He looked back to Jack, who'd found yet another new and interesting breed of food to snack on in whatever downtime he could find. How did he always sniff these things out? Even before a mission, on a Friday morning, his leader had still managed to make time to grab a bite of something new to eat.

He looked down to the open bag thrust in his direction, held out to him at chest height. He looked for any indication of a familiar flavor-- none. In fact, he found the opposite: a flavor tag that he didn't recognize.

Well, of course. This was Jack. He wasn't so content to keep his palate on a status quo.

Smirking, he nodded his head, reaching into the bag and grabbing a chip or two.

"Sure, thanks."

-Four nights ago

Awoken by the accusation of being drunk by a very clearly drunk Diamond, Oswald almost sat up, but declined. He was too tired for this bullshit. Turning over in bed as Diamond gushed over how adorable Emmy admittedly was, Oswald rolled his eyes at the fact that his teammates were so blindingly obvious with their affections for one another. Then again, Robert and Priscilla had basically come back from the initiation as a couple, so it wasn't too much of a shocker, ultimately.

Not intent listening in on Diamond's drunken rambling, Oswald only managed to hear one or two of her ramblings, but the words "stole a truck full of Dust" stuck out like a flare on a dark night. His mind went back to their mission, to the trucks of Dust that they failed to protect. Dust was the lifeblood of most Remnant technology, and a truckfull was enough to supply a company of soldiers for at least a month. While he rationally understood that Dust was significantly more plentiful within the Kingdoms, thanks to the Schnee family, the theft of such a mass of Dust was enraging. Only the pressing weight of exhaustion managed to lull Oswald to sleep, rather than action.



Of course the team split up before the mission. While it made sense that they didn't really need to arrive together, it might have been better for them to at least make sure to all arrive on time. Shaking his head as he walked behind Cobalt to the meeting spot, Oswald took a rest position and nodded silently at Professor Vanhomrigh.

Cian Kuze -- Mission Control

Cian walked quietly to the mission board to see what exactly she was going to be facing. Despite everything she was glad she managed to get something to eat along the way. She was running late today it seemed thankfully nothing to serious as she quietly continued walking her breakfast being nothing more than a roll of bread and a bottle of orange juice that was lightly grasped in her hand. She was finally in her new mission wear after her last mission her old "rabbit" hooded jacket was beyond repair so she got a new set of clothing one a bit more practical. To put it bluntly while the clothing is still something shes comfortable with they were made of better material and she added the addition of two large leather belts to hold her dust clips and Byakko.

Reaching her destination she looked and saw both Jack and Luke seeing as a majority of her team was there she picked up her pace. Reaching her teammates she gently tapped Luke's shoulder as she straightened out her white jacket.

"So Luke whats the mission?" She decided to ask as she quietly finished off her impromptu meal.

He felt the tap upon his shoulder, stepping aside so Cian could read the board as she drew up to the group herself. He could have sworn they had all came here together... did he somehow leave them all behind?

I didn't walk that fast, did I?

Maybe trying to keep up with track team members affected my speed...

"It's a joint mission. We're teamed up with Bastille." he explained, gesturing to the board for the rest of the available information. "It sounds pretty tough, but I doubt they'd put us on something we weren't ready to handle, right?"

After fetching the stuff she wanted from the requisitions, namely a flare gun with a couple of boxes with ammo for it and one of those headbands with a flashlight mounted on it, Diamond made a planned stop in the gardens. She beat Trad to the bench this time, and was surprised when she checked that her supply of smokes didn’t thin one bit since last time. “Bah, they sure do keep us busy. Not even time for a goddamn smoke with all the homework and studying just to keep up.” she grunted in annoyance. On the other hand, being busy with other shit made getting rid of the habit so much easier.

Trad quickly hit the shower and got dressed, this time taking his sword and shield with him. Even though he wasn't in an active combat area, the trip in Vale showed he needed to be more prepared. He headed straight to the gardens. Sure enough there was his friendo bandito sitting at their designated bench. “Well good to see you're up and fine. Figured you'd still be hungover from our trip.” He took a seat next to her and pulled out his empty pack. “Fu-.. I knew there was something I was supposed to do this week. Mind if I bum one off ya?”

“Oh don’t even start… I am worried about half of the things i remember saying out loud that night, and who know what else did I blab out when I finally fell asleep. Let me tell you getting woken up by your team in a bathroom while you are hugging the toilet is awkward as f…” Diamond sighed.

Seeing Trad’s peril, she wordlessly tossed her pack over. “Hope you’re fine with Camels.” she nodded towards the box. “I don’t have much time today, one of the underwitches is overseeing us today and she made it a point for us to be punctual. Although the ‘threat’ to be assigned to another team does have some appeal. We’ll see how we do today, I’ll judge after that. Speaking of which, how are your new people?”

Before speaking Trad pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He had been craving the bitter taste of these chemical sticks and began to question how he kept forgetting to buy some. While he wasn't a big fan of Diamonds brand, he wasn't about to be picky. Blowing out a long cloud of smoke with satisfaction he replied.

“Im sure whatever you did went unheard, my team was completely out when I got it, yours were probably the same. Besides, it could have been worse.” He raised the cigarette to his lips, “You could have been hugging that cute teammate of yours.

He took another puff and leaned forward a bit. “To be honest I'm not really sure. One of them seems to have a problem with humans, sucks for him seeing as he's on an all human team. Our leader still looks a bit uneasy about having a whole new team, and the other guy just doesn't talk. But his little friend does. Oohhh does that thing talk.”

Sitting back up he flicked the ashes off his cig. “So what danger will your team be facing? Not sure we know ours yet.”

“Hey! She’s the one to wake up in my bed, not the other way!” Diamond grinned. “Not sure I’d call that worse either.” She could only hope no one overheard her - but at least they chose not to confront her on any of it yet.

She raised an eyebrow at what came next. “Oh wow. I thought we had team problems. At least I know where we’re going, although you know you can call up to mission control and ask right? We gotta protect crops this time instead of people, that should make it a little simpler. They only seem to predict grievers and other small grimm too, although with our luck there will be a monster made out of gas impossible to hit this time. Can’t say I’m better prepared myself too. One week is hardly enough to get used to casting spells. I got the ice down pretty good, no so much the moving of things.”

To demonstrate, Diamond pointed her finger at a nearby rock and made it hover after a bit of trying. “Solid things are easy, as long as they aren’t alive. I tried to levitate a squirrel and it turned inside out - although I guess against Grimm that would work. Liquids or gas? Forget it. Myself? I don’t dare.” she frowned. It would have been pretty great to fly, but that seemed long ways off if at all possible.

“Eh, after the stress I went through before the last mission, I'd rather wait to find out.” He remembered how nerve racked he was about doing a high ranked mission. “Hey for as long as you've been trying it's impressive what you can already do. Come the next mission I bet you'll be throwing Grimm all around… Assuming you survive guarding the crops.”

“Oh, we will. It’s the general population that risks famine if we fail. No pressure. Remind me again why do they put bloody trainees who have nothing but two weeks of the basics learned on such important tasks? I would have been a bit more careful...” the thief shrugged, finishing her cigarette in two swift drags. “Damn, so busy I don’t do this enough it’s losing its appeal.” she complained as she flicked the butt to the trash. “Sorry to be in such a hurry. Boss wants us there. See you when we get back?”

“You got me, maybe they have some sort of back up plan or insurance policy we don’t know about.” Trad took one last puff before putting out his cig and trashing it as well “Absolutely. I'm sure we'll run into each other sometime if not in class.” He grabbed the back of the bench and pushed himself up. “Good luck protecting our food, I know my stomach wishes you success.” With a wave he headed back to the dorms. He wasn't sure if his team had gone anywhere yet, but he wouldn't know unless they messaged him.

Sapphire packed up her things for the mission today. This one felt a little bit more secure, it seemed it was more an investigation, track and hunt, than it was an all out battle like the Shelter has turned into. This was simple, Hunter Vs Grimm, no complications.

She packed her weapons obviously. A case of dust laced shotgun shells which also had one or two dust capsules in it. Then she packed a carry on bag with a change of cloths, some cash, food, a bottle of caffeine pills just in case, a fake ID (which declared her name as Quinn Saffron) as well as two spare daggers just in case. She couldn't help but remember how the last mission had started.

It was unlikely that such an event would repeat itself but Sapphire couldn't help but worry, even as she had her new Nightmare Blades strapped to her wrists Sapphire couldn't help but feel like they weren't stable there. Somnus and Melinoe she'd forged on Wednesday. Somehow a small part of her had been hoping that the originals would somehow be returned to her before the new materials arrived but no such luck presented itself. Still it made her nervous about working with Shiro again, possibly putting her life in his hands. Every time she'd thought about it the image of the anti-psychotics he took came back to her mind along with what he'd told her about them Tuesday after school.

"Furball, we need to talk, seriously this time." She'd said cornering him after school three days previous. At the time it has seemed like a good idea and after being blown off once she most definitely wasn't going to leave without an answer this time. She wasn't going to let him wriggle out of her grasp again. She'd guided him into another empty classroom and planted herself between him and the door. "Shiro, you need to tell me the truth about your meds. I can't be going out into the field with someone if there is a chance they might have a breakdown during a mission. You need to tell me what's going on."

Putting up his hands in a half-submissive/half-defensive gesture, Shiro couldn't help but roll his eyes and sigh as he was shepherded into a classroom yet again by his team leader. How in the world did she manage to corner him and surprise him each time was beyond him. Normally he was careful to give her plenty of distance and space, yet every time she always managed to sneak up on him. To be honest, it creeped him out. Either he needed to work on his situational awareness, or something was up. Then again, maybe her cheeky-sneaky-breeky ways had to do with her still unknown Semblance. He could always just look it up, now that he thought about it. Slowly turning around and letting his bag drop to the ground, Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned quietly.

"Look, I've said this time and time again. My name isn't 'Furball', it's Shiro. Kuhaku Shiro? Y'know, your team mate? At least give me that respect. I call you by your given name, I'd only ask if you could do the same for me. It's a bit insulting." Placing his hands on his hips, he clicked his tongue as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "So what is it now? You want to seriously talk? That's a hoot. When are you ever not serious?" Crossing his arms, he stopped his rocking and locked eye contact with Sapphire, a heavily disinterested look on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Truth about my meds? What's there to know? It's none of your business. I'm fine and you're nuts. I don't need to tell you anything about my personal affairs, but you need to back off and leave me alone. I'm fine." Normally, Shiro was far nicer than he had been when speaking to Sapphire. But, with their current dysfunctional relationship getting more and more on his nerves his patience was wearing thin. His tolerance for her ways was waning.

Sapphire rolled her eyes again. "Alright Shiro, I am the first one to advocate the right to keep secrets but not when it effects the rest of the team. If I received an injury that affected my performance in the field or had some event in my past that could threaten you, Abel and Gren I would tell you. Your life is your life but it becomes our life when it could get us all killed. I did some research, those meds are multipurpose, they can be prescribed for psychosis, delusions, paranoia, depression or a whole host of things that I'd need a medical degree to understand." Sapphire sighed. Getting riled up never ended well when she was dealing with Shiro. The best thing she could do was keep calm, keep civil and keep pushing. "I need to know that you're not going to collapse in battle or suddenly start attacking the rest of the team. Your history is yours to keep hidden if you like but not if something I don't know about you could get us all killed. I can't defend against what I don't know about." Then Sapphire spoke a word that was not normally part of her vocabulary. "Please," it didn't come very natural to her. "I need to know what you're hiding."

Shiro's eyes widened and his mouth couldn't help but hang open a little when she said the magic word, 'Please' He knew it was a bit rude, but he quickly recovered and closed his mouth. Breaking eye contact and looking away to the side, Shiro reorganized his thoughts. She wasn't wrong, he knew that. What she had said held a ring of truth to them and he was being horribly irresponsible by withholding the information from her. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Abel and Gren already knew about the medication he took, but he doubted it would really faze her if she found out that they learned before she did. Frowning and chewing on his lip, he had to think rather hard about this. While he did intend at some point to talk to her about himself, Sapphire had the habit of forcing things from people at the most inopportune timing. What could he tell her though? She was right on a second bullet point. The medication he took couldn't be summarized sufficiently in one sentence as they served a number of purposes. They were to be used sparingly of course, but they to came with their own side effects. They were probably what was affecting his sleep and nightmares. But, he wasn't about to tell her that. Sighing, Shiro resigned. Part of him wanted to go ahead and just talk to her while he was here about the same thing he talk to Gren and Abel about, but part of him didn't. He doubted that Sapphire wanted to hear much else than the answer she was demanding.

It was clear he was a bit hesitant to reveal everything at that moment. Sapphire would have to ease up and show a bit more of her humanity before he'd be comfortable opening up to her. All of these colliding thoughts and emotions caused his ears to twitch and swivel furiously, his tail following suit with its sweeping motions.

Looking at the ground, he mumbled out an answer."Okay, Okay. Fine. I get it. If it gets you off my case...I get panic attacks occasionally. I take the pills for whenever the attacks get real bad and I can't come down from them myself. That's all." He couldn't regain eye contact. It was obvious that some parts of what was said was half-truth/half-lies.

He was dodging the question again. Not that Sapphire thought what he'd said was a lie but it sure as hell wasn't the entire truth. He was hoping that she'd be satisfied with as little information as possible but the truth was if she was going to trust him completely she needed the whole story. She rolled her eyes again. "My how specific of you." she shook her head in a disappointed manor. "You and I both know that isn't good enough. You need to tell me the whole truth. What sets it off? What kind of state does it leave you in? I need to know what I might end up dealing with if this happens in the field."

Shiro had enough. Snapping, he pointed an accusing finger at her. His anger at the injustice of the situation riled him to the point of his eyes taking on their glowing blue hue. Black stripes slowly marking his hair and skin. This was incredible. How could she be so short-sighted? So self-serving? Shiro understood how his unstable mental health could lead to potentially disastrous results. Though he felt he didn't have it in him to harm anyone he even slightly cared for, that didn't make what Sapphire was doing fair. It didn't make it right.

"And how is any of this fair? You demand of me to reveal my history to you. You say and this and that, using the reasoning that it's for the safety of the whole team. But you want to know something? YOU are the ONLY one who doesn't know jack all about me! YOU alone have no clue what's wrong with me. Abel and Gren already knew about my medication. They already know the kind of person I am. They already know my history. But YOU? You don't have a single idea about any of us. And why should you care? Sapphire Rode, the high and mighty leader of Team Swansong. That's ALL you are and that's ALL you care about. How to be an effective leader and that's it! Do you have any compassion for any of us? Do you even consider any of us as friends instead of just co-workers? Why should I share any freakin' detail about my history when you haven't even offered to talk to any of us about yourself? When you haven't made any attempt to get to know us on a deeper and more intimate level, past work relations? The ONLY time you seem to care is if something comes up that may make you look bad or endanger your position as our figure head Team Leader!"

Body temperature rising with his rage, Shiro spoke with an intimidating and booming clarity to his voice that he hardly ever utilized. Speaking with the fiery passion of a clergy member giving a motivational sermon. With aggressive body language and hand motions, he likened his words to a sort of verbal assault aimed directly at Sapphire.

"What about me? About who I am? Do you even care what all this means to me? Do you even care that I get plagued by visions of things that aren't there? That I hear voices from people who don't exist? Torturing me day and night? Wearing me down? Ripping me apart and eating me from the inside out? Telling me to do horrible, terrible, cruel things to myself and to others? Do you know how it feels not knowing when you might lose it? Do you know how it feels not knowing who the hell you really are and where you came from? That you have no memory of your childhood and that you have to rely on fucking pills to MAYBE. JUST MAYBE keep you sane? What kind of leader just fucking ignores all of that and only worries about 'Oh, this might be bad down the line. Maybe I should INTERROGATE MY OWN TEAM MATE AND DEMAND ANSWERS FROM HIM WITHOUT OFFERING ANYTHING IN RETURN.' Does that sound right? Does that even remotely sound FAIR to you?! HUH?! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I DIDN'T WANT THIS. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME AND NO ONE HAS THE SLIGHTEST INKLING WITH HOW TO HELP ME! I JUST HAVE TO FUCKING DEAL AND IT DOESN'T HELP WITH YOU JUST SUDDENLY TRYING TO EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM ME JUST SO YOU CAN FIGURE OUT SOME WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND COVER YOUR OWN FUCKING ASS!"

His face was a bright red with hints of tears in his eyes. Veins throbbed in his neck and on the sides of his temples. He was far from done. The volume of his voice softening, he clenched his fists as he stood shaking with emotion. Glaring at Sapphire, he continued as he heavily panted.

"You want to know more about me? Fine." Spreading out his arms and turning from side to side as he looked around. He paused every now and then to catch his breath as he spoke. "This is it. I don't have a history, Sapphire. I don't know whether I have parents and if they're alive or not. I don't know if they abandoned me to die out in the wilderness or if they had a reason for leaving me to rot. When I got picked up I was just in a haze. I don't even know if Kuhaku Shiro is my real name. I don't even know if I'm as old as my records say I am. I just assume everything I was told when I was younger was true. As an orphan I was abused for my Faunus lineage. Physically, mentally, and spiritually punished for having a genetic code that's unlike the normal human genome. Punished as if I was something lesser. As if I'm just a funny little animal, a beast, to laugh at. As if I'm not a living thing with a soul and a heart."

Tugging and pulling off his long gloves, Shiro quickly unraveled his arm wrappings to expose the dark markings etched into his flesh to Sapphire. "And these?" He said as he raised his arms, scoffing. "Had them since day one. No one can explain these either." Tossing his gloves and bandages aside on the ground, he let his arms hang lazily. "The way my Semblance works is, somehow there's something about the sound of my roar. Something in its timbre resonates within people's hearts and stirs up their emotions. Inspiring them and motivating their spirits. The theory is that my Semblance removes the mental and physical limits that we've placed on ourselves whether intentionally or not. It removes the little safety 'stop-gaps' to let someone either fight at their true potential or it reinforces those limits and bars any new information from being processed by the mind. Think of it like a buff or debuff in a video game. Lets you move a little quicker. Hit a little harder. Think a little faster. On the opposite side it'll temporarily blind and deafen you."

Shiro sighed, his internal fire burning at a calmer dull roar.

"The doctors think that when I use my Semblance it causes my mind to think something is going wrong. So it overcompensates in some way and chokes itself with too much stimuli and information. With my mind going haywire and unable to efficiently process information normally, it hits the emergency panic button and shuts down. Rebooting itself like a computer. Of course, my body doesn't jive very well with a sudden flick of the 'Off' switch. So it acts up in any kind of way. The doctors think that because of these 'hard resets', my brain cells get damaged. Causing me to permanently lose my memories and other...mental issues. But when they would do MRIs and CT scans, nothing is amiss. Just a normal, healthy noggin as far as their tests are concerned. So, they just prescribed me with medication that is generally effective for a large group of people and hope for the best. When that pill doesn't help or worsens my condition, they move onto the next pill. That bottle you... found is like the fifth different type of medication I've tried so far."

He made an unenthusiastic motion with his hands. "There. Done. That's the life story of someone who claims to be named Kuhaku Shiro. Happy? Does that help you in any way?" He sniffled and wiped at the corners of his eyes. Their blue color changing back to gold. His black stripes fading away into non-existence.

A darkness passed over Sapphire's face. It didn't surprise her altogether that Shiro had told Gren and Abel his secrets but left her out of the group. She didn't ask for everything that Shiro had given her. Sapphire would have been more than content with knowing the extent of his psychosis, she didn't need the history (or lack there of) behind it but it was useful information to have.

"You know what Shiro, this isn't fair, none of it is fair. But when did fairness ever factor into anyone's life. You've had it rough? My condolences I hope life treats you better but you don't deserve anything. You fight for what you want and you cling to it as hard as you can and you never let go."

Sapphire could feel her heart start to beat faster but she took a deep breath in an effort to keep her voice even. "You think I'm heartless? You think all I care about is my position and my status? Now look who's not making an effort. If there's a single thing you should know about me from day one it's that I don't give a damn what people think about me. I don't care about being a team leader or glory or looking good or any of that crap. I came to this school for one reason, one I'd hope you share, to help people."

As Shiro's strips darkened and the color of his eyes changed Sapphire gripped the hilt of her her lent dagger ready if he attacked her.

"The fact is Shiro I'm responsible. For you, for Abel and for Gren. Your lives are mine to look out for and mine to defend. Even if I don't make it out of a situation I have to make sure that you do. The truth is I am just your co-worker. We've known each other, what, two weeks, that's not long enough for me to call you a friend, it's barely long enough for me to call you an ally. We might never be more than that. God knows we don't fancy each others company but it doesn't change the fact that I have to keep you safe above everything else.

You think this is easy for me? I've got a teammate I can't stand, one I can't believe in and one I can't trust and none of whom think I'm cut out for the job assigned me but I'm going to damned well do that job anyways. You don't have to like me Shiro but you need to work with me or else all four of us will end up dead. I'd much rather be working alone, it's so much simpler when you're the only person you have to defend and you're the only one you're putting in danger but a fact of this school is that I have to risk three other lives every time we go out in the field."

Sapphire was getting fed up with Shiro. He'd had a tough lot dealt to him, his semblance was self damaging and there was so much he didn't understand about himself but if he didn't suck it up and either figure out how to deal or forget it existed the entire team would be in trouble down the line. The girl with the azure hair reached down and stripped off one of her white silk gloves revealing the long thin white scars that decorated them like a web. "We all have scars Shiro, some of us just don't wear them on our faces screaming for attention. We all have demons in our pasts that we have to deal with. If there's anything I can do to help exercise yours let me know but until then this is something that I have to factor into every decision I make for the team. It's one more thing I have to protect everyone from."

Sapphire turned to leave, she'd gotten the answers she was looking for in Shiro and even if they weren't quite what she'd been expecting there wasn't any point antagonizing Shiro further. He'd already looked like he wanted to spring into a fight.

Shiro's ears slowly flattened, drooping as his heart leapt up into his throat and choked him. Swallowing the hard lump back down into his chest, Shiro's shoulders rose and sagged as he sighed heavily. Weary, he scratched at the back of his head when Sapphire started to speak and he heard the ring of truth within her words. To be honest, he was quite touched to learn that Sapphire did care for him and his other teammates even if it was in some strange twisted way. He never knew she thought the way she did and felt a little embarrassed for assuming otherwise. His cheeks tinging pink to reflect his awkward feelings. It was true, he shared her desire to help those who couldn't help themselves and unlike Sapphire, Shiro considers everyone he meets to be an immediate friend. He should've figured that not everyone felt or thought the way he did. He was the short-sighted and irresponsible one there. She was right, Shiro hadn't made much effort to connect with her but that was only because of the unapproachable air that she seemed to carry herself with. Or rather, was it because he 'feared' her in some way and just resigned himself to such an excuse? He never put himself in her shoes. He never considered what she may have been going through with a such a dysfunctional functioning team as paradoxical as that seemed. When Sapphire bared her own scars to him, that was the final nail in his emotional coffin for the day. He truly felt like an ass at that point. He hadn't even thought of what Sapphire herself may have gone through in her own past, not that he figured she would be interested in sharing.

As she turned to leave, Shiro couldn't face her anymore and turned away himself. Tail tucking in between his legs, he squatted down and picked up the bandages he tossed aside. As he began the slow process of rewrapping his arms, he took another shaky sigh and spoke to the ground in front of him. His tone had softened, but retained their clarity for Sapphire's ears to hear.

"You... You know, you're right. A-about a lot of things." Remorseful, his expression saddened. "I let my emotions get the best of me. Like... I usually do. I may have been out of line and said some things I shouldn't have. For that, I'm sorry."

A moment of silence as he quietly tied off the bandages to one of his arms.

"I... don't think you're heartless. Just maybe... a little cold. I do consider you a friend though... even if we aren't on the best of terms. I..."

He couldn't find the words to continue, so he cut himself off and regrouped his thoughts. Shaking his head, he resumed speaking.

"Th-...Thank you. For sharing your scars with me. They're nice. A-and I want you to know if... maybe you ever have something you need to talk to someone about... About anything... Demons in your own past... I want you to know that I feel the same way. If you need help from someone to exorcise them... I'm here. I, uhh... didn't even begin to think how rough you may have had it yourself before... my rant. It was a stupid little outburst. I understand a little more now."

Done with wrapping his arms, he picked up his gloves and tugged them on. As he flexed his fingers and made sure they fit snuggly, he stood with his back still turned away from her. Clenching his fists, he lowered his head.

"I'll...I'll do better next time. I promise."

Ears twitching, he turned his head slightly to watch Sapphire from the corner of his peripheral vision.

"I'll do better."

He repeated with more conviction in his voice, with more confidence.

Sapphire looked back at Shiro as he made his apologies. It was good to know that there was actually something in his mind other than a bubbly attitude and irrational decision making skills. The outburst hadn't exactly done anything to inspire confidence in Sapphire but she supposed the more information she had the easier it would be to work with him.

A thought occurred to her and as Sapphire pulled her glove back on she glanced back at Shiro over her shoulder. "You might want to have someone look at those tattoos. They looked too clean to be amateur work and if they were done professionally whoever gave them to you might have some of the answers your looking for."

With that Sapphire had left Shiro in the empty classroom to his own devices. Looking back on it a couple days later Sapphire still wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. It was still a fact that Shiro remained an unpredictable wild card which was always dangerous. The mental illness that the pills were prescribed to control were another serious concern she had but as it was something she had essentially no control over all she could do was bear it in mind.

Shaking her head Sapphire pushed the door to the Swansong dorm room open and walked across campus to where the missions were being dolled out. It looked at though they were going to be sent in to hunt down a siren that had been killing people along one of Vale's coastal areas. This made Sapphire far more nervous than she ever would have liked to admit. While Siren's could exist on land they were essentially aquatic Grimm which meant there was a very good chance of the team ending up on the ocean or in some sort of flooded cave. Sapphire didn't like to admit it but she was aquaphobic, she had a deathly fear of swimming. Around water she was more or less fine but once she was immersed waves of panic threatened to drown her almost as bad as the water that would literally drown her.

She really hoped this was something that she wouldn't have to tell the rest of the team but depending on what the conditions looked like where they were going she feared that it might become necessary. Regardless Sapphire could use a pick me up and the tea in Gren's hand reminded her of the travel mug she had stashed in her sling over bag. She pulled it out and took a sip, earl grey, a splash of milk and more sugar than was healthy. She walked over to her teammates. "You guys ready?" She asked looking between them. Abel clearly hadn't arrived yet.

Esther Vanhomrigh - Beacon Commons

As the first member of Team CODE to arrive, Esther's initial impression of Emerald swiftly flew out the window and into the dumpster. Unfortunately for Team CODE, Emerald had just ruined her team's chances of being viewed favorably in Esther's eyes. For no fault of the feline faunus, Esther was extremely critical of students and their disturbing lack of firearms discipline. It got to the point where she became known for suddenly chasing after students and screaming at them out of nowhere. Their weapon handling 'skills' was absolutely abysmal in her own opinion. One wouldn't be wrong to say she was an absolute, stuck-up, bitchy snob when it came to firearms knowledge. Emerald had immediately pushed her buttons in a bad way and Esther was quickly cranking up her 'Hardass Mode'. Glaring at the poor girl with an intense fire, she spoke with a disapproving sneer. Disgust oozing from her voice.

"And to whom do you think you're so simply addressing with your 'good morning'? The tree next to me? That leaf blowing in the wind? This pebble by my boot? When you speak to me, you'll address me properly by name. That's 'Good morning, Miss Vanhomrigh.' Do you understand, Ms. Felicia?"

Pointing a stern, white-gloved finger at her arms, she continued.

"Those weapons attached to your arms. Am I correct in believing they have a firing mechanism? If so, what in the hell do you think you're doing so enthusiastically waving them with complete and utter idiotic disregard for your fellow students who may or may not be within your vicinity? In addition to that I must ask, are they loaded? Merciful Gods, if they're loaded you had better get your ass right in front of me right the f*ck now and unload them. I ought to remove your weapons, break them over my damned knee and shove them so far down your tiny little throat-FOR FLAILING ABOUT LIKE A F*CKING DUMBASS WITH A DAMN LOADED WEAPON ON SCHOOL GROUNDS! WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, SKIPPING ABOUT WITH F*CKING LIVE AMMUNITION ON YOUR PERSON?!"
In three long strides, Esther was right in Felicia's face.
Her eyes screamed at Emerald, wanting the girl's blood.
Her face an angry, deep red.
She pressed the brim of her cover against Emerald's forehead hard as she bellowed, inches in front of her face.
Tiny flecks of spit sprinkling her as Esther roared at her.
"UNLOAD. SHOW CLEAR. RIGHT-DAMNED-NOW!"

If and when she managed to empty her weapons, Esther without blinking pointed off to the side at a random tree.

"YOU ARE GOING TO STAND IN FRONT OF THAT TREE AT THE POSITION OF ATTENTION. WHEN YOU'RE IN FRONT OF THAT TREE, YOU'RE GOING TO REPEAT THESE WORDS EXACTLY. 'TREE, CAN I GUN? NO, TREE I CANNOT GUN.' OVER AND OVER UNTIL I TELL YOU TO STOP. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, MS. FELICIA? YES? GOOD. NOW F*CKING MOVE!"

Gritting her teeth, Esther reached up to grab the brim of her cover and pulled it down tightly over her eyes. Absolutely seething with a fearsome rage, she had hardly simmered down by the time Cobalt and Oswald arrived.

Turning sharply to face the two of them, one could practically see her Aura brightly burning.
Starting with a mocking laugh, she laid into Cobalt.
"HAH! Well, well, well! So the brown-nosing kiss-ass Team Leader Mr. Chideta has arrived! At least you seem to have the common courtesy and respect to address me properly! Mind explaining to me why your team mate arrived here before you did? A leader is to lead by example. Apparently you don't believe in that and prefer to set a poor example. While you work on explaining that, could you possibly also explain to me why your team mate thinks it's a good idea to prance about with a loaded weapon on school grounds? Please! Give me a good excuse as to why I shouldn't instantly fail your so-called, piss-poor, sad sack of sh*t of a team!"
Head snapping to Oswald, she pointed a finger at him.
Growling with her words, "AND YOU! Who in the f*ck do you think you are thinking you can show up to my mission briefing and just 'chillax'? Don't even give me the proper greeting of the day, too! Oh, no! I don't f*cking rate one! Go right on ahead and prop up your feet, Mr. Connoly! Your other two team mates had the courtesy of greeting me! But no, it's okay. Not you! You're f*cking special! STRAIGHTEN THE HELL UP AND GET ON LINE!" She pointed at a spot on the ground a few feet in front of herself.
Before Cobalt could get a word in edgewise, Esther turned her head away and put up a white-gloved hand to cut him off.
"BOTH of you! Lay out your gear!"
Turning back to face him, she bent at the waist to get closer to Cobalt's ears.
"Oh, and Mr. Chideta you seem to be short one team member. Oh, where is she Mr. Chidetaaaaa? I'm waaaiting, Mr. Chidetaaaaa! A leader should have accountability of his team members at all times Mr. Chidetaaaaaaa!" She leaned from side to side as she mocked the boy in a sing-song tone.
Today was not going to be a good start for Team Code and Esther was going to ensure that.

Almost flinching at Ms. Vanhomrigh's outbursts, Oswald had to suppress a laugh. She was intimidating, sure, but this was only the start of her torment. If such banalities as not arriving as a group got this woman to be so...drill-sergeantish, this mission was going to rival their previous one in terms of utter BULLSHIT.

Cocking an eyebrow at Ms. Vanhomrigh's...childlike insulting of Cobalt, he wondered whether the 'team leader' would be able to handle it without bursting into tears. Probably not, considering their first meeting. Removing his sheathe, Dust pouch and shield, Oswlad laid them in front of himself and flicked his eyes to their tormentor. Now, it was time for the armor. UGH.

Carefully undoing each piece of his armor, Oswald laid the metal and canvas out in front of him, as per orders. He was used to dealing with no-bullshit types, but Beacon was not the place for them if his experience had taught him anything. That might have been a part of the reason he had so much trouble fitting in and making friends, but Ms. Vanhomrigh took it to an absurd level.

Looking over his gear, he did a mental checklist to ensure everything was there: His backpack with food and water, a large first aid kit, a sleeping bag rolled into itself, a fresh set of underclothes, a powerful flashlight/lantern, a lighter and a pair of night-vision goggles, all from Beacon's requisition's office. Diamond's offer had been appreciated, but Oswald liked to have his gear ready the night before a mission. Made sense to him.

In addition to his backpack, he had one pair of pauldrons, one pair of gauntlets, one pair of greaves, a canvas brigandine, a sword, shield and small Dust pouch laid out in front of himself.

"She's right here, on f*ing time." Diamond said as she closed on to the rest of the team and one punkette who thought she's something. Even when she was hanging out with the worst scum of the underworld, she never had this filthy mouth. "So would you please stop the theatrics? F*ing good morning, Ms. Vanhomrigh." she greeted in a mockery of Esther's tone, giving the company a tip of the hat and laying out the flare guns for 'inspection' along with the two ammo boxes with spare flares, small medical kit and the flashlight. She wouldn't let this bitch see - let alone touch - any of the gear hidden in her hat. No siiire, those had great sentimental value.

She wasn't Cobalt's fan, but even she had to admit this was ridiculous and the 'teacher' was just looking for a fault no matter what they did. It appeared to be that kind of day. Great, just when she didn't think to bring any coffee with her. Looking at their overseer pointedly with ehr arms crossed at her chest, she waited to be told what was wrong with her. Diamond realized she risked being failed by the moody bastard, but she refused to be pushed around for no good reason.

Krysthane quickly scanned the info on her mission yet again. A continuation of their last one, it seemed the flu was a persistent one. Oh well, even though they didn't get a new mission this gave them more time to investigate and maybe find out something substantial unlike last time. She tapped her feet nervously as she put away her scroll and looked around. She was at the landing pad waiting for her teammates to arrive but it looked like no one was here. This was where they met for their last mission so they should know to come back here, right? After Krysthane had taken a shower last night, laid out her clothes, rushed through breakfast, all to make it here punctually and nobody else was here yet. Well hopefully they showed up before the mission actually started or else it would be a long and lonely patrol. Besides it was a leader's role to show up early anyway so she was just doing her job so far. Everything would totally be fine. Krysthane groaned and started going through basic combat drills, no longer able to hold still and wait.

IC:

"I-I'm sorry...Miss Vanhomrigh...I didn't realise...y-yes Miss Vanhomrigh!" By the time Vanhomrigh had been done screaming at her Emerald was more than glad to go stand in front of the tree and talk to it, at least it wouldn't start screaming bloody murder. She had no idea that someone could get that upset! Thankfully Emerald was in too much shock to cry, and too scared. She didn't want Miss Vanhomjerk to start yelling at her for crying next.

After unloading her weapons in front of the teacher, she stood at attention in front of the tree, her body shook a little from the stress she was under but she knew she'd be alright. All she had to do was get through this briefing and get AWAY FROM THE PSYCHO TEACHER WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE IN THE ARMY.

You know, Gratia is alright...she's not so bad...she pulled my tail but...that's forgivable I guess... She would have traded Vanhomrigh for Gratia in a heartbeat.

Then Emmy realized to her horror she wasn't saying anything at all, that was bad!

"TREE, CAN I GUN? NO, TREE I CANNOT GUN..." Emerald couldn't help but say it loud and clear, she was too afraid not too.

Ebon arrived at the helipad after getting breakfast and looking over what their missions were. For some reason they were back on patrol duty, either because of what happened last time or because Krysthane forgot to assign them new missions. Ebon suspected the latter. He had no proof, and Krysthane herself seems like a responsible woman, but Ebon always thought the worse of everyone. When he arrived to the helipad he noticed that Krysthane was already here doing some exercises. "Couldn't wait huh?" Ebon called out to his teamleader. The other two members of his team were missing as well, and while he isn't sure what's been up with Sepia, Ebon had a good idea where Skyra was at. At this point Ebon wouldn't be too surprised if Skyra ran off with Mokuran to live out their romantic fantasies, and didn't expect her to show up. "Do you remember what happened during the last mission?"

Gratia Mindaro - Major Tom to Ground Control

An entire week passed. Their first week at a new institution of learning, a continent away from Mistral, away from the familiar church spires surrounding Haven, away from the salty black winds of the seaside factories, away from wild, uncontrollable weather. Beacon would be their home now, the men and women they once called foreigners their new brothers and sisters. A new life in a different country ... that was what awaited each and every member of Team VGNB.

In the eyes of Gratia Mindaro, little, if anything, had changed.

She still woke at the crack of dawn each morning to Venetia's quiet breathing. She still dressed herself in the jet-black uniform of Haven Academy, tunic well-pressed and fully-buttoned, skirt neat and tidy. She still brushed her teeth with the same generic brand mint toothpaste. She still ate a bowl of oats in the morning. She still manoeuvred her way through the coursework, solemnly and silently attacking questions upon questions with the same ease as she would disembowel a Grimm.

Her surroundings were unfamiliar, but the unwashed masses of fools were the same, the work was the same, the rhythm of her life had been unchanged, and most importantly, her team was the same.

Fiordilatte was still a fucktard and Venetia still could not assemble a wardrobe worth shit.

No.

That was incorrect.

Their original fourth member had discarded the chance of studying at the prestigious Academy, returning almost immediately to the motherland with little-to-no warning. It had been with simple goodbyes that they had seen Bianca Nuit off, seen her fly back to Mistral to assist in managing the familial estates. In her stead, they had received Beryl Harken; just and mischievous, slotting into the group with surprising ease.

But the team had changed.

She no longer had to drag the nocturnal Huntress back to bed. She no longer had to experience the flirtatious banter between her aristocratic teammates. She no longer had assistance in dealing with her leader's infrequent fashion disasters.

The team had changed.

It had changed irreparably.

But she had been managing, rearranging her world in response to the dramatic changes.

So when Gratia Mindaro entered the shared dormitory of her team to find a note from her former Faunus teammate, she had not been expecting anything. Probably a sappy note about how Bianca had missed them, she'd thought. A status report on how life was like back in the homeland. An emotional outpouring after the traumatic events that had afflicted the Nuit family.

What she found instead was an utterly unintelligible mess of words written in Bianca's uniquely ridiculous way.

<Hello everyone, less populace in Haven. Also Vignoble enter Beacon except each night. Keep it down, Napoli. And protect, provide, endure. Danger may yet select a Faunus except perhaps locate cell. End.>

It had made no sense.

No fucking sense.

A cell? Danger? Keeping Fiordilatte's fucking mouth shut? The letter was a mishmash of bullshit that could have, should have, been thrown immediately in the trash like it was. It was irritating, ridiculous, and an utter waste of her time.

Except ...

H e l p i h A V e B e e n K i d N A p p e D my s a F e p l c E

Nuit doesn't normally make such a fucking stupid spelling error.

It was her former teammate's handwriting.

Gratia Mindaro's aura spiked.

Wrong Tab

A hurried cat faunus made her way onto the helipad. Her hair was all tousled and messy, the fur on her ears unkempt.
"Sorry! Overslept!", she called out to her teammates already waiting on the pad. "It feels as if I was asleep for, like, two months..."
She yawned and rubbed her eyes. No makeup had made it onto her face, not that she used that much anyway, but the lack of any 'correction' was noticeable.

Skyra pulled out her scroll and examined herself in it. "God, I look like a right mess..."
Sighing she put her scroll away again and leaned on some stone brick that laid there.
"Same mission as last time?"

Beryl Harken- Team VGNB Dorm

Beryl had been in the bathroom when Gratia found the letter from her former teammate. The otter faunus knew that there was a good chance of being late at this point but her tail fur was just being so...frustrating. Somewhere in there one of the hairs had settled in wrong and in was driving her crazy.

Her attention was diverted elsewhere when she felt Gratia's semblance activate and fill the entire dorm.

The door to the bathroom slammed open and Beryl rolled out, landing in a combat crouch. A ball of water hovered in each hand as she glanced around the room for whatever it had been that set the aura vampire off.

Aaaaaaand nothing.

"Whats wrong?"

Sepia Russet - Helipad

Sepia felt slightly embarrassed when she got to the helipad to find that she was the last one of her time. She didn't even have an excuse like Skyra's. Simply put, she had gotten distracted by a good fantasy novel, and the extra twenty minutes she'd allotted for last-minute emergencies had just...slipped away. Smiling sheepishly, she joined in the discussion. "I saw that too. Guess someone's got to do it though, and I don't envy the teams that are going on the S mission."

Vega Venetia – Team VGNB – VGNB Dorm

It was more than a week and Vega had been following the routine of waking up, sleeping, eating, studying, playing etc. The party did not go so well for her as she was a wallflower; no one cared to talk to her and whenever she tried to make herself known to people. It was quite sad for the young noble from the invincible sun and made her somewhat depressed masked by that optimism she always seemed to have for an entire week.

It was only her first week.

At least it was mission time as she waited for many, what seemingly seemed like infinite days for this day to arrive, Vega opened her eyes to feeling Gratia aura, something was wrong. Vega got out of her bed and went out to the doorway to see…Beryl in combat crouch like a fool as she laughed within herself.

“I will tell you what is wrong Beryl, something ticked her off.” She said to Beryl. Vega looked at Gratia; she could feel the sense of urgency, anger, and fear from a note as Vega and noticed in her hand? “What is with the note that has you ticked off” Vega said in a composed manner.

Gratia Mindaro - Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong

What was wrong? What was wrong?

The air was heavy and thick, a burden upon the very souls of all who resided in the dormitory. A tulip sitting in a nearby vase wilted, its petals flaking away into dust under the intensifying pressure of Bibere Vinum. And in the middle of the tempest, Gratia Mindaro's face was contorted into an expression of sheer rage and anger, of a fury that was rarely even seen upon the fields of battle. The letter, once crisp, was scrunched within her fist. Her cold, onyx eyes were sharp, focused ... murderous.

Somebody had kidnapped Bianca Nuit.

The aristocratic Faunus would never have made such a stupid mistake without trying to correct it. She was in trouble. She had gone to the effort of implementing an utterly ridiculous code for them to decipher. Or it could have been a trap, with Nuit as the fucking bait who had been forced to write under gunpoint. But regardless of the situation, Bianca Nuit had been kidnapped.

That was fucking unacceptable.

In an instant, Gratia Mindaro's monstrous expression schooled itself into the cold, steel solemnity. Yet she was still draining, her semblance passively feeding off the souls of all others in the room at an astonishing rate. She was angry. Truly angry.

Her teammate had been kidnapped.

She would bReAK thEM aLl ApART.

"Bianca Nuit is currently in the custody of an unknown set of hostiles," she said, voice tightly controlled, colder than the Antarctic ice. "We will be pursuing them."

Her tone brokered no arguments.

Her killer's eyes refused to tolerate any other suggestion.

Whatever mission could have been assigned to them ... that did not matter.

They had somebody to punish.

Napoli Fiordilatte - Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

You know that feeling when you walk into a room and it becomes difficult to even smile? Like cracking a grin would somehow vandalize everything, it would be a blatant form of disrespect towards all things sacred. That feeling when you enter the room and know that something has gone terribly wrong. That moment when you realize that right now, in this transient moment, the world lost a small piece of its innocence. A piece that it will never get back.

For Napoli Fiordilatte that moment was when he reentered the VGNB dorms. As per his usual custom, Napoli had awoken early for his normal jog before dawn. Fresh air was good for the body after all.

But right now, fresh air was the last of his concerns.

Gratia's latest words were all that occupied his thoughts.

Bianca Nuit is currently in the custody of an unknown set of hostiles

Bianca Nuit in custody of hostiles.

Bianca custody hostiles

Bianca

Kidnapped

Someone is going to pay. No one lays a finger on my friends. On my family.

No one.

I'm not going to lose them.

A word did not leave Napoli's lips, indeed his face betrayed no expression at all. But in many ways, for the normal grinning idiot, perhaps that was the largest sign of all. The void, the absence of emotion, spoke volumes more than Napoli's standard banter. Indeed for the Mistrali Hunter, by not speaking he communicated to his team just how seriously the entire ordeal weighed upon his shoulders.

Napoli was angry, with a righteous fury that had engulfed his entire being. An anger he had not felt in quite a while.

Without a word, Napoli turned away from the others, his legs already carrying him towards where this mission would start, his fingers already typing in rapid succession.

To: Professor Ozpin
Subject: New Mission
Message:
Boss,

Sorry, we have a new mission. Bianca needs saving.

We don't need your approval, but we'd prefer it.

With his message sent, Napoli neared the helipads and began making the necessary preparations for a flight.

And until then he'd wait in silent preparation.

Tonight, someone will be held accountable.