Chapter 27: Nomenclature
It was still early in the day, likely not even noon yet, although no one had bothered to check the time. They knew it was about an hour since they had departed from Vale, but Sun and his team had not yet gotten together to discuss the best way to split off into pairs. Port and Oobleck had taken the lead for the initial journey to Beacon, and allowed the young men to decide for themselves how they should organize themselves. As it turned out, only Sun and Sage were really involved in the conversation. Scarlet walked no more than a few inches from the cliff side, enjoying the beautiful view of the water crashing against the rocks below them. Conversely, Neptune was so distant from the rest of the group that he may just as well have gone through Forever Fall.
Sun looked to his left at Neptune, then to his right at Scarlet. Finally, he turned to Sage and put forth his idea to divide the team, "What do you think if I take Scar with me?"
Sage thought about it for a moment, then gave his personal synopsis of the team. "I don't think it matters much at all, really. They're both capable fighters. It's just that we have to compensate for certain… weaknesses. Neptune's fine as long as he's not near water or girls. And Scar tends to get a little cocky, and not think things through all the time. Putting them together might be a problem though. I think you're right to suggest taking Scarlet with you. You're level headed enough to compensate for his highly improvisational fighting style."
"I always knew you were my favorite," Sun said, acknowledging his teammate's astute observation of the styles and tendencies of the other members. Then he turned to Scarlet, who was by this point doing what was essentially a tightrope-like walk along the edge of the cliff, several yards to their right, and summarized their chances of success. "We're dead."
"We'll be fine," Sage assured him, but not without laughter at Sun's hypothesis. "Don't forget, you promised Neptune a damsel in distress. I'm stuck being the voice of reason to try to slow him down so we can properly search the school… I can already picture the tunnel vision he's going to have if we actually find someone… especially if it ends up being a girl."
Sun agreed. Putting their team into a life or death situation would be a new experience for them. Tournament battles were one thing, but losing one of those meant little more than a few bruises and a wounded ego. He tried to consider how his team would function in a combat situation where the stakes were so high. Then the image entered his mind of Scarlet and Sage clinging to the back of an Ursa, as they had the last time they were at Beacon. Maybe it isn't too late to pick Ruby's dog as my teammate.
The group did not stop very many times on their long walk. Just after noon, there was a pause for the consumption of some food and water, and to to try to talk Neptune into staying close to the rest of the team. There had been an earlier incident with Scarlet losing his balance and falling off the cliff, only to catch himself with his grappling hook. Fortunately, he pulled himself back up without causing much of a fuss.
During what could be considered their lunch break, Sun and Sage informed the rest of their team, as well as their two senior huntsmen of the final split. Port and Oobleck discussed the decision for a moment, before concluding that it was acceptable. They informed the young men that Professor Port would be leading the first team into Beacon, which included Neptune and Sage. They would be followed by Doctor Oobleck's team, consisting of Sun, Scarlet and Zwei. They would search one building at a time. When Port's team was finished with the first structure, they would turn on a single light in the building on the top floor to signal that they had checked it thoroughly, and that the other team had the green light to move to their first destination.
Using this method, the two teams would alternate covering the approach of the other, then have time to rest while the other team cleared their area. It would take a great deal of time, but the length of their stay on campus would be determined on the fly, which is to say that they would keep searching until they either found something, or became physically incapable of searching any more. For now, all seven of them would stay together. The plan was to make an initial base camp in the woods outside of Beacon, to the north, and wait for dark to make the first approach.
With the high level mission details out of the way, they ended their break, and continued along the cliff side. This time they stayed far enough away that no one fell over the edge, and so that they could enjoy Neptune's company. The talk of their new mini-teams dominated the points of conversation. The Grimm hadn't bothered them to this point, so there was not really much else to do but shoot the breeze.
Neptune started things off, "So, what's our new team name? I'm with Port and Sage. That's a P, an N, and an S. PNS. Pee… En… Ess."
Immediately, Scarlet lost it. His squeaky, high pitched laughter probably could have attracted the attention of the Grimm back in Haven for how loud he was. The other three tried to quiet him down, but it got to the point where they had to stop because he couldn't breathe from laughing so much. No one could understand what was so funny. Then Neptune connected the dots.
"Dude. No. I didn't mean it like that." Neptune recognized that his other two teammates still hadn't figured out what was so funny, so he dropped an obvious hint at the risk of sounding like a pig. "Guys, he made an anatomy joke, like, in really poor taste." Sun groaned in mental agony at the immaturity of his teammates, then proceeded to walk away in the direction of their bewildered leaders. Sage cracked a smile, but otherwise kept himself in check, before helping Scarlet back to his feet.
His face was something resembling purple. Red from the innuendo he had just dropped on his teammates, and blue from the lack of oxygen he was experiencing from laughing so hard. Even in his nearly incapacitated state, Scarlet wasn't finished. "Wait, guys I got it. Change the letters around," he suggested as he suppressed another outburst of laughter. "NPS. Ni...P...Sss," was as far as he got before he fell back to the ground, and literally rolled around in the low grass.
"God dammit Scar. Would you turn six, please?." Sage only hoped that Sun hadn't heard. If he was listening, this may well be the end of Scarlet. For now, he just walked away, leaving Neptune to drag his incapacitated teammate along.
After a few minutes, Scarlet finally stood up on his own, and brought himself alongside Neptune. "That was funny, you're funny."
Neptune was confused, "What? You're the one that made the joke, man."
And now Scarlet was… also confused, "You're having a laugh. You said it first, and you didn't make the connection?"
"No! I'm not juvenile like that. I'm the definition of class," he said with a smile.
Scarlet wanted to laugh some more at the smugness of his teammate's comment, but it hurt to breathe by that time, so he just let it go. A few minutes passed without interaction as they caught up first to Sage, then Sun, who took the opportunity to demand closure to their earlier conversation. "You guys done now? I'm as anxious to beat up on some Grimm as the next guy, but that can probably wait until we get to Beacon. Try to keep it down for now, okay?"
They agreed that things had gotten out of hand earlier, and in a show of solidarity in the presence of two veteran huntsmen, agreed to hold their conversations more quietly moving forward. This pleased Sun, who had taken time to let the joke sink in. "But seriously, Scar, that was pretty funny."
"Oh come off it! I didn't even come up with that, I just laughed," he insisted. "Besides, we didn't even get to come up with our new team name… We've got Oobleck, Sun and Scarlet-"
"And Ruby's dog," Sun reminded him.
Oobleck interjected, having been paying some attention to their conversation, "He has a name. And it is Zwei."
Scarlet did some mental gymnastics then presented his proposal to Sun. "We've got S for Sun, O for Oobleck, S for Scarlet, and Z for Zwei. SOSZ. Like saucy."
"Saucy... how?" Neptune asked. "Like with spaghetti and meatballs?"
"Or more like making saucy jokes about human anatomy," Sage quipped, drawing a laugh from his teammates.
Scarlet hadn't considered either possibility, but having been presented with two explanations for a name he had created off the top of his head, he was quick to take credit for, "Both! Like sauce, we make everything better, and we spice up dull situations with our saucy attitudes. It's perfect. Job done."
Oobleck poked his nose in once more, "How exactly does a dog personify either of those things?"
Neptune prematurely attempted to rush to Scarlet's aid, "Y-know, dogs are like, cute and cuddly, and meatballs are good too... Yeah, I had something there but it's gone now. I just wanted to be able to refer to Scarlet as part of team saucy."
Even professor Port weighed in, "I, for one, am in favor of Team SOSZ," which drew the ire of his colleague. "It's lighthearted, meatballs are delicious, and I, like young Neptune, would like the opportunity to refer to Doctor Oobleck as being part of team saucy." The whole group chuckled at the elder huntsman's summation, except for Oobleck, who was still not pleased with the name.
"So then, Peter, what will we be calling your team?" Oobleck asked.
His response was prompt and well informed. "Ah! Unfortunately there are only three members on my team. The Official Team Naming Convention Handbook states that teams must have four members to warrant a proper name. And before you ask, yes, I am counting Zwei as an official member of your team."
"Very well. But I will have my revenge," Oobleck warned. His foreboding aside, the group continued their journey for the next few hours.
The sun had become low in the sky by the time they reached the treeline of the woods that would be home to their temporary camp. The tower at Beacon, which could be seen through the light foliage, adopted the red glow of the setting sun, serving as a warning that their kind was not welcome there any more. Without communicating their intentions to each other, the whole search party had collectively focused its attention on the menacing structure in the distance, except for Neptune.
"Wait, where did that come from?" Neptune asked.
Interpreting the question literally, Professor Port began to answer without removing his gaze from the tower, "What an interesting question! Well, at the end of the Great War, Beacon Academy was founded as a place to pass on the traditions and skills of-"
Neptune interrupted him, stopping the lecture, "Not that," he said as he turned around and pointed back to Vale, "That!" As the entire group pivoted almost in perfect synchronization, they saw an enormous ship moving slowly into the airspace over the city. They stared at it silently for a moment, before Neptune, who had the most time to observe the ship thus far noted, "It looks like there are words on the side of it… What's it say?"
The setting sun had once again chosen to stand against them in their battle. This time, it protected the identity of the ship using the contrast created by the bright backdrop against the shaded side of the vessel. It was too much for normal human eyes to overcome. Fortunately, Sun did not have normal human eyes. Still, he needed to squint and cast a shadow over his own eyes with his hand to be able to focus on it properly. "It's tough to tell, but it looks like... yeah, it says Schnee Dust Company."
"Wait, how in the world can you see that? I literally have goggles, and you can still see better than me." Neptune grumbled. The answer was obvious, but his mind had now been filled with thoughts of what this meant for Weiss, and the amount of concentration he could muster on any given occasion was reduced significantly.
Sage tilted his head to the side slightly as he responded to Neptune, "Do you listen to yourself sometimes? They're goggles, not binoculars." Then, he recalled their earlier discussion regarding team names. "Don't answer that."
"Although interesting, the presence of that ship does not affect the status of our mission," Oobleck stated forcefully. "I think it would be wise to set up a camp in the woods before dark." A democracy of staggered head nods confirmed that the motion would pass, and they set off towards Beacon once again. Only Neptune lagged behind for a few seconds. He stared worriedly at the ship, before slowly turning to rejoin his comrades.
By the time the light had disappeared from the sky, all seven adventurers were entrenched in a small cluster of trees. From this position, they could observe that the terrain ahead of them was an even mix of wooded areas and large clearings that pushed right up against the edge of the cliff. Further ahead the forests broke, giving way to a long stretch of plains which was home to two winding rivers. The first was wide, much more so than the second. Crossing over to the far bank of the second river would leave them at the edge of the campus. From there they would begin their search.
The first team would not be allowed much of a reprieve before crossing the natural obstacles. Professor Port was ready to go, and so he informed Sage and Neptune that they would depart in five minutes. The sight of the distant water glistening in the young moonlight caused a chill to run down Neptune's spine. Sage had evidently noticed his teammate's discomfort, and so tried to help. "I'll carry you across if you can't make it…"
Neptune just closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Shut up. I've got a plan for those rivers. It's gonna be really sweet."