Oswald had spent the week watching his team leader slowly losing his mind in preparations for the mission. While he had to admit that it would likely be among his greatest challenges to date, he also took comfort in the fact that the mission was rated 'B', a small amount lower than team MODA's first group venture: the Datura they'd killed together. The fact that they'd had four days to prepare was also rather helpful. Especially with Marcus having gone beyond overboard in his ideas for what to set up for them.

After the announcements, Oswald decided to look around the auditorium for a short while. They weren't needed just yet, and the scene that Shiro was making was absolutely hilarious. At least, from the outside. The tiger jumped from one team mate to another, fortunately (for him) not doing the same to Sapphire, which probably saved his life in the process. Walking over to the remaining three as Shiro ran off, he gave the team an appraising nod. "Hell of a kitty you three got there. Remind me to get you all some catnip come Dustmas. You think this is bad? We had a puma kid back at home and....well, someone spiked his drink once. It ended with a broken leg and twenty hours of clean-up duty for everybody. Each."

Chuckling at the memory, he gave them all a nod and looked off at where Shiro ran off. "I'll leave you to take care of him. Let the wind guide you on your way and the sun blind your foes." Taking his leave, Oswald got outside just in time to hear the Unsubtle ask their Schnee contact and Diamond if they'd ordered a can of whup-ass. A laugh shook his body as he offered an armored hand to their contact. "I'll have to apologize for our leader. That tank of his is a bad influence on his personality."

It took a lot to get Abel thoroughly hyped, but of all his moments in Beacon so far, this probably took the title. Sure, the initiation ceremony had been great, but pride didn't quite equate to nerve-firing enthusiasm.

Over the previous days, a routine quickly established itself, but familiarity didn't necessarily breed ease. If anything, the teachers started pushing harder after the first day. Having picked up from their various initial tests the strengths and weaknesses of the students, they professors dug in without hesitation. Goodwitch, for instance, remedied the tenacity with which Abel, -not content with further loss after the first day- fought one-on-one by having him face multiple, smaller opponents at once. Without a tool designed for defending against multiple intelligent opponents at simultaneously, Abel found himself a large, clumsy target, pestering with weak but hard-to-punish strikes whenever he attempted to focus on one person. Finally, on Thursday, the punching bag had turned the tables. By altering his traditional two-handed spear stance into a one-handed lance stance, using the armor on his left arm to block and retaliate. He hadn't decimated the opposition, to be sure, but he'd improved. His comfort zone had always been at range, but if pushing himself to greater heights meant leaving it behind, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Abel found himself suddenly accosted by Shiro, perched upon the tall boy's broad shoulders like a jockey. “Yeah, I'm excited,” he admitted, possessed of a slight smile equal parts embarrassment and affection for his jovial faunus friend. “We're gonna rock that shelter, no doubt about it.” Impulsively as he had come, Shiro was off on a vigorous quest to find his equipment. Abel had the luxury of being able to avoid such a trip, though perhaps for the wrong reasons. He was so used to wearing his armor that, whenever formality didn't require him to be in his enormous student uniform, he wore the metal atop his normal clothes in class. Like much else, it was habit, and not going away anytime soon. He returned Oswald's nod when he saw it, believing the motion to be as a gesture of greeting. "Catnip's probably not good for him. Clean-up's rough. Thanks for the well-wishes; I hope your luck is just as good." The Ampere was propped against the wall of the auditorium nearby, and Abel summoned it to his hand with a flick of his semblance. He hadn't seen Sapphire yet, but he didn't need her to take initiative. “See ya at the airships, Gren.”

A few minutes later, Abel stood only a few hundred feet away from one of the mammoth vehicles designated to the school for ferrying students. He looked over the edge of the cliff, at the forest that gave way to the buildings and streets of town below. It was a beautiful vista, and it instilled him with the same on-top-of-the-world feeling that permeated him when he stood upon the walls back home.

"Come on, what's the holdup? Time is money!" Diamond said, already seated atop of the tank on the warm engine deck behind the turret. She didn't get a good long look at the machine yet, and was not at all amused when she saw it didn't count with crew larger than one. "Hey boss, mind bolting on something to at least hold on to next time? If I knew the ride would be less comfortable than a livestock wagon I'd have ordered a cab. Time for an upgrade!" she pouted, taking care to avoid getting her white coat smeared up with grease.

Dropping the mocking tone, her mind clicked into business mode. "What's the lay of the land and did anyone get a look recently?" she asked, not at all fancying the idea of going in blind, especially if a few convoys already vanished on that route.

Skyra was grumpy. Her ears were all tingly, but she wasn't really able to scratch where it itched. Marching through the meeting hall she repeatedly flicked her ears to still the itching in her ears. Although distracted by the scratch, she managed to spot her new teammates. Quickly she hurried over to her mates and, at her arrival, she groaned.

"This is soooooo annoying... My ears are freaking itchy! The bedclothes must have some kind of allergen in it..."

To affirm what she just said, her ears flicked again, while she rolled her eyes and sighed.

Ebon just shot a glare at his teammates. Krysanthe arrived and introduced herself as though this was the first time they met. Thinking that she's just forgetful like that, he didn't bother to respond to her. Next came Sepia, or at least she made herself known when she began to wallow in despair for some reason or another. Something about the end times, he quickly ignored her as soon as she dropped to her knees. Skyra was the last to arrive, agitated and late. Ebon just sighed, rubbing his eyes and turning around to walk towards the airships.

"We'll all here now. Let's find out ship and get this over with."

Lifting his heavy shield off the ground Ebon made a beeline towards the airships that were going to take them into the city. He doesn't suspect much trouble, if anything he suspects that his own team was going to make more trouble than finding them. He tensed up at the thought and let out an exasperated sign. He was already starting to feel disappointed.

Krysanthe frowned at Ebon's sullen demeanor, she liked the other two girls in the squad much better, figured the only boy would be a spoil sport. This was supposed to be fun, not some sort of poopy fest. "Well team, as you must surely know by now, I am your team leader and we-" her sentence was cut off by Ebon turning to leave to the airship, "Follow him and talk while we walk!" Krysanthe said while hurriedly catching up, luckily he wasn't very fast with that hefty shield of his. "Anyway," she continued while walking backwards so she could face her team. "Our first mission together is obviously filling in for some guards along the perimeter of the city, it's a C rank mission but it sounds really easy so we could make some easy money while getting to know each other right?" she said cheerfully before turning around and leading the way to the airship with bouncing footsteps.

Gren Orchid

Up and about early in the morning, Gren was meditating in the dorm until around six, where he than left to do his typical business in the bathroom. Than he'd go to the kitchens and see what sort of breakfast he could whip up, drop it off at his team's dorm, and prepared himself for the rest of the day. That was typically how Gren's day went this past week. He himself made his best effort to make himself stand out in class; always trying to volunteer for tasks, form groups, throw himself into the first sign of danger. Largely just to justify participation. He also improved The God Eater, bit by bit, largely by maintaining it and improving it's performance. He would do more, as he had plenty of ideas for new gadgets and weapons, but the biggest issue he faced was a lack of resources. Beacon provided it's best, but Gren needed more than that, more than he could afford. Luckily, they had their missions.

Sapphire had chosen a B Rank mission on an isolated island, dealing with a animal research center of some sort. If Gren could guess, he thinks that Grimm had invaded, or the mundane animals somehow mutated into Grimm. He had no basis of evidence, merely speculation. But regardless of what they'd be facing, Gren was confident that they could deal with it. If it was enemies, it would be slain. If it was something more intellectual, he was certain they had the wits to best it. Tugging on his gauntlet Gren smiled confidently.

"We got this."

Shiro showed the most enthusiasm, hopping around with glee and excitement. Gren took his hyperactive nature in stride, simply readjusting his armor when Shiro scuffed them. "You should hurry back Shiro. We'll be leaving soon, take only what you need." Gren came to the hall fulled equipped. He not only had his weapons and armor, but also a modest backpack carrying provisions and supplies. Something he learned to put together in Survival Class.

Oswald arrived shortly after Shiro had left, commenting on their giddy kitty. "Shiro's got a lot of heart. But when it comes down to it, he'll also use his head. Thanks, and good luck to you too. May your enemies fall at your feet and their treasures yours to keep." Gren waved as Oswald went back to his team. Gren still wondered if he come somehow get himself a tank too. The God Eater was already a big investment however...

At some point after Oswald arrived Abel had left to go to the airships. Sapphire was no where to be seen, though if he remembered what her semblance was she may have simply had activated it to remain unseen with the rest of her team. It sadden him how much she seemed to want to separate herself from her team, but he respected her decision. Their relationship was largely professional, which may be the best way considering the potential occupational hazards. Gren had already heard how some other teams have already... Lost some of their own. It was hard to tell how many are actually dead, but without a doubt they're gone. Gren didn't want to think about it, but there was no doubt that the same fate could befell his own teammates. And if that should happen, he'll simply have to move on. He's good at doing that.

Doing a final gear check on himself Gren followed after Abel to the airship. It doesn't look like any of the other teams had disembarked yet, which either means that either everyone was to leave at a specifically time or there were stragglers. And while it didn't matter, Gren didn't like the idea that his team would be the last to leave the docks. Trying to kill time, Gren took out his SCROLL and see what he could figure out about the location they would be heading towards, looking on the Internet.

Skyra Dawn
On route to Beacon Airship platform

Skyra smirked as she followed her team-leader. "Someone's grumpy today.", she mumbled to herself.
When Krysanthe finished talking about the mission details, Skyra yawned playfully.

"Sure. Sounds lovely" , she boredly affirmed. "In the meantime... Can somebody... anybody, please see if something's wrong with my ears? They are still itching."

Hectically motioning to the top of her head she also flicked her ears demonstratively.
"I'm sorry about being annoying with this, but I can't function well with such an itch."

Sapphire was surprised at how well her first week of school actually went. Of course as her rib was still healing she couldn't take full advantage of either Combat or Physed Class but she did as best she could. In Combat if she lost it was only narrowly and despite the teacher's warnings Sapphire pushed herself as hard as she could without breaking bones in Gym. The other classes were somewhat easier. Sapphire had a knack for remembering obscure details so history became something of a talent of hers. She still struggled with math but at least she understood the concepts. Armory was fun enough though their was somewhat of a lack of creating new weapons as of yet. The place where Sapphire really ran into trouble was Music class.

When Sapphire picked her classes before she even arrived at Beacon there was a very minimal description of exactly what would be going on in the classrooms. Most of them such as Combat were fairly self explanatory. Music was one of those classes that could easily have used a lengthy description. Sapphire had chosen it in the hopes of improving her ability to sing and play the fiddle but that was clearly not what the teacher had in mind.

The teacher had some very definite ideas about music class that focused much more on the group then the individual. The way the class was structure it was a Band, not a music class. If the class had been labeled symphonic band on the admissions forms Sapphire would have opted for something else. The teacher had attempted to force Sapphire to replace her knowledge of the violin with playing the Double Base and no matter the visual similarities between the two instruments they were nothing alike. Sapphire was not the only one the teacher had attempted to alter. Ivan played the piano which the teacher told him did to appear in symphonic band that often and she had more or less written off Priscilla because her musical talent was singing. It wasn't like there was somewhere else for the girl in pink to go, the school didn't have a choir.

Sapphire's annoyance at the music teacher aside the week had gone by pretty well. Now today was there first mission as a team. Though she never would have admitted it to anyone, save maybe her little sister Sapphire was scared they were not ready. Shiro was too impulsive, Abel had a dangerous tendency to doubt himself and Gren didn't like taking orders. Sapphire had chosen a B rank mission without the option of backup in the hopes that it might solidify the team, having no one to rely on, no one but each other.

The morning of, Sapphire met up with her teammates in the hall to listen to the speech. It didn't exactly show on the outside but Sapphire took in very little of the actual words because she was busy running scenario after scenario in her head. Thinking of options, problems, and as usual worst case scenarios.

After it was done Sapphire became aware of Shiro's growing enthusiasm as he grabbed Gren in something akin to a pounce and started shouting in excitement about their first mission. From the level of his voice any onlooker would have thought he was a ten year old who'd woken up Christmas morning to find his siblings still sleeping.

Next Shiro jumped from Gren to Abel wrapping himself around the larger boy in a huge hug. Sapphire tapped the bracelets on her wrist activating both Morpheus and Phobator. If he tried to do that to her Sapphire had no hesitation about stabbing him in a non vital area even if it meant going on today's mission one man short.

The moment came when Shiro was about to do the same thing to Sapphire but apparently his short circuiting brain realized he'd forgotten some of his equipment and ran back to the dorms to fetch his stuff. Idiot, he should have been prepared. Sapphire had brought all of her weapons, two of which she now collapsed back into bracelets. She also had plenty of dust rounds and ammunition and something akin to the to-go back she kept under her bed just in case they were trapped on the island for multiple days.

Oswald came up and greeted them laughing at Shiro's behavior. Sapphire likely would have found it more amusing had Shiro not been her teammate, her responsibility. As it was though she didn't see too much harm in letting Oswald spike Shiro's drink. Might even be funny as long as he didn't hurt himself. Oswald gave Swansong an old hunter's good luck. Sapphire responded to it with the customary fair well that her father had taught her. "May your battles be glorious and your enemies run in terror, I wish you well."

With Oswald gone both Gren and Abel turned toward the airship leaving Sapphire in the assembly hall. For a moment she was offended before realizing something. Her agitation all morning had been enough to activate her semblance without her realizing it. Shiro must have been present when it turned on and his heightened senses helped him keep track of her whether he was aware or not. Shiro's abilities may not be able to render her semblance null but if he was there when she turned them on it was very difficult to shake herself from his perception. Oswald on the other hand Sapphire couldn't be sure about. Her gift was not exactly well defined but best as she could tell Oswald could see her because he had been looking for her, because he wanted to see her for no other reason than that.

Sapphire smiled a bit, the thought comforting her before she mentally deactivated her semblance and followed her teammates outside. "Alright team, assuming Shiro gets here in time we'll be setting off in the next ten. Remember we don't know what we're walking into and we have no external support so keep calm and vigilante. This isn't the kind of thing we can slack off on."

Kuhaku Shiro - Dormitory -> Armory -> Beacon Airship Docks

Shiro was a mess. Figuratively, literally, and in all senses of the idea. After his mad dash out of the Assembly Hall, he ripped, tore, and clawed his path back to his team's dorm. Along his war path, he had accidentally run into more than his fair share of students and faculty alike. Yelling back after them with a quick sincere apology without stopping in his tracks. Exploding into his dorm room, he made quick work of his assigned areas. Jerking open anything that was designated to be his to quickly rife through it. In a flurry of extra clothing, he stopped.

Standing in the center of the room, he blinked and thought aloud. Talking to himself.
"Wait. What am I doing here?"
He briefly forgot what he was looking for.
Straightening up, he scratched at his head and ears, a confused look on his face.
"I didn't leave anything here, did I?
Ears and tail sticking straight up, he remembered what he came to retrieve.
"Oh, wait! That's right!"

Blasting through his things, he grabbed his shot shell belts and quickly secured them around his hips. Snatching up his pack and tossing in his entire current stock of ammunition, he spun around in the room. Quickly checking off everything he owned that he practically destroyed in his vociferous search, he was certain he grabbed everything he thought important. Nodding once with smile, he spun and blasted back out of the room. The dorm room door slamming shut and locking behind him. Somehow, even in his chaotic quest to quickly gather his equipment, only his portion of the room was left a terrible mess. In his craze, he managed to leave Abel's, Gren's, and Sapphire's things just as they were. Untouched.

With another mad dash in his quadrupedal running form toward the Armory, the Armory custodian didn't know what hit 'em. Just as quickly as he had entered, he knocked down the poor desk clerk, located his gear, grabbed it, and left the dazed clerk in a hurricane of flying paperwork and forms. With belts, Kladenets & Perun, and a pack filled with practically anything that crossed Shiro's mind, he swiftly returned to the Airship Docks where the other three of his team were waiting. Panting, tongue lolling happily, the joyous sight was too much for him and he did the unthinkable. Lunging, he practically spear-tackled Sapphire into the bay of the airship where the two of them tumbled and rolled around for a psychotic few seconds. Peeling himself away from Sapphire after giving her the flying glomp-hug-tackle of her life, he wedged himself in the small entrance to the airship's cockpit and began to harass the two pilots. Shortly thereafter, the airship started to spin up. Humming with life and power, the airship's engines warmed as they prepared to take off short two other Beacon Students. Namely, Abel and Gren.

After wrestling with the uncontrollable Tiger Faunus, the pilots were able to remove Shiro from the cockpit and toss him back. Landing flat on his back, Shiro seemed to not even care that his skull practically bounced off of the hard metal surface and proceeded to roll around, giggling furiously. Where his boundless energy came from was as good as anyone's guess. Perhaps someone spiked his drink or fed him something. Whatever it was, one of his teammates would have to get a straitjacket lest they wish to peel him off the walls later. That is, if Sapphire didn't murder him first.

Luke Schwarze -- Beacon Airship Platform

Hair-antenna in a dispirited slump, one double-watched young man yawned inelegantly, the last vestiges of drowsiness lingering within his system, a byproduct of an upset circadian rhythm. While the airship ride up offered no shortage of shock and awe (as views of the city from kilometers up were wont to do), one must never underestimate the staying power of an ugly sleep cycle punctuated by an awakening from, in sequential order: an alarm clock, a saxophone played roughly eleven inches from the foot of the bed, and finally, a remarkably well-replicated Boston Crab from a 5'8" and growing 15 year old girl.

He wasn't exactly sure how much he'd end up missing his little sisters, but he'd assume that, at least for today, he would more than live with it.

Who knew? This school for prospective hunters was undoubtedly full of monsters in their vein. He probably ran the chance of wanting to trade his meager household of only two geniuses back for an entire academy full of them. Really, when it came to Beacon, intimidating was an understatement. He could have sworn it wasn't all that long ago that he was just a normal kid, just a bit antisocial, like everyone else in high school...

Then again, I'm just a hunter-in-training as of now. "Normal kid" ain't exactly that much of a stretch for my characterization, at least. I may be throwing myself headfirst into a place where I'll be -doing- crazy things, but that doesn't exactly bar me from losing my "normal" moniker in how I act, or look, or feel, right?

...

Overthinking it, Luke. Mom said cut back on that.

Of course his mother, being a Huntress herself, was elated to hear that her son was looking to test the waters at Beacon. Finally, something that looked like a career path for him! One she could give him years of experience and knowledge on! Don't trust the Rye Bread from the Cafeteria!

One thing at a time, dear mother. Focus on keeping your middle child where she needs to be, because if anyone'll succeed you, it's her. I may be the oldest, but please remember how much I take after Dad.

His father, of course, was a police officer, of the "friendly-neighborhood" variety. As the two "normal" people in the household, Luke and his father often found themselves to be the glue keeping things together. Well, aside from those moments when Luke's endocrine system decided-- Yo, this kid's about ready for puberty, right? Let's just fuck his shit up a little. Then, the duty of being the reasonable, logical, and stable one of the household full of two geniuses, a Huntress, and an angsty teen fell squarely on Dad's plate.

Sorry, Dad.

Wait, hold on a minute!

As if hearing the narration, Luke stopped, in the middle of the path into Beacon proper. Was his life flashing before his eyes here? Was that how his mind had gone so far astray from the topic of him being at this school? What was gonna happen to him once he walked into those doors? Had our valiant hero made a terrible, irreparable mistake?

These thoughts miraculously flashed through his mind behind a stoic mask, allowing the young man to save face in spite of his newfound fear. Worst comes to worst, it just wasn't for him, right?

Yeah, that's what he could say. More importantly, though, he took on this choice of his own will. He had to stick to his guns now, the deal'd been sealed.

Yeah. He'd done this because he wanted to. The best, and only reason anyone should ever take up a fight. Just like he'd told a junior of his when she came to him, in a rare move for most, for advice on the depression of a friend.

If something bothers you, that's more than enough reason to take action.

And Luke Schwarze, normally carefree demeanor aside, was definitely not without his bothers.

He kept on the path, a little more courageously. He'd incited this chain of events well into the past now, ever since he'd finalized the paperwork for transferring in.

Now, it was time to enjoy the ride.

An uncommon jitteriness grabbed hold on Abel's throat for a second when the door to the airship yawned open to admit team SASG inside. For one of the few times in his life, he was leaving the comfort and company of other warriors behind and venturing out into the unknown with only a few comrades by his side. For a young man conditioned as a sentry atop walls, entering the airship's belly screaming against his instincts, but Abel bit back his unease with a fortitude that surprised himself. After all, even though he had only spent a week with Gren, Sapphire, and Shiro, he was pretty sure they had his back. This embodied more than simple spirit, though. Abel needed to believe that he and his friends had what it took. When he had perused the details for the Shelter mission a few minutes ago, his mind had flashed with storybook visions of mad scientists, bristling with needles and sutures and belting out maniacal laughter.

It intrigued him more than in worried him, however; perhaps that was why the mission's ominous portent had only instilled him with a few seconds' worth of dread. These weren't Grimm he'd be facing. Today there would be no running in terror, no desperate fight for survival, and no gloomy resignation to an immutable fate. No matter how hairy the ears of the mad doctors of the Shelter, they were just people, and people did not scare Abel.

Gren's search of the internet for any useful tidbits pertaining to the Shelter turned up the place's website pretty quickly. While colorful in its cool hues of blue and green, its design exuded more of a sense of friendliness than of tacky vibrancy, and its content carried much the same outlook. The Shelter had been established on its little island on the bay for forty years, ever since it had been made public knowledge that animals, like humans, had aura. Nothing of particular interest jumped out at him, except that according to the 'guests' section, there weren't many pets staying anymore. It did help kill time until Shiro arrived, however, and after Abel quit admiring to vista to join the team, the four got on the airship. Abel, not sure whether or not Sapphire had been with them during Port's presentation, greeted her congenially before settling in.

Of course, Shiro's mad antics cost the team some time, and earned them the ire of the main pilot—a Beacon senior and the only male member of Beacon's ace senior team, Fallow Mort. Gren, wishing to avoid provoking Fallow further, was happy to anchor Shiro to the wall with his friction semblance. In short order, the airship, containing a resolute mix of optimism and sobriety interrupted occasionally by the team's loose cannon, made its way to Tourmaline bay.

Sooner that might have been expected, the airship touched down near the docks. Fallow, now pleased that some underclassmen had seen his flying skills, cheerfully announced that he'd be navigating SASG the rest of the way to the Shelter by boat. “The buildin's expanded to every part of the island remotely flat,” he explained, “there's nowhere to land and lots of sharp rocks just waiting to break ankles if I had you jump.”

Fifteen minutes later, after another round of trying to secure Shiro's unrestrained enthusiasm into extremely restrained enthusiasm, the speedboat was off. Despite Fallow's repeated assurance of the mission's easiness, he had seen fit to bring his own weapon, a strange device that blended together a shield, a scabbard, and a spinner launcher, complete with whip-sized ripcord. As the boat approached the island upon which the Shelter loomed, it gave off more of an impression of a resort hotel than a state-of-the-art veterinary facility, with its pored beige walls and red-shingled roof. Abel allowed the others to disembark first when the destination was reached, curtly nodding to Fallow before the senior sped away. He turned back and regarded the Shelter with dull blue eyes. The main entrance sat atop a shallow flight of stairs leading up the stony slope of the island, and the glare of white light shone within. Considering the phrasing of the mission statement, it hadn't been an unreasonable expectation to think that they'd be encountering a dilapidated old house of horrors. This seemed too perfect; Abel waited for somebody to say that the team needed to be on their guard as they approached.

Sepia, having been actively restraining herself from doing so earlier, jumped at the chance to touch Skyra's cute cat ears. She gently held the end of each one between thumb and forefinger and looked at them, walking behind the other girl as she did so. "I don't see anything unusual. Used any new hair care stuff recently? My ears get a bit irritated if I suddenly change shampoos or conditioners."

Sepia smiled to herself. This group was going to be so much fun, especially the girls!

Luke Schwarze-- Just inside Beacon, Looking for direction

He allowed himself to pause for but a moment, inhaling and exhaling once as if to reset an adrenaline spike's affects on the heartrate, and entered the Academy proper. If only he could have transferred in time with the rest of the class, he'd at least have a gaggle of other people as company in this particular endeavor. There was something to be said for the power of numbers. A sense of community could turn a coward into a hero, and yet the same pressure of that community could change him right back, as if flipping a switch. Well, funny he should mention that. Now that he was here, the nerves seemed to have faded, giving way to curiosity and an odd sense of calm.

Resignation towards one's own fate, huh?

He smirked.

Mom wouldn't know whether to praise me or kill me.

One hand creeping out of the pocket of his hoodie and onto the straps of his trusty, tannish-green backpack, he scanned his surroundings for some kind of hint. Place like Beacon had to have a constant flow of transfer students just like him, right? Might even be some sort of orientation office set up. Hell, he was actually surprised that he sort of stuck out right now. Definitely wasn't the only kid on the airship up, he knew that. He'd had his spot looking out the window neighbored by two guys from Vacuo talking about the finer points of a girl's underwear. Definitely didn't need to go that far to prove he wasn't the only one aboard.

Well, he'd nearly jumped in himself to educate them on how it wasn't merely the fact that it was in that spot, but rather the mystique and imagination provoking-qualities that made them so alluring, not to mention the surprising amount they could tell you about a girl...

But that's neither here nor there.

He grimaced, beginning to feel uncomfortable again. Had he by chance missed a handout, or forgotten an itinerary at home? He wouldn't be surprised. It was one thing that he packed light, that much was obviously true, but it was another to leave necessary items for his habitation at home! Seriously, he could be missing so much! Potentially failing even before he'd had his first class! Oh man, what if he'd stuck it in an adult literature book or something! He'd die of embarrassment!

Calm down, Luke. In times of stress, you need to remain rational.

I sometimes wonder if I should have done drama.

...

Nah.

He'd needed to head to an Ozpin's office at some point if he remembered right...

Let's start there. I can probably find directions just asking around. Well, step one onto a new life, right?

Might make a friend.

Skyra shuddered a bit when Sepia touched her ears. No lying, she definitely enjoyed the attention to her most strikingly Faunus part. The other piece of her body that had "animal features" were her teeth. Though normally not really obvious, she did have, compared to the average human, pretty long canines. But, as mentioned, they were not really visible very often.

Still, Skyra loved her reputation as the tough girl back home and the one who only seldom showed any kind of "girly" emotion. Sure, she could, theoretically, open up a lot now, but why would she? She absolutely adored it when others respected her because of her apparently made out of iron, but on the flipside it didn't earn her a lot of friends. During her time at her previous school, she was almost always lonely, her Faunus heritage didn't exactly help either.

Maybe all of the latter reasons made her unconsciously purr for a bit until she noticed and deeply embarrassed quickened her steps.

"Yea, that should be it. Different water, different air and all that, too."

To be completely honest, it felt very good to be appreciated for something she sometimes saw as some kind of curse. During most of her childhood, her ears were not only just a nuisance, but made her eat dirt a couple of times, literally. Such racial bullying made her reconsider her choice of violence, for some of those who had attacked her, this was more than just bad news.
At the soft age of 12, she had become a murderer, accidentally, but she still had killed somebody. Until today, this made the once very cheerful Skyra a dark person at times. She never told anybody she knew.
Recently, though, her old personality managed to slip past her facade of bricks, like just now, being agitated like that just about her itchy ears.

She closed to where her team leader stood, in front of the arriving airship.
"So, boss, is there any trouble at the post where we are stationed? Like, higher activity of petty criminals? Or is it at the gates?", Skyra addressed Krysanthe matter-of-factly.

Sapphire took two steps toward the airship before something huge and hairy hit her from behind. Sapphire didn't have time to react as her and this thing went tumbling toward the open airship doors. Normally this kind of fall wouldn't be a bid deal to Sapphire, she had her aura to protect her and the minor bruises and cuts she'd accumulate as a result of this would be almost nothing.

That was of course not taking into account her weapons. Morpheus and Phobator were specifically designed to reassemble themselves on an impact approximately equal to that a hand slamming into them. As Sapphire and this thing rolled over and over again Sapphire's wrists slammed into the hard ground at the edge of Beacon cliff. She could feel her mother's daggers burst from their shell and in the chaos Sapphire was unable to catch them as they hit the ground, teetering on the edge of the cliff.

Sapphire and the white haired thing rolled into the cargo hold and Abel and Gren followed, moments after the doors closed behind them. Sapphire shoved the thing away from her as hard as she could barely registering that it was Shiro. Sapphire ran to the window trying to spot her mother's weapons. She could just make out the glint of steel on the edge of the cliff. Her daggers were alright for the moment but who could say if they would still be there at the end of the day.

Sapphire rounded on the tiger faunus as he was forced out of the airship cockpit by the disgruntled pilot. Shiro apparently unconcerned with the fact that he'd just been thrown to the floor hopped back up with a grin plastered to his face, as care free as a kitten. In that moment something broke in Sapphire, a dam she'd been holding to keep Shiro's crazed behavior out of her mind. All of it came flooding back, his foolishness, his recklessness, his disregard for any sort of decent behavior.

Sapphire let out a shriek of rage and ran at Shiro. Unlike when he slammed into her, when Sapphire did it it was not friendly, it was cold and hot, angry and vengeful. Sapphire hit Shiro so hard that he impacted the wall of the airship and seeing her chance Sapphire shoved her elbow into Shiro's neck, pinning him to the wall.

With her other hand Sapphire pulled out one of her shotguns and placed the barrel under Shiro's jaw. "Give me a reason Kuhaku, just one reason to end this here and now." Sapphire was breathing hard but steadily and now that the talkative Shiro had finally fallen silent Sapphire had some thing to say. "You're a disgrace furball. To the faunus, to the hunters, to Beacon, to Swansong and to me. Admissions must have been really desperate to accept someone like you into the fold. To be a hunter you need a brain rather than the monkey you've got running around your skull."

Sapphire was angry, of course Sapphire always had anger in her heart, sometimes right below the surface, sometimes buried deeper but this was different. This was proper white hot murderous rage. With that rage Sapphire's internal defense mechanism activated, the thing that she'd developed to protect herself, her semblance. Sapphire's eyes shifted, a hue as black as death spreading out from her pupil and encompassing her entire eye, swallowing the whites and leaving nothing but black pits behind. The field of Sapphire's semblance expanded around her and Shiro, no doubt he could feel it. Pressure in his head and dizziness but at this point Sapphire didn't care.

"You're a liability Kuhaku, you're not capable of thinking. You just do what feels like a good idea at the time and you know what, it never is. You cost me my insurance against attack, those daggers were forged by my mother's hands. It took her three years to perfect the design." This even Shiro would realize was important. Sapphire never ever brought up her family to any of them. For all the rest of her team knew Sapphire had been hatched. "You've been a pain since we first met and I had to send Gren after you with an anesthetic." That had only been a week ago but when dealing with Shiro it could have been a lifetime.

"My father always told me that a warrior who impedes his fellows is as bad as the foe they fight. If he were standing here he might put the bullet through your head." The adrenaline in her system started to break down and Sapphire took in an uneven, unsteady breath. Something was wrong. Her semblance died around her and the world was plunged into blackness. "You're... you're lucky I'm not him." Sapphire grabbed Shiro by his shoulders and shoved him to the opposite side of the airship before feeling around for the nearest seat. She slumped into it and probed her stomach where she was starting to feel pain.

Sapphire's hand touched something liquid and sticky, blood. Her weapons, they must have sliced her as she tumbled over the ground with Shiro. It didn't feel too deep, if only she could bandage it. Her pack, where was her pack. She'd dropped it after they fallen into the hold. Where had she dropped it. Near the door maybe? Sapphire couldn't just start feeling around for it that would be of no use whatsoever. "Gren, Abel... someone. I need my pack. It's somewhere near the door I think." Sapphire said uncertainly and hesitant. Her eyes were still black as night and she couldn't see anything through that darkness. "Could one of you get it for me." Sapphire thought a moment before adding. "Anyone but Shiro."

Krystanthe though about it breifly, "Eh, the mission description just said stand gaurd and if any Grim show up scream bloodly murder, sounds easy enough right?" her boots stomped heavily on the ramp leading to the airship, "Come on team, to our first mission!" she said striking a pose at the top of the ramp before entering the airship and strapping herself into the nearest seat.

@PyroDash888@SevenStormStyle@Ryonara

Kuhaku Shiro - Airship prior

The wind from his lungs forced their out of his chest, causing his breath to leave him. Eyes wide with shock from the sudden impact from Sapphire's screaming charge, her sharp elbow rammed into his throat prevented him from regaining the air he had just lost. A sickly choking sound clawing its way out of his vocal cords. Eyes shut as his gloved fingers grabbed at her arms, he struggled to free himself and breathe. Opening his eyes, he felt the cold metal of a gun pressed under his jaw. Stricken with sudden fear, his eyes pleaded with Sapphire, silently begging her to have a little mercy. Though, a different part of him bubbled and boiled with silent rage. How dare a fellow comrade draw her weapon on him. His very own leader, no less.

Face close to hers, he could feel her labored and ragged breathing. His mind was a flurry as to what had suddenly happened that could've caused her to lose her mind in such a way. She demanded that he give her a reason to end his life. Then, came the emotional execution. Her venomous words bit and stung him, sinking deep into his soul. She called him a disgrace. She insulted his intellect. As her white-hot daggers for words stabbed into him, her eyes blackened and he could feel a heavy aura adding to the pressure and challenge to breathe. Oddly, it felt vaguely familiar to him.

He didn't understand, he was still confused as to why Sapphire was acting so maliciously toward him. But when she mentioned how his actions caused her to lose her mother's forged weapons, he realized exactly what he had done. Lowering his hands, he would've apologized if he had the breath. He would've leapt out of the airship at that moment to retrieve her mother's precious gift to make amends with his friend. But, he couldn't. It was clear to him now, Sapphire absolutely hated him and despised him since the beginning, she was only holding back her words for his sake.

Wincing as his body impacted against the opposite side of the airship, from her shove. Shiro fell into a pathetic slump on the seat. Grasping at his throat, he painfully coughed as he sharply inhaled to refill his lungs. Opening one eye, he looked at Sapphire as she brought her hand up, bloodied. His world fractured and shattered as he knew her injury was caused by his rambunctious behavior. He had hurt a friend of his. It was his fault. For some reason, Sapphire's vision seemed to fail her as she felt around for her belongings. He thought to retrieve it for her as maybe a way to say 'sorry', but the final blow was delivered by Sapphire's last words to him.

"Anyone but Shiro."

Pain wracked his heart, sapping all energy and enthusiasm from him. He desperately wished to repair what little relationship he had with his leader but it was clear that what he had accidently done to her would take a large amount of time and space to heal. Perhaps maybe even never. Tears welling up, he suddenly felt part of his body 'glued' to his seat. Turning to Gren, he slightly felt betrayed. Was he siding with her? Or was he merely doing it for his sake? So joyous was he to start his very first mission with his team, all for naught. Reaching up to grab the hood of his cowl, he pulled it tightly over his head to hide his face. Wrapping his tail around him, he curled into a tight ball and remained silent for the entire ride. His own phantoms converging around him to taunt him further. Rubbing salt into his fresh emotional wounds. Their whispers amplifying his heartbreak.

Arrival by boat

Not having spoken a word or even so much as looked at his other teammates, as the boat made landing and they were to disembark to begin their mission. Shiro found himself freed from Gren's Semblance. Sluggishly grabbing his pack to sling it behind him along with his weapons, he crawled out of the boat on all fours. With his hood remaining over his head, he crawled ahead further. Something was amiss. Lifting his head as high as he dared to manage, he sniffed at the air. Tail swaying carefully behind, his bloodshot brown eyes scanned the surrounding environment.

Turning back toward Abel and Gren, he quietly eked out a few words. "B-be careful. There's something...'wrong' here. I-I don't like it. I'm g-gonna go scout ahead." Face still hidden by the dark of his hood, he turned away from them and dropped his pack on the ground. "I'll...report back if I find anything..." With that, Shiro bolted forward and quickly scrambled up towards the building.

To be honest, he wanted to get away from his team. He couldn't stand being around them for much longer, having traveled here in such close proximity for such a period of time. He found himself being stifled and suffocated by the awkward atmosphere and silence. Quickly disappearing from eyesight, Shiro made his rounds around the perimeter of the buildings and the surrounding area. By his lonesome, he found himself able to breathe and relax in peace. To lament privately in his sorrow. Still deeply wounded and hurt, though probably not as hurt as Sapphire. Shiro being the one at fault for her loss of her cherished mementos of her mother. Not that he knew much at all of Sapphire and her familial relations. Quite frankly, he never heard her really speak of her own family. Shiro not one to talk, he never really had a family to begin with.

Though Abel was the one who ultimately retrieved Sapphire's things, he in truth wanted nothing more to far away from her. Several minutes after her outburst, ascending the stony staircase to the Shelter's main building, his mind still resonated with the girl's words. They harbored such incredible cruelty! The guardian lacked the words to properly describe the ruthlessness with which she had slaughtered Shiro's self-confidence. The faunus's mood was easily discernible from his body language: utterly distraught. Right now Abel assumed Shiro was thinking the worst about himself and his teammates, not spiteful but totally sorrowful. He hated it almost as much as he hated himself for not being able to come up with the words to help the poor guy feel better. When Shiro left, Abel couldn't help but notice the remorse on his face as the team separated.

For God's sake, Abel seethed. He doesn't blame her in the slightest. He's going to let this crush his soul! A powerful urge to throw Sapphire into something hard swelled within him, but despite his anger, Abel couldn't bring himself to do that either. If he performed such a thing, his principles dictated that he was no better than her. Normal people didn't brutalize allies, physically or spiritually, even immature ones. Since day one Abel knew he didn't like Sapphire, but he had gotten along with her out of necessity, trying in his own stiff way to kindle friendship, or at least an understanding. Now, however, Abel found himself hating the girl. A spiteful glare was sent Gren's way momentarily, but Abel redirected it to the approaching building when he realized that he had done exactly what Gren had: nothing so far. Without announcing his intentions, Abel stormed ahead, easily covering greater distance with his long, unencumbered strides.

The door of the Shelter was unlocked, and the entry area devoid of life. Abel looked around warily, carefully considering each brown single door and the large, gray-green double door that likely led into the facility proper. Knowing that Sapphire would arrive any moment now to tell him what to do, Abel made for the double doors. As he approached, he heard a senseless blend of noises from the next room, and immediately guessed they were made by animals. Already the mission had taken on an aspect of stealth in his mind; whether the guardian was paranoid or simply jumping to conclusions was anyone's guess. Clearly he was preparing to enter, but against his wishes, he elected to wait sullenly for the others to arrive.



Shiro's mournful quest for solitude brought him along a narrow path that skirted the building's wall, and as he padded around a corner he happened upon a little grassy knoll, ringed with a natural fence of rocks that had made it invisible from below. The grass in itself was an oddity for the rocky island—perhaps it had been imported as sod and allowed to grow into a crude, backyard-esque zone. More interesting that the unexpected location, however, were those present in it. An scaly, regal, green iguana sat in the grass, and sitting beside it was a young boy roughly seven years of age, doughy of body and dark of skin, with cupped bear ears protruding from his curly, tawny-gold hair. Almost instantly those ears picked up Shiro's footfalls, and the boy waved. “You s'posed t'be inside?” he asked inquisitively, eyebrows raised. “If one-a the coats saw ya, they'd get mad.”

Gren Orchid

Gren, initially, was somewhat amused by Shiro's enthusiasm. It was charming in his own way. The charm quickly diminished however when he tried to direct his joy towards Sapphire. It didn't require a lot of thought to know that Sapphire didn't like Shiro. Frankly, Gren had a feeling she didn't like any of them. But fine with Gren; he was a faunas. Being hated for petty reasons was just part of life. And yet, it wasn't just petty spite that fueled Sapphire's words. Gren understood her anger.

Shiro needed help. A lot of it. His own semblanced was cursed to make sure he'd repeat his mistakes. Gren wanted to do something about it, but he was cowardly. He didn't want to force Shiro to do something that even Gren regrets. But as it stands, Shiro was a liability. He liked his faunas partner, but he was legitimately at fault here. His rash and carefree nature cost Sapphire her weapons, and could very well cost them all their lives. While Gren doesn't approve of Sapphire's callous attitude towards the group, even Gren understands that Shiro needs to have more self-control. The only thing is that Gren doesn't expect Sapphire to even bother to fix this glaring mistake herself. As far as Gren figured, Sapphire only sees Shiro, Gren, and Abel like tools. She may know how to use their weapons, but she has no idea how to use the ones holding the weapons. They weren't objects or machines who followed orders to the letter. They were smarter than that, but also independent. And that was going to be Sapphire's downfall if she can't figure out a better way to control them other than "Because she's the leader".

But this was something that they'd need to deal with after the mission. Thanks to the outburst Gren doubts that any of his other allies would be interacting with each other much. That's fine, as this would give him an opportunity to talk to them individually and try to keep them together long enough to survive. The ride was silent. The absence of noise was a heavy burden to bear. But soon the group was dropped off on the isolated island, and the party acted quickly. Shiro chose to scout ahead on his own accord, and Abel followed shortly after. They both seemed to want to get away from Sapphire as soon as possible. Despite the rough start, Gren let out a smirk as equipped his helmet. He held The God Eater in it's Destruction Form and turned his head towards Sapphire.

"Your orders?"



Once Team MODA gathered their members together onto the Unsubtle, they quickly departed to the rendezvous site. They could see their destination as three large large unmarked semi-trucks appeared in the distance. Although the trucks had no brands or markings, their high-quality parts and clean hull made it obvious that these trucks were owned by someone who could afford to make even a plain delivery truck look it's best. A group of men and women were standing around waiting for Team MODA, each with a pistol holstered on their belts. The only one without a weapon was dressed more formally than the others, with all white slacks, button shirt, and the Schnee Dust Company logo emblazoned on his breast pocket. He was bald and clean shaven, but rather portly. He looked like a fat, sweaty plantation owner. He showed mild surprised when Team MODA arrived on a tank of all things, but his surprise quickly faded as he went to meet the students.

"Howdy, young hunters. I'm glad that Beacon has offered their best and brightest to up us today. I am a representative of the Schnee Dust Company, but you can call me Rice! Kek ke ke ke!"

Rice laughs heartily, though the other truck drivers seemed annoyed when he did so. They got into their trucks and started up their engines as Rice stayed back to explain their situation.

"Righto! Well than, we're heading to the settlement named Camp Quartz. It's a prospecting camp that the Schnee company thinks got lots of dust near by, but they've recently hit a patch of thick rock. Took all their blasting dust to break through, and when they did, they only found a second layer! Normally it's not much of a problem, but as you know all of our convoy's have been getting hit before they could arrive. The problem is, we don't even know what's attacking them. The road between here and Camp Quartz is a fairly clear one. Nothing much but a dirt roads, tall grass, and a couple of large quartz. And yet we can't even send scouts to find anything remaining! Just about all of them disappear like the convoys, and the ones who come back never go too far. If this keeps up the Schnee company is going to need to try to send the supplies by air, but we can't even ensure that's going to be safe, what with Camp Quartz being located so far away from a Schnee Airfield. Now, the only real hints of what might be the cause of these attacks is this."

Digging through his pockets Rice takes out his SCROLL and lets Team MODA hear a recording. There wasn't much but the sound of heavy static, though if they listen carefully they could hear the shouting of the convoy drivers trying in vain to radio in what was attacking them. The only noteworthy noises that were not screams of terror and pain where the words "Eating" and "Swarms". It ends with a heavy buzzing before Rice pockets his SCROLL.

"And that's the best we could get. We reckon a bunch of nasty grimm monsters have some how managed to overwhelm the convoys, so when they show up we need your help in dealing with them! And uh..."

Rice looked down at his feet while he tapped his fingers against his big belly. It seemed like the next thing he was going to try to say was hard for him. "I have orders to head to Camp Quartz myself, to oversee the operations there. I'll, uh.... Be the first to to arrive there. Kek ke ke ke..." Something about the way he said that implied a darker secret. Rice tried to laugh it off however.

"Eh heh, well than, uh it's about a thirty mile drive from here. Our convoys have enough fuel to make it there and back, and hopefully your tank does too. We'll be going fairly fast and it's strait shooting, so it shouldn't take longer than an hour or two, you know so long as we don't run into trouble. Let's see, what else, what else... Oh, our radio frequency is 234.33 by the way! You should stay tuned so we can communicate with each other if something happens. Now, if there's nothing else, let's tally ho!" Rice trotted to to one of the convoy. Once inside they drove off towards Camp Quartz. The convoy's drove around 65 mph in a single file line. The road was wide enough for the Unsubtle to drive past them without much issue, assuming there's no oncoming traffic (There isn't).

Ten minutes and about five miles in, it was just the Unsubtle and the three convoys. The dirt road kicked up dust underneath their wheels, and beside the roads were tall yellow grass that went only three feet high. Scattered amongst the fields of grass were tall crystallized quartz. There were tire marks in the dirt ahead of them, suggesting that convoys in the past had also managed to make it this far at least. And yet there was no signs of how they vanished. Not yet.