Team SWRZ - Volume 2 - Chapter 5 - The First Watch!

Gods, Schwartz hated children. They always proved to be a pain in the ass one way or another. They'd whine, cry, bicker, and never listen to the grownups. He could see why Bruna decided never to have kids. It was probably by choice, or the other men of the tribe were too intimidated by her.

"Those little shits couldn't have gone far," Schwartz muttered as he scoured the forest for the runaway children. They were brave or stupid enough to run out into the woods without protection. The place teemed with bandits and Grimm, he'd know.

The young man's gaze shifted to the wildling in the trees above him. Team ARNC member Nagina Dhar leaped from branch to branch, landing gracefully on all fours like a spider monkey. The girl raised her head and sniffed the air.

"Oh, they're close. I can smell them," The girl proclaimed quite confidently.

"Smell them?" Schwartz skeptically raised his eyebrows and mimicked the girl's actions. He wasn't quite sure which scent could've been the kids. "You're not fucking with me, are you?"

"Nope," Nagina dropped down from the tree, landing directly in front of Schwartz with a cocky grin. She then turned on her heels and approached a nearby tree. Like magic, she rounded the tree and came back with the children captured in her arms.

"Not bad. Guess that sniffer of yours is top-notch," Schwartz praised his fellow student's skills. As arrogant as he was in his ability, he gave credit to others when it was due.

"Yup, yup!" Nagina skipped across the forest, having no difficulty restraining the struggling children. The students returned to their group with the kids.

"Took your sweet time," Rowan Cassidy complained.

"Could've gone faster if you helped," Schwartz remarked.

"I figured you could've found them in no time flat, considering how great you think you are," Rowan snarkily replied.

"Next time, I'll be the one standing around with my thumb up my ass while others do the work. Sound good?"

"Watch your language around the kids, Schwartz," Watchet Amin pleaded.

"Fuck them, kids,"

"Fuck you!" Brulee and Maple snapped back with a swear of their own.

"What?!" Schwartz reached for his swords. It was a scare tactic at best, but Watchet was quick to try and de-escalate the situation.

"Now, now, how about we settle down?" Watchet calmly suggested. It was one thing for his teammates to bicker against themselves. He didn't need to add the kids to the mix.

"Fuck you too!" The twins weren't having any of Watchet's peaceful talk attempts. That became ever so evident when they flipped the young man off.

"Naughty children," Watchet raised his shades to his forehead and glared at the twins. In that short moment, he considered using his Semblance, [Snake Eyes], to charm them into obedience.

"Enough," Professor Lilith Hale declared. Her overwhelming authority silenced the group immediately. If looks could kill, the students would be dead three times over. "No more running away from us, is that understood?"

"You're not the boss of us, old lady!" Brulee said defiantly, earning worrisome glances from the students of Haven. Were they about to see it? Was their professor about to lose her cool and murder the children?

The professor lashed out and struck the twins on their heads, leaving sizeable bumps behind. "Call me old again, and I'll hit you."

"You already hit us!" cried the wounded twins.

"Try to run again, and she'll hit harder than that," Schwartz affirmed. As someone that suffered a beatdown from the woman himself, the kids should've thanked their blessings that she didn't leave a bruise or break a bone.

"Should I get their blood just in case?" Nagina wondered aloud, brandishing one of her chakrams. A dangerous gleam flashed as she eagerly waited for the go-ahead to cut the twins.

The implication alone unnerved the children and members of Team SWRZ. What did that girl plan to do with their blood in God's name?

"What demonic ritual do you plan to cast on these mortals?" Zorina Teufel demanded answers from the psychotic girl before her.

"What?" Nagina tilted her head to the side, unsure what to make of Zorina's question.

"Why do you want their blood?" Rowan translated.

"Nagina's Semblance lets her track anyone whose blood she digests," Lilith explained to Team SWRZ.

"Sweet Semblance," Schwartz continued to praise his classmate. He could already imagine the damage he could do with a Semblance like that in his life.

"More like vile," Amani Almas shuddered. The mere thought of her teammate ingesting someone's blood made her skin crawl. It was beyond disgusting, and she wanted nothing to do with it. "There's no way I'm ever letting her drink my blood."

"It's only a drop," Edward Regalia mentioned with a roll of his eyes.

"Regardless, there will be no blood drinking today!" Amani put her foot down. "The kids won't be escaping again because the first-years will keep an eye on them."

"Excuse me?" Schwartz and Rowan eyed the opposing team leader. Where did she get off making presumptions like that?

"Hard of hearing? You first-years will be looking after the kids," Amani spoke louder but slower, hoping that the first-years would get their thick skills across.

"Wait for a second. Why should we--"

"We will gladly look after them," Watchet happily cut in to appease the upperclassman.

"The hell we will!" complained Schwartz. Where did his partner get off making such decisions for the team? Wasn't he the team leader?

"I don't care who watches them. Make sure they don't get away again. Now, let's move," Lilith ordered before she continued down the road. Team ARNC followed close behind, leaving Team SWRZ with the kids.

Of course, in a troublesome fashion, the kids put up a fight. But, Schwartz made quick work of them and dragged them along. The trip went smoothly for the next couple of hours until a pack of Beowolves crossed their path.

"Finally, some action!" Schwartz released the twins and nearly jumped at the chance to face the Grimm. He stopped in his tracks when Amani waved her arm out in front of him.

"You first-years deal with babysitting while the pros deal with the Grimm extermination," Amani arrogantly declared. Usually, Schwartz would've argued back with the girl, but he was somewhat interested in the second-year combat abilities. With a nod, he stepped back and decided to watch the spectacle. A devious smile crossed the girl's face as she reached in her pocket and pulled out her scroll. She pressed a single button and aimed the monitor at her face. "Good evening, people of Remnant. It's Mistral's priceless gem, Amani Almas! I'm back at it again with my team, and we're going to lay waste to some Grimm for your entertainment!"

"Is...is she streaming right now?" Rowan stared at the young woman, bewildered that someone so arrogant could exist in Remnant. They were mere yards away from Grimm, yet she decided to record everything on her scroll?

"Let the show begin!" With a flick of her wrist, the Gravity Dust bangles on her arms activated. The eight daggers secured to her waist levitated and spun around her.

"This is combat, Amani," Edward extended his arms out, allowing gauntlets to envelop his fists.

"Let her have her fun," Cerise Bonnet brandished her twin axes, knowing better than to try and scold her team leader.

"This won't take long anyway," Nagina assured her teammates with her chakrams.

"Show start!" Amani declared. Taking that as the signal, Nagina leaped into action first out of the team. She fearlessly charged toward the pack of Beowlves. A few lunged at the girl, but she proved far too quick and agile to get shredded by their claws. Before they even knew what hit them, the poor Grimm dropped to the ground in pieces.

Next was the powerhouse of the team, Edward. While not possessing speed and grace like Nagina, he made up for it in terms of raw strength and power. He let out a fierce roar and plowed through the Grimm pack, knocking them down, one after the other, with his gauntlets. When he found himself surrounded, he slammed his fists down, manipulating the Rock Dust in his gauntlets to raise the ground around him.

The launched Grimm proved easy pickings for Cerise. A single push of a button sent the head of her ax out into the air. It latched onto one of the airborne Beowolves and pulled her close and personal to the defenseless creature. She laid waste to the monsters with fierce yet precise swings with her axes.

And last but not least was the esteemed leader of the team. Amani remained stationary and allowed her lovely daggers to do all the dirty work. With well-timed and performed hand movements, the second-year guided her blades through the vitals of the beasts. It took Team ARNC less than a minute to clear out the pack.

"Okay, maybe these guys aren't all talk," Schwartz reluctantly admitted. Perhaps Team ARNC would give his team a run for their money if they were to fight. They were impressive; their movements and attacks were well-coordinated and timed.

"We should strive to reach that level of teamwork," Watchet suggested to his teammates.

"Surpass," Schwartz corrected. Reaching that level of teamwork wouldn't do team SWRZ any good. He wanted his team to be the best in Mistral, hell, perhaps even in all of Remnant. Team ARNC was a decent template to study, but he wanted to be better than them within the next few months.

"That works too," Watchet smiled, knowing that witnessing Team ARNC lit a fire in his partner's stomach. Seeing potential competition proved essential in Schwartz's growth.

"And that, people of Remnant, was another successful Grimm extermination thanks to Team ARNC, led by yours truly!" Amani quickly signed off her stream and gathered her team together for a quick selfie to commemorate the memory.

"They have their quirks, but they're an efficient team," Lilith informed Team SWRZ. "Watch them closely, and maybe you'll learn something."

"Sure thing," Schwartz, Watchet, and Zorina answered.

"Alright, we've lost enough daylight. Let's set up camp and get some sleep," Lilith ordered.

"Sweet! First-years get first the watch!" Amani quickly announced, happily skipping around with Nagina to find an excellent spot to set up camp.

While initially Schwartz was opposed to the idea, he quickly decided against it when he considered some training he could get in. The students quickly set up camp while Lilith watched over the twins. Thankfully, they were in no rush to try and escape in the dark of the night. They didn't seem interested in trying to run away anymore after they witnessed Team ARNC's fight against the Grimm.

Brulee and Maple clung to Team ARNC and bombarded them with questions.

"You guys are so cool! Do you get to kill Grimm like that all the time?" Brulee and Maple asked the team. Or, more specifically, Edward, Nagina, and Cerise. The twins removed Amani from the equation for some strange reason, much to Schwarz and Rowan's amusement.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses in training," Edward calmly corrected the excited children. Unlike his leader, he refused to let his status get to his head and inflate his ego. "And yes, we do occasionally exterminate the Grimm."

"It must be awesome being a Huntsmen, doing whatever you want, going wherever you want..." Maple sheepishly commented, staring up at the starry night sky.

"You brats wanna be Huntsmen?" Schwartz called out to them from the farther side of the camp. The young man performed a maintenance check on his swords while leaning against a tree.

"More than anything," The twins replied in earnest. "We wanna be the strongest Huntsmen in all of Remnant!"

"Good luck with that since I'm already here," Schwartz arrogantly gestured to himself, earning several eye rolls from the students.

"You're just a first-year student. You're nowhere near our level!" Amani boldly claimed.

"Just you wait. We'll prove we're better than you when we win the Vytal Tournament," Schwartz countered.

Amani stared blankly at Schwartz for a moment and then burst into laughter, holding her sides. "Y-You? Win the Vytal Tournament? That's rich!"

"What's so funny?" Schwartz tightened his hold on his swords. He'd do it. He'd walk right over and slit the laughing girl's throat.

"You don't stand a chance of winning the tournament, let alone participating! 'Cause Team ARNC is gonna win it all!" Amani proclaimed, taking a dramatic pose to get a rise out of the children. Unfortunately, Brulee and Maple didn't seem interested in their conversation and went back to questioning the others.

"Quiet down," ordered Lilith from her sleeping bag. "It's getting late. Get the kids to bed."

"We're not sleepy," The twins complained, but a sharp glare from the teacher got them in their sleeping bags real quick. They reluctantly closed their eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

"Alright, Team ARNC, let's get some beauty sleep!" Amani and her teammates said goodnight and went to bed, leaving Team SWRZ to handle the first watch. Unknownst to them, a pair of eyes watched them from the shadows of the night.