Brady Vargus, Rachael Lorelei, Balthazar, Fei Xian Zi

As they floated on down the way, Ba'al dedicated more of his attention to aiding in their propulsion as well as keeping an eye on the path ahead than maintaining the raft. His maintenance of the raft was largely obssessive, ensuring that it was stable rather than actually stabilizing it. Never know when something else was going to feel froggish and try to unseat the pair and their mobile iceberg. This, of course, allowed the charge of ice in the opened, golden blade to grow ever more.

As they proceeded, it became apparent that a fog was rolling in over the water. ...Well, that they were rolling in on the fog, at least. That wasn't good. Fog meant limited sight. However, in these significantly more cramped quarters, fog was easy enough to deal with. In fact, his sword ought to be dealing with the fog that they were boating through right at that very moment. The intense cold of the ice dust would force the moisture in the air to condense, which would then either precipitate down to the water-- or ice-raft--, or collect on the mounting ice of the blade. To fire blasts of ice dust into the mist would clear it out quite nicely.

Unfortunately, that would mean expending ever more Ice dust. Mayhap two ice crystals would be prudent. At least if he was going to head into an environ such as this.... '****in' bastards... damn this ****ehole and every last idiocratic greaser stain that thought this ****e was a good idea.'

His anger cropped up again in a set and tightened jaw before he allowed his ire to drain and his attentions to return fully to the mounting unpleasantness before them. As they closed in on that noise, Ba'al raised his sword directly forward as he spotted two armed, distinctly humanoid figures standing in the mist. His form beginning to vaguely suffuse with a glow of pale gold that would be obvious only to Fei as the others standing over there would see only the glow of the torch behind him.


"So. We meet at feckin' last." The echo his accented voice would otherwise have was unsurprisingly muted by the blanket of fog. As his sword continued to charge and the one structure of ice grew closer to the other, the ambient temperature of this part of the tunnels would drop all that much more. Hopefully it would reach it's dew point soon enough. Then, though cold, they would be able to progress without dealing with the inability to see clearly.

After a few moment's, Ba'al would lower Sicarius down to his side and get as good a look over the pair as he could. One gunner, who spoke, apparently excited to see other students. One swordsman. ...Woman. She had some kind of gauntlet, too. And... dog ears? While the red-head couldn't discern the exact species, it was clear that one of them was a Faunus. "Well, get on yeh pricks." He called to the other pair, referring to the literal ice-raft that they would sooner or later be able to see through the water vapor as it meandered through the water. "We've got tunnels to vacate, **** to kill, and rat bastards to skewer."

Hostile!? I'LL SHOW YOU HOSTILE!

...Wait, no. Wrong movie.

Funny part is, that was friendly. Especially for Balthazar. Here he was, inviting these complete strangers out for a-- albeit potentially short-- ride on a nice little boat, and gunnerboy here just goes ahead and says **** that. Talk about rude. Hell, the other one didn't even have the courtesy to face them! She just closed her eyes and turned away. Sheesh! Some people. Honestly.


...Yeah, anyway.

Ba'al raised an eyebrow at the words of the gray haired shooter. By now, he could likewise see what it was THEY were standing on. A platform likewise made of ice. Only theirs seemed to trail back down the other tunnel. A bridge? Did they use that the entire time? What a horrendously munition-inefficient method. For certain you might be able to walk along that thing faster, but the sheer quantities of dust they must have had to use to do it. Balthazar addressed this point. "Aye, but then you wouldn't have had to waste even more ammo makin' that ****e, would ya?" He motioned with the katana with the ever building mass of ice around it toward the bridge of like element. "Think, boyo, think." For certain, one final blast to complete the distance wasn't much more than what they could have possibly already used just getting to this point, but one single shot could just as easily define the difference between life and death.

"And that most certainly isn't the only way t'go, lad." A matter of fact tone as he pressed his left hand along the ceiling, guiding the raft toward the landscape shifting tunnel and ice bridge. "There were no less than three other ****in' paths back there." He thumbed over his shoulder, almost wishing he'd taken one of them, instead. That first left was looking mighty appealing right about now. A thought, then. ...Well, a stream of them. Yes, another one. Did those other paths lead to other people? If they did, were they now wandering about, hopelessly looking for the exit, and instead stumbling upon an abandoned set of clothes on the floor of a cavern? If they didn't, then that would have to mean that the pairs... at least these two, would have to have been specifically placed by those who threw them down here. That was even LESS of a random occurence. What kind of scam were these Beacon assholes running?

...We'll stop there. He goes on like that for a while.

Once the raft was sidled up nicely along the bridge, Ba'al turned to the... well, unsurprisingly quiet Fei. Her behavior was strange, but that was an entirely new twisting maze of thoughts the likes of which only the semi-sociopathic swordsman could follow. Just not going there. With his left hand, he motioned for her to get off the raft. So as to avoid a tip over at the absolute last second, Ba'al would wait for her to move before stepping off himself.

And yes, he did, in fact, ignore their names as presented. Names weren't important. His name wasn't important, his partner's name wasn't important, these new shmuck's names weren't important. Ba'al wouldn't even know Fei's if he hadn't entered a phase of bored curiosity... oh, fifteen minutes ago or so.

Ba'al stepped off the raft at exactly the same time that Fei did. Which had been the point. Keep the balance of the structure while they disembarked. Glancing at his partner, he raised an eyebrow as she rid her weapon of the torch that had encumbered it. He quite understood her desire to no longer be using her weapon in that fashion as it would be unready when something inevitably jumped out at them, but he also questioned whether ridding the group of a light source was wise. Didn't bother voicing the concern, however. Partly because there were other sources of light available if need be. But mostly because his head had slowly turned to the other direction.

Dome tilted to the side in an exaggerated manner, he stared at the dog-girl-- at least he thought that's what she was....-- with a dumfounded, 'are you retarded?' expression stretched clear across his face. Given? What? Some of his exhasperation directed at this... Rachael, was it? was abated as the gunner spoke up once again. As Ba'al walked after them, taking long, slow strides up the slight incline in the tunnel floor, he responded. "I was morely talkin' 'bout that last, pointless shot." The boat was right there for the capitalization. "How much dust d'ya have left, lad? Unless there's a crystal in that hammer o'yours," a play on the scalpel comment, "every last ****in' shot counts, does it not?" Regardless of their opinion of him, Ba'al's tone wasn't hostile. Sarcastic? Half the time. Rude? Yes. Argumentative? Most definitely. But nothing in him or about him said he was going to haul off on the pair. ...Well, maybe smack the mutt upside the head for being an idiot.... That said, despite what he could guarantee was an ability to move faster than either of them, Ba'al stayed behind the two new arrivals. Let them get attacked first, he figured. Just as long as they got out of the way when something large and satisfying to evicerate came along.

"That's not the point, son. Nor is it the only way we," refering to himself and Fei, though he didn't specify, "haven't gone. This could be dead backwards for all the **** of what we know.  Certainly, head down this one first but, ignorin' the other paths would be bleedin' stupid. Exit could've stared us in the gob but for a sign pointin' to it." At this point, Balthazar was arguing just to argue. Not that he was even bothering to explore every path of bicker that his mind could muster. Brady's one foolish move there was done and irreversible, and their path, for now, was decided regardless of... what, four roads he himself didn't choose? Who knows what paths they had ignored on the way down?

For the most part, the violent Hunter was alleviating his own boredom at the expense of these... team mates. Oh, sure, there could have been more constructive ways to do it. Like gleaning information on the two of them. Or perhaps even Fei. Their capabilities, for instance. That would allow him to quickly formulate a plan in a combat situation and bark out orders. Then again, he didn't really care. He was perfectly capable of dealing with whatever they ran into down here on his own.

Simply put, Balthazar Raghnall Kael didn't need them. He most assuredly didn't their names. Once again, he purposely ignored Brady's indirect request for their names.

The flabbergasted expression returned in diminished capacity. This time directed at the gunner. His left hand, open palmed moved back, indicating the area they'd just left. "Boat." With a distinctly 'what the **** are you on about?' tone in response to the comment about not wanting to get wet. He'd told them to get on the damned thing, had he not? "Still not the only way to go," same tone, "and there needn't be an end to be the completely wrong feckin way." Ba'al just shook his head, honestly dumfounded. Did the shaggy kid think at all? He said he did. Was he lying? Or was his capacity for reason and logic so horrifically limited, he couldn't even comprehend his own inanity?

When Brady held up the mostly empty, relatively small bottle of powdered dust and commented on... probably having enough munitions to deal with whatever was in their way on the way out? ... Welp. That settled it. The gunner was an idiot and didn't even realize it. 'What cluster**** of stupid did I just land meself in?' Balthazar scoffed audibly. "'Probably'? Lad if ****ing 'probably' is good enough for you, yer gonna be lickin' the ****e off'a death's ****in' boots before long." His head was actually hurting from that one. A small shake to his head persisted for several seconds as the swordsman failed an attempted to reset the computer, and hopefully purge what he had just heard from the harddrive.

Ba'al continued to try to let it go as the final topic of discussion arose: Battle plans. That most certainly was something he could use to bleach his brain. Combat was something he could think on all day, all night, and all rest-of-the-week straight on until he entered once more into the breech. In this situation, however, the plan was quite simple indeed, and went as thus: "The combat strategy, boyo, is you ****ers sit back whilst I kill what need be killed." His tone had taken on a more serious and direct quality as his green eyes stared across the small distance, directly into Brady's. He wasn't kidding. "And if anything happens to make it past me, you let her handle it." His left, blue-glove-covered hand went into action as he thumbed over his shoulder, pointing to Fei. Awful lot of confidence he was placing in his partner. Or was he just screwing with the other two? Bit of both, probably.

Still, he'd much sooner trust the guard of his back to the shortest member of the party and her spear than either of the two middling ones.

By now, the ice charge within Sicarius' open blade was reaching ridiculous levels. It had been at least three minutes since he'd started charging it. Whatever poor pathetic organism going to catch this shot in the face was going to be blasted directly into the next ice age. ...At this rate, that might just be one of the two students in front of him. He'd rather slam the mounting ice dust into a Grimm or six, but **** happens.

So he didn't keep up the fight on the notion of direction, eh? Oh well. One topic of argument down. While he could probably perpetually come up with new points to argue in a given topic, simply out of the depths that his brain sometimes goes to in discovering new options in any given situation, Ba'al hardly expected there to ever be someone possessed simultaneously of the wit and willpower to keep up. One or the other was a periodic occurence, but both? Never. Shame, really. Arguing was such a simple, useful passtime.

Balthazar chuckled lightly when Brady dismissed the notion that his preparatory attitude would get him killed one day. "You say so, lad." That, strangely enough, was one even Ba'al didn't want to touch. The dust itself was irrelevant. It was the notion that the gunner would probably have enough to make it out of here. That probably was good enough. Balthazar knew what he could do, and provided he'd recently replaced the dust crystals, he knew he'd have munition to get himself out of basically any jam. And if that wasn't enough, his capacity to kill what was in his way wasn't limited by munition supply. If this guy couldn't even comprehend that 'probably' just wasn't good enough, then that was one argument that wasn't worth pursuing, even for the sake of argument.

When Brady went off on a small tangent, however, Ba'al remained silent. The tall hunter let the kid finish. As they approached the next branch of choice, Ba'al's long strides carried him directly into the center of the perpendicular section, his back to the open tunnel of the 'right' option. Left hand slipping into his pocket, Ba'al's stance was lazy and relaxed but for his right arm holding the ice dust encased blade away from his leg. He knew what he was doing. Truth told, he hoped something attacked them at this point. Or at least after he, himself had said what he now had to say. Then he'd be able prove what he was about say as the gunman finished. "The simple fact of the matter is: I don't need you." His piercing green eyes glanced over to the faunus girl. "Either of you."

'Any of you.' Was the one part of that thought he neglected to share. He actually found Fei's company agreeable, and had since... about ten minutes after he'd woken up. So he felt no reason to tack that bit on. "I've been a Hunter for no bleedin' less than six years. If the either o'you are even half as inexperienced as you appear, then I'm twice tha ****en' fighter of the both o'yeh combined." His expression was plain, and there was no deception in demeanor or voice, which was kept in an even, factual tone with only Balthazar's natural general gruffness coloring it into what might sound like aggression.

"Your usefulness, or lack thereof, alone or with eachother is irrelevant. You and yer motivations are useless to me." His sword was raised and motioned in the general direction of his chest, the waves of chill air pouring off of it forcing goosebumps to raise on his scarred flesh beneath his shirt. "Barring any ability yeh may have to follow the damned orders I give ya, you'll more than likely only get in me way. So, your best to make it through the next four years unscathed, as yeh say, is to sit back, let someone who's been in ****e such as this before evicerate whatever is in the way, and watch yer own arse." The mounting ice obscuring the gilt blade was then waved in Brady's direction as Balthazar used the tip of his sword as a pointer.

"If you want to exchange statistical pleasantries, lad, that's all well and good, but I suggest we at least do it on the ****in' move." The katana in his right hand once again played the role of indicator as he swept it off to his right, indicating the way forward. At this point, he didn't really care which way they went. Neither of them looked appealing.

It was something of a surprise when the dog girl took up the argument that the gunner was apparently putting down. Didn't matter much to Balthazar, though. Someone to argue with was someone to argue with. This one was even getting amusing. Here she was seemingly trying to compare herself to him. How quaint. Still, it was fuel to the fire that Ba'al welcomed. "Oh," he chuckled as she stormed past him, "So you must be the half, then." Referring to his comment about their inexperience and general demeanors. Which would make Brady the full, but he didn't bother saying that. It was implied.

"Aye, useless. Having no use. In this case, having no use for." He defined and emphasized. "If yeh'd pay attention you'd comprehend, ye daft bint." As he said. He had no use for them. "Your capabilities and presumed experience are meaningless." That, however, was when Fei interrupted, halting Ba'al in his verbal tracks as he looked on at his partner when she walked in between he and the gunman. Her interject would have been an interesting turn of events if she hadn't implied what she did. That he somehow needed protection at the hands of Brady, or that he would bother protecting someone he quite well viewed as expendable.

It was the gunner comment that really got him however. Gunners, specifically. There was only one obvious gunman here. "Lass, what the **** are you on about? She's a sword and a bracer." His argument directed at Rachael seemingly forgotten in that moment as he spun around to look on after Fei as she walked off. He had seen her smile before. It had no effect on him or his speech one way or the other.

Then, of course, said gunner walked past him as well. Well, then.... Tossing his hands up in minor exhasperation he headed back down the tunnel a short ways and slashed one diagonal mark into the corner just before the turn. He didn't like using his sword for this while charging dust as it both wasted a small amount of that which he had charged and risked compromising the structure of the wall, but he had little choice. What choice he did have was to amend his system and only make one grating, echoing slash into each side of the corner. The ice he left behind would remain there for some time, but he'd know which way they went.

Once that was done, his head swiveled around and stared down the 'straight' option. For several moments he considered walking off and leaving them to their own devices. He didn't need them. And they could be heading the wrong way for all they knew. Innumerable threads of thought later, he settled on two things. One: he'd already made his mark indicating the path they'd chosen, and so left his own path improperly and or confusingly marked. Two: he wasn't quite prepared to abandon Fei. If she threw her lot in with them when push came to shove, he would most likely be compelled to sever what minute ties he felt with her and return to his solitude.

However, this was not that time.

Quickening his pace to a fast, long strided walk, Balthazar quickly caught up to Brady... and walked right past him.