"Well...which one are we doing, guys?" Gayle asked her team, tilting her head curiously.
KRME stood in front of a holographic screen in the school's auditorium, where the collective first year student body of the kingdoms was gathered. With the dance over, it was time for the team to embark on their first official mission as Hunters. Ozpin had gathered them all a few minutes prior and given a speech with a basic outline of how things would work. The team would be joining a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission, acting as support. Which led them to their present conundrum: no one could figure out what kind of mission they wanted to do. AMBR had already chosen their mission and departed, wishing KRME good luck as they left.
Rember hummed thoughtfully to herself while Azure studied the available options, absentmindedly scratching his cheek.
"...Maybe something that takes us outside the kingdom?" the fox girl eventually proposed. "Haven't really seen much around here. Plus it could be fun."
Gayle bobbed her head. "Guess so…" she agreed. She glanced over to her partner, whose attention seemed to be on a fiery red-headed girl she didn't recognize wearing an Atlas Academy uniform. "What do you think, Jad?"
"Hmm?" the tall young man mumbled absently, "Oh. Ehh, whatever works."
With a small sigh, Gayle looked to her leader for a decision. "Bossman?"
Azure looked over the options one final time. Jad would probably get bored if it was something monotonous. But they should be careful not to pick something they couldn't handle. But come to think of it, were all of these missions specifically chosen because they could be completed by a group of first years?
The white haired boy's internal debate was cut short upon seeing one title that caught his attention. Touching the screen in front of him, KRME got a good look at the brief description of their potential mission.
"...Human escort? Starts today." Rember stated.
"Says it's located outside the kingdom to the south…and it will take a few days." Gayle pointed out.
"Yeah? Beautiful place, if I remember correctly." Jad commented. "Plenty of trees and stuff, if you're into that."
"Wait, you've been that far?" the fox girl asked her tall teammate, to which he smiled slyly.
"That's right, Foxy. Stick with me kid, I'll show you the world in ways you never dreamed of."
"Oh?" Rember inquired, raising an eyebrow. "I grew up in Mistral, hun. Try to surprise me."
"Hold it," Azure said, cutting off the potential debate before it could grow. "Are we good with this one, or not?"
The other three exchanged glances before Rember answered with a cheery "No reason not to!"
"Thank you," the pale young man said, wasting no time in entering their team name into the registry. The terminal produced a little jingle and the screen confirmed that KRME had taken the mission.
"Well, with that settled," Rember commented, "we better go find our waiting Huntsman."
Azure nodded, leading his team out of the auditorium. After weaving around the dwindling crowds of the students, they had almost reached the aircraft platforms when a familiar voice called out to them.
"Wait up!"
All four members of team KRME turned at the sudden shout. They saw a single lithe figure racing toward them, a shimmering purple scarf trailing behind him.
Gayle's face lit up with a beaming smile. "Ceridwen!"
"A moment of your time, if I may?" he requested as he approached the team.
Azure and Rember reflexively nodded, but Jad crossed his arms and contorted his face into a look of displeasure. Ceridwen nodded to each of them in turn, then extended his arm to Gayle. She happily took it.
"We'll just be a minute, guys!" Gayle said over her shoulder as they departed.
"As long as it's really a minute!" Rember called back.
Coming to a stop several yards away, Ceridwen released her arm. "You didn't believe you could just take off without a farewell to one of- to your oldest friend, did you, Whiptail?" he said with a fond smile.
Gayle laughed. "Of course not, Cherry Bomb! We were just on our way to come find you," she joked, punching him lightly on the arm.
"A tad difficult to do when I find you first," he teased. His impish grin softened and became more sincere. "It's been delightful to see you again, Gayle, and to meet your team. They seem lovely. I only wish we could've spent more time together! I tried to find you last night, in hopes of requesting your company for the evening, but your dorm was utterly deserted when I dropped by."
"Oh, we were all at the dance! It was awesome, you should've been there!" she explained brightly.
"Dance?" He drew back and placed a hand over his heart emphatically. "You mean to say there was a dance and no one told me?! Not even you, Gayle Mensthe, my dearest friend? Oh I've been betrayed!" he cried dramatically, with an exaggerated expression of astonishment and a toss of his head. Gayle giggled at his antics, and he chuckled as he met her amused gaze. "Seriously though, I must have missed the memo on that one. A shame too - you know I, of course, love a good party."
"Of course," she echoed, still giggling. "Anyway, it was really nice to see you before leaving, but I think we gotta get going. My team has to report soon for our mission. We should definitely hang out more when we get back!"
Ceridwen nodded. "Of course. Allow me to escort you to your team once more, before I am left behind to eagerly await your return?" he replied with a smirk, extending his arm once more. She took it once again, and they returned to where the other three students were waiting.
Upon their approach, Ceridwen turned to the rest of the team. "Take care of her, yeah? I don't want to lose her t-" he abruptly cut himself off and softly cleared his throat. "I don't want to lose her," he repeated firmly. He levelled them all with an intense stare, peering over the mismatched lenses of his glasses to hold their collective gaze for several seconds. Jad answered with crossed eyes and a tongue sticking out. Ceridwen quirked an eyebrow at him, and then turned back to Gayle. She gathered him into a tight hug.
"I can take care of myself now, Ceri," she said, too quietly for the rest of the team to hear.
"Just be careful," he whispered earnestly.
They stepped out of their embrace after a long moment, and she gave him another smile. "I will."
"Don't worry, Ceridwen. We'll take good care of her!" Rember said reassuringly.
With a final nod to the team, Ceridwen departed, his shimmering purple scarf trailing behind him dramatically. Gayle waved until he was mostly out of sight, then returned her focus to her team. Azure was already on the lookout for the Huntsman or Huntress that they would be accompanying. Other teams were finding their own chaperones to their respective missions, so where…?
"Oi! You four!"
The team's attention shifted from Ceridwen's retreating form to the owner of the unfamiliar voice calling them. Looking curiously in the direction it came from, the group found a rather rough looking woman in a loose flight suit. The left arm sleeve and pant leg had both been cut off, exposing bandages wrapped around her arm, and the front of her flight suit was open enough to reveal more bandages across her chest.
Rember's ears twitched. "Us?" she asked, gesturing to herself and the group.
"Yeah," Rember scowled when the woman rudely interrupted her. "If you're 'KRME', then get over here."
The team straightened uncharacteristically and strode awkwardly to where the woman waited. Was her voice controlling them? The terse way this blonde spoke fit well with her disheveled, scrappy attire. In fact, the only thing that seemed orderly about her was the clean crew cut of her golden yellow hair, upon which a golden gilded circlet sat. Satisfied with her work, the woman cleared her throat, putting out the cigarette she'd been dragging as she got a good look at the teens in front of her.
"...So you're the students helping me with the mission."
Rember muttered rebelliously under her breath, still scowling as she lurked behind her partner.
"Yes? Uh, yes ma'am?" Gayle responded, unsure of how professional she should appear.
The huntress noticed the girl's hesitation, and relaxed the tension by letting an amused grunt escape her mouth.
"Relax, I don't bite," she quipped. "I'm Laurel. You all are…?" the fierce looking blonde asked, gaze flicking between the four teens.
"We're team KRME. I'm Gayle." the small faunus said, taking the initiative.
"Jad Eclipse, sweetheart."
Laurel raised an eyebrow at Jad's frivolity, and Azure took his turn.
"Azure," he introduced curtly.
After a moment Rember muttered her own introduction broodingly.
Laurel nodded to herself, absorbing the info. "Alright then. Grab your weapons, extra ammo, and go out to the aircraft platforms. We'll be heading out in less than fifteen minutes," the tall woman ordered, turning her back and walking towards their newly determined meetup.
Gayle blinked, puzzled. Did she mishear that? If not, Laurel wasn't easing them into it at all.
"Only our weapons?" she asked. "What about-"
"All other necessities have been planned for and supplied by myself," the tall blonde threw over her shoulder casually. "You're all under my jurisdiction until we're done, after all. Now hurry up, anyone that's late gets left behind and earns an immediate fail."
Such a severe declaration made even Azure flinch in surprise. The blonde Huntress coolly strode away before any of KRME could articulate any intelligible response. The cat faunus shrugged his shoulders when he met the inquiring gaze of his partner.
"...Guess we'll roll with it." Azure resigned. "Let's hurry."
Without further delay, the team was quick to retrieve their gear. Once equipped, the quartet of Hunters promptly found themselves being ordered onto an airship by Laurel. They watched the ground below fall away into a sea of mismatched green shades as the vehicle floated smoothly up and over the city walls. Laurel soon engaged the autopilot as Vale sank into the horizon, making her way into the cargo hold to brief her new shadows.
The hiss of the door sliding open caught the team's attention, and the blonde woman leaned herself against one of the ship's walls.
"Alright," she began, "Are we all aware of our mission outline?"
The Huntress' audience nodded.
"We're escorting a convoy of people moving into the kingdom," Gayle stated, only to add a shaky "right?" when catching the intense gaze of the Huntress. Laurel bobbed her head.
"Mhm," she confirmed, and continued, "It's too large a group to fly back with this ship. Plus, they're coming from a town that isn't exactly 'thriving'. Safe to say that our services were all these people could afford. We'll be spending the next few days protecting them from any threats we may encounter until they are safe within Vale's walls."
"Grimm?" Azure asked.
"That goes without saying," Laurel answered. "If we're lucky, everything'll be fine, but I'm not one to bank on luck." Azure and Rember shared a glance before their chaperone straightened. "Feel free to take a nap, or something. It'll be a few hours before we arrive at the drop-off."
The door to the cockpit slid shut, Laurel procuring a cigarette from her flight suit as she disappeared from view.
"I really don't like her," Rember grumbled as the stench of cigarette smoke wafted through the cracks in the door.
A blast of cool air hit Azure's face as he stepped off the aircraft and out into the late afternoon. The young man could feel his joints creak and pop as he stretched them out, Rember following him as they convened with the rest of the team. Laurel was already conversing with a person whom Azure assumed was the head of the group they'd be escorting. With no other instructions, he took a moment to inspect their surroundings.
The mountain range that protected the kingdom's back was a small ridge on the horizon to his right, with tall evergreen trees sporting blackened bark standing around the settlement in a thicket. They had to have been at the farthest point people could successfully live outside the kingdom's protection. The interior of Sanus was near uninhabitable thanks to the hordes of Grimm that prowled its dense woodlands and mountain ranges. Anyone who dared venture into the continent's center rarely returned.
Azure had a feeling this village was the final landmark before unexplored territory. The walls encircling the perimeter were built of sturdy looking wood, with signs of repair or upkeep every few feet. Within the protective barrier sat what could only be described as a town frozen in time. The houses, the people, even the tools and weapons...it was as if the modernization and technology of the kingdom hadn't made their way out this far. All around Azure saw dirt pathways, wooden housing with shingled roofs, and even the occasional horse tied to a post...
The young man was abruptly snapped out of his sightseeing when Rember nudged his side with her elbow. Laurel cleared her throat in order to grab the team's attention.
"Alright team," the huntress began, gesturing to the small envoy of five or six people behind her, "these are the people who hired us."
As if on cue, the man who'd been speaking with Laurel took a step forward to address KRME, the linen and brown leather outfit he wore billowing slightly in the breeze.
"Hello, young Huntsmen and Huntresses," he greeted, aging brown eyes studying them kindly. "I do hope we can put our faith in you to keep us safe on our journey," the greying man added, as the other members of his family joined him.
Azure noticed Jad's gaze latch onto a young woman who looked to be about their age with sun blonde hair and brown eyes. He had to keep himself from shaking his head, and only just managed to stifle a chuckle. The old man noticed as well, glancing subtly at the red headed young man for a moment.
"I believe introductions are in order. My name is Clay, and this is my wife, Stella." He motioned to a woman with pale yellow hair standing at his side.
Rember and Gayle waved, while Jad tipped the brim of his hat. It was here the rest of the entourage joined the adults and Hunters, Clay cracking a smile when a little blonde girl who looked no older than eight hid behind his pant leg, staring warily at the newcomers with wide eyes.
"And these, if you haven't already guessed, are our children," he continued. "My eldest daughter, Tawnya, our son, Blaine…" Clay paused and smiled at the little girl wrapped around his leg. "And this little one is Maizey."
Maizey kept staring at KRME, particularly at Rember and Gayle's respective ears and tail. Jad tipped his hat once more, this time at Tawnya, and made an obvious show of his most charming smile and a wink.
"My name is Rember," the fox-eared faunus introduced with a kind smile that widened when little Maizey noticed her fangs and gaped. "This is my partner, Azure, and our teammates, Gayle and Jad."
The individual students nodded as their names were given.
"We'll do our best to keep you all safe," Rember promised.
With introductions out of the way Laurel went straight into business mode. "Are you all ready to go? The sooner we head out, the more daylight we'll have," she said.
Clay and Stella nodded, prompting their family to get ready for departure. The Huntress looked to her shadows, who awaited direction.
"Alright. This is how things are going to work," she began sternly. "Two of you are going to be with me. We'll be ahead of the convoy, dealing with any threats that lie ahead. The other two will be guarding the escort."
No objections were given.
"With that established...Rember, how good are your ears?"
The fox girl grimaced inwardly and forced a smile onto her face, fox ears twitching "Good enough to give us plenty of warning," she stated.
Laurel nodded. "Brilliant," she praised. "Then you're with me. Jad as well."
The team exchanged surprised glances. Did they hear that right? She wanted Rember and Jad...working cooperatively? Azure and Gayle could count on their fingers just how many times their respective partners could accomplish something together without them bickering and arguing the entire time. Laurel didn't know their history, but still…
"Got rocks in your shoes?" Laurel asked brusquely. "C'mon, let's move it. We're gonna make sure the path is clear for them."
Allowing no chance for protests, the Huntress walked off, clearly expecting Rember and Jad to follow. Jad pulled out Gypsy Flirt, the quarter staff at the ready.
"Guess that's our cue," Jad surmised. He tapped one of Gayle's shoulders reassuringly, smiling and telling his partner "Keep 'em safe, kid."
The lizard girl nodded her head affirmingly, giving the red headed boy a thumbs up. Azure only cracked a small smile when he and Rember's eyes met, silently communicating the faith he had for the both of them. She rolled her eyes, conveying her irritation at being stuck with Laurel, but shrugged. If it was going to interfere with the mission, she'd put her dislike aside for the time being. It wasn't long before the two teammates caught up to their chaperone, gaining a sizable lead on the rest of the party. By the time Azure and Gayle's charges were all saddled and ready to go, they couldn't see any sign of them through the dense trees.
'Thank you for waiting," Clay said as he held the reins to the wagon he and his family sat in. "Best we catch up to them."
Azure nodded, and Gayle followed close behind her team leader as they moved out of the town and into the beginnings of wilderness.
KRME's first mission as Huntsmen and Huntresses had officially begun.