Marrow kept his assault rifle leveled ahead of himself as he stalked down the darkened tunnel beneath the mountain. The tactical flashlight hanging just beneath the barrel of his gun served to illuminate the path ahead, and the faunus kept it almost perfectly level as he swept the light slowly around the rocky walls. The faint sound of dripping water and the gentle crunch of footsteps upon pebbles were the only noises in the area, until Jaune suddenly cleared his throat.

"So… uh, not for nothing, but can't you see in the dark…?"

"The light is not for him," Corsac answered from the rear of the procession, facing back the way they came. In his right hand was a long staff, a golden triple pointed sai affixed to either end. "Additionally, while Marrow and I can see adequately in the dark, we cannot see in great detail. Much gets lost in translation, so to speak…"

"Yeah," Marrow agreed. "And I'd rather take every precaution we can, even if we're on the 'easy' path. These tunnels have been abandoned for quite some time, now. I'd rather not be taken by surprise by some new species of grimm, or accidentally trigger a volatile raw dust crystal. Tread lightly and stay focused. We have a good team for this."

"…about that," Jaune replied as he rolled his sword arm. "I understand the team headed down the red tunnel with Clover, but don't the other two teams seem a little… odd?"

"…how so?" Corsac asked, his voice ever calm.

"Well… you know," Jaune said awkwardly, the sun-bleached field of dead grass that was his hair shifting slightly as he walked. "Three dudes… three women. We have two faunus capable of seeing in the dark… but the orange team has none. Seems like it would've been smarter to give one faunus to each team, doesn't it?"

Jaune almost ran into Marrow as the older man stopped abruptly, his usually expressive tail falling limp.

"…that's… probably my fault, now that you mention it. Damn…"

Corsac planted his staff into the ground, the tines of the lower sai clinking against the rocky floor as he stood sentinel within the tunnel.

"How so?"

Marrow relaxed his stance ever so slightly and leaned against the tunnel wall, though he kept his eyes on the dark path ahead.

"Well… it's no secret that Weiss and I have been spending a lot of time together…"

Jaune and Corsac exchanged a confused look, before both men turned their eyes to Marrow.

"…have you not been spending quite a bit of time with everyone else on this team, as well?" Corsac asked, his curiosity and confusion evident in his tone.

"Not to the same extent," Marrow admitted. "I've just been enjoying her company a lot, lately. She's an interesting young woman… driven, empathetic, eager to help out… and we get along really well. I'm definitely closest to her, so far. Clover's probably worried that putting her and I together could distract us both…"

Something clicked in Jaune's brain, and his eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"…oh! Are you two dating?"

Marrow's eyes widened as well, and he became incredibly thankful that Jaune was totally incapable of detecting colors in the dark- particularly a twinge of deep red upon the dark skin of his cheeks.

"What? No! We couldn't…" Marrow stumbled over his words, particularly beneath Corsac's inquisitive stare. "We're not… neither of us is looking, as far as I know, and besides… she's… way younger than I am! And we have a lot to do! We can't get caught up in something like that!"

"…is Clover not in a relationship with Lieutenant Winter?" Corsac asked as he tilted his head. "If your leader can find time for such things, then surely, so can you. You're already spending 'quite a bit of time with her', in your own words. It seems a logical next step."

"How do you…?" Marrow began, only to shake his head. "That's different. For… for reasons!"

"Reasons?" Jaune asked with a smug smirk. "Come on, Marrow. You're not that old. Aren't you the youngest Ace?"

"I'm 26," Marrow confirmed as he began to walk down the tunnel, though whether he wanted to advance the mission or escape his colleagues was somewhat unclear. "And… yes, but still! We have a job to be doing for General Ironwood, Atlas, and Mantle!"

"…all things considered, I do not think you're to blame for the team compositions," Corsac offered as he started walking backward once again. "There's another reason for our current formation."

"Is there?" Marrow asked, his shoulders tense as he swept his flashlight across the area ahead once again.

"Indeed," Corsac confirmed. "Clover could easily have traded myself or Jaune for Yang, and balanced both the faunus teammates and sexes in one move, while still keeping you away from Weiss. Clearly, our current composition is not driven by the desire to keep you apart. Perhaps that means Clover sees no problem with you growing closer to Weiss in a romantic sense."

Jaune snorted with laughter, before looking back to find Corsac wearing a rare smirk.

"It isn't like that!" Marrow insisted, his face and neck growing hot. He reached up and loosened his scarf ever so slightly, though he remained focused on the tunnel ahead. "Weiss and I… come on, guys! Focus!"

"Weiss is 19, almost 20," Jaune added, his grin growing wider. "You're both adults, and come to think of it… you two do seem happy when you're together. Weiss didn't really smile much since Haven until she met you. That counts for a lot, given how long I've known her."

Marrow said nothing for a long while as the men meandered around the descending turns within the tunnel. The other two were more than happy to wait until he finally began to speak again, his voice a bit hesitant.

"…I'll… keep all that in mind, then. Clover did ask whether or not there was something going on between us, but he didn't seem particularly upset by the idea. I don't know. It's not important, right now…"

"Whatever happens, I've got your back," Jaune reassured as he patted Marrow upon the shoulder. "Weiss is great. Both of you deserve to be happy, so if there's something there, don't fight it. And… definitely don't wait too long, thinking it isn't the right time for it. I did that, and… I regret it."

"…hm," Corsac added thoughtfully. "Jaune gives sound advice. I would recommend you take it."

"…yeah," Marrow considered. "Yeah, maybe. I dunno. I'll think about it after we're out of the mines. Keep your heads in the game, for now."

"Yes, Sir!" Jaune quipped as they emerged into a wider tunnel. A mine cart track extended far into the darkness beneath their feet, and the sound of dripping water grew louder.

"Let us proceed," Corsac suggested. "We should spread out. Cover the breadth of the tunnel."

"Agreed," Marrow replied. "Here we go…"

As the trio set out with their guards up, none of them noticed the subtle motion of a security camera turning to follow their movements from its place upon the ceiling behind them.

"How are you holding up?"

Ilia snapped her head to the side to see Sun looking down at her in the semidarkness. Though all members of the party had their scrolls on and affixed to their chests to illuminate the way forward at Clovers request, something about Sun's usually reassuring features was lost in the darkness. The tension of the situation and Ilia's own heightened state of panic caused the shadowed parts of his face to strike her as looking almost like a naked skull, and her breathing quickened as she tore her gaze away from him.

"…I'm…" Ilia hesitated, gripping the hilt of her weapon more tightly. "…forcing myself to keep walking. I'm trying. I'm really trying, Sun."

"I know," Sun acknowledged as he continued forward. "I'm proud of you… and I'm sorry."

"We all are," Clover added while looking over his shoulder from the front of the line. "Both parts, Ilia. I'll talk to General Ironwood when we get back and ask him to put you on leave for a few days."

Ilia briefly considered the notion of protesting, but swallowed her pride with a sigh.

"…thanks. I'm gonna need it. It… smells like death down here."

"You're not wrong," Elm agreed from behind the much smaller girl. "Try not to think about it, hard as it may be…"

"It's all I can think about," Ilia admitted as she shook her head. At the sight of Clover stopping up ahead, she brought her arms in to wrap around herself in a defensive posture. "Now what?"

"Dead end," Clover replied as he unlatched his scroll from his vest and held it aloft. "We're not getting through there…"

Ilia followed the beam of light from Clover's scroll as he swept it around the tunnel. Just ahead, a collection of fallen rocks from an obvious cave-in blocked the only way forward. A depression in the ground just before the pile of boulders was filled with ankle-high water, from which the stench of decay seemed to emanate like a lingering haze.

"Well?" Elm began as she stepped forward. "What options do we have? I can bust through, but the noise will probably draw grimm…"

"…hold that thought," Ilia offered as she sucked in a deep breath. "If water's seeping in from under the rocks, that means there's at least a small hole that I could get through with my semblance. I could scout ahead, see what there is to see? Maybe look for structural weaknesses? Infiltration is kinda my thing…"

"Ilia, are you sure?" Sun asked hesitantly. "That's a huge risk, and if there's something back there, we won't be able to reach you without making a lot of noise."

"Yeah, yeah," Ilia said with a roll of her eyes. "I know. I'll be fine."

"So long as you're sure," Clover agreed. "We can't afford for something to go wrong, especially while separated and at a dead end. If you see something concerning, come back immediately."

"Thanks. I will," the faunus replied before stepping forward past Clover and turning off her scroll.

As her boot touched the water, the liquid seemed to slowly snake its way up and around her body in tendrils, until all that was left standing was a watery silhouette of a rather short girl. Without so much as another word, the transparent mass sank down and flattened into the surface of the puddle. A sudden, unnatural ripple seemed to suck the majority of the water beneath the fallen boulders and to the other side as Ilia forced her new body through the tiny passage under the rocks.

Everything around her was steeped in pitch black to the point where she couldn't see a thing, regardless of her natural night vision capabilities. After flowing along for several seconds, her head breached the puddle on the opposite side and slowly morphed back to flesh as she planted her hands down and into the smooth, slippery stone of the floor of the cave.

"…I'm through!" Ilia called backward, before awaiting a response.

"See anything!?" Sun called back, his worried voice barely audible from the other side of the mass of haphazardly strewn rock.

"Gimme a minute!" Ilia replied as she stood up, her body returning to its normal flesh. "There's definitely something back here! Some kind of chamber!"

Ilia failed to make out the reply as she walked forward into the darkness. The roof of the tunnel lifted upward and the space widened into a massive natural cavern just ahead of her. An odd, bulbous arrangement of shapes interspersed with unusually pointed sections caught her attention within the darkness, though she couldn't discern exactly what she was seeing. Slowly, she pulled her scroll from the bracket upon her chest and lit the device, before beginning to sweep it around the area to take in the sights.

To her left, another tunnel extended diagonally upward into total darkness. Just beside the mouth of the circular opening was another pile of large rocks, which had glittering crystals of dust embedded within them. Ilia perked up ever so slightly at the sight, before sweeping her scroll along the far wall to find that the entire back half of the cavern was a natural dust deposit. Crystals of all colors lit up the room like a string of lights, glittering merrily. Just as she moved the scroll downward to inspect the floor leading up to the wall, Ilia froze.

There in the center of the chamber was a heap of boulders, the floor around it stained a dark, unnatural color. Jutting out from beneath one of the rocks was the crushed, skeletal remains of a humanoid hand with tattered, bloodstained clothing still clinging to the attached forearm.

Author's Note:

Two more parts to the mines. Maybe three. We'll see what happens.

-RD