Gren looked up from his seat when Kuhaku joined him. He smiled underneath his helmet and nodded in recognition towards him. "Glad to see that you made it. I'd imagine that we will be taking the train for a short while, but I don't want to stay too long. Might take us out of the testing grounds!" Gren chuckled at the thought of failing for riding too long on the train. Still, he stayed near the entrance to get ready to drop when it looks like he found what they were looking for. So far he didn't see it, so he rested easy.

"Well, I guess while we keep watch, we should properly introduce ourselves. You already know my name, Gren Orchid. I'm a faunas if you couldn't tell, a boar faunas. Though we usually refer to ourselves as orks. What you saw me do back there was use my Semblance, Friction. With it I can control the friction of things I make contact with, either to increase the Friction to do things like walk sideways on a moving train, or even decrease the Friction which will allow me to do such things as slide on top of water. I can also use my Friction in an area around me, either by making the Friction to tough that my enemies can't move, or so weak that they can't stand. That's only some of the ways I can use my Semblance, and I believe that there is much more that I can do that I just haven't mastered yet."

Tai had to wonder if it was some sort of sign that the first thing his partner did after they saw each other was to walk into a spider web right in the middle of his path. On a side observation, there were apparently some really big spiders in Forever Fall. At the same time, he appraised his partner. Red hair, a visor, otherwise standard for most of the students here. He supposed he would be a decent enough partner, if one were to go by appearances.

Tai gave a soft smile. "Nice to meet you Robert." He looked around then at the red trees that surrounded them. "I suppose we should start on our way for the artifacts."

"Glad to see that you made it. I'd imagine that we will be taking the train for a short while, but I don't want to stay too long. Might take us out of the testing grounds!"

Kuhaku wiped his thumb across his nose and nodded, agreeing and understanding completely. Turning away from Gren, he faced the entrance of the open boxcar and plopped down onto his behind. He then crossed his arms and legs, watching the crimson scenery of Forever Falls zoom past his eyes as his tail swayed back and forth behind him.

He turned his head to look up at Gren as he spoke again, "Well, I guess while we keep watch, we should properly introduce ourselves. You already know my name, Gren Orchid. I'm a faunas if you couldn't tell, a boar faunas. Though we usually refer to ourselves as orks. What you saw me do back there was use my Semblance, Friction. With it I can control the friction of things I make contact with, either to increase the Friction to do things like walk sideways on a moving train, or even decrease the Friction which will allow me to do such things as slide on top of water. I can also use my Friction in an area around me, either by making the Friction to tough that my enemies can't move, or so weak that they can't stand. That's only some of the ways I can use my Semblance, and I believe that there is much more that I can do that I just haven't mastered yet."

Smiling, Kuhaku placed a hand on his chest and re-introduced himself as well. "As I've said before, my name is Kuhaku Shiro. I'm a Tiger Faunus, myself. If the ears and tail weren't a dead giveaway, that is" he laughed.

"So, that's your Semblance, huh? That explains how you 'stuck' to the side of the train like that. My Semblance is Illusion, though I don't think it's as cool as yours. I can create complex illusions that can affect some of the 18 senses depending on how close someone is to me physically and how directly they interact with me. I can give a demonstration if you'd like," he grinned at Gren as black stripes slowly appeared on his ears and tail.

Emlyn had been roused from his sleep as everyone else had, though it took him a tad longer to prepare and head out with them. He was, to say the least, a bit of a fop. The outfit he'd put together for this day was in his mind perfect. A myriad of colors, with odd placements for armor such as the shoulders, bottom of the legs, and forearms only. Upon the spaulders, four bright, almost shining feathers were even spaced and flare outwards. Doubtlessly synthetic, as were the ones flaring out at the back of his legs as well. The only piece that looked a bit out of place was the scarf around his neck. A few sizes too small, and a pallid shade of pink. But it was tucked away beneath his vest, only barely visible at the bottom of his neck. Flashy and only the sliiiightest bit impractical, that's the way he liked his outfits. He wanted to grab attention and hold it, especially today.

By the time he'd made it outside at last, most of those present had already proceeded down below. That was well enough; he'd missed out on introductions yesterday because he was quite sure not all of them would make it back. Only the survivors mattered, those were the ones he'd impress.

He spun Mirror absently about his wrist, only taking a solid hold of it as another of the few remaining students took their plunge. As good a time as any, it seemed. He took a few jogging steps forward, releasing mirror for a brief moment. The reflective metal closed within the hollow center, and he snatched it by the handle before leaping to the zip-line. His glove took most of the heat, enough to spare him the discomfort, and he watched with narrowed eyes as the treeline approached. Just above it, he released his hold, and brought both hands to Mirror's handle to hold it tight beneath him.The momentum was enough to send him sailing almost horizontally onward, gradually falling lower and lower until at last, hit hit the ground. Or rather, Mirror did; as if upon a sled Emlyn carried on, fast at first but even faster was he decelerating. It took but the work of a handful of seconds for him to come to enough of a stop to hop off of Mirror and kick it up into his hand, retracting the shielded center and returning it to its chakram form.

Now then, next order of business; partner. He needed to find a partner, and they damn well better be good. He was not about to carry some loser around through their test, even if they'd only be alone until they found their artifact. In the air he could hear the sounds of battle, the rushing of a train upon its tracks, plenty of opportunities just waiting to be snapped up. His hand rubbed the scarf about his neck for only a moment, and then he continued on as well. As he walked, he started to sing, a talent he was quite proud of, as it had snagged him attention during his earlier years. The tune was some song or another of their time, more a show tune than anything, and set in a higher voice than it would have normally been, but he sang it all the same, the gusto carrying on in each step.

Trico looked at her Boomerang and pondered as she walked along. 'Hmm, I wonder if I can just my Semblence as a homing beacon to track down the artifacts' she thought. So, stopping, she threw it up in air. It span for a few seconds in the air, as if confused, before stopping, and falling into Trico's hand.
"Right...so, I can't target inanimate objects? Or I can't target what I can't see?" Trico asked herself, before targeting a tree in front of her, and then throwing the boomerang directly upwards again. The boomerang rose to it's apex, and then directly made a bee-line for the tree, dodging vine and branch to cut the front of the tree and then return to Trico.
"Right." She repeated, before shrugging and replacing it, continuing on her journey though Forever Falls for a while. There where some noises around, but she ignored them, and tried to get some of the tree sap she had heard was really tasty, but couldn't tap any, and so proceeded onwards in a sulk. After a while, she saw a gray haired girl with what looked like a ....jet sword? That was the best way Trico could describe it. So, she rose her hand and started to call out, when a roar came from the surrounding area. Frowning at her hand, she raised it to wave again, and the roar repeated.
"Cool! I can make roars when I raise my hand!" Trico exclaimed, before an Ursa burst though the undergrowth between her and the gray girl, snarling as only a bear could snarl. "Or that, which kinda makes more sense really" Trico continuted, before roaring back at the Ursa.

Auriel stood at the zip lines, watching over the forest. It was a nice sight, that much was true, but inside were plenty of dangers. His sword was secure in its scabbard and his shield was carefully on his back, out of his way until they were needed. Many of the other students had already made their descent, but Auriel wasn't in a rush just yet. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the handle of the nearest zip line and let himself be pulled by gravity, the air flowing through his short hair. For a moment, he felt light and free.

The next, his body prepared itself as he let go, falling to the ground. An instant before he hit the earth, his body appeared several feet away, landing as if he'd made a small hop. One of the wonderful things about Blinking was that it cancelled momentum-incredibly useful in situations such as this. Drawing his blade and readying his shield, Auriel moved through the woods, his eyes darting from side to side. He'd have to be careful not to spook any Grimm, lest he waste energy needlessly on fighting. A few pesky branches in his way were drilled off, but for the most part Auriel kept quiet and moved quickly. Whoever his partner was, he just hoped they weren't going to fight any massive battles. A small skirmish here or there was expected, but he hoped to encounter nothing larger than an Ursa today.

Emlyn quieted his singing gradually as he walked, returning to spinning Mirror about his wrist. He traded it between his arms, and eventually progressed this line of action to using the chakram as a sort of a hula-hoop; granted it slowed down his walking, it was entertaining. He'd begun to think he might not find someone for a while, and that presented its own bag of issues. He liked to fancy himself a fine combatant, he was certainly well versed with Mirror, but in truth his talents wavered more towards the combat before the combat. He valued his silver tongue as if it were diamond, and had no illusions about the fact that he was, in kind words, manipulative. The downside was he wasn't too sure he could coerce any lurking Grimms into benignity, and though he was of course confident in himself and his abilities, he could never be...sure.

Ugh, no. He wiped the thought from his mind before it had time to manifest for long, and gave the scarf another stroke. His grip upon the fabric tightened as he heard the slight rustling that betrayed the presence of another, and in a moment Mirror was held ready. However, his apprehension was relieved in a somewhat bittersweet realization. The relief was that the sounds seemed to be coming from another student. The other young man looked quite Emlyn's opposite; tall, muscular, hair cropped short. Certainly not ugly, though.

The bitter came with further inspection of the man. He wore perhaps the grungiest armor Emlyn had ever seen before, like it had been fashioned from a dried swamp. And his armaments, a sword and a shield? Was this guy serious? Maybe they were heirlooms, or maybe the other boy was of poorer heritage. Either way, it was not a sight he welcomed readily. He contemplated for a moment perhaps turning and attempting to slink away before their observation would become mutual, but that idea withered with the additional thought of a prolonged solitude within the Forever Fall. So, with a deep breath, and a loosening of his muscles, he strung a wide smile upon his face, and blinked stars into his eyes.

"Why hello~!" he greeted, strutting on like a peacock towards Auriel with Mirror twirling around his wrist. Once the distance had been closed to a few feet, he came to a stop, striking something of a subtle pose, and grinning. "Hope this doesn't come as an unpleasant surprise."

Flamelord said
Tai had to wonder if it was some sort of sign that the first thing his partner did after they saw each other was to walk into a spider web right in the middle of his path. On a side observation, there were apparently some really big spiders in Forever Fall. At the same time, he appraised his partner. Red hair, a visor, otherwise standard for most of the students here. He supposed he would be a decent enough partner, if one were to go by appearances. Tai gave a soft smile. "Nice to meet you Robert." He looked around then at the red trees that surrounded them. "I suppose we should start on our way for the artifacts."

"Nice to meet you... Tai, right?" Robert waited for a nod of approval from Tai and then continued speaking. "Yes, finding the artifacts would probably be the best thing to do." Robert began walking in a random direction then stopped mid-stride. "You don't happen to know where the artifacts are do you? Maybe a general location? Or, at the least, a general direction?" After finishing his sentence, Robert looked down to see he was still balancing on one leg. To try not to look more weird than he probably already did, Robert quickly put his suspended leg down and was back to standing like a normal human being. He then stood there, with a goofy ear-to-ear smile. In his mind all he could think was, "Stop looking at me like that, I'm not weird. I'm perfectly normal. How do you do that thing where you talk to someone without seeming weird? Just imagine what would have happened if my partner was a hot girl. Wait, am I talking to myself? Stop that. Stop talking to yourself. Just continue smiling and don't think of anything. Don't think of anything... Why am I now thinking of cats? Note to self: Don't meet new people... ever again. EVER!" While all of these thoughts passed through his head, on the outside he still stood at attention with that goofy smile still on his face. Not moving a single muscle.

Tai nodded as prompted, affirming that Tai was, in fact, his first name. He watched as his partner began walking before stopping, and turning back to ask if Tai knew where the artifacts were located at the moment. It was something made more awkward by the fact that Robert was hopping along on one leg, though he seemed to recognize that himself and stop. Well, it could be worse. at least his partner wasn't insane or something.

Turning to the question he had been, asked Tai looked around, trying to gauge distances, where they had started, and the general position of where he assumed the artifacts would be, since it was most likely that they were somewhere that stood out from everything else. At last he had an answer for his partner. "Well, I don't know for sure, but I would assume it's this way," he replied, pointing to indicate the direction he meant, which was away from the clifftop that they had started on. That said, he started following his own words, walking in the direction he had indicated while waiting to see what happened. He had a partner, now to find the artifacts and make a team.

A single breath from behind made Auriel's body tense. He knew it had to be another student especially when they started talking, but that didn't stop his reaction. He spun around, shield and sword raised, and took a large step back, fire in his eyes. Scrutinizing the person in front of him, he shifted his gaze up and down several times, absorbing as much detail as he could. The other boy looked somewhat short, with dark, long hair, and a bit lacking in musculature. It took him a few moments to realize that his sword was still spinning, and had been since he turned around. Lowering the weapon as it slowed to a halt, Auriel sheathed the sword and nodded his head curtly. "Hello."

An unpleasant surprise? Hardly. That weapon looked unique to say the least. Unique was good in an ally. Made them hard to predict. Though, if he didn't make nice now, this boy could become his enemy, and that would mean a torturous few years at Beacon. "And I would say it most certainly is not. Your weapon...I don't believe I've ever even its like before. It's fascinating, to say the least." Taking a step closer to make up for the distance of his retreat, Auriel nodded again, this time more calmly. "I suppose introductions are in order. I'm Auriel Connoly." He couldn't help but look at the chakram the other boy was holding again. It was certainly an interesting weapon, not only for how unique it was.

Emlyn had set up his pose rather well he thought. Standing sideways, one leg resting a bent knee against Mirror while the other behind was an anchor, both hands atop the chakram, slight arch to the back to draw more attention to figure than height, and a look that was just malicious enough to invoke the slightest twinge of uncertainty in those whose eyes he met.

But then it would never really get a chance to do its job, as when Auriel spun around with his weapons ready, his pose crumbled into an almost sloppy fall back. Instead his eyes hardened incredulously, and as the other boy scanned him, he did so in return. Not much in the way of new information; he still looked grungy in his armor, though the sword and shield up close had been something of a surprise.

He wasn't sure what the next move ought to be. Was this the start of a disastrous partnership? Normally when he found himself in frequent contact with someone he disliked or who disliked him, his plan of action was to tear their social life apart, but would that even be possible with this boy? He was clever, but he'd been bested before -not that he'd admit to it.

Then Auriel broke that worrisome train of thought with a question. No, not a question, much worse than a question. Emlyn enjoyed questions thoroughly, as they were opportunities to gain quick admiration. But what he enjoyed more than questions were compliments; cutting out the middle man. Instantly his harsher gaze collapsed and reformed back to its slick, suave grin, and he spun Mirror like a top, between his hand and the ground.

"Oh this? Ah yes, my gem, truly. Mirror and I have been close for many many years. It's a chakram you see, a war-ring. Slice, throw, doesn't really matter, always does its job spectacularly, always returns," he said, holding on to that proud moment before going on, his attention turning to the weapons of the other. "Your own little friends there seem quite, erhm... sturdy. Retro even! I love the weathered look, really."

Auriel went on and gave his name, which was just fine, even had a nice ring to it. Auriel Connoly. His partner. Hm. He struck out his hand as an after thought, straitening his posture and clearing his throat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Auriel Connoly; I am Emlyn Jyri Ampelios. Second of three children to a fine couple of warriors, and soon to be legend among this rag tag community of ours."

It seemed the other person was cautious as well, but seemed to collapse like a house of cards at more than a cursory look. After he mentioned the other's weapon, though, Emlyn, it seemed his name was, perked up. It seemed he was proud of his chakram. Mirror, he called it. Mirror. He had to hold back a grin, but at least it wasn't some childish name that would surely be regretted a few years hence. And it certainly was interesting. A chakram would allow Emlyn to fight both up close and at range. He'd truly be a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully things wouldn't go miserably between the two. That was probably the one thing Auriel feared: making enemies with other people. Grimm he could handle, they were beasts and little more. People were cunning, twisted and cruel.

Emlyn's comment about Auriel's weapons went unanswered. Sturdy. Retro. Weather look. He knew what Emlyn meant, he wasn't stupid. He could answer with a scathing reply as his weapons master once did to another student, but he didn't care. All that mattered were results, and nobody would think twice on insulting his sword once they could see what it was capable of. And of course he was weathered, what did Emlyn expect, a herd of children in shining armor? No, a knight with shining armor was only a knight who'd never had his mettle tested. Scars littered Auriel's body and his armor had been patched and remade so many times that he doubted any part of it remained of what armor he'd first made years before.

'Second of three children to a fine couple of warriors, and soon to be legend among this rag tag community of ours.' Auriel's lip twitched upward and he let out a breath slowly, leaving his lungs empty for a few seconds before resuming his breathing as normal. Full name, placed emphasis on his lineage and place within that lineage, and he already considered himself to be among the best. This guy was almost certainly born to a longstanding, wealthy family. Perhaps a famous hunter and huntress? Ampelios...he couldn't recall anything related to that name. Still, if Emlyn had the skill to get into Beacon, there was no point in judging him based on his disposition. You had to be a fine warrior just to have a chance to get here, and to do so with a weapon as bizarre and unconventional as a chakram was a feat all its own.

"Well, Emlyn, I agree that it's a pleasure to meet you. Legends or no, we have artifacts to collect. Considering our proximity to where we started..." He turned to where they had all come from and sighed, "I think we had best get moving."

Emlyn kept his gaze upon Auriel for a few moments, as if expectant. He'd been wrong, much to his disappointment; there was much more to notice about the other boy, upon an actual inspection. Well, not much more, but an abundance of a particular thing. What he had previously mistaken for dirt, he now saw were scars. For a brief moment, his grin all but vanished, and his eyes fell away from Auriel's face, examining instead his arms and visible neck area. Scars indeed, and plenty of them, a worrying amount.

So what, he had a few scars? It wasn't anything to worry over. He got them and quite obviously he'd survived. It wasn't unnerving, it wasn't frightening, it was reality. People got hurt getting to Beacon, and people would get hurt at Beacon. There was a chance even Auriel wouldn't make it through the test, and then -ugh, then he'd have to find another partner, or worse, he'd be forced to roam alone for even longer. But what if [i]he[/] didn't...

No, not even a second thought to that question. He shook his head and blinked his focus back to the present. His eyes met Auriel's again, and his smirk returned with fervor. He twirled about on his heel and sashayed onward as he had been before. "Agreed, let's get going. Soon enough we'll have our artifact, and soon after that, our team. We'll be household names before long, pal, trust me on that!"

He paused for a bit, and resumed twirling Mirror about his wrist. He looked over his shoulder back to Auriel, and cleared his throat again. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself, hm? I like to know what sort of company I keep."

Ineko felt a tap on his shoulder, turned over he saw the coffee drinking professor gesturing to the , "If you would please." He blinked and glanced around, noticing that he was one of the last students still up the cliff. Ineko looked at the professor and bowed his head apologetically, he gave himself some distance between him and the zipline he was going to go down. While walking, he told four of his drones to scout the forest in further detail and to monitor large Grimm movements, as well as the activities of the other students, and lastly, to search for the artifacts. The last two drones were to follow Ineko to provide eyes in the sky. Although he knew the chances of his children finding the artifacts were low, he gave them the low priority order anyways. To anything mechanical, it was a normal, cohesive set of orders. But to the instructors, it was a series of loud beeps, clanks, and words of a foreign origin. Ineko ran up to the pole holding up the ziplline and jumped over it, his metal boots touched the line and he began to skid down the zipline. Sparks were shooting up from the friction. His suit displayed the temperature of his boots, although it didn't reach anywhere near the melting point of the armor, the heat still worried the armored student. As if on cue, two drones from his back split away and matched his speed for a second, then another two launched from his back, doing the same. At the same time, the four drones accelerated and darted in different directions, geological data began to feed into his HUD as the drones went over the forest. The last two drones launched from his back and rose in altitude as they took circling overwatch positions 50 meters up.

As he approached the ground, he hopped off the zipline and rolled to a halt expertly, remembering the agility training his father made him go through. When he stood, his boots sizzled on the ground, scorching the ground a little. He heard a growl that startled him, like a blur he turned towards the noise ready to fight. A single Itzamná stood there looking at him, perhaps a little curious as to what he was. The creature walk a circle around him, analyzing Ineko. Ineko felt something gripping his chest, a Grimm was watching him. For a second he was frozen, unsure of what to do. The two watched each other for a moment longer.
Ineko finally shook the freeze and began recording, making sure to to catch every primal movement of the Itzamná. Suddenly the creature charged at him ready to bite, Ineko put his forearm in between himself and the Grimm, whose jaws snapped down on Ineko's armored forearm, throwing him down with the Grimm on top of him. A small square appeared to the left of Ineko's sight with a number. His eyes went wide, if there weren't any armor plating on his forearm, he wouldn't have a forearm anymore. That number exceeded the 22 million pounds per square inch capacity of the non-newtonian filled carbon nanotube underarmor he wore. Ineko tried to yank his arm away from the Itzamná, but it wouldn't let go. His forearm began to glow a faint sickly green, it then flashed. The predator reeled back in pain, its mouth burned, giving the young student room to do a starfish kip up. Mid kip up he kicked the Itzamná's jaw shut. When he got up he searched for a place to attack, and decided that the long neck was as good a place to start. Ineko punched it in the neck, hearing a sickly snap, the Itzamná fell over dead. Ineko blinked, he won already? Perhaps this Grimm was designed as a fast attack ambush predator, and not designed to take hits. A second later, he heard rustling and he went into a defensive stance. If this creature was a part of a pack, there was a good chance that the rest of the pack was here now. Ineko saw the vegetation shake, and black blurs darting from bush to bush, they were definitely fast.

Beliya stood up a second after Gideon did, somewhat annoyed by his almost completely obvious appraisal of her. Giving him a quick glance, she didn't find much that peaked her interest, fairly average build, but he did seem to be able to hold his own. Looking over at the Grimm he'd killed before, she noted that he must have either hit them VERY forcefully with a blunt weapon...or he had fought them with his bare hands and brutally taken them down, save the last one. Figuring that it didn't matter too much, given his injury, she shook his hand firmly, and quickly, not wanting to risk someone aggravating his wound.

After the handshake ended, she said: "I suppose it does, GIdeon. And, it would appear so." while giving him another glancing look. He was...swaying slightly. That was a good indication that just maybe he was going to faint. Tilting her head slightly, she asked: "Are you sure you're going to be fine? We need to stop your bleeding."

---

Bruce continued to wander nearly aimlessly through the forest, managing to avoid having to fight Grimm for a good portion of it, though he had encountered an ursa along the way. Alone, and ferocious, he faced it with vigor and...well... "You are adorable, you know that?" Bruce said as he held the Ursa in a headlock from which it couldn't even move its head, only flail helplessly with its body on the ground. Bruce had decided that the thing was cute, and that he wanted to domesticate it. Going along on his way, he came upon something...unfamiliar. Some sort of large lizard, walking on its hind legs. Tilting his head at it, he surmised that it wasn't friendly given that it was larger than him, and snarling at him. The thing tried to jump at him, though it missed badly and bit into the Ursa's head, crunching down on its skull, and killing it instantly.

Within a moment, Ineko would see and hear the 6ft. raptor slam into a tree next to him, with Bruce stepping over a rock to get to Ineko, another of the Imanzá's necks lying limp in the teeth of Cerberus as he walked over to him. Coming out of his rage for the moment, he looked at Ineko before saying: "It's you again."

---

Two in the lake to the north, two in the cave to the east, two in the caverns below, two in the mountains above. And, there lied two in the tunnel belonging to Schnee, two in the nest of the sky-hunters, and, finally, two in the plains east of the maple-red forest, in a pasture. And so, the 12 cards shimmered as the pairs were formed, they were all being silently monitored by the guardians who would be slain by the Hunters-to-be. All that remained was for them to be found...and claimed.

Tell you about myself? Getting to know each other is fine and dandy, but we're in the middle of enemy territory! Or does he think these scars came from falling out of trees as a kid? It was all he could do to suppress his sigh, and he'd almost failed at that. "Well, as you can see, I'm a swordsman. Been taught the way of the blade since I was three. Held my first real blade in sparring at ten, and I'd already been hunting a few times by then. I could shoot accurately to maybe fifty feet, though I haven't practiced in quite a while, so I doubt I've much talent with a bow any more."

Done jerking Emlyn around, he smiled and continued. "As for Auriel the person...I'm not sure how I'd describe myself. When I fight, I try to focus on nothing but my surroundings. My body becomes like water, quick and mobile, but striking with brutal force. Efficient, with little effort wasted. As much as I focus on winning the fight, my main priority is to survive for another day. A man's pride can be cut down a thousand times, but his body only once. I don't leave things half-done if I can help it. That bothers me. If I can, I'll avoid a fight, be it one of words or steel. I prefer my bridges to stay strong, rather than to burn them. And if I can convince someone to stay their hand, often enough I can convince them to help me. I'm a man of my word, and I keep honor close to me, but at the same time my vengeance burns like a star in the sky."

Articulating his words with a thump to his chest, Auriel finished and inclined his head to Emlyn. "What about you?"

Emlyn was surprised to say the least, by all of what Auriel was divulging to him. They'd known each other maybe a minute or so, and out came the personal descriptions at a single request. Perhaps the information was false, and this seemingly simple young man was more clever than he appeared, or perhaps he trusted Emlyn already. If it was that he trusted him, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for Auriel. It wasn't like he had any plans to betray his partner, but he didn't expect truth from someone so quickly.

That got him thinking. Were the rules different with partners? Was he supposed to be entirely honest with Auriel now? And what of the rest of the team, would honesty be required then too? His breath caught in his throat for only a sliver of a moment. Of course not. His whole life he'd prided himself on how well he could hide the details he didn't want to share with others, and he wasn't about to betray that over the possibility of some arbitrary trust agreement. He was a good liar, he could fake things, weave a flawless web and no one would be any wiser. He hoped, anyway.

"Oh me? Well, I've always wanted to be a hunter. All you ever hear these days are glory tales of those brave souls. By the end of it, Iiiii... can safely assure you that we will be celebrated heroes. Your vengeance will be sung about, Aury my friend!" he said.

Yes, that would do.

He turned his attention -and the conversation- off their beaten path and upward. The mountains weren't too terribly far off he thought, and they were as good a place as any. With a nod of his head towards the great monoliths, he corrected his course, though kept the flare to his walk. "What's say we hit the mountain tops, hm? High ground is always good, and we might find our goal up there."

Always wanted to be a hunter? Well, there were plenty of those folks around. Auriel wasn't sure he liked the motivation behind it, though. Tale of glory, eh? Well...one can hope. Maybe he was jaded, and Emlyn was at least right to hope. All Auriel cared about was doing what he felt was his duty. He had the ability, so why shouldn't he become a hunter? Why not help the people who wanted a simpler life, one free of Grimm and danger? There was no reason he could think of. As long as Emlyn could pull his own weight-which he seemed capable of- he didn't care if the other boy was after glory or women or riches.

At the mention of taking the high ground, Auriel nodded slowly and looked up. "A wise decision. We'd be able to see quite far from up there. And as you said, we might find what we're looking for. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that were the case." Following after Emlyn, he shrugged. He didn't dislike the guy, but there felt like there was a distance between them. Still, they'd only just met, and the field of battle wasn't much of a place to divulge your life story. They'd become closer in time, if all went well.

Emlyn continued on, making way for the mountain. For a while he was silent, tossing only the occasional glance back at Auriel to make sure he was still there. The boy certainly wasn't very talkative, though normally that wouldn't have stopped Emlyn from going on about himself. He had a myriad of stories, really he did, fabricated or otherwise they never failed to impress. But with his partner already it was different; Auriel was not the sort that he usually mingled with. Gritty, determined, kept his sentences to the point. A good warrior? Probably, just looking at him, Emlyn could guess he was skilled. But what about off of the field? How would Auriel handle the spotlight? Oh god, how would he handle the added company of their team?

Mirror ceased its spinning about his wrist, and he held it still. A challenge, that's all. It'd be a challenge. He'd worked his way into tougher friendships before, and come out successful. Auriel might be a rock, but Emlyn was a chisel, and he was more than content to chip away slowly, piece by piece.

At the base of the mountain he looked up, biting his lip. The could climb it, or at least he could. He was nimble enough and Mirror was deceivingly good at digging in for holds. He gave a bit of the rock a soft kick, as if to test it, make sure it was solid, and then leaned to it to find a good starting hold.

"Alright then, best we move on up, hm? The faster we find this artifact, the faster we find our team, and the faster we get out of here and on with our journey," he said. He slung Mirror over his shoulder, and looked expectantly again back at Auriel.

“What do you think, Bridge? Sounds like the train isn't too far away. Must be nearing your station. We could power through this mess or try and find a way around."

Bridget looked around briefly, attempting to survey the situation, mentally filing away his protector comment for later, she was on mission now, and couldn't afford too many distractions. Sensing nothing within her radius she unslung Rakurai from its holster.

"Wait here, I'll take a quick look around"

With a few hops and a minor display of dexterity she used Rakurai to climb to the treetops and survey the situation. She saw the train moving closer at a rapid pace and thought she saw someone standing in one of the doorways, looking around further she saw hints and signs of other students running around the woods until she saw a cave entrance to the north. Her instincts started tugging her in that direction, but without any real reason for doing so she began to get a little suspicious. Dropping down right next to Abel she sheathed her weapon once more.

"Looks like these spiderwebs stretch on for a bit, pushing through them seems a bad idea, saw a few signs that our classmates are at least doing passably though. While I was looking around up there I did notice a cave around to the north, seemed like somewhere someone might hide something, and its on the way to the train station. Provided we wanted to not fight hordes of these spinners."