The campsite was easy enough to find. Ozpin's coordinates placed them on a hilltop campsite overlooking the forest. To the west, they could see the clearing where they found the Ursi, and beyond that the city of Vale in the distance. To the south, the forest stretched as far as the eye could see, and to the east and north the forest began to diminish to an occasional tree. The campsite itself was a simple affair set on a gently sloping hill, with a stone fire pit in the center and a ring of flattened earth.

The leader's stomach growled as he took a seat by the pit, and soon the team responded with their own groans as they were reminded of food. "Ugh. We've been out all day and we haven't eaten since… since breakfast!" Vi anguished.

"You're right, we've just been having so much fun we forgot about food." Offered Dorren. Vi returned a sour look.

"That doesn't change the fact that we don't have food," complained Erol.

"Ooooh… I don't wanna hunt on an empty stomach." said Vi.

"Ignoring Vi's odd logic there, I'm going to call Ozpin, there may be a cache somewhere." said Dorren as he dialed the Headmaster again.

"Dorren here, we've reached the campsite. Please tell me there are supplies stocked here." he pleaded.

"Indeed there are," answered the Headmaster. "There is a Beacon crest in the bottom of the fire pit, as students of Beacon you may press any of your scrolls to open it as you would your dorm room. Take as much as you need, you all need to be in top shape tomorrow."

Dorren let out a sigh of relief, anything to make this night's stay easier. It was now evening, and after a long day of walking, he knew without the input of the team that they were all tired. "Good."

"The debris will land about a mile to your north early in the morning. Stay at the campsite until it lands. Any questions?"

"None."

"Get your rest, Dismissed."

Ozpin clicked off the line and Dorren addressed the team, "Good news! We have supplies, we'll find out what that means soon enough." The whole team's demeanor brightened. The ashes were swept out of the fire pit, revealing a perfectly flat metal face with the Beacon Academy crest etched onto it. Dorren brought his scroll close to the crest, which responded with a beep and a click. The area inside the fire pit descended and then withdrew inside of what was a large safe buried in the ground. The tired team DOVE did not even attempt to hide their excitement. Inside were four bedrolls and more than enough field ration packs and bottled water for them to have modest meals that night and the following morning.

Team DOVE was hungry enough to not complain about the ration packs. They ate in silence, as words meant taking a break from eating. One by one they finished their meals and laid down on their bedrolls around the pit. "Oh! We need a fire!" came Vi out of nowhere.

"It's getting dark, we'll both go to find wood." Dorren said as he stood up. "Ugh, we should have done this before we ate..."

"Yeah..." Vi trailed off. "It should be quick though, there was a dead tree not far back..." she suggested a little too happily.

"We will not need an entire tree this evening..."

"Just wanted to present the possibility."

"Hah, well... it will be faster than searching for it all." Dorren mused.

Vi clasped her hands in front of her, excited, "Really?"

Dorren sighed "Sure, but the whole thing is not coming back with us." Vi deflated with a grumble. "Come on, let's find this tree."

When they arrived back at the campsite darkness had already set in, Dorren dropped the entire limb that he had carried back and Vi the bundle under her left arm and maintained the torchlight in her hand. "Did you bring back enough?" asked Erol.

Dorren humored his sarcasm, "I almost brought the whole tree, but it was too large to fit down the path." All Dorren got back was a "Hmph" as he drew his sword Monolith from his back to chop the wood, an easy task in its short, heavy broadsword from. Soon the pair had all they needed, a bed of small sticks for a start and a stack of logs for the long haul of the night.

"Alright, let's-" started Dorren.

"Shh, Shh, Shh… this is my favorite part." said Vi.

"Anything catching fire is your favorite part." claimed Dorren. Through the warm, burning light in her hand he saw the pyro's mouth spread in a bright smile and let a cute chuckle escape. On such a boring day she didn't get to break out her dust and burn anything, she couldn't wait any longer. The light flicked into the fire and fell through to the bottom, where Vi slowly fed it more dust and coaxed the wood to life.

"Happy now?" asked Dorren.

"Yep!" said Vi, still grinning widely.

"Okay, camp is made and we need our rest. Normal watch rotation tonight."

Dawn broke over the treetops near the end of Vi's watch, streaming bright pinks and yellows off of the clouds in the morning sky. She sat with her back to the dying fire, facing the east where the giant burning orb was revealing itself to the world once again. Nervous, she closed her eyes and explored her mind. "Why am I so worried?" she questioned herself, unable to shake the anxiety. "We all have no idea what will happen when the meteor touches down, all hell may break loose. We just don't know." One of life's most crippling fears, the unknown, the kind of fear that shuts down the mind. It cannot be allowed to run rampant. The mind takes it and runs, fleeting from possibility to possibility, mounting fear upon fear. Failing to silence her mind on her own, she continued to 'Plan B,' distraction.

She called a bit of fire dust from its canister to form a mote of light in her hand. With a mischievous smile she flicked the speck from her hand. The light drifted lazily down until it came to rest in the dirt, sizzling. "Here it comes…" Suddenly, the speck burst like a whip crack, eliciting a prompt response from the sleeping three. Erol let out a whimper and his bedroll curled into a tight ball, Olivia sat bolt upright and turned a deadpan face to the prankster, and Dorren simply came to life groggily.

"Damned sadistic alarm clock…" came muffled from the balled-up bedroll.

Eventually the team was up meals were passed out, now eaten in a different silence than the evening meal. This silence was their collective apprehension hanging in the air. All knew that conversation would fall flat, clearly an escape from thinking about what may come to pass. Instead they found solidarity solely in their company itself, almost a year and a half spent as a team, togetherness was all they needed to keep despair from finding a foothold.

Next was the worst part: waiting. The team could only occupy themselves for a few minutes cleaning up the camp until they all found themselves seated again on the dirt around the dead fire. The maddening boredom persisted until the quietest one stood up and drew her sword. The slim straight sword appeared as a deadly shining thread in the morning light held at the ready. She practiced parries and ripostes, feints and thrusts, and soon the air was punctuated by light steps and the wispy sound of her sword slaying an invisible foe. The leader looked over to the axeman and gave a tip of his head, both rose and drew their own weapons. Soon the camp was a symphony of whirring blades and silent death.

Preferring her dust, Vi kept her seat on the ground and held out a hand. Bringing some fire into her hand, she willed it into the smallest, hottest ball she could muster. The fire had been concentrated to the size of a marble when Dorren's scroll rang. They all knew who it was.

"It is almost time," said Ozpin. "Some of our professors will be leaving school grounds shortly and arrive after the impact to relieve your team. If you look to the sky, your objective is drawing near."

The Moonstone was clearly visible in the morning light, or rather its burning stream could be seen as it was beginning to enter the upper atmosphere. "It is only a few minutes until it crashes to the ground," Ozpin continued. "I would advise you find cover when it lands, we don't know the damage it may cause on impact. I will see you when you return." With that he hung up.

"Hm. That was... short." observed Dorren. "It will land soon, we need to find cover." They decided on taking cover on the side of the hill opposite the expected impact site, affording them a view of the scene as well as cover. They watched the light in the sky grow brighter, as it drew closer they could see the atmosphere trying to tear the shard apart. Small chunks were breaking off with a distant popping sound and the main mass was glowing as bright as the Sun at the other end of the sky.

The Shard was seconds away from impact, none of them could look at it any more, it was too bright. As the shard drew near, they could hear a rumble like a coming train that resonated in their chests as they laid on the hill. The light disappeared from their view behind the hill and they braced for impact. They felt the moment it crashed to the ground, the shockwave sent a single ripple through the land followed by the sound of a massive explosion and more shock from the earth. Dorren began to stand up and then quickly dropped back down. "Stay down!" he shouted. As soon as he finished a rain of wood that had previously been trees came raining down from overhead, some pieces larger than the logs they had burned the previous night. When the rain slowed, he tried standing up again, "okay the coast is clear."

When they had all stood up and crested the hill, they took in the destruction that the single shard of the moon had wrought. Looking out over the landscape, they easily make out where the piece of the Moon had landed. It landed in a clearing of trees to their north, where Ozpin had said it would be, the edges of which now on fire. "That clearing wasn't there before." Olivia pointed out. As the realization dawned on them, they remembered that there were two shocks, the shard had crashed and then exploded, utterly destroying a wide swath of area around it. Looking in their immediate surroundings, they saw what had previously been the trees of that section of forest. Most of the fragments were the size of an arm or leg, but some like the ten foot long section of tree trunk now covering the campsite were not so small. "Enough gawking, we need to move," ordered Dorren, and the team set off at a run for the burning crater.

The flames hissed their complaint as Vi doused them using her water Dust. "Does it feel odd putting out a fire that isn't yours?" asked Erol.

"It's Dust, it has to be good for something." She said. "This IS the only reason I carry it."

"Vi, focus on the largest fires, Erol stay with her. Olivia and I will investigate the piece of the Moon." said Dorren.

As Dorren approached the shard of the Moon, he noticed the faint purple dust that coated the crater it had dug. The Shard itself was a roughly spherical stone about 3 feet in diameter with purple crystals throughout it. All told, the impact made a crater a several feet across and a few feet deep, and scorched grass and blasted trees out to around one hundred feet from the Shard, the epicenter of the new clearing. Near the edges of the ring, some stumps held their place where trees once stood. The denser forests from which they came were behind him, Dorren took note of the sparse forest lining the edge of half of the ring facing him, "If anything large should come to join us, it will come from there." he thought. Vi had put out all but the smallest of fires when the first Grimm showed up.

"Grimm!" called Dorren, as a half-dozen Beowolves emerged from the dense forest behind them. "Olivia, they're yours," and then shouted to Vi and Erol. "Vi, Erol, rally center!"

The sniper ran up to the edge of the crater and readied her crossbow Windlash. "A group of two and four..." she thought as she sighted the lead of the group of two Beowolves. She breathed in. Out. Twang. She drew Windlash's lever back, setting the string and clicking a new bolt into place, Twang. The lead Beowolf dropped, a bright steel bolt disappearing into its shoulder. As the following Beowolf realized what happened it met the very same fate. "One group left." She ran from the edge of the crater to meet the Beowolves head on with Windlash in its straight sword form. Though she lacked Dorren's strength and Erol's defensive capabilities, what they lacked she had in spades: grace and speed.

She met the first carefully, this would decide the flow of the encounter. She awaited its charge stoically, she wanted them to keep their speed. The first attempted a pounce, only to have its clawed hand parried aside by Olivia's blade and killed with a precise thrust behind its mask. The three following Beowolves diverted and surrounded her. She grinned despite herself and fully extended her arm, pointing Windlash at one of the three Beowolves forming a triangle around her. As she stood she did not concern herself with what she saw, but focused on her hearing for warning. All stood still, until the Beowolf to her right leapt forward. Instead of holding her ground, she jumped over the attacking Beowolf in a slow front flip, making a quick swipe at the back of its neck as she sailed over it. With only two Beowolves left, they posed no challenge as she dispatched them.

When Olivia returned to the crater, Vi and Erol had been there for some time. Dorren addressed team DOVE, "We hold the crater. Should the enemy attack en masse, only the smaller sort will be able to strike from the denser forests we came from to the south. That will be yours, Olivia." She straightened and gave a nod and monosyllable in acknowledgement. "Erol, if anything large comes, it will be from the sparse forests on the north side, that half will be ours." Erol didn't respond, Dorren continued, "Vi, stay near the crater. That will give you the space you need so you can watch the whole field." "Gotcha," she replied. "We will station halfway to the edge of the trees from the crater except for Vi. Positions, everyone."

Olivia ran out toward the now-decaying Grimm she had slain shortly before, Vi took a stance at the crater's edge, Dorren started toward the lighter forest, and Erol all but dragged his feet toward his position. Dorren turned back to him "This may be do or die. This thing may some kind of Grimm magnet or the impact itself might have gotten their attention. Either way, we need to be prepared for the worst, now pick it up!" Erol knew he would pay for it later if he didn't get moving, and hustled up to a jog. "Better."

Team DOVE had been in position for just moments when the next Grimm assault came, and they came in force with over a dozen Ursi. Dorren had four charging directly for him, Erol had just as many. He grinned and extended Monolith to its full length, almost five feet, its reach would allow him to strike before the Ursi could with their short arms. He held the massive blade over his head, ready to use its momentum to cleave right through the enemy. The first approached him, but before it could reach him, Monolith was already en route to slice the Ursa right in half. Dorren shortened Monolith into its heavy broadsword length as two charged him at once on all fours. He advanced one of them, pointed Monolith downward and extended it again. Dorren jumped as the point planted in the ground and kept extending, using the push to connect a dropkick to the Ursa's head. He slid to a stop as the other charging Ursa did. "Large target, short range, little movement," he thought "I hardly need to aim." Monolith switched into a broadsword and then into its cannon rifle form and lined up a shot at the Ursa's chest. The deep report of Monolith's cannon sounded as a gaping hole appeared in its torso and it fell to the ground. Dorren switched his weapon back into a sword and made short work of the last Ursa.

Meanwhile, Vi had three Ursi coming for her from the east and west sides. "Olivia already has her own pack to deal with, all of these are mine." she thought. Taking one out at a time would get her nowhere right now, she needed to remove an entire side at once. She reached out with her Aura to the fire dust canisters like she had done a hundred times before and focused on the shape she wanted. She held it for a moment and enjoyed its familiar warmth before flinging it skyward. It streaked upward until it snapped to an arcing path right for a group of three Ursi. The fireball crashed in their midst and exploded violently, incinerating them all and launching the corpses into the air. She turned to the remaining group and closed the distance, readying earth dust on the tips of her Talons. She stopped and plunged her armored, razor-sharp fingers into the dirt and the ground before two of the Ursi responded in kind, sending earthen lances through their abdomens dealing crippling wounds. Vi switched focus to the last one and readied more fire in her palm. She blocked its swipe with an armored hand and leapt for its head. Pressing the fire into its head, a moment later the dust exploded into life, reducing the Ursa's head to a fine mist.

Leaving the crippled two to die, she returned to the crater and scanned the battlefield. Erol and Dorren were holding their own just fine, but Olivia was struggling. She had the finesse to keep them all at bay, but her battle wouldn't get anywhere quickly without intervention. "She must be conserving ammo," Vi thought. "I should at least consider doing the same." She dismissed the idea and readied her fire dust. As she extended her Aura, something felt wrong. She felt her strength being drained. She pushed through and sent a pair of her own fire bolts to Olivia's aid. The fire was strange as well, instead of its warm red color it was now white, and on impact cut through the Ursi and continued burning on the ground. Suddenly tired, she shifted and knelt down, holding her head with an armored hand. She looked down. The earth around her feet was clean of the purple dust that coated the crater. Her curiosity demanded she investigate post-haste.

When Dorren turned from the carnage before him, he saw similar results about the battlefield. Erol was recovering his tomahawks, silver spikes were protruding from heads on the opposite side of the clearing, and charred Ursi-shaped heaps laid on his left and right, Vi's work. "They're serious. They really don't want us here, and the escalation could be troublesome." He thought. The dust had cleared on the individual encounters and team DOVE passed around a thumbs up, but Vi was busy investigating the piece of the Moon. Dorren called to her, and as she gave the okay signal a rumbling started all around him from every direction of his and Erol's sector. "Fall back!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. They neared the crater when several adult Deathstalkers crashed through the trees where Dorren and Erol had been earlier. More could be seen behind them through the trees.

"Erol, with me, we're holding them back. Olivia start putting out eyes. Vi, standard Deathstalker takedown as soon as they're upon us." Dorren ordered.

"But there are too many, as soon as you land you'll be in danger." Vi worried.

"It's the best plan I've got." he conceded.

Vi didn't like it, but it was all they could do with so little time. "There has to be another way." She thought. "I don't have enough air and earth dusts to launch all of these into the air like we normally do,and my fire only gets shed by their armor." She strained in thought until her eyes fell upon the crater again. The dust. "My fire shredded the Ursi with little effort and the fine dust around my feet." Having convinced herself, she decided to break open the piece of the Moon. She needed more than the powder. She stood at the edge of the crater and called as much earth dust as she could and concentrated on forming an axe. Vi swung her arm in a chop as an edged blade of rock rose from the ground behind her and arced overhead, slamming into the Shard. The Moonstone yielded under the strike, shattering and scattering its contents, most notable of which a pure purple crystal about as large as a soda can. Perfect.

She retracted the armor and claws on her hand and took up the crystal. She could feel it pulling at her, the crystal calling for her Aura. Soon. The crystal was a pure and translucent purple with little flakes of silver throughout. She got a bad feeling, but pushed it down. This was the only way. She ran to the edge of the crater and saw the battle for the first time. Several Deathstalkers had found their way into the clearing, and more could be seen behind them in the trees waiting their turn. Examining the Deathstalkers already upon them, most were missing at least one eye, thanks to Olivia, and Dorren's cannon had already severed some tails, now lying on the ground. None had been slain, partially her fault. "Where the hell is Vi!?" Yelled Dorren.

"Here, Dorren. I have an idea, fall back."

"Now is not the time!"

"This isn't working, just trust me!" She begged.

Each beset by two Deathstalkers at once, Dorren and Erol had been struggling. Dorren was getting tired, his blade not the proficient defensive tool like Erol's arsenal. He soon took a claw full in the chest that sent him flying back and tumbling. Erol fell back to join him, four Deathstalkers at once was a death sentence even for him. Erol spoke up "We don't know this idea, it could be a game changer. If we stay the course we die."

Dorren couldn't believe he was hearing it from Erol of all people, but he was right. Even with Vi's casting, the battle wouldn't have fared too well against the veritable wall of claws. Dorren relented, "All right, fall back. This idea must be good if she ignored her normal job."

The two neared the crater, Vi shouted "Get behind me!"

"What's going on?" Dorren asked.

"There's no time, just do it!"

He did as she asked and came to a stop several feet behind her and started, "Alright, so what's going- ." He paused when he saw the crystal in her hand.

"I told you to trust me." She said calmly, and turned to face the horde of Grimm before her.

Before Dorren could protest, she tapped into her Aura and collected herself before even reaching for the power of the crystal in her hand. With one effort she extended her Aura, seeking the crystal. It responded, drinking her Aura, it stole what she had offered and then grasped for more, greedily sapping her body of its Aura to the last dreg. She felt it reaching for her life, her essence, her life force. It would soon take her. Vi screamed her pain to the world and steeled herself, shielded her life from the thirst of the crystal as it clawed at the wall around her soul. Her body burned in agony like the countless Grimm she had burned with her flames. She couldn't feel her hand, only the pain that told her it was still there. The crystal shined brightly in her hand, brimming with the power it has sucked from her. She couldn't hold it or its power at bay much longer, she needed to release its wrath lest she be consumed by it. She reached out with the crystal to no avail as it kept vying for her life. "What is wrong?" she thought. "Where is the power?" She felt the destructive energy waiting in her hand, and searched it. She found nothing. She felt the power, but also felt nothing. "A power without substance?"

Revelation dawned on her of when she first felt it. "I used fire dust when the dust at my feet was consumed, that must have drawn my Aura and turned it into raw power for my fire. I need my fire." She called upon the fire in her gauntlet. Agony coursing through her, she drew the dust into her hand and cast it out. White-hot fire poured from her hand before her, bathing the battlefield in a flood of flames. The power that had run amok in her body now loosed itself through her hand, its wrath now turned on her foes. The pain and weakness was getting the better of her, she fell to her knees but kept the Dust flowing. The roar of the flames was deafening, only to be punctuated by the screams and hisses of dying Grimm. Her inferno was fading, her vision turning black. Both she and the crystal now devoid of strength. As she closed her eyes, the pain from the crystal subsided and she collapsed on the ground.

Dorren was the first the recover from the shock and ran to her motionless body, fearing the worst until she coughed up blood and screamed in renewed agony.