Cyra was in the middle of trying to determine whether or not she could free herself by shooting the branch, and avoiding blasting her own foot off in the process, when she first heard the crackle of someone approaching. One of the drawbacks of Khthon and Lithos was that they limited the use of her hands. Each shield was attached to her forearm by a strap that ran just in front of her elbow, and a glove that, while still allowing her free movement of her fingers to control the mechanisms, kept the back of her hand firmly glued to the shield’s inner surface. And with the leading edges of the shield extending almost five centimeters beyond her outstretched fingertips, she could still technically grab and pick up things, but she relied on a scooping motion to bring objects into reach. Untangling a shoelace from around a branch, while hanging upside down from said branch, was right out.

So when a tiny cute-looking girl with pale white hair stepped out of the bushes and looked up at her with a slightly puzzled expression, all Cyra could do was blush and bite her lip behind her bandanna, hoping that she wasn’t about to make the situation even worse for herself. 

She was about to speak and ask for some help when the girl promptly turned around and left. The reaction left her equal parts relieved and disappointed; relieved because it meant that the girl hadn’t even given her a chance to make even more of a fool of herself, disappointed because she could actually have used the help.

Cyra went back to trying to aim Lithos at the branch (heavy shield cannons were not the easiest thing to aim when all the blood in her body was going to her head), only to pause when more crackling branches announced more arrivals. She had a brief glimpse of the white-haired girl’s return (who then promptly puked into a bush), and then caught sight of a second person. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the tall jackal ears that rose from his messy hair. [i]One of the other Faunus? Just my luck![/i]

The jackal’s eyes ran up and down her body, then he smirked as he planted the butt of his scythe weapon in the ground and leaned on it. “So, how’s it hanging?”

The crimson flush that had bloomed across Cyra’s cheeks darkened and spread until it covered her entire face, although that might have also just been all the blood that had gone to her head. She opened her mouth to answer, but only managed a startled yelp as a flash of blurry light shot towards her and severed her shoelaces, resuming her descent through the branches until she landed flat on her back. 

When she had regained her bearings, and managed to sit up, she found the white-haired girl glaring up at the bemused Faunus, pressing a circular bladed weapon of some sort into his chest. “-your grubby puns off my partner. She may not be much but she’s [b]mine[/b], you dog.”

Cyra’s stomach lurched at the girl’s spiteful tone. [i]Dog? Partner? Thiiis cannot be good.[/i] Shaking her head, she unsteadily rose to her feet and meekly spoke up. “Um, do I have any say in this?”