SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Baited Lure (New)

Baited Lure

"Good morning, students!" Professor Port boomed jovially as the freshman class assembled in front of the docking pads. "I hope that you're all well-rested and ready for an exciting practical test!" He chuckled. "As you're all aware, this practical exercise will see you all returning to the Emerald Forest; however, what you will not yet be aware of is the special circumstances governing this exercise."

Sunset shifted her weight from one foot to another. She had guessed that there would be some kind of twist in the tale here; otherwise, the premise of returning to the Emerald Forest yet again for another grimm hunt would have been almost banal; after all, they'd already shown that they could handle that last semester. Unfortunately, knowing that there was a twist coming hadn't helped Sunset work out what the twist was, and as she looked around the faces of her fellow students – her own teammates and others – it didn't seem like anyone had much idea of what was coming next.

Professor Port went on. "You will be inserted into the forest in waves via these Bullheads here," he said, gesturing to the three Bullheads waiting on the docking pads behind him. "Each wave will consist of eight students in four pairs, and each pair will be assigned a route to follow from their starting position. Your route can be followed via your scrolls or by markers placed in the forest by myself and Miss Schnee on Friday. Your objective is not to hunt grimm, although you should be prepared to kill any creature that crosses your path." He chuckled again. "Your objective is to reach the end of your designated route, collect a relic, and then return to the starting position for pick-up."

Yang raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Xiao Long?"

"This doesn't sound much different from Initiation, Professor," Yang pointed out.

"Indeed not, Miss Xiao Long, but only because you haven't heard the good part yet," Professor Port declared. "I told you that each wave would consist of four pairs of students; you may have assumed that I meant partner pairs; however, in actual fact, the pairs in which you must fight your way through the forest have been chosen by me, completely at random."

Whispers and murmurings began to break out amongst the gathered students. Some people gasped in shock or alarm. Jaune turned a little paler than usual at the prospect, and Pyrrha's eyes widened slightly in distress, although doubtless for slightly different reasons.

Rainbow raised her hand, but didn't wait to be acknowledged before she demanded, "Why, Professor? Why are our teams getting split up?"

"Yeah," Nora agreed. "What's the point of training to fight in teams if when it comes time to actually fight, we have to do it alongside people we don't know and don't know if we can trust?"

"Do you imagine that in the course of your careers as huntsmen and huntresses, you will have the good fortune to only fight alongside those whom you know and trust?" The voice of Professor Ozpin, coming from behind the crowd of students, caused many to turn around to see him there, holding a scroll lightly in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. "Forgive me, Peter, but I thought I might come and observe the exercise, if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all, Oz," Professor Port said. "I'm sure the students will be motivated to even greater feats under your watchful eye."

Professor Ozpin chuckled. "Your flattery will be the death of me," he murmured as he began to walk forwards. The students parted for him, clearing out of his way and opening up a path for him through their mass until he stood beside Professor Port. "Now," he added, "I do believe that you have already been set some work by Doctor Oobleck along similar lines as this."

"Yes, Professor," Pyrrha said. "But that was academic work; this-"

"Is real work, Miss Nikos, real huntsman work," Professor Ozpin interrupted. "Not to diminish the importance of what you learn in the classroom, of course. But how better to see if you can work together with others from outside your team, perhaps even outside your academy, than by making you work together in the field? Cooperation," he declared, "is the highest purpose of the Vytal Festival. Do not forget that."

Clearly, this was no mere fancy of Professor Port, no mere notion that had come to him in the middle of the night; this was, if not an official school policy, then certainly something that the school – represented by no less a person than its headmaster – was smiling on. Further objections, then, were unlikely to alter the state of affairs. Sunset did still have one question, however, and she raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Shimmer?" Professor Port acknowledged.

"What happens if we don't come across any grimm, Professor?" Sunset asked. They had been told that the purpose was not to hunt, but it wouldn't be much of a Grimm Studies exercise if they got away without hunting, would it?

Professor Port's voice was rich with amusement. "I don't think that's likely, Miss Shimmer; in fact, I’m confident that you’ll all find plenty of grimm to keep you all on your toes." He laughed again.

"Oh great," Jaune murmured.

Pyrrha put one hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine," she assured him.

"Maybe," Jaune whispered. "If I get a partner who can pick up my slack."

"Don't underestimate yourself," Pyrrha urged. "You've improved so much already."

Jaune glanced at her. "It's just… whenever we've gone into battle… I always knew that you were there to… you know."

Pyrrha frowned, even as the morning light glinted off the circlet on her brow. She hesitated for a moment, then swiftly took off her belt. "Sunset, would you mind holding this for me for a minute?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Sunset said, as Pyrrha thrust the belt into her hands. Sunset gripped it, feeling the weight of Pyrrha's various pouches and the metal disk that bore her crest pulling downwards towards the ground.

Pyrrha's hands and fingers moved quickly and deftly as she untied the long scarlet sash from round her waist.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. "What are you doing?"

Pyrrha said nothing, but a slight smile tugged upon the corners of her mouth as she tied her sash around Jaune's waist in turn. "Wear this," she said, "and keep me close. That way, even though we both have other partners, I'll still be with you."

Ruby cooed appreciatively, and Sunset found a smile spreading across her face.

Jaune looked down at the long sash falling towards his feet, but not quite reaching them because he was taller than Pyrrha. "Pyrrha… I can't take this-"

"Yes," Pyrrha interrupted him, "you can. You can give it back when the exercise is over, but until then, you can wear it." She took his hands in her own. "For me."

Jaune looked into her eyes. "Pyrrha-"

"Now kiss!" Nora cried, causing laughter amidst the students who had watched this little exchange. Pyrrha and Jaune both flushed at the reminder that, yes, they were surrounded by their fellow students, and both drew back half a step and let go of one another's hands.

They didn't need to be embarrassed, in Sunset's opinion; people were watching, but the smiles upon their faces were fond, not mocking; everyone who cared at all seemed to have found the whole thing as sweet as Ruby and Sunset.

Professor Port cleared his throat. "Now, when I announce the names of the first four pairs of students, please move towards the Bullhead on my right. The first pair in the first wave will be Arslan Altan and Sunset Shimmer; you will be heading north from the landing zone."

"Good luck," Pyrrha said as Sunset walked towards the Bullhead. Arslan joined her from the other side of the group of students. They both nodded to one another, but said nothing as they walked past Professors Port and Ozpin onto the docking pad and leapt up onto the waiting Bullhead.

"So," Sunset said.

"So," Arslan replied.

They stared at each other for a moment, their faces giving nothing away.

Sunset's tail twitched.

"Could have been worse," they both said at the same time.

Arslan grinned. "I knew I liked you," she declared.

"Jaune Arc and Flash Sentry," Professor Port announced. "Please head east from the landing zone."

Alphabetical order, sort of," Sunset thought as she and Arslan waited for Jaune and Flash to join them. "Hey, Jaune, welcome aboard," she said. "Flash."

Flash sighed. "Hey, Sunset."

"Is everything okay?" Arslan asked.

"Don't ask," Flash said.

Jaune frowned.

"Hey," Sunset said to Jaune. "It's going to be okay; you'll be fine."

"Missing P-money already, huh?" Arslan asked.

"Yeah," Jaune admitted. "Yeah, I guess so."

"That's rough," Arslan said. "Sweet of her to give you that sash, though; she's worn one of those ever since I've known her."

"The same one?" Sunset asked.

"Nah, she would have tripped over it when we first met; the one she wore then was a lot shorter," Arslan explained. "She scaled up the length once she hit her growth spurt."

Jaune clutched the trailing tail of the sash within his hand and said nothing.

"She's been teaching you, if I hear right," Arslan observed.

"What do you hear?" Sunset demanded.

Arslan shrugged. "Mostly incredulity," she admitted. "And I admit that you don't exactly seem like first-rate boyfriend material-"

"Thanks," Jaune muttered.

"But are you going to cheat on her?"

"No!" Jaune cried. "Why would you-?"

"Do you gamble?"

"No," Jaune said, more quietly and with less outrage in his voice.

"Do you drink?"

"No."

"Then Pyrrha's no less of a role model for getting involved with you, so what's the problem?" Arslan asked. "Anyway, my point is, have some faith in your teacher, even if you've got none in yourself. 'Cause take it from me, she knows what she's doing."

"We don't need to take it from you; we've seen it for ourselves," Sunset declared.

"But thanks anyway," Jaune added.

"Sage Ayana and Twilight Sparkle, you will head south from the landing zone."

I can imagine how Rainbow feels about this, Sunset thought.

Sage – he was one of Sun's teammates, but that was about the extent of Sunset's knowledge of him – was a big man, with dark skin and green hair growing like grass atop his head. He was swathed in a long white coat, and he had a sword almost as big as he was slung across his back. He had to duck his head a little to avoid banging it on the Bullhead ceiling. "Morning," he said, his voice gruff and deep.

"Hey guys," Twilight said, as she climbed in after him. "Sunset, Jaune, Flash."

"Hey, Twilight," Flash greeted.

"Hey," Jaune said. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Twilight repeated. "You're asking me how I'm doing?"

Jaune nodded. "Because… well, trust me, I get it."

Twilight let out a nervous laugh. "Then… it doesn't really need saying, does it?"

Sunset bit her lip. She was pretty tempted to ask Sage if he wouldn't mind swapping partners, but she wasn't sure if that would be allowed. Probably not.

It's just an exercise, she'll be fine.

I hope she'll be fine.

"Blake Belladonna and Ruby Rose, you should head west from the drop point," Professor Port declared.

Sunset chuckled. "Poor Pyrrha; I wonder if she's feeling left out?"

"She might be feeling a little lonely," Jaune replied.

"Hey guys," Ruby said cheerfully as she leapt aboard. "You okay, Twilight?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Twilight said, only moderately convincingly.

"Why does everyone keep asking her that?" Sage asked.

Nobody answered him; instead, as Blake jumped up into the belly of the airship, she said, "Quite a coincidence, so many of us ending up in the first wave, huh?"

"A positive one," Sunset replied.

Blake didn’t meet Sunset’s eyes. Sunset was uncomfortably reminded of the fact that this was the first time they had spoken since Sunset had… betrayed her trust. “Mhmm,” Blake murmured.

"Remember your cardinal directions, group one!" Professor Port urged. "And good luck!"

The engines on the wings outside tilted, shifting from pointing backwards behind the airship to pointing downwards at the docking pad beneath them. Everyone grabbed hold of one of the straps that hung from the ceiling as the airship lifted off, rising off the black and blue docking pad and into the sky. As the Bullhead turned, Sunset was afforded a glimpse of the crowd of students waiting their turn to be called; Pyrrha was a particularly noticeable figure, even without the splash of vibrant red that usually hung about her waist. The sunlight glinted off her gilded armour still. As they took off, Sunset saw Pyrrha raised one hand to them, and all three of Pyrrha's teammates waved back before they were carried out of sight.

The Bullhead carried them over the length of Beacon's canvas, not flying particularly high – not least, Sunset presumed, because the land was about to descend in height substantially very soon – so that the shadow of the Emerald Tower and some of the other taller buildings fell upon them as they were born over the courtyard and the farm and across the green expanse of unused land that lay between Beacon and the cliffs. Over the cliffs, they flew, as the world fell away sharply beneath them, the rocky cliff-face giving way to the verdant canopy of the Emerald Forest.

"So," Arslan said, "how do you think they're going to ensure that there are grimm on this Grimm Studies field trip?"

"Probably they've planted lures along the four routes to draw in grimm," Twilight murmured.

"They can do that?" Jaune asked.

Twilight nodded. "There are some very high-tech models being rolled out in Atlas for use by huntsmen that use chemical compounds to mimic the pheromones given off by humans in high-stress situations."

"But people have been using more traditional methods to accomplish the same goal for… probably for as long as the girmm have been a threat," Blake added.

Ruby nodded. "Uncle Qrow taught me and Yang a way to make one by rubbing pork cutlets all over us; it was really gross, but super cool at the same time."

Sunset cringed. "Why?"

"To get our sweat all over the meat so that the grimm would think it was human flesh," Ruby declared eagerly.

"Riiiiiiight," Arslan muttered. "Honestly, huntsmen. What a waste of meat."

"Did it work?" Jaune asked.

Ruby nodded. "We got a couple of beowolves doing that."

"A couple of beowolves won't be much of a test," Sunset said.

"I wouldn't say no to a more… uneventful experience," Twilight declared.

"That was just one lure," Blake reminded them. "The forest, or at least the routes we've been instructed to take, are probably littered with them."

"Right," Flash agreed. "I hope you don't mind, Jaune, when I say that I'd rather Weiss was here for this."

"Go ahead," Jaune told him. "I'd rather have Pyrrha here, too."

"We'd all rather have our partners by our sides; that's the reason we don't," Sage said.

"Speak for yourselves, my partner isn't speaking to me after I called him a dickhead," Arslan said. "Which just proves how much of a dickhead he is, in my opinion."

"Is that Bolin?" Sunset asked.

"Uh huh."

"Yeah, you've got the better deal with me," Sunset said confidently.

Arslan smirked. "Right back at you, Sunnyside."

"It's Sunset."

"Not all the time, it isn't."

The Bullhead carried them into the midst of the forest, descending into a clearing encircled by tall trees, casting their shadows over a space where none of their forest brethren sought to venture. They dismounted onto grass that was green and springy beneath their feet, and as the airship ascended once more, leaving them behind, Sunset could see that four paths had been cut through the woods around them, snaking slightly as they manoeuvred through the trees in the four cardinal directions.

There was nothing else to be seen but the paths. The grass was the only thing saving the clearing from being completely barren, and there was nothing else to be seen here.

The four paths, marked with red flags, called out to them.

"So," Jaune said, "I guess there's not much to do right now but get going."

Ruby smiled. "You'll be fine, Jaune. And when we're all done, you'll laugh at how nervous you were at the start of this."

Jaune's laughter now had a nervous edge to it, "I hope so; I mean, probably, you're right."

Blake looked up at the sky. "How long do you think it will be until the next group arrives?"

"I don't know," Sunset said. "Why?"

"I was just thinking," Blake said, glancing towards Twilight, "that if we're going to be on our own for a while, we should keep in contact; that way, if any pair gets into real trouble, they can call for help and another group can double back to assist them."

"We'll be fine," Sage declared.

"Don't be so sure," Flash replied. "The moment you underestimate the grimm is the moment they get you. I think it sounds like a good idea."

"Me too," Sunset agreed.

Blake nodded. "I've got Sunset, Jaune, and Twilight's numbers, and the reverse too, so… if we don't hear or see another Bullhead soon, let's just check in every so often, okay?"

"Okay with me," Sunset said, glancing at Arslan to see if she had any objections; not that Sunset would have taken any notice if she did have objections, but Sunset wanted to know if her temporary partner was the sort to let pride get in the way. Thankfully, Arslan made no such objection; in fact, she said nothing at all.

"You're all worrying about this far too much," Sage said. "You'll see, this is going to be a cakewalk. Come on, Twilight," he added, turning away and unsheathing his immense sword – it was marked with the numerals I through XII running down the blade for some reason – from off his back as he set off down the southward path.

Twilight smiled sheepishly at them, then pressed a button on the neck of her armour to bring up the helmet section of her purple-tinted, glowing suit. Her face disappeared beneath the blank, featureless visage of her helm, and yet, Sunset found she could imagine her face within nonetheless. She did not imagine that Twilight's nerves were much eased for now being completely enclosed within her powered armour.

Motorised sounds – whirrs and squeaks – issued from said armour as she turned and followed after Sage.

The remaining three pairs looked at one another.

"Good luck," Blake said.

Sunset nodded. "Good luck to all three of you," she said. She paused a moment, not looking at Flash. Then she relented. "All four of you."

"Thanks," Flash said heavily, and then it was his turn to hesitate. "You too."

Then they split up, Flash and Jaune heading east, Ruby and Blake heading west, and Sunset and Arslan heading north.

Sunset slung Sol Invictus off her shoulder, holding it in both hands as she and Arslan walked down the path.

"Why do you have that?" Arslan asked. "Your semblance does more damage."

Sunset shrugged. "I haven't always used my semblance," she said.

"You mean it took you a while to find it?"

"Something like that," Sunset muttered. "Why don't you use a weapon?"

"I've got a knife," Arslan pointed out.

"Sure you have, but you know what I mean."

"The lion doesn't carry weapons," Arslan said. "If his claws and teeth can't keep his skin safe, then it is not worth keeping."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "You're aware that you're not actually a lion? You're not even a lion faunus."

"Do you think that I'd call myself the Golden Lion of Mistral if I was a lion faunus?" Arslan replied. "I'd get dogpiled for… not racism, but that thing where if you're a faunus and you play up to stereotypes."

"I know what you mean," Sunset confirmed. "My point stands: you're not a lion."

"But like a lion, I was born with weapons," Arslan insisted. "And those weapons will see me through." She paused. "I didn't always have fancy tutors to teach me how to fight, you know."

"Really," Sunset murmured dryly.

"Unlike Pyrrha, it wasn't until after I started placing that I had the money to hire a trainer to iron out my technique."

"Is this your apologia for why you can't beat her?" Sunset asked.

"No, I'm just saying that I first learned how to fight tussling with my friends or fighting the kids from a couple of streets over," Arslan explained. "By the time anyone started teaching me how to fight, I'd gotten used to punches and kicks, and using a weapon just felt… it didn't fit with me. And besides,I don't need to apologise for the fact that I haven't beaten Pyrrha yet; she's that good."

"Indeed she is."

"But I'll get her one of these days."

Sunset scoffed. "I'm not so sure of that."

Arslan grinned. "I wouldn't expect a friend of hers to say anything less, so long as they really were a friend of hers." Arslan kicked a stone out of her path; it hit a nearby tree with a thump. "She seems happy."

"Pyrrha?"

"Of course Pyrrha, who else?" Arslan demanded.

"She seems happy because she is happy," Sunset replied. "I hope. More or less."

"More or less?"

"She's worried about Phoebe," Sunset explained.

"You don't want to worry about Phoebe Kommenos; she's a hack with pretensions," Arslan sneered dismissively. "Now, she's kind of rich, so those pretensions can carry her a ways, but sooner or later, she always runs into her lack of talent. She might want to think she's one of P-money's rivals, but there's so much distance between them it's not even funny. She doesn't even have a fanbase."

"Not even sad, lonely guys who think she's gorgeous?" Sunset asked.

"So what if she is? We're all gorgeous," Arslan replied. "And anyway, you shouldn't insult the audience by calling them names; it's bad for building loyalty."

Sunset smirked. "Do you mean to tell me that there is no one who supports you because they fancy you?"

"You mean, does my agent get creepy messages that he makes sure I never see, of course he does," Arslan admitted. "And if you call up Pyrrha's mother, she'll tell you the same. My point is, even if you're one of those guys, you're probably going to want someone with a… softer personality. Like Pyrrha, so maybe Jaune should watch himself next time he's in Mistral."

"You won't insult the fans, but you're more worried about them than you are about Phoebe?"

"Phoebe didn't have the guts to take you on herself," Arslan reminded her. "That says everything you need to know. But, other than that, Pyrrha's happy, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Good," Arslan said. "I… her smile doesn't look as fake now as it did back home sometimes."

"No, it isn't," Sunset said. "Does that matter to you?"

There was a rustling in the bushes to Sunset's left. She turned, Sol Invictus flying to her shoulder as Sunset cocked the rifle; Arslan turned too, her whole body flowing smoothly into a fighting stance, knees bent, palms poised to strike.

A raccoon poked its head out of the bush, took one look at the pair of them, and then darted back into cover with a squeak of alarm.

Sunset uncocked her rifle and lowered the barrel down to the ground.

Arslan grunted. “So, I take it you can’t do that thing where you sense trouble coming with your aura?”

“No,” Sunset admitted. “I take it you can’t either.”

“Why would I need to? I could always see my opponents coming out of the other tunnel,” Arslan said. She looked around. “One of the reasons I don’t like forests – you can’t see what’s coming.”

“A lion who doesn’t like woods, imagine that.”

“There’s nothing odd about it, lions are creatures of the high plains,” Arslan reminded her.

“Well… okay, fair enough.”

“Mind you, I’m not too keen on the high plains either,” Arslan admitted. “I don’t really like the countryside, to be honest. It’s got a funny smell. Give me the smell of old clothes and food going off in the fridge because the power company cut you off any day.”

“You can keep it; I’d rather have this,” Sunset muttered. Food going off in the fridge? Ugh!

Arslan chuckled. “Let me guess… your family used to be something, back in the day. That day’s past now, and your money’s run out, along with any power or influence that you used to have, but all the same, they never let you forget where you came from.”

Sunset snorted. “Is that what you really think? How many faunus do you know whose families used to be something?”

Arslan shrugged. “Okay then, explain it to me.”

“Why?”

“Have you got somewhere better to be?” Arslan asked. “Or do you want to pass the day in silence?”

Sunset opted for silence… but only for a couple of minutes as they trekked down the trail, still failing to encounter any grimm. Then she said, “My family didn’t used to be anything. I was adopted, in a manner of speaking, by the ruler of my community. Outside the kingdoms.”

“Ah,” Arslan murmured. “That explains that part… and then you left, came to the kingdoms, and in doing so, got a lot poorer than you used to be.”

“I… had to get used to not having all my needs catered for, yes,” Sunset acknowledged.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you leave?” Arslan asked. “Why did you go from living like Pyrrha to doing this?”

“Pyrrha lives like Pyrrha and does this,” Sunset pointed out.

“And I don’t get that either; I think she’s nuts.”

“From someone who’s doing this too?”

“I’m only here for three years; this isn’t my plan for the future at stake,” Arslan informed her. “I mean, sometimes, I think I must be mad to have come here at all, but in the end, the prize is worth it.”

“If you mean a Vytal crown, you can dream on,” Sunset told her. “Pyrrha has that in the bag already.”

“Keep talking like that, and you and I are going to have another appointment in the arena,” Arslan muttered.

“You haven’t beaten her yet; what makes you think this year is going to be any different?”

“I’m bound to get lucky sometime.”

Not necessarily, Sunset thought, but did not say. “So that’s all you’re here for? The Vytal Festival?”

“Are you judging me too?” Arslan asked.

“No, just… a little surprised,” Sunset replied. “I would never judge anyone for seeking after eternal glory.”

“Because that’s why you’re here?” Arslan guessed. “That’s why you left your home, beyond the kingdoms?”

Sunset hesitated. “Let’s just say the world I was born into was too small for my ambitions.”

Arslan shook her head. “If you wanted your name to live forever, then you should have come to Mistral and taken up professional tournament fighting. Then you’d have your fill of glory and more, I guarantee it, with your skill.”

“I didn’t think they let outsiders fight in the Mistral tournaments,” Sunset replied.

“There aren’t many, and they have to work hard to get over the bias of the crowd, but there are some,” Arslan said.

“Well, if I’d known that, then…” Sunset mused. “I probably would have made the wrong choice.”

“What’s so wrong about it?”

“I’m a better person for coming here,” Sunset replied. She paused, wondering how true that really was. “Or at least… here, I can recognise when I’ve done the wrong thing. My friends can help me recognise it. That wasn’t always true. It wouldn’t have been true in Mistral, in the arena.”

“Fair enough,” Arslan relented good naturedly. “But… I don’t know what glory or renown you expect to find in this profession. I don’t like the fact that Pyrrha’s going to walk away from the arena for this, but I get it: she thinks that she’s doing something meaningful, doing a service, and so she’s ready to commit to it because that’s something that matters to her.”

“Pyrrha thinks she can save the world,” Sunset declared.

Arslan rolled her eyes. “Break a record for tournament wins, and she starts getting delusions of grandeur.” She paused. “It is a delusion, right?”

Sunset did not reply at once. It was a difficult question to answer, and not only because she was Pyrrha’s friend. There was a desire to believe that it was not a delusion – or an illusion, to describe it more charitably – to believe that Pyrrha’s dreams could be made a reality, that Team SAPR could be the tip of the spear that drove back the darkness.

But the world seemed so much larger now than it had done when Sunset and Pyrrha had sat on the roof and discussed whether destiny was a choice or an ineffable force; there were so many things they knew of now that they had been blind to before: the magic of Remnant, the women who commanded it, the secrets and the machinations of Professor Ozpin. It seemed harder, now, to believe that even Pyrrha’s prodigious skill, even their team so dazzlingly composed, could effect the kind of great change upon the world that Pyrrha wished.

But Sunset refused to admit that fact, not to Arslan, maybe not even to herself. She had crossed worlds in pursuit of nothing more than ambition and desire, languished unregarded for years sustained by nothing more than her sense of her own worth; she would not falter now, not when recognition was beginning to come her way.

Not when she had something to fight for.

“Whether it is or it isn’t,” Sunset declared. “We’re going to try it regardless, for Pyrrha’s sake.”

From somewhere to the south, the sound of gunfire echoed through the woods towards them.

---

Pyrrha’s sash fluttered gently in the breeze that gusted through the forest, rising up away from Jaune’s leg for a moment before falling down again to brush against his pants as the wind rose and fell.

Jaune glanced down at it. His sword was drawn, and his shield was held before him, but his eyes were continuously being drawn downwards towards that sash.

In some ways, this was what he’d wanted: a chance to prove himself, to show that he wasn’t a burden, that he could manage without the girls and, in managing without them, prove too that he could help them when they needed it.

In other ways, this was pretty terrifying.

He hadn’t realised until she wasn’t there anymore just how used he’d gotten to having Pyrrha there; yes, she stood back, and she let him fight his own battles, but the fact of the matter was that she was always there, and if he screwed up or found himself in real trouble, then he knew that she would bail him out, and he wouldn’t even have to ask because that was the kind of person she was.

Only now… only now, she wasn’t here, she wasn’t beside him, she was somewhere up on the docking pad, and she might not be getting down here for some time, depending on what partner she was allocated, and that meant… that meant that they would both be fighting without the other.

He was not nearly so worried about Pyrrha in that situation because, come on, it was Pyrrha, but that wasn’t to say that he wasn’t worried at all. Pyrrha was amazing, but if he could do nothing else, he could at least stimulate her aura, and she would be without that facility today.

He recognised that that was nothing compared to his issues, but still…

Just because he could understand why Professor Port had decided to shake things up – and he was right; this was a more effective way of seeing if they could work together than Doctor Oobleck’s coursework – didn’t mean that he had to like it. Didn’t they have teams for a reason? Didn’t they have partners for a reason? He liked fighting alongside someone he could trust, someone who trusted him, someone… someone he understood.

Now he was fighting alongside someone he didn’t know at all.

Jaune really wasn’t sure what to make of Flash Sentry, walking in front of him, his armour gleaming. In person, he seemed okay; Jaune thought that Weiss might be interested in him if she’d give herself enough of a break to admit that it was okay to feel that kind of thing. He was a better fighter than Jaune, and it was a toss-up between him and Dove as to who was the stronger boy in their class as far as sparring went; to be honest, if Jaune had been coming to Flash fresh, with no preconceptions whatsoever, he probably would have looked up to the guy… once he got over his jealousy of the fact that Weiss obviously liked him, of course.

But Jaune wasn’t coming to Flash Sentry fresh; he was coming to him from everything that Sunset had said, or let slip, or implied, and most of it was… not that great. And while Sunset was not above lying – and even when she wasn’t lying, she didn’t always have the clearest perspective on things – one thing that Jaune was sure she wasn’t lying about was how badly hurt she’d been by Flash Sentry.

It was at the root of her messed-up views on relationships and how men ought to treat women, of that Jaune was sure; okay, 'messed up' was possibly a little harsh, but she seemed to have this view that men ought to be perfect storybook prince charmings that even Ruby or Pyrrha probably would have found to be a little much, and Jaune was certain that she wouldn’t have gone around telling Sun to put Blake at the centre of his life with no thought for his teammates if she hadn’t been trying to spare Blake what had been done to her.

She wasn’t faking that. Jaune didn’t think that Sunset was capable of faking that kind of hurt. And Flash was the one that had hurt her.

Of course, Sunset had hurt him in turn – although he didn’t think she’d really meant to with that business with the audio – but he had started it, or at least, it seemed like he had.

Jaune didn’t get it. Not one bit. He didn’t get how someone who otherwise seemed so nice could hurt someone like that.

He didn’t get it, and he didn’t much like it. It made him suspect how much of what Flash showed the school was all some kind of act.

He had never gotten around to talking to Pyrrha about it. Other things had always gotten in the way.

Which meant that he hadn’t made a decision on what he was going to do about all this before he and Flash had been thrown together by fate.

Against that was the fact that, well, Sunset had done him wrong recently, and Jaune was pretty sure that she hadn’t apologised – fat chance of that, where Flash was concerned – and he was probably owed a sorry from someone, especially since Sunset had told Professor Ozpin what she’d done so he wasn’t even going to be revealing any secrets.

Which was good, because Sunset’s misdeeds weren’t really the kind of secrets that he wanted to be keeping.

But it did make it harder to work out how he ought to interact with this guy.

He glanced down at the sash around his waist and once more wished that Pyrrha were here.

“It suits you,” Flash observed.

Jaune looked up. “Huh?”

“The sash, it suits you,” Flash told him. “Maybe you should think about getting one for yourself, one that’s actually yours, I mean.”

“Huh,” Jaune said. He hadn’t considered that before, but now… maybe. It was something to think about anyway. “Maybe.”

Flash glanced back at him. “You’re a lucky guy, you know that?”

“So I’m told,” Jaune said.

“You don’t believe it.”

“No, I know it’s true, it just…” Jaune trailed off, worried that it gets a little irritating sometimes to be talked about as though I’ve got nothing going for me might come off wrong; he didn’t know Flash well enough to be sure that he would get it. He was lucky, and he knew that, but was it wrong for him to maybe want someone to think that Pyrrha wasn’t unlucky herself? “You were pretty lucky yourself, once.”

Flash’s face fell. “That… I’d rather not talk about that,” he said, his voice chilling noticeably.

I’ll bet you wouldn’t, Jaune thought, but didn’t press the matter. He still hadn’t decided if that was a good idea or not. “Right, fine.” He hesitated. “How… how’s it going?”

Flash blinked. “How’s it going?”

“You know,” Jaune said. “With… with the things that… the things that-”

“The things that Sunset released?” Flash guessed.

A sigh escaped from Jaune’s lips. “You know?”

“I guessed,” Flash said. “It’s the kind of thing that Sunset would do.”

“I’m not so sure,” Jaune replied.

Flash’s eyebrows rose, disappearing beneath his glimmering, crested helmet. “You’ve got a better opinion of her than I do.”

“I’m not sure that’s hard,” Jaune replied.

Flash winced a little. “Maybe… maybe not. But she did do it, so that says a little bit about which of us has the measure of her, don’t you think?”

“I’m still not so sure,” Jaune insisted. “She really… I know what she’s done, but Sunset was getting a lot better, until…”

Flash took a step towards him. “'Until'?”

Jaune shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s not your problem.”

“'Problem'?” Flash repeated. “What problem?”

“Oh, now you care?” Jaune asked. “Sorry, I just-”

“It’s fine,” Flash said. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You don’t have to explain anything to me. Just… is she okay?”

Jaune’s mouth opened a little. “Is she okay? You… you are asking me that?”

“I know how it must sound-”

“Do you?” Jaune demanded. “Do you really?”

“Just because we broke up doesn’t mean that I stopped caring!” Flash snapped. “I always wanted Sunset to be happy. I was glad because I thought that she was getting better thanks to your team, only now you’re telling me that there’s a problem?”

“I don’t know,” Jaune replied, his tone almost as hot. “I mean, obviously, there’s some kind of a problem, but I’m not sure it’s Sunset’s fault. She… she has this friend, one of the students who arrived from Haven.”

“You think she’s a bad influence?”

“Sunset says not.”

“Sunset would say that,” Flash told him.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Jaune agreed. “I’m just… not sure what I can do about it. They really get on well together, and if Sunset’s right… I don’t want to accuse this other girl for no reason, and I don’t want to drive a wedge between Sunset and a friend.”

Flash was quiet for a moment. “I… I don’t know, man. I really don’t know. Sorry, but… that’s just not something I can help you with.”

“Right,” Jaune murmured. “So… how is it going? After… after what Sunset did?”

“How’s it going with people thinking that I’m a racist?” Flash asked.

Well, aren’t you? Jaune thought. “Something like that.”

“Most people who think that probably already thought it, if they knew who I was, for one reason or another,” Flash replied. “And… I can’t blame Sunset for what she did. It wasn’t the best thing, but when you think about what Cardin and Bon Bon said… you have to keep a proportion about this stuff, you know? Calling for the faunus to be wiped out is much worse than leaking audio of someone calling for the faunus to be wiped out, and considering what it must have been like for Blake and Sunset to hear that… a human like me doesn’t have much grounds to complain about anything. We have to learn our place when it comes to this stuff, you know?”

“I guess,” Jaune said. “Either way… I’m sorry that it happened.”

“Not a lot did happen,” Flash replied. “I think… I don’t know, because she won’t say, but I think Weiss might have done something to make it all go away. And I’m not sure what she did, but it worked.”

"Huh," Jaune said, for want of anything better to say. "That, um… lucky you, I guess."

"Lucky us," Flash agreed. "Not so lucky Weiss."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, nothing," Flash said. "It's really not my place to say."

Jaune might have said more, but his attention – and Flash's too – was stolen away by the sound of gunfire coming from the west.

It had begun.

---

"It's kind of weird that we haven't seen any grimm yet, don't you think?" Ruby asked. "I mean, Professor Port made out like this task would be difficult."

"It is a little strange," Blake allowed. "Whether or not it's the kind of thing we ought to complain about is…"

"We're here to learn how to fight, not to walk through the woods," Ruby pointed out. "A hike down a trail and back with no grimm isn't going to teach us anything."

"Except how to walk long distances," Blake pointed out.

"Maybe, but when is that going to be useful?" Ruby asked.

Blake shrugged. "It might not, but I've not always been lucky enough to have ready transportation on stand-by."

"That is a good point," Ruby admitted. "All the same, I'd rather that there were-" She stopped, her whole body tensing.

Blake had felt it too: grimm, to the left… and the right. Not too many of them, as far as she could tell. Her aura spread her sense out around her, probing into the undergrowth and through the trees, perceiving what eyes and ears and nose could not. She could sense the squirrel up above, the chicks in the nest a couple of trees away, the mother who had just flown off to gather food. Their souls pricked upon the edges of Blake's consciousness, while if she closed her eyes, she could perceive Ruby's inner light blazing like a supernova in front of her.

In the midst of such light, the grimm were utter darkness. They had no souls to sense, but that was what enabled Blake – and Ruby – to detect them. They were shadows, blots of pure darkness blotting out the light. She could sense six of them, moving in from the edges of her conscious range; there might be more a little further off, although Blake couldn't sense them.

Ruby had Crescent Rose in hand; Blake's Gambol Shroud was in its pistol configuration. She glanced at Ruby and gestured leftwards with her head.

Ruby took one hand off her weapon for just a second to point to her right, nodding in acknowledgement.

It was Blake's turn to take a hand off Gambol Shroud. She held up three fingers, sensing with her aura the grimm slinking closer. They were quiet; if she hadn't trained this aspect of her aura, she would never have known they were coming.

Blake lowered one finger; two remained.

Perhaps it was their lack of numbers that made them stealthy like this. Certainly, they didn't seem to be this quiet when there were more of them.

Blake lowered another finger. One remained.

Then again, they were rarely so stealthy even in smaller numbers.

Blake lowered her last finger, her hand now clenched into a fist, and Ruby and Blake sprang into action, Blake to the left and Ruby to the right.

They were beowolves – six beowolves – and easily dealt with; to gunfire or to blade, they died one after the other, their greater than usual stealth proving to bear no relation to any greater than usual fighting potential. One by one, Ruby and Blake each turned their trio of foes to ash, and then they returned to the path once more.

"You wanted some grimm," Blake observed.

Ruby grinned. "I guess I did. It still doesn't add up to what Professor Port made it sound like, though."

"Professor Port often sounds as though he exaggerates his stories," Blake replied. "Maybe he's taken to exaggerating his classes too?"

Ruby chuckled. "Maybe, but Sunset says-"

"Hang on a second," Blake said, holding up one hand as she felt her scroll beginning to vibrate. Considering that they had agreed to keep in touch and that sound was perfectly capable of travelling through the Emerald Forest, she guessed it was either Jaune, Sunset or Twilight checking in.

It turned out to be Sunset. Blake hesitated, not sure if she wanted to accept the call or not, not sure if she wanted to talk to Sunset or not after what she'd done.

But she guessed that Ruby didn't know what Sunset had done, and Blake didn't want to be the one to tell her, so she answered the call. "Hey," she said.

"Hey, Blake," Sunset replied. "We heard shooting from down your way; is everything okay?"

"Just a few beowolves; everything's fine," Blake assured her. "Isn't that right, Ruby?"

"We're all good here, Sunset," Ruby declared. "How are you guys doing? Have you checked on Jaune?"

"Not yet," Sunset replied. "We haven't seen mask or spike of a grimm since we got here; you two are the only sounds of shooting we've heard, but Jaune and Flash don't have guns, so I'll check in on them. Have you heard from Twilight?"

"No, I'll check in with her," Blake told Sunset.

"Great," Sunset said. "It's strange how quiet it is, isn't it?"

"You're not the only one to have noticed that," Blake observed, glancing at Ruby. "Maybe when more students show up, we'll attract more grimm?"

"What happened to luring them to us?"

"Lures don't always work," Ruby explained. "Uncle Qrow said that the grimm can sometimes tell that it's not a real person but a trick, especially older grimm."

"Well that's a lot of use, isn't it?" Sunset demanded.

"It's better than nothing, right?" Ruby asked in reply.

“I guess so,” Sunset muttered. “It’s kind of weird; you’d think that even if the grimm were just wandering around at random, we’d have seen some by now. I wonder if it will count against our scores if we don’t have to fight?”

“Glad to see you’ve got your priorities straight,” Blake muttered.

Sunset chuckled, a laugh that acquired more of a nervous edge the longer it went on. “Hey, Blake…”

“Yes?”

Sunset reached around and scratched the back of her head. “So… are we good?”

Blake fell silent. What was she supposed to say to that? Were they good? Were they good? After what Sunset had done, she had the nerve to ask that? She had lied to Blake; she had lied to Blake’s face; she had promised that she wouldn’t take any further action and then she had…

Then she had exposed two people who had said some of the most egregiously racist things ever to come out of the mouth of a human. Bon Bon… Bon Bon had sounded like Adam when the black mood was on him, when a mission had gone badly, when valued comrades had been lost in battle, then he had spoken thus, talked of killing the humans, of making a new ocean of their blood, wiping them off the face of Remnant. Blake had tried to tell herself that he didn’t really mean it, that he was angry, lost in the fullest flow of his grief, that he would calm down and such thoughts would fly from him. She wasn’t sure if she still believed that, unfortunately, but the fact was that Bon Bon and Cardin, however much they might dislike her, had no such excuse.

Theirs was an offence committed against Blake, true, but it was also window into their hearts and souls… and Blake wasn’t sure that she had the right to demand that Sunset shut that window against the sight of the other faunus in the school, the students who interacted with them, who might count them friends, not knowing how they really felt.

Blake had considered the possibility, based on Starlight’s guess, that their words were lies, bait to draw her into rash action… but could you really say such things and not mean it, at least a little?

If Bon Bon or Cardin had done something smaller scale, then ironically, Blake would have felt much more justified in being angry at Sunset for retaliation. But this, what they had actually said, it… it was bigger than Blake, in a way that she didn’t feel so secure in her right to judge.

“We…we’re not bad,” Blake said.

Sunset sighed with relief. “That’s… good to hear. I was starting to worry because-”

Someone – Arslan Altan? – squawked with alarm somewhere out of sight.

“Arslan?” Sunset yelled. “Arslan!”

She must have dropped the scroll, for her face disappeared; Blake was gifted with a shot of the sky, of trees swirling around her; and then there was a thudding sound, and she could see nothing but soil.

But she could hear Sol Invictus barking: once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six.

Sunset shouted something wordless and angry.

“Sunset?” Blake demanded. “Sunset, are you okay? Sunset!”

---

Phoebe Kommenos sat in Doctor Oobleck’s history class, but her mind was elsewhere. Not on dull dates of boring old people who were not her ancestors, no; her mind was in the Emerald Forest, where she had just turned on all of the lures that she had placed along the four routes set by Professor Port.

She had known in advance that third-year students would be asked to seed the way. She knew that because they had been informed earlier in the week that, on Saturday, they would be tasked with making the lures in a special class with Professor Greene before they actually went into the forest with Professor Port to set them up. For the third-year students, setting the bait – and risking grimm attack in the process – was as much an exercise as it was for the first-years to progress through the woods.

And so, knowing what was coming, Phoebe had bought some Atlesian-made lures, so much more advanced than the traditional nonsense Professor Greene had them making – Turnus was right; the north really was racing ahead of everyone else, weren’t they? It was rather embarrassing for the rest of Remnant – and planted them, in clusters, one cluster per route.

And she had just turned them on.

You weren’t meant to bunch lures up like that. That was something that Professor Greene and Professor Port had both emphasised. You shouldn’t bunch them up, or else you might attract rather more grimm than you bargained for.

Of course, that was precisely why Phoebe had done it.

It wasn’t going to be her fighting off all those grimm, after all.

And when this little practical exercise devolved into a bloody fiasco, Phoebe would venture back into the Emerald Forest and pluck Soteria from Sunset Shimmer’s bloody corpse.

It wasn’t as though she’d be needing it any more.

And if she got Pyrrha too, then… well, it was a pity that Phoebe would never get to triumph over her in the sight of men, but on the other hand, it was one less opponent to worry about on her road to Vytal Festival triumph.

And would not the shade of Phoebe’s mother rejoice to see Pyrrha’s mother weep, and pull her hair and rend her clothes and screech in grief at the loss of her daughter, the last of their line, the pride of Mistral?

Turnus might even look at her, if Pyrrha were gone.

Phoebe couldn’t quite keep the smile from off her face. Yes, everything was going to be perfect.

Comments

[Aemon Targaryen]

Damn, Phoebe is only showing more examples of how messed up she is.

Are we going to have two others chapters today ?

I kinda wanted to see Cinder being part of the group of students, seeing others characters reacting to her would be interesting, and this chapter really make me want to see Flash meet Cinder, who is, even in her huntress-in-training persona, like a darker version of old Sunset.

[Mastermind4892]

I honestly never thought that Blake would be truly upset with Sunset. She has fought too hard and too long for equal rights for the Faunus to be mad about racists getting their just dues. In fact, given how used she is to social injustice, she was probably even pleasantly surprised that so many people turned against Cardin and Bon Bon.

As for Arslan, she’s about to see why the Grimm have to be fought.

And Phoebe. She truly believes she’s untouchable. As if she would allowed to loot a dead student, or that every student involved in placing the beacons wouldn’t be investigated! And given his earlier appearance in this chapter, I wonder if Ozpin will come to the rescue?

[Aemon Targaryen]

10764015
I still think than Blake lack of true anger about Cardin and BonBon is frustrating.

I really want to see Blake taking a middle road between the old and the New White fang, not being a fool like her father was (like criticize Adam for having killed one person who was trying to kill them) but not being the extremist than Adam was.

Because spoilers, violence had been the solution for deal with bad situations for thousands of years, the only problem with it is when It is the only thing done, it is not because Sienna and most importantly Adam was pushing it too far than the White fang violent ways didn't had merits.

Fear is needed to gain respect, enough fear to know than some limits must be respected, the thing with Adam is then he want to replace the humans with the faunus.

[Lancerguy]

Now, this Phoebe I like, as she’s evil but in a relatable manner. She executed a plan that plays to both her strengths and her long-term goals. Much better than “I have a daily body count to uphold, this hobo will do”. Also Sunnykins and Arslan, I sense foreshadowing of later partnerships.

[Adser]

10764178
Hell no. violence is the way of stopping an act while it is happening almost all the time (a criminal is not going to stop stealing form you because you asked) but it does nothing to the reason behind the act itself.

Violence doesn't cause respect, it causes fear. And while you can use both respect and fear to obtain obedience, obedience through fear is useless when you are not the strongest power around. That is why the WF violent ways are useless, since the only thing they cause is to escalate the response of the kingdoms and to perpetuate the bias towards the faunus by giving people an actual reason to resent them.

The only way the WF methods would end with a better situation for the faunus is if they overthrow a kingdom entirely and even that would only flip the coin, not resolve the racism issue at all.

[Mastermind4892]

10764178
10765203
In Ghira's defense, while they were justified in acting in self-defense, Ghira knew that most humans would not see it that way and use it as further justification to discriminate. The less blood a protest has, the better. Preferably none at all, or the message of peace is lost. Much like Gandhi did with the British, he preferred highly organized non-violence that forces them to take notice and negotiate.

[Aemon Targaryen]

10765214
Well, except than they were thugs who were specifically trying to kill them when they were offered the chance to stop.

Also, by "violence is necessary" I meant than it is for show than you are no pushover.

India also had the advantage of a giant population, far greater than Britain one, and the world wars had basically destroy all moral arguments of the british to stay there (Hitler, Mussolini and the japanese generals had really take the shine out of wars of conquest and "superior race" rhetoric) while destroying most of their ability to supress a revolt, and the Hypocrit US and soviet didn't wanted to have the old colonial empires still there, they wanted a europe weak enough for them to control.

So yeah, India situation is really different when we actually look at the situation.

However, the Faunus are a minority, if they do protests, it will not have the same effect.

Ghira was a pushover, there is a difference between attacking humans for being humans, and killing thugs who tried to kill you.

My argument is simple, show than you want peace, but then if you are still mistreated, you are ready to make war, it is how the opressed people of the world had truly been able to be free, by showing than they were ready to kill the ones who harmed them.

I do not advocate obedience, I advocate uses of enough fear to not be opressed or simply push around, none of the independance or ethnic egality movements who actually gained what they wanted were without violence, either by themselves (the decolonisations wars) or by outside forces (India with a Britain who was broke, who's people was wounded, and who's most powerful "allies" didn't wanted rivals).

If you are refusing to fight for your rights when necessary, you are not a pacific, you are a weakling and a coward.

As long as you do not kill innocents, you are in the right, show enough strength to not be a victim, but instead of pushing with it, offer peace.

Adam was pushing for war, I push for self-defence.

[ShadowLDrago]

And when this little practical exercise devolved into a bloody fiasco, Phoebe would venture back into the Emerald Forest and pluck Soteria from Sunset Shimmer’s bloody corpse.

You are a sociopath.

[LostUmbrella]

10767825
Considering she beat to death a homeless guy for asking change, I'm not nearly surprised.

[Animatorsnake]

In the words of Tyrian; "YOU BITCH!"

[Spellflame]

10767920
She does get what’s coming to her

[Raul]

"Speak for yourselves, my partner isn't speaking to me after I called him a dickhead," Arslan said. "Which just proves how much of a dickhead he is, in my opinion."

I like you Arslan. You are much more entertaining this go around!

[Icy Creation]

Phoebe Kommenos sat in Doctor Oobleck’s history class, but her mind was elsewhere. Not on dull dates of boring old people who were not her ancestors, no; her mind was in the Emerald Forest, where she had just turned on all of the lures that she had placed along the four routes set by Professor Port.

I completely forgot about her plan
Fuck
I like Arslan, she better not die because of this asshole.

[Stet709]

Phoebe, I'll say again, you are a petty stuck-up psycho bitch.
Even Sunset didn't want anyone dead in her revenge schemes.
Well, except for Adam Taurus. But come on, it's Adam!