The Queen's Pet Ursa

Chapter 1: Little Dante

Deep in the Emerald Forest, Team JNPR was on a class assignment by Professor Cortes to bring back a few specimens of flowers that can benefit oneself if consumed. The team decided to locate the Myacinth, an interesting flower that, if mixed with some honey and a herb, can enhance one's stamina if consumed.

"Alright, guys," said Ren as everyone gathered together. "According to my map, the Myacinth should be located somewhere-"

"It should be somewhere near east of here," interrupted Jaune. "Myacinth tends to grow around large rocky areas, which lies east of here." Pyrrha beamed at Jaune, giving him a pat on the back while Ren confirmed it on his map.

"I, uh, I would always pester my mother to take me to the Floriculture Museum when I was younger, so I know a lot of...never mind," Jaune rambled. Pyrrha giggled behind her hand.

"Let's go, lazy butts!" shouted Nora, who sped off for the eastern region. Ren sighed and ran after her followed by Jaune and Pyrrha. Nora hooted with laughter as she climbed up the rocky hills, searching for the Myacinth.

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren found enough Myacinth to warrant a passing grade. Nora, well, she has disappeared from the team. "How is it Nora is worth so much trouble to us?" Jaune questioned aloud.

"You should've seen her when we were kids," Ren answered. "She was a nightmare to our friends and neighbors." Jaune and Pyrrha chuckled a little at the thought of Nora as a child.

Elsewhere, Nora had just descended down the hills looking for Myacinth to instead witness an impressive, yet terrifying battle between an Ursa and four Beowolves. Nora noticed a tiny cub Ursa clinging to the bigger one's back; it mother. The Beowolves quickly surrounded the mother Ursa and attacked, bringing it down to snack on. The cub dove off its mother's back and made a ran for it, but two Beowolves broke away to pursue it.

That was when Nora appeared between the Grimm. Brandishing her mighty Magnhild, she utterly destroyed the two Beowolves. The remaining two paused their feast on the mother and rushed at Nora. With the press of a trigger, she blasted the two into bits.

Nora watched as the Ursa cub ran to its fallen mother and nudged its lifeless body. It pawed at its mother's face without a response and let out a low growl. Nora felt a little saddened by this. 'If I had reacted quicker, the mother would still be alive,' Nora thought. Nora holstered her weapon and approached the cub, who spun around and lightly growled, which sounded so cute to Nora.

Nora picked the cub up in her arms. The Ursa was not very big for such a young age, only maybe about 6 pounds or so. Nora smiled, the gears in her head turning at a fast speed. "I'll take care of you, okay?" she said. The Ursa only growled and waved its tiny claws at her harmlessly. "Are you a boy or a girl?" Nora checked the proper places. "You are a boy. I shall name you...Gavin. Wait, no, that's a silly name."

Nora pondered many names to give her new pet. "Gus? How about Ray? No, maybe Jack. Miles sounds nice. Michael sounds good. I know, I shall name you, Dante."

Nora placed Dante into her bag, making sure he fit snuggly and gathered some berries for him to eat and to be still while in the company of Team JNPR. Nora carefully climbed back up the hills to find the rest of JNPR waiting for her. "There you are, Nora," said Ren. "We gathered enough Myacinth, so let's head back."

"Yes, Ren." Team JNPR headed for the meeting point and the entire class went back to the classroom. Professor Drake gave the team a passing B+ for their outstanding work, but took points off for how much time they took gathering the flowers. Ren read over a little history of the Myacinth.

"Hm. According to this, an explorer by the name of Monty Ouma discovered the Myacinth and some of its popular uses. He sounds like a cool guy." Ren looked over to see Jaune reading another issue of "X-Ray and Vav." Ren sighed and closed his book. "I guess we should head for dinner."

Nora kept little Dante in her bag with her all throughout dinner. Whenever Dante growled, anything, she made a loud sound to mask it, much to Team JNPR's questionable looks. "Here ya go, Dante," Nora whispered as she slipped some of her meat loaf into her bag for him, which he snatched up in his mouth. "Guys, I'm gonna head back up to the room a little early." Nora pushed her tray still with some food over to her friends, grabbed her bag, and ran off. One arm was tucked over the bag as well.

In Team JNPR's room, Nora searched everywhere for a place to hide Dante where the others will not think to look, but it was difficult. "I know, maybe I can convince Team RWBY to hide you," she told Dante, who growled at her. "No, that won't work. Weiss will be furious." Nora went back to searching, speeding across the room like Professor Oobleck. "Let's see here...we can do the bathroom sink." Dante looked at Nora through his Grimm mask with a puzzled look. "Maybe not."

Nora dashed over to her bed. "We could pull out some floorboards underneath and set up a cage of sorts," she said aloud. "Nah, I suppose you wouldn't want to see the underside of my bed most of the day." Nora fled to her closet dresser this time. "I guess you'll have to stay in here. There's some space for you, plus we can lock the doors with a key." She flashed a key in her hand.

Nora went to work setting up a little bed out of a bed sheet and a pair of one of her old sweat pants. She placed Dante inside and he soon snuggled in real tight, satisfied with his new quarters. Nora smiled and pet his fur. "I love you already, Dante," Nora whispered. Dante blinked at her twice, then inched closer to her face, rubbing himself against her, sending her into a fit of coos.

"I'll get you some food tomorrow morning, okay?" she told him. "You just need to be quiet for a while. I'll take you out for a bit after everyone is asleep." With that, Nora closed and locked her closet dresser. Dante burrowed himself into his bed and fell fast asleep.

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