Chapter 56: Extra Credit
It's been a good... I want to say four or five... Maybe even six days now, honestly time goes really fast these day. And what can I say about having Jaune around? Well, it's weird, to say the least, but a good type of weird. The guy has his own way of relaxing during his breaks. Most of it includes him just staying on his bed sleeping past ten and just being on his scroll till noon. Did I have a problem with that? Nah, honestly he deserves it, but what I do have a problem with is staying in the room the whole day. So I took it upon myself to take him out to train.
Now Jaune has come a long way from the start of his training journey, his improvement has been great, but he still has those few problems. One thing that we all agreed upon training him, was no matter what happens... 'In no way should Jaune ever be flashy.'
Now it doesn't seem like much of a problem, but trust me, we don't need another person trying to show off whenever we are fighting in a group. Just head straight to the point and fight.
Opening my eyes I looked toward Jaune who was practicing his swings on a tree. The more he attacks it, the more damage I can see him do. With this, his strikes will become something even better. He questioned why I asked him to do this at first, but my only response was. 'I fear a person who practices an attack 10000 times, rather than a person who practices 10000 different attacks.' Ren agreed with me on this and seeing his results... I needed to be worried about his strikes now if we ever get into a fight again.
Leaning back, I looked around me and saw that the forest, where we decided to practice today, it was so quiet and calm—just the wind blowing past trees, leaves, and grass and the sound of birds chirping. It was so nice and peaceful.
CRASH!
And it's gone.
Looking back at Jaune, I see him finally knock down the tree that he had been attacking for the last hour, meaning that his training was complete.
"Alright Seth, that's done. What's next?" Jaune said to me as he waited for my next training tip.
"Just rest up for now. You have been at this for a good hour." I said to him as I reached next to me to grab a bottle, and then throw it at him.
He catches it and thanks me for it. "Alright, what about you? What are you doing?" He asked and I just told him.
"What Ren does."
"Dozing?"
"Meditating... But yeah, mostly dozing. I don't know how he does it." I said as I got up from the ground and stretched. "The fact that he can do this for hours and not get bored from it, is really surprising especially if he got Nora around."
"Yeah, well like he said. To each their own."
"Yep."
"But why are you doing it? It's not like you to be doing something like this?"
"Meh, I just wanted to try it out. I will say it's relaxing. But kind of distracting."
"Distracting?" He asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yeah, every time I close my eyes and try to focus on something, this weird whoosh sound keeps distracting me. It doesn't help that it keeps getting windy around here."
"Windy? Seth, it's humid today. There is no wind at all here."
That got my attention and noticing right now. He was right, it was humid today. That's weird, I could have sworn that it was windy today. Was I going crazy?
"Maybe we've been out in the sun for too long." Jaune said as he looked up in the sky. I also raised my head and saw that he was right, I was really sunny today.
"Yeah, maybe we should cut it today. Good work by the way. You finally beat your arch-enemy today." I walked next to him and smacked his back in congratulation.
"Thanks." He said as he looked down at the three, narrowing his eyes at it, and for good reason.
Jaune-1, Tree-3.
The Tree was somehow still winning. That's a story for another time, or when everyone comes back.
Making our way back to Beacon, we decided to go get some food. With the amount of training we did, we gained an appetite. Entering the cafeteria we notice a few students here as well. With the break that the headmaster has given us, many others have decided to go back home and rest. While a few decided to stay here. This break has been nice and all, but coming at the end of the month everything will change.
Vytal Festival season is coming and that's going to be an even bigger mess for this school.
"So after this what do you have plan Seth?" Jaune asked as he began to eat his food. Chicken nuggets and fries.
"Honestly I think we are done for today. We have been training since two and it's already late. So you can just rest up for the day."
"Really? No surprise training?" He asked, worried about what I might do later.
"No Jaune, no surprise training. Unless you want to work on your Aura?"
He gulps at that and continues to eat. "That's what I thought. Honestly man you really need to start working on it, how else are you going to unlock your semblance?"
"That's easy for you to say. Who has to sing to activate his again?"
"Everyone is different." I said to him and looked around the room. Noticing that Blake and Weiss entered the cafeteria as well. I wave to them to come and join us. Sadly they didn't see me, so I had to improvise.
"QUACK!" Everyone in the room turned to me and looked at me like I was crazy. Didn't care much, but I was able to get their attention. They began to move towards us and sat down.
"You know, that could be considered racist Seth." Blake said as she sat across from me, next to Jaune.
"Really? Marrow said it was funny. So I never took it as offensive." I said to her as Weiss decided to sit beside me. "Well anyway. Anything new happened today for you two?"
"We went to Vale again, from what it looks like everything seems to be back to the way it used to be. With the exception of a few stores still closed down. But thanks to Atlas, the process of rebuilding has been a huge help to Vale." Weiss said with a hint of pride in her tone, she must be so proud of her kingdom being able to help others.
"So" Jaune started talking while also taking another bite of his food. "Any news on your team and when they will be coming back?"
The three of us looked at him, not happy with his choice of talking with his mouth full. "What?"
"Sigh... Ruby and Yang said that they will return in a few days. Ruby is taking the opportunity to hang around with some of her friends, so she still wants to stay a few more days. Since their father is out of town, Yang has decided to throw a few parties at their house. I'm thankful that I decided not to go."
"Every party needs a pooper, That's why they invited you, Party Poo- ACK! My side!" Rubbing my side, I looked at Weiss who was not amused by my little song. She just narrows her eyes at me as I just smile at her.
"How about you two? Any news when your team will return?" Blake said to us.
"In two days. Things have been... A bit difficult back in Argus." Jaune informs her.
"Why?"
"I rather not say. It's a personal matter." Pyrrha has not been happy these past few days, especially with the messages I have been receiving... Maybe I should have gone with them. Or maybe not, hard to say with her ranting a bit.
"I doubt it's anything serious."
"Family problems Weiss. Family problems." I said to her while tapping her back. She once again punches me and I lay my head on the table.
"Somehow I feel a bit of a connection now."
"What about you two? Same thing as you have been doing these past few days?"
"Yep, still training." Jaune confirm.
"Have you two even visited Vale as of lately?"
"Not currently, honestly we don't need to go to Vale any time soon."
"But we were planning to do a trip once it was Saturday. To stock up on a few supplies. You guys want to come?" I asked seeing as they have been to Vale a few times now. Would be nice to just hang around for a bit.
"Sounds interesting, so Saturday?"
"Yep!" We both said already making plans to go.
"Sir the situation with our security network has been worsening, and we keep losing power around the Emerald Forest. If this keeps up, we will lose all signal around the general area. And who knows how long it will take us to repair it." Glynda said as she continued to monitor the situation around that area. For weeks now power has been going off and on again. It's getting to the point where it's beginning to go offline for a good few minutes. If this continues on, who knows when it will just turn off on its own.
"I am well aware of this Glynda, but not to worry. I have decided to send a team to go and investigate this problem at once." Ozpin said as he took a sip of his mug.
"Really? And what team will that be?" Glynda said as she also wondered about this. Knowing what she knew she had a few questions.
"Simple, I'll be sending team CFVY on this mission."
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"Sir, team CFVY left the school a few days ago. They said that they were taking a break for the time being."
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Ozpin simply fixed his glasses as he remained calm. "Well, that's no problem. I'll send another team then, one of the upper classes. Let's see... Ah, team JELE will do."
"They left for a mission a week ago. And most of the upper students left for this break as well."
"Very well, team DARK." "Went home." "Team APPS." "Sick leave." Team MULP" "Visiting family." "Team FREE?" "Arrested... We might need to discuss about them at a later date." At this point Ozpin began to name all of the team's names that he remembered, now beginning to sweat at the news that he was hearing. With each one Glynda reminded him of the status of the teams.
"Team AZRE?" Went home." "Team SNNN?" "Do 'you' really want to send them?" "Good point... Team RWBY?" "Two of their members went back home, while the remainers are still here." "Team JNPRS?" "Same as team RWBY three of them left, while two stayed."
"Sigh..." Ozpin closes his eyes and gets up from his chair moving towards the window and looks at the view.
"If this is a problem, I recommend informing James about this." Glynda suggested but Ozpin just shook his head.
"James is already dealing with enough. This would just add more to his schedule."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Glynda looked at her boss waiting for an answer.
Ozpin meanwhile just sat on his chair thinking of any other alternatives. ' With a lack of teams, he can try and send some staff members there, but they need money to be motivated... Who else can I send... Unless. Ozpin began to plan something, and with the lack of teams here right now... 'Oh yeah, it's all coming together'. "I have an idea."
For some reason Glynda had a bad feeling about this, it didn't help that Ozpin was smiling at his plan.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Why would the headmaster ask us to come to his office to talk? Especially this early in the morning. I swear if this man is going to ask us to play chess with him, I'm breaking his board. But it was even more confusing seeing Blake and Weiss here as well.
"So any idea what this is about?" I said as we entered the elevator going up.
"No clue, it just came out of nowhere."
"I'm sure it's nothing bad... Right."
"Of course not, but it is weird that he asked us to come here." Weiss was right, but not knowing what this was about really put all of us on edge.
As soon as we arrived at the top floor, the doors opened and inside we saw Professor Goodwitch and the headmaster waiting for us. Stepping inside his office we walked towards them and waited to see what this was all about.
"Glad to see you all made it here." Ozpin said as he took a sip out of his cup. I swear I see this guy always carrying this damn cup around.
"Yes sir, we have arrived just as you resquested." Weiss said acting properly.
The room goes silent and soon Miss Goodwitch is the one to speak up.
"Students you might be wondering why we have summoned you. I know you are all on a break from school, but we have an assignment for you four." That got our attention for many reasons.
'An assignment? Today? Shouldn't the rest of our teams be here?'
"Ugh. Sir, is the rest of our team back?" Thank you, Jaune for pointing out the obvious.
"As of right now, the four of you will form a team for this mission. Our situation at the moment is out of my control." Ozpin said getting straight to the point.
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"WHAT!?" We all said as we looked at the headmaster waiting to see if this was a joke.
I looked at the others and saw the same reaction as me. All four of us were confused about this turn of events. From what I could tell Weiss was the only one who looked upset about it.
"Sir, with all due respect. I believe that we should at least wait for our teammates to take on this assignment. No offense to these two." She pointed at us.
"Some taken." I added crossing my arms.
"But we should do this with our respective teams."
"I understand your concern, Miss Schnee. But with our situation at hand. Drastic times call for drastic measures." We see the headmaster stand up from his seat and walk towards us. "I made sure I didn't call just anyone here. You four, I can assume you are all friends here.
"I mean," Meh," I think so?" "Who are these people again? ACK!"
"I digress. The fact that both teams have been fairly close to one another makes me confident that any pair of your team can overcome any obstacle in your way. So this is why, as of right now until your mission is over." He stood in front of us and pointed.
"Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, and Seth Sapphire. The four of you as of this very moment, are a team now."
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I raised my hand and the headmaster called on me.
"Yes, Mister Sapphire?"
"Yeah, I got a question."
"Very well, what is it?" He waited in anticipation and I shook my head at him.
"Not for you. Miss Goodwitch why is he doing this?" The remaining three looked in the direction of Glynda who had her face covered by what we could only tell was annoyance.
"Most of our teams are either out or half in half. So the headmaster called on you four, seeing as you all are close to each other as friends and comrades. We decided to entrust you four with this mission."
You know it was so easy to tell that the headmaster was bullshitting us, but it's good to know that at least Miss Goodwitch is one of the few teachers I trusted in this school.
"So what do we get in return?"
"Pardon?"
"Like I feel like we are kind of forced to do this without a second thought... I feel like we can decline this offer. I mean, this is our break, and you are telling us this out of nowhere."
"We are willing to give you four, extra credit, once your mission is completed." The headmaster added.
"That's not really a-" I was cut off by someone stepping forward.
Hearing this Weiss was the first to step forward. "I shall accept."
"Thank you Miss Schnee."
"Weiss!?" "What?!"
"Yeah, sorry sir but I feel like it's not worth the risk." Blake said earning a look from Weiss.
"Blake!?" "What? I'm sorry but for once I'm with Seth on this. It's our choice to make. And I rather not take this mission."
"Hmm, Is that your choice Miss Belladonna?"
"Yes sir." Blake said determined with her choice not to go.
"Very well... Oh just a reminder, you have been missing for a few schooldays lately... Would be a shame, if your team is held back." He said with a tone that had some truth in it.
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Blake gave her usual look toward the headmaster and sadly stepped forward as well. Not happy with this decision, I could have sworn I even heard a curse word on her part.
"Wonderful." The headmaster said, happy with his motivation for another member. "Now then Mister Arc about your first semester grades." Jaune suddenly stepped forward without further decline.
"Yeah, I know sir." Son of a.
"You know, I knew your bad grades in the first semester were going to bite this team in the ass, Jaune." I said to him as I saw him look down in defeat.
"Now then Mister Sapphire. What will it take you to accept?"
"There is nothing you can say to have me agree to this." I was determined to not do this, I rather stay here and enjoy these days. I feel like we are going to increase our training once everyone is back, so I rather not get involved with any of this crazy side quest.
"Oh, I believe I do." Ozpin motioned to Glynda, and I saw her walk towards me and hand me a paper.
"What's this?"
"If you wish to not participate in this mission, we have decided to have you partake in some anger management classes. Seeing as you and Mister Black have been at odds with eachother. I believe these will be-" Before he can even continue, I rip the paper in half and step foward.
"So when do we leave?" I said knowing there was no winning with this man.
Getting our equipment and moving towards the landing docks, the four of us began to enter a bullhead that was waiting for us. Apparently, today was the day, we had to deal with this mission.
The mission in question? Investigate a problem with the security network. I don't know why they can't ask an adult to do this, but my questions weren't answered.
Taking a seat, I inspected my weapon, making sure everything was good on my end. From the look of it, it had a few dents in it but still functional. Honestly, I haven't really touched it since the last time I used it, and most of my training was just Aura and hand-to-hand training, so it has been a while now.
"Alright, I know we didn't expect to be part of this mission. But I believe I should be the leader of this group." Weiss said getting our attention.
"What about Jaune? I mean technically he is a leader." I said while Weiss closed her eyes and turned to me with a smile.
"While you are correct. This mission isn't going to take as long, so I wish to be put in charge and test my skills in leading this team. Any objections?" Weiss said as she looked at us.
I turned to Jaune and see if he was okay with this. But seeing him not say anything, he just nodded in agreement. Turning to Blake she looked like she didn't care who was the leader then.
"That's fine." "Sure." "It's too early for me to care." We all said letting Weiss have this moment.
"Perfect!" Weiss said excitedly. "Now seeing as I know Blake and what she is capable of fighting and a little of you, Seth." She turns to Jaune. "Arc! What are you capable of doing?"
Seeing that he was called out. Jaune began to stutter a bit. "I...I can block with... With my shield. And I can cut with my sword... hehe." He said while rubbing his arm.
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We all looked at him with a confused look and seeing as Jaune was not helping his case, I decided to change the subject.
"We need a team name." I said earning a confused look from everyone.
"Why?" Weiss asked me and I just shrugged.
"Why not? I mean that way we can make it official."
"Sigh... Sapphire." Oh, we are back to last names now. "That will not be necessary."
"Alright let's put it to a vote." I turn to the others, "Who wants a team name for this group?" I raise my hand and to my surprise, Jaune and Blake raise their hands.
"Blake?!" Weiss looked at Blake with betrayal in her eyes.
"I really don't care if we get one, it's like you said, this mission won't take too long, so I really don't care what we are called."
"Sweet! Okay, that's three against one. Sorry Weiss, but you lost this one."
Weiss just simply gave up and looked away defeated. "This better be worth the extra credit."
"It won't, but it sure beats going to anger management classes."
"Out of all people, you we the first to be called to that, I'm surprised it wasn't Yang first." Blake said to me.
"Why on Remnant were you called to that either way? Did it have something to do with what the headmaster said to you?" Weiss asked.
Looking at them surprise, I turn to Jaune. "You didn't tell them?"
"The team decided to not tell anyone, we kinda made sure Sun's team also kept their word as well."
"Awwww that's sweet." I'm happy about that.
"Attention! We will be arriving at the drop site ETA two minutes." The pilot said.
We all began to prepare for our arrival. Whatever this mission will bring... I sure hope doesn't turn into a crazy advantage.
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Fuck, I hope I didn't jinx us.
"This has to be the farthest we have ever been outside of Beacon." Blake said as she looked around her surroundings. And she was right, this is a new area for us. Anything can be out here and anything can pop out of nowhere. We need to be ready for anything and everything.
"Alright, our directions are clear. We need to head southeast and find whatever is the cause of the down security network. Let's move out." Weiss gave her orders and we began to follow her.
Looking up to the sky, the sun was bright as always, reaching into my jacket I pulled out my sunglasses and put them on. "Sigh... Much better."
"Any reason why you didn't have them on before?" Jaune asked.
"Not really, honestly I just had other things on my mind."
"Would you two stop talking, we need to move." Weiss orders us and we continue to follow her.
Following a makeshift road we stumble on a bunch of pots, "Hey look!" Jaune said as he moved next to the pots. "You know Armed with a sword and shield, I've never been more inclined to smash pots in search of something." With that Jaune swung his sword and broke one of the pots.
"What are you doing you dolt!" Weiss scream at him.
"What?"
"Do you have any sense of shame, why would you break it? What if it belongs to someone?"
"A pot in the middle of a forest... Surely the person does not care." Blake added.
"True, but why would a pot be here in the first place?" I said before the conversation could continue, our scrolls began to buzz. And to our surprise, it was someone that we didn't expect.
"Ho Ho! Students, It's good to see that you all made it to your destination safe and sound." The voice of Professor Port echoes around us as we all hear his voice from each of our scrolls. "I'll be your mentor at this time and inform you of your current objective, so you don't have to wonder what your next course of action might be."
That sounded... Oddly specific.
"As you know, we've been having some trouble with the security Network in this area. We need boots on the ground to investigate! This means you, team. Onward! Oh and one more thing. Professor Peach has some pots out in that general area, please be careful with them as she uses them for her experiments."
As soon as he said that Weiss, Blake, and I all turned to Jaune who had a look of remorse for breaking some of Professor Peach's pots. Trying to get out of this conversation I made an excuse.
"... Copy that, Oh No Guys! Grimm!" I ended the call and sighed with relief.
"Thanks." Jaune said as I just shook my head.
"Just don't break anything else."
"On a side note." Blake got our attention. "We do have Grimm coming." Blake ready her weapon. Looking up we notice a few Creeps beginning to walk in our direction.
We all prepared our weapons and got ready to fight. Huh, something felt odd.
"Now, we need to take these Grimm down and make our way toward the Security tower. Now follow my lead and-" Before Weiss could even finish talking, Blake and Seth rushed towards the Creeps. "Hey! Blake!"
"Don't worry Weiss, I got your back." Jaune said as he ready his shield.
"..." Weiss rolled her eyes and ran in the direction of her teammates. Followed by Jaune.
After dealing with the Grimm, the team continues to move onward toward the destination. Once again, a call from Professor Port got their attention.
"Ah, yes the Emerald Forest is filled with ruins of ancient kingdoms. Keep an eye out for artifacts. Dr. Oobleck is always looking to expand Beacon's collection."
"Sir not to be that guy. But I feel like that is not a part of the mission." I said.
"He said that he will give you all, more extra credit for your cooperation."
As he said this, I turned to look at Weiss who was searching around the area for anything note-wordy.
"Guys, We got Beowolves." Jaune said as more Grimm began to head in our direction.
I swear if we are going to deal with this many, I rather skip this damn forest all together. Raising my weapon, I begin to fire upon them, not trying to fight them head-on again.
"The Security control center for this region is inside that cave." The professor said as we made our way across a wooden bridge. "Go have a look and maybe we can discover what the problem is."
"Got it... Team... Name is still a work in progress... is out."
"What was that?" Weiss said to me confused by my antics.
"Still trying to figure out a team name for us."
"Well it doesn't look like it's going to matter soon, the mission is over once we dealt with the problem." Blake informed us as we made it inside the cave.
"That was fast, and all we had to do was deal with a few Grimm." Jaune added.
"Yeah a lot of them. Kinda weird there were so many."
"We are in a forest filled with Grimm, and with us making so much noise. It doesn't surprise me." Weiss informed us.
Yep, Weiss was right. Oh well, maybe some other time.
As we got close to the control center, we saw a device that was stuck to the ground. By the looks of it, this might be what we are looking for.
"Professor we made it to the control center. What now?"
"Hmm, does the device look damaged in any way?" He said as we began to look around it.
"Hey, what's this?" Jaune said as we moved towards him. Upon closer inspection, we saw some sort of box that was on the side of the terminal.
"That's strange."
"What is that?"
"Students, what do you see?" Port asked his students.
"It's like a... A weird box stuck to the device. Is that normal?"
"Weird Box you say... Can one of you take a picture of the object?"
"Way ahead of you professor." Blake said as she had her scroll out and took a picture of the device.
It took the professor a few seconds to reply back. "Hmm. Some sort of foreign object. I feel like I've seen that symbol before..."
"Should we take the box off it?" Jaune asked ready to remove it from the control center.
"No, whatever this thing is can damage to control center. I need one of you to place your scroll on the device so I can undo the damage." With all of us looking at eachother, I decided to place my scroll on the control center and let the professor do his job.
"Alright all set."
"Good, Make sure your weapons are loaded and your mustache wax is stowed! This could get hairy."
"Oh man, I don't want to grow a beard like my dad." Jaune said as he covered his face.
"I don't think I can grow a beard at all. I think?" I said.
"Really?" Jaune said as I looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Oh... Right."
"You two Focus!" Weiss angrily said as Grimm began to enter the cave.
"Oh man! It's a tower defense mission!" Jaune said as he ready his weapon.
"This is not a game!"
"Well on the good side of this, there's only one entrance." I said as I aimed my weapon at the ready.
"Remember, protect the control center." Weiss reminded us, as the Grimm began to enter the cave.
"So how are the students doing so far?" Glynda said as she entered a room with monitors, in front of her was Professor Port who was seeing the status of the students and the terminal.
"Ah, Glynda good to see you." Port greeted her. "The students are currently dealing with the terminal as we speak. As of right now, I want to uncover the mystery of this strange symbol that has appeared on the terminal itself. It's oddly strange that this has appeared recently and yet I feel like I've seen this before." Port informed her as he continued to talk. Meanwhile, Glynda was watching the screen where her students were currently fighting some Grimm.
She was confident that her students were able to deal with this problem on their own, and seeing the progress that they were making. She didn't have to worry too much. She saw how Miss Belladonna was able to avoid any incoming attacks from Grimms that got close to her, thanks to her semblance, she dealt with them with ease. Miss Schnee was currently dealing with her own Grimm as she sent ice crystals towards them, dealing with them at a distance, and any Grimm that got close to her she easily took care of them with her weapon. Mister Arc looked like he was taking more of a support role in this fight, as he was mostly protecting the terminal from any Grimm that got close. His lack of range was a huge factor in this fight but he did his best to support his team. Their last member, Mister Sapphire was currently just shooting at any Grimm that were entering the entrance of the cave. A strange approach from his usual close combat fighting style. And yet he was being more useful, as he lowered the number of Grimm from entering the cave. Yet something felt odd with his movement... Something that she couldn't put a finger on, but had seen it before.
"Bravo, team Bravo!" Her attention went back to Port who was congratulating the team for successfully defending the terminal and was now back in order. "The security network in this region is shipshape once again. I'll get some of our staff to see if they can find anything about that mysterious symbol. Excellent work, on to the next." As he finished talking there was silence from the other end, wondering what that was about, her question was answered right away.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS REGION!?" The voices of Seth and Weiss were heard as they both sounded confused and angry by this new update.
Glynda soon remembered that she hadn't informed them that there were more systems that they needed to work on. Oh well, she would just pass the blame on to Ozpin once they return.
"Unbelievable, this is unbelievable." Weiss said as she was the first to leave the cave. "The fact that they didn't inform us that there were going to be more terminals that we had to deal with, will make this mission a bit of a problem."
"Why?" Blake said as she was the next one to leave the cave as well, followed by Jaune and Seth. "It wasn't too difficult to deal with and yeah I'm not happy about it either but we are here now, there's nothing else we can do."
"That's not the point Blake." Weiss turned to her and with an upset voice, she showed her weapon. "I didn't bring enough Dust crystals for this mission."
"That's strangely unlike you." Blake said back.
"Well, I thought this was a short mission at best. But now we need to go and continue this with what little we have left." At this, Seth stepped foward.
"Yeah, for once I'm with Weiss on this, I only brought a few grenades and a few shells with me, and now I'm almost out of ammo. It's strange that they didn't inform us of the longevity of this mission."
"Something may have changed." They turn to Jaune who is standing next to Blake. "I mean, by the sound of it, they didn't know what was happening here. So, maybe they weren't expecting this."
"Could be... But one thing for sure, we might need to refill on ammo for us." Blake said as she reached into her person and pulled out a few cases for her weapon as well.
"We'll tell Professor Port next time he contacts us. For now, I say we should begin to head out to the next tower." With that Jaune began to take the lead and head in the direction that Port had sent them.
With no more room to argue the rest began to follow him more into the forest, to our next objective.
After walking for a good ten minutes, we made it to a new part of the forest. Here we saw more stone structures, almost like ruins that we haven't seen since initiation.
"These ruins almost look like the ones from initiation. That brings back memories." Jaune said as he looked all around.
"Yeah, not gonna lie it's really calm around this area at least." I said back we continued to walk some more with Weiss and Blake taking the lead, as we followed. I turn to Jaune. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask."
"Yeah?" Jaune asked confused.
"What's up with you and Weiss? Are you two friends now or?" This question has been at the back of my mind for the past week now. The fact that I haven't seen Jaune act up towards her, gave me some questions. Jaune looked away and then looked down to the ground.
"We... We are on talking terms now." I looked at him confused. "It's just like you told me. I didn't push on the subject back at the dance and we just enjoyed the dance. Since then I feel like she's a bit open to having me around her. Compare to other times. So I guess she doesn't hate me too much now."
"Yeah, I get that feeling." Looking foward I saw how Blake and Weiss were both talking among each other as well. Huh, the fact that Weiss was now more open to being friends with us, really shows how much she matured. I knew she just needed someone to talk to.
"What about you and Pyrrha? Are you two..." My head turned to Jaune as he waited for my answer.
We both came to a stop once we heard Weiss whisper to us, seeing her motioning us to slow down. Jaune and I both moved toward them and saw what was ahead of us.
Infront of us was a Boarbatusk, that was blocking our way forward.
"Huh, hey look Weiss. Your arch enemy." Feeling a jab to my side. I began to rub it, and Weiss started to think of a plan to deal with the Grimm.
"It's just one Boarbatusk?"
"Usually they travel in packs. So the fact that we see one here, means that they could be more around this area." Weiss reminded Jaune.
"Or they are sleeping in that cave." I said pointing at a nearby cave to the side of the Grimm. The group all looked in that direction and saw what I was referring to. A group of five Boarbatusk all slept inside the cave.
"Huh? I didn't know Grimm slept."
"Of course they do. Now, how to deal with them."
"I got a few grenades here. I can probably throw them and hopefully take them out before they wake up." I said as I pulled out two different grenades from my jacket.
"That could work, okay here's the plan. Blake and I will deal with the Grimm, while you and Arc deal with the ones at the cave. The moment you see us fight you throw them. Got it?"
With a nod, we began to move to our positions. I handed Jaune one of my grenades and told him on my command to throw it.
We soon saw Weiss and Blake rush towards the Boarbatusk and begin to attack it from both sides. With the commotion that they were making, the Grimm from the cave began to wake up and soon I told Jaune to throw his grenade.
Seconds later the grenades blew up, dealing with all of the Boarbatusk inside the cave and as we turned to the others we saw them finish off their own.
"Done." Blake said as she put her weapon away.
"As always, another job well done."
"Good work guys." Jaune said congratulating the two.
"Yeah! Another win for Team BASS!" I said raising my hand for anyone to high-five it. But they all just looked at me confused by what I just said. "What?"
"Really?" "..." "Team BASS?"
"Yeah... You guys don't like it?" I said.
"Why on Remnant are we called Team BASS?"
"What? Hey, it was the best I could think of. I mean you try making up a name with 'W' at the beginning? Not easy as you think."
"I'm, sure there are many other names that people could come up with."
"Okay... Name one." I challenge Weiss to come up with one, and seeing as she couldn't, I call this my win.
"I like it." We turned to Blake who was smiling at us.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it sounds good." Blake said.
"Ha! See Weiss I told you." While the two began arguing for a bit. No one understood why Blake liked the name, but for her, it was something that only Blake would understand.
'Bass= Fish, Fish= Food,' Blake thought prosses.
"Guys I think we should continue on we are wasting time here." Jaune said as he got our attention.
"Right! Let's move on." We continued to walk some more and as we walked Weiss didn't drop the subject of the name... It also didn't help that she found out which 'S' came first.
"Blake for B, A for Arc, S for Sapphire, and the last S is for Schnee."
"Why am I last!?"
"Cause I'm the one who came up with the name Weiss! You make a name, and you can put the orders of the letters!"
"Was it like this when she wasn't made leader first?" Jaune whispered to Blake, as he saw the two continue to argue.
"Surprisingly it's more calmer this time around." Blake said back to him.
As team BASS made their way toward the next control center, they had stumbled upon ruins. Soon their scrolls began to ring indicating new info on their mission.
"Students, I believe that you have all made it toward some ancient ruins close to the mountain line, correct?" Professor Port asked as the team looked around and saw a nice clearing with a view of the mountains in the distance.
"Yes sir, we have made it to the destination." Weiss quickly informed Port.
"I'm not going to lie, the view is very nice," Seth said as he pulled out his scroll and began to take pictures of the view of the mountainside.
"Yes, Yes. The view is quite nice this time of year. No matter, the security network should be more towards the center of those ruins you are in. Go there and repair it at once. Oh, and keep an eye out for any clues about who is responsible for this."
"Got it professor, Team BASS out." Jaune ended the call and soon Weiss turned to him narrowing her eyes at him. "Hehe... Whoops."
"That's two Weiss. Sooner or later, we're all going to confirm this team." I tease at her knowing by the end of this mission Weiss will fully support the team name.
"Whatever, let's just keep moving." The team began to move more inside the ruins, where they dealt with a few Grimm that were wandering around the area. Nothing too crazy, but still with the amount of fighting they had done, the team was beginning to run low on supplies.
"We forgot to mention the supplies to Professor Port." Blake reminded us and they made a mental note that the next time, they would remind him. Making their way they soon came to a stop when they saw an ancient bridge.
"Aw man, we might need to go around this." Jaune said as he looked across from the bridge and saw the path that they needed to go.
"Or we can activate the bridge." Weiss said as she stood next to what looked like a control panel of sorts. "This might be the on switch." As Weiss was about to activate it, Blake quickly caught her hand.
"Or a better idea, we jump over the bridge," Blake suggested as she looked across. She then ran towards the ledge and jumped a great distance, making it across to the other side.
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"Yeah, I don't think I can make that jump." Jaune said as he looked down at the fall. "Maybe we can go-" Before Jaune could make another suggestion he heard Seth sing out.
"I believe I can fly!" Behind them, they saw Seth do the same as Blake, run up towards the edge, and jump. With the help of his semblance, Seth was able to jump a great distance and land right next to Blake. "Nice! I made it." Seth turns to the others across from them and waves at them to join them.
"How do you expect me to cross that!?" Jaune said with a loud and annoyed voice.
"Weiss can help you! She can make platforms with her Glyphs and get across with ease." Seth suggested and saw Jaune asking Weiss for help, from the looks of it Weiss did not look happy with this, but she eventually agreed.
"Good idea Blake, this will save us time." I said as I turned to her.
"Yeah well, I feel with the noise that this thing would make, I'm sure we would have been surrounded by Grimm in no time. By the way, your semblance just now. Were you flying?"
I turned to her confused by what she said and shook my head. "No fly, jump good. Why do you ask?" That was weird for her to say. Why would she think that I can fly?
"No reason." She turned to the two crossing the bridge and saw Weiss leading the way with Jaune doing his best keeping his balance and not looking down.
The two soon made it across and the group continued to walk towards their destination. After a good few minutes, the team finally made it to an opening with the control center in the middle of a clearing.
"Alright, we made it. Let's get to work on fixing this so we can head to the next." Weiss said as she pulled her scroll and was about to put it on the control center. But Blake quickly stopped her.
"Weiss wait, what's that?" Blake said confused by what she saw, close to the machine. The attention soon was on a strange box.
"Hey look, it's that strange logo we saw before." Jaune pointed out. True it was the same one from before, but now it was on this clear cube shape... Thing.
"We better send it in and see what the professor says about it." Blake soon pulled out her scroll and sent another picture.
As they began to wait for a response, I moved close to the box and tried to inspect it up close.
"Seth, don't touch it, who knows what that could be." Ignoring Jaune request. I moved around it trying to see if there were any clues on the person responsible for it. Sadly I had nothing, but one thing was for sure.
"This thing is a cage." I said getting the attention of the others.
"A cage? What are you talking about." Weiss moved close to the cage itself. Upon inspection, she concluded as well.
"He's right... But why here of all places? And what are they trying to capture?" There were even more questions to answers we didn't know. This was getting a bit serious now, the strange device on the control center and now these cages.
Our scrolls began to buzz with Professor Port's voice echoing around us.
"Students, I'm happy to see you all made it to the next control center. But those cages... Was someone trying to capture Grimm? Hrm... I don't like the looks of this. For now, let's just focus on the objective. Defend that control center while I undo the damage." The call ended, and the rest of us were more confused than ever.
"Capture Grimm? Is that even possible?"
"We just spoke to someone who does it as a hobby Jaune. Not really surprising." Blake retorted.
"Whatever the case is, let's just focus on the control center." Weiss soon turned to us and gave us instructions. "This is an open field, so it's going to be different from before. We cover each other's backs and try to protect the objective." We nodded in agreement, and Weiss stepped toward the center and placed her scroll on the device.
With a game plan in mind. I began to inspect my weapon, only to see that I was at my last eight rounds. That wasn't good, well whatever the case was I might just need to use them for emergencies. So I split my weapon and got ready for any Grimm that came our way.
As soon as the first few Grimm began to come our way, we all split up away from each other. Was this the best course of action for us? Maybe. But with this, we cover more ground so we don't disturb each other while fighting.
With Weiss she mostly skated around the area, stabbing and dealing with a few Beowolfs, with her speed she was able to catch them by surprise as she moved along the area. Blake was able to avoid any charges from Boarbatusks, thanks to her semblance she was able to bait them and easily stab them from below. Jaune dealt with Creeps with ease, with his shield he was able to stop any attack that they dealt with and with the training that he's been doing, he dealt with them in one single blow. Seth on the other hand just dodged most of the Grimm's attacks, any opening he saw he swiftly dealt with them with a clean hit.
For the most part, the team was doing a well enough job dealing with them.
That was until, an Alphas Beowolf began to run towards the Control center, and began attacking it.
"It's attacking the control center! Someone stop it!" Weiss said as she dealt with a Boarbatusk. The group all tried to run towards the control center, but each one was stopped by more Grimm. The only one close to it was Seth, but seeing as more and more Grimm were coming from the forest, this was beginning to become a problem.
"Seth!" Seth turned to Jaune and saw him smack his shield. "Boost Jump!" Seth nodded his head and ran towards Jaune. As he got close to him, Jaune took a knee and raised his shield upwards making sure he was prepared for Seth. With Seth getting close to Jaune, he jumped towards his shield, and with his semblance, Seth jumped towards the Alpha Beowolf.
As he got close, Seth pointed his sword at the alpha and slashed its back. Earning a roar from the Grimm. With the Grimm now focusing on him, Seth began to draw it away from the control center, while the rest of the team dealt with the rest of the Grimm.
'Dodge, dodge, block. Damn it! That attack should have killed it. What the hell is wrong with me?' Rolling to the side, I avoided a swipe from the Grimm and took aim at the Alpha. But it swung its claws again knocking my shotgun away from me. Another swipe was heading my way and this time I rolled away some more. Getting some distance from the alpha I get back up on my feet and reach inside my jacket, seeing as I didn't have any other options, I removed a grenade and removed the pin. With the alpha charging at me once more, I began to form wind around my legs, and as soon as it got close. I drop the grenade and jump away from it.
With the alpha standing on top of it, it explodes, breaking some of the Grimm's bones from its chest. Sadly the alpha was still standing and was about to charge again. However, Weiss quickly rushed it and stabbed the Grimm in its open chest, delivering the final blow.
"Good work team! I just received a report." The voice of Professor Port once again went through our scrolls. "That's right! The symbol we've been seeing belongs to Merlot Industries. It's an old Research and Development Corporation far before your time. The company was crippled by the collapse of when Mountain Glenn, where they lost their primary research facility and chief staff members. They never recovered from the incident, and eventually shut down."
"Okay, so are these the people responsible for the control centers being attacked?" Jaune asked as he walked close to the terminal.
"He just said that they were closed down. I'm sure it's someone else using their name for this."
"That begs the question... Why is their technology suddenly popping up in the emerald forest?" As Professor Port continued to talk, Weiss turned her attention towards Seth, who had just now gone to pick up his weapon and put them back together. Her eyes narrowed as she saw him looking down at his hands while squeezing them.
"Alright Professor, we will begin to move towards that direction." Jaune said as Blake quickly remembered one thing.
"Would it be possible for us to resupply on our equipment? We are running low and we didn't expect this mission to be this long." Blake said as she turned to the others.
"I will inform Miss Goodwitch of your predicament. If anything, we will send a bullhead to your destination so you can be prepared for the next part of the mission. Anyway students, good luck... Onward! To Victory." With that, the call ended and soon we all turned to each other.
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"So." Jaune started. "What's the next-."
"More walking!" He turned to Seth, who turned to his team. "And by the looks of it... We got a looooong way to go."
"He's right, Mountain Glenn is a long walk from here. If we begin to move now, we might be able to make it by the afternoon." Blake said as she began to move away from the terminal. "So let's go."
With no room to argue the two boys began to follow Blake as she led them towards their next destination. While they began to move, Weiss meanwhile was still keeping an eye on Seth. She knew something was off with him, but she didn't want to assume something right now. With that thought in the back of her head, she also began to follow the rest.
Towards Mountain Glenn.
A/N: Welp next stop mountain Glenn
Will our heroes find the mystery of that symbol? Will mountain Gleen have answer for them? Or will they get tired halfway there and call it quits?
Find out next time on... This story...
Next time: Secret... underground... tunnel!