Max Vermillion: A RWBY Story

Chapter 13: The Training Mission

~Beacon's courtyard~

Max would stand at the rear of the airship, while occasionally looking down at his watch, and tapping his feet on the hanger impatiently.

Max: "Where are they..." Max would mutter before looking up, as he spotted 8 people running towards him. "And here they are."

JNPR and RWBY would make a B-line for the airship before halting, everyone was out of breath.

Jaune: "Sorry, Mr Vermillion, we had our times set to Mistral time!" Jaune would apologized as he wiped a sweat away from his brow.

Max would give a blank stare.

Max: "One of you, I understand, but all of you? And you set your time to Mistral time? That. Is. Just. Plain. Dumb. We are not even going to Mistr-"

Philip would place an arm around Max's shoulder as he gave a toothy grin to the latecomers.

Philip: "Great! The gang is all here! Now come aboard and let's take off!"

Max: "You are a bad disciplinarian, Philip."

Philip: "What Max?! I can't hear you over the sound of the engines!"

Max: "What engines-"

*WRRRRRIINNG*

Max would just sigh before motioning for the latecomers to get on-board. The Airship would quickly depart and fly passed Ozpin's office as Aurora looked through the windows at the departing airship. She would turn to the Beacon students that have transformed Ozpin's office into a fully functional search and rescue center, investigating any leads of their missing professors whereabouts. 

Aurora: "Alright, I have contacted our contacts down at Vale PD and they have informed their patrols to inform us if they have anything. For now, I want access to every security camera in and around the City of Vale, forget about the security clearance, we have people lives on the line."

The S&R team would nod to their leader before getting to work, hoping to find their professors.

~Near the mission area~

Max would approach JNPR, who were talking among-st themselves.

Max: "You guys ready?"

Jaune: "Yep."

Max: "Did you pack everything I told you to pack?"

Nora: "Yep! We got the sleeping bag, extra dust, weapon maintenance kit, flares, compass, maps, emergency scroll, huntsman ID tag, survival knife, and snacks!"

Max would give a nod of approval to all of the items, but look up at the snacks.

Max: "....Snacks?"

Nora: "Yep!"

Ren: "We tried to dissuade her, but she was adamant that you put that on the list."

Max would pinch the bridge of his nose.

Max: "Just leave the snacks on the airship, you can enjoy it on the flight back AFTER the mission."

Nora: "Yay!"

Jaune: "Mr Vermillion, how dangerous is this uh...forest?"

Max: "Nothing in that forest that you have not prepared for, Mr Arc."

Jaune: "Oh crud."

Pyrrha: "Don't worry, Jaune, you have us!" Pyrra would say, trying to raise Jaune's spirit.

Jaune: "Even with that reassurance, I still feel like we are going to die."

Max would sigh, looking over at Philip, who was playing Charades with Team RWBY, before looking up as the intercom crackled to life.

Intercom: "Maxwell and JNPR, please move toward the ramp for drop off."

Ruby: "Good luck, Mr Vermillion!" Ruby would shout as she waved. "You too, JNPR!"

JNPR would give a thumbs up to Ruby as they picked up their belongings and made their way towards the ramp. Max would sigh, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder before following JNPR.

???: "Hey Max!"

Max would turn as Charlotte stood near the ramp.

Charlotte: "Call us if things get tough out there."

Max: "Eh...you call us first, Smokey."

Charlotte: "CRDL, we are going to keep on moving till we get to that point!" Charlotte would shout to CRDL, who groaned. 

Charlotte: "Well, you better get off before you have second thoughts."

Max: "Let's go, JNPR." 

JNPR would disembark the ramp and Max would follow before waving to the pilot as the airship took off to the secondary LZ. 

Max: "Alright, team leader. You got the map and compass." Max would say to Jaune as the young team leader fumbled through his bag for the items. "All set?"

Jaune would open the map and look at the compass before doing a whole 180 before pointing.

Jaune: "I think we have to go this way?" Jaune would ask as he looks at Max for reassurance. 

Max: "Hey man, I am just here to babysit you all, not to give you the answers."

Jaune: "Alright, I think we should go this way then, come along everyone." Jaune would order as the team + Joseph ventured into the thick vegetation. 

A shadowy figure would watch from within the vegetation.

~RWBY and Philip~

Philip and RWBY would wad through the thick swampy water.

Weiss: "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Weiss would shout. "Why did we get dropped off here!"

Ruby: "I should've worn pants!" Ruby would shout. "And being short doesn't help either!"

Yang: "Woooh! It is like playing in a pool!"

Blake: "A really murky pool, Yang."

Philip would have the fattest grin on his face.

Philip: "So girls! Why do y'all want to be huntsman?"

All of the girls would look at their advisor, a bit stunned to be asked such a question.

Yang: "I wanna punch things!" Yang would shout as she punched her fist together. "Much better than a normal 9-5."

Blake: "I just wanted to try something new." 

Weiss: "I wanted to make a name for myself that is not as simply the heiress of the Schnee Dust company."

Ruby: "And I want to be a hero!"

Philip would chuckle.

Philip: "Fine motives, you four, but this gig is no sunshine and rainbows! Gotta put in that work to actually succeed in this career and even in the industry. Anyway, we have about 5 more miles of walking through this swamp before we can rest for the night!" 

The girls would nod as they focused on not getting themselves even more dirty, while un-unbeknownst to the group, a dark shadow would silently watch the group.

~Charlotte and CRDL~

Charlotte and CRDL were scaling a mountain.

Charlotte: "Wow! You boys really do need the workout!" Charlotte would shout to her underlings as they struggled to keep up with their mentor. "Maybe you should quit! Use that flare and call in the airship to come pick you up!" Charlotte would shout.

Cardin: "Shut up! You aren't even that far anyway!" Cardin would shout defiantly before grasping onto another rock. 

Charlotte would smirk, increasing her speed, as a shadowy figure would flyover head.