Gren Orchid

"Stupidly is our specialty. It makes us stronger, with and without it. I am waiting on others though." Ignoring Ebon's course attitude but smiling at his willingness to help, soon more guest arrived, one of whom was Sapphire. Gren honestly did not expect her to show up, but he was glad nonetheless. "At the minimum? Five, including myself and Grane. But the more the merrier. Wussup Chideta!" Gren yelled at the distant Cobalt, who Gren noticed waving at him a little after Sapphire had arrived. "And of course anyone interested in joining us later can always call in to know where we're at. I'm hoping I can show Grane most of the city so he'll be able to feel right at home." But Gren hasn't really seen hide nor tail of his faunas friend since lunch. He hoped he wasn't caught up in something. Just to make sure this party wasn't dead on it's feet he sent Grane a text.

To: Grane Blauer
From: Gren Orchid
Subject: Yo buddy still alive?

Hey I'm at the Air Docks, just waiting for you. Some people showed up but most fell into the lake. Party can't start without you dood.

@Nytem4re

As he waited for a responds Gren decided to start some small talk with Sapphire. Ignoring Ebon, who was likely ignoring them at the same time, Gren figured he could ask Sapphire about her hometown. "So what's home for you, Rode? You mentioned your uncle has a karaoke place in the city, so does the rest of your family live here too?" Gren couldn't really imagine Sapphire's folks living in Vale. It was a nice enough place, but not exactly what you'd expect someone from a military background like Sapphire would live at. Not quite enough bunkers and air fields. Gren was then reminded of his own folks in the city. He wasn't certain if he wants everyone to meet them, least of all since he never gave his folks a heads up. Though he was certain that Grane wouldn't mind seeing his folks again.

Gratia Mindaro - VGNB Dorms

"Nuit went back to la patrie to deal with some inheritance bullshit or something," said Gratia with a snort, the first actual sign of emotion that she had displayed so far during this conversation. "Uncle or something, don't know. Probably flirting a fucking trail of broken hearts along too."

It was admittedly quite different, not having the confident, upper-class Faunus girl amongst their midst. Nuit would have distracted Fiordilatte and stopped the cheese-eating bastard from fucking around like the annoying jackass he was, and her vamoosing back to Mistral had left her having to deal with all the bullshit. Not to mention the fact that it was only her left to deal with the horrible excuses for fashion that Venetia kept dragging out of the grave. Did she look like somebody who had the fucking time to give fashion advice? She had better things to do than explore the myriad, overpriced department stores and mingle amongst the unwashed masses just to find whatever shitty trend was "in".

There had been a workable team dynamic, except now she was picking up all the slack.

Birdbrain better give that fucking letter to my parents.

"A party, Venetia?" she asked, voice returning to it usually-flat tone as she addressed her team leader once more. "Don't wear a disaster."

Kuhaku Shiro - Lake

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Shiro was quickly growing frustrated with the results of the search thus far. How much time had already passed by this point? Truthfully, not much. He was just terribly impatient and had unrealistic desires. He had erroneously thought that it would've been a simple dip in the lake and he would find what he was looking for just like that. Aggravated with the possible reality that it wouldn't be an easy few minute search, Shiro was not happy. With swim goggles to help him see clearly underwater, a light, and his enhanced Faunus vision he certainly had an edge in locating Sapphire's daggers. All of that however, meant nothing if they weren't actually within the lake's waters. Pausing his swim to take a quick break, he noticed some sort of machine flying just above the waters and wondered if Beacon had launched some drones to drag him out. A glance over the shoulder and he confirmed that he was still being followed. Evidently, Shiro was a faster and stronger swimmer than whoever it was that was trying to impede his dagger retrieval mission. Frowning, he took a raspy inhale on Gren's prototype rebreather and forcefully exhaled to create a cascade of air bubbles that obscured his vision. Digging into his pockets, he pulled out his Scroll that was tightly sealed in its plastic bag and decided to shoot a quick message to Gren. Gren would have the complete picture of what was going on and he could calmly use his diplomatic skills to call off whatever team had dove in after him.

From: Kuhaku Shiro
To: Gren Orchid
Subject: Rescue Team?
Body:

"Oi! Gren! That's not a search and rescue team coming after me, is it? If it is, tell them to bug off! I kinda didn't want this to become some big blown up thing, y'know? Oh, and also? Your rebreather works fine, but you might want to work on the fit and seal some more. Thanks a bunch, pal!"

Looking up, Shiro pocketed his plastic-wrapped Scroll and trembled briefly. The cool temperature of the waters still took some getting used to. His body radiated large amounts of heat so it wasn't that bad, but it was still a little uncomfortable. He preferred swimming through warmer waters. Placing his hands on his hips, he turned his head left and right. Itching at his chin, he wondered how he should proceed. Tilting his head, his eyes picked up something a little further off. Curious, he chose to investigate. It wouldn't hurt at all to deviate from his planned swim pattern. Break time over, Shiro resumed his glide through the lake. His flashlight trained on something interesting.

IC: Emerald Felicia - Let's do this -

Emerald grinned, seamlessly attaching her weapons to her arms with an audible click as she looked at her friend...opponent...well she really hoped they would become friends after all this was just a friendly duel and it was a good bonding experience so she really hoped-

Let's try to focus here... Her shotguns cocked, she had loaded them earlier, now they were armed and ready to go. "Alright...we start in three...no cold feet now! Three...two..." Emerald's eyes narrowed as she removed all distractions from her mind, focusing on only her opponent and the battlefield around her. Just because it was a friendly duel didn't mean she wouldn't try her hardest to win, it wouldn't be fair to Krysthane if she didn't give her the best she had. "...one!"

Emerald leaped backwards, quickly moving away from Krysthane as she aimed both her arms at her opponent and fired a shot from each. She'd seen Krysthane, and knew that if she let her get too close Krysthane would have the advantage. If Emmy wanted to win she had to keep her distance. She couldn't wait to see how Krysthane responded, it would be interesting.

@Eklispe

"Ah... I hope that sorts itself out soon, then." he replied, nodding his understanding after a moment. Another rich individual on the team. Or, well, that was what it certainly first seemed, at any rate.

Hm. I wonder...

Suppose they were indeed fortunate enough to rectify everything in short order. If this were to happen, would this Nuit person be eligible for a swift return to Beacon? To miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, studying abroad at Beacon, must be crushing for anyone. Especially if they had made the grade to be selected for the transfer program, too. To earn one's own spot and then miss out on it all due to unforseen circumstances... Frustrating, to say the least.

His eyes then flicked over to one quiet, land-weary faunus seated at the edge of her bed.

But then, what would become of Beryl?

Teams traditionally consisted of four members. Would she be sent back once Mistral once the other person returned? Would her right to stay be overridden by theirs to return?

He hoped not. Hopefully if that were to come about, a compromise would be reached...

"So... Am I done here?"

---

Blue duster slightly caught in the early evening wind, the senior approached the Practice Building, on a trip to the firing range. A trip that, as of five minutes ago, came with an additional objective in mind. Glynda Goodwitch, having sent a message to all the senior teams via text, had requested their help in searching for the missing members of team CPLT (or rather, KPT as they were now).

Far be it from him to turn an open call for help out. He was headed there anyway, after all.

Whipping out his scroll, he pulled up the new group message of the team (now containing the new Jorie Ngo) and sent them a heads-up.

>Was headed 2 the firing range, I'll look for CPLT while I'm there. U guys gonna help out?

"'Cause you'd better." he muttered jokingly to himself, pulling the door open with Nuada.

An unfamiliar ceiling was all that he awoke to. The initial feeling of unease was spurred by short-lived panic, only to be quelled by realization. After he repeated the process of pacing his breaths, the boy calmed down. It was a self defense mechanism which had been developed and reinforced over the years. A slow glance to his side allowed him to see his arm already stretched over the bed, in the direction of where his rifle would usually be oriented back in the barracks. Old habits truly died hard. Delta sighed and began to cautiously scan the room, simultaneously wracking through his memory as to how he wound up in the room.

Music from the playlist specifically designated for sleeping was lightly playing through his headphones, so he must have fallen asleep by his own accord. After a few moments of piecing together fragments, it finally came back to him. He recalled asking the Grimm Studies professor if he could get some rest, since he was feeling under the weather. Was quide rude of him, really, didn’t even ask his teacher’s name before already making a request. But some shuteye was definitely warranted. Whatever he had felt was most likely a cooperative effort of sleep deprivation and a sudden change in climate. The boy’s chest rose and lowered calmly, his diaphragm acting as a buffer for the brief moment of trepidation he experienced.

Delta sat himself up and autonomously swung his legs over the bedside. He got to his two feet and glanced around the room, taking in every aspect of it. Oddly enough, all of the beds seemed to have been broken in, including his own. Belongings pertaining to what he presumed to be a full squad were scattered in collective areas, left untouched after their owners’ departures. Yet Robert was the only member of his team. That he knew of, that is. The student refrained from touching any of the unclaimed belongings, but his undefiable sense of tidiness would soon force him to pry his teammate about them. But for now, he managed to stave off the meticulous voice at the back of his head and produced his scroll from his pocket. It was already late, classes must’ve been long over.

”Ah, you’re finally awake.” A voice riddled with snide spoke from below. Delta’s line of sight fixated itself on the pouch, met by an all too familiar wry smile. ”Second time I greeted you with that phrase today. Jeeze, kid, you’re starting to drop the ball.” Eve berated its companion while slipping giggles into its words. ”Don’t worry. I attended the classes for you. Basically shadowed Robert the whole day, without his noticing of course. Nearly got stomped on, though. People are bloody rude in this nation.” The familiar clicked its tongue, then glanced up at the scroll in Delta’s hands. ”You can repay me by buying me chicken tonight~. By the way, you might want to contact Gren.” As it stated this, his acquaintance’s business card was suddenly shoved between his fingers. The grey-haired boy pecked in the numbers and savvily found his contact data, and thereby proceeded to send a text Gren’s way.

To: Gren Orchid
From: Delta Snow
Subject: Just woke up
We're meeting at the Air Docks, right? En route now. Oh, and this is Delta. And Eve~!!!!! : 3

Once his ears picked up the successive notification that the message went through, he pocketed the device and walked out of the room. It was a miracle that he managed to find his way to the place in the first place, given how aimless the always so composed Delta Snow was. Although he had a blank expression permanently molded on his face, the spectacle of the city at this hour managed to show a smidget of captivation on his face. His eyes may have widened by a millimeter, but for only a deft second. It didn’t take long to find Gren. The guy had that affable aura surrounding him, the kind that drew in people from all facets of society, and took them all into account. Next to him were two individuals, both he recognized from lunch earlier that day. He didn’t seem to have delved into a deep conversation just yet, the faunus was merely in the process of adding the ingredients to one. A cup of friendliness, a pint of opinion, and just a dash of curiosity. Delta slightly adjusted his composure and waved at the group, then made his way over.
”Quite the view.” He nonchalantly commented, eyes still staring off into the cityscape. ”Good evening Gren and Co. Can’t wait to see what the city’s like.” The familiar was jumping uncontrollably in its pouch. Meanwhile, Delta wasn’t showing anywhere near the same amount of excitement. On the outside, at least.

Sapphire had expected the topic to come up at one point or another. It was sort of part of living in close proximity to other people. 'Oh where's your family from? Where'd you grow up? Do you have any siblings? How are your parents?' It wasn't exactly new to Sapphire. Though she did not recall telling Gren about the Music Box. Of course Gren seemed to be rather adept at gathering information. Perhaps he'd asking Diamond, Emerald or Oswald. In any case these were not the types of questions that she particularly wanted to be answering.

"Do I look like a townie?" Sapphire asked rolling her eyes. Usually the best way to get someone to back off of pleasantry questions was to go on the offensive. No one liked to feel like they were being judged. "My family moved around a lot." She said tossing the answer off like it meant nothing. This was not exactly the truth. In actuality the Rode's had three houses that they had used regularly in Sapphire's childhood (they also had one or two vacation homes but that was besides the point). One of them was on the outskirts of Vale, separated from the community by a long road, a tall wall and imposing gates.

That was were Sapphire had spent most of her life though they also had a place in Atlas and Mistral. It wasn't often that hunters from other Kingdoms were called in to deal with a problem but when it happened Sapphire's mother and father usually ended up in the area for weeks or even months at a time. Sapphire's mother and father had bought houses in the other two kingdoms the ensure that they could keep there family close to them. They didn't have a house in Vacuo because on the rare occasion that they were called out to that remote location they didn't want to subject there children to that kind of harsh environment. It was also the reason that her brother Oliver had run to Vacuo. Janus didn't have as many connections there.

"What about you Gren?" Sapphire asked with an air that suggested that she was only mildly interested in the answer. "What are your parents like?" That was another way to deflect. It usually ended in one of two ways, if the person had a happy homelife they would be glad to talk about where they came from and forget about any questions related to her past and if they didn't then they dropped there own questions feeling that if they got answers they would be obligated to speak on there childhood.


What Shiro, Oswald, Napoli, and Robert didn't realize was that the lake was much less calm than it appeared. On the surface of course it was smooth as glass but the lake at the foot of the Beacon cliffs was actually quite turbulent. On the surface it was calm but there further down you went the rougher the waters became. Tossing you this way and that, the currents were merciless.

Not only that but there was something else in the lake with them. Something dangerous. Something that wanted them gone from it's home as quickly as possible. It didn't care if they made it back in one piece. Right now however that threat was not apparent. What Shiro saw at the bottom of the late was something sparkly, metal catching the light. What he couldn't tell from this distance was that there was far too much of it to simply be Sapphire's daggers.

Once he got closer he would realize that he was looking at a pile of junk, all of it made of metal. Jewelry, engine parts, lost weapons, even some pots and pans. All of the metal that had fallen from the Beacon cliffs resided on the bottom of the late in that particular spot. For the right person it was a pile of treasure. To most everyone else it was more likely just junk. The majority of it was rusting over, except for some of the higher quality jewelry and the weapons which were made of a material designed not to rust in water.

What Shiro couldn't see from this distance was that that pile rested at the mouth of a cave which was almost pitch black inside. Not only that but something rested inside the cave. Something that liked its pile of metal undisturbed. Something that wasn't going to take kindly to a thief.

Vega Venetia – VGNB Dorms

Bianca, it was a shame she had to go back home as soon as they quickly arrived to Beacon. “Pretty much what Gratia said, family stuff.”

It seemed though Luke was itching to get out of here, perhaps Gratia questions have been nerving on him too much. Well, it was none of her business…but perhaps he would like to go to a party with her?

“If Gratia done questioning you, do you want to go to a party with me?” She then looked Beryl. “Maybe you to if you want to” taking a look at Beryl.

Sarina Tala Dei – JSSC – Academy Gardens

For the evening, Ms. Serene had just been unwinding from her fight against the Ogdoad with Clair. Too bad she had to leave on short notice, and she has just begun to like her. She was Sitting casually on a bench, listening to music on her headphones until she got a vibration from her scroll. She took out her scroll and opened up the message.

>Sender: Glynda Goodwitch
>Receiver: Senior Students
>Body:Good afternoon, students. I am sending you this message for the purpose of an open request: Team CPLT has not appeared in any of its classes today, and aren't in their dorm either. Airship dock surveillance indicates that they've not left that way -be advised, some freshmen are leaping from the airship to the lake below, and may require adult supervision- and team IFRA's patrol in the Emerald Forest hasn't found them either. If you are available, please try and locate CPLT as a favor to the Beacon staff. The possible locations they could be are: Combat Arena, Aura Control Room, Gym, Pool, Roof, Survival Building, Practice Area

CPLT, they have been always a weird, disturbed bunch. The thought of Paron, the bastard that tricked her into thrashing her office, putting the blame on her, was trivial to her though she could care less about him despite Goodwitch wanting Sarina to try to look after him when he was so aloof. Being the second eye for Goodwitch though, she had great deal of responsibility despite being a Havener, studying here before she returns home. So thus, she stood up from her bench and set off…until getting a message again, this time as she looked, from Sterling.

>Was headed 2 the firing range, I'll look for CPLT while I'm there. U guys gonna help out?

So, Sarina typed out a message.

>Sender: Sarina Tala Dei
>Receiver: JSSC
>Body: Yes, as Goodwitch assistant, affairs like this are also important to me. I am going to the roof first by staircase.

And thus Sarina finally set off for the rooftop.

Gren Orchid

From Sapphire's short responds Gren could guess she didn't like talking about her family. She quickly tried to turn the question back onto him, but Gren wasn't about to let her pull a fast one. "Not nearly as difficult as yours. I have no... Legacy to uphold, unlike you. It's an important name I'd imagine." Gren chuckled coldly. Unrelentingly Gren continued to talk about Sapphire family. "Well, I suppose with a family like that you wouldn't want anyone involved. But is that what you really want, Rode? Family day isn't too far off. I figured someone like you would be rather pressured by the sort of weight your name carries. As our leader, I don't like the idea that you wont' be able to handle that responsibility, given the weight on your shoulders. And..." Gren thought long and hard about what he was going to say next. There was a certain amount of conflict within himself, as if he was about to say a lie that he wants to be true. "As a friend, I'm worried about you. I can't say I know how you're feeling, if you feel anything at all. Maybe you're used to the pressure. Maybe you're freaking out in your head. But listen, Sapphire: I want to help. Of course I know you don't trust me. There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn't, and my recent actions haven't done anything to endear me to you. Which is why I'm glad you're here."

Gren turned back around and smiled at Sapphire. "Tonight we'll get to relax. We need to talk, but that sort of serious stuff can come later. As it stands you're just my leader, and I'm just a tool for you. I want to change that. Also, to answer your question: instead of talking about my folks, I'm hoping I can introduce them to you. There's so much I could say about them, but I think it'll be best if I just show you how they're like. Warts and all." Soon a message popped into Gren's head. Shiro wanted to know if there was a rescue crew coming after him, so he shout a message back.

From: Gren Orchid
To: Kuhaku Shiro
Subject: Re: Rescue Team?

Nope. Robert, Oswald, Napoli, and even Ebon came by to help you out. I was worried that you might have a hard time and get lonely, so I asked them to help. Sorry I couldn't do more, buddy. Play nice with them, okay? I know you don't want other people knowing what happened, but I wouldn't forgive you if you got hurt because of your pride.

Another message arrived, this time by Delta. Apparently he just woke up and hopefully Grane would be arriving soon as well. "I'm sure you want to know what I'm really like. Hopefully I'll get to show you."

Grane did have a bit of excitement in his last class, after all, watching a massive faunus like that die majestically was pretty nice. However, unwinding a bit sounded pretty appealing to him at the moment. That party Gren planned sounded like the perfect way to do just that. His scroll then began vibrating, notifying him of the text Gren had sent him. What a coincidence, Grane was just about to text Gren himself to ask where and when they should meet up. Grane took about a minute to text a reply, but at least it was improvement over last time. Experience would hopefully bring that time down.

From:Grane Blauer
To:Gren Orchid
Subject:That Party Yo

Yeah, I'm still game. Headed there right now myself. You know me, wouldn't miss the chance to get wasted bro.

It would hopefully be just like old times. Well, with company of course. While it would be a chance to catch up with his friend Gren, it would also be a perfect chance to socialize with the others. Being aloof and "I was born in the darkness" was a great way to get people to ignore you in your time of need. Hopefully he'd make a few new friends. The party would be awkward if he didn't really talk to anyone other than Gren. Grane soon found himself at the airdocks, finding Gren and the small group that he assumed were going along for the party.

"Hey Gren! The man of the party is here! We ready to go yet?"

Lauren Negasi

"Too late to make a trip out to Vale, and I need to meditate long and hard on what to smack onto your shades." Lauren tilted her head at Ben and wrapped her arms around her legs, clapping her knees together slightly in thought. Now that she was in shorts, the dull bruises on her dark skin had started to creep up from the fight with Ben; they stung when her legs met. It didn't help that 'no, it's okay, we're best friends and we're training to fight monsters' sounded like the biggest and worst cover-up ever.

Jeans for a while it is!

"Why? Whatcha thinking?"

Maybe Ben had some good ideas. Or Amy - hell, Amy had to know how to party, right!? Or maybe Sangue was a little wild when the dorms closed up for the night...she could see it...actually no she couldn't. Scratch Sangue. But Ben! That pretty, grabby mongrel had to have all sorts of ideas in his...concussed...head.

Maybe not.

But Amy--

--...is zoning on painkillers.

...

And so it was up to her.

"Does anyone have a--"

Nope. No bottles.

"...But if we could...!"

There probably wasn't a mat handy, and Lauren's legs hurt too much to twist around.

"...Anyone got a deck of cards?"

Oh Lord I even SOUND like I'm gonna die alone and bored

...

"Let's find somewhere and drink!"

"Hello Darkness, My Old Friend," Jorie hummed out, confined inside of a cramped area that only slivers of light managed to pierce through her hidden hiding place. Soon enough, her front pocket hoodie started to vibrate, it light up as well giving unnecessary light to blind her. She grumbled lightly, twisting her legs towards the side as her thighs were squeezing tight against her chest, and she carefully took out her scroll with her human arm. Taking out the bright electronic, her legs went back to their original position and placed the tablet onto her knees propping it up as she stared at the text message.

>Sender: Glynda Goodwitch
>Receiver: Senior Students
>Body:Good afternoon, students. I am sending you this message for the purpose of an open request: Team CPLT has not appeared in any of its classes today, and aren't in their dorm either. Airship dock surveillance indicates that they've not left that way -be advised, some freshmen are leaping from the airship to the lake below, and may require adult supervision- and team IFRA's patrol in the Emerald Forest hasn't found them either. If you are available, please try and locate CPLT as a favor to the Beacon staff. The possible locations they could be are: Combat Arena, Aura Control Room, Gym, Pool, Roof, Survival Building, Practice Area.

Oh? Embarrassingly enough, Jorie didn't know much about Team CPLT, but it seemed that they were in trouble or something that didn't seem too nice. She started to lightly squirm inside of her hiding place, trying to find a more comfortable position where her claw arm didn't slide against her entire body. Though, two more messages seemed to vibrate against her body, making her shiver just a little.

>Sender: Sterling Johnson
>Receiver: JSSC
>Body: Was headed 2 the firing range, I'll look for CPLT while I'm there. U guys gonna help out?

"Yes." Jorie said to herself, her face flushing as she realized that she tried to talk to a tablet. The Shrimp didn't exactly like the way that Sterling was typing, but it seemed that everyone had their own way typing to express themselves? She shrugged to herself before moving her hand to tablet to type a response before someone else responded before she could even start typing.

>Sender: Sarina Tala Dei
>Receiver: JSSC
>Body: Yes, as Goodwitch assistant, affairs like this are also important to me. I am going to the roof first by staircase.

"Ok." Drat, she just did it again. Jorie bit at her lower lip before looking at the name Goodwitch. She was the lady that was in the screen after the fight... Right? She had a bad time remembering people by name, she could remember faces not names, that is why likes icons on these scrolls so much! They are quite helpful for her at least, though she moved her human hand to type out a message to the two of her allies.

>Sender: Jorie Ngo
>Receiver: JSSC
>Body: Ok, I think I'll be going to the pool. Good luck everyone!

She stared at the message for a good minute, searching for any errors within her basic reply before hesitantly sending the text. She moved her body around once again, shoving her scroll into the front hoodie pocket before using her foot to gently tap onto the end of her hiding place. The metal door creaked open before Jorie slid out of her locker, her claw arm scrapping against the metal before landing onto the tiled floor. The Shrimp gently closed the locker before heading her way to the pool, one of her favorite places inside of the school.

Cian let out a small sigh as she lifted up the pair of "goggles" she was wearing till it was resting on her head. It was a partially complete project from the armory class and she figured that since all things considered despite how odd they looked it was pretty good in the function. The only problem she had so far was that the lenses glowed and she had no idea on how to fix that part. Still as she slid the goggles over head once more and changed byakko into its sniping mode she layed down on a mat as she breathed out lightly as she took aim at her target once more. It was a pretty odd all things considered since her "target" was nothing more than 8 cans stacked on top of each other but was also impaled on a large branch. Still she let out her breath and lightly muttered "targeting value system on" as she slid a small nob at the side of her goggles to get the needed information as she let out a few more shots to see just how accurate the information she was being fed was. She let out a small smirk though when she heard her bullet hit the bottom most can with a satisfying clink.

Kuhaku Shiro - Lake

There it was. He finally saw it. Or at least, something that could've been it. Smiling, Shiro swam deeper towards the bottom. As he got closer Shiro's body was suddenly grabbed and tossed violently to the side. Immediately confused and dazed, it took him a moment to realize what it was. There were some strong currents at play that he unfortunately couldn't detect. Frustrated, he tried for a second time to swim towards the glintt. For a second time, another current grabbed him up and whipped him around until he was freed from its grasp. Pouting, he exhaled another bunch of bubbles. Even though he's a strong swimmer, he wasn't about to fight against some force of nature that can easily drown and pancake him. He just wasn't equipped to do that. Genetically or otherwise, he also had to reserve his energy for the climb back up to Beacon. For a moment, Shiro floated there and looked around him for some way he figure out what to do next. The major problem at the moment where these currents that could throw him off course, wasting precious time and energy. If he could find some way to detect where they were, he could avoid them and make his way to the shiny objects he was sure he saw. Inspiration dawning on him, he quickly discovered his answer. Swimming around the lake were other small aquatic lifeforms. One of them being a school of fish. Observing their swim patterns, he figured they knew how to navigate through the currents. Smirking under his rebreather mask, he couldn't believe his genius. Following a school of fish that appeared to be swimming in the same direction he needed to go, he kept his distance so as to not disturb and scare them off. They were his lifeline for right now. If this was botched, he'd be stuck in the middle of a violent lake with no daggers in hand. As he slowly swam behind the school of piscine life, he wondered why such a lake had currents in the first place.

He figured that the lake was just an isolated body of water. That line of thinking had to be wrong, because if that were true then the lake's waters would be calm and still. The peaceful appearance was just a facade, apparently. Looking around, he quickly figured that there must've been some sort of underground river system that the lake was fed by and connected to. That was the only thing he could think of that made any sense. If that was indeed the case, then that worried him. If the lake was connected to some underground rivers, then there was a high possibility that Sapphire's daggers could be long gone. Lost to some cave system that could have spanned miles underground. Shaking his head and refocusing his thoughts, he looked up just in time to see the school of fish riding a lake current away. Looking down, he was pleased to find himself directly above the shining object he saw. Swimming straight down, he was thankful there were no other currents to drag him away.

Within clear eyesight, he saw that the shining object was incorrect. Shining objects being plural was the key. At the lake's bottom, he dug his feet and claws into the lakebed and pulled himself towards the gleaming pile of random junk. Digging through, he found a few things that were quite valuable and interesting. The rest was just scrap. For a brief moment, he wondered if he should pick up the hobby of spelunking. It made him feel like a treasure hunter, and he liked the idea. Who knows, it could be a nice source of income. Though, unreliable. Still, he found that many items he rifled through he could bring back and collect a pretty penny for. None of what he dug out were Sapphire's daggers. Undaunted, Shiro was certain that her daggers had to have ended up here. Pausing his search, Shiro looked up and around at himself. Question was, why did all of this stuff collect here? Furrowing his brows, he figured the currents had to play some part in this. Maybe they churned and coalesced all of the heavy objects here at the lake's center. Shrugging, he contented himself with that answer. Continuing his dig through the twinkling pile, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. Something about this wasn't right but he couldn't pin exactly what. Maybe he was just excited and that nervous energy was getting to him. Didn't help that some people were chasing after him for one reason or an-

Vibrate, vibrate. Flash, flash.
Shiro blinked, freezing.
Looking down at his trousers, they were blinking at him.
Digging through his pockets he pulled out his Scroll to see that he had a message from Gren.
Smiling under his rebreather mask as he read it, he made an "Aha!" head motion.
Clarity bestowed, he began type up a response to Gren thanking him. Following that, he prepared a group message to the students Gren named in his message.

Back turned, Shiro was completely unaware of the nearby cave that fed down from the lake's bed and what potentially lurked within.

The two R-types dived ahead of Shiro, capable of cutting through the currents better than he could. They were smaller and had way less drag, though the occasional current did batter them around. They reached the lake floor first and began to scan the ground for weapons, specifically daggers. That's when Ebon realized he was missing an important bit of information: He didn't know what Sapphire's daggers looked like. He assumed there would only be one set, but there were many weapons down here. A lot of daggers, some in pairs, others scattered about. Any of these could be the weapons Shiro was looking for.

Back at the surface Ebon also had the displeasure of listening to Gren talk. He was tempted to jump into the lack to stop listening to his drivel. However before he debated if he should take a dive into the lake himself Ebon turned towards Sapphire. It was her daggers he was looking for and he needed to know what they looked like. So letting his R-Types sit at the bottom of the lake for a moment, Ebon switched his concentration from them to Sapphire.

Reading one's thought was easy enough, but digging through memories was more difficult. Ebon needed to have eyesight on the target and focus. If they aren't moving it'll be easier. It looked suspicious for Ebon to be glaring at Sapphire so intently, but fortunately the pig faunas seemed to be distracting her. It took Ebon a few minutes before he was able to get an idea of what Sapphire's daggers looked like: White, can take dust cartridge, and has a pointy crossguard. He thinks he might have seen a few daggers like those so Ebon turned his attention back towards the lake. His previous R-Types were too far away now, so he sent another two instead.

Now knowing what he's looking for Ebon had the Midnight Eye R-Type scan for daggers matching the description of Sapphire's dagger. There were a lot of false leads, things like bleached scrap metal or pieces of glass. There was some broken gun parts that might have been Sapphire's daggers, and every so often he did find an old knife, but none of them looked like what he was looking for. If he had to guess they might have been taken deeper into the lake, so Ebon had his R-Types move towards the deep end.

@Abillioncats

Krysthane grinned excited to start. As soon as Emerald jumped back and fired her guns Krysthane ducked the shots and lashed out with a leg, sending a powerful stream of water to cover the ground at Emerald's intended landing spot. The slippery landing would at least put Emerald of balance and give Krysthane some time to close the gap. At the same time she assumed what she called her travel position. Standing on her slightly bent right leg with the other sticking out behind her she basically turned into a jet ski. This allowed her to move forward easily while still allowing her to jump, duck, or otherwise change direction as needed. Of course she used this technique to get to Emerald as fast as possible, if she was able to she would simply tackle Emerald and figure things out from there. Though she suspected things wouldn't be that easy. This should be fun.

Sterling Johnson -- Practice Area Firing Range

He smirked as two answers in the affirmative buzzed into this scrolls screen, even as he effortlessly swung the doors to the Practice Area's firing range open. Fingers dancing over the onscreen keyboard, he typed quickly in his typical casual and informal manner.

>JSSC
>Sounds like a plan
>good luck team

Pocketing it afterwards, his bluesteel eyes turned back up, sweeping the room even as the telltale CRACK of a high-caliber rifle split the silence in the air, followed almost immediately thereafter by the clink of a target can flying from it's position. Zeroing in on the source, he found a young woman, who couldn't be anything more than a first-year, hard at work behind a sniper rifle nearly her own size. Strange choice of headwear too, probably something cooked up in Chatsworth's class if he had to guess, but nevermind that. What was important was that he had a potential witness.

A potential witness who had also sunk one into the furthest can back in the range with ease, to boot.

"Nice shot, kid!" he called, tossing the handful of ball bearings into the air around him and sending them into a lazy orbit around his head, much slower than anything he'd use in a live combat situation. Having come here to get some practice time in of his own, he strode up to the range next to her, fiddling with the settings with Nuada's silvery fingers until he'd set up "Moving Targets: Level 5: Dante Must Die Mode".

And promptly got straight to the point.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen any other upperclassmen come around this way, would you?" he asked, eyes flitting rapidly between the erratically flying holo-targets. With the small hiss of something small rushing through air, a lone metallic sphere burst from orbit into one of the holograms halfway downrange, sending it from a healthy green to an "oooowww you got me" yellow even as it continued on its path.

"Apparently we got a whole team playing hooky, or something."

---

"A party?" he repeated questioningly, ahoge briefly corkscrewing in his questioning mood and returning to normal in about the span of two blinks.

I think I heard Cian mention something about one earlier...

He wasn't much for parties anyway, even after his grand re-opening of his social faculties. As a more down-to-earth sort of guy, he'd never really felt the need to go to any, despite hearing he was free to come should he desire to multiple throughout senior year. Well, be that as it may, he didn't contend the notion that he was very much still a work-in-progress. If anything, the entirety of today had served to reinforce the idea.

I think I did just use that Psych term, right, though.

In any case, there was another issue with the idea, one that no amount of desire to go and socialize had any sway upon. Something that was of far greater importance than anything so frivolous as a night out on the town or somesuch. Something that truly qualified his morality, that was of utmost importance to his identity as the man he was.

Something more important than any of that.

"Oh, I appreciate the offer, but I actually promised Miss Harken I'd show her where the Pool was once I finished up here." he explained. "Sorry to have to turn you down."

Trad Oak - Ozpin's office

Trad sat at the entrance to Ozpins office. He did his best to breath, he had absolutely screwed the pooch for his team AGAIN! There had been some issues back home just before the mission and without thinking Trad abandoned his team to take care of things. Now that everything was handled it was time to face the consequences of his actions. He was already on thin ice after failing the entry exam, now he had left his team before their first mission. Was he the worst teammate or what?

He didn’t want to come back. He knew there was nothing he could do to fix this. But his father wouldn’t hear it. With how much Trad had worked to get into Beacon his father was not about to let him give up when there was still a sliver of hope. So he was here. Waiting to beg for Ozpin to let him back once more. He was just praying Ms. Goodwitch wouldn’t be there, if she had a say Trad would be out on the street without a word.

Taking in one last deep breath he knock on the office door. “Come in.” the head master said sitting behind his desk. Trad opened the door and made eye contact with Ozpin and dark glare of Ms. Goodwitch. Ozpin motioned for Trad to shut the door behind him. He walked to the center of the room before Ozpin held out his hand stopping Trad in the center of the room. Ozpin stood up and began pacing in front of Trad.

“Mr. Oak. I have been more than fair with you. I allowed you to join Beacon after failing the entrance exam, something that has never been done before in the history of this school, you’ve done something seemingly foolhardy.” Ozpin kept his cool gaze straight at Trad. “You abandoned your team just before your first mission. Now here you have returned asking me to let you back in.” Ozpin stopped pacing and leaned against his desk. “Please tell me why.”

Trad looked straight into the headmaster's eyes, “My family was in danger.”

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

Trad began his story, “A few days ago I received a message from my mother. A local group of thugs began harassing my parents at their wood shop, saying they needed to pay protection money or else. They tried to contact the police, but there was nothing they could do until the group acted on the threats. I told them to not worry, those hoodlums had always been more bark than bite.” Trad's gaze lowered briefly as he said the last part, clearly showing a bit a guilt but brought it back up and continued.

“Right before the mission, I received another message from them. The shop had caught fire. Luckily a fire crew had been close by to deal with it so no real damage was done. But after they investigated they ruled it as an accident.”

Ozpin rested his chin on his fist in contemplation, “I take it you didn’t?”

Trad shook his head, “Who brings a vial of fire dust into a wood shop that ‘happens’ to burst near the more expensive pieces? No, those thugs were trying to make an example of my parents, and since the fire had failed, they were mostly likely going to take a more direct approach. I wasn’t about to let them hurt my parents, so I took the first shuttle home and waited for them to make their move.”

“I assume they will no longer be bothering your family?” Ozpin asked even though he already could guess the answer.

A smirk appeared on Trad’s face, “I’ll let you know when they get out of the hospital. If they can still walk that is.”

There was an unsettling long pause as Ozpin thought about Trad’s story. Finally, the headmaster interlaced his fingers and began to speak. “I do enjoy a good story, particularly one with a happy ending. If you had filled out proper procedure, you might have achieved an excusable absence. Unfortunately, you will have to be penalized. I am sorry. Lucky for you, a faux pas in the interschool records system has left a vacancy that needs to be filled. A certain Vixi Viridian somehow snuck her way into the wrong lists, and is in truth even less qualified to be a part of Robert’s team than you are. As much as your tale would imply otherwise, I get the impression that you’re a dependable young man, Mr. Oak. Robert’s been through some major shifts in comradeship recently; perhaps you can bring both competence and stability to his team.”

He made a dismissive gesture, signalling that he and Goodwitch were to speak in private. “Go ahead and find your teammates. Make sure that you do not vanish again--I’m afraid my goodwill is not infinite.”

“I understand… Thank you Headmaster.” Trad gave a short bow of his head and promptly exited the office.

He was no longer a member of BAST? It was a little disheartening, but he knew it was his own fault. At least his new team would have one familiar face. Robert had been in a few of his classes, though he never actually spoke to him. In fact he wasn't sure how to find him or his team members. He figured his best bet was to head to the dorms and hope they were there, or at least would be returning soon.

Dorms

As he passed by the other rooms he glanced at his old one, that now said… BASL? What did they just take the top of the T and move it down? He gave a short chuckle and continues to his new room. RVGD, they'd probably be fixing that later. Trad knocked on the door and opened it slowly, “Hello? Anyone in here?” He asked into the darkness. “Looks like nobody's home.” Trad shut the door behind him and laid down on a random bed, wondering what he was going to do for now.

IC: Emerald Felicia - Vs Krysthane -

Krysthane ducked, that wasn't all that surprising. But as Emerald landed she found herself losing her footing, her opponent had covered the ground in water! Krysthane was already charging at her, she had to think fast or the match would be over before it started! Emmy smirked as she thought of a rather easy solution, go up. She bent her knees, before quickly springing upwards, as she began to ascend she unleashed her semblance, a powerful wind pushed her further up toward the ceiling before taking her over Krysthane before she started falling back towards the ground again, landing on the other side of the gym where Krysthane had been before she charged. She looked at Krysthane and waved.

"Won't catch me that easy!" She said cheekily, before raising her right arm at Krystane and firing an air blast from her gun. It was a non-lethal attack, but it was excellent at knocking opponents off their feet and dazing them for a few moments if it hit.

@Eklispe

Startled by the sudden appearance of two odd looking drones, Shiro nearly tossed his newly gifted Scroll aside from the shock. Thankfully, he didn't, interrupted mid-completion of his message. Locking the plastic-wrapped device and pocketing it, Shiro tilted his head in curiosity at the machines. They didn't look like anything that belonged to the Beacon Academy proper. They appeared unique and to be custom built. When their lights flooded on and bathed everything in brightness, Shiro flinched and brought up his arms to shield his eyes. His vision eventually restoring, he swam a little closer to the drones and watched intently as they began to work. It looked as though they Drones were sorting through the treasure pile. Removing anything that resembled a short sword or dagger and organizing them into their own separate spot. Smiling in Gren's rebreather, Shiro figured that Gren had worked quickly and filled in everyone topside before they jumped in after them. These drones must've been the weapons belonging to another classmate of his. What useful creations they were, working as quickly and efficiently as they did. He'd have to thank their creator once this mission was complete. As fast as they were working to pick apart the mound of refuse, it looked like this mission would be done sooner rather than later. Continuing his dig through the collection of junk, he decided that it may help the drones work faster if Shiro scattered the contents of the junk pile around. Instead of one single aggregate cluster to have to dig through. Completely forgetting to send his message to Gren and the others.

As his claws worked to separate the materials, something dawned on him. Shiro didn't know exactly how the daggers even looked. Stopping, he realized what a conundrum he was in. He surely had some idea of what they looked like, Sapphire fought and used them a couple times around him. But, due to Sapphire's unapproachable demeanour Shiro never took a deep interest in her equipment as he did with other student's weapons.

Scream garbled by bubbles and lake water, Shiro had a breakdown.
Curses censored by the rebreather, he flailed and randomly swung around at the open water.
Stomping and kicking, punching and swinging.
He grabbed at his silvery-white hair, unable to believe that he'd been so foolish and stupid.
Shiro doesn't know what Sapphire's daggers even looked like.
You'd think that the most important part of his little mission was to familiarize himself with the object he was attempting to retrieve.

Nope. Just stripped down, grabbed some goggles, a light, and dive right in.

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUU...........!!!!!!!!!!!"