While last night hadn't been particularly restful for Abel, the excitement of the coming trials was enough to keep him awake and alert. After splashing cold water onto his face in the lavatory and checking to make sure his equipment was in top shape, he had joined everyone else in their brief journey to the Emerald Forest. He kept to himself for the most part, still somewhat groggy and uncommunicative for a while, though with every step his enthusiasm grew. By the time the test was ready to begin and the students stood upon a cliff overlooking the endless viridian sea of trees, he was practically twitching in anticipation.

“...Huh.” Out of every scenario that Abel had imagined -all two of them- none had included random chance. It seemed to him a definite mistake; this man, their headmaster, was content with letting fortune decide who paired with who. Putting personality aside, Abel succinctly considered the implications of this from an objective standpoint. Effectively randomized team meant that the worst pairings were much within the realm of possibility. Abel almost actually shuddered to think of his eyes meeting those of Hansen or Gretchen. Things like that were bound to happen, though, and if this Ozpin guy was as inflexible as he looked any unfortunate pairings would remain for the next few years of the students' lives. Not fun.

Of course, Abel didn't voice any of these thoughts. Instead, he simply prepared himself for the launch, guessing that he would have to work with this situation. When the first teenager was abruptly catapulted into the air, wailing, he hesitated momentarily. Flying to the school in an airship had been amazing, but flying through the open air with nothing but gravity at his disposal somehow seemed like a far less inviting prospect. Nevertheless, Abel girded his loins and waited until his ascent began. He told himself that he wouldn't scream.

Unfortunately, the sensation of tumbling helplessly through the air at high speed proved too much for him to contain. After a few moments spent bellowing in fear, he managed to stop twisting around and work his way into a spread-eagle position. He regarded the pointy-looking branches hundreds of feet below, and noticed with some degree of unhappiness that it was growing closer. In his training at Pallisade he had never taken any courses in falling -not that he could have remembered them in his current state anyway- so he figured he would have to improvise. Reaching to his back, he pulled the Ampere from where his semblance held it, and switched it into staff mode with jittery fingers. When he allowed his aura to flow into the weapon, a brilliant blue bolt of electricity arced from its tip into the woods below but did absolutely nothing to slow his fall. Another moment passed as he stared at the clear dust crystal focus at the Ampere's tip, wondering why it didn't work and trying to come up with something else.

A plan flitted into his mind as the forest approached. If his semblance could pull the Ampere to him, why not the other way around? He returned it to blade mode and held it with its tip facing forward as he entered the canopy. In a split second, the weapon was torn from his grip, lodged deep in a tree trunk. The jarring feeling kicked his ability into action, and a stream of electricity connected his hand and the Ampere, trying to reunite him. Abel grunted as his speed dropped sharply, and he plummeted twenty feet to the forest floor at a reduced rate. 

A few second passed before he stirred. Rubbing his bruises, he sat up, and regarded the Ampere stuck in a tree fifteen feet up with annoyance. Another moment went by before he stood up and headed to the tree in question, planning to climb it and retrieve his weapon.