[Aethon Shaan]

Cyrus nodded with approval as he watched the members of his new team make their way across the river. Nathan and Pyre with more confidence and grace but even the more timid Tina seemed to recover quickly enough from her short flight.

'OK good job guys, shouldn't be much longer now.'

Cyrus called out and after waiting a short while for everyone to bunch up continued leading the way towards the forest. Their surroundings steadily got less dense as the forest seemed to grow younger in age. It may have been centuries ago but these woods had once been cleared and used for farming and roads. The ruins they where seeking had to be close.

As the team went deeper into this newer part of the woods small pieces of evidence of previous habitation appeared; cobblestone covered and revealed a dozen times by the elements and mounds of earth too uniform in appearance to be natural where scattered around the path PCNT took. This combined with the reduction in noise made the whole situation seem earie and every far off bird cry seem even more dangerous. Eventually the team finally came towards an opening behind some of the more well preserved masonry, this was the most likely place the relics lay that the party had seen so far. Eager to be finished with the mission and be back to civilisation Cyrus went to move through to the opening unless he would be stopped by his new team.   

[MonsterManic]

"So these are the ruins..." Tina whispered to herself as she gazed around the remains of the mossy yet structurally intact stone constructions, devoid of civilization and reclaimed by mother Nature. While the others surveyed their surroundings, she knelt and brushed aside some dirt and overgrown foliage to unveil something that caught the corner of her eye. A rusted circular locket, its chain lost to time. Fiddling with the eroded clasp that held the two sides in a vice grip, it eventually yielded to her efforts - revealing a well-preserved portrait of a middle-aged man smiling brightly. Wordlessly, she slipped the trinket into her pocket and stood.

As Cyrus made to step through the opening, she pulsed her Semblance quickly - the long-term use over time had started giving her a dull ache, so she was more sparing with it - but saw nothing out of the ordinary. That being said, the floor plan was like a maze, additionally hindered by fallen rubble and such, which meant a harder time trying to figure out what was a passageway and what was actually a dead end. Looking back at Pyre and that boy she still didn't know the name of, she made a show of drawing both revolvers as a sign of caution before stepping in behind Cyrus.

[nathan67003]

Nathan waited for everyone to pass in front of him and brought up the rear, wordlessly flicking his sight to and fro around him. There wasn't much around, though and as the team moved forward, there came to be even less around - the canopy broke apart and the trees broke away to reveal what could have very probably been a site of archeological significance if it hadn't been slated as a testing grounds for new Beacon students.

There wasn't much to look at here, either - various every day commodities were strewn about in equally varied states of distress, broken wood beams jutted out from collapsed piles of mortarless masonry... Dilapidated, that's the word. But maybe even more than that... disrepair? Yeah, sure, let's go with that. Fits better, anyway.

He took a gander at the occasional passing stone - very cleanly assembled bricks, much more tightly fitted than he would've expected from a random village. Nothing out of the ordinary otherwise, apart from one of his teammates taking what he assumed was a memento of the event. Small shiny thing with a chain was all he could tell. On his end, he found a thick, lush moss carpet draped over what was left of a wall and splayed his hand in it. Very soft. Worth it. He'd be back for that one, mentally taking a note of its location as he filed behind everyone again, the de facto leader striding off into an opening leading to what appeared to be a man-made, underground construct.

After taking a last good scan of the surroundings, he entered and removed his sunglasses, unceremoniously shoving them in his left jeans pocket. Even if he did consider that he had pretty damn good senses for a human, it was nothing compared to a Faunus and unlike them, he'd have difficulty seeing clearly enough to keep pace - or keep watch for that matter. He could light his vicinity himself - Ergia could be made to glow to an extent - but it'd cost him Dust, which was in limited supply. This is what prompted him to ask "Uuh, hey, Pyre, you mind sticking close and being my lantern? I'm not nearly as sharp-sighted as Faunus..."

[Kaliot]

The ruins lit up Pyre's imagination as she thought about how wondrous it might've been in the past and why it was left in such a dire state despite its proximity to Beacon. She lit up her hand, aiding her faunus vision with the pockets of darkness scattered about, as she wandered about looking for the relics, whatever they may be. Pyre's ears perked up at the utterance of her name and she jogged over to Nathan who was standing at the entrance of a dark hallway and asking for her to light the way. Pyre obliged, lit up her other hand, and motioned for Nathan to follow as she led the way down the hall, the walls of which were now tinted a slight purple.

The integrity of the hallway was surprisingly intact, for now at least, and the reverberations of Nathan's steps grew evermore echoey as they went along. Turning a corner, she briefly squinted before waving her hands about and her pace slowed until finally coming to a stop. Pyre held out one palm facing Nathan, signaling "Stop", before taking a couple more steps, leaning over, and saying, "Echo! Echo-echo-echo-echo" She turned back to Nathan, "It's a pit." What was once a stairwell was now basically a couple-story drop, the stairs themselves damaged but still potentially descend-able for anyone wanting to tempt fate.

[Aethon Shaan]

'And I suppose we have no idea where the relics could be, they could be anywhere in this dump.'

Cyrus spoke loudly enough so everyone could hear. The ruins had been revealed to a lot more extensive than he initially realised, this would cause a smarter or at least a more reflective man to consider the various options but Cyrus was neither of those things so continued deeper into the ruins.

'Cozy, hard to imagine what it used to be. Pretty shit acoustics if I'm being honest.'

Cyrus remarked as he entered the underground strumming a few cords on his guitar. While pressing on Cyrus would make an attempt to keep all the members of his team in his eyeline, including looking back to ensure Tina was still following along. The giant tried to give his partner an encouraging smile but the poor lighting and Cyrus social issues made the expression a lot more menacing.

After dropping down the broken staircase Cyrus let out a gout of flame against one of the nearby walls, it splashed harmlessly against the hard rock.

'Err... sorry guys, thought I heard something.'

Cyrus explained as he remained still, listening as well as he could. Water slowly dripping from the earth above and running in small underground rivers where barely audible but every now an then there was something else. A scratching like claw on hard stone or the disturbance of loose rocks but when light was shone on the cause of the disturbance there was nothing there but a cloud of dust.

Pushing on Cyrus strove deeper and deeper into the tunnel but found nothing except another level of annoyance until there was a loud rumble and suddenly all natural light into the cave was blocked. Finally in pure darkness the tell tale red eyes and bone mask of a Grimm could be seen some how encased in rock. Cyrus approached thinking it a decoration of some kind only for a boulder to fly out and smash Cyrus backwards.

The entire cave trembled as the Geist searched out for rocks to build into its body and it grew so large it couldn't stand up straight in the close confines of the cave. That didn't stop it from flinging more boulders at team PCNT. Cyrus recovered quickly and rolled behind cover before the second blow could land.

[MonsterManic]

For the sake of not incapacitating herself with a migraine, Tine refrained from using her radar despite now being about the most important time to use it since she first crash-landed in the forest. The ruins seemed cramped enough that nothing too large could jump out at them without making noticeable noises, but she kept herself behind Cyrus just in case. If nothing else, the giant made a nice big meat shield.

Without her extra sense, she was forced to rely on Pyre's source of ethereal light as she lightly treaded the hallways, her soft footsteps eclipsed out by her teammates' louder clomping. Cyrus kept turning back to glance at the rest of the team - whether to keep count of them like a bear taking care of its cubs or just looking for reassurance - but the flickering purple flame combined with the giant's height often veiled his expression in shadow. Still, it was nice to know he cared instead of simply stomping ahead without a care in the world. Tina briefly considered just taking her scroll out and using it as another makeshift source of lighting, but nearly bumped into Pyre mid-thought.

They'd stopped before a drop into darkness, the purple glow barely illuminating the damaged remnants of the stairway. Wooden handrails along the walls looked mostly intact, but the same couldn't be said for the pillars that made up the structural supports. As the lightest of the group - and the only one without flight - Tina gingerly tested the first few planks with one outstretched leg while their leader dropped straight down. "You might need to give me another lift, Pyre -" She'd barely started whispering before the quaking of rocks drowned out her remaining words and all remaining light was snuffed out, save for Pyre's flaming hand.

From the top of the stairwell, Tina couldn't make out the large figure and wings of their leader. What she could discern made her whimper quietly - a pair of dim, blood-red eyes set in bleached bone amidst a curtain of darkness such that she had no idea what the Grimm they were facing was. The rumbling didn't help matters as to her slightly panicked senses, it felt like the whole structure might collapse on them. Tina pointed both revolvers down at the only visible target, but every working sense she had screamed DUCK! She threw herself backwards as a boulder crashed just below where the remaining members were standing. "So what's the plan, guys?" she shouted over the rumbling and tremors.

[nathan67003]

Nathan quietly followed behind Pyre as she lit the way, trying his hardest to keep an ear out for any out-of-place sounds. Not that it was much help considering all his teammates had better senses than he did by a good margin.

Upon arriving at the pit, he gingerly looked over Pyre's left shoulder as she lit up what she could of the room below. A wide, cylindrical room with a decrepit staircase going around the edge starting where they were standing. Several chunks of stairs were missing and he couldn't even see a quarter of the way down, it'd be hard to imagine that the stairs were even half intact, let alone usable. The leader's burst of flames confirmed his thoughts.

The, er, other girl on his team barely started mentioning that she'd need another lift down when a small red glow appeared in the shadows below and the sound of massive rocks breaking apart filled the cavern. A faint air current on the back of his neck was all he had the time to notice before an enormous boulder came into range of Pyre's light, crashing right below the ledge where three quarters of the team were standing. It thankfully missed but as a precautionary measure, he took a step back.

Putting himself to the left of Pyre in a defensive stance, he answered the feminine voice with no name's question in an equally loud, if lower-pitched, voice: "Depends on everyone's alpha strike capabilities! We either give it a single hit on the mask to take it out, slam its main host apart in a single hit then take it out immediately, or whittle it down by hitting the mask over and over! And whatever we end up choosing, I'm not gonna be a lot of help within that thing's range if I can't see it flailing around!"

[Kaliot]

Considering how it went the first time, Pyre smiled brightly at Tina's request, but that feeling was short-lived as she dropped to the floor, barely dodging a large rock that was tossed their way. Getting back to her feet, Pyre quickly attached her backpack to her weapon while the others devised a plan of action. As soon as Nathan was finished, she leapt off the edge of the stairwell with one of the palms facing back toward Tina and Nathan gesturing "stay".

Pyre momentarily shot her weapon's thrust toward the ground just enough to avoid the shock of landing, switching it off to readjust the direction toward the Geist, and flipping it on again to engulf the monster in flame, blinding it from seeing the team and helping the team see it. Pyre, a bit worried that her stalling tactic might piss off the Geist, turned her head back and yelled out, "Plan!"

[Aethon Shaan]

Pyre's fire was absorbed into the raging storm of debris the Gsist was summoning to itself to form its body. Four limbs; two arm-like and two leg-like pillars with the mask embedded in the top half of the body. Smaller fragments continued to spin around the Grimm's form providing both a protective shield and a method of disrupting attacks. Forced to bend at the waist by the close confines of the cave the Geist spun around with surprising speed and tried to slam it's arms into the Beacon students around it.

Cyrus met the downward slam with both of his blades, a loud thud rang out as aura protected steel clashed with Grimm powered rock. The giant was able to absorb the initial blow channeling his red aura into his limbs to keep them stable but the Grimm just continued to press down and eventually Cyrus had to disengage from the parry.

'The plan? The plan is we kill it before it kills us. Same as it always.

Cyrus responded frustrated and already out of breath. The Faunus had wasted a fair amount of energy in their initial clash and had nothing to show for it. Pulling his wings in tight Cyrus barreled through the Geist's protective screen and spun in a heavy upward swing at one of the Geist's legs triggering a spray of gravity dust to get the creature off balance. In this Cyrus was successful, the leg Cyrus stuck seemed to anchor itself to the roof of the cave but otherwise no damage was done to the Grimm infused rock.

In fact with it's new leverage the Geist was able to rain down a new volley of blows including a kick directed at Cyrus who again went for a parry. Another loud bang sounded through out the sealed cave as Cyrus channeled more of his aura and try to overpower the Geist.

[MonsterManic]

Now that the stairwell was abruptly lit with Pyre's flames, Tina could finally see their adversary - not that it really helped, since in lieu of darkness, the Geist had summoned a storm of stone as cover for its weak point and her target: the bone mask protruding just barely out of the rock that formed the Grimm's body. Shatter that and the Grimm should fall, but how to do so when shielded by so much rubble, even flame wasn't getting through?

She snapped open one revolver cylinder and removed a single loaded bullet, before reaching into the small bag on her waist and gingerly retrieving an identical one save for the brightly colored "DANGER" sign printed in red on the side. Loading that back into the cylinder, Tina started firing with her other revolver down at the Geist, both to further split its attention from the two Hunters down below and also to chip away at the screen of rubble shielding it. Sure, she doubted her regular ammunition was going to get through the storm, but on that same train of thought it was still a bullet smacking a rock. The rock would crack and splinter and eventually, with enough bullets, she'd theoretically thin the storm enough for her other gun to get through.

Theoretically. Probably didn't have enough bullets, realistically. Good thing she wasn't alone. "So uh, you think you can help weaken that shield?" Tina asked Nathan. "If so, I think this might be able to do a good chunk of damage to it." She waved her other revolver in the air.

[nathan67003]

Nathan's vision raked at the walls and ceiling lit by the flickering lights of his teammates' flames. They were all made of what looked like enormous blocks of stone, the ceiling having alternating lines of blocks and beams going from one side of the room to the other. The fact that it apparently hadn't even budged despite the Geist's thrashing meant that it probably wouldn't budge no matter what he did.

Resigning himself, he sighed, let Ergia retract back into its storage form and put it in its harness on his back, all the while answering the girl still besides him. "I can do shit all to that thing at range, my bullets aren't Dust so it'd just fuel its debris shield. I'll throw myself at its face with my jetpack, the speed should get me through and my semblance should be enough to destroy the Geist's real body in one shot."

[Kaliot]

Just kill it? Certainly straight to the point. Luckily Pyre was that kinda gal. A smirk flashed across her face, and it just as quickly faded as she dodged away from the Geist's attack. The party was engulfed in a brief darkness before Pyre continued her seemingly fruitless attack. Clearly not pleased with the outcome, the Geist sent another in her direction. And another, and another, and another, each seemingly more frantic than the last. Pyre did her best to continue lighting up the monster between her maneuvers, but its attacks chipped away at the margin of error of her dodges until finally she was forced to plant her feet and smash away its attack.

Pyre had a brief moment of respite, but that's what it wanted. Taking advantage of her mental lapse, a second attack quickly followed the first and sent Pyre crashing into the far wall of the stairwell. The area was illuminated no more.

[Aethon Shaan]

With a thundering crash the Grimm freed it's leg from the roof of the cave and smashed again into Cyrus. The Peacock Faunus' whole world shook as he only barely managed to get his swords up in time to meet the attack. Again Cyrus channelled his aura into the parry even managing to push the creature back a step before simply being overwhelmed by the Giest's raw strength. The monster was slowing and as Pyre kept raining down bolts of fire Team PCNT saw these attacks where in fact having an effect, the flames burned hot enough to scorch rock which chipped away as the Grimm struck out. The giest started to take from its swirling cloud of debris to keep itself together.

With Nathan and Tina backing off the Grimm focused it's attention of Cyrus and Pyre shooting what's left of it's debris field out towards them before striking out. Cyrus let out a burst of wind dust from his swords this protected him from the first attack but unfortunately blew even more debris towards Pyre. Taking a deep breath Cyrus braced his already flicking aura for another clash, his back against the wall literally there would be no escaping the parry this time.

Come on you bastard do your worst. Cyrus screamed in defiance as the Grimm's attack landed.