ETF Drabble

(Cannon)

Swimming with the Fishes

William was in History with Oobleck when his scroll buzzed, Leo's cheeky grin appearing. He pursed his lips flipping the phone upside-down beside him, picking his pen up as another paragraph and a half appeared on the whiteboard.

William wasn't sure what was in that thermos, but he was fairly sure it wasn't coffee. If it was, there was enough caffeine in it to give a Behemoth a heart attack.

His scroll buzzed again and he snarled, picking it up. A text. Pool. Now. Sandra.

William's mind kicked into overdrive, nearly matching the speed of Oobleck's feet as it churned through the possibilities before landing on one. Siren's were water-based Grimm. And she was in the pool.

William tore out of his seat, spilling his bag, his chair and his notes to the floor as he ran out of the room. He didn't have Moonlight Sonata on him, but his Aura Blades were in their wrist holsters. That would have to do.

The hallway was crowded, but William shoved through them. "Out of the way!" He roared. "Move!"

He wheeled around the corner, flinging himself against the wall to avoid a group, then pushing off and running full tilt down it, slamming the door open with his shoulder.

The pool was on the other side of campus, which gave him time to call Leo. It rang twice before picked up.

"Talk." William forced the word out out breathless lungs as he ran.

"She's in the pool with two others, eyes are red, scales on her arms, she's got them in the middle of the pool and she's circling. Glynda is coming down now to handle it, the teacher evacuated everyone else. I can shock the pool but I don't know if I'll hurt her or anyone else!"

"Wiring." William muttered, the gate to the pool in sight. "I'll rig."

"You?"

"Yes."

He could see the situation now. The class crowded around the fence, Leo standing anxiously at the edge. The teacher was on the lifeguard tower, overseeing the waters. William couldn't see in from the angle, but he knew Sandra must be circling.

Leo saw him, running to the fence and shoving back those that had crowded to the edge. "Make a hole!" He yelled. "William!"

William nodded, never breaking stride as he jumped. He cleared the distance to the fence, landing on the edge as his Aura uncoiled, turning into a thick wire and coiling in his open palm. Leo was ready, expecting or just reacting to it as he reached up.

A hand slap, a wire exchanged, and William leapt off the fence, diving into the pool and straight into Sandra's domain.

The attack was instantaneous. A sharp burn across his leg as claws slashed down, pulling him back up to the surface for an instant before plunging him to the depths of the pool.

The bubbles cleared, and William saw her. Red eyes, pale blue scales across the skin that wasn't covered in a modest one piece swimsuit. Black fingernails. Her gills flared, jaw tight.

William flexed, his Aura manifesting as coils of wire wrapped around his wrists and flicked out at his command. He hand nothing to anchor them with except his own body, but that was a risk he was willing to make.

Before Sandra could slip away he had a dozen wires lashing her hand to his calf, wrapping it painfully tight and keeping her from pulling away. And her reaction was just as painful, talons burrowing into his leg, hot burning pain flaring up his leg, a burst of red in the water.

Before he could restrain her anymore, she was pulling him along the bottom of the pool, inhumanly fast. His free foot skimmed the bottom, sole slipping as he struggled and failed to find any purchase against Sandra.

Then she stopped, whipping him around. For just a moment he could focus, recognizing the intelligence in her red eyes, and the dark grin. Then his head smashed against the wall and his world was spinning, his ears ringing as the thud echoed through the water.

Shocks. Leo needed to-

William wasn't sure what caused it. He wasn't really sure if Leo took the thud as a signal or not. But he knew there was fire in his veins and his vision flickered white.

Sandra's grip slacked, then went completely limp. Together, bound by William's barley conscious mind holding his wires together, then hit the bottom of the pool. He had the conscious of mind to slightly retract the wire connecting him to Leo, but that was as far as his consciousness extended.

His body felt tingly; numb in places he wasn't fully aware of before. His legs weren't responding, but his arms were, so he wrapped one tightly around Sandra's limp form, coiling additional wires around him, until they were bound together.

His lungs burned, and vaguely William realized he'd been underwater for over a minute, and whatever air he had likely burst from his lips when he'd gotten shocked. He didn't have the strength to pull them.

Hell. He likely didn't have the strength pull himself up.

The wire connecting to Leo snapped tight, pulling him and Sandra a foot before settling. Then a moment later it snapped tight, and they rose with a jerk, bursting from the water.

Glynda.

There rest of that thought vanished as William's stomach heaved and he was zipped to the side and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He rolled twice, stopping on his side just as pool water and his own lunch spilled out of his lips and onto the concrete.

He groaned, still aware of Sandra on his back, who hadn't responded at all since the shock. He released his semblance, trying to collect his thoughts as he closed his eyes.

Someone pulled him to the side, and another person got Sandra. William pressed a hand to his head, sitting up and pulling away from the helping hands.

"Wh-"

"Breath." Not Leo's voice. Not Glynda's. Swimming coach. William didn't have the name.

"Sandra."

"Glynda and your team mate have her."

William cracked his eyes open, his stomach was still doing flips, and his calf burned, but Glynda needed to be addressed. He grunted, wedging his feet under him as he pushed up. His calf flared, but felt steady, so Sandra hadn't sliced any muscles, but he could still feel blood spilling out of it.

"Hey, you need to-"

"Sandra first." William snarled, pulling away and limping to three feet over to Sandra's side. He dropped down, catching himself on Leo's shoulder and joining him crouched over her.

"Mr. Lance."

"Not now witch." William snarled, turned to glare at her.

Glynda crossed her arms, looking unperturbed by his state, or even the blood spilling onto the concrete. Instead, she addressed him crisply. "If Miss Carmine remains a threat-" Her riding crop rose slightly.

The Aura Blade slipped into William's hand, buzzing to life as it grew to the length of a butcher's knife. "Try it."

Glynda paused, offput by the reaction.

The situation disfused however when William heard coughing. He whipped around, anger forgotten as Sandra sat up, hands around her throat as she coughed up water.

"Easy-easy." Leo muttered, one hand on her back, the other over her left hand, the nails still black, but significantly shorter now.

"I-" Sandra winced, pressing her right hand, the claws longer on that hand, "mmm." She groaned, furrowing her brow. "What did-"

"Not important." William replied, his voice coming out raw and raspy. He winced, but met her gaze when she looked at him. Her gaze trailed down his figure, landing on his leg and the blood spilling to the concrete.

"O-" She started to draw her hand to her face, but Leo caught it, stopping her before she hurt herself.

"Easy." He assured her.

"I'll be fine." William assured her.

"Mr. Lance. We need to talk." Glynda reminded him, and he heard the snap of her riding crop as if to punctuate that statement.

"Take her to the infirmary." William muttered. "Get them to check her blood, sedative. Get her her medicine." He instructed Leo.

"On it." Leo bent down, scooping Sandra up and hoisting her up as if she weighted nothing. He glanced at Glynda, then back at William.

"Mr. Zaff-"

"Go." William cut Glynda off. "She needs attention for the shock, and the shift." He turned slightly, "Much more than she needs to be evaluated."

Sandra groaned. "I shifted." She muttered. "The pool."

"It's fine." William said.

Glynda huffed, then jerked her head at Leo, waving him by. Then the riding crop whipped towards William's head. "You realize what this means don't you?"

"That she had a relapse due to a sudden environmental shift which resulted in a sudden shift she was unprepared to fight off." William replied, grimacing as his leg throbbed. He shifted his weight, meeting Glynda's gaze with a defiant one of his own. "She's not a danger to anyone."

"Your leg begs to differ."

William pursed his lips, then brought his arms up, Aura Blade still in hand. He pressed the blade to his palm, cupping it against the skin as he kept his eyes on Glynda. The blade cut cleanly into his skin, biting sharply, more sharply than Moonlight Sonata as he recalled. Blood oozed around the blade as he stared at her.

"Oh." He muttered softly. "Look at that." He drew away the blade. "Looks like I hurt myself." He smiled at her. "Sometimes happens when you have a semblance like mine."

He could see the irritation ratchet up, tension building in her shoulders as she squared them. "If you want to dismiss this incident then you're a fool! What if her shift happens again! What if your little stunt didn't work? Then you would be dead, and we would have had a body and her to clean up! You cannot expect to not treat her as a threat when she so clearly is." Glynda hissed, thrusting her crop at him.

William snagged it, wrapping his bloody palm around it and looping his thumb through the leather throng at the end. "The moment you act against her. The moment you dismiss her, hurt her, or otherwise," his grip tightened, knuckles going white, "she will be the least of your worries. Of that. I can assure you." The riding crop snapped in his hand, wood breaking off in a jagged point.

For a moment Glynda wore a stunned expression, then it morphed into pure rage. "Detention." She snarled the word like it was a threat.

"Fine." William snapped, dropping the tip of her crop. He limped around her, heading to the gate. "Sandra Carmine is not a threat." He glanced back at her. "And if you dare to call her one again…" He trailed off, leaving Glynda with one last glare before he limped away to the infirmary.

Alright. So. I've had this idea for a while, of Sandra having a relapse of sort. And I really really like it. I think it's a pretty reasonable expectation. As a reminder. These shorts are cannon, but they are not chronological with the rest of the story.

Also, on the subject of electrocution. I am aware that several things have been… unrealistic. However, I'm waiving these with the reasoning being: Leo's voltages and amperes of his semblance aren't rated-nor with they be-, meaning he could easily exceed safe currents, William's Aura wire acts as an insolated wire, or at least a path of preference for electricity, which prevents dispersion through the water (keeping the shock strong), a Grim Siren is highly vulnerable to shocks of varying calibers, and that due to Sandra, and the pool, whatever shock William and Sandra received, while severe, was not deadly due to sharing the experience, as well as immediate dispersal through the rest of the pool, which can effectively nullify shocks of that assumed magnitude.

In other words. I did it. Deal with it.

Shadowed Sword signing off!