Seeing no reason to object, Kohaku fell in behind her new comrades as the group began their descent into the ruins. It was immediately apparent to the Faunus that her earlier assumption was correct; they were essentially maneuvering through a tomb. Whatever unfortunate souls had decided to use this bunker as a vulture's nest were either dead or scattered to the wind, like most of Vacuo's populace in the face of such attacks. As the group swept through room after room in search of the beasts responsible, Kohaku did find at least two disconcerting things among the empty chambers. Perhaps most obvious of them, the absence of bodies. Before coming to Shade, she had the misfortune of witnessing the fallout of a Grimm attack more than once. It was never so clean and tidy, with just a few splatters of blood here or there. The assault on this particular bunker was far from fresh, sure, but the Grimm had no need to eat or drink. She had expected rotting viscera to have painted the halls, an assembly of corpses to greet them.

Secondly, and perhaps most concerning, was that the markings left behind by the deceased looked familiar to her. She had remembered being present for negotiating with men bearing the same emblems. The Dust Devils or some such. They weren't especially large, but they had been friendly with her own people, and exchanged goods on more than one occasion. She even recalled mumbling of a lost outpost during one of their rendezvous. It was unfortunate that this was its ultimate fate, but such were the hard facts of life out in the wastes. The familiarity did give her the ghoulish hope that the Grimm had been thorough in their extermination—she didn't need anybody from that side of the tracks recognizing her.

Still, she had more to focus on than the phantoms of the past. Her senses were likely sharper than those of at least half the present Huntsmen-in-Training, so it behooved her to be on watch. Plus, old habits did die hard, and she pawed her way through an occasional desk to see if she couldn't appropriate some of munitions when she could. Their previous owners surely wouldn't need them any longer, and Dust was always in short supply. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for her reputation, the group seemed to move further into the structure before she could engage in too much looting.

The second floor was certainly more imposing than the first, and for all her experience, Kohaku had never ventured into a Grimm nest—she was a survivor, not suicidal. She depressed a trigger on her rusted staff as they continued their path, causing a soft 'thunk' as she switched the activate Dust canister on a hunch. The inhuman laughter that seemed to prove her intuition correct; no sooner than the group reached a cross roads, glowering red eyes seemed to surround them on both sides. Before the beasts could begin their horrid battle cry and launch their assault, the head of Requiem had already begun to glow orange.

"Take left!" She shouted as waves of black and white descended upon them from two sides.

Kohaku closed her eyes thereafter in a brief moment of focus, before slamming the bottom end of her staff into the material below them. From the rickety metal pole came several streams of bright amber light, snaking across the floor and between the legs of her team members further ahead. The lines cut a suddenly right as they reached the intersection, then raced towards the charging Grimm. Just as the monsters prepared to surge into the intersection, the ground itself seemed to come to life. Several long, thick spikes of stone erupted from the concrete, catching the first two Beowolves in the torso and skewering them against the ceiling of the corridors with a sickening crunch. Their fellows behind them crashed against the Dust-molded restraints, jaws and forelimbs swiping between the tightly bundled pillars like the bars of a cage.

It probably wouldn't hold forever, but it would for the time being, and that's all she needed. Trusting that a few of her teammates would have followed her request and kept the worst of the horde on the left at bay, she pulled the trigger on her weapon again and listened as it locked a different canister into place. Deciding it best not to wait for the Grimm to smash their way through her makeshift barrier with weight of numbers, she hurried into the breach, and leveled the head of Requiem down the tunnel to the right. Another brief moment, a dazzling red glow around the projector, and then luminescence. The snarling of hounds was replaced by howls of agony and rage as flames streamed forward from her armament and through the gaps between spires, setting the darkness alight.

Fiona couldn't really stop herself from shuddering as they continued on--the place disturbed her, to say the least. To think that something like this could even happen in such a place was nothing short of terrifying. Bandits taking over was already bewildering enough, but even seeing that there weren't any around spooked her. There wasn't any sign of anything around, and for a moment, she genuinely wasn't sure what was worse. The anticipation and jumpiness was starting to get to her, though at least she recognized that it was her own nerves. In a weird way, this was exciting, too--scary, yeah, but it was hard to explain.

Of course, the thought crossed her mind right when the Grimm actually appeared.

It was strange, she had heard a lot about them, but seeing one for the first time was a shock. She had seen plenty of pictures, sure, but it was a lot more animalistic than she thought it'd be. Still, she had been expecting one, maybe two--not [this many! She'd be lying if she said she wasn't frightened, but what got to her first was hearing Kohaku's shout. Before Fiona could question what she was doing, the Faunus girl had sprung into action.

"Wait--!" Her warning went unheeded as Kohaku went right and Saffron went left. What happened to staying in formation?! Saffron continued on the melee streak, and it looked like Kohaku's side was riddled with spikes--no, there was fire now. An attack of that magnitude may as well have rung a dinner bell letting all the Grimm know they were there. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to properly fix their formation and the best thing to do would be to adjust properly. Scoffing, Fiona pressed down on the button of her umbrella, spinning it as the metal clicked and slid into different places, bringing up its new form as a crossbow as she took a few steps backward. Saffron and Rio could take on the left with little issue, but she figured it was better to play it safe than sorry.

Taking aim, Fiona waited for the flames to show any persistent Grimm, a bolt flying into the first one that decided to have the audacity to survive Kohaku's attack. Honestly, she felt like she was going to turn into a babysitter if these two were going to turn out to be the impulsive type. Wasn't it better to take these situations from a logical perspective? Then again, the difference came off as a little too obvious: clearly, they had experience that she didn't.

There was a level of satisfaction to be had as Kohaku's plan came to fruition—the wave on the right were unable to break through her earthen barrier, and countless of their number must have fallen to the torrent of flames that followed. Enough that it made them break and retreat back into the darkness from whence they came. That much surprised her; she had figured that the creatures of Grimm were mindless enough that they would have continued trying to charge through the barricade until she had burnt the last of them to ash. Disconcerting as their tactical awareness was, it was clear enough that her team had prevailed in the conflict as she scanned the left flank to see a similar state of withdraw.

Of course, their trials weren't exactly over just because they had stemmed the tides of Beowolves. As dark miasma began leaking from the slumped corpses pinned against the roof and those beyond, Kohaku brought her scarf up to cover her nose and mouth. Their supervisor informed them of the dangers the substance posed if inhaled, and it spurred the Faunus into action. Another mechanical thunk came from her staff as she cycled through to another, as of yet unused canister and leveled it towards the encroaching fumes. A pale white glow encircled the projector at the tip of her weapon, and a strong gust of wind followed. She directed it first down the right passage, blowing away the wispy black fog in her immediate area before turning it down the left, allowing the gust to wash over her team mates harmlessly while also dispelling the remnants of their battle.

Once she was content that it had been properly disposed of, she returned her staff to its resting position, rested against her shoulder to make balancing the unwieldy head most manageable. There wasn't exactly much to be said in this case, and so the girl chose to observe, watching as their instructor warily eyed the creeping tendrils that made the walls of the bunker their host. Staring at the vein-like flesh reminded her of the ill-fated Dust Devils and their complaints. Of sounds from within the ramparts.

"We should avoid being too close to the walls as we go deeper." She suggested, although she couldn't well explain to them why. Nivea probably had a better idea than she did of whatever kept the men who once called this place home up at night.

"Just in case."

The return of silence wasn't exactly comforting--Fiona half expected something else to jump out at them if they dropped their guard for even a second. Fiona backed away from the black smoke, double-checking her ammo. She did her best to be as efficient as possible, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't wasted a few shots. The Grimm moved faster than she anticipated; she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. The last thing she wanted was to end up being a burden on the team. Or worse--she'd end up being the weak point.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as a strong guest of wind blew away the smoke. Letting out a sigh of relief, she figured she should get her head back in the game. "Thank you, Kohaku," Fiona thanked her first and foremost. At least that was one less thing to worry about. Rio was eager to take point again, with his semblance revealing that there were, of course, more Grimm. She seemed to have the same thought as Saffron as the girl expressed curiosity on how big the bunker was.

"Regardless of the distance, it's best to stay on guard," She decided to remind them, taking her spot after Saffron. "This bunker seems to have been built some time ago, so there should still be a distance before reaching the depths of where the Grimm would house themselves."

After a brief pause of thought, she added, "Whatever Rio senses is likely a wandering group. Let's stay in formation as we proceed."