Chapter Text

Coco wouldn't ever admit it, but she was nervous. The mission at the end of the first year wasn't supposed to be a team's first time out in the field together and yet that's what team CFVY was facing. They had trained hard and gotten to know one another's fighting styles well, even developing a few strategies that would theoretically work well against larger groups of grimm.

The theory part of that was what had Coco's stomach in knots as they packed their gear and made their way to the auditorium where they would choose a mission to shadow a hunter on.

After Ozpin's brief speech, they wandered over to one of the large displays to study the options available to them.

Beyond her worries about going out into the field for the first time together, she didn't want to be paired with someone who would think less of Fox and Velvet. Coco frowned when she saw that there weren't any names listed next to the missions - just a location and a brief summary of what would be expected of them. For their first mission, Coco wanted to take her team somewhere safe.

She had to laugh at herself a little for the description. Hunting grimm was hands down the single most dangerous profession on Remnant - by any definition they weren't going to be safe. But there was a world of difference between taking them out on a hunt against monsters they could defend themselves against and taking them somewhere they couldn't trust the people around them.

It was more than just finding a location that was known for being accepting - she could see several locations down on the southern coast where immigrants from Menagerie were more likely to live - it was also making sure they were paired with a hunter who was open minded.

"Having troubles deciding?"

Ozpin's voice behind her made her jump. "Just looking over the options," she said, glancing over at her team. They were laughing as Velvet did a dramatic reading of one of the mission descriptions for Fox. Watching them laugh gave her the resolve she needed to swallow her pride and voice her concerns. "Headmaster - I know we're supposed to be open to working with all types of people. But this will be our first mission out as a team and I don't want to have to follow a huntsman who isn't going to respect Fox and Velvet."

She wished Ozpin's face was easier to read, but he had a perfect poker face. Despite her earlier concerns about disappointing him, Coco didn't care about what he thought. She wasn't going to take Velvet and Fox into a situation where they couldn't trust the hunter they were partnered with - especially after everything that Velvet went through at Haven. If Ozpin thought less of her for it, that was on him.

"Miss Adel, I understand your concern and would like to assure you that none of the huntsmen I've partnered with for this exercise would be anything but professional and kind to your team."

"Thank you, Ozpin." She couldn't keep the relief out of her voice.

He smiled. "Do they even know you're asking?" She shook her head. "I just got off the phone with the headmaster at Haven - I was calling to check on Farris, and he asked about Velvet. I was very pleased to be able to tell him that team CFVY is coming together well and is quickly becoming one of the best teams here at Beacon." Coco flushed at the high praise. "You should be proud of what you're doing with them, Coco. What you build here will outlast any other legacy you think you carry."

Her name sounded like a gunshot in her ears. She hadn't really registered him using Coco rather than her full name during the naming ceremony but to hear it now - it bolstered her resolve. She could build herself a legacy that was one of her own choosing - completely separate of her last name.

With a renewed boost of confidence, she walked back over to her teammates. "Found anything interesting?"

"We were looking at this one - a hunter is looking for backup removing a nest that's threatening a village on the coast. There's also an increase of creep activity they want help tracking down." Velvet pointed to the relevant entry on the screen. The town was on the southern end of the continent, near one of the big ports that had daily ships to Menagerie - it would be a relatively safe area for Velvet. "We'd leave as soon as possible."

"Sounds like fun," Coco said, selecting it when the rest of her team nodded in agreement.

Yatsuhashi grabbed her arm as they walked towards the awaiting airship, waiting until they were out of earshot of their partners to speak. "I know the area is safe, and this is probably too little too late, but do you know who we'll be shadowing?" He looked to Velvet and then back to Coco, leaving no doubt in her mind what exactly he was asking.

She shook her head. "I spoke to Ozpin, though. He said we shouldn't run into any issues, no matter who we decided to shadow." Coco smiled up at him. "I'm not going to take my team somewhere unsafe."

"Just to the grimm-infested coast?" His smile was bright and teasing as they started walking towards the ship again.

Her smile matched his - it was a ridiculous assertion. "Hey now, grimm we can handle."

The ride to the town was short, barely giving them enough time to get used to the noise before the pilot was circling to set down on the outskirts, confirming pickup in a week unless she heard otherwise. A week was average for a first-year mission - and many teams were just shadowing for a week, regardless of how long the mission actually went.

The hunter they were shadowing barely came up to Velvet's nose. "I'm Olive. Just Olive. I'm in charge of keeping you four alive for the next week or so."

Olive's leather outfit served as basic armor that was uncommon for huntsmen, and she had a crossbow strapped across her back. "Ozpin reassured me that you're the best first year team he has so that shouldn't be too difficult."

They made their way to Olive's cabin - not going into the main part of town. "I live here. Generally, I handle the grimm in the area on my own, but I try to help out Ozpin when I can, which typically means trying to find something for first year students to do once a year. I don't like having tagalongs for a week when there's nothing for them to do and then send them home having done nothing but get underfoot."

Her brusque tone had Coco standing a little straighter. It drove home the fact they weren't just running simulations or exercises with her team but actually out in the field, working to become the hunters they wanted to be. She wasn't being rude, simply straightforward.

She gestured to one of the closed doors off of the main room. "Bathroom. Door to the left is the room you four will be staying in tonight. We'll be camping out starting tomorrow night, so don't get too comfortable. Door to the right is mine - don't go in there." She gestured to the big table in the middle of the living room. "Here, let's take a look at this."

The five of them gathered around the table. On it was an incredibly detailed map of the area, with notes of varying ages denoting recent additions and buildings.

Olive pointed to two figures she'd added to the north end of the map. "I know the mission outline said only one nest in addition to finding the source of the increased creep activity, but I had a second nest crop up yesterday - this one's ursa. The big one is an established beowolf nest that's big enough it should split soon. Especially with the new ursa pack I'm worried they'll tear right through town." She pointed out where her cabin was. "All right. What would you do?" she asked, looking up at Coco.

Coco leaned over the table, studying the positions of the nests and the surrounding areas, studying possible approaches. She tuned out Yatsuhashi's description of the area for Fox, focusing on the positioning of the nests. Driving them deeper into the forest and into a clearing would work better than trying to fight them at their home. A two-pronged attack could also work, but it would take more precise timing.

Velvet piped up first though, surprisingly eager to share her thoughts. "If we came at this larger nest from this direction - head east towards it - then oh, say, two of us swing around to the other side to come in from the west, those two could drive the pack into the other three."

Coco grinned at Velvet's enthusiasm - even if she didn't agree with the plan, she was happy to see her come out of her shell a little bit.

"How close is the second nest?" Fox asked. "We don't want to try and take them on both at once."

"It's about a mile to the north," Yatsuhashi filled in. "As long as we keep them moving east to west we should be able to keep them out of town and away from the second nest, though I suspect that we would be able to take on both if it came down to it."

"I was asking your leader," Olive remarked dryly.

Coco was about to chime in her opinion when Velvet's reaction to Olive's comment caught her eye. Her teammate had cringed back, ears drooping. The gentle critique of the plan she had been about to offer up died in her throat. No one got to make Velvet feel like her contributions weren't welcome.

"The plan is a solid one. It keeps the grimm out of town, addresses the threats in the order of difficulty and Yatsu's right - we could take on both if we had to." She crossed her arms over her chest, silently daring Olive to disagree.

Olive's eyes narrowed like she had figured out what Coco was up to. "I'm not sure we could get around the pack undetected effectively, and if we alert them early it could drive them into the town."

Coco was undeterred. "So we'll split and one group will circle around, effectively mimicking the ability to dart around the group in that space of time; we'd do a two-pronged attack timed to hit at the same time." She traced the route each group would take with her fingers. The plan relied on a degree of finesse that wasn't her usual style - she did favor a gatling gun after all - but she had complete faith in the group of hunters that stood before her.

Just because it wasn't her first choice didn't mean it wasn't tactically sound. Keeping the grimm contained and away from the village was priority, no matter how it was carried out. And if this tactic meant that Velvet was less shy, Coco was even more supportive of it.

"That might work better, but scroll reception is really spotty. Why don't we try driving them into a more open area - it'll be much easier to fight them that way."

As she moved around the table to see what Olive was proposing, she glanced at Velvet, who wasn't trying so hard to disappear into the floor. Coco counted it as a win.

In the end, they decided to go with Olive's plan. Velvet was grateful that Coco had spoken up - though a little embarrassed she had interjected with her plan when Olive had clearly been seeking her leader's opinion.

But no one had chastised her for speaking out of turn. Coco had clasped her shoulder and reassured her that her idea was a good one once they finalized the plan, but other than that no one had mentioned the slip-up.

Feeling brave, Velvet approached Olive the next morning about getting a photo of her weapon.

She was certain that her team would back her up - it didn't matter what Olive said or thought. Coco, Yatsuhashi and Fox wanted her around - wanted her to contribute to the team as best she could. They wouldn't let Olive do anything.

It still took three tries to get the words out. "Olive? Ma'am?"

The huntress turned to look Velvet up and down. "It's just Olive."

With Yatsuhashi literally at her back getting ready to leave, Velvet felt bold. "Can I take a picture of your weapon?"

Olive didn't ask any questions or comment; she simply unstrapped it from her back and held it out for Velvet.

She scrambled to pull out her camera, thanking Olive as she took several photos.

"Velvet, why do you want to become a huntress?"

She paused halfway through putting her camera away. "To help people who can't protect themselves." She frowned. "Are there other reasons people become hunters?"

Yatsuhashi chimed in from behind her. "I did it because it was expected of me - I want to help people too, but I pursued becoming a huntsman over anything else because it was expected of someone my size."

Velvet looked up at her partner. "You can do a lot of good as a huntsman, but if you don't want to be here - "

"I want to be here," he reassured her quickly. "No place I'd rather be, really." He ruffled her hair before making his way outside where Coco and Fox were waiting.

"Velvet…" Olive paused, considering her words with a tilt of her head. "Why did Ozpin make Coco leader?"

Her eyes darted around the room but there wasn't anyone there to help her with the answer. Was Olive asking out of idle curiosity or because she thought Velvet had overstepped her bounds?

"She's got a good head for strategy…"

"So do you."

Her no-nonsense tone was somehow reassuring. This was Olive being curious - if she had meant it any other way she would have said so in as many words. "I guess - Ozpin just felt like she was more qualified than me." She almost said she'd been brought onto the team later, that she hadn't been there or seen what led up to the decision, but decided against it. It'd raise too many questions she wasn't ready to answer.

"Huh," Olive said and then abruptly turned and left the room, signaling the end of the conversation.

After setting out, the five of them followed Olive's normal patrolling patterns to start - doing two loops around the village to ensure that the nests were the only grimm of note in the area before tackling the group of beowolves.

The fight itself was simple, and by most definitions it was a complete success - they had cleared out the larger nest of grimm with only minimal injuries.

Velvet couldn't look any of them in the eye though. "Minimal injuries" included a nasty slash to Fox's face caused by misstep on her part.

It had looked a lot worse than it was - Velvet had moved in too close while armed with Professor Port's bladed blunderbuss and Fox had moved the wrong way, catching an axe blade with his face.

He'd always bled an absurd amount, so by the time Velvet had dropped the weapon and turned to see what had made Fox cry out he already had blood dripping down his face.

"I knew his - his blunder-butt was a terrible idea," Velvet muttered as Yatsuhashi looked over Fox's wound. She'd expressed the concern - without the insult - when Coco had brought the professor to one of their sparring sessions for her to work with.

"I didn't realize you'd pulled a different weapon - I was expecting Coco's gun still," Fox admitted, wincing when it pulled at the scab.

Coco tried to reassure Velvet - it wasn't her fault. "Don't worry about it, Velvs. He's a bleeder - always has been." She took off her sunglasses, tapping them thoughtfully against her knee. "I'm concerned about the implications though - we were all thrown when you swapped to something unknown like that."

She flushed. "I'm sorry - I haven't tested it with a team extensively before. I'm still working out the kinks."

Fox's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth as if to ask a clarifying question but decided against it. Coco wanted to ask too - Velvet should have had plenty of opportunities to work with other people, even if it was still fairly new to the three of them. "We'll figure it out, Velvs. Hold off on using it tomorrow at least at first - this isn't the place for experimentation."

It was a bold move - asking Velvet to not use her weapon - but Coco knew she could handle herself. It wasn't a long-term solution by any means, but the field was not the place to attempt to figure out how they'd work together with Velvet's weapon without getting anyone hurt.

Velvet, thankfully, didn't look upset - if anything, she appeared to be relieved that they weren't angry at her over the accident.

When they discussed watch shifts, Coco volunteered to take the final watch shift of the night, since she struggled to fall back asleep if woken halfway through. It made more sense to leave the darkest hours to Fox and Velvet regardless of preferences.

Sleep came more easily than she expected. Having a team she could trust at her back meant it felt like she had just closed her eyes when Olive was waking her up for her watch.

Rather than trying to catch a few more hours of rest after rousing Coco, Olive went about tearing down camp and starting a pot of coffee on the banked fire.

"Look, I ain't going to tell you how to run your team," Olive said as she passed Coco a cup of the coffee she'd brewed.

Coco took a sip of it, peering over her sunglasses at Olive.

"But a team can only have one leader. If you value their opinions that's fine, but remember in the end you have to make the call." Olive's lips curled up into something resembling a smile. "And it shouldn't be because you're irritated at someone for telling off one of your team members. Velvet's got a good head for strategy, I'll give her that. But you were made leader over her for a reason - and you have to be careful. You'll have to learn how to best use her talents - better than what I saw out there yesterday - or you're going to get someone killed. Just having her not use her weapon isn't a solution either."

"Did Ozpin tell you the story of team CFVY?" she asked, though she suspected the answer was no.

Olive shook her head.

Coco swirled the coffee around in her mug, contemplating how to phrase it. "This is our first mission out as a team - we had a bit of an unusual start. We're still figuring out how each of us work, much less work together." She downed the last of the coffee. "We had a rough first couple of months - especially Velvs. We'll figure it out in time."

"If I hadn't interrupted the planning - what would you have said?"

Coco shrugged. "Something like what you'd suggested. Velvet's plan would have worked, but I preferred yours."

"Validating her plan was more important to you?"

"Validating her was more important to me," Coco corrected. "The plan was a good one."

Olive gave her a long considering look. "It was," she conceded. "You've got a good team - I can see why Ozpin likes you. But I have to ask - why did he make you leader?"

Most of her classmates would have said "because she's an Adel" and left it at that. Some days she believed them, but Ozpin's parting words had resonated with her and so she had a different answer now. "Because he thought I could lead team C-F-F-Y. He was wrong. I don't think anyone could lead that team."

Olive raised an eyebrow at the spelling. "What about team C-F-V-Y?"

She looked over to her sleeping teammates. "I think I can manage C-F-V-Y."