Church's Summer

First Mission Part 2: Descent

A rasping cough racked through Church's body as he knocked some loose rubble off his legs, bringing out his scroll as a flashlight, he squinted his eyes, trying to see through the dust. He heard someone groan, as well as another voice call out. "That you, Church?"

It took him longer than he would have liked to admit to identify who the voice belonged to. "Raven? That you? Yeah, I'm—" Another cough ran through his body. "—I'm alive. Is Qrow with you?" He could barely even see his own hand in front of his face.

The person from before groaned again. "I'm here, but... I think I'm out of commission for a while, my aura's shattered and I'm halfway crushed." That sounded bad he could have internal bleeding, cracked ribs, a punctured— Church squashed that line of thought quickly; it was useless to think of such things.

Movement from beside him made him slowly swivel his head around, just barely spotting Topaz shake debris off himself. "Az? Ebs? Lili? You guys still with me?" The nicknames made Church roll his eyes, the affection too sharp for him to stomach with a straight face.

"You can speak I didn't know." He knew Topaz was glaring at him now but he didn't give a shit. The dust settled a bit, allowing him to not only see the glare on the leader's face but also the scowl that accompanied it.

A higher pitched voice called out from further in the cave. "Don't worry Paz, I am alright! Oh! I also have Tai with me." Lilac and Tai would have escaped the worst of it; they were the furthest into the cave. Qrow and Raven should have only gotten hit by minimal damage, which meant Qrow had the worst luck possible, or they moved really quickly running from the Deathstalker.

"Azura and I are here. She's in pretty bad shape, I'm fine except for my leg which feels shattered."

That left only Iwolintshi. A growl crept up Church's throat "Hunter?! Where the fuck are you?!" Silence was his only response. With the dust clearing he could see seven bodies scattered about, seven, not eight. "Damn it!"

He shoved his fist into the ground before he heard his partner's voice call out to him. "Church, calm down. If you get angry you're only going to either A: bring what remains of this cave down on us, or B: overrun us with Grimm, which by the way I can't fight off."

Church noticed Topaz roll his eyes, as he muttered, "As if she's not angry now." The AI dug his fingernails into his palms, taking a breath to forcefully stop himself from punching TEAL's leader. He needed to save his strength so he could smash in Iwolintshi's face.

"Okay Branwen, okay... but when we find Hunter I'm beating him to a pulp."

Qrow laughed, followed by a cough. "I'll help you."

His fingers drummed against his thigh as his silver eyes shined with something not quite human, quickly shifting his focus between the seven teens he took into account any and all injuries he could find or knew of. Raven had taken the least damage, only a couple cuts and bruises that her aura was working double time to heal. Qrow was possibly in the worst shape, he would not be moving for a while; he was pinned underneath a large slab of rock, while his aura would keep him from being crushed it would not stave off any injuries that he already sustained. Tai had a cracked rib from an unlucky piece of rubble but was otherwise fine.

Topaz only had bruises to deal with but his aura was shot. Lilac's left wrist was twisted in an unnatural way, more than suggesting it was broken. Ebony had multiple bruises and cuts, there was also the matter of his shattered leg. Then there was Azura, she might have been in the worst condition, considering she wasn't conscious. Her legs were pinned and there was a gash on her forehead, but otherwise she was okay.

Church turned inward to his own body; his aura was broken but he could feel it returning slowly, his left ankle was broken but he could still walk on it, aside from that he had minor bruising and cuts across his body. He would be fine. "Okay, Sky, Castle, and Xiao Long were gonna head deeper into the cave to see if there's another way out of the shithole." Topaz opened his mouth to protest but Church was quicker. "Raven, you watch over Qrow and those two assholes, I doubt any Grimm will slip past us but just in case." He doubted he could separate the twins even if he wanted to.