A/N: Heeeeey everyone! Arch here, finally back home, and with the next chapter! Sorry for the delay again, but regardless, I hope you all enjoy, and I'll see y'all next time!
Flying above the Emerald Forest in a bullhead wasn't the same as flying above it without one. So far, the group could see the lush plant life, vibrant greens, and overall pleasant scenery without having the necessity of landing on their own without dying in the middle.
Jin, for the most part, was stuck with her face against the window, having never seen such a view for herself before from this close. "Ooooh…" She continually gasped in admiration for the beauty Remnant could give, seeing things in a way hidden for any other to behold. As for the rest of the group, Perci was sitting in the corner of the carrier hull, eating some chips, looking around periodically at Hue, busy as ever sketching things and reading her own thoughts from days prior. On the other end, Leila, who for the most part knelt at the other end of the hull, eyes closed and hands brought together, silently giving a prayer for the success of their first mission ever.
"I hope the four of you are prepared for some serious excitement!" Port called from the other end of the bullhead, piloting it himself. "Once we land, we have quite the few days ahead of us!" His voice was filled with enthusiasm, as the various faux-grimm, trashed around the bullhead would have shown.
Perci nodded nonetheless, giving him a thumbs up. "Ya got THAT right, chief! Wooo!" Filled with enthusiasm, she couldn't wait to see her favorite teacher in action, blasting and hacking his way through hordes of Grimm, all the way to another epic tale to tell his students in class.
Leila, however, didn't find herself overly fond of their almost in sync behavior, huffing lightly once her prayer was done. "Regardless… It is just a simple mission for people in our experience group. I highly doubt anything overly out of the ordinary would occur, Perci." Despite having some level of tolerance to Perci and her antics, it was still something that Leila could never truly get accustomed to, if not at the very least tolerate to some degree. Is it really such a necessity to make such a ruckus out of killing Grimm?" It was an enigma, to be sure. Whenever she was faced with the dispatching of the Grimm, Leila never faltered, but never thought anything special out of it. It was, after all, by the education she was given as an Ascendant. She is to protect the people. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Alright… Let me pitch it to ya this way, Nun." Perci gave her a lightly condescending look, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. "See, some people don't have giant fucking rulers up their asses, and actually want to try and have some fun with what they do. So… Ya know, might as well let that adrenaline rush come and just roll with it. Woo!" She gave a short battle cry once more, raising a hand in the air. Port actually joined her on that one, laughing uproariously, full of energy and life. "See? What'd I tell ya." Perci smirked again, leaning back and rubbing her stomach lightly after the meal she just finished. "Find the fun in things, no matter how violent they are!"
Nevertheless, the nun kept her zealous guise, trying to maintain some level of professionalism between the overly childish teacher and her partner. "You can do as you please. I will focus on actually finishing the mission. Remember, Perci, that our goal isn't to just kill Grimm and pose for some invisible camera."
"Indeed." Hue chimed in, always having something to add to the argument. "The mission is the capture of a runaway group of thugs, and their deliverance to the proper authorities. Remember, Perci, that you were the one who chose this mission, and regardless of who is leading it, it still needs to be done."
"And it shall!" Port called again, looking down and searching for a proper landing spot for the bullhead. He tilted the airborne vehicle slightly, without realizing it, and in the hull, the entirety of team JPLL suddenly found themselves being pulled towards one of the walls. Jin quickly lost grasp of the window, and if not for Leila's quick thinking, moving between Jin and the wall, she would have easily torn the thin metal apart, sending all of them downwards. Port quickly fixed his angle when he heard the grunt the nun made, letting Leila gently move Jin out of the way, and inhaling a breath of fresh air, without a massive cluster of hairs to get in her way. "Oops! Sorry girls, my bad!" Port called out again, moving forward, circling around the particular area in which the search was to happen.
"Don't mention it chief…" Perci grunted lightly, picking herself up from the floor, and stood up to her feet, brushing off the dust from her suit. "Bleh… I think I'm a bit sick…" She couldn't help but mutter off hand, looking around at the remainder of her team.
"You don't say…" Leila looked at her dazed and confused.
It didn't take Perci more than a second to realize what she just said, raising an eyebrow and giving Leila a teasing smirk. "My oh my… Could it be that the pure, gentle nun just spoke to me with sarcasm? Who knew you were capable of such vulgar tongue…" Snickers followed every word that she uttered, clearly enjoying this small chance to tease.
Leila rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood for such japery. "I apologize. It won't repeat itself." It was rehearsed for her, to speak in such a way. Regardless, the smell from inside this person bullhead wasn't doing well her psyche, and the one thing she most wanted at the moment was to get out of there as soon as was humanly possibly.
"Alright, I think I found us a good spot to descend it! Land ho!" Port's call finally brought a shred of hope for the near suffocating nun, and at that point she couldn't even regard his tone or mannerisms. Slowly, the bullhead got down, the trees growing closer and closer, until they were in midst of the thicket, having a clear patch of grass to land in.
As soon as the doors opened up, Leila ran outside, thanking the Lord audibly for letting her pass this trial of foul breath with success, almost kissing the ground with relief. Perci chuckled, walking slowly after her, and Jin ran out shortly after, looking around happily, dropping to the grass and rolling in it for a bit. At last, Hue walked out, carrying her bag, reminding the others that they should probably get theirs.
Port stepped out, carrying his axe with him, leaning on his burly shoulders. He surveyed the area quietly before his attention returned to the four that were with him. "Alright, now, while I know that you were all excited to be able to see such a living legend up close and personal in combat, I should inform you that we won't be fighting Grimm across the clock." He paused for a bit, only to see the disappointment on Perci's face. "I'm sorry Perci, but this is just how things are. Sometimes, some missions also involve some stealth to them. Luckily for us, I am a trained huntsman, so we won't be needing any of that boring bees-nasty anyway!" He raised his thumb up and pointed towards the deeper side of the forest. "Now, onward, students! The supposed thugs were reportedly hiding further in… That direction!" He then paused again, looking at his finger, and turned around, pointing to another spot. "No, wait! Now I have it. This direction!"
He started to walk, before stopping one more time, still doubting himself. Pulling his scroll out, he tinkered with it for a bit, as a map of the surrounding area, including their exact location and where they should go, was revealed to him. He then promptly did another one-eighty, walking back in the original direction he was headed in. "Alright, now it's for certain. This way, come along!" Despite the miscalculations, Port seemed as adamant as ever in keeping his cheerful mood alive, pacing happily through to the inner sanctums of the forest.
Perci, taking charge in a bizarre turn of events, pointed after Port, trying to keep up with him. "Well, you heard the man! Move it, bitches! Woo!" A slightly crazed grin appeared on her face, clearly enjoying herself, and dragging the rest of her team with her, the four of them marched on. "So, Port…" Perci finally walked up to him, looking around for any possible clues. "Any idea on what we're dealin' with? Gonna be some grimm, right?"
"You bet on it!" He looked at her back, his mustache curling with his lips to the smile only a veteran adventurer would show. "Can't have a mission without some closer encounter of the Grimm kind! And speaking of…" He paused, looking onwards for a bit, and drawing his weapon. "I believe we're about to get some…"
Suddenly, the flight of a razor sharp feather, roughly the size of a quill, pierced the air, nearly hitting Port before he shot it down, a trail of fire in his wake. After that, the screech of a nevermore heralded the coming of a real fight, and Port stepped back, eager to see what his students were capable of. "Alright girls, the stage is all yours! Make me proud!"
"You got it!" Perci smashed a fist against an open palm, grinning even wider as the nevermore came into view. As it flew directly at them, coming to send another volley of feathers at the group, she lunged forward, giving it a well-aimed swing with her cane, hitting the top of its beak with the very end of it, and sending it down, rending it asunder. Jin followed up, running up to the Grimm on all fours, and as the dust in her body reacted to her primal will, lightly started to surge through her fingertips, hacking through it with overwhelming strength and killing it right there and then.
"Excellent work girls, but I believe we're not quite done yet!" Port's voice directed them onwards, where a Deathstalker, roughly the size of the now decaying nevermore, charged through, aiming its stinger at Jin. Now, it was Hue's turn to act, calling upon her semblance, as the searing light she commanded wrapped itself around the thinnest part of the tail, constricting it from moving downwards. As the Grimm struggled against her hold, Leila ran forward, taking a leap, and falling on top of its head, driving the full size of her blade right through its bone mask, shattering it with ease. The Grimm didn't go down just yet, screeching and sending a claw at the nun, catching her off guard, but thankfully for her Hue intervened, sending an explosive arrow at the incoming pincer, as the resulting explosion staggered the beast, sending it back.
Leila dashed forward, her voice rising into a shout, as she swung her blade one last time, finally felling the Deathstalker. It collapsed, falling to the floor lifeless and motionless, and soon enough, its body began to decay, black mist surrounding the ichor that poured out of it.
As they kept advancing through the forest, Grimm came, and came in spades. Of course, being the huntresses in training that they were, none of them were caught off guard, powering through the incoming hordes and packs of beowolves and ursai, each in her own unique way.
By the time the sun hit her very peak in the skies, they had made decent progress in their mission. Hue's sharp wits finding them some clues for human movement, Port and team JPLL were making steady headway towards the supposed hideout, and the completion of their very first mission.
As Jin finished hacking through another beowolf, her new fiery breath aiding her struggles quite well, she was approached by Peter, who for the most part merely observed their team from afar.
"Why hello there, Jin! Good job!" He praised her for her hard work, and Jin smiled at him happily, her grin opening wide to reveal teeth laced with Dust.
"Thanks!" Her response, as it always was, came off childish and simplistic. It was always nice to hear a word of praise from another, and the aura before her seemed lively enough about it, catching her in his enthusiasm.
"So Jin! A question, if you would." Port stepped a bit closer to her, trying to get her full attention, or at least, what he could of it. He was, of course, pre-informed about Jin and her tendencies, but regardless, he had a question to ask. "Why did you decide to join Ozpin? After all, you weren't an official student. You could have just as well said no and left."
Jin frowned just a teeny, tiny bit, trying to come up with a proper response. "Uhh… He was nice! And being nice is nice! So I said yes!" She cheered, dashing in to give Port a cheerful hug, and unfortunately for the old huntsman, his speed wasn't enough to evade the deadly grip of her embrace. "And you're nice too!" She hugged him tightly, shaking Port around a bit in the air, before finally dropping him on the ground.
"And what about you, Perci? You seem adamant enough on your path. Why choose to come to Beacon?" He asked Perci, while she was busy taking her own little break from the madness of the mission.
Perci turned to him, raising a single eyebrow. "I mean… It was either that or staying in prison, you know? Kiiiinda better than that, if you ask me." She explained briefly, sighing and pulling out one of her cigars. She stared at it, realizing it's been ages since she last popped one of them, but for the sake of being civil, she brought a second, offering it to Port. "Want one? I got them from like Atlas; it's the really superb shit." She then pulled the lighter he gave her when she first arrived, realizing that she never returned it. "Ah shit, I totally forgot about the lighter…"
"No no, it's fine." Port shrugged off taking the cigar from her hands. "And, well, I suppose you don't get to smoke such vintage every day…" He chuckled lightly, putting the cigar in his mouth, both of them taking a puff. "But I do wonder, when you left with the rest of your team. Why stay with them? Surely you could have just escaped on your own before anyone would have found you."
"Well, Chief…" Perci grinned, taking another puff of her cigar, looking at nothing in particular. "I guess it wasn't so bad after all, being here in Beacon. I mean, I still want to get out of here as soon as I fucking can, but for what it's worth, it ain't THAT bad, if it makes any sense…"
Hue, having dispatched another small pack on her own, took a small breather, cleaning her blade from the ichor that amassed on it throughout the day. As she did, Port approached her, wobbling a bit with each step, the cigar in his mouth still, puffing on it every so often. "Hello, Port." This time, Hue was the first to beckon him, noting there was only one person he could have gotten said cigar from. "Perci gave you that, did she not?"
"Oh, there's no need to worry about it." Port laughed lightly, finishing the cigar and throwing it away. "So! Hue Luminos… If you don't mind me asking…"
"You're going to ask why did I come to Beacon, correct? I've noticed you talking to the others. I assume Leila would be last, as per the team order." She swiftly took the pleasure of asking from his hands, dictating the exact process of his actions.
"I, well… Yes! Of course, that's what I'm here to ask!" He didn't falter, keeping on his bombastic act, coming to ask her regardless. "Your grades are at the top, and you seem capable on the battlefield. But every night you're moon gazing. So why come here?"
Hue sighed, taking one last glance to make sure no grimm were coming at them, and then turned to the elder teacher. "Life in Vacuo isn't for me. Chaos reigns, the law is helpless, and regardless of that, my siblings could be quite intolerable." He spoke without too much emotion in her voice, seemingly not caring much for the state of her home kingdom. "My parents told me the only way they'll let me move outside is if I wanted to become a huntress. So, I passed the exams, and here I am."
"I see... Though don't you think that it would have been a waste of time to come off a Huntsman academy if what you're after isn't here?" He kept his questioning, as Hue turned to him fully.
"I will do anything I need to continue my research. And right now, it's staying in Beacon."
Lastly, came Leila, just finishing another prayer to her Lord for the killing she is forced to commit against the Grimm. While not being a sin per se, she regardless felt the need to pray for the safe continuation of the mission, not noticing Port walking towards her, after finally questioning the rest of her team. "Ah, Leila! The nun from Mistral!" He called out to her, and gave him her usual bow, as a polite gesture.
"Yes, professor Port? What can I help you with?" Her voice was soothing and calm as ever, gazing at him with an absolute calm in her eyes, one that she held after a much-needed prayer.
"Well, Leila… I wanted to ask you a single question." He made his approach, glancing at her from behind his massive eyebrows. "Why did you come to Beacon?"
"Very simple, professor." She explained, keeping her politeness. "The church from where I come saw fit to send me to a huntsman academy, to make sure I possess the skills I need to serve the people of our village as a proper guardian. And, since Mistral is known for it's… Lawless tendencies, Atlas if far too close minded, and Vacuo is just as worse as Mistral, it was chosen that I would go to Beacon."
Port paused for a bit, thinking. "And then… Was this fully your choice? Did you want all of this?"
Shaking her head, Leila regardless picked up her sword. "No, and it does not bother me. The Lord has chosen me for this fate, and I will welcome it."
After a long, tedious day of fighting and pushing onwards, the five of them finally camped out for the night, sitting together before the campfire. So far, the dinner they shared was already done, and Port was in the middle of one of his tall tales, Perci listening in with glee while the others quickly fell asleep.
"So hold on, chief," Perci asked after he finally finished his story, this time not being constricted by a lesson to make him stop. "So you asked all of us this questions, right? Why though?"
"Ah, well that's a great question Perci." Port, for a change, lowered his voice, as a courtesy for those who were already sleeping. "It is required of us teachers to ask that on a student's first mission. Ozpin personally reads all of them." By now, despite being teacher and student, Perci and Port seemed to have acquired some form of a warrior's bond, two people who share a similar passion for a moment of badassery. "Though, now that I think about it… None of you really came here to be huntresses in particular." He mused over the notion, chuckling lightly. "What a team…"
"Yyyup. Team JPLL, at your service." Perci chuckled as well, finally climbing into her sleeping bag. "Anywho, night Chief, see ya tomorrow."
"Sleep tight, Perci." He bid her farewell, watching over the camp, while planning the day that would come after….
The day after, after a rather hasty wake-up call and breakfast, the five of them marched on, continuing their search. Soon enough, they reached a small cave, hidden behind a quick layer of brush, where muffled and hushed chants could be heard from deep within. Port, being the first to react, raised his hand, signaling all of them to stop in their tracks, as they pressed themselves around the side of the entrance, hiding behind the wall. A chilly breeze swept from the inside, cold air seeping out at a steady pace, though at the moment none of them cared for it much.
Making sure they were still undetected, Port pointed at Jin. "Jin, how are there in there. Please count them." Unlike his usual cocky tone, when it came to the actual mission at hand, Port turned serious to a degree, keeping a stern expression on his face, like any professional huntsman would.
Jin peered from behind the wall, taking a few minutes to count the auras inside, however, from the expression she wore after just looking at them, worry and concern spreading across her face, it was clear that something was wrong. "T-They don't look well… T-They're hurt…" She mumbled, forgetting about the numbers and focusing more on that fact.
"I see…" Port pondered, deciding that it was better to try and secure the parameter without combat if they could. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do: Perci, Jin, you take the front line with me. Hue and Leila, go around them, and provide backup if needed. I'll try and reason with them, but if worse comes to worst, we might have to fight." He concluded the briefing, as Perci, Leila and Hue nodded in understanding, Jin still staring into the cave with worry in her eyes.
"B-But Mama told me fighting was bad…" She repeated the same excuse she always did, being very reluctant to even step inside the cave. For some reason, whatever she saw in there was enough to actively make her shiver with fear.
Trying to reassure her, Port ruffled her hair, Jin slowly cheering up. "Don't worry, if we can, no one will get hurt. Tell you what…" He thought for a second, trying to find a proper incentive for the giantess to motivate her to join them. "If you come with us… I'll buy you ice cream. How about it?" He asked, and Jin nodded once, still looking a tad unsure. Focusing on the serenity and bravery his aura showed her, Jin managed to push through, all of them walking inside just as Port instructed.
The more they walked inside, the darker it got, making it nigh impossible to see. Thinking on her feet, Hue conjured a few small spheres of light, sending them over to each group, being herself, Leila on the other wall, and Port. He gave her a thumbs up for her clever use of her semblance, and with her light guiding the way, they kept going.
No one said a word so far. There was little to anything to say anymore, and they more they got closer to the people inside, the more distressed Jin got, making the rest of them nervous. At some point, even Port seemed to be affected to a degree, growing a rad too quiet, even for someone like him. However, as they group saw a faint light a few feet away from them, realizing they reached their targets, Port resumed his brave guise, nodding to Hue who made her light vanish.
The scene that was revealed to them was unnerving, to say the least: A group of people in robes, hoods covering their faces, all standing around some keg with a familiar symbol on it, seemingly in the middle of a prayer. "Hey, you there!" Port, not being one for stealth or tact, simply stepped forth, disrupting their little ritual, while Perci, Leila, and Hue passed panicked glanced between each other, Jin being too busy staring at the auras of the people, sickly and weak, almost like a fire in its dying breath. There were more people on the floor, around the corners of the cave, passed out or sleeping, though which one of them it was didn't really matter at that point.
One of the men turned to Port. Under his hood, they saw almost gray skin, on his hands and on some of his face, seemingly very, very ill. He raised his finger, some of the others picking up crude looking weapons, from simple pipes to shivs, walking towards the huntsmen without saying a word. "Alright, that's enough." Port gave the nod, already distressed enough as it were, giving his team the go to act and take them out.
"Gladly," Perci smirked, walking towards one of them, and giving the man a hook straight to his stomach, just strong enough to knock him out. He coughed, and as the material landed his her hand, she realized it wasn't blood that he coughed. Her eyes widened in terror, and she stepped back, Port gasping in shock when she turned to him, the cultist behind her collapsing soon after.
And her hand, in its entirety, was covered in black, oozing ichor.