Chapter 26: aSSiStaNce

You idiot. What were you thinking? She says she doesn't want to have to worry about her friends being hunted down by some psychopath, so what do you do? You kiss her. Brilliant.

"Sun?"

I said everything I wanted to say to her before she left… but somehow I'm sitting here thinking about it. Should I have followed her? Is it too late?

"Hello...? Sun?"

Just don't worry about it. She said she'd come back when it's safe. She will… probably... Blake never gave me a reason to doubt her. I mean, her will is pretty much unbreakable once she sets her mind to something…

"Paging Sun Wukong, Mr. Wukong, please report to Remnant."

I wish I knew who this Adam guy is. If I had some kind of lead, some way to learn something about him, some way to contribute to the fight. What he did to Yang was pretty brutal, but he has to have a weakness. Dammit Blake, why couldn't you just let me help you?

A hand grabbed Sun's shoulder. Without opening his eyes, he knew it was Scarlet. "I know you can bloody hear me! I thought I heard something out there." It was nearly midnight as one half of team SSSN sat at their camp in the woods, not far outside of Beacon. There was no campfire, as the light would attract the Grimm, so it was cold, dark and quiet. In his state of peace, Sun was able to sense that nothing posed any kind of imminent threat to them. Scarlet was just out of his comfort zone in a forest.

"You know, it's really hard to meditate while you're talking to me," Sun replied, aggravated that he had to break his train of thought. "And… I've never met a Grimm that's stealthy enough to sneak up on me, much less smart enough to actually try to gather intel on a team of huntsmen."

From a tree branch above them, a rapid bombardment of hushed words rained down on them. "He's not wrong, Mr. David. The Grimm here are far more likely to overwhelm us than they would be to attempt an ambush. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance that you make use of as much of your free time as possible to rest yourself. Our mission has been ongoing for almost a day, and a time frame has not been established to it's completion. It's difficult to say what sorts of challenges we will encounter in a hostile environment such as this. As such, it is best that we remain rested and nourished."

Sun had used the time provided by the lecture to remove, then peel a banana from his backpack. With his mouth full, and the speech evidently finished, he voiced his agreement on the points of rest and nourishment. "Ya hear that Scarlet? Food and Sleep. Thank you very much Professor!"

"Doctor." Oobleck's never ending battle to be identified by his rightful title raged on.

"Right, Thanks doc," Sun corrected himself. " I'm just gonna go back to meditating if that's okay with everyone." He turned to his paranoid teammate, "Scar, quit being such a baby. I'll protect you from all the big bad Grimm."

Scarlet's confusion manifested itself into words that were spoken without proper thought. "How're you gonna do that with your eyes closed?"

Coming to terms with the jolly, yet sometimes simple minded natures of his teammates had been his greatest challenge since first meeting them at Haven Academy. Scarlet David was a very resourceful fighter, and reliable to the point of being… useful. He was, however, a terrible tactician. His tendency to under think situations, leaving a lot of things to pure chance, often put him at a disadvantage that he was not always able to overcome with his improvisational style. "Uh… I'll... open... them... first. You know what?... you're making my head hurt. Just get some rest."

Silence overtook the encampment once more. Sun's thoughts immediately returned to the events of the previous night, against his wishes. He had spent very little time dwelling on Blake's departure since the night she left, which had by this time been barely twenty four hours. Unfortunately, his team had been split into two halves for the purposes of their current mission. Being on the second half, his job at this particular moment was to simply wait for a signal from the other half. This meant he had time to think. That is, at least until the other team gave them the all clear to advance. This isn't what I had in mind when I signed up for this...

After seeing Blake off, he had gotten some sleep, but it was nothing that could be seriously considered as any form of rest. In the morning, he forced himself to leave his favorite tree in Vale, where he had slept every night since arriving. He had nothing against sleeping in a proper bed. But his teammates, on the other hand, had proved be difficult to live with at times. Out of the four of them, it seemed as if Sun was the only member who really appreciated the value of quiet time to himself and a good night's sleep… even if it always eluded him somehow.

Despite the feeling of restlessness, Sun went inside, headed to the room where the signups for missions were handled, and immediately signed himself up for the Search and Rescue missions. It was mostly done to keep his otherwise idle mind off of stupid things like girls, or liking girls. As he picked up a pen to add his name to the list, he was almost immediately approached by two men...

...With very odd personalities. Sun recognized their voices from the tournament broadcasts, but he did not call Vale his home, or Beacon his academy. Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port were great unknowns to him. One of the mere handful of times he had ever seen them in person was at Amity Coliseum, before they ordered all of the students away so that they might hopelessly engage dozens of griffons on their own. Sun appreciated their reckless insanity.

As he wrote his name on the sign-up sheet, Port was quick to acknowledge his good instincts and obvious skill as exhibited in the tournament. After no more than fifteen seconds, his praise quickly transitioned into a story about hunting some kind of Grimm that was probably only half the size of what Port had begun to describe. While he rambled on, Oobleck explained that the mission they were offering was to take a team back to Beacon to search for anyone still trapped there. If the opportunity presented itself, the recovery of anything of some value to their fight against the Grimm served as a secondary objective.

Sun thought it sounded like a good opportunity to test his skills against daunting odds. Since returning to Vale on the same ship as most of the other students who fought in the Battle of Beacon, he had not been entirely helpful in the fight to defend or expand the safe zone. No one had specifically called him out for it, but inside Sun knew that he wasn't doing his part. This assignment could go a long way toward changing that, so he agreed.

The rest of the team was significantly less enthusiastic about going with Sun. Their first night in Vale had seen them carrying wounded civilians and students, among others, from transport ships to all corners of the hospital. The following morning, they went off to help patrol the perimeter of the safe zone with some of the members from other teams. Upon returning, Sage and Scarlet both collapsed in their beds. Neptune went looking for Weiss, as the last time he had seen her was just before she headed off with Ruby at the docks. He returned only after he made sure that she made it back to the city safely.

A compromise was made when Sun mentioned the possibility of saving a damsel in distress. That was enough for Neptune. The promise of adventure and loot was enough for Scarlet, and Sage wouldn't be left behind, so he agreed to come along without much insistence. The team took a few minutes to pack some essential equipment and gather their gear, before heading to their staging area in the courtyard across the street from the makeshift hospital turned base of operations.

The ragtag group of young men walked out of the front door joking and laughing with one another. Their upbeat demeanor lasted until exactly the second step from street level, where they encountered the leaders of their expedition. The more… portly… man was the first to speak. "Gentlemen. I believe it may be in your best interest to check your raucous conduct at the door. This mission is extremely dangerous, and not intended for first year students."

His partner appeared to be the exact opposite of Port, physically. Bartholomew Oobleck was at least half a head taller than anyone on team SSSN. He looked like a walking, talking, caffeine fueled scarecrow. Except for the fact that most scarecrows were better dressed than he was. "However. Considering the limited resources with which we are working, and the skill that your team displayed in the Vytal Festival Tournament, exceptions were made."

As if they had rehearsed it, Port and Oobleck once again traded speaking duties. "This mission will not be easy, nor will it be brief. Our goal is to make our way to Beacon. We will not be taking a ship. It would attract too much attention from the infestation of Grimm residing on the campus. Instead, we will approach along the rising cliffs to the northwest of the school, following along the edge of the large body of water that separates Vale and Beacon."

"Uhhh, excuse me," Neptune interrupted, removing a map from his pocket, then quickly unfolding it. His finger pointed to a specific location on the map as he spoke, "Don't you think it would be better if we made our approach through Forever Fall?"

Both of the professional huntsmen stared at Neptune in silence, as if neither was sure if they had correctly heard what he was suggesting. Oobleck was the first to regain his senses and speak. "Neptune, is it? Are you aware that a detour through the forest of Forever Fall would add days if not weeks to our journey? What possible reason could you have to suggest such a ridiculous thing?"

Before he could even think to answer, Sun did it for him. "Water. He's afraid of water."

"My word," Oobleck exclaimed in a demoralized tone.

Professor Port, having regained his own senses, filled in the void left by Oobleck's silence. "As the primary objective of this mission remains to rescue anyone still stranded at Beacon, a week long journey through a dangerous forest for no reason other than to avoid water is… stupid."

"We're wasting time here, gentlemen. It's a long walk to Beacon. If there is anyone left to save, I'm sure they would thank us if we were to hurry ourselves along." Clearly, Dr. Oobleck had little patience for a trifle such as discussing Neptune's aquaphobia. "Along the way, we will decide the best manner in which to split into two teams. I will lead one team, and Professor Port, the other. We will be able to cover twice as much ground this way, and with there being six of us, seven if you count my canine companion, each group will be more than strong enough to take care of itself."

Sun raised an eyebrow, having only just noticed the dog that now accompanied them. "Isn't that Ruby's dog?"

Oobleck deflected the question by simply refusing to acknowledge it. "No time for small talk! Beacon awaits!"