bullhead. His entire bedroom could fit inside the metal box before him. With only a few seats along the walls, the openness made it look even bigger.
"I always thought they were kinda cramped," Carina replied.
"Everything's cramped to you," Velma sniped from behind.
Even though there were enough seats for everyone, all of the girls stayed standing, bracing themselves near the open door. Father Bernard pointed Adam to a seat across from the opening, then claimed the chair next to him. Jai rolled his eyes at the team of girls before claiming the seat of his own. "You'd think they'd never flown before."
"We'll be watching for any clues while we fly," Sona claimed.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Adam questioned. Their caravan had taken almost the entire day to reach the rest area, but flying had to be a little faster, right?
"A few minutes, I'd wager," Jai answered nonchalantly.
Adam stared at the man, jaw hanging open in disbelief. "Only a few minutes? How fast does this thing go?"
"Pretty fast."
That felt like an understatement. He knew the caravans were slow, but even at full speed Eve would probably take at least half an hour. If this thing flew as fast as Jai claimed, how long would it take to reach the capitol? And how long would this mission even take? Adam had hoped to spend the entire day flying around the area, but it sounded like they'd be done before lunch.
A few minutes ticked by as the girls continued their huddled planning. Adam quickly realized there was nothing to really look at inside of the bullhead. The bland, metal walls provided no entertainment, while the narrow opening leading to the cockpit only let him see a small sliver of the lights and dials up front.
"Why haven't we left yet?" Adam asked, feet swinging back and forth beneath his seat. According to Jai's earlier estimate, they could've made it to the rest area by now. Instead, the turbines hummed ominously but didn't budge the craft an inch.
Father Bernard nudged him meaningfully. "Don't be rude, Adam."
"Kids got a point, Father. Pilots knew we were coming and the engines are running, yet we're still here." Jai leaned forward to aim the next part at the team. "So why haven't we left? Girls?"
His young squad perked up at the question, exchanging nervous glances before Sona offered a theory. "They're going through a pre-flight check?"
"Maybe they're waiting for clearance to take off?"
"From who, Carina?" Velma asked. "And what sort of clearance do we need? Haven't seen any other bullheads around, so unless we're waiting on a flock of birds, I think we have our clearance."
"Hey! It was just a theory."
"A terrible one."
"Save the fighting for the Grimm," Sona instructed. It didn't stop the fighting between the sisters, but at least their bickering returned to angry glares and subtle shoves. Rather than continue guessing, Sona figured it would be better to just ask for guidance. "What are we missing?"
"Why not ask the pilots?" Adam couldn't help joining in the conversation.
Far from being upset at the interruption, Jai smiled at Adam's intrusion. "Now there's an idea. Instead of guessing, just go up there and ask 'em. Pilots are people, too."
Despite her eye roll, Sona took the advice and made her way forward to question the pilots. Adam strained to listen in, but the engines drowned out the quiet conversation. Sona turned around and stormed back to the others, looking rather upset.
""What ha-"
"They were waiting on a destination." Sona seemed less than pleased with the revelation, glaring at Jai. "Someone told them not to ask."
"Like I said, pilots are people, too." Jai's nonchalant answer did little to calm Sona. "You're in charge of the mission, so you need to act like it. Don't wait for everyone else to come to you. Be proactive."
"Any other lessons you care to share this morning?"
"None yet, but I'll keep you posted." Sona stormed off at Jai's response, rejoining her team and filling them in on her grievance. Jai could only laugh at the poorly concealed glares from the girls as he justified himself to his pair of onlookers. "Haven does a great job teaching these kids to fight, but common sense is taught out here. They forget that a mission is more than just showing up and killing Grimm. After all, if the Grimm is there when you arrive, the mission's already gone to heck."
The bullhead lurched and swayed as it began to rise. Adam would've fallen out of his seat if not for Father Bernard steadying him at the last second. Adam gripped his seat as he leaned to watch out the open entryway. The town quickly vanished as the craft rose and rotated, giving Adam a view of open sky and treetops. It slowed for a moment before the turbines rotated and hurled them forward. Even from his seat, Adam could feel the rush of wind as they zoomed over the canopy at frightening speed. That the team could stand right at the edge without a care amazed Adam.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"For most people, absolutely," Jai answered, "but not a Huntsman. Aura doesn't just protect against the Grimm."
"You can jump down from this high?" Adam would probably get hurt jumping from his house's roof. They had to be nearly ten times as high now. He doubted he'd survive a fall like that.
"Without a scratch." Jai chuckled at the amazed look on Adam's face. "They teach that before the kids even get to Haven. Kinda important, since the first thing we do is shove them out of bullheads for Initiation."
"You do what?"
"At top speed," Jai added with a shrug. "Straight into Grimm territory."
Suddenly, Adam's dream of being a Huntsman looked a little less enjoyable. Spars and classes sounded like fun. Being routinely thrown out of bullheads…less so. Hard to fight Grimm as a splatter on the ground. Still, if others could learn it, then so could he.
As promised, the bullhead soon began to slow, coming to a full stop midair as they reached the rest area. While the craft floated above their destination, the team gathered to go over their plan.
"Carina, Velma, and Jai will search the area for any clues at the rest area while Pyxie and I monitor from up here." Everyone nodded along to their assigned roles as Sona turned to Father Bernard. "You said it ran to the south?"
"Maybe southwest," Father Bernard amended. "It was pretty dark."
"As good a place to start as any," Jai announced before jumping out the door. A loud thud from below announced his landing before his voice rang out, "You girls coming, or what?"
"Try not to hurt him," Pyxie advised before the two sisters made their way to the opening.
"No promises," they answered in unison before jumping out.
"Stay safe," Sona whispered before turning back to Father Bernard and Adam. "Guess it's time to start hunting! The map you showed us has a pretty large clearing south of here. Figure we'll start there and move west if nothing turns up."
"I'll let the pilots know," Pyxie offered, remembering Jai's forced lesson from before.
"If we see anything, we'll call in the others to check it out, but today is mostly about narrowing down our options a bit. You know the area best, Father, so if you see something unusual, let us know."
"Can't say that I've ever seen the forest from up here, but I'll try."
Unlike their trip to the rest area, flying south was done slowly, allowing Sona and Pyxie to carefully watch the treetops along the way. When they finally reached the clearing, the bullhead came to a stop again, slowly rotating whenever Sona asked to give them a better view of the area.
"There's a river a good ways southeast of here," Pyxie commented as she stared at a small picture of Father Bernard's map on her scroll. "Doubt it went past that."
"Why?" The Alpha certainly seemed large enough to cross a river, either by crossing a calmer part or just jumping across. The first Beowolf Adam had encountered had done as much at the cliffs, so why not the Alpha?
"It probably can cross," Pyxie said, "but why bother when there's plenty of land in the other direction? No villages or anything down there, either, so it really has no reason to cross."
"Path of least resistance," Father Bernard explained. "Animals are the same. They'll take the most logical route unless they have a really good reason not to."
"So unless there was a really pretty Beowolf on the other side, our Alpha probably headed the other way." Pyxie laughed at her own joke, but no one else joined in. "Either way, I'd say west is definitely our best bet. No Grimm here."
"Are you sure?" Father Bernard looked out on the clearing, but nothing stood out to him. Still, he doubted the Grimm would just be out in the open waiting for them.
"Trust me. We're clear." The sheer confidence of the statement had Adam convinced.
"Pyxie has a special ability that lets her sense nearby Grimm and their direction. We call it a Semblance," Sona explained. "Most Huntsmen have one, but they're all different. Some make you faster. Others, stronger. There's even specialized ones like Pyxie's that help in specific ways."
Adam had heard that word before, but had no idea what it meant. They have super powers? As if aura wasn't already powerful enough, they even had special Semblances to make them even stronger. I wonder if I'll get a Semblance, someday. He hoped it would be something really cool. Something that would make him stronger against the Grimm.
"Can only sense them when they're close, though," Pyxie admitted. "Or if there's a lot of them in one place. Assuming this Alpha already has a new pack, I should be able to pick them up once we're in the right area."
"Why don't we just fly you all over the forest and find them that way?" Adam asked. If she could pick them up so easily, then they'd have their target in no time!
"It takes a lot of concentration," Pyxie explained, shutting her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "And I'm still getting the hang of using it while moving. At low speeds, I'm fine, but that would take days of blindly searching for us to check even half the forest like that. Plus, I can only do short bursts right now. Using it too long gives me a headache." Pyxie sighed, clearly aggravated at her own limitations. "I'm trying to get better with it, but training a Semblance takes a lot of time. Plus, I only know it's working when there's Grimm nearby, so practicing can be a real pain."
"It'll still help us find this Alpha a lot faster," Sona assured her partner. "We'll reposition west of here and continue searching. And once we find the pack, we'll call in the rest of the team and get rid of your Alpha once and for all."
They quickly fell into a routine, repeating the process before moving to the next location and letting Pyxie focus while Sona scanned the thick canopy with her binoculars for any hints. Neither found anything at any stop, but they carefully noted each location to narrow down their search area. Eventually, they were interrupted by a voice over the bullhead's speakers.
"Tanks are getting a little low. We'll need to refill soon."
"Katai should have plenty of Dust available," Father Bernard offered. "Not a huge amount of demand out here, but they're the only place near here that would carry it in any large quantity."
"Then Katai it is," Sona agreed. She pulled out her scroll, hitting a button and waiting until the speaker crackled to life. "Velma, we're heading to Katai for a refuel, then we'll continue the search. Any luck on your end?"
"Nothing yet," Velma answered. "Ran into a few people traveling east, but none of them have seen any Grimm recently. Sounds like our Alpha hasn't returned to the highway yet."
"Keep looking," Sona instructed. "I'll give you a call when we're back in the area."
They didn't spend long in Katai. Father Bernard hurried to grab some snacks for them, leaving Adam at the bullhead with Sona and Pyxie. He returned just as the pilots signaled they were ready to depart search continued as before, quickly becoming somewhat monotonous despite the waning thrill of being airborne.
As evening began to sneak in, though, Pyxie suddenly perked up during one of her sweeps. "I've got something."
"The pack?"
"Too small," Pyxie answered. "Could be a smaller group. Or the Alpha's alone."
"Either way, it's our first hit," Sona summarized. "I'll call it in. See if you can pinpoint the location."
"Northeast," Pyxie called out while Sona relayed information through her scroll. The bullhead remained stationary. "Northeast!"
"Did you say northeast?" came the pilot's voice over the speakers.
"Yes!" Pyxie shouted in frustration. "North and east! Northeast!"
Despite her clearly aggravated tone, the pilot dutifully obeyed the directions without complaint.
"It's moving further east now!" Pyxie called. "Turn to the right a bit!"
Father Bernard leaned over to Adam. "Why don't you go pass her messages on to the pilots?"
"Really?" Father Bernard wanted him to get involved on the mission? Sure, it was just as a message boy, but it still meant he was helping. It also meant he wasn't stuck sitting in his seat all day watching. "I'm on it!"
Adam sprinted to the front, stumbling slightly in the entryway in his haste. He froze when the two pilots turned to him, suddenly aware how strange it would be for a kid to be giving orders. However, his fears were set aside when the co pilot spoke up. "Which way?"
"East," Adam blurted. "She said turn a little right."
"Banking right thirty degrees. Maintaining scanning speed."
Adam hurried back to Pyxie, shooting his dad a thumbs up along the way. After hours of watching everyone else participate, he could hardly contain his excitement at being involved.
"We passed it," Pyxie reported, understanding she now had someone to support her. "Tell them to turn back to the southwest and slow down. We should be close enough to guide the team in."
Adam did as instructed, pointing the pilots in the right direction. Pyxie had no further orders, only doing brief checks to make sure their target wasn't moving away. Other than a very small adjustment after another ten minutes or so, they all waited eagerly for their reinforcements.
"They're just north of us," Sona informed them after several more minutes. "Still got a lock on our target?"
"We've got it surrounded," Pyxie assured her leader. "Should we drop down and attack?"
Sona shook her head. "Not yet. It might not be the Alpha, and I'd rather not give up our advantage if it turns out to just be a straggler." With that, Sona stepped back and spoke into her scroll once more. "Head south. Small signal, but keep on your guard. Even a lone Alpha can be trouble."
"We've got this!" Carina's bombastic voice answered. "One dead Grimm coming right up."
"We're just beyond your target. If it turns out to be the Alpha, we'll drop down and pincer it."
The four bullhead occupants waited in silence for any report. Minutes dragged on. Pyxie impatiently paced back and forth near the opening as Father Bernard's fingers drummed a soft cadence for her march. Sona watched her scroll carefully the entire time.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by Velma's voice. "Just a lone Beowolf. It's taken care of." Velma sounded almost as disappointed as Adam felt.
"Got it," Sona acknowledged. "Trees are more spread out west of you. We'll hoist you up there and head back for the night."
"We didn't find it," Adam lamented, practically collapsing into his seat as the bullhead turned for their pickup spot.
"We didn't find it today," Sona corrected, claiming the seat beside Adam. "But that doesn't mean we failed."
"Now we have a better idea where to find it," Pyxie added. "Must be between here and the river east of here. A lone Beowolf would've joined an Alpha's pack if it came this way. We just cut out over half the forest."
"We're coming back tomorrow, right?" Adam asked hopefully.
Sona hesitated a moment, but Father Bernard saved her by cutting in. "I don't think they'll need us tomorrow, son."
"But dad!"
"No buts," Father Bernard instructed. "We've got work to do at home, and they don't need to be babysitting us the entire mission. Besides," Father Bernard stifled a yawn, "all this excitement has worn me out."
"Don't worry, Adam. We'll find your Alpha in no time."
"And maybe I can get Carina to handle storytime tonight," Sona added.
Father Bernard nodded to the two girls, grateful for their help in softening the blow to Adam's hopes for tomorrow. "But first, let's head home and make dinner."
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Adam rose early the next morning, worried that he might miss seeing the team off for the day. He and Father Bernard made them all sandwiches to take with them, then walked them to the bullhead just outside the village. As the bullhead quickly departed - this time without the two civilians - Adam silently prayed that they'd be safe before Father Bernard hastened them home.
Focusing on chores was harder than usual today. Even Eve failed to keep his attention long. Every few minutes, Adam kept stealing glances at the sky, hoping to see the bullhead returning victoriously. Each time, he was disappointed to not see anything, but it never stopped him from checking again.
Lessons were even worse. The only numbers he could think about were whether one Huntsman and four students were greater than an Alpha and its pack. Father Bernard realized the futility after several attempts to get Adam to focus.
"You're staring out the window again, Adam."
Adam sighed as his eyes lingered a second longer, then returned to the math page he'd been mindlessly staring at for the last ten minutes.
"Maybe we should take a break," Father Bernard offered. Adam quickly set his book down, his eyes yet again darting to the sky outside. "What's eating you, Adam?"
"Hm?" Adam reluctantly turned his focus to Father Bernard.
Father Bernard sat back in his chair. "I know you miss the girls, but I've never seen you so distracted. You may be here, but your mind's clearly still in that bullhead."
Adam gulped, hesitating as he debated what to say. Do I tell him? Eventually, he'd have to share his new dream with his father, but he had no idea how to start the conversation. How could he explain that he wanted to hunt down the very monsters that had tried to kill him twice already? Even without the danger, the cost of such a life was beyond anything Father Bernard could afford. And he'd never abandon his church to move closer to one of the schools, so pursuing this dream would mean leaving home in only a few years.
"Dad," Adam began, hoping the words would just start coming on their own. They didn't. "I've been thinking…"
"Thinking about what?"
Adam still couldn't find a good way to start. He didn't want his father to think he'd just come up with this because of the team's visit - even if that was true. He wanted his dad to take it seriously. From what the girls had told him, he'd want to start training soon if he ever hoped to have a chance at being a true Huntsman in the future. Adam was no stranger to hard work, but something like that needed more than just the right attitude.
It needed time.
Knowing that stalling was getting him nowhere, Adam decided just to go for it with the first angle he could come up with. "I was thinking about how you said we should always help those in need."
"Go on." Father Bernard wasn't making this easy.
"Well…that's what I want to do when I grow up. I want to help people."
"That's good, but hardly something to be so nervous about." Father Bernard leaned forward. "I'm sensing there's more."
Talk about an understatement. "I want to help people…to protect people…"
"Again, a noble goal, but I don't understand-"
"I want to be a Huntsman!" Adam suddenly blurted out.
Silence claimed the room, Father Bernard carefully studying his son as he considered the sudden revelation. He stroked his chin, taking a deep breath while choosing his words carefully. Adam could smell the denial coming a mile away.
Rather than wait for the obvious answer, Adam hurriedly rushed to control the discussion as best he could. "I talked to Sona last night. She said even kids from small towns like Shizukana can become Huntsmen. I'd just need to train really hard and enroll in a combat school when I'm old enough."
"Adam…"
"And Mazarin said she'd come visit on the way back. Maybe she could train me. Or she might know someone in the area that can help!"
"Adam-"
"I'd work super hard! I could practice every day after lessons. I'd even study harder, just to show you how serious I am! I'd-"
"Adam!" Father Bernard only raised his voice a little, but the tone silenced Adam instantly. Father Bernard sighed, taking the chance to calm them both before he spoke. "Being a Huntsman isn't easy. Or cheap." Adam started to protest, but Father Bernard raised his hand to silence the dissent. "I'm not saying it's impossible. But it isn't very likely."
That was still better than Adam had hoped for. "But I want to help people…"
"I get that, but there are lots of ways to help people," Father Bernard countered. "You're a smart kid. A hard worker, too." Normally, such frank praise from Father Bernard would've had Adam beaming, but he waited anxiously for the other shoe to drop. "But there's lots of ways to help people. You could be a doctor. A pastor. Anything you set your mind to."
"I want to be a Huntsman," Adam responded, far calmer than before.
"But why, Adam? There are plenty of ways to help people. Why a Huntsman?"
And that was really the question, wasn't it? Adam struggled to find the words to convey how he felt. Inside, he knew this is what he wanted, more than anything. But why? Like Father Bernard had said,there were other ways to help people. Why a Huntsman? Why risk himself against the Grimm?
The Grimm. Those horrendous beasts that roamed all of Remnant, killing wherever they went. Twice now, Adam had faced them and nearly died. Of all the things he feared, nothing came close to the sheer terror those bone-plated faces summoned. Even now, the very thought of them sent a shiver down his spine. The forest had once been a refuge from reality. Now, it was a place of fear and danger to him. What could possibly motivate him to want to face those fearsome beasts, possibly for the rest of his life?
"I don wan be fray…" Adam's mumbled words barely reached Father Bernard's ears.
"What?"
"I don't want to be afraid!" Adam shouted. His eyes fought to hold back the sudden onslaught of tears. "I don't want to be afraid anymore. And I don't want anyone else to be afraid, either." He'd only survived the Grimm thus far because someone else had been there to save him. "I want to protect people like Mister Collins protected me. Like Mazarin protected us. I just want to protect people."
Seconds ticked by slowly as Adam waited for his dreams to be crushed. Huntsmen didn't feel fear. They charged in against the greatest evils on Remnant, fighting against fear itself with the greatest courage known to man. They weren't scared little children jumping at every shadow. They didn't wake up in a cold sweat because of red eyes in their dreams. They were the ones to stand when scared little nobodies like him cowered in fear.
"Oh Adam." Adam didn't even bother looking up as Father Bernard approached. He sat there quietly, eyes downward as he awaited the untimely death of his fantasy. "That's the best reason you can have."
"R-really?"
"Really really," Father Bernard answered with a smile. "I can't promise it'll be easy. I can't even promise you'll get a shot in the end. But if it really means that much to you, then we can give it a shot."
"You…you mean it?" Adam wiped the tears away, gulping against the sudden dryness in his throat.
"Why not?" Father Bernard asked. "I can talk to the town guard about some of their training. It isn't Huntsman level, but it's a start. And you're right. Maybe Mazarin can give you some advice when she comes back."
"You really think I can be a Huntsman?"
"I think," Father Bernard placed a hand on Adam's arm, giving him a soft shake of support, "that I was serious when I said you could be anything you really want. If that means a Huntsman, then we'll give it a try. Besides, a man should be able to protect himself and those he cares about. I may not be able to fight off a Grimm for you, but that doesn't mean I can't help you learn to defend yourself."
Adam's thank you was muffled against Father Bernard's jacket as the young faunus threw his arms around his father.
"I can't promise you anything, Adam, but I can certainly promise to try," Father Bernard assured his son. "I'll talk to Jai when they get back this evening and see if he has any advice for someone your age."
"I can't wait to tell Sona!" Adam cheerfully exclaimed.
"Well, that'll have to wait until they get back. Until then, I believe you said something about studying harder…"
Adam had never been so excited to pick up a math book. The subject was as dull as ever, but each answer was more than just a boring repetition. They were steps to proving himself worthy of training. Other kids may have had more time, better training, and more lien, but he'd outpace them all in the end, because no one wanted it more than him.
The afternoon flew by until Father Bernard had to pry him from the desk and chase him outside to look after the horses. He also made sure to remind Adam that Huntsmen needed to be strong, so running some laps wouldn't hurt. Eve could sense his excitement as he approached, racing up to meet him.
"I'm gonna be a Huntsman, Eve!" Even though the horse didn't understand a word, she seemed to share in his enthusiasm. "We'll go on all sorts of adventures together, girl. Traveling all over to fight the Grimm. Just you wait, Eve. I'm gonna be the strongest Huntsman Anima's ever seen. Maybe even in all of Remnant!"
"More like the most worthless Huntsman ever." Adam's fists tightened at the hated voice, but he pushed down the rage quickly with the reminder of his dream. Not even Dorian can ruin today.
"You'll see," Adam answered confidently. "I'm gonna train harder than anyone's trained before, and someday, I'll destroy all the Grimm around Shizukana and no one will have to be afraid anymore." Adam grinned triumphantly at his rival. "Not even you."
"Big talk, small fry," Dorian shot back. As usual, his pair of lackeys accompanied him, though neither seemed eager for another confrontation after last time. "Only thing you'll be good for is Grimm food. Maybe you can be bait so the real Huntsmen can take care of the Grimm."
"Laugh all you want, Dorian. I'm gonna go to Haven and become a Huntsman while you're stuck here." And as soon as he graduated, he fully intended to bring his whole team to Shizukana, just to rub it in everyone's face.
Especially Dorian's.
"You really think Haven's gonna want some freak like you?" Dorian stepped closer, staying just out of arm's reach. Adam turned his back on Dorian, knowing the boy wouldn't risk starting a fight after his telling off last time. "Nobody wants you. Not Haven. Not the combat schools." Dorian leaned closer to whisper the final insult. "Not even your own parents."
Adam turned before he could stop himself, fist already sailing for the boy's smug face by the time he realized what was happening. Instead of surprise, the look Dorian gave him was one of pure elation. Dorian caught Adam's clumsy strike easily, shoving Adam back into the nearest stall door viciously. Adam grunted as the metal latch bit into his arm, slicing a thin cut as he fell.
"Still just a mindless animal," Dorian said as he towered over Adam menacingly. He reared back a single fist, causing Adam to flinch, but no blow came. Instead, Dorian laughed at his victory.
"What's going on here?" The trio of boys stiffened at the new voice, turning to find Sona glaring at them. Pyxie hovered nearby, cracking her knuckles ominously.
"H-he attacked me," Dorian hurriedly claimed. The other two boys rushed to vouch for their leader. "All I did was shove him away. Honest!"
"Maybe I should do some shoving of my own," Pyxie growled. Blake stepped behind Samson, who paled at the sight of two Huntresses.
"Now, now, Pyxie. Leave this to me," Sona sweetly requested of her partner. "After all, if this boy has a problem with…what did you call us? Mindless animals?" Dorian gulped as his eyes fixated on Sona's horns. "Then maybe he and I should have a chat. Just the two of us."
Dorian turned in time to see Samson and Blake already running away. Any thoughts he had of sticking around fled just as fast. With a startled yipe, Dorian turned tail and did his best to catch up with his friends as Adam dusted himself off.
"You okay, Adam?"
"I'm fine," Adam answered, covering his new cut with his free hand.
Sona noticed instantly, catching his arm before he could hide the wound better. "Did he do this to you? Maybe I will go have a chat with him after all."
"Can I come?" Pyxie asked with far too much enthusiasm.
"N-no!" Adam tried to pull away, but Sona's grip held firm. "I mean…Dorian wasn't lying. I tried to punch him and he shoved me. I ran into the stall door and cut my arm on the latch."
"You struck first?"
Adam ducked his head in embarrassment. "He made fun of me, and I just got so angry that I…" Adam sighed as he realized he'd have to explain everything to his father. So much for protecting people.
"Little twerp probably had it coming," Pyxie offered.
"It doesn't matter," Sona said, heading off her partner. "C'mon, Adam. Let's get you cleaned up and back inside. And don't worry. We won't tell your father."
"I think he'll notice," Adam said as Sona finally released his arm.
"Notice what?"
"This!" Adam held up his arm, pointing to where the latch had cut him. Sona smiled as Pyxie snorted, holding back her laughter. Adam turned his arm…only to notice a lack of any cut. He wiped at the skin, dusting off a few dry flakes of blood, but there was no scratch. "How…"
"Like I said, we've all got Semblances," Sona answered, holding up her hand, which glowed with a faint, golden light.
"You…" Adam looked between the glowing hand and his suddenly unscathed arm. "But I…" Another look failed to answer his questions. "How'd you do that?"
"My Semblance is healing," Sona explained. "I can use some of my aura to heal people, even those without their aura unlocked. It's mostly for minor injuries, but if I have enough time and rest, I can do a lot more."
That was…amazing! Just to be certain, Adam ran a finger over where the cut had been. The skin was just as smooth as before. Not even a scar remained. "Wow…"
"Anyways, let's get you inside. I think you'll want to hear our report."
The sudden subject change worked, immediately stealing all of Adam's attention as they headed back to the house. Despite his attempts to pry information from the pair, neither girl was willing to spoil anything. Only once Father Bernard and Adam were seated in the living room did they begin their tale.
"First of all, your Alpha's dead," Sona reported, tossing a knife on the table. Adam recognized it as the one Father Bernard had stabbed the monster with all those nights ago. "Figured we'd bring back a souvenir for you."
Sona went on to detail their day. They found the pack after a few hours of searching. The Alpha had already gathered nearly a dozen more Beowolves. Pyxie located them from the bullhead and called in the rest of the team. Jai let the girls handle the fight, though he assured Father Bernard he would've stepped in if needed. Instead, Jai pulled out his scroll and showed them a few pictures and even a short recording of the fight.
Adam watched intently as the four quickly picked the pack apart. Carina and Velma took on the Alpha while Pyxie weaved her way through the lesser Grimm and Sona provided support via her arrows. Watching Grimm fall to simple arrows amazed Adam.
Until he noticed the spear of ice erupting out of one of them.
"Dust-infused arrows," Sona replied to Adam's confused questioning. "I use regular ones for hunting sometimes, but when it comes to Grimm, you need a little extra oomph."
As the story soon devolved into competing tales of heroics from the four girls, Adam didn't miss how Father Bernard pulled Jai aside to talk. Through it all, Adam's smile threatened to split his face.
The Alpha was dead.
He was friends with genuine Huntresses…in training.
And best of all, he was going to become a Huntsman someday.
Another week without Adam going through the promised meat grinder. Don't worry. It's coming. Just taking my time setting up some stuff for the long run. Enjoy young, innocent Adam while he lasts. He's definitely gonna get the chance to pursue those childhood dreams. Nothing bad will ever happened. Ever.
This week in random stuff I researched for less than a paragraph of info: Was debating timeframes for travel and ended up researching wagon trains and horse speeds. For the bullhead speed, I decided to pin it somewhere between a VTOL (slower and bulkier) and a Harrier (much lighter and faster). All because I wanted a semi-accurate relationship for the distance to the rest area and the flight time for the mission. I also couldn't resist a tiny reference to Shrek this week, so enjoy the bonus stupidity. I also learned this week that I've been spelling Beowolf/Beowolves wrong again. Corrected it this chapter, but I'll have to go back and edit the others for consistency.
Lastly, Sona's Semblance is part of her Golden Fleece allusion. Sure, it's basically a watered-down version of Jaune's, but I couldn't ignore the obvious choice of a healing Semblance. Pyxie's was a little more fun. The Pyxis constellation is a compass needle, so she gets a direction-based Semblance. If I put half as much time into actually writing as I did planning out miniscule details, I'd be done with this story already.
And extra lastly, I'll do one final plug for Twitch. I'll be live tomorrow at 4pm EST doing my 500 follower celebration. There'll be a lot of banana-themed stupidity going on, so feel free to drop by and say hello. Or just pop in for a random stream and see how ridiculous I can be outside of writing. Always love meeting new people, especially fellow fans of RWBY. Anyways, extra plug over. Thanks again for your continued support and I'll catch you all next Friday!
Next chapter: We wind the clock forward a bit as Adam begins his training for the future.