章 45: Chapter 45

"Field! Trip! Field! Trip!" Nora bounced on her bed, happily shouting. "Fieeeeelllllld! TRIP!" she did a flip off of the bed and landed on the ground, raising her arms.

"You're sure are excited about today." Jaune commented, watching the giddy girl in action.

"Well duh! I mean, Beacon is nice, but aside from our test in the entrance exam, its started to get SO boring here!" She groaned, falling backwards onto her mattress, as if to further prove her frustration.

"Well, I guess the classes have gotten a little repetitive." Jaune admitted. "I wouldn't say no to something new."

"Right?!" she turned to her scroll on the desk. "Ren, is Aero done yet? I sent you to get him like 10 minutes ago!"

Ren shook his head, turning the screen towards me in the field. "I'm afraid it's going to a little longer."

****************************

"That was a good kick." Aero cracked his neck, and smiled. "I had forgotten how much I missed the heat of battle. I guess a person's nature doesn't change so easily..." Aero rushed forward at his opponent swinging his weapon diagonally. Mimicking Aero in the video, I slashed diagonally with the same timing. Reversing my swing, and quickly pressing the button on my weapon twice. Stopping the claw mid-shot, and using it as a flail. Keeping my fluid momentum going, I whirled my weapon, smashing towards an imaginary enemy with the flexible claw. "Wha?" there was a sound of surprise in the video as Aero's attack struck his opponent.

Alternating between the straight slashes from the spear blade, and curves attacks from the claw acting as a flail. Beads of sweat fell off my face as I carefully tried to synchronize my movements to Aero's. As I swung the weapon, my posture slightly faltered, causing the swinging claw to alter its course, just barely missing my head. I quickly corrected myself, moving back into the same position as Aero on the scroll.

"Phew..." I finally lowered the spear, wiping my face with the other hand.

"Aerooooo! Can you hear me?" Nora's voice echoed from Ren's scroll.

I sighed, picking up my scroll leaned against the tree, and turning to Nora. "Yes, I can hear you. And yes, I'm done. You know, the trip doesn't start for another hour right?"

"I know! I'm just so excited! But here you are watching the same old video for probably the millionth time. I don't get it, ever since you got that thing, you've been watching it non-stop. Do you really like watching yourself or something?"

Using Aero's battles as a reference to improve myself is FAR better for my training than just reading his journal. I'm able to see every move Aero makes and replay it over and over again until I get it right. The problem is, that it's a little strange for someone to watch a video about themselves over and over again. But I'm willing to endure a few odd looks from my teammates if it means catching up to the real Aero faster.

"Well, I was really just in the zone that day, you know. Have you ever have a really good day where you surprise yourself with how well you do? It's good to go over things and make sure you've got them down."

"If you say so..."

Back at the dorm, I changed out of my sweaty clothes, as the rest of ARJN was chatting among themselves.

"This will be our first outing as a team together." Jaune said looking at everyone. "Well, unless you count the entrance exam. And I uh...I don't exactly have very fond memories of that."

"Oh lighten up!" Nora chirped, slapping him on the back. "I'm sure it won't be too bad. OH! HEY! Why don't we ask our handy dandy psychic what he thinks today will be like? Like checking the weatherman before a picnic."

All of the sudden, everyone's eyes shifted to me.

"Okay, first off, I resent being thought of like that..." I muttered.

"Come on." Nora grinned, lightly elbowing me. "You gotta have SOMETHING you know about today?"

I'm not so sure it's a good idea to give away knowledge of the future. Doing so tends to change it and make it more unpredictable. Then again, a lot of changes have already happened. Let's see, going by what happened in the show...

"There's going to be an unexpected grimm attack today. Probably."

"Probably? Do you not know? Also, is the attack really unexpected if you tell us it'll happen?"

"You wanted me to tell you something, so I did. Don't nag about the details."

"Aww. Yeah...I guess you're right."

I shook my head, opting to change the subject. "This is our first-ever field trip, did you buy a camera for the memories? You love making those right?"

Nora looked away with an embarrassed face, poking her two fingers together. "I uh...I don't really have very much money...never did."

'Ah, right, right. Nora's childhood hasn't exactly been a normal one.' I fished out Aero's wallet, handing her some lien.

"You're just...GIVING this to me?"

I smirked. "For the memories right? Make sure you take some good pictures to share."

"Yes sir!"

I watched as Nora ran off in a hurry to go buy a camera, before turning to Ren and Jaune. "C'mon you guys, we should get ready for the trip too."

****************************

Soon enough our class was ushered into the Forever Fall forest. As the name might imply the leaves of the forest were always a red color. Some of them were bright scarlet, others were a darker Maroon, or anything between. Leaves littered the ground, making soft crunching noises as we walked. There was a faint hint of sweetness in the air of the forest, likely from the sap hidden in the trees. Honestly, the endless flood of red on the ground, in the trees, and falling from the sky was beautiful, but also overwhelming...

"Alright class, gather around!" Port stroked his beard with one hand, while carrying an old-fashioned ax/rifle. "Haha! I know you're all as eager as I am to begin, but we must account for every student. Line up if you would."

At his request, the teams all formed a horizontal line in front of him while he counted everyone. "Alright, we're all accounted for!" the man merrily exclaimed.

'Wait, wasn't Glynda supposed to lead the students in Forever Fall?'

"Now!" Port clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Rather than your ordinary teams, you shall be paired in groups of four up by the partners I've assigned you!"

"Say what?" I couldn't help but voice my astonishment. The other students also seemed rather startled, looking around at each other.

"Quiet down now, I shall assign today's teams. Come forth when I call your name!" The professor took out a piece of paper, reading off from it. "Sophie, Cardin, Nora, Blake!"

The four stepped forward when called. Sophie and Cardin looked irritated, both looking at each other with angry expressions. Wow, it didn't take long for THEM to start hating each other. Blake for her part looked rather awkward, while Nora on the other hand appeared to be happy just to be here.

"I hope today is a memorable moment for everyone that you'll never forget!" Port continued with his usual jovial cheer.

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Blake quietly murmured under her breath. She forced herself to smile as she and the other three were given jars to collect tree sap with.

"Next Team! Russel, Weiss, Raelin, Aero!"