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Requested by : Polemoduke

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Blake smiled when she heard Nora on the way back from their last round of written exams, feet thumping miserably up the hall. Humming, she kept reading until she heard the door 'whumpf' open and Nora moaned, "Uuuuuugh, I hate tests!"

"They weren't that- Ack!" Blake squawked as Nora spun her chair and picked her up, carrying her over to the bed and dropping her on it. She laughed while Nora flopped on the bed beside her and laid her head in her lap and, shaking her head, Blake asked, "What are you doing?"

"Recharging~"

"On my… Thighs?"

"Nice thighs save lives~!" Nora chirped, rolling over to press her face into Blake's stomach and sighing. "I'm exhausted. Mentally and emotionally."

"The tests weren't that bad, Nora…"

"I had to do algebra!" She argued, rolling over and throwing her hands up in frustration. "What part of 'Mistrali orphan' screams a good math edumacation?!"

"Don't you make explosives…?"

"Hey, you're my girlfriend, don't logic at me." Nora pouted, thumping Blake on the stomach and earning a laugh from her. Sighing, she said, "Ren and Yang are grabbing pizza for the night. Ready for the fun test tomorrow?"

"How do you know it'll be fun…?"

"I get to blow stuff up."

"Uh huh." Blake just rolled her eyes and laid down, sighing and closing her eyes. "Nap time, then? We'll need our rest."

"Why Blake." Nora laughed, "Are you asking me to bed?"

"Yes." Nora snorted and Blake bounced a leg, "Stop being a pervert and come cuddle properly, or I'll make you do math."

"Ugh, fiiiiiiine, if I have to~"

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"And why am I doing this, exactly, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, running her hands through the plastic tote of metal beads.

It was one of the many storage ones in the little workshop room Ruby had borrowed for the afternoon, used by students to clean and maintain their weapons. It only had shelves of tools and totes against one wall and a work table against the back one, but according to Ruby that was all they needed.

"I had an idea~!" Ruby explained, slamming down another tote full of little metal canisters next to her. She had a little scoop and waved Pyrrha off, "Okay, now, start lifting the ones you touched to the top."

"Alright…" It wasn't difficult, but it was strange to watch the beads roil and roll on their own as the ones she'd touched swam to the top and the rest slipped and fell, sinking to the bottom like a rock in a roiling lake.

"Hold 'em like that." Ruby ordered, scooping off the top and puting the beads into the canisters. While she worked, Ruby explained, "Okay, so, you move metal. But you have to touch it, right?"

"Yes…"

"So," Ruby smiled, picking up one of the tiny canisters and sealing the top with a percussive Dust-cap, "I came up with these babies! I can fire 'em off and you can move the beads after. It goes up like a grenade round, and then you can make the shrapnel do more after."

"But the shrapnel will kill the Grimm anyways…"

"Yep." Ruby nodded, "But if I fire at, say, a herd of Creeps and kill a bunch, more will be behind them. And you can put them through a blender."

She could imagine the damage she could do with those, especially in a cave or a hallway or similar. They'd be hard to track, with so many, and plenty would get too stuck in wood or dirt or rock to easily pull free or use. But, Pyrrha supposed, that was why Ruby had what looked like a few dozen in each little canister-shot. Even if she lost half, she'd still have what amounted to mobile buck-shot to hurl at targets as needed. The only downside was, well…

"Ruby," she sighed, "my contact-connection only lasts a week or so. You don't need to make this many."

"Ah." The little gearhead blinked, already halfway through making the fourth. Sealing it off, she shrugged, "Okay. I'll just hang onto the rest of the shells and beads and we can… Refresh before missions 'n stuff?"

"That sounds fine."

"Cool." Ruby nodded, "We should test the control, though. Make sure you can…" Pyrrha cut her off by lifting a couple dozen beads from the tote, spinning them in figure eights around her hand while she smiled at Ruby. Pouting, the younger Huntress grabbed a lid for the tote and scoffed, "Show-off."

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"What do you think the test actually is though, Sis?" Ruby asked while Yang reclined in her seat in the auditorium. Unlike their first time there, listening to a speech, they'd actually brought in seating for this. It was just folding chairs, but they could sit.

Like people or something.

"Probably a Grimm hunt." Yang shrugged, "Or maybe a tournament?"

"That would have an obvious winner…"

"I can hear you, Ren." Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head on Yang's other side and flicking a look at the man sitting behind her, between Nora and Blake, where he was keeping them separate and under control. Or, well, keeping Nora under control, at least.

Blake was more interested in the e-book on her Scroll.

"I mean, is he wrong?" Pyrrha rolled her eyes and tutted good-naturedly, but Ruby elbowed her in her side and the blonde hissed. "What?"

"You!" Ruby scoffed, "Be nice!"

"I am though…?" Ruby just glared a bit harder and pointed at Yang warningly.

"Settle down, now, all of you, the Headmaster is about to speak." A voice echoed around them, cutting the dull roar of chatter off like they'd threatened to hurt them if they didn't get quiet. Goodwitch's sharp eyes surveyed them all for the few seconds it took and, when she was satisfied, she nodded. "Thank you. Headmaster?"

The Headmaster took her spot while she stepped back, standing just in front of a curtain that covered the back half of the stage. Smiling, he nodded, "Thank you, Deputy Headmistress. Now. I will save on the preamble. The test is a simple one, in design if not in your execution."

The screen over the stage flickered to life showing a computerized little film of four little Beacon emblems standing inside four walls, with a star between them. "You will be taken to a location, chosen at random, and asked to defend so-titled 'Relics' waiting for you. Each will be unique, on a pedestal, and roughly hand-sized. This is to simulate simple defense missions, of the like you will be eligible for next term. There will be Grimm in the area, but major threats have been culled, and they are not the primary threat regarding Grimm you need concern yourselves with."

"That would be me." A voice spoke before a woman dressed all in white stepped through the curtain, hands clasped behind her back.

"Oh, no…" Weiss murmured behind Yang. "My sister…? Really?"

Yang didn't need to be told to guess they were related, with the woman's white hair and stick-up-the ass straight posture. She drew a saber from her side and, swirling to life from a familiar looking white glyph, a Beowolf stalked out onto the stage. It growled while she explained, "I will be involved in each test, occurring subsequently over the next week at unstated times while you all remain in a defensive posture. The Grimm you face will mostly be my own, but do not take them lightly. I cannot see nor control them all, and they will do you harm if you treat this as a game."

"Thank you, Specialist, and thank you to Atlas as well for lending you to us so generously." Ozpin smiled, "Finally, supported by Specialist Schnee, is your primary opponent."

Now, the curtain opened, revealing Beacon's staff… Along with a dozen other faces. Two of which made Yang groan, stomach dropping into her feet.

"Oh, no…" Yang groaned, "That's-"

"My uncle! And my dad, too?!" Ruby cut her off, jumping up to wave excitedly, "Uncle Qrow! Daddy! Hiii- Ow!"

Yang watched Weiss drag Ruby back into her seat while Ozpin chuckled, "Indeed it is, Miss Rose. Indeed it is. They, along with the rest of our generous volunteers, will be tasked with eliminating your teams or stealing your Relic. Your simple task is to attempt to prevent this for the next two weeks, surviving in the designated areas."

Yang groaned again, muttering, "We don't even have stuff…"

"Some may complain about not having supplies," the Headmaster went on, as if he could hear Yang's whispers, "but a Hunter must always be ready. With that said…"

"Good luck." The Headmistress offered.

"And have fun!" Yang's dad called out, laughing and pounding his fists into each other. "I know we will! Now which of you is 'Ren', exactly?"

Nora stood to speak and Yang spun to bodily tackle her into her seat while her dad laughed and added, "I'll take Nikos, too! These hands are rated E for everyone that thinks- No, Qrow, back off- C'mon, man!"

"Let me have the microphone!" Yang heard her uncle growl while Nora wrestled her into a headlock, "You're ridiculous!"

"You're all children!" Goodwitch and, Yang guessed, Winter added to the shouting while the students watched on.

"Get your rest!" Ozpin called out over the noise, "And I wish you the best of luck! Just remember to learn from your experiences, whatever they may be!"

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Their spot was an old, cliff-side fort about an hour and a half out from Beacon, smack in the middle of nowhere. The back half had fallen away, and lay in a heap at the base of the cliff, mostly buried and covered in brush-growth, but the front was mostly in shape. It was a bit barren, too, with little more than a few shrubs leading to the cliff edge and short grass, but still. It was something, and Nora knew how to work with what she had.

And what she had was a mostly intact corner of the wall that had once protected the fort, whatever the fort had been for. The wall was thick, but sagging in places where the ground was eroding from under it, and the crenellations along the top had mostly been blasted away. Nora suspected it was from some actual war, instead of Grimm, because when they'd first walked it - careful to check its stability - she'd seen bullet holes and explosives impacts all over. But not on the inside of the wall. Which meant that the attacks had come from outside, not from people inside falling back against Grimm.

It made Nora feel a bit… Off, being there. But she saw evidence of more than one dug out fire pit, and a ruined tent, that told her she was far from the first person to settle in.

At the corner of the wall was a huge watchtower, at least for the size of the wall itself. The wall was wide enough for one person to stand on while another walked normally behind them, which made it tight but workable. But the base of the tower was wide and open enough for them to set out their bedrolls and dig a fire-pit in and have comfortable enough space. There was a rusted out little fire-stove built in one corner, but none of them trusted it or its vent pipes. And old wooden stairs, patched in places by long planks and a few sheets of metal from somewhere Nora couldn't guess, lead up to the look-out post. Which was itself old and worn, with a rusted metal roof pitted by holes time had worn through them and another fire-stove that they trusted a bit more, since they wouldn't be burning rust off in an enclosed room. Waist high wooden walls still mostly stood around its edge and, at some point, someone had brought a stool up that they were taking turns on for watch, rotating every six hours.

The look-out post was also where they kept their 'Relic', a little blue banner Nora left pinned to one of the four old, worn wooden columns holding up the thin metal roof.

It was heading towards dawn, so Nora was already up, climbing the stairs with a little ration-bowl in her hand. It wasn't much - just a military ration you poked a hole in and added water to boil - but it was enough. And with last night's rain and the chill it brought, she knew Blake would enjoy the warmth at least.

"Nora." Blake said almost as soon as her head poked up through the square in the floor that the stairs lead up to. Nora pouted, but Blake wasn't even looking at her, leaning gently on the railing. One ear was cocked her way, though, and Blake chuckled and explained. "You have heavier steps than Ren, but you don't stomp everywhere like Yang does."

"Ah…" Nora hummed, joining her at the railing and offering her the bowl. Past the edge of the dim fire-light from the stove behind them, Nora could barely see the trees. "Still can't believe you can see out there."

"One of the few advantages of being a Faunus." Blake hummed, opening the bowl and eating while she surveyed the woods. Out of the blue, she asked, "You know where we are?"

"No…?" Nora blinked, "Should I?"

"Yes, but…" Blake shrugged, "Fort Alucard. It was meant as a signal post and a Grimm-watch, to keep an eye on the far edges of the Emerald Forest and off towards the coast. And manage radio relays for forts along the coast itself."

"And?"

"And," Blake sighed, "it was one of the first forts the Faunus destroyed at the start of the Revolution, using locals for it. The same locals that would become veterans, after the war, and…"

"Found the White Fang."

"Yeah…"

"Alot on your mind?" Nora asked, tapping her fingers along Blake's hip, asking for permission. She leaned into it and Nora wrapped her arm around the woman's waist, holding her while Blake simply shrugged. "Yeah… Keeping watch is always like that, isn't it? Quiet, long hours, you're alone- Bound to do a lot of thinking."

"You have experience with that…"

"Yeah." She nodded, mind drifting to Mistral. "I do."

"I won't pry…" Nora turned and Blake was looking at her, her bright eyes almost lighting up in the dark, reflecting the fire behind them faintly and the moon above. "But whatever really happened? It doesn't define you. Not to me. Alright?"

"...Thanks, Blake." She smiled, pressing a kiss against her forehead and turning to watch the woods. "Means a lot."

"Mhm." The Faunus nodded, "I know."

Their moment of peace and quiet only lasted a few moments before Blake suddenly straightened, leaning over the railing and turning, ears flicking excitedly. Nora knew better than to say anything when she was trying to hear and waited until, after a second, Blake ducked back and hissed, "I hear movement… But it's trying to be quiet."

"So, not Grimm…"

"No." Blake shook her head, "Probably not. We should wake-"

"Cover your eyes, babe."

"What?" Nora hefted her grenade launcher, slowly sliding a white grenade into its manual feed, and Blake blinked and turned, ducking her head with a squawk of surprise and understanding.

The flare was bright and it was loud, whistling up into the air and exploding like… Well, like a grenade, with a thunderous crack that Nora thought fit in well with the stark white that it flashed across the forest. The burning explosive spread through the air, smoking and holding itself up by burning its own gases, and that let Nora see perfectly. The trees, the little creek they'd used to get water for boiling, the cliff's edge…

And the stark white Beowolf that cradled its face, where its eyes were probably hurting…

She put it out of its misery with a long-shot grenade that blew it apart just as Blake rejoined her, squinting against the light. More of the false Grimm shot out of the woods, rushing across the open space towards the edges of the wall to either side, where the cliff's collapse had left space, and Nora turned her launcher on the biggest group and rotated the chamber to number six. The incendiary went off just ahead of them, splashing molten goop across them and the ground and closing off that side entirely for the next few hours courtesy of the twenty foot wide lake of molten death she'd left. By the time she turned to the other, Yang was among them, sending one Beowolf flying while Ren slid under her swinging arm and peppered a second in automatic fire that ripped it's face and throat apart.

"Nora-"

"Go!" She barked, rotating to chamber three, "I'm gonna hit the woods with something fun and join!"

"Nora!" Blake warned, stepping up onto the railing, "No burning the forest down!"

"I knoooooow!" She complained, smiling toothily, "You already told me!"

She arced the two grenades up and with about a foot between them at launch, sending them sailing out over the woods where they exploded with a dull whumpf she barely heard. Shrapnel rained down on the woods in their wake, though. Lethal little triangles of metal that would shred any Grimm they came in contact with. A third grenade went off just below them, adding a few dozen micro-explosives to the mix, going off all through the woods and clogging them with smoke while Nora emptied her used cartridges and slid in a new batch of mostly normal charges.

Below her, her team was already advancing and spreading out, with Yang and Blake at the front cutting a path and Ren behind them for support. She spotted an Ursa rushing at their flank and turning, tripping it with a concussive shot and them blowing out its back with a fragmentation round. She turned towards a pack of Beowolves that were following it to do the same and lined her sights up-"

"So, you are definitely the wrong red-head…" Nora spun, leveling her launcher on the source of the sound before a spinning kick knocked it away and sent her shot wide and high, where it exploded pointlessly in the sky. The blonde man followed with another kick, rolling onto his shoulders like a dancer, and Nora had to throw herself against the railing to dodge it.

"But," he grunted, pushing off the ground and settling his feet against the roof, "Ren is on this team, isn't he?"

A blonde missile slammed into her and Nora went screaming through the railing before she could respond.

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Yang ducked back from an Ursa's swipe and snapped out a buck-shot backed punch that shredded its throat. A heartbeat later Blake appeared on its shoulder and put two rounds into its head, leaping up off of it and throwing her machete, using her ribbon to whip it down into a Beowolf's head as it rushed at Yang's side. She yanked it free and landed as she caught it, kneeling behind Yang and putting two rounds into a luminescent Creep as it tried to get at Ren. Another three got to him, but he moved like a dancer, ducking one and spraying fire into its back over his shoulder while he brought the front blades of his gun down through a seconds head and yanked it to the side, peppering the last while the other two collapsed and fell apart.

"We need to hold on while Nora thins them out!" He called out as explosives went off over the forest, "She'll protect the Relic!"

"Right!" Yang and Blake both nodded, splitting up to either side to meet a pair of Beowolves while Ren advanced to a few feet behind them, peppering both in inaccurate fire that raked across their faces. Both fell and she and Blake advanced.

Yang leapt on the Ursa that charged her and pummeled her fists into its face, ignoring the claws scraping along her Aura. It collapsed under the weight of her attack and Yang turned, snapping off a couple shots into a Creep rushing Blake. As it fell, Yang turned to catch a Beowolf leaping at her back. It was still heavy enough to push her over, so she let it, rolling onto her back and kicking it up, firing a shot into its stomach to send it further and kill it and turning to fire another that sent her rolling to the side so she could bounce up and land on her feet.

"Come on!" She laughed, "Is that all you-"

"Nora!" Yang spun at the fear in Ren's voice and followed his gaze as he took off, running towards where Nora was kneeling in the dirt, rolling her shoulder while-

"Oh come on!" She screamed, turning to crush a Creep's face as it tried to come at her. "Dad, what the hell?!"

"Oh, hey, sweetheart!" He waved, ducking back as Nora came at his side, swinging Maghnhild up and down in a devastating blow that certainly taught the ground something. He spun to bring a knee into her stomach, grabbed her wristed at the same time and turned to kick the back of her knee and hurl her in Ren's way when he bright his guns up.

"How are you?" He called over, grabbing Nora by the hair and booting her at her partner while Blake backed up into Yang. Laughing, her dad said, "Your team is doing… Great! Just great! Now, uh, that one's Ren, right?"

"...No?" She tried, smiling weakly.

"Great, thanks!" He smiled, "I'm gonna break his legs!"

"That's my line!" Nora shouted, spinning and hurling her hammer at her dad. He ducked under it but Nora met him, slugging him across the face and catching him by enough surprise to push him back a step.

Nora kept it up, swinging heavy punches towards her dad while he reached out to swat them away, smiling all the while… Until Ren joined her, slipping past Nora to pepper bursts into his sides and cutting at his back. When her dad turned to go after him, Nora came in harder and Yang smiled.

"Blake, can you-"

"I can hold the Grimm." She nodded, "For a while. Go."

"Got it!" She smiled, leaping, curling into a ball and spinning to blast off with a shot from her gauntlets.

She came down almost on her father, but he saw her, knew her, and slid back a step just before she landed. Ren sprayed fire across his back when he did, though, and focused on dodging her, he couldn't dodge that. Or the hammer blow Nora leapt in to drive into his sternum. Yang landed and spun, pushing off the wall with a foot to come in on her dad's side and, finally, they put him properly on the defensive. No swatting aside their attacks, now. Instead his arms curled at his sides, snapping up to meet gunfire, blades, fists and feet as they pummeled him.

It was going well…

Until it wasn't.

Ren came in at his side and her dad spun, snapping out a quick kick into his knee that sent him stumbling. A fist drove him into the ground and a boot into the small of his back as he turned to catch Nora diving at him made him scream. And made Yang see red, hair lighting up as she leapt at her dad, pummeling him with every ounce of her Semblance-backed strength. It pushed him back and forced him to defend himself, knowing perfectly how much it would hurt to get hit by one of those, and Yang bought that space. But her dad knew how to counter her, too.

And he was damn good at it, ducking back under a wild swing and sinking to a knee. He grabbed her wrist and wrapped an arm around her, standing up so sharply her elbow popped painfully, forced up. She screamed and he hurled her down into the ground.

"You let your anger do way too much of your thinking, sweetheart." Her dad sighed, looking up and frowning. "And you don't pay attention…"

Yang turned, following his gaze, to where Blake was rolling across the dirt from a heavy Ursa's blow. It followed her and she rolled away, leaving a Dust clone behind that exploded in smoke and dirt while she scrambled up, shoulders heaving.

"Blake!" She forced herself up while her dad backed away and Nora joined her, pulling her up with her launcher in her other hand.

"Yang, get Blake." She ordered lowly, watching her dad, "We're pulling out."

"What?" She shouted, "But what about the test? We need the-"

"He has the Relic." Nora cut her off, "Don't you?"

He patted one of the pockets on his shorts and smiled, "Before I came after you, Red."

"But, if we leave, we fail…"

"We fail, or we get hurt." She grunted, "Ren's low, and Blake can't be much better. I'm at half, if I'm lucky. You?"

"...Low."

"We need to run." Nora nodded, "Get Blake, and let's go."

"Fine!" Yang snapped, backing up a step and snarling. "Damn it!"

She spun and went for Blake, blasting away another Ursa trying to close with her and throwing her over her shoulder as she ran. Blake squawked in surprise but didn't resist, and her dad didn't chase after them. The Grimm did, but he didn't. Which was good, because Yang could feel the edges of her eyes watering with frustration.

Gods, she was mad…

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Ren did not need his Semblance to feel how angry Nora and Yang were on the trip back to Beacon. Nora's knee wouldn't stop bouncing, and Yang kept curling and uncurling her fists, staring into the grated floor of the Bullhead. And, for all Blake tried to hide it, she was just as disappointed as they were angry. He was too exhausted to conceal them all but, so close to Beacon, he was fairly certain they were safe. Still, he laid a hand on Nora's knee to take her attention and, when she turned to him, he smiled.

"You did your best." He nodded, "We all did."

"I know, but…" She sighed, "I hate losing."

"Doesn't everyone?" Blake offered quietly from the other side of the Bullhead, beside her own partner.

"We'll do better next time." Yang nodded, flicking each of them a look. "Right?"

They all nodded as the Bullhead settled down and the doors opened.

Headmaster Ozpin himself was waiting when they stepped off, standing in the late dawn air and humming to himself. When they stopped in front of them, he smiled and offered a simple, "Good Morning, Noble. How are you?"

"That a joke?"

"Nora…"

"No, Miss Belladonna, please." He smiled, flicking Ren a look when he took a hesitant step forward to calm his partner down. Turning back to Nora, he said, "Speak your mind."

"What's there to say?" Nora asked, resting her hammer's long handle across her broad shoulders and hanging her hands over it comfortably. "We lost the fight, lost the Relic, and pulled out. Failed on every line, right, old man."

"Nora!"

"I am an old man, Mister Lie." The headmaster chuckled quietly, waving him off with a hand on his cane. "As to you, Miss Valkyrie… When did I or the Headmistress state that your entire grade was based on your success?"

"Come again?"

"When you were briefed, you were told to attempt to defend the Relic." The Headmaster explained simply, "And you did. You may have failed in that, but not through any failing of yourselves. Rather, you were overwhelmed and outmatched by a very nearly literally endless assault force unlike what you should face in your coming year as well as an opponent far beyond your skills. Thus far, over half of the participating teams have failed in various ways for the same reasons."

"So we were meant to fail?" Yang growled, "How is that fair?"

"Life is not fair, Miss Xiao Long, as you and your team thoroughly know." Ozpin countered simply, "But yes. You were meant to, likely, fail. The true test was in your understanding of your own limitations, and your priorities."

"The 'Relic' and the fort are merely things. A bit of cloth in your case, in another, a literal frying pan." Ozpin went on quietly, "This past year, we have taught you that your teammates should be your priority, second only to saving innocent lives. The nuances surrounding that will come in time, but for now? You should have learned each other's limits well, and learned to act within them. Self understanding and humility to prioritize your own lives over points on a score-card are what you were being tested on, with your combat skills as a secondary feat your opponents will have graded by week's end."

"So… We pass?"

"You do." The Headmaster chuckled, turning and waving them inside. "Please, eat and rest. And do calm down, Miss Valkyrie. The Headmistress would likely appreciate not returning to have to deal with damages."

"Yeah, yeah…" Nora sighed, pausing before she took a step, "Hey, who is Goodwitch up against anyways?"

"Team Cardinal." He smiled, "They're due to have their fight tomorrow evening."

"...Are you filming it?"

"Perhaps."

"Can I buy it?"

"Why, Miss Valkyrie, are you suggesting I would make profit off of the suffering of my students?"

"Yep." She shrugged, "Name your price."

"...I will once I see the footage." He smiled, turning and walking away before Nora could do more than snort.

"Come on." Ren said, bumping into her shoulder as he passed, "I'm in the mood for some pancakes. You, Blake?"

"Sure." She sighed, "Why not?"

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