[hider=Chorus of the Deep Part 3]
In short order, Shiro had the cave in sight. Refusing to slow down or stop, he shot straight in and was forcibly stopped by the fork in the cave. Huffing with an annoyed look on his face, he looked to the left and right. Raising his head toward the ceiling, he took a few short deep inhales as his ears swiveled freely. Growling, his instinct told him to take the right. Taking a brief moment to slide his ear protection on, he also unsheathed Kladenets to quickly load the green wind element Dust shotshells before re-sheathing his blade. Crouching down on all fours once more, he blasted forward deeper into the cave. It was a bit of a slippery and slick run, thanks to the damp moistness on the rocky surfaces. But, he was able to maintain traction in his mad dash. Frowning as a thick fog came into view, Shiro figured that was where his friends were trapped with the beasts. Why not take care of the fog and any potential Grimm in one action?

[b]"Sapphire! Abel! Get down!"[/b] He roared ahead of his charge.  His two teammates, currently in the process of stabbing and holding down a Salamander, respectively, dove unceremoniously out of the way.
Skidding to a stop, Shiro then lunged forward as he grabbed the hilt of Kladenets and activated its transformation sequence. 
In a series of metallic shearing and grinding noises, clicks and clanks, Shiro's weapon morphed into its massive Axe form while the tiger Faunus was in mid-lunge.
Using the momentum of his lunge, Shiro twisted his body and weapon in the air for a sweeping horizontal swing. Further boosted and empowered by a mid-swing discharge of the first Wind Dustshell meant to give his cleave more power and the additional effect of scattering the fog.

[i]Bang![/i]

"Well, alright kid, just go running off half-cocked, I guess." Chuckling as he turned the engine off to the Dune Rover, Captain McDougall grabbed his harpoon gun and quiver. "Let's get going, guy. Your friends might need some help, even if it's just with cleanup." Putting on a pair of heavy headphones, the good Captain made his way to the entrance of the cave. 

Gren said nothing as his helmet closed over his head, and as he strapped on the monstrosity of an engine on his back. It might be a bit of a tight fit considering the sheer size, but if he can fit through the cave entrance then it'll have to do. Gren activated his semblance to give him both a solid footing while allowing him to skate across the ground, letting him build his speed until he was barreling down the tunnel. He heard Shiro's weapon shoot in the distances, and knew there was trouble ahead. With the God Eater ready, Gren prepared for battle.

Before him the fog parted as if swept by the hand of some invisible giant.  Though visibility in the gloomy, dank seaside cave remained lackluster, the scene quickly became apparent to the three new arrivals.  Just now, as Abel rose to his feet, the Grimm advanced.  First in line came a salamander, its low but broad profile moving quickly over the rough, stony ground.  Its trap like jaws snapped shut a scant few centimeters away from the guardian's ankle, and as he raised the Ampere to drive it into its skull, they opened again to let loose a torrent of scalding water that caused Abel to stumble backward.  Relying on blind luck, he attempted a backward roll to put some distance between himself and the creature.  His aura handled the jagged edges and crags he encountered on the way, allowing him to bounce to his feet only a meter or two away from Gren and Shiro.  Abel spotted them, and never had a moment so fortuitous for smiling gone unused.  "Oh, good.  Help."  The Salamander and two of its closest friends scuttled in to make mincemeat of the hunter team.

With the Salamander's attention on Abel Sapphire sprung into action. She leveled two shots at the outer Salamanders and jumped into the air landing squarely on the one that had initiated the water blast. Sapphire drew her polearm straight up and stabbed it hard into the Salamander's eye and hopefully its brain before it had a chance to react. Sapphire shot two fire shells at the other Salamander's forcing them to cease their water shots. Then she jumping to Abel's side. She used the momentum from her landing to to grab Abel's arm and attempted to toss him out of range of the Salamander's blast. Of course it was a lot closer to a martial arts throw than a push. Since Abel was so much bigger than Sapphire she tried to use his own weight to get him the distance, but the guardian, confused by her course of action, resisted.  He yanked himself out of the girl's grip easily, and glanced at the Grimm she'd attacked.

The Salamander Sapphire stabbed gave a whimpering death knell, and a feeble attempt to reach her with its claws was the last thing it did before starting to dissipate into black smoke, its life ended.

Facing two now enraged Salamander's Sapphire chose not to push her luck. She tossed her polearm behind her and backflipped away from the enemy hoping she was out of range even though she was the closest among the team to the angry Grimm. "Nice timing guys." She shouted behind her at her team who had arrived just in time for the showdown with the Siren. These salamanders didn't stand a chance against all four of them and the Siren was just beyond. "If you've got ear protection I'd put it on now." Granted if they did respond to her she wouldn't hear it but it was best to let them know she was aware of them.

Hidden to the Salamanders, Captain McDougall moved forward into the cave. With the members of team SASG on one side of them, the Grimm had focused their attention away from the cave's entrance. This would prove to be a fatal mistake. 

Levelling his harpoon gun, McDougall smirked as he pulled the trigger, launching a barbed projectile into one of the two remaining Feinds' rear. Grabbing the thin metallic cord connecting the gun to its projectile, Captain McDougall gave a mighty pull, staggering the Salamander and forcing it to halt its attack. "Now!"

Abel, in a holding pattern and not far away, sprang at the chance.  He hopped into the air, letting go of the Ampere, and the weapon twisted around midair in a twirl of electric string.  When the guardian began to fall, his full weight drove the downward-pointing blade into the stricken salamander.  Steel slid straight through scaly skin, slaying it with savage swiftness.  Wrenching the bladestaff free, Abel turned its point toward the remaining salamander, whose target he'd become.  Any one of the others could easily destroy it while its focus lay on him.

There was a click, then the sweet sound of titanium alloyed steel sliding into place. Stomping onto the scene, taking up a good bit of space, Gren spoke softly, likely unheard, but nearly impossible not to see. [color=00a651]"Stand aside."[/color] Suddenly, the entire hall was light up in a bright light. Gren was so grossly incandescent, illuminating the darkness with his form. But if there was one thing that could be clearly seen when looking directly at Gren, it was his weapon. In it's Destroyer Form, the God Eater gave the cave and all it's inhabitants a greeting; a greeting of fire and steel. 

Having switched to Armor-Piercing rounds for the purpose of shredding through the Salamander and any other Grimm present, Gren moved up to the salamander, activating his Friction Semblance to prevent the Salamander from running away. He braced himself for the Salamander's attempt to fight back, but any that haven't already turned towards him were not stuck in their position.

Newly revealed by the grossly bright light, and now making absurdly loud noises in discomfort and pain, a veritable horde of Creeps struggled to maintain their heading as they were blinded by Gren's display of sheer luminosity. 

Seeing Gren, Shiro knew shit was about to hit the fan once his partner decided to open up a can of whoop-ass. Bracing himself for what he instinctively knew was coming, he quickly converted his Great Axe into its larger shield form and slammed its edge into the ground. Angling it and digging in his feet behind it, he knew he wouldn't be able to evade any of Gren's stray shots effectively. Shutting his eyes tight and gritting his teeth, he mentally prepared himself for whatever came from Gren's side. Exposing his back to the Grimm coming up behind him, but providing nearby cover for Abel and Sapphire if they needed it. He only silently begged that for whatever reason, his friend decided against using armor piercing rounds.

In the volatile yellow lightshow thrown off by Gren's disgorging of rounds, a vortex of azure blue could dimly be seen.  Abel stood remarkably casually behind his weapon as it span, swathes of lightning covering its surface, catching and keeping any rounds headed his way in its frenetic electrokinetic spiral.  His teammate's cone of destruction pummeled the Grimm without focusing on any one of them enough to totally eviscerate it, with the notable exception of that first salamander.  Before long, however, Abel knew that the masked monsters would find a way to counteract his sustained fire.  Images of creeps dropping from the ceiling popped into the guardian's head, but as long as Gren kept this up, he couldn't warn him about exactly what lay in wait--not that he knew completely himself.  Bullets whirled around in the Ampere's electric whirlpool, dormant for now but no less deadly for having strayed Abel's way.

Sapphire couldn't hear Gren's warning but the moment his iridescent harness was turned on and she saw the God Eater in his hands she knew what he was about to do. If the four to them Sapphire was the only one that didn't carry any sort of defense with her. She'd always reasoned that speed was her best armor and in the worst situations she had her aura. Gren had his full body armor, Shiro had huge shield and Abel could combine his semblance with his weapon to deflect most attacks. Sapphire was the only one left out in the open with no means of defending herself.

When Gren started firing Sapphire dove for the nearest shelter available. In this straight section of the tunnel natural formations were absent so the azure girl was forced to take cover in a somewhat less desirable location. She dove to the ground, rolling behind Shiro's shield. It wouldn't provide enough cover for the entire team but at the distance and angle that Gren was firing was suitable for two people to hid behind.

As she came to a stop next to Shiro Sapphire looked at her shoulder where a stinging pain was shooting up her arm. Her jacket was cut and she could see a small patch of blood staining it. She'd been grazed by Gren's attack and his armor piercing shells were powerful enough to cut through aura if fired from the right location and vector.

Sapphire half considered that he may have done it on purpose. He'd not been subtle about the fact that he wanted her position. Then again Sapphire considered that he was smart enough not to gun down his own team leader. She was sure on the off chance that he actually did try to kill her Gren would be much more subtle about doing so. Though in all likelihood he was more inclined to leverage the rest of her team's dislike of her rather than do anything physical.

To Shiro she shouted. "Keep an eye on the creeps! They'll figure a way around this soon enough!" She herself had her shotguns drawn and was scanning the ceiling, walls and ground of the cave, ready for the creeps to make there advance.

After dealing with the Salamanders, Gren stopped shooting. He could see that his partners had prepared themselves from the possible shrapnel from his gunshots and that was a good idea. Perhaps next time Gren could just smash them. But he didn't really get much time to talk when he saw a wave of creeps coming down from the darkness. Little buggers that Gren could crush with his fists, but they were numerous and capable of some level of burrowing. If he was topside he'd use his dust thrower and set up a wall of fire, maybe layer some ice on the ground to give the creeps another obstacle to break through. But in this tunnel they could come from anywhere: Above, below, behind, and right in front of their face. And it was too tight for Gren to simply open fire; the others were in his way and he was too bulky right now to squeeze past them without walking sideways. So he did the only thing he could.

[color=00a651]"EVERYONE, GET CLOSE!"[/color] Gren roared in the tunnel. As he shouted he walked towards the team and slammed his fist into the ground. This dramatic gesture wasn't just for show: this would allow him to focus his Semblance over a wider area around him. Instead of just being limited to the floor, Gren focused his semblance through the walls, the ceiling, and generally through the ground all around him.

Any Creeps that got into his radius  (20 feet in the tunnel, about 5 feet into the dirt above, below, or beside him) would have their bodies stuck. The moment they touched the dirt affected by Gren's semblance, they wouldn't be able to get it off of them. And for those digging, they wouldn't be able to move it behind them. It'd stick to their mouths and claws, leaving them effectively immobile. For those who didn't dig, they'd simply come to a halt about 20 feet away from Gren. And unless they wanted to try to make the jump, they wouldn't get any closer, making them easy pickings for his team. Gren unfortunately couldn't participate in the shooting since he needed to focus all his concentration on channeling his Semblance around him and onto only his enemies, but he trusted that his team and the captain could handle creeps.

Gren's torrent of adhesive power, no doubt meant to allow Abel a free hit or two, provided instead a spectacular chance.  Taking a few deep breaths to concentrate, the guardian moved his hands into position before abruptly grabbing the Ampere out of the air and pumping his aura through the highly-conductive weapon's frame.  The lightning cascaded down its length, carrying along with it the bullets gathered from Gren, and all at once an electricity-infused burst of gunfire shot forward from the Ampere to tear straight through the three nearest creeps.  Abel smirked to see the little Grimm obliterated before they could so much as shriek.  He could not bask in the glory of his technique for long, though; many more remained.  Stepping forward, he executed a thrust to one creep's body, but the angle prevented his blade from sinking in.

Peering over the top of his shield after the gunfire ceased, Shiro saw Gren's usage of his Semblance and smirked. Nodding once, Shiro ripped his large shield from the ground and turned to see Abel decimating a number of Grimm. Making another decision to aide his 'mate, Shiro lunged to Abel's side. Transforming his combined shield in midair once again into his Great Axe and bringing the head of his weapon down on the creep that Abel failed to sink his spear into deeply enough to finish it off for him. Converting his weapon into their sword and shield form, Shiro pressed his side to Abel's as he brought his shield up. Eyes forward, Shiro indicated that he was with Abel with whatever he decided to do next. 

Once the team had eliminated the amassed Creeps, McDougall came up tothe group, harpoon gun in a resting position, his finger off the trigger. "I suppose we should move on up, unless you folks want me to head back and make sure there aren't any left behind us!" 

Abel shook his head.  His heart was pumping; the beat of his blood was razor-sharp.  The dynamic entry of the four hunters-in-training and their temporary ally meant that none of the little monsters could have gotten past them.  Abel gripped the Ampere, though not too tightly, for his weapon only grew more lethal when it left his hands.  All that mattered lay ahead of him now.  "Let's move up.  Siren should be just ahead."  He ahead into the darkness of he cave, trusting in Gren's light to beat back the inky blackness.

With the Creeps thoroughly defeated by the team working in tandem with the local Sheriff, Sapphire paused and pushed her hair out of her eyes. It was clinging to the sweat on her face, which she found very distracting. Her breath was labored but focused and her heart beat fast with anticipation of the fight yet to come. She switched off her hearing protection momentarily to hear the suggestions of the rest of the team.

"The Siren resides in the lake up ahead." They could still see her bright flashlight in the distance where she'd had to abandon it. "Its not strong but it'll likely have back up. Everyone keep your eyes out and if you have hearing protection I'd switch it on now." That said Sapphire reactivated her own protection and forged ahead towards the lake motioning for everyone to follow her.

Almost as if on cue, the surface of the lake's water began to ripple. Slowly, the disturbances grew in size, before suddenly halting. Somewhere further back in the cave, where the light seemed to die, Shiro and Gren would be able to see faint movement with their enhanced vision. Even with their natural gift, however, they could not tell just what was back there.

Shield still raised, sword in hand, Shiro tried to stay ahead of the team. To act as a vanguard. That being said, it meant that he was by Sapphire's side for the moment. Unpleasant as it was being near her, his focused eyes narrowed as they detected movement from within the darkness. His senses firing at their maximum with a jittery excitedness, giving him a bit of a 'jumpy' feeling. He half wanted to just charge forward and wrestle with whatever moved within the cave, but he fought the urge and knew that wouldn't be wise. As tight of an environment they were in, it would be a mess if they all got caught up in a nasty crossfire. Shiro wasn't looking to get shot accidentally by Gren. Or anyone else for that matter. Regardless, he pressed ahead with Sapphire, staying as close as comfortly possible. 

Gren followed suit, his lights shut off. He had his scanners try their best to get a read on the shape of the cave, as well as any other information, most importantly structual weakness and the location of the grimm. However it was a lot of data to process without dedicating his entire system to it, so he had to wait. And while he waited Gren got into position, walking up the walls using his semblance in order to get into a good vantage position. This way it would minize Gren's likihood of shooting his teammates, and staying more or less near Shiro, it would allow him to be targeted first instead of his squisher allies.

As the cave opened up to a wider underground lake, Gren tried as quietly as he could to keep moving, staying close to the group but not so close that he could accidentally land on them or get in their way. He also had a few witty one-liners ready, most of them involving light, insults to the Siren's singing, and possible towards any of the more aquatic grimm that might show up and attack.

Quickly growing irritated, Shiro decided to discard any common sense thinking he had been considering earlier. Having grown impatient, someone had to take action. If no one else, then he would. At least Gren was providing overwatch support if anything went wrong. Sheathing his sword into his shield and moving his weapons to his back, he jogged ahead to the water's edge. Turning back to his teammates Abel and Sapphire, he voiced his intentions.

[b]"I'm going to scout ahead and see what I can find. My vision can't pick anything up clear from here. Wish me luck!"[/b]

Sapphire couldn't hear Shiro's voice because of the protection she'd employed against the Siren however as he broke formation she realized a moment before what he intended to do. "WAIT!" she shouted taking a few steps forward but it was too late as she watched him jump into the lake.

With a thumbs up and grin, Shiro lunged forward and dove into the waters. Staying underwater for a moment, he shivered as he waited to get accustomed to the cold temperature. Once comfortable, he swam straight ahead. As he swam, he had enough sense to stick his tail out and above the surface to provide his team with a visual aid to where he currently was. He wasn't about to dive all the way down just yet, staying near the top layer of the underground lake.

[i]Idiot[/i]. Sapphire thought to herself. The lake was the Siren's domain, its home. That was where it was strongest. Luring it on land was their best option as its mobility was greatly reduced out of the water. For Sapphire fighting on land was the only option. As Shiro dove in she could see his tail sticking up out of the water but she could also see something that he couldn't, the waters of the lake began to boil.

An intrusion. One on a much greater scale than any before it. A [i]fledgling[/i], of all things, was intruding upon its domain. 

Infuriated, the Siren unleashed a massive screech, muffled by the water of the underground lake. Even then, however, it would be audible. Much louder than even a gunshot, the Siren's yell could be heard through all but the best noise-cancelling equipment. 

Slowly, the Grimm swam towards Shiro, its screech dying in intensity as it ascended and lashed out with its proboscis. 

The other side of the cave, where Gren and Shiro had seen movement, was now lit with the glowing red eyes of the creatures of Grimm. And they were angry. Shouts, roars, and bellows came from the inaccessible alcove, a few of the cries recognizeable. Salamander. Creep. Scavengers, even.

Even through her ear protection Sapphire could feel the vibrations of the Siren's screen as it riocheted through the cavern calling all manner of grimm to the Siren's aid. This was a nest, they didn't have a hope of defeating all the grimm that were now circling them. Given how deep these caves ran collapsing them could have extreme consiquences for those that lived in the immediate vicinity.

There best option was to exterminate the thing that held the nest together: The Siren. Everything else in the cave was secondary.

Until now a silent giant hanging at the back of the group, wary of whatever lay ahead but willing to focus his attention on potentialy threats behind it, Abel jumped forward after Shiro dove into the lake.  As if he's thrown himself head-first into the netherworld itself, the faunus was immediately lost to sight.  Even his tail, poking up from the water, could not be easily spotted in the darkness.  Only Gren's illumination beat back the shadows now.  When Abel prepared to channel his semblance through the Ampere and create an electric lightshow to help, however, a brutally loud noise resounded through the cave.  If not for his ear protection, he imagined, he would have been deafened--perhaps permanently.

While the ringing stopped, he looked out over the water at the array of red eyes, swarming like fireflies on the nebulous far shore of the pool.  His morale plummeted, and he spurred his imagination to think of a situation that could possible be worse for a team of humans, but could not do so.  SASG was so thoroughly out of its element, he could almost laugh in despair.  With fighting the horde dead-on in the wet dark a suicide plan, another method of solving the situation, like collapsing the cave, seemed optimal.  Unfortunately, Abel neither possessed the firepower or the capacity to request the firepower of Gren necessary to do so.  Instead, the guardian allowed electricity to surge through his weapon, levitating it so that it could fly out over the water, its bright blue sparks providing a beacon of light.  Guiding it from afar, Abel used it to find Shiro, and once a furry tail had been spotted he kept the weapon hovering over his teammate's position.  Knowing full well that the faunus could very well electrocute himself trying to grab it, Abel waited and hoped.  [i]See its head: stab it dead,[/i] he repeated in his mind, frantically searching the water for enemy movement.

[color=00a651]"Oh dust he just ran in..."[/color] Gren could only groan at Shiro's recklessness. Ever so slowly he was understanding Sapphire's anger at Shiro. There wasn't much time to lose; Gren was just going to need to take advantage of the situation. Gren slid down the wall towards Sapphire and Abel, lodging the God Eater into the wall. He tapped both Abel and Sapphire on the shoulders before pointing to the straps on his harness, perfect for them to hold onto. Then he put up one finger as if to say "Wait", and then pointed towards his eyes, then at the entrance of the cave and the water. He wanted to know if Sapphire and Abel wanted to "Hang onto him" or alternatively "Watch the water and entrance". Whichever choice they decided to do, Gren took out his harpoons that Shiro had made for him a while back, getting ready to fight the Siren

Sapphire didn't really fancy sending another of her teammates into the lake but with Shiro already there she couldn't leave him without backup. She could yell at him later for his foolishness. Right now she had to make sure that they all came out of this alive. Knowing that Gren's helmet had a filter for the Siren's song and he could therefore hear her Sapphire said "Give Shiro a hand, we can't leave him alone out on the water. Abel and I will back you up from the land and keep the biggest of the other Grimm off your back. If at all possible try to lure it out of the lake, it'll be much easier to deal with on land."

Nodding his head, Gren returned to scaling the wall and roof. Channeling his semblance through his feet and deep into the stone around him, Gren walked on the ceiling roughly above where Shiro and the siren were fighting at. Gren had turned off his lights when he did so; the grimm likely could see in the dark, but for a moment he needed to not draw attention to himself yet. Hopefully his team's actions were hide his own.

Gren eventually got to a position roughly above the Siren and Shiro. However he didn't want to risk shooting into the melee less he hit Shiro; more so since, despite his athletic abilities, Shiro wasn't quite as agile in the water as he was on land. Not to mention that without being able to hear, Gren couldn't even shout at Shiro to watch out for his attack. No, instead Gren had to try something else. He needed Shiro to somehow get the Siren above his own body, or to stay still... Most of all, Gren needed to syncronize his actions with his partner to ensure they didn't get in the way of each other's attacks. Gren gulped.

[color=00a651]"Here goes nothing!"[/color]

Gren activated his flood lights, illuminating the entire room with light. While the deeper parts of the lake were still dark, everything on the surface that wasn't blocked by more stones were now visible. Hopefully Shiro, who may have a hard time looking directly at Gren due to being the source of those lights, could at least see that he's ready to attack the Siren. He just needs Shiro to make an opening for him.

Recoiling in the water, Shiro's tail momentarily dipped back down into the waters as he held his head and curled in a fetal position. Hurt by the Siren's extreme shriek, it took him a moment to recover even with his hearing protection on. Whether it was due to their less-than-optimal quality or the fact that sound travelled easier through 'solid' molecules, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that the shit fuckin' hurt. Feeling the pain even from deep within his bones. He half wanted to suck in out of the sudden pain, but was able to stop himself from reflexively doing so. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and realized that he had closed them. For a moment, he thought he saw someone else in the water with him but after blinking a few times the image disappeared.

Distracting him from what he thought he could've seen just then, a bright light illuminated the lake from just above him. Closing one eye and looking up with a hand to shield against the brightness, Shiro figured it was Gren above him looking to aid him. Turning away to quickly scan the lake, the light was just the thing he needed to pinpoint where the Siren was. Smiling and with a gleam in his eye, Shiro exploded forward in the water making a beeline for the Grimm. Fully intending on grappling with the Grimm and wrestling him out of the water. 

Surprised by the sudden flash of light from above, the Siren insinctively retreated, its tail slapping through the water like a hand through air, sending a light pressure wave towards Shiro and pushing it further into the water. Its proboscis attack failed, the creature realized that it needed to retreat and find a more advantagous position.

As it moved deeper into the water, the Siren angled itself towards the far side of the lake, while releasing a song of its own into the water: slow, deep tones punctuated by an alternatively rising and falling beat. 

On the surface, the Grimm in the alcove across from those who remained on dry land began to screech in anger and fury. Their leader was being attacked, and now that they had their call to arms, all sense of self-preservation was lost. 

This would be a deperate swarming, a Hail Mary attack. 

Creeps burrowed into the walls and floor, making their way towards Gren, as well as Sapphire and Abel. Beowulves jumped into the water, clawing and roaring at the water as they swam to Shiro. Scavengers taking advantage of their size and manuverability began crossing the ceiling, on direct route to Gren. 

Worst of all were the Salamanders, despite their inability to cross the lake. Instead, they took the role of artillery, blasting jets of pressurized water at the Huntsmen and Huntress. At least six or seven jets of water came from the alcove, though the exact number was hardly distinguishible in the chaos and darkness. 

The sight of myriad Grimm swarming toward his position evoked a swear from Abel, who immediately recalled the Ampere.  Untouched and unutilized, the weapon streaked his way, and with a clap returned to its rightful position between his hands.  Moving by instinct, Abel switched the Ampere to staff mode and unleashed his terror-fueled aura through it.  The darkness of the cave gave way to brilliant blue as a huge lightning rent the air and exploded on the ceiling.  Rather than rain, however, the thunder was followed by a deluge of rats.  Even scavengers not hit directly by the bolt and fried plummeted into the underground pool thanks to the shockwave.

Abel did not draw much hope from the successful move, however.  In the split-second azure radience of his thunderstrike, he beheld far too many Grimm to make a sustained assault a feasible task.  Though he took a step back, the guardian could not avoid a jet of water ramming into his face, blinding and disorienting him.  In this chaos Abel slipped, and the next thing he knew was the cold stone floor--and intimately.  He groaned, even though his aura held, and struggled to his feet.  Electricity arced across his body and the damp floor around him, illuminating the otherwise pitch-black for a few feet.  Once again, the situation struck him as despairingly unsalvageable.  He needed leadership.  "Sapphire!  Do something!"

While Abel's attack succeeded in dislodging, stunning, and even killing some of the Scavengers, those who survived simply performed an awkward doggy-paddle type swimming technique, clearly not used to traversing water. Much like the Beowulves, they began attacking Shiro.

Detecting other bodies entering the waters, Shiro stopped his swim and turned round to see a small pack of Beowulves giving chase after him. Looking up towards the surface, he saw what he could only figure to be one of Abel's lightning attacks, as small bodies of other Grimm falling dead into the underground lake before dissolving away. Cursing to himself, he had to make a decision. Should he fend off the Beowulves who would become a problem later and potentially lose sight of the Siren? Or distract and ignore them to continue his hunt of the Siren but possibly back himself into a corner with the Beowulves? What could he do? With a second passing by, he made his choice and decided to continue chasing after the Siren. But what to do with the Beowulves? He had forgotten how many rounds he loaded into his weapon and couldn't for the life of him remember what type.

Shaking his head, he pulled peeled off the Wind-type Dust shotshells and braced himself. As best he could, he smashed the three rounds against his body and almost caused himself to black out underwater from the force of the following explosion of reactive Dust. But, the explosion created an immense pocket of air and bubbles that would surely disorient and blind the Beowulves long enough for him to regain his lead on the Siren. Recovering, Shiro didn't linger long to see if it had worked and continued to chase after the Siren. Deeper and deeper into the waters he went, focused on his prey.

Beowulves screeched in anger and pain as they were pushed away and disoriented by Shiro's attack, but it did not come without a cost. Due to the concussive force unleashed by his shotshells, Shiro's headgear now sported a large, jagged crack along its length.

At the moment, it hadn't been rendered completely useless, but it was certainly damaged enough to cause Shiro to hear his surroundings with a relatively low level of sound dampening as compared to before.

Sapphire looked all around as the cave errupted with activity. Though she couldn't hear the screeching of the Grimm that surrounded her and her team they were so loud that she felt the vibration in the rock beneath her. Abel charged his weapon and blasted electricity at the horde coming towards them but far from being effective it only highlighted just how many Grimm they were facing.

Some fell into the water and in the dim light Sapphire could see the survivors start to converge on Shiro. Creeps in the ceiling and walls were surrounding the place that Gren stood and the rest of the Grimm were targeting Sapphire and Abel.

Pressurized water blasts from salamanders across the lake rained down on the pair. Sapphire didn't have time to worry about Abel's well being, a terrified part of her brain took over and she narrowly jumped out of the way. She was shaking and her breath was heavy. She saw Abel hit in the face and watched him fall to the ground. Clearly he was all right but Sapphire couldn't help feeling a burning shame in the pit of her stomach. She'd just left him there to take the hit. They were supposed to be better than that.

Blue sparks of electricity arced over the water that covered and Abel and he turned to look at her. There was desperation in his face as she shouted at her. She couldn't hear his words but what he was asking for was obvioius. [i]'Tell me what to do!'[/i]

Sapphire felt a sense of hopelessnes close in on her. There was no feasible way they could combat all of these Grimm. They didn't have the armaments, the stamina or the numbers for such a task. They might be able to battle there way to the surface but that would leave the town outside defenseless. No they had to destroy what kept these Grimm unified. They were faced with Ursa, Beowulves, Creeps and Salamanders. Tactically speaking these were not intelligent species of Grimm. They were all kept in line by the Siren. If Swansong could cut off the head the rest of the Grimm would fall into dissarray. The team could escape in the chaos.

Sapphire ran to Abel's side and as she did so loaded two ice rounds into each of her shotguns. She then aimed one side of the polearm at the underground lake and fired two shells at the water before flipping her weapon and firing the other two rounds. When the cartridges hit the water giant patches of ice exploded on the surface of the lake. Beowulves and other Grimm caught in the blast where frozen solid. She'd been careful to avoid hitting Shiro but everything else in the lake was fair game.

Then she turned to Abel, reached up and pulled the hearing protection out of one of his ears for a moment. "The Siren's priority, once it's dead the rest will become confused and disorientated, that's our chance to escape. Help Shiro out as much as you can from the shore. I'll keep the Grimm off your back as best I can. Good luck."

Sapphire replaced Abel's hearing protection before she reloaded her shotguns and took a couple steps away from Abel, ready to mark her territory against the oncoming monsters. The Salamanders continued to fire and as they did so Sapphire aimed up and shot the mass of oncoming water with two fire shells. The water vaporized in midair creating a cloud of steam over the lake. Then Sapphire turned to see the rest of the Grimm advancing on her.

Sapphire's attacks were effective at slowing her targets down, at the very least. The ice blocks left by her first shots slowly drifted side to side, offering a potential mode of transportation across the laketop, if one were foolish enough to trust "giant, unanchored blocks of ice" as a reliable means of suspension.

The Salamanders across the lake did not respond to Sapphire's attack, continuing to fire jets of high-pressure water across the lake, but this time they were unable to accurately target any of the people across from them. 

Gren couldn't get a clear shot at the Siren as she swam away, and despite being mostly deaf Gren could plainly see more Grimm swarming, including the scavangers. On their own Gren wasn't too concerned, but even if he dropped from this height they would only end up falling into the water. And assuming that didn't cushion the fall and allow them to live, they would only end up swarming Shiro. Gren had little choice but to confront them, but without his God Eater, which he had to put away due to the bulkiness, he was not quite as ready for crowd clearing.

So Gren ran. At first he was just running to put distance between himself and the grimm, but then he noticed Shiro making an underwater explosion. [color=00a651]"That's right, Shiro is after the Siren. If he kills it, then we can rout the horde."[/color] Gren would need to keep the rest of the grimm off his ass until then and that's exactly what he wanted to do in the first place. Keeping track of everyone's position, Gren put himself roughly at the center of all the chaos. He needed all the Grimm to be looking at him, that he kept flashing the super-bright lights in their eyes certainly helped. Once he was roughly above the middle, Gren dropped from the ceiling and down to the lake. But not into the water.

As Gren was falling, he had to focus his semblance. He has practiced this before. But this would be the first time he'd ever had to actually use it. He had to hope for the best, but was prepared for the worse. When Gren hit the water, he didn't sink. he stood on the surface as if it was solid ground. Channeling his Friction Semblance to only his feet, Gren was able to stand on the water as the grimm around him fell and were forced to swim. [color=00a651]"You will learn fear!"[/color]

Seeing salamanders harass Sapphire and Abel across the lake, Gren fired his harpoons to impale them, reeling them in if the shot didn't kill them. He shook off any scavanger that landed on him and stomped on any that tried to swim underneath him. Occasionally Gren would take out one of the wasp knives and stab a beowolf or other swimming Grimm, trying to get their attention. Aside from the salamanders, Gren tried to get the attention of the swimming beowolves, mostly by stabbing them. He somewhat understood that the grimm, while not the most inteligent or dicplined creatures, wouldn't stop chasing Shiro since he was directly threatening the Siren, their leader. If they didn't focus their efforts defending themselves from Gren, he would take advantage of their single-minded determination by killing them. 

Gren made use of his floodlights, constant roars, agressive tactics, and sheer size (Gren still had the water scooters attached to his back, making him twice as big as he normally would be) to keep the Grimm's attention to him. He was confident that his durability would allow him to weather their combined efforts, at least long enough for the rest of his team to complete their task. So stabbing, smashing, and shooting his way through any grimm that got into range, he was going to do whatever it took to draw the attention of all the grimm from his allies to him.

Shiro couldn't look back, he had to ignore whatever was going on above him and focus on the Siren. Doing his best to track the Grimm, Shiro continued to chase. Determined that the moment he got his paws on the monster, he'd tear it apart as quickly and viciously as he could. 

While Gren's plan worked enough for him to remain on top of the water, his job wouldn't be easy, between blasts of water and Grimm falling from above. Some of the Creeps dropped directly on top of him, trying their damndest to slow the monstrous berserker down long enough for their compatriots to destroy Shiro. 

Below the lake's waters, the Siren stopped its retreat, turning to face Shiro head on. Its proboscis lashed out angrily at the Faunus, while the creature itself slapped its tail in his direction once more. 

Slightly above the pair, a quartet of Beowulves that had managed to survive Gren's rampage and Shiro's attack swam downwards, ready to kill the intruder as soon as they could get their claws on it. 

As much as Abel wanted to help, he could only do so much to help an underwater ally from the shore, and this knowledge infuriated him.  Still, he vowed to abide by Sapphire's request, and would not allow any calamity to fall upon his team.  The guardian's knuckles turned white from his deathgrip on the Ampere, which he maneuvered into a javelin position and then hurled with furious might.  

Nearly invisible in the darkness, it sliced through the air and punched like a piston into the armor of a salamander, just between head and shoulder.  Shards of bone flew as the point penetrated the subpar defenses there, and the water-spitter keeled over, far from dead but unable to serve as a living mortar any longer.  Abel flicked his wrist, recalling the Ampere, and grabbed it hurriedly when it approached.  In truth, he'd been lucky that his guess on the grimm's location had been correct; he had only the jets of water to work with, after all.  No amount of determination or strength, though his were admirable, could turn this situation into a good one.  Abel prayed that beneath the dark waters, Shiro would soon find his prey.

As Abel managed to disable one of the Salamanders, his and Sapphire's time was up: Nearly a dozen Creeps burst from the cave walls around them, screeching angrily and lashing out with tooth and claw. 

A pair moved directly at Sapphire from behind, while three moved for her side, five charged Abel, and a pair tried to flank the azure-clad warrior. 

A pair of harpoons shot out towards Sapphire and Abel, skewering a pair of creeps each. Gren wasn't just helping Shiro but his entire team. While creeps were hardly the most threatening type of grimm, Gren wasn't going to let them get the advantage of flanking. That being said, this attack rendered Gren's harpoons useless when the rope snapped due to overuse. This mean he only had one more harpoon gun left, leaving only his knives. After that Abel and Sapphire would truly be on their own, but Gren wasn't without some means to help. He had to shout and could only briefly flash a light, but he pointed that light towards The God Eater nearby, which was still wedged into the wall.

[color=00a651]"USE MY WEAPON!"[/color]

Controling it using the computer in his systems, Gren had the God Eater Partially dismantle. This made it useless as a weapon, but also unlocked it's dust cache for the others to use. They could try to use them as bombs or maybe sent up a wall of fire around them if they pour red dust and activate the contents. If needed, they could simply try to lift the weapon's blade (Which was only a 1/3 of the total weight of the weapon in it's dismantled form) and use it. That would surely cut down any grimm that it connected with. Whatever they needed to do, Gren needed to help Shiro now.

Dropping his now useless harpoons while still shaking off the creeps on his back, Gren allowed himself to fall into the water fast. While he did so he activated all the waterscooters on his back, combined with using his semblance to reduce the water resistance his massive frame would give. This gave him an immese boost to his mobility but only moving forward; turning was still hard to do. He was moving fast enough to catch up to Shiro, and more importantly deal with the beowolves swimming after him. Gren impaled one with the harpoon, shooting it through its chest to hit another. Once the grimm he killed dissipated into the water Gren began chasing down the other beowolves before catching up with Shiro and trying to help him nap the Siren.

Instincts alerting him to an incoming attack, Shiro halted in the waters and stopped his swim. With swift reflexes, Shiro brought up his arms in a defensive posture just in time to meet with the Siren's proboscis and grabbed at it. Looping the creature's 'tongue' around a few times to securely wrap it to his own arm, Shiro tanked the swinging tail attack and grabbed at it also.

[i]"Thank you for handing these over to me!"[/i] Shiro thought to himself, wanting to snarl but only letting a few foaming bubbles escape from his bared fangs.

With his strength, he held on tight to both the Siren's proboscis and tail and began to pull them as hard as he could in opposite directions. Intent on ripping either or both off of the Grimm to handicap it before going in for the kill.  Growling, he strained hard as veins pulsed in his temple. His icy blue eyes glaring lethal daggers at the hideous monstrosity. If it didn't work, at the very least he had a direct line to pull the creature closer as he would close the distance and bury his fangs and claws into its body or sink his weaponry into.

As one of their own died, the other Beowulves turned on Gren, their eyes glowing a bright, furious red. Even the Beowulf with the harpoon still inside it began to move after the hulking boar Faunus, claws lashing out with killing intent.

The Siren, meanwhile, did the only two things it could do: screech as loudly as possible, and thrash its flexible body around wildly. It knew that it was without any hope for survival, but at this moment, all of its energy went into defying the whelp who had so arrogantly come into its domain. 

[i]"!!"[/i]

Shiro should've figured that wouldn't have worked very well. Now instead he was holding on for dear life as he was whipped and whirled about in the waters. Keeping hold as best he could, he gradually continued to wrap his arms around what he had to pull the Siren closer and closer. His head starting to hurt from all of the Siren's underwater screeching.

Good news: the beowolves weren't chasing Shiro anymore. Bad news was that they were after him. Under normal circumstances Gren wouldn't fear Beowolves at all. He could kill them with his fists if he had to, or maybe even bite them to death. But underwater that wasn't as much of an option. Though he could use his semblance to give a good punch, with his constant forward momentum the best he could do was try to smash them as he continued forward however the beowolves had much better mobility whilst underwater.

Worse still was that one of the beowolves was a bit tougher than your common stock, somehow still surviving the spear in its chest. It clawed at Gren, who fortunately was still strong and durable regardless of his enviroment. With the beowolf so close, Gren was able to grab hold of its forearm as it tried to slash him. When he got a solid grip, he crushed the beowolf's arm, disarming the grimm... literally, Gren pushed the creature out of his way while he pulled the spear forcefully from its chest, leaving it in his bubbles. 

There was still the other beowolves coming in fast, so Gren prepared to meet them. Sticking his harpoon gun onto the massive rig on his back, he used his semblance to keep it in place. Gren readied the two wasp knives Shiro had made for him. While his knife fighting skills weren't as good as Sapphire's, it'd be more than enough to kill these grimm. [color=00a651]"Getting real tired of you sons of bitches!"[/color]

The Beowulf that had been impaled, now also missing a portion of its arm, roared silently as its body began dissipating as a marker of its death. Its two remaining companions reached their target, one going for each of his arms to disable the hulking Faunus. 

The Siren was in a much worse spot. Shiro had it beaten in terms of raw power, even in its natural habitat. Its death was nigh, but it would not go without a fight. It only seemed to resist more as Shiro's deathgrip tightened, but there wasn't much movement left for it to make now. Its screeches intensified in power, the sheer acoustic force causing Shiro's hastily-constructed helmet to vibrate jarringly.

Sapphire had expected one of the larger grimm that prowled at the edges of the cave to charge her. To eliminate Abel's last defense before devouring him, preventing him from lending Shiro and Gren much needed aid. Instead the ground under their feet churned and over a dozen creeps burst forth from the ground. Instinctively almost before she was aware fo the threat Sapphire swung her polearm, letting the momentum spin her around as it slashed through the bodies of two creeps.

A second later one of Gren's harpoons whistled through the air scewering two more that had been attempting to get behind the azure haired girl. Though she doubted he could see her in the darkness Sapphire knodded at Gren's hulking form in thanks. Another of Gren's harpoons reduced two of the five creeps coverging on Abel to dust. That left only three of the small creatures for both the hunter and huntress to deal with.

With the element of surprise lost to them Sapphire made short work of those that had targetted her. Really creeps were such pathetic creatures one could only really call them a threat when in mass volume, like blackflies.

Every bone in Sapphire's body shouted for her to assist her comrade but she knew she must stay her hand. If she couldn't trust Abel to deal with a quarter dozen creeps she couldn't trust him with any task. Her efforts were better spent elsewhere.

Gren's Godeater lay waiting with valuable resources for Sapphire to make use of. While she was skilled in combat she much prefered subdefuge. There was no point in spending time and energy fighting a capable opponent when you could knock him on the head with a brick before he knew you were there.

Sapphire retrieved the dust cache, the shells and the rockets from the dismantled weapon. For a brief moment she considered taking the blade but thought better. It was to unwieldy for her fighting form.

The Godeater contained a massive quanity of red dust used in the flame thrower portion of the weapon. While the grimm where temporarily off her and Abel's back she spred this substanced over the ground in a ten foot perimiter around Abel leading up to the lake. She didn't activate it yet though. Grimm responded to what was in front of them. Create a wall of fire and they would find a way to put it out. Create the mechanism for a wall of fire and they wouldn't react till they'd already set it off.

Next she took the six rockets from the Godeater and after activating there  preasure sensors buried them in the ground in various places a distance outside the wall of fire being very careful not to set off any of her traps.

With them safe as least for the interum Sapphire returned to Abel's side.  She grabbed a stick from the shore and carved the word "Status?" into the sand before disabling her hearing protectors just long enough to find out how the fight with the siren was proceeding.

Shiro  winced yet again, was it just him or were things getting a bit louder?  Nonetheless, Shiro had the Grimm in his claws. Problem was that now that  he got that far, how exactly was he to finish it? Shaking his head and blinking, he felt a bad headache coming on but was able to clear it well enough to come up with crude way of executing the Siren.

Letting go of the Siren with the hand that held its tail, Shiro used his free arm to unleash a softening blow against the Siren's body to stun it.  After a punch, he shoved his knee in the Grimm and peeled three Wind element Dustshells off of his belt. Drawing his sword he pressed the  spine of his blade against his equipment and opened the chamber. It was  mighty useful being underwater, what with the lake 'holding' his ammo and sword for him as he did one-handed manipulations.

Grabbing  the shotshells, he fed his sword and closed the chamber before  positioning the point of his sword to where he believed would be the  best location to pierce the Grimm. With all of his might, he shoved  forward with the sword attempting to run through the Siren. If he made  it, Shiro planned to fire off all three shotshells to cut it in half.  Gren's wasp knives giving him the idea.

Even  while Shiro used only one hand to subdue the Siren, the Grimm  Lieutenant found no means that it attempted would allow it to break his  hold. It did not wish to accept its fate, but as fate must, it had come nonetheless. 

As the blade pierced its body, the Siren's screeching plummeted in volume, water filling its insides rapidly. Its body flailed uselessly, tail slapping at Shiro much more weakly than it had before.

At  the same time, two beowolves also started to grow and expand as Gren's knives found their mark. When they tried to grab hold of him, Gren altered the friction of their claws so that they could not hold him, as if he was too slippery. When they failed to hold onto him, he used that  moment to pludge the knives into their chests, sending compressed air  into their body and forcing them to float out of his way. Without tearing out their flesh or the knives, they would continue to float unless they could somehow manage to get the air to release. In the meantime Gren went to Shiro, vaguely hearing the Siren's scream rise and fall.

Gren would soon meet Shiro and the Siren, and for good measure Gren had his harpoon out ready to impale the creature through the skull. While he  trusted Shiro to slay the beast, it was pertinate that they did not cut any corners. He just needed Shiro to hold the creature still long enough for him to send the spear right into it's head.

In the smothering darkness Abel made his stand.  Well aware of the direness of the situation, he decided to pull out all the stops.  When the Creeps arrived, he released his grip on the Ampere and the blade did not return to his grasp.  Played like a killer marionette upon strings of lightning, it danced back and forth, a whirlwind of steel ripping into the worthless creatures.  More monsters came on their heels, but the Guardian was prepared.  Reaching out of the trance of combat, he grabbed the blade of the God Eater and held it like a cleaver, and his semblance surged through the metal to guide the slab of steel's movements where his lackluster experience with it failed.  

With this mighty makeshift sword in hand and the Ampere lashing about as if with a mind of its own, the Grimm charging him met a swift end.  Back and forth the two blades cut and crushed.  Though bereft of the kind of speed and agility Sapphire could boast, Abel wielded imrpessive strength, and with it smashed the Creeps to ashes.  Sapphire's activities did not concern him; in a fight for survival, nothing existed to him but the next foe and the next deathly stroke.

Unknown to Sapphire a single Creep had burrowed through her defenses before they were properly set up. It now came to the sureface and charged. The azure haired girl was distracted, writing something in the sand with a stick. This was it: its moment to fulfill the instincts, the [i]needs[/i] of the Creatures of Grimm. It would slay a human on this day. 

Sapphire had no warning as a shadowy form slammed into her back, she was knocked off balance as the creature shoved her towards the water. Though they had been near the shallows of the water, the underground lake dropped off into greater depths very close to the shore. Sapphire stumbled, the force of the charging Creep pushing her over the edge, into the deep waters of the lake.

Sapphire was a strong swimmer, in fact when she was younger she had loved the water. Her brother had often compared her to a fish. That was years ago though, before her body had learned to fear the water.

The moment she made contact with the lake Sapphire's breath caught in her throat. One moment she was in the lake, the next she was in a pool, iceburgs exploding into being all over the place, a figure standing at the rim. Sapphire kicked and splashed, her breath was coming in ragged gasps as she fought to keep her head above water. She couldn't breath, she couldn't think. 

Her wild flailing had sent the Creep flying somewhere in the water but she barely even remembered it was there. Her head dipped under the water and her frantic lungs pulled liquid into her airways. She began to cough as she fought to the surface, as she fought to breath. 

[i]'Anything can happen in the water, you have to be prepared.'[/i]

Sapphire pushed herself to the side, dodging away from something only she could see. Her head plunged below the surface again but despite being in a state of panic she didn't call for help, she didn't make a sound more than the splashing of her movements. 

As it fell into the water, the Creep thrashed angrily, but found no purchase with its stubby legs. As if weighed down by the hatred it felt for mankind, the Grimm slowly began to sink below the depths, its life force fading rapidly.

The last beowolf dropped to the floor, a messy cleft halfway down its body starting by the neck, and Abel found nothing left to kill.  His trance evaporated faster than a puddle in the peak of summer, and in very short order he found no allies nearby either, which troubled him.  Looking from side to side, he seethed; he couldn't find a single damn thing in this darkness.  He felt his aura flooding his veins, and decided to end the annoyance once and for all.  A flick of the wrist recalled the Ampere to his hand, and Abel planted the butt of the partizan into the ground while switching it to Staff mode.  Roaring, he channeled his electricity through the metal rod and focus crystal, releasing a stream of lightning straight up into the ceiling of the cave.  Finding no ground, it spread out, illuminating the whole scene.  He saw dark shapes moving in the depths of the lake, and between them and him, a girl who seemed to be in dire need of assistance.  Fortuantely, though she trashed in panic, she was not in fact very far.

Abel waded into the water, thanking his lucky stars that his azure discharge lingered on the ceiling to provide light.  He was dimly aware that electricity shouldn't work like that, but assumed his semblance to be the cause.  Moving gingerly forward to avoid the sudden drop-off, he reached the Ampere out toward Sapphire like a tamer trying to snag a wildcat, intent on catching her hood or jacket with a corner and drawing her, fishlike, in.

Darkness oozed from the wound as Gren plunged the harpoon into the Siren's face. Taking a hand's on approach, Gren viciously stabbed the spear alone while holding onto the Siren's neck, using a combination of his strength and Semblance to ensure it couldn't escape. Once it's body disipated into the water, Gren turned his form towards Shiro, nodding and pointing towards the surface. It was time for them to go. Gren motioned for Shiro to go first as Gren needed some time to turn around, but once he was positioned he'd activate all the water scooters and follow after Shiro.

With the Siren's death, the cave suddenly became much quieter. The remaining Creatures of Grimm seemed to be stunned at what had come to pass, lost without the guidance of their leader. The Salamanders still remaining began thrashing about, armored carapaces smacking into one another with a dull thudding noise. 

Shiro blinked, surprised when Gren's harpoons finished the job with offing the Siren. Watching as the Grimm's body faded away, Shiro turned to his friend and tilted his head. Following Gren's motions, Shiro looked up towards the surface of the lake and nodded his head. Considering the mission complete, Shiro removed his protective headwear and shook his head under the waters. Giving Gren the thumbs up, Shiro began to make his way back.

Along the way, Shiro happened to notice a figure thrashing about frantically and furrowed his brow. The figure didn't seem to be a Grimm, in fact it seemed to have the shape of..

Shiro's eyes widened.
[i]"Is that Sapphire!?"[/i]
Powering through the waters, Shiro quickly made his way to the girl and breeched the surface of the waters near her.
[b]"Sapphire, hey what's wrong? Calm down!"[/b]
He got closer and presented his hand for her to take. Seeing Abel not too far from them thanks to his lightshow, he could at least help keep her above water and assist in getting her back to the shore safely. 
[b]"Relax and just take my hand! I've got you!"[/b]

Gren followed Shiro, activating the flood lights beneath him so that the others could see them coming. But in the lights, Gren noticed Sapphire's thrashing body. He remembered her warning them of her aquaphobia on the airship, so he wasted no time rushing towards her. Shiro of course reached Sapphire first, and not wanting to get in the way Gren kept his distance and moved to the shore. Still he did something to help: he sent one of the water Scooters to Sapphire to hopefully hold onto. All she needed to do was grab the handles and hang on, and it would do the swimming for her. Once Gren crawled to the surface he gave himself a few minutes to breath before checking back on their leader, making sure she didn't go to a watery grave.

Sapphire lashed out at Shiro's hand pushing it away. She saw something else, a large well calloused hand reaching for her. She couldn't take it, couldn't accept help, couldn't loose focus, couldn't admit defeat. Couldn't let this be another source of the bruises that would cover her body when she failed one of [i]his[/i] tests.

Her head sank under the water again as she struggled. She could die here, she might die here. Some voice at the back of her mind whispered to just let go. To give up. This would never end, [i]he[/i] would never be satasfied so what was the point in trying.

Sapphire pushed that thought away as she forced her head above the water again taking in a breath of cold air. She couldn't give into that voice because however she suffered it meant that they weren't. If she wasn't around anymore she couldn't be a shield for them. She couldn't abandone them like Olie had.

Sapphire continued to thrash erratically locked in a loop of the same thoughts, the same visions, the same test over and over again. Tears ran down her face streaming into the water. Her arm collided with the water scooter and she recoiled from it as though it were something that might cause her pain. Her blow changed it's direction and it went rocketing off towards the other side of the lake. She didn't even see the Ampere as she struggled to to keep her head above water, struggled to keep herself alive.

Things were not looking too great when Sapphire pushed Shiro away, and even knocked the waterscooter off-course. In hindsight it should not have come to a surprise to Gren; he has read somewhere that drowning swimmers have a tendency to flail, which can be harmful for anyone trying to help them. Thus the best way to save them would be by taking them from behind. If they are flailing, they likely would not have the strength or skill to escape being grabbed by a competent swimmer. And while Gren was not a good swimmer, with the water scooters and the fact he was much bigger and physically stronger than Sapphire, he knew he could grab her out of the water.

[color=00a651]"Shiro! Distract Sapphire! You need to get her to stop flailing or she"ll hurt herself.[/color]

Gren dove back into the water, activating the water scooters so that he sunk faster than Sapphire would. To minimize her injuries Gren was banking on Shiro to somehow keep Sapphire from flailing around; otherwise she might do even more harm to herself and everyone else. Anything wrong that could happen, might happen. For all he knew Sapphire may end up breaking her neck just trying to get away from Gren as if he was some sort of treacherous sea monster.

Ideally, Gren hoped Shiro could use his semblance to keep Sapphire’s attention, but he had his doubts. Shiro seemed to have a hard time using his powers for anything but dire emergencies; Gren hoped that Sapphire drowning was dire enough to warrant it’s use. Because while Gren was certain that he could survive Sapphire’s flailing, he couldn’t say the same for their team leader. She seemed injury prone and this time Gren wasn’t going to go through with his plan until his allies could do what they needed to do.

During this time, Abel watched from the sidelines, furious that he couldn't help.  More of a natural lumberjack than a natural swimmer, and without any sort of gadgets to assist him, he didn't dare risk throwing himself into the dark waters, particularly with both of his teammates on the case.  The only thing more dire to Abel than failing to render his help to his panicked, temporarily-insane team leader would be to attempt to help and make things worse.  While the sight of Gren's floodlights, until now definitively underutilized in the dark cave, convinced him that the faunus' efforts would not be in vain, he did notice that the overhead light provided by his great discharge began to wane.  Now fully apprised of a way he could be at least a little useful, the guardian turned his weapon skyward and unleashed another torrent of electricity, forming into a blue-white, sunlike orb against the ceiling to illuminate the whole surroundings.

Shiro didn't know what to do, his mind blanking out momentarily as he had an anguished look on his face. When it came to the water, everything came natural and easy to him. He knew to breathe and keep his head above water. He knew to remain calm and relax. Those two bits of knowledge were crucial to him when it came to swimming, and there wasn't exactly a way he could coach the actively drowning Sapphire in the next few seconds.

Mind clearing, he finally had an idea of what he could do. Only problem were two obstacles that caused him to pause and hesitate. The first problem was that Sapphire was actively drowning, as in still conscious and thrashing. If he were to attempt a rescue swim technique, that would endanger himself and make things harder. He'd have to exert more energy along with it. Neither self-endangerment or having to use more energy were really problems for him, and he certainly wasn't going to just wait until he started to see bubbles rise to the surface once Sapphire eventually dipped below.

In actuality, the biggest problem lay in the fact that Sapphire was female. For his rescue swim attempt, her anatomy was going to be his enemy. He just didn't feel that way about her, and didn't know her like that for what he was going to have to do. Then, there was the fact of what would happen after they all made it out okay. She would surely murder him in cold blood. Even still, no matter how much they disliked each other, Shiro had to act. 

Furrowing his brow, he mentally prepared himself and took a deep breath. Diving down into the waters, Shiro swam to where he was facing her back. Swooping upwards, Shiro brought his arm underneath Sapphire's armpits and straight across her chest. A pang of guilt and strangely enough, revulsion shot through him as he pulled her body close and his head surfaced. In this odd arm and headlock, with any luck this would limit Sapphire's flailing and keep her head above the water. Even if she kicked wildly, at this point it would aide Shiro as he swam sideways with her towards the edge of the lake with his free arm and kicking legs or so he hoped.

He couldn't say much and didn't even try to calm Sapphire down to have her snap out of it. All it could do was struggle against her thrashing and constantly repeat to himself mentally, [i]"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me."[/i]

Sapphire barely registered the brilliant spark of light as Abel lit up the cavern with his semblance. Her mind couldn't move past the frantic beating of her heart. [i]ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum[/i] over and over again [i]ba-bum[/i]. She could feel it beating so fast she thought her chest was going to explode. Everytime her head sunk below the water it quickened. [i]ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum[/i] faster and faster. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, her arms and legs lashed out wildly but there was nothing. Only damp cave air and water.

Suddenly there was something else. Her arms crashed into something solid and it wrapped around her chest. Tightening its grip on her body. She gasped for air, her heart beat deafening in her hearts, blocking out all other noises, [i]ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum[/i]. She writhed in the grip of whatever had grabbed her and when that didn't shake it loose she pushed her head forward then cracked it back hard into whatever had grabbed her. There wasn't enough force to dislodge it but the blow shoved the limbs of it higher up on her chest and in reach of her mouth. She lunged down and violently crunched her teeth into the wet soggy mass till she tasted copper in her mouth and they withdrew with a yelp of pain.

She shoved herself violently away from whatever it was that had her, distance enough that it couldn't follow before her head slipped under the surface again. This time she didn't come back up. She'd had no time to draw in a proper breath before the waters claimed her and her lungs were screaming. She sunk deeper and deeper unable to summon up the energy to pull herself to the surface. Her frantic lungs drew in water so much so that she started coughing but with no air to replace it she only drew more into her lungs. She could hear her heartbeat slowing. [i]ba-bum... ba-bum... ba-bum...[/i] It was all going to end here. In some isolated little cave in the middle of nowhere.

Before that thought could fully reach home her feet touched the bottom of the lake. She looked up and realized that she was only a few feet under the surface. Summoning the last ounces of her strength Sapphire pushed off sideways from seafloor, she placed the last of her aura into the action and it propelled her through the water towards shore where her head broke the surface in the shallows.

The moment it did she started to cough violently. Water came up from her lungs and right there not far from the shore she puked into the lake. Her stomach kept heaving, bringing up bile and water and her morning breakfast till there was nothing left in her stomach and she kept heaving for almost a full minute after that. When it finally let up she fell onto her side her shoulder submerged in the lake. [i]"Water."[/i] she got out in a hoarse croak. Considering what she'd just gone through it was an ironic thing to ask for but she needed something to flesh out her throat and wash the taste of bile from her mouth.

After watching the whole thing, Abel wanted nothing more than to demand from Sapphire whether or not she did in fact want to die.  With three people attempting to save her, she rejected each one with varying degrees of violence, only to barely survive.  Of course, he wouldn't say such a thing.  Barring the great disgust he felt from hearing and seeing his teammate retch the contents of her stomach into the lake, he felt that saying something hurtful would be entirely inappropriate.  Unfortunately, he didn't have any water either.  Quite happy to get some air out of this stinking, horrible cave, he told Shiro and Gren that he would go and get water before hoofing it out of there.  En route, he noted how remarkable it was that no more monsters appeared following the siren's death.  Perhaps after nearly drowning four people in bad luck, God saw fit to give them a break.  Into the light of day the guardian emerged, squinting as he breathed free air.  He jogged in the direction of the town, his eyes set on a little convenience store by the road.

Gren had helped Shiro drag Sapphire out of the water the best he could, up to and including helping Sapphire out of the water when she literally sank to the bottom of the lake. Was this suppose to be their leader? A panicking girl who couldn't control her own teammates, who'd sooner take a watery grave over accepting help? He understood that she had a phobia of water, but he couldn't imagine why she's never thought to prepare contingencies for it. More so when she fought right next to a lake of the stuff. But she would get an earful later; right now they needed to get out of here.

Regardless of if Sapphire tried to resist him, Gren helped her to her feet. Then he picked her up and rushed her out of the cave. [color=00a651]"Let's go. The less time we have to spend in this godforsaken grotto, the better."[/color] Gren had a good idea that Sapphire didn't want him touching her like this, probally saying stuff like "I can walk on my own" or some such, but after her stunt in the water he doubts she was at her full strength. Besides, if things were going to get worse, it'd involve Sapphire taking another dip and doing this whole mess over again. 

Captain McDougall turned to Abel as he emerged from the cave, a look of sarcastic concern on his face. "Don't tell me your whole team got merced by that thing, kid." Letting the look drop, he gave Abel a short nod of appraisal before taking a step towards him. "So what's up? They send you out here for better reception or something?"

Abel found it within himself to unleash a rare smile on the world.  Nothing in particular appealed to him about the rather bleak town and seashore except that it, unlike the place where he spent the last half hour, wasn't hell on earth.  "Got it, actually.  Not easy, but it's dead.  Looking for water for Sapphire."  Having spent no real time with the sheriff, he did not look expectantly to him for assistance, and so sped up again to standard jogging speed to resume his quest for a drink.

Shiro floated in the waters of the lake for a few minutes by himself after Abel had left and Gren shortly after with Sapphire. Feeling left behind and a little forgotten, he swam to the lake's edge and pulled himself out. Feeling heavy and bogged down by his wet clothing. Rubbing the painful spot where Sapphire had bitten him with a frown on his face. Sighing, Shiro tugged and began to pull off most articles of his clothing and equipment to quickly wring them out to allow them to dry a little faster. Shaking his mane of silver hair out and sending water droplets scattering about as he stripped. Remembering to gently wring out his white tail as well.

After he had finished, he redressed himself and made sure he still had all of his equipment with him securely fastened. Standing alone in the cave, he turned on the spot as his eyes scanned around once more silently thinking to himself. This mission was nothing like how he had expected it to go. Just like their first one, Shiro felt it a complete and total mess. Hunting Grimm was supposed to be fun and yet, he derived little to no enjoyment from yet another shoddy mission with Team SASG.

Needless to say, he was happy that everyone made it out somewhat okay. They'd be going home now just a little worse for wear and he can finally just enjoy his weekend. Maybe go out at night to the city and hang out with some friends. To think he was actually looking forward to returning to the academy. Scoffing and smiling to himself, Shiro shook his head as he casually strolled towards the cave entrance to rejoin his team. Striding with his hands behind his head as he whistled a little tune, he figured that the most damage that had been done was to each of their relationships. How they would recover and strengthen their bonds, he couldn't know. As the light of the sun was in sight, Shiro decided he would just keep quiet for the rest of the time there until they all made it back to Beacon.

Rather than respond to her request for water Gren grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her roughly to her feet. She wasn't at the point to which standing would be considered a good idea and she felt suddenly light headed as her skull began to pound with an incessant rhythm.
                                                                                         /   What? \
Sapphire's legs gave out a second after but instead of (making allowes for this) Gren dragged her through the cave and to the surface. She would have pushed him off if she'd had the strength to do so but at the moment all she could think of was getting off her feet. Her head hurt and her limbs ached with the kind of tired pain that can only be cured by sleep and leaves little room in the mind to think of anything else.

When they cleared the cave and the bright light of day struck Sapphire's face she covered her eyes with one of her hands. The light was too much for her eyes to take all at once. She didn't even register McDougall standing nearby. She pushed herself away from Gren who had stopped supporting her the moment they were out of the cave. She sat down on the sand craddling her head in her arms, trying to block out the light and the pain in her head.

As Gren and Sapphire emerged from the cave, McDougall gave the pair a confused look. The girl wasn't hurt too bad, he could tell that her Aura was mostly intact from Gren's Scroll, but she looked like she'd just been on the brink of death. 

"Dust, what the hell happened down there? Girl looks like she nearly died."

Sapphire muttered a response from her shelter between her arms. "Girl nearly did die, girl would like to sleep now."

Sighing, Gren rubbed the back of his neck. [color=00a651]"Siren's dead. What do you want to do with this cave? If you leave it open like this, another one is just going to move in. Unless you intend to look for survivors or breed grimm, I'd say demolish it."[/color] Normally Gren wasn't one to destory a perfectly natural envioment, but this entire situation could have been easilly resolved if they just gave him some time to collapse the cave. Instead Sapphire, who was just suppose to be scouting, ended up engaging the Siren while Gren and Shiro were nowhere close. Gren was fortunate that his gear held up, but they could have been much better if they actually followed the plan of just gathering information, getting properly equipped to deal with the Siren, and then going in when they were at their strongest. Instead just like the first mission, Sapphire over extended and split off from the group. At least Abel was there to ensure she didn't get herself killed, not that it helped when she fell into the water.

Sometimes Gren wonders if people just like having a weakness. Sapphire surely knew that her hydrophobia would impair her on this mission. They were fighting a goddamn siren; where else would it be at aside from a big body of water? Granted, Gren didn't quite understand the full ramifications of phobias and the fear they envoked, but it was needlessly careless for Sapphire to put herself in such a precarious position. If they hadn't already killed the Siren when she fell in, there was no garuntee that things would have worked out as smoothly.

[color=00a651]"Now then, we should get some rest and contact Beacon. Shiro! Where are you dood? I'll need a hand while I get things set up."[/color] Gren held out his wrecked God Eater. While he willingly had it dismantled for the others to make better use out of, he really wanted to get it back to working order as soon as possible. Hence, while Gren was going to fix up his weapon, he'll have Shiro report the mission while Sapphire rests up and Abel attends to her.

Sapphire groaned as Gren started to talk. Her throat felt rough and scratchy but she had to say something before Gren started blowing things up. "The cave runs under half the countryside and some of the town. If you collapse it you'll do far more damage than a siren ever could." If it had been a simple matter of blowing up the cave they wouldn't have needed to go in there. Hell the locals wouldn't have even needed to call in Beacon. "If you can do a precision blast," Sapphire had some doubts at to whether the word precision was in Gren's vocabulary. "then collapsing just the tunnel leading up to the lake should suffice if you're careful about it."

McDougall's face hardened into a dark glare when Gren suggested collapsing the cave. That had been one of the first things he'd told these students: that was not an option. Suffice to say...he wasnt much impressed wih team SASG. The bickering certainly didn't help.

That might have been an unfair assessment, however, given their relative inexperience. "How many missions you kids been on so far? This your first?"

Gren sighed. He was never told [i]why[/i] they couldn't, and if the cave was as long as Saphire said it was, then Gren was surprised that they managed to find the Siren so quickly. he suppose he should count his fortunes that Sapphire was able to run into the siren so soon if it could have been anywhere in the country. Not that it mattered anymore; their job was done. Whether or not the town will make precautions to prevent another incident like this was beyond Gren.

Shiro stepped out into the sunlight just as Gren had called back for him, his hands behind his head as he whistled his tune through his teeth. [b]"Yeah, yeah. I'm right here, boss man. No need to shout. What's up? What did you need help with?[/b] He had arrived just as Mr. McDougall had posed his question to them. Deciding to be the one to answer, Shiro offhandedly replied [b]"No, sir. We've been on two missions thus far. This is our second one. Why do you ask?"[/b] Shiro tilted his head curiously as his tail lazily wagged behind him.

A single eyebrow raising in amusement as Shiro's casual reintroduction, Captain McDougall let out a small sigh. "I just wanted to get a feel for your team's experience so I have some perspective when I make the report of this mission. I take it you were able to finish the job while I secured the outside?" 

Shiro cocked an eyebrow and looked up at the empty space above his head as he thought briefly. [b]"Well, if we're to be honest, we can all answer that for you. We're all pretty inexperienced. I mean, we're only first-year freshmen as Huntsmen. But, the mission's complete. Our team took out all the Grimm to include the Siren."[/b]

At that moment, Abel returned speedily, a one-liter plastic water bottle held in each hand.  Sensing a conversation taking place that would probably not benefit from his input, he skirted around the rest with surprising discretion for a large man.  After unscrewing the cap on the way, he passed the first bottle to Sapphire, silently pleased that she seemed concious enough to imbibe it herself.  Though familiar with a few survival skills thanks to his upbringing, Abel knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that tender care wasn't one of them.

McDougall's face scrunched up into a look of utter scrutiny as he looked upon Shiro, as if he were questioning every fiber of his very existence. He was not, but he certainly knew how to look the part. "I see. Well, if the three of you boys would be so kind as to give us a moment, I'd like to speak with your leader privately." 

As it had before when he spoke with Gren, McDougall's voice carried a subtle but paradoxically omnipresent power to it. It was a request that was meant to be an order, but given as it was in order to show respect and thanks for their work, as well as their presence. 

Sapphire inwardly groaned. She didn't really want to be talking to anyone right now. Or moving actually but the job came before her personal comforts. Besides, there was a tone in McDougall's voice that said this was not a request. Sapphire used the rocks at the edge of the cave to pull herself to her feet before walking over the Sheriff. She was surprisingly steadly considering what she'd just gone through but she still felt like keeling over, not that it showed.

Stepping away from the three boys and shooting them a playful but serious look to stay clear, McDougall looked Sapphire up and down before giving her a sad smile. "How're you feeling?"

Sapphire took that moment to ring a good deal of water out of her ponytail. She wasn't one to complain about how she was feeling, especially to a stranger. "As well as can be expected. Mission didn't exactly go perfect but we're all alright."

Nodding his head gently in response, McDougall took a slow breath. "For a girl who nearly just met her Maker, you sure sound calm. But you'd do well to take a minute and breathe. I mostly mean that literally, because you look like...well, you look like you nearly just drowned." Almost as an afterthought, McDougall continued, his demeanor shifting into a grave one. "You should also be careful. Your team is reckless. You act without thinking of the consequences, and though you escaped serious harm, I wouldn't bet on it happening more than a few times."

Returning to his caring front, McDougall finished what he had to say and nodded. "Just think about what I've said. And make sure that wound on your shoulder heals. Blood is damned hard to clean out."

Sapphire sighed as she heard McDougall's appraisal of Team Swansong. "I know." With the exception of Abel none of them really funtioned as a part of the team. They all picked what they believied to be the best course of action on their own without coordination or even notifying the others. Even Sapphire was guilty of that though when she took action she tried to keep how her actions would effect the rest of the team in mind. 

The wound on her shoulder was proof enough that Gren didn't think about his teammates before he acted. He'd fired numerous armour peircing rounds into a crowd of Grimm with his teammates in the line of fire. Luckily Sapphire had been the only one hit and no serious harm was done but it could easily have been a lot worse.

It was no secret to anyone that Shiro didn't function well as part of a group. He was impuslive and reckless which quite possibly was an actual mental condition due to braindamage his semblance had inflicted on him. He always meant well, Sapphire knew that but the way he acted was a danger to both himself and anyone in proximity. It amazed Beacon didn't have a more thorough screening process for new applicants. Though, with Grimm massing in such great numbers the kingdoms likely couldn't afford to be too picky.

Sapphire gave a shrug that may have come across as indifferent, or simply just tired. "We're still new, hopefully with a bit more time we'll pull it together."

When McDougall mentioned her wound Sapphire glanced at the hole in her jacket. It was most of the reason she wore black. Her jacket probably had half a dozen or more blood stains that had only partially come out. Sapphire had gotten used to sewing her clothes back together but having to scrub them down wasn't really worth it. Eventually she'd just given up on getting them clean and settled for having the stains blend in. "Yeah, I'll take care of it."

Stretching his arms out, McDougall turned away from Sapphire before leaving a few parting words. "Good. And just make sure you get your shit together sooner rather than later. Not everybody's lucky enough to make it out in one piece. Could be you...could be the hyper kid, or it could even be me."

His speech finished, McDougall fished the keys to the Dune Rover out of his pockets, quickly jogging over and climbing into the driver's seat. "Sorry boys, just wanted to make sure your boss lady was holding out okay. Drowning ain't a pretty way to go..."

Sapphire followed McDougall to the rover and climbed into one of the seats. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. It wasn't a long right back into town but she might be able to get ten minutes rest.

Gren had managed to put the God Eater in some working order, though it was lacking any dust and missing a few rockets. Fortunately without being armed by the God Eater, those rockets werent much use aside as hefty paperweights. When McDougall came back mentioning he wanted to check on Sapphire, Gren chimed up. [color=00a651]"Thank you Captain. We'll make sure to do something about that."[/color] Frankly, this mission was a bust. Sure they killed the Siren, and for the most part without any serious loss, but this end was unsatisfactory. They may as well had just blown up the caves with how smoothly they performed. They were illsuited to handle the environment where their target was at, and they still failed at teamwork and cooperation. Their communication was next to none, and the amount of trust they had with eachother was more or less the same amount they had for the grimm. Gren did wonder if there was a solution to their problem, or if the only solution was the type that involved removing the problem.

Gren decided that he wouldn't think about that stuff on the ride back. He merely sat in the vehicles, finally freed of the massive weight of the waterscooters on his back. If they were going to stay in town for a little while longer, Gren was going to need to repair and refurbish these and give them back to the armory. He was also a bit peckish and could go for some grub. Spear fishing sounded nice. [color=00a651]"Say, how long do you think we'll stay in town?"[/color]

Shiro hopped into the vehicle last after Sapphire and Gren, not feeling super talkative for once. Once they had all settled in, Shiro took it upon himself to get comfortable for the ride back and slumped in his seat a bit. Crossing his ankles as he 'sat' at an angle. Pulling his hood over his ears, Shiro slipped out his Scroll and shook off any residual moisture left on it to boot up a gaming application he had installed on it. Nothing super special, just a typical hack-and-slash touchscreen mobile RPG. The game lacking any real depth and was only used for mindless distraction or to pass the time. 

It wasn't until Gren finally said something that he returned to reality, at least for the moment. Only really offering a simple [b]"Hopefully, not long."[/b] making it very clear he was anxious to return home to Beacon Academy. After saying his piece, he returned to tapping and swiping at the screen of his Scroll. Cheerful electronic sounds of eclectic animated combat quietly playing from the Scroll's speaker. 

Something bugged Abel--something that kept him as occupied as the faux game did Shiro.  Given the nightmare the team just went through, he didn't want to add anything to the burden of fatigue or pain each one already bore, but he couldn't stop thinking about it.  This troublesome thought did not really concern his teammates, who he knew would be alright.  Personally, he didn't think too badly about the mission.  Given the sheer tactical disadvantage offered by a pitch-black, haphazard cave lined with Grimm and an aquatic enemy whose existence prohibited the communication so essential to teamwork, the whole thing could have honestly been worse.  Nobody died, after all, and if not for her little swim near the end of the battle Sapphire would have been pretty much fine too.  Heck, Abel himself barely took a scratch.  Some of the little Grimm had gnawed some off his aura, and encounters with boiling Salamander jets and the hard cave floor did not give him pleasure, but he hadn't sustained any real wounds.  None of that held any relevance to this new, haunting thought, though.  After a few minutes, Abel couldn't hold it in any longer.

"So...um.  When we got to the water, the underground water, why...why didn't you guys all hang back and let me electrocute it?  Or try and rupture its organs with my grenades?  The Siren, I mean."  He remembered the eagerness with which Shiro dove into the water, which prevented him from taking any drastic measures against the subterranean pool's heinous denizens.  "Wouldn't that...have been easier?"  It felt wrong to suggest that perhaps his teammates' self-sacrificing had been in vain.  He shifted himself in his seat.  

Sapphire, always a light sleeper heard everything her teammates said through a fog of partial rest. She didn't feel the need to speak as Gren and Shiro talked about how long they might spend in Trawl before shipping off and after a few moments the rover settled into blissful silence. Sapphire dozed soundly until Abel voiced his concerns about the mission.

Slowly she opened her eyes. In all honesty she had thought of that as an option but she'd dismissed it quickly. "Might work in the Beacon pool but I figured that with such a large body of water even if you could summon up enough lightning to raise the charge to lethal levels the effort would lay you out and if it turned out the Siren wans't the biggest threat in the cave protecting you at severely weakened levels or possibly unconscious would make getting everyone out alive very difficult."

The method they'd used to deal with the Siren given the conditions they were fighting in had been decently effective. Aside from some minor scraps and bruises, the bite she took out of Shiro's arm and being very wet, all around the team had gotten out mostly unscathed.

Shiro paused in his gaming for just a moment when Abel spoke up. It may have been hard for anyone to see with his hood up, but when his teammate stated the obvious his cheeks flushed red. It was painfully obvious, but the idea hadn't even crossed his mind. Thinking about, that may have made things end a lot quicker and a lot easier. Making sure his hood was tugged forward as far as it could go over his head and ears, Shiro resumed his gaming. Uncharacteristically quiet, but he was sure Sapphire would appreciate his silence. Sapphire made a counter argument about how that may or may not had worked, but he wasn't interested in anything she had to say to them. He was still a bit salty, a bit sour that she had bitten him in her panic when all he was trying to do was help save her life. He made some odd grumbling sound that was a combination of irritation at his game and the dull pulsing pain in his arm. She had bitten him rather hard, but no visible damage was caused.

Though he kept quiet, Abel couldn't help but feel that Sapphire wasn't giving him enough credit.  With the situation unfolding the way it did, he'd been reduced to releasing massive blasts of lightning at the ceiling just so people could have an easier time seeing.  The guardian didn't believe he was a prideful man, but the amount of electricity he put out shouldn't be understated.  Whatever contribution he made to the mission lay in the few small Grimm he killed, and definitely not in the wasteful discharge of power he made in an attempt to be useful.  Thinking of this, he reclined in his seat as best he could, wondering when if ever he would be able to prove his worth.  [i]Next time there must be something.  I will not let myself become this team's dead weight.[/i]

[color=00a651]"Everything happened too fast."[/color] Gren said as he was reviewing some data through his helmet. [color=00a651]"While the mission went rather well, all things considered, the scouting mission became a direct confrontation. We had very little time to plan and spent most of it reacting. Me and Shiro had just barely finished our preparations to fight the Siren. If it had happened even ten minutes earlier, I would not have been able to do anything in the water."[/color] But Gren could tell, subtly, that Abel wanted to do more. Gren wanted everyone to do more. But what could Gren do? he could always improve himself; but that would not help the others. It won’t help Shiro’s issues with his semblance. It won’t help Sapphire’s lack of cooperation. And it wouldn’t help Abel’s own passiveness.

Gren talked a big game about doing something for the group. But honestly, he had mostly been doing things for himself. A leader had to lead; they had to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of everyone else. They needed to know what their people were capable of, what they themselves were capable of, and find a way to cover those weaknesses. Gren did not consider himself haughty or arrogant, but he did not know what his weakness was. This was no boast; Gren worried that there was a flaw in his system that he was unaware of. Something he was blind to. So he needed to let the others know more about him so they could see his flaws and imperfections, and help him overcome them. Otherwise at the worse moment, Gren’s strength would fail them when they need it most.

When they get back to Beacon Gren was going to need to do some research. He didn’t care how long it would take: The only way for him to get stronger was to make everyone just as powerful.

As leader Sapphire had to account for everyone, take everyone's abilities under consideration and make sure everyone got out in the best shape they could. At the time she'd thought she'd been looking out for Abel and that is what she'd intended but after the fact it seemed that she'd hurt his pride by not allowing him to do everything in his capability. She needed to pull this team together. They were unraveling quite quickly given that they'd only been a team two weeks. It seemed she was always on a different page from everyone else. Sometimes she wondered if Ozpin had made the right decision in appointing her leader. She wasn't a team player much less a leader. Maybe the headmaster was just a fan of cruel irony. with those thoughts on her mind Sapphire let herself drift off as the Sheriff took them back into town so they could return to Beacon.[/hider]