[HALLOWEEN] Riding into the Sunset

"If you were really sorry then you wouldn't be sending first years on a field mission this damn dangerous."

She grumbled, glancing over at her team-leader. She had been training her girlfriend in sparring and trying to help her master her semblance.

"Girlfriend…"She scratched her cheek, looking back over at the screen. She still couldn't believe that she had gotten together with someone. Much less with a sweetheart like Veronica.

Which was why she was reluctant about her team going on this mission in the first place. This mission was going to be dangerous.

"Having to rendezvous with one of the Atlas informants means there's shit going down the rest of my team isn't being told."

Mauve scowled, folding her arms and slouching in her seat. the whole thing didn't set right with her. She and the other orphans were the main reason they were deploying first year squads. Granted, Vaneera and Motet weren't normal first years either, but for all they knew, Mauve was the only experienced fighter in her team.

Mauve saw that her girlfriend was nervous. She scooted closer to her, and gave Mr.Vanta a smile.



"Dontcha worry Mr.Vanta, we ain't gonna let anyone down."

Professor Rheas stood next to the other teachers. As usual she looked as though she had only gotten a couple hours of sleep.



"Normally we don't teach you about the nuances of  field missions in the first year curriculum. While we lack the time to divulge a crash course, there is one aspect that is of absolute importance. We're entering a civilian population that is isolated and unused to a prolonged presence of hunters and huntresses."

She rubbed the side of her head, looking around at the various teams in attendance.

"It's important to keep the citizens as calm as possible. We need to reassure that there are at least some hunter teams here to support them. Likewise, they'll be frightened if we all come in at the same time. Sometimes it happens on missions regardless, but we're going to take preventative measures to reduce the risk of attracting grimm."

Professor Rhea looked over at the team that had been assigned to her. "We aren't going to enter the village all at once. We're going to check in one team at a time. The village itself may have given us permission to stay at the end, but the villagers' perception is also key."

Professor Rhea slipped both her hands into her pockets. "We're going to be tired from our journey to the village, so preventing grimm from being attracted at this stage is critical. I don't have to do this for the third years, but I'll be briefing each of you on how to proceed on the investigation. Our priority is the safety of the village and each other. We aren't going to let anything happen to you."

Jack glanced over at Alba as he interacted with Weiss. When she kicked his seat, she frowned at Alba.

"Partner, don't take this the wrong way, but don't goad anyone right now. I'll explain more when we get to the inn."

Meanwhile, Lumin was staring at the display attentively, despite being dressed up in some kind of costume. She looked at Peach with a little surprise. Even though it had been awhile, it was still strange that so many people were willing to call her by a name she preferred.



"We're glad to have you with us Peach. We'll both follow your lead, right Nora?"She looked at her girlfriend expectantly, before turning her attention to Alba. She rolled her eyes before turned her head back around.

"I still can't believe he's the key the boss needs "

Esmeralda Eucryphia waited for her turn to speak. There was a lot that each of the Teachers had to say, and keeping things orderly would ensure that things go smoothly. When her turn finally did arrive, she smiles softly.

"Now, it is also true that the villagers figure out that the situation has escalated into something beyond the scope of what volunteer teams can handle. We shouldn't be giving them so much information that they begin to worry, but they will piece together that it is no longer normal because of our presence. So there's not much use in trying to keep them in the dark."

She pauses briefly.

"Right now the most important thing is to be able to project strength and order. No matter how dire the circumstances are, people will be looking to you as Hunters. This unique relationship is also going to be what you learn to handle during this mission."

Some might be able to catch onto the unfortunate meanings of her words... But it was nonetheless true. If their morale broke, then it would affect the Village at an even greater level. Just like that it could all spiral out of control.

Seeing the exchange between Alba and Weiss only served to prompt that smile from her again.

"It's true. Weiss is very diligent. I hope that you all take that as a source of inspiration. Go about things in your own way -- but nonetheless be diligent in doing so."
Esmeralda then continues; "I look forward to working with you, Team RWBY."

Yang grins, taking the opportunity to give a fist pump.
"Hope you're ready to be amazed, Teach! This'll be a cinch!"

Evelyn couldn't help but grin at Jack's lecture.

"Aw, relax. Alba's been at Beacon long enough for people to know he doesn't mean anything by it!"

Penny then chimes in.
"Don't worry! I can smooth over any misunderstandings as well!"
She had gotten a lot better at conversation, but every now and then... Well, it was still Penny.
"We're the Alba Fan Club, after all!"

Evelyn giggles at that.
"See? You don't have a thing to worry about. We're official members and all!"

Then the atmosphere changed as it was announced that Minti would be working with Team JADE...
"Ah, Miss Snapdragon... I see."

Penny straightened out, and gave Minti a look.
A look that said "If you fuck around when it comes to my Alba, you're gonna find out."

It was impressive just how communicative she had gotten with her expressions, actually...


As for what Penny and Evelyn were wearing... Well, right now it was just their normal clothes. They were about to have a Halloween Party before the short notice mission came up, so their costumes were packed and prepared. Maybe they would find a good reason to wear them during this mission?

When it came to Team VOWL, Vaneera couldn't help but notice how on edge Mauve seemed to be. Even more than Veronica, which was surprising... It also wasn't good. Morale was important for something like this -- she didn't have to worry about Motet, she was fine. But these two might need a bit of encouragement.

"It's part of being a Hunter, Mauve. One way or another we're going to be faced with this sort of thing in our career. Better to learn it now. It's also true that they need manpower to resolve this situation."

With that, she then raises her hand. Something which Esmeralda notices and responds to.
"Yes, Vaneera?"

Vaneera then stands, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I believe that I have several suggestions I can make to help things proceed smoothly for this mission. I've already studied the map, the intel we've received, and the recordings as well. Given the kind of groundwork investigation already done, we can focus straight away on making our preparations."

She begins. "We already know that whatever is behind this doesn't seem to act during the day. So we should see to it that all of our preparations are done before daylight ends. I also believe that we shouldn't proceed with stakeouts during the night, considering what happened to the Team that arrived before us."

Vaneera pauses briefly.
"Normally I would prefer to keep what my Semblance can do held back... But I think it's important to talk about in this case. I can set up a surveillance system that will allow us to keep track of everything that happens in the village. The system will also allow us to ambush on the spot when it is most advantageous for us to do so."

True to her word, it seems that Vaneera had spent quite some time thinking about all of this.
"Finally, though the situation hasn't gotten that bad yet, I think we should also consider the possibility of having to move the villagers to a secure shelter. A supply route would be crucial, so the Well and the Bakery are the key points to factor in. For the shelter, the Church seems to be the best bet."

Vaneera seems to have mostly finished at this point...
"I'll be going over the rest of the intricacies with my Team. But those are the immediate suggestions I can make at this time."

With that, Vaneera takes her seat. She didn't like revealing information like this -- but she had to considering the situation... And she didn't distrust the people on this trip either. So that helped matters.

Finally, there was Team MARC... Chaos couldn't join them, but they would find a way to make it work. Still...

"Professor Rhea, huh..."
It seemed fitting, somehow. The Teacher of the class that Karasu had the most trouble with ended up being the one that would work with his Team.

Well, between himself, Snow, and Amber, they should be able to cover any potential weaknesses the Team might have. He was already pretty used to dealing with this kind of work as well. That was perhaps something that Rhea could catch onto straight away; he didn't seem particularly worried.

When it came to Alba's question, though...

Esmeralda couldn't help but smile in response to it. A similar reaction from Penny. Evelyn just had another giggling fit because of it.

... Vaneera turned to hide her face from the rest of her Team, she was stifling a laugh and a smile. Yeah... Alba just seemed to have that effect on people.

Karasu sighs lightly. Was Alba going to be okay...? Now he was wondering if he needed to try and keep an eye out for him getting into trouble.

And when it came to Yang... She chimed in, of course.

"Hey! Good idea! Nothing as important to a fight than making sure you're not hungry! We should find a place to eat when we arrive, Alba!"

... It was hard to tell if she was flirting with Alba, or genuine about finding something to eat just because they were on similar wavelengths.

---

Penny's Glare = Same energy as


Change my mind.

Rhea and Peach were acting as field medics, which left her and Vask as protection detail if something went wrong. That suited her fine. Minti liked to teach, educating the hunters of the future. But she also didn’t want to get rusty, and sitting idle would cause just that. She wanted to ensure she could still use everything properly if need be. To coordinate her body how she wished to rather than how… she didn’t.

When it came time to explain things, there was a point Minti wished to explain as well. She had a stern, but concerned expression on her face as she did so.

”As Miss Peach said your aura should serve to help you against most minor wounds and protect you well, however remember to keep a close eye on it regardless, if your aura runs out you become sinfigently disadvantaged, more than anything against Grimm. If you use your aura for combat this goes doubly so, you must balance the use of it for offense as well as to protect yourself”

She took a breath, nodding her head as she turned to Rhea for a moment knowingly, before continuing her words, her tail swishing back and forth.

”Also remember…. Even more so in a place like this, to not underestimate any Grimm if you do encounter them, for that matter, do not underestimate any encounter in general, trust your team, stay with your team and the group, if something seems out of place do not disregard it-even if it involves your teammates. Grimm may not have our traditional level of intelligence, but there abilities and craftiness are none the less things to look out for”. It is important to keep in mind, you do not have to be paranoid mind you, but note any stragness you may find, Friend, foe, child or adult, even us should it come to it, these are things you must keep in mind on the mental side of things as hunters. You must be able to observe, observe quickly and decide-do not neglect”

Even a child can be dangerous under the right circumstance after all…

JADE huh… so Alba and his… fan club. She giggled at that, it was an adorable little thing among that group, she did so enjoy their little relationship. As Penny gave her ‘the look’ she’d walk over to the group she’d be staying with with a smile.

”Though I know I don’t have to worry about you sticking to that that do I Miss Poledina?”

She was aware of Penny’s general dislike, though that was good in this case. Her protectiveness of Alba meant she’d stick to those rules well, even if it wasn’t because she had said so.

and then she lifted herself up on her tail, enough to go above Penny and.... she ruffled her hair steadily and warmly!

”I’ll be depending on you then, and the rest of you to, alright? Perhaps I’ll even lighten up on the homework if you show your grasping my lessons well! I imagine you would like that in particular, eh Alba? So let’s all do our best hmmm?, though… if we fall behind i may have to double the homework to reinforce my lessons…”

She let that hang in the air, as the scene shifted to a…normally orange haired girl who… definitely was not so right now, wow, it was amazing what a simple change of clothes and some dye and make up could do huh?



…not that she acted any different with her costume, which yes she had insisted on wearing the way here… and dragged Tetra into doing so as well! WHy wait when they could show off their outfits now after all? Though this clash of personality to appearance would show itself most in her reaction to Mr Vasta’s directing of his words, or more accurately his eyes at her causing a pout and complaint that very much did not fit the dominatrix look she was giving off here.

”Hey that’s not fair sir! I’ve got this down pat! Besides, i once tamed and road a bear into the forests when I was a kid why, i bet i could do the same to one of these Grimm if i tried, right Tetra?!”

She turned to her girlfriend with a hopeful expression, still very much not fitting that dominating look she gave off.

…well until she got into battle anyway…

That said Nora did listen to what each teacher said… even if to what amount she followed there words was questionable, when split into teams  Nora’s feelings on having Peach with them were just as mixed…for a couple reasons.The biggest of those reasons being…. How was she supposed to get her and tetra romantic alone time like this?! Teachers, especially peach were gong to kill the romantic atmosphere whether she tried or not-and throw anything deeper they might want to do right out the window.

Plus….. She didn’t even have a costume! It clashed! Despite the pout she had, Tetra’s look moved her, it had a way of doing that. Besides she had come in costume with her when she didn’t have to as well.

And… it's not like Peach would be THAT bad.. Right…? Please??

She crossed her arms, giggling with a nod.

”Your way to beautifully spooky in that costume to deny love! Who got you in such a number anyway? Of course I will, promise~”

Her girlfriend looked amazing to her, and of course wonderfully spooky! Noticing her look to Alba Nora put an arm around her girlfriends, pulling her closer to her.

”Your lucky I’m not the jealous type dear, eyeing others like that… careful! His girlfriends might get the wrong idea!”

She gave a laugh, before smiling warmly at Tetra, as if to confirm she was in fact not serious in her ‘jealousy’ She then turned to Peach.

”Were ready to go teach! We may be two members short of a normal team.. But me and Tetra can make up for those spots together! We're just that great! Right dear? We'll bring the BOOM!”

She slammed her fists together with a massive grin.

Costume… clashing… so much…
------------
Hmph! The teachers were a bunch of smartipants. Of course they shouldn't underestimate grimm, duh! If anyone went underestimating her they’d get a quick slash! Kick! Punch! …..oops vani said not to act like that, people not grimm. Really she didn’t see the difference sometimes.. It was just who they were right? But… people were scared of Grimm, super scared so that was likely a lot of it. Still she knew those were strong too, They got Vanta it seemed…. Motet didn’t know a lot about him yet, but from classes he seemed pretty cool. He could fight, so that would be very helpful on their excursion! He could help swim in the blood of her enemies! Oh wait, Grimm don’t bleed.

…..did she bleed? She couldn't remember off the top of her head. If she didn’t bleed, did she leak vapor or something? If she didn’t have blood to bleed how did her insides work?! Wait, did she have organs? She distinctly remembered breathing earlier, so she had to have lungs right? …oh god now that she thought about it she had to breathe manually!
In, out
In, out
In, out…!

And then she turned to vaneera, having worked herself into a panic…

”Vani we have lungs right?!”

In her panic she had gotten up close to her partner, shaking her head, and her body, back and forth right in front of her without thinking. In her normal attire… this wouldn't be a problem, but well… Motet had decided to go ahead and get in costume too, and this costume meant terrible hardships for poor Vaneera….



She had even temporarily exchanged her usual weapon for a particularly strong and well built bat to complete her look! Following this she would move over to Veronica, happily skipping all around her, with a confident grin on her face as she did.

”It’ll be fine! You're the TEAM leader! So just direct me where to go and i’ll bisect anyone who opposes us k?? Promise! We’ll tear all our foes to shreds….! …huh? We have to do investigation to….? Pssh i'm a great investimigator! Don’t worry! We got this!”

She then gave an innocent smile, looking behind Veronica to Mauve,, giving a brief spin before pointing her way.

”Besides you have your big scary mate right? She’ll protect you! Right Mauve?! You’ve got your friend who is a girl’s back right??”

Yeah… Motet still wasn’t an expert on romance due to a certain Magican’s hesitance to fully teach her. Hestience that had nothing to do with how it would affect her, everyone can be assured. It made it quite clear that the young Oratorio was simply not using those words in their full proper sense….

That said she also had something to add on to Mauve’s words to their teacher in crime. With a wide toothy grin she patted her bat in her hand. before playfully rubbing it against her face with that smile of anticipation.



”I might let a few Grimm up though! People to, whatever the bad guys are really, we're gonna rock this thinggg!”

Vaneera explained her view on things, like the smarty pants she was. The good kind though, not the silly kind the teachers were. Vani’s everything was smart, from top to bottom! She had helped her ever since she was a pup!

Pup being well…. What Motet called her newly ‘born’ Arcania state. By this point she had moved beside Vaneera once more, nodding her head in agreement with her statements. Motet wasn’t the complete airhead some might assume she was. Being more ‘simple’ didn’t mean she was dumb or an idiot. What Vaneera said made sense, and she was used to the great planning hse laid down, right now was no different. She was surprised she revealed her Semblance though. She knew they were supposed to be super careful with them, especially with how identifying they could be! Still if Vani saw the need to reveal that much…

”Yeah Vani’s Semblance is awesome! We can use it for all kinds of things, it will make our job a lot easier, I know it’s helped us get out of tight spots!”

When the question came of whether they had any questions before they landed, Motet raised her hand… but, in addition to not needing to raise her hand to begin with, she also hadn’t raised it at the teachers themselves, no she raised it… at Vaneera. As if that was the clear cut thing that was meant-they hadn’t specified who they asked a question after all right?

Vaneera would soon be wishing Motet had asked the teachers a question instead as Motet in close and said, did not whisper but said

”Vani, Mauve and Veronica are life partners like you said, right? And they push their lips together a lot, and by the sound of it they have a LOT of fun with it, and hugging… close! My question is were life partners to right? Like, were partners for life! Cause im never leaving you and you never me, so… should we be crashing our lips and bodies together too?? Oh would it be like when I was still wild and i’d put myself over you to help warm you in the cold..? That felt nice to!! Hey, maybe it is!”

All that

With the most innocent of smiles….

Cue spit take in 3….2…1….
---------
Weiss would receive a glare from the taller woman, or to be more accurate she would feel the taller woman, sitting behind Alba loom over behind her, like a great shadow  deciding over her. Was that a chill? One might feel it in the air itself as she spoke a few simple words.

”You shall not

Rivala was mostly indifferent to the speech from the teachers. Not because she was already an expert on everything they said, her experience being more tribal and ‘primitive’ in comparison, as they simply worked differently. It was simply that she was more concerned with her ‘pack’ that being Alba and the other girls with him. It was because they were her concern, Alba most of all-and no one else. She didn’t care about anyone else here in truth, and even if she did, they already had powerful team members to keep them safety. As such her concerns were towards her own, and no one else. Even If she would inevitably be dragged into it anyway with the way Abla did things, she was sure.

But then her concern lye with handling it, and moving on, perhaps that would come off as cold to some… but for her it was simply how things needed to be done, to ensure the safety of those SHE cared about.

She would also not tolerate bad talk to those she cared about, poor Weiss.

”I do not get why, the hu.. Royal, she is the one who insulted him after all, hmph… she may find herself a pretzel if she pushes that avenue, the father of my future children shall be no ones pack mule”

Another glare came, just in case Weiss had decided to….counter, as she often did.

…well that relationship certainly wasn't going well was it?

Rivala saw no benefit in this homework deal Minti was making, she did not benefit due to being the teacher’s assistant. An annoying predicament she would need to try and solve later, she always ensured she got something from her hunts after all. Still, it seemed Penny still held some suspicions of the smaller teacher, though you wouldn't know it from the way the teacher acted in kind, still she could see what she meant. She herself held no grude, it was her own brashness and rushing in that had cost her the move. Not that she regretted it mind you. She still very much desired to take her fists to Ozpin’s face for tying her down to Beacon.

Though… she had been able to get to know Alba… so it ended up being of benefit to her. Though she had a conflict in her mind. One that had racked her mind ever since they had gotten together. It was a very important matter, for her tribe, for her… for everything!!

…….How was she going to marry Alba and the one she so yearned to find?!

He had promised her so long ago when she asked: “Yes Rivala, when you are all grown up I will marry you I promise” But this complicated matters! Could she take them both as mates? Would they take offense to that fact?? What if she had to choose between them?! She couldn't do that!!

It at this point dear reader, you should recognise that an adult told this to a child, in an endearing playful way as she scuttled about….

”Penny, it is fine, we’ll need to cooperate, besides… she is responsible for these…. Grades your all so fond of,  and I am sure she has no intention of doing anything to Alba…”

Better not be, at least.

On Alba’s comment of food Rivala frowned, shaking her head.

”I hunted you a banquet before we left, how much can you possibly eat? Should I start cleaning the entire forest dry?”

She chuckled playfully. Now she had no questions at this point, and thus only wished to continue on with things. She had made a costume with Alba, though she was not currently wearing it. Apparently it was more the norm to do so at the actual parties. Not that she much cared, but she desired to more wear hers with her mate anyway..

And what a costume it was! Surely a dangerous beast to be sure…

”Ah and Alba, love, if our target is a woman, flirting them into submission is not an option? understand?

The last thing she needed was MORE here…. It was quite cramped as is with who was and wasn't here…!

She playfully ‘patted’ Alba on the back with a smile.

”Also remember the sleeping arrangements made for our room for satisfaction should we need them, all connected beds, or if possible, one large enough”
-----------
It probably seemed to most that Amber was simply playing games on her scroll, not paying attention to the teachers or what was going on around her. However at this point her team likely knew better. In truth Amber was recording, noting down every word said to their team by the teachers. In addition she had begun observations on the area they would be going to by viewing maps online and researching the places local history, anything she could find (surprisingly there was not a SINGLE cosplay store, or even a place for the proper makeups, the horror!) Amber wasn’t a huge make up fan, but she did use them to make her cosplays pop, to add that extra pizazz. It was fortunate then that she had prepared hers, Snow’s, and Karasu’s before they left! She was particularly proud of Snow’s as she MAY have put the most effort into making it just right….

And into making their outfits match!

What had she made for Karasu you might ask? For that dear reader you would just have to wait. As both he and Snow refused to wear their costumes until they got to the party. Amber would have worn hers but… well, it was a matching set with Snow and it would COMPLELTY ruin the feel if one of them were wearing their outfit but not the other!!

”I’m sending the local location data,known flora and fauna records, stuff I've been able to dig up on cultural differences, not many but it’s best to be safe right?, as well as common Grimm that are sighted so we can spot and look into anything strange we might find”

She said that with a confident smile, clicking a few a few buttons her team members, as well as Rhea would get a ping on their respective scrolls. How had she gotten the information to send her teacher a message you might ask? Amber ws a tech wiz, a master of the inner workings of the net, of communication..  Breaking into a scroll was a simple matter for her.

”I’m also sending a list of known residents though… given recent events it might not be entirely accurate, so we need to skip over ones we know to be… gone”

She frowned at that, the thought of the deaths or kidnappings they couldn't prevent briefly getting to her, before she returned to her thoughtful expression, it would not do them any justice to let herself get to emotional over them, it would only hinder there efforts. She had to put her mind instead to figuring out who… or what was behind this.

She then turned to Snow and smiled.

”I’ll keep us good and supported Snow, don’t worry, were one member short, but with our efforts together I hae a a high chance of us maintain efficiency, even more so with the help of miss Rhea once we learn to coordinate well with her. Though… of course the best result is us figuring this out without combat, so perhaps it is better to say we’ll sink our minds? Jeez that sounds so old time movie i can’t stand it, feel like i’m gonna be asked to take the red pill or the blue pill”

Another reference that would go over people's heads….

She nodded in agreement with her teacher. She was glad they got one of the hard thinking teachers, no offense to miss Minti but she seemed to really, really, REALLY like hitting things. To the point she sometimes thought there was some reason for it other than… venting.. Having fun or… whatever reason she did.

”That makes sense! If we foil our relations from the start it will make continuing our investigation like walking with only one leg, or like facing a Chamberlin MK 362 on foot”

Amber, your anime is showing, so much…

More, this was why she prefered Rhea, she was a mind after her own, well, probably minus the refined tastes the orange haired girl possessed, but otherwise! It was nice to have such a stable force overseeing them.

Thanks miss Rhea, I’m sure together we can solve this mystery in no time. Our skill sets should translate to an efficient pattern… Snow has assured me that this defnelty annot be the flesh eating zombies from my shows, so we can rule that out right away, once were settled we could converse with the local populous once there comfortable. ….I recommend Karasu for social interactions, I am sure he can handle such things with his whole harem protagonist vibe”

Real reason? Amber had gotten better, but she was still far from a social butterfly, the thought of talking to all the villagers sent quite the literal nightmare scenarios running through her head. So why not send Snow instead? Why, because then she wouldn't be around Snow and her dom… dominant… powerful warrior energy…. Ahem, because she might scare them, yes, that!

…definitely that.
---------
They were teamed with Miss Esmeralda? That was great! Of course all the teachers were great, each strong and envious in their own right but…. She liked her most for their team. There was a warmness about her compared to the others. Miss Minti and Vanta were strong and.. Usually nice but she didn’t think they would mix well with them on a teamwork scale. PLUS MISS MINTI MIGHT GIVE HER MORE HOMEWORK IF SHE MESSED UP!

She was a bit disappointed that Bowie wasn’t here though… Their date a week again was soooo romantic! Yang kept teasing her about dating a ‘bad boy’ but hmph! What did she know, Bowie was amazing! He tended to her on her dates, insisted on paying for the meals, and even asked about her family! In fact he did that a lot, dad would be so glad she had a boyfriend so interested in their family history! He even asked a couple times if she had another sister besides Yang for some reason. Weird question honestly, and a silly one! Yang was her one and only sister~ Sadly he couldn't come along with them here… his team hadn’t been chosen for some reason, which annoyed her quite a bit if she was being honest,But she was sure he’d understand, she had to do these missions if she was to break out as top huntress! She and her team were gonna head straight to the top! Weiss would finally recognise her as a great leader, and she and her sister would fist bump on top of a giant grimm! Oh and she and Blake would make cool, epic one liners to their enemies~ ah! Yep that's how it would go!

She waved over to Penny with a smile, it seemed like she didn’t like Minti much for some reason, or was at least suspicious of her. She wasn’t sure why but she did know she needed to support her friends. So she gave me a fist pump.

”I’ve got your back Penny!”

Minti gave a chuckle, for some reason. That Alba guy was pretty nice though, if a bit… wierd but he was cool! His tall blue girlfriend though? She was scary to her! Like a monster just ready to gobble them up if they stepped out of line!!! She was gonna warn Alba that Weiss would in fact due it, but uhhh… she got the feeling he might be safe. Ummm, very safe. So instead she decided to just… comfort Weiss, patting her shoulder, she whispered:

”It’s ok Weiss.. I’m.. PRETTY sure she can’t eat us!”

She nodded eagerly with her sister’s fist bump, smiling.

”Yeah we’ve got this locked down! We’ll have this wrapped up in no time, cause team RWBY is gonna be the top Hunter squad in the world! “

She turned behind her, to her fellow team mate Blake, she seemed distracted for some reason, like something was on her mind…. Time to get her to focus!

”Right Blake?? You ok? Don’t worry, we’ve got this covered ok? You have my Ruby guarantee!”

That was… likely not what ad been bothering the woman… but it wasn’t like Ruby knew after right?

Mauve wasted no time in calling out Peach on her apology, the professor laughed, simply smiling despite it all. True it was a bit of a problem, even she was aware of how bad of an idea it was to send first years on a dangerous mission this soon, but there was good reason...Probably. She was almost sure of it. Regardless of what the situation looked like, she wasn't going to let the students think for even a moment that she wasn't totally confident in this mission's success. She looked back at Mauve with that same confident smile.

"Your safety is my utmost concern!"

If you asked her again she would simply repeat those words.

Veronica perked up once Mauve had scooted closer to her, a slight blush on her face as she gave the faunus girl a slight smile. Mauve was definitely the more confident one in this relationship...But she appreciated the moral support none-the-less. Still...Despite her nervousness, the smaller girl would give a nod in regards to Vaneera's words, soon speaking up in response.

"Vaneera's right, it might be dangerous, but this is a good opportunity for us to put our skills to the test. Besides...I trust you three with my life. And...I hope you trust me with yours."

Of course Motet had begun her usual antics, practically drawing circles around the youngest Merlot daughter. By now Veronica had gotten a little more used to what Motet was like. Sure she could still make the much smaller girl nervous still, but it had been made clear many times that she meant well by all of this. The Merlot girl gave Motet a smile.

"I don't think we're going to need anything quite as drastic as bisection, Motet. But I'm glad to know I can count on you."

Veronica's smile soon gave way to a deep crimson blush as Motet brought up her relationship with Mauve. The poor girl's eyes went wide as she panicked.

M-M-Mate?! Well I...D...Don't say it so bluntly like that! People will get the wrong idea! They'll definitely think I'm a pervert!!! Kyaaaa-!"

Vanta gave VOWL a smile, he shook his head and sighed. These kids were definitely quite a team.

"Well I'm glad to see the vote of confidence for your leader. I think you four are going to be just fine."

Though Nora had objected to Vanta's warning, her outfit was completely at odds with her behavior. To be honest the man almost had to do a double-take before he remembered that Nora was wearing a costume and that she hadn't actually gone full goth-mode. He gave Nora a chuckle, shaking his head in defeat.

"Honestly miss Valkyrie. You're not helping your case by saying that."

Jack's strange hesitance caught Alba completely off-guard. The amnesiac lad glanced over to her with a confused look on his face as he raised an eyebrow. Sure his partner and leader might have taken things a little more seriously than the other four, but this was odd even for her standards. She almost seemed...Concerned about something. Actually it served to make the albino boy a little concerned about her.

"Haaah? Nannniii? You feelin' okay partner? Y'seem on edge. I was only teasing her a little! Like Bun said, Weiss knows me pretty well by now! Penny's pretty good at talking things out when I get myself into trouble, too."

But Alba couldn't deny just how on edge Jack looked. Did she know something he didn't?

"Don't worry partner, if it will help you feel better I won't cause anymore trouble! Evelyn will keep me in line if I do, right bun?"

A quick glance was cast over at the rabbit faunus as if waiting for confirmation. Although considering the track record these two had, it probably didn't bring the best sense of comfort...Regardless, the albino took quick notice of just how serious Penny got the very moment it was confirmed they would be teaming up with Minti. Yeah these two had a bit of a rough connection...Alba placed a firm hand on Penny's shoulder.

"Easy Pen...It'll be fine! I can handle tough stuff! Hell, someone like Minti's probably pretty reliable if we're going into something totally unknown! I'll let her lead the charge for a change, Uahahaha! This will be my great victory!"

Professor Minti's promise of lowering the amount of homework they had to do caused the naive arcana lad to perk up in excitement! And then came Minti...Bluntly calling Alba out in particular, causing his smile to become nervous as he tried covering it up with a laugh.

"A...Ahaha...Now why would do you think I'd like that...? A...Ah-Ahaha..."

And then came the warning that poor performance could lead to MORE homework instead. One could almost hear how hard Alba swallowed in response to that threat. Yeah he wasn't a fan of Minti's homework...

Weiss's blood ran cold as she felt a large powerful presence looming behind her. She had a nervous smile painted on her face as the Heiress heard three simple words.

"O...Of course I wouldn't! I wasn't planning on it!"

Alba sighed, shaking his head as Rivala continued to speak about how it was definitely the heiress who was in the wrong. The arcana turned around in his seat to look back at the tribal girl, smiling warmly at her.

Weiss barked at Ruby when she suggested that Rivala "probably" wouldn't eat them!

"Really not helping, Ruby!"

Alba finally chimed in, hopefully easing things over by explaining to the powerful oni that things weren't quite as bad as they may have looked to her.

"Relax Riva. It's called banter. Sometimes friends poke at each other. Besides, I'm a lot stronger than I look, even if she was serious it wouldn't really be that tough on me."

Weiss let out a sigh of relief as Alba wasted no time explaining the situation and hopefully easing things over with Rivala. Besides, Alba wanted to be careful about taking things too far with Weiss, she was one of his close friends, and more than that he knew how Karasu felt about her, and knew how he might feel if he saw her being threatened. The albino boy continued staring back at Rivala as he rested his head on the back of his seat.

"Besides, I don't think Weiss is a pretzel kind of gal. She strikes me as more of a taffy person."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, staring at him in confusion.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

The arcana looked up at the ceiling of the airship, tapping his chin idly as he thought over a response, it was a good question...But he naturally had a very Alba-like response to her query.

"Your hair kinda just makes me think of salt water taffy when I see it!"

Weiss sighed in defeat.

"Honestly...Do you ever not think about food?"

... Although, Rivala's "future father of my children" line wasn't missed by the arcana and caused Alba's face to go blank as he only gave a silent wordless smile.

"Future Father...Future Father...Future Father..."

Blake stared up at him from behind her book, pausing for a moment before she glanced behind her at Rivala.

"I think you might have broken him."

Blake stared back at Alba, who was...Still repeating those two words with a blank expression. She reached up and carefully tapped him on the forehead, causing the boy to reel back in surprise.

"Ah-Hey! What the hell?!"

Ever the stoic, Blake stared at him emotionlessly, responding to him with a calm voice.

"You were stuck."

Alba rubbed his forehead, staring down at her with a slight frown. But then his mouth opened in surprise.

"Oohh...Hey thanks Blake!"

Alba certainly got a lot of different reactions from everyone else on the airship. Yang's offer for them to eat when they landed got an excited nod from the boy, he wasted no time in responding to it! Why would he ever pass up a meal? If Yang was flirting, it had unfortunately gone right over the albino's head and into the stratosphere.

"Yeah! Eating's just as important as fighting!"

Alba raised his hand for a high five as he smiled excitedly at Yang! When Rivala so calmly brought up how she had hunted an entire large meal for him earlier today, he glanced off to the side, laughing a little bit. The tribal girl's rhetorical question earned a surprised look from the boy...As he then grinned excitedly at her, practically beaming.

"Are you saying that offer's on the table?"

... Yeah that was Veronica's breaking point. Just like Vaneera she had covered her mouth to try and desperately hide the fact that she was now stifling a laugh. Those sitting next to her could hear her desperate whispers.

"You mustn't laugh...You mustn't you mustn't you mustn't...!"

Although when Rivala ever so casually warned him not to pursue the villain if they were of a...Ahem, certain gender...The arcana's face paled.

"H...Huuhhh? Do I look like the kinda guy...Who'd...D-Do something like that? Ahaha..."

And then noot even missing a beat, several people spoke up in unison in response to that.

"Yes."
"Yes..."
"Yes."
"Yes!"
"Yes?"

Alba was stunned by the overwhelming response! And as he turned around, prepared to sit back down properly in his seat, Rivala's "playful" pat launched him forward like he had been shoved with some measure of force!

"Urk-!"

Professor Peach sighed, smiling at Rivala as she made those requests ever so casually, as if there was nothing odd about it at all.

"We'll...See what we can do, little Rivvy!"

Her smile continued as she clasped her hands together calmly, the level-headed professor giggled at Nora and Lumin's responses to her.

"Wonderful you two! Your enthusiasm really is contagious, hmhm! Your personality is far more colorful than your choice of costume little Nora!"

Vanta focused his attention on Vaneera when she began to explain things after raising her hand. She had rather impressively laid things out not as an observant student, but as a huntress prepared to enter the field for a mission. Her first point about the culprit only acting at night elicited a nod from the man.

"A fair observation. It's not unusual for some grimm to be entirely nocturnal, but whatever this is, the one behind it is showing a surprising amount of caution. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of working under the cover of nightfall, but I agree completely that if we ever choose that route, we need to exercise extreme caution. In fact if it comes to that I'd recommend you let the teachers handle that alone."

He paused, continuing once Vaneera openly spoke about her semblance, trusting what it's capable of with everyone else onboard this airship.

"I understand it's difficult to open up about your power. A semblance is an ace up one's sleeve, revealing it so casually can mean the difference between victory and defeat. But...In field missions like this you have to trust the people you're working with, and better synergy is never a bad thing. Your decision is a respectable one."

Alba spoke up, breaking his own silence as Vaneera mentioned surveillance.

"Oh, good idea! And I can use my-...uh, never mind."

He was about to casually reveal the truth about his own semblance, a power he had shared only with a select few people. It occurred to him just what it could cause by telling everyone - The teachers especially, that he could control time itself. Although his line of thinking wasn't going to be dropped so easily. Peach spoke up, taking notice.

"Yes Alba?"

Alba quickly thought of a way to coverup what he was about to let slip, speaking up in response to Professor Peach's query.

"W-Well I was just gonna say! I could help with keeping an eye on that surveillance stuff! I've got a pretty good eye for that kind of thing!"

Peach gave a cheerful nod in response, not thinking twice about things after what he had to say. It was a fair offer to make!

Of course, when Vaneera mentioned a worst case scenario plan, it was Snow's turn to chime in. Her expression was as stoic as ever.

"Setting the citizens safely aside so we can focus on fighting would certainly make things go more smoothly, but I believe it would be better if we were careful in just how exactly we approach that possibility. Uprooting an entire village is going to cause an absurd level of unrest and guarantee we draw in all manner of grimm. It is a very sound plan, but we should be absolutely certain it's necessary if we enact it."

Vanta gave the both of them a nod. He acknowledged Vaneera's plan, and Snow's rebuttal.

"You're both on the right track, and I think there's quite a bit of merit to Miss White's plan. But I agree with Snow that we should be damn sure it's needed if we're going to do that. Remember that we're not here to change their entire way of living. But protecting them is also one of our main objectives, so it's important to consider that if things escalate then protection needs to be achieved no matter what. For now though...There's no need to rush into things. We can take this nice and slowly."

Snow rubbed her chin, thinking carefully over Rhea's statements...

"You have a point...Staggering each team's arrival would ease their concerns, a full force entrance could cause people to start talking."

Alba glanced over to Snow, adding his own input.

"Yeah...I'd be pretty put off if I saw somebody march in like a standing army."

Snow nodded in agreement with his rather brief assessment. Although it seems like neither Alba nor Snow understood Amber's reference to a chamberlain. They both stared blankly at the NEET, confused. Snow finally broke her own silence, agreeing with Alba verbally.

"Indeed...Miss Rhea is nothing if not professional in her observations."

Of course, Esmerelda's speech served to ease the tension when it came to matters of villager perception. It was true that they'd figure something was amiss regardless, Blake lowered her book, speaking up as she looked to the teachers. She broke her silence to add her own input into matters.

"It doesn't matter how calm the people are if they don't trust us. I think Miss Esmerelda's right, if we don't keep them on our good side things could get really bad if they decided to go against us. I'm willing to help provide support to the people living there, if it will help our efforts."

Even though she would never openly show it, one could tell from the way she spoke without hesitance that Blake was just as diligent as Weiss was, maybe even more so in some ways. The fact that Esmerelda was the only faunus teacher at Beacon served to help Blake to gain a deeper level of trust with her. Perhaps to some it might have seemed prejudiced, and in a way it was - But Blake still struggled with her past even now. Knowing there was someone like her helped to put the cat faunus at ease.

And when one spoke about diligence, they'd be remiss not to mention Amber, a girl who was already working on their mission before they had even arrived. Much like Vaneera, it seemed the Alchemilla was hard at work preparing for what they'd face. Snow's scroll pinged to life, having immediately downloaded all of the information sent by the NEET mastermind. Snow smiled at her as Amber gave a reassuring speech.

"Excellent. I'm glad that we can rely on your expertise Amber. Information is the first and perhaps most vital piece to any operation. But...I suppose you're right. The best case scenario would be handling this without combat. I'm not confident that I could hold back if I were to fight inside the village. With that in mind...If we run into an attacker there, I'm going to ask you both to try your best to redirect our target into the forest."

Snow looked to both Amber and Karasu when making that request, by now they were more than aware of what her semblance was, as well as the...Fact that it was rather difficult to control when active. She probably didn't need to clarify why using it inside the village was a bad idea.

But when Amber ever so casually brought up colorful pills, the Merlot girl couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, staring at her in confusion.

"I...Don't think I understand what you mean. What pills?"

... Snow really was pretty sheltered. Although she certainly did her best to ignore Amber's comment about "Flesh eating zombies". Honestly...That girl watched way too many movies.

"I agree with Amber's suggestions. Karasu seems the most capable between the three of us of earning trust. He has experience working with others and so I trust his ability in that regard. Can we count on you to take care of that matter should it be necessary Karasu?"

Ruby's excitement was definitely hard to ignore though...it caused the quiet and collected Blake to lower her book, smiling slightly at her friend.

"Thanks Ruby. I'm sure I can count on you."

Despite how she looked, Blake did consider Ruby a good friend, someone she had learned to rely on during their time at Beacon. She may have been a goofy kid, but she was genuine. She had a good heart, and the cat faunus appreciated that about her.

... And then it seemed as though everyone played witness to Motet's rather absurd question. Poor Veronica sunk into her seat when the topic of her "Life partnership" came up, her face was a deep red and she really had no response to any of that...

Alba on the other hand had a drastically opposite reaction compared to poor Veronica, he was laughing quite heartily at the other arcana's question. The albino wore the most smug expression painted on his face as he glanced over at Motet. The immature arcana boy was beyond amused by her blunt choice of words.



"Ohoooooooo~...? 'Crashing Bodies' huh~...Snnrkk!"

Peach looked pretty exasperated...

"That's...An interesting question Miss Oratorio...But I fail to see how that relates to the mission..."

Snow had a lot of things she wanted to talk to Mauve about later.


Meanwhile Alba had found himself gazing out the window on the side of the airship, lost in thought as the forests passed by quickly below them. His reflect gazed back at him, eventually speaking up with words the others couldn't hear.

"Honestly...This entire endeavor is pointless. But for the sake of our survival, I feel there are some things I should tell you...Is the Phantom Maiden here?"

Alba responded to the mirror image in his mind, ensuring none of the other students could hear the conversation he was having with his other half. He shook his head calmly.

"I don't know. I haven't seen Autumn since we left Beacon. Even if she is here, can't you just tell me? It's not like you're some unknown to her."

The phantom image frowned at Alba, responding with a stern tone of voice.

"It's something she doesn't need to hear. It regards us only. And it's in regards to this village you're coming to. ... It doesn't matter, if she's here I will find a way to convey my message to you in privacy. When we arrive at this village you should expect my return, but for now - And perhaps for the duration of this little excursion of yours? You won't hear from me. The only way I will get involved is if it directly endangers our life. Until that time comes, you're on your own. I only have one piece of advice to impart."

The arcana's more primal half faded away, leaving behind a completely normal reflection of Alba himself. Thee albino lad sighed. Why did Body have to be so difficult anyway? They were two halves of the same person, so why couldn't they just get along? Without Body's help Alba knew he couldn't count on any last-minute saves. But...He was sure it wouldn't come to that. Not this time anyway. After all, he had become stronger even without relying on Body's influence, and his team...Jack, Evelyn, Penny, and Rivala...They were people he trusted to pick up the slack where he might slip up. But even still, Alba couldn't help but be worried about this..."Message" Body wanted to share with him. What exactly was it? And why did it involve Hollow anyway? Between Body and Jack, Alba was starting to think everyone was keeping him in the dark about something important.

Soon enough the airship arrived at the forest clearing. The airborne craft slowed to a halt, and then it began a descent. A sign lit up in the cabin warning the passengers to remain seated, and within a matter of mere minutes the airship shook as it landed on the grassy forest floor, the sign's light faded and the pilot gave the all clear to everyone onboard that they were free to depart.

"Alright everyone, head out! We'll be waiting for your message to come pick you up, but we'll have to make the trip back to Vale, there's no airports this far out. See you all soon...And make sure you bring those students back in one piece."

Peach smiled at the pilot, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I swear on my life that I won't let any harm come to my wonderful little students!"

Alba, Vanta, and Snow were the first to depart from the vehicle, each of them carrying a pack of supplies as they leapt out of the airship, their feet planting firmly into the ground below. Before long Weiss, Blake, Peach, and Veronica followed suit. Although Veronica required some persuasion...It was after all the first big step towards a dangerous mission. But she swallowed her fear, knowing that she had to do this for her team! They were counting on her! Professor Peach waited by the side of the airship, counting each person as they got out of the aircraft. She made sure that everyone made it out fine, and that nobody was unaccounted for, including the teachers.

Alba turned back to look at the others, a grin on his face.

"Hey this will be fun huh? It's gonna be just like a hike! Maybe I should tell some ghost stories along the way?"

Veronica panicked, shaking her head in objection to the idea the albino had put forth!

"P...Please don't!"

Weiss sighed, rubbing her forehead at Alba's antics.

"Honestly...This isn't a vacation, take this seriously!"

Mauve rolled her eyes, but didn't even entertain a rebuttal to Professor Peache's response. It was nothing more than sxriptex mumbo-jumbo to her. The kind of official response someone in authority was expected to give. Meanwhile, Rhea cleared her throat, glancing over at Esmeralda.

"We can't and shouldn't keep the village completely out of the loop. I know it isn't second nature for some of you, and is an unfair request for those people, but be careful what you say to the villagers. We aren't asking you to be people you aren't: just make sure and show some… restraint."

Rhea's eyes rested on Nora and Alba in succession, then flickered over to team RWBY briefly before looking over ar Minti. She knew what her fellow teacher was getting at with her words.

"Always do what's right. Treat the villagers like you expect to be treated. And most of all, it's paramount that we keep paranoia and people turning on each other. That's a possibility if the situation deteriorates."

She watched Minti's interaction with Penny with interest. She knew the history between them wasn't completely ancient history. Feelings didn't die without resolution. She looked a little amused when she saw Minti pat Penny's hair. Perhaps this was the opportunity they both needed to truly clear the air between them.

Mauve looked over at Vaneera, folding her arms and scowling. "I know it is Vaneera. But I don't have to like it."

Mauve brooded as Vaneera talked. Rhea listened as she went over all her points. She gave the student a wry smile.

"As astute as always Ms.White. If I were an insecure individual, I might be envious that Professor Vanta has such a capable ally at his side. Especially since you'll be utilizing more of your semblance. We took all those things into account, so your surveillance will be much appreciated. Just take care setting it up. But there's something all of you need to keep in mind."

Rhea looked around, raising her voice slightly so that everyone heard her.

"Like many missions and situations you'll dive into as hunters and huntresses, we're diving into a situation with unknown variables. Never make any assumptions. Just because the night seems to be when the events occurred doesn't mean you're safe during the day. And never expect the situation to cater to our plans. We may be forced into action during the night, even if we try to stay out of harm. So prepare to adapt on the fly if necessary."

Meanwhile, Mauve couldn't stay that cross when her girlfriend smiled at her like that. She flashed one at her own at Veronica.

"You don't have hope at my end, cause I trust ya completely Veronica."

Meanwhile, another conversation was going on. "Nora, you could ride in on a Grimm. But it doesn't mean it's a good idea."

Lumin folded her arms, leaning back in her seat ans looking over at Nora. "I doubt I would scare anyone with this outfit, but it's sufficient to me if you find it appealing for the seasonal celebration."

Lumin smirked, cracking her numbers. "Very few people could bring it like we do Nora. Don't worry Ms.Peach, we won't go overboard unless we have to."

Mauve meanwhile looked at Motet with annoyance, her bemusement visible on her face.

"What the hell kind of question is that? If you ain't a stiff with an organ donor card, you have lungs."

And there is was. Mauve hadn't been able to really keep her relationship a secret from anyone. Not that she really wanted to. She smiled, draping an arm over Vaneera's shoulder.

"Damn straight. I got her back."

Mauve pat Veronica's shoulder reassuringly as she became embarrassed, then looked around at everyone.

"For the record, me and Veronica aren't doing any of that stuff. She's a proper lady through and through and I ain't going to do anything she doesn't want."

She said firmly, making her position very clear. She wasn't doing any naughty business and wasn't going to stand up for anyone thinking Veronica was like that.

Rhea's scroll pinged inside her cost pocket. She pulled it out and started scrolling through the data.

"On first inspection, this looks to be very extensive. All the staff have prepared for the mission, but a little light reading in my spare time is welcome."

Rhea looked up at Snow, looking at her with amusement. "Not a bad analogy, but I would more equate it to facing the MK 369 Mechasuit bare-handed."

Rhea winked at Amber, putting away her scroll and looking between all of them. "Even if life was as easy as those shows make it out to be, all of us are going to have to interact with the villagers at least to some degree."

Rhea's scroll pinged inside her cost pocket. She pulled it out and started scrolling through the data.

"On first inspection, this looks to be very extensive. All the staff have prepared for the mission, but a little light reading in my spare time is welcome."

Rhea looked up at Snow, looking at her with amusement. "Not a bad analogy, but I would more equate it to facing the MK 369 Mechasuit bare-handed."

Rhea winked at Amber, putting away her scroll and looking between all of them. "Even if life was as easy as those shows make it out to be, all of us are going to have to interact with the villagers at least to some degree."

Meanwhile, Jack looked over at Evelyn solemnly. The both of them weren't on best terms, but she knew that Evlynn understood how serious the situation was. Keeping the team high in spirits was important too. She shook her head and chuckled.

"True Evelyn. It's hard to die of thirst near an oasis."

While she didn't do it too often, her Vacuo origins popped up in the form of expressions from time to time. She offered Alba a grin, rubbing the back of her head.

"Heh, sorry partner. Guess that recording got me a little on edge. I'm not worried about you causing trouble. Just make sure you keep your appetite in check."

It wasn’t entirely untrue, although it was more than just the unsettling nature of the team ORNG logs. After that she seemed to relax a little more though, and didn't stop Alba from bantering with the other people on the ship.

Rhea looked over at Blake, nodding in approval. "I doubt anyone here would argue against goodwill such as that. Just make sure to show it even if someone doesn't return that gesture."

Mauve had given Alba with annoyance at his snarkiness. It was hard to stay mad when she was this close to Veronica. Especially in a potentially life threatening situation where she was going to get into a dangerous mission She let out a low chuckle, leaning in and whispering.

"Hey, stick next to me and any ghost would run screaming."

Of course there were real dangers in the world that were worst than ghosts. But right now wasn't the time to make her girlfriend worry. Tuning everything else out, she set her sights onto the upcoming mission.

Minti was the next of the teachers to address the students, and she had a fair bit to say regarding how much caution to take on this kind of mission, and it seemed like each of the students were keen on following that caution to the letter -- albeit in their own ways... But when Minti pointed out that she probably didn't have to worry about Penny following that sort of thing, it did surprise the Android a bit.

Her tense glare eased up a bit. As Minti then balanced on her tail to headpat Penny, though... Admittedly, Penny just wasn't sure what to think of that.

"... Of course not, I'll keep everyone safe!", Penny answered. There was a bit of hastiness to it, but it seems as though she was perfectly serious about it, too.

And, well, considering her capabilities... She may very well get the chance to do exactly that at some point.

"Underestimating us.", the logical side chimed in, but Penny suppressed any vocal comment for now.

Helping with that was Alba doing his best to ease her concerns. The glare completely vanished then, and she smiles at him. "Oh, I know! You're very strong, Alba!"

It seems like she wasn't just saying that, despite her earlier behavior. She genuinely believed in how strong Alba was -- and not a single hiccup in sight either! ... Not that Alba knew that was how it worked, though.

At Minti's next comment regarding homework, and Alba's subsequent nervousness, though... Back in full force. She side-eyes Minti, and with a huff; "No need to hold back on my account! I will easily surpass everything! Even better if it is difficult for you, then I can show you what real strength is like!"

... Yeah, she was still hung up on that. There was one person in all of Minti's lessons that just seemed to not lack for enthusiasm, and it was Penny. Though other students of course came close to that level of commitment -- none of them were crazy enough to issue a challenge like that to Minti either.

That brought things to Rivala intimidating Weiss, and right at Alba's comments telling her to ease up some... Well, he was right to be worried; Karasu was already glaring at the back of Rivala's head. He didn't look overly angry, but he did look a lot like he did when he was staring down Cardin awhile back...

Yang clears her throat. "Ahem! Uh... Karasu. Doing it again, buddy."

Karasu takes a deep breath. "... Sorry."

The antics with Alba do continue, though! Everyone seems to be expecting him to start flirting with the villain of the hour if it turns out that it's a woman. Alba questions if they really think of him like that, and there was a number of "Yes"s across the board. But some of them were a bit unlike the others...

"I think you have a big heart!", Penny says.

"Speak for yourself, Rivala. If it's a woman, I am going to get my boy laid!", was Evelyn, naturally.

Blake was the next one to speak up, agreeing with Esmeralda regarding how they should approach this mission. The green-haired teacher listened to every word, and nods approvingly.

"Exactly right, Blake! Up to this point, your every lesson or battle has been very simple, involving factors that mainly concern just dealing with the enemy. This may have been because that's all there was to it, or because we were in Vale's capital."

With that, she then continues; "But there will be some cases where you will have to carefully manage your own reputation. Consider this a test for you to do just that. While we're here to give you a guiding hand, your conduct is ultimately going to be the deciding factor."

There was one last thing that came up, and that was a question directed at Karasu being the one to handle the social parts. He gives a nod at that.

"Yeah, I can handle that. I'm used to speaking to clients wanting to hire a Mercenary. The same basic principles should apply, short of talking about getting paid for the work."

---

Motet seemed to be panicking over something, and turns to Vaneera, asking an odd question. Mauve was the first to jump at answering it, but... Well, it was in rather blunt fashion. Vaneera sighs lightly, and answers as well;

"Yes, Motet. We have lungs."

Finally, the discussion is brought straight back to the exchange between Vaneera, Snow, Vanta and now Rhea as well. With their various comments, one might have assumed that Vaneera would have reacted emotionally, but instead...


Vaneera took each of their comments in mind, and it only seemed to spur her further;

"I agree. It should be a last resort, however we are dealing with an unusual situation, and after our arrival we don't know exactly how fast things will change, or just how drastic those changes will be. We absolutely must prevent a situation in which the conditions are changing faster than we can adapt to. Because of that, we should have this planned out in advance."

Vaneera pauses briefly. "Ideally, it won't be needed. But we should have multiple plans of action depending on how things proceed."

With that stated, she then turns her attention to Rhea.

"In this case, it's not an assumption. Team ORNG's findings showed us that they were able to conduct their investigation for some time. Presumably the enemy observed them before they were confident in their ambush."

She explains, and promptly continues. "Our staggered approach is helpful not just to keep the villagers calm, but also to keep the enemy guessing. They may very well be expecting reinforcements to investigate, but they will hardly expect a force of this size to do so."

Vaneera didn't really have to explain why; by the admission of the teachers, this was an unusual operation to begin with.

"However, I'm going to assume the worst case scenario, that it only buys us a single day of preparation. We use that day to it's fullest, and then we wait for the enemy to start moving.", she pauses briefly again. "We hold our forces back and use our surveillance system to determine their actions and movements."

But of course, that alone wasn't good enough, so she then adds; "In war, information is critical. Team ORNG did an excellent job at securing so much information for us. Right now, we have the advantage over the enemy. But we can't expect that advantage to last. We can't waste it -- this is our best chance to do anything with it."

She didn't raise her voice once during that entire breakdown. She clearly spent a lot of time preparing for this mission...

Now if only that serious atmosphere could have remained. Because soon enough Motet raises her hand, wanting to ask Vaneera a question. All it took was a single lapse of judgement for Vaneera to go...

"Yes, Motet?"

... Weird, Vaneera immediately felt impending dread. But surely she was just-


Oh, there it is. Vaneera felt it building up for awhile, Motet was being a little too well behaved -- a little too helpful. But it finally happened. A catastrophic misunderstanding was forming. It actually left her dumbfounded for a moment. She was appreciating the chaos from afar when it was Alba dishing it out to others, but...

No question about it, Motet was raising even more chaos by comparison! Even Alba was getting interested!

"I..."

Vaneera froze up, she couldn't think of an explanation on the spot like that!

"Ah... It was a mistake not to teach you these things, so you'd know how important they are to not speak of so casually..."

Around then, in her mind, a familiar voice chimed in.

"I believe I have found a tactical error."

Vaneera can only respond with a simple "Yeah..."

It is just enough of a chance for her to collect her thoughts, though.

"Listen... It's not really acceptable to talk about someone else's relationship in public like this -- especially with them sitting right next to us.", she explains; no way in hell was the genie going back into the bottle on this one, so she just had to roll with that now.

"Secondly, that was kissing... And what they're doing is different from back then, Motet."

But of course, just as Vaneera was finishing up dealing with this, Mauve tried to roll out her own explanation for the awkward outburst that just occurred. Unfortunately... Vaneera was going to have to throw them under the bus, because otherwise Motet was sure to take offense at the accusation of lying.

To that end, Vaneera looks over to Mauve and Veronica. "Look... It's true, she's a proper lady, and you respect her boundaries. But you two have definitely kissed. If Motet could notice you doing it, I would notice too, you know..."

Vaneera felt like it shouldn't be this big of a deal to be worth trying to sweep it under the rug like this, but she got that it was because of trying to soothe Veronica's anxiety right now.

Unfortunately that anxiety was not going to be dying down anytime soon, and Vaneera needed to keep Motet's wild behavior in check.

Vaneera sighs, running a hand through her own hair in frustration. If anyone was wondering if anything could actually throw Vaneera off of her game... Well, they just saw it unfold in spades.