『Garnet smiled softly, appreciating that the blonde didn't react negatively like he could have. He accepted the hand offered to him and pulled himself up with a grunt. Once he was back to his feet, he began dusting himself off and straightening out his clothes, a sigh escaping him. He glanced at Lillian. However upon finding her staring, Garnet's face flushed and he quickly cleared his throat before looking away, slightly embarrassed. "You're telling me... I'm just glad I didn't break something." He said, returning his attention to Marten. "I am sorry about that, by the way. My foot slipped and down I went. Are you alright?" He asked. Names. Oh, he knew their names alright. Still, it would be a little strange if they found out he'd been watching them, so he just played it off. "They call me Garnet." He said softly and put his arms up behind his head. His golden gaze would flit over to the torchbearer, Leo, and he nodded in agreement with his earlier statement. "Sounds like a plan. We shouldn't waste anymore time." Garnet said, moving toward the cave.』
Eva sighed as Hirsch complained about being picked up, shaking her head slightly as Lance set the younger boy down. She followed the others to the cave, glancing back as another student dropped in on them, landing on top of the blond young man, Marten. Her nerves were a bit too stretched to explain who everyone was again so she was quite thankful that Lilian explained to their newest member who everyone was, leaving Marten to introduce himself again.
Seeing Hirsch throw a fit over being picked up she hesitated a moment before going to the Faunus boy. "Hirsch, calm down. We need to stay alert. There may be a large Grimm here and if you're too busy being angry at us then you could get hurt." She didn't want him to have trouble integrating into whatever team he ended up joining and she hoped that whoever was his team leader would be able to help him with his anger troubles.
She was honestly a bit wary of Yoru's directions. The Headmaster seemed like he would enjoy seeing them struggling against a strong Grimm, particularly as she knew she at least didn't have much experience in the field. They'd done alright earlier but it would take real organization and teamwork to fight anything like that Karkardrum on their own without the teachers. Yoru might could punch through its defenses but even Marten didn't look like he had that kind of fire power. Still, they had to get to the school and the best direction they had was to go through the cave so through the cave they would go. Joining Leo at the mouth of the cave she gave him a slight nod before stepping inside.
With everyone now in the cave and torches handed out, Leo would look out to the clearing one last time, his eyes growing cold and hard as he steeled himself for what they could possibly face within the cave. Pulling back his hair into his standard combat ponytail, he would draw Umbra once again and make his way towards the head of the group, going over a final list of the people and equipment they had. Looking to Marten as he offered some candies, he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "I'm good big guy. You mind taking point? We don't know if this is another test, so I think it would be best if we be prepared just in case."
He would look to Hirsch and Eva next. "Hirsch, you mind taking rear guard? Eva, keep the center, be ready to deploy and take shots as they open up." Noticing that the path was starting to widen, Leo would sigh softly in relief. "Garnet, Lance, cover Eva, Lilian, stick with Hirsch in the rear guard. I'll take point with Marten. If we keep to this pace, we should be alright." He would conclude calmly as he took his place within the formation. "Sorry about this all, I'm just sticking to what I know best when dealing with the unknown." He would say over his shoulder, keeping his tone light.
Keeping silent after that, he would start to play his music again through his earpiece, keeping a close eye out on his surroundings as he did so. The path was definitely man made, but it was very cleverly disguised to make it look completely natural. Minute details like the stalactites and stalagmites were even crafted to give the area the appropriate atmosphere. After several minutes of walking, he would sheath Umbra, confidant that there wouldn't be any grim around. "Looks like we'll be fine after all. This path has been well maintained." He would state to try and calm the others, in case if they were still anxious about the situation. After another half hour of walking, he would see the end of the path. Jogging ahead of the others, Leo would inspect the wall of the tunnel, pressing his hands against the surface lightly to feel for any irregularities. After a few moments, he would find the hidden dial for the wall, turning it to activate the mechanism within.
The wall would sink into the ground slowly to reveal a set of stairs leading upwards. Following the path, Leo would reach the hatch door and shove hard against it, opening it slowly with a groan. The door was hidden behind a bunch of bushes within the academy's courtyard, perhaps designed for an emergency escape. Looking back to the others, he would give them a nod and step into the courtyard. "Welcome to Beacon everyone... Time for us to show what we got..."
OOC: From here, posts should be put into the Assembly hall topic for Beacon Academy. We did it all, we're now finally getting into the story. ^^
