Beep...Beep...Beep...
"U...Uh? What...What's that noise?"

Having drowned in an ocean of the abyssal, black void of unconsciousness, Kuhaku was finally breaching the surface of his 'slumber'. An odd, steady beeping sound being the method of his awakening. Eyes slowly opening, his vision was blurry and distorted at first. Blinking, he found himself staring at a ceiling.

"Wh-...where am I?"

In an attempt to sit up, he realized he was laying down. He also realized that he couldn't sit up, a shocking wave of disorientation rattling through his body as he tried. Okay, then. But, he could still look around. Looking around him with his hazel eyes, there was...a curtain surrounding him where he lay. Odd, what was that for? Looking to his right, he discovered what was making the beeping noise. It was a monitor or some sort, with a jagged line flashing across its screen. A heart monitor? What were those called, EKGs? Kuhaku frowned and took a breath when he heard a new sound as he did. A sort of wheezing/hissing sound. There was something on his face. Reaching up, he attempted to touch his cheek when instead of touching flesh, he felt cold, hard plastic. Blinking, he realized it was an oxygen mask. Why was he wearing an oxygen mask? Looking at his hand, he then noticed something odd clipped to one of his fingers that had a red glow to it and saw a cable leading from it and up to the heart monitor.

His heart rate rising, questions rapidly flooded his mind. Why was he on oxygen? Why was his heart being monitored? What else was he connected to? As the beeping from the heart monitor grew slightly quicker, he looked at both of his arms and was mortified to learn that his gloves were gone and replaced by white bandages. As he examined the bandages closer, he saw something in his elbow. Another long, clear tube. Touching it, he winced when he felt something sharp and metal in his arm. Tracing the tube, he saw it led to an IV drip that hung above his head. Panicking, his breathing grew more rapid. The heart monitor began beeping faster.

Moving his head, he looked down at himself and saw that he was laying in a hospital bed and that he was covered in uncomfortably warm sheets and blankets. Pulling them down slightly, he saw that his clothes were replaced by a set of white hospital pajamas. Where were his normal clothes? While at it, where were his weapons Kladenets and Perun? Panic rising, he turned his head and was slightly relieved to see that his clothes sat neatly folded in a chair to his left. His sword and shield set leaning against the same chair. Finding the strength to finally sit up, his head spun. Dizzy with questions.

What in the hell exactly happened to him? Where was he? Why was he connected to a heart monitor, IV drip, and oxygen mask? What was the last thing he remembered? He remembered flying into Beacon on an airship. A student orientation and address from the Headmaster Ozpin. That night everyone slept in the same room together. The...test. Wait, the test! What happened with the test? Did he not make it? Did he fail? What happened to him?

As he tried to force himself to remember, his head began to painfully ache. Frowning, he began to break out in a cold sweat as his panic and anxiety grew. Was he back at Beacon? In its Infirmary? Why can't he remember anything else? He felt alone, his fear began to setting. Pressing his hands against the sides of his head, and closing his eyes shut tightly, his breathing grew more and more rapid. The heart monitor's incessant beeping invaded his thoughts and only made things worse. He wanted to rip off all of the medical equipment and run.

He was scared. He was tired.
"S-...so...ti..red..."
Opening his eyes, he realized how heavy they were becoming.
Laying back down, he closed them sleepily.
Unable to process any further information, his mind and body began to shut down.
The heart monitor's beeping slowed.
Before long, the shackles and chains of his exhaustion snaked over his body and began to drag him down.
Dragging him down into the black ocean of his dreams.
Sleep bringing a temporary peace.

Robert followed the directions given to him, and led his team to where they would sleep for the rest of the school year. "Wow. Leader. Who would've thought? Well the rest of my team thought so, now that I think about it," he thought. Once they had reached their room, Robert opened the door and looked inside. He rushed in and jumped, belly-flopping onto the bed. "Yes, a bed. Oh, how I've missed these. No more sleeping on the cold, hard ground for me," he said. He turned on to his back, placed his hands behind his head, and looked up toward the ceiling. "Ah, comfy," he thought. His facial expression changed from happiness to serious contemplation, though. "The only thing I own are the clothes on my back and my weapons. As soon as I get the time and money, I should probably head to town and buy some new clothes and other necessities." He looked at his now torn clothes and then pulled his shirt collar up to his nose. "Euch, definitely need get some new clothes," he thought. He sat up and decided to address his teammates. "So, now that we're officially a team, what should our first order of business be? Remember, we have classes at nine tomorrow. Don't want to be late."

Greyson smiled as he followed Robert to their new room, Greyson was a little disappointed that he couldn't be leader but it was probably for the best anyways if anything Greyson would make battle plans for the team instead. When they finally got to their room Greyson sighed loudly as he laid down on his own bed relaxing then he looked up seeing their team leader ask what their first order of business should be and Greyson stood up and said "first order of business should be personalizing our spaces!" Greyson said smiling since they all had their own beds and small area they should start decorating accordingly ask they wouldn't get confused as to who sleeps where

Priscilla looked at Robert giving a clap for congratulating him for becoming the leader of their team! It was exciting because Robert would make a very good leader. "Congratulations." and with that they all went to their room, it was weird because she had to share a room with them. Priscilla look at the boys already choosing their room, as she walked to a bed close to the window taking that bed and plopping on it. "Sooo Sleepy....." she yawned cutely, closing her eyes slowly and drifting off to sleep, if she wakes up later she may take a shower, thats what she needed.

Gren put up a good show of being prideful and happy, but inside his head he was depressed. He saw other teams, whole teams, stand to get their congratulations. Where as he only had Abel, who wasn't even his partner. Gren kept his proud and confident facade throughout the ceremony and even gave a lively holler when his team was announced. He initially thought Kuhaku would have made for a better leader, but perhaps that was just a bit of bias showing. Of course he wanted his partner to be the one who leads the team, but Bridget was a worthy leader as well. It only made him feel all the worse when he remembered that neither of his two teammates were there for the celebration.

When the ceremony was over Gren began to walk away when Abel came up to him and asked if he wanted to visit the others. Of course he did, but there was something he had to do first. "Yeah, of course. You go on ahead though, there are some things I need to pick up." Gren left briskly, but he was gone for only a short while. He arrived to the building where Kuhaku and Bridget would have been at. By now Gren figured that Abel was there, but if he wasn't Gren would simply have to go first. In his arms was a bouquet made of Aloe, Rue, and Eglantine flowers. He also carried a box of ice cream cake in another hand. It was a small cake, but it wasn't for him, but for Kuhaku and Bridget. He just hoped they like chocolate and Cookies with Cream. With a deep breath, he went to the door he was told his team mates were in and knocked. "It's me, Gren. May I come in?"

It had been a somewhat sedate trip back from the testing ground, some teams worried about injured members, those members that were injured and still here insisting they were alright almost as a matter of requirement, and stuff like that. At least the trip back was easy in itself, the airships unaccosted by Grimm, and himself left to think and contemplate on what had happened. It was always good to have ones thoughts in order, at least in his opinion.

Arriving back, they were quickly ushered into the auditorium for the presentation of teams. An occasion he watched calmly, as opposed to the anticipation that others presented, the desire for leadership that he didn't share. If that was where the chips fell then he would do so to the best of his ability, but he wouldn't be offended or saddened if he wasn't..

And it was a good thing he hadn't. As expected, the two cards that had been retrieved (to glowing praise from Ozpin), had indeed signified that they would be a team, and that Robert would be their leader. To be honest, with his luck Tai almost pitied him in that position, but would do what he could to support him. Though he couldn't help but hear the rumors of the other team that had taken down a Nevermore and a Deathstalker on their quest to retrieve their artifact, and wonder idly what it would be like to be with them instead of here. Oh well, he'd never know now, would he?

He followed along to their room, watching with an inheld sigh as Robert dove onto one of the beds, Greyson did the same before standing up once more, and Priscilla fell asleep on hers. Wonderful. At least Robert had the smarts to ask what they should do, and Greyson answered. But to be honest Tai didn't have much to customize his space with at all. He was always something of a minimalist, and while he had a few things, it wasn't extravagant beyond what was required to be here and class materials.

"I was going to go work out a bit in the gym, but you don't have to wait on my account. I don't have that much stuff anyway," he replied, somewhat self dismissively. The hardest part would be clothes after all, and a small workout to make sure he wasn't incredibly sore in the morning would probably be a good idea.

Bridgett's eyes snapped open when she heard Kuhaku's heart monitor accelerate and she slipped out of bed, adjusting her hospital gown around her before padding silently over to the privacy curtain separating them. Parting the curtain slightly she looked in on her partner and saw him looking around wildly without really focusing on anything until his eyes rested upon his equipment. His eyes closed and his breathing became more regular after that, and Bridgett slipped over to his his side and placed her hand on his head. "Rest easy friend, find peace where you can." she whispered to herself.

Stepping quietly back over to her half of the room, she took note of her own equipment ling on the table next to her bed. Rakurai was in dire need of maintenance, but serviceable, her clothing on the other hand was in complete tatters, cloak torn to shreds by all the running and fighting, shirt ripped and torn in order to bandage up wounds that her team mates Aura couldn't heal up on its own, with a little ingenuity she may be able to salvage the pants though. Guess I'll need to do some shopping then she mused silently.

Bridgett looked around the bare, but efficient room she and her team mate now shared as she realized she was missing out on the Naming Ceremony. Rage and frustration built up inside her, How could I have let my team down like this? They probably look the fools sitting up there with only half their members. Shaking her head, she tried to force such thoughts out of her mind by going through one of her many katas, only wincing slightly as she worked out the kinks in her muscles the familiar motions almost becoming a meditation ritual in their own right. Unaware of how long she had been practicing she was startled when there was a polite knock on the door, followed shortly by her partner entering the room.

Feeling her face flush she quickly tired to use her hospital gown to cover up the bandages around her arm and torso as best she could. "Abel! I didn't expect to see you so soon. Is everything ok?"

If anyone wants me to I'll decorate their area for them for now I'll just paint my area of the room" Greyson said smiling ad he grabbed some patting cans from his bag and before any of them asked he said "when your strapped to a chair for as long as I have you need an outlet just so you don't think about killing yourself" he said simply letting them know the truth about how Greyson right life was pointless for a time until he started to paint to distract himself on a daily basis. Greyson then went to work using a lot of red first to draw a heart above his bed before adding details to it like the barbed wire going across the heart ad it bleed, then adding the white wings on the heart. The background would be a dark blue

For a moment Abel's eyes were upon Bridgett, but her embarrassment communicated itself quite plainly and he looked away, hoping he hadn't been intruding. The whole situation was a bit awkward; he would have liked Gren to come along with him, but he supposed that picking up things was important too. As he made to reply, Abel happened to peer through the thin gap in the curtains surrounding Kuhaku's cot. While he couldn't be sure who lay inside, a tuft of off-white hair provided a pretty good clue. Seeing no cause for alarm in that department, the guardian looked back toward Bridget and replied at last. “Everything out there is great. Made my way straight here to share the news. Gren'll be comin' in a few minutes. How are you two doin'? Feelin' alright?”

The two settled down to speak. Abel leaned against the wall and related to the best of his ability the naming ceremony. He emphasized the naming of the team that had saved his and Bridgett's life in Forever Fall, telling her that they had been dubbed 'Pilgrim'. While he forgot both teams Big and Camelot, and his vocabulary was somewhat limited, he hoped that the picture he painted with his words helped make his partner feel as if she were there. Last came the pertinent news: “And here's the coolest thing: you are the leader of our team! Ozpin called it 'Blackguard'--B for you, K for Kuhaku, G for Gren, and A for me. Pretty neat, right?”

At that moment a knock came at the door. Abel moved quickly to answer it, gesturing for Bridgett to rest easy. “Here's Gren now,” he told her, and opened the door. Seeing the gifts he had brought, he stooped slightly and took a step back to allow his comrade center stage. While he did so, he glanced in turn at both of his teammates and the drapes that shrouded Kuhaku. “Blackguard is together for the first time,” he breathed, too faint for all but the keenest ears to discern.

It was the same recurring dream he's had for years now. He was submerged in a vast, empty, and never-ending ocean, floating on his back in the middle of its inky-black depths. Its dark waters were cold and drained him of the energy to move, limiting him to merely existing within its icy embrace. Vision blurred from being underwater, he knew what he should've been looking at was the moon or night sky above the surface, but there was no such image. It was as if the stars were stolen away, hidden by dark clouds. His eyes peered at nothing but more darkness. Sometimes in his dream, he was able to turn his head slightly to look over his shoulder. To stare at the abyss beyond him. But, he never had the courage to gaze into the void in his dream. He never found the courage or energy to save himself from drowning and swim to the surface. To him, the darkness surrounded him from both sides. It was inescapable, his death within the dream inevitable.

As his body slowly sank towards the black behind him, he knew it was only a matter of time. Lungs burning from having held his breath, he always wondered why he didn't just give up immediately. To embrace the cruel and cold darkness. His lungs unable to take anymore, his body forced him to cough out in an attempt to take in more air. Only for his body to be filled with the same dark water that surrounded him. As his chest filled with liquid, the horrible sensation of drowning gripped him. No matter how many times he tried to fight and struggle to change the outcome of things, it always ended the same. With his quiet and lonely death. As the darkness filled him, he could feel the last bit of warmth and life he had left slowly leaving his body, his eyes glazing over. As he slowly died, his hand reached out towards...anything. Only for nothing to be there. His heart felt heavy with sorrow, but it didn't matter anymore. The vast ocean swallowing him whole as he sank.

His white tiger ears twitched, picking up sound within the room. Voices, it sounded like. A female one at first.
"Rest easy friend, find peace where you can..."
He felt a hand on his forehead.
There was silence again for some time.
There was a knock on a door, then a sound of creaking hinges. A door being opened.
"Abel! I didn't expect to see you so soon. Is everything okay?"
A male voice answered.
"Everything out there is great. Made my way straight here to share the news. Gren'll be comin' in a few minutes. How are you two doin'? Feelin' alright?"
Kuhaku's hearing temporarily faded away, returning shortly after.
"...And here's the coolest thing: you are the leader of our team! Ozpin called it 'Blackguard'--B for you, K for Kuhaku, G for Gren, and A for me. Pretty neat, right?"
There was another knock at the door, a different male voice speaking this time.
"It's me, Gren. May I come in?"
"Here's Gren now," the first male voice said.
The door opened. Another moment of silence.
"...Blackguard is together for the first time," the first male voice faintly whispered.

Finally fully awake and aware, his eyes slowly opened. Blinking, he found the strength to slowly sit up in his bed. After another moment of silence, he decided to speak. His voice cracking at first, he cleared it and tried to speak again. "Ahem...H-...hello? Who's there?" He waited for a response, the room's only sound was the beeping of his heart monitor.

[STATIC]

[STATIC]

[STATIC]

[STATIC]

[STATIC]

Cynthia reluctantly led her team to their room. She was still surprised how she became the leader of Camelot as she did not even do anything in Forever Fall. All she did was simply wait within the bushes and waste time on her phone.

Entering her room, she immediately ran to the sleeping area and placed Daemon on the left bed near the window. She gazed out of the window, taking a moment to look at the sky before turning around and walking to the entrance to the sleeping area.

“I took one of the beds. You should claim your bunks.”

She then jumped onto her bed, going onto her phone.

Jack Orpheus | Dorm Room

"Name's Jack. Top bunk's mine by the way", he said, though before anyone could say a thing he was already sitting on top of it, making himself at home already and laying down so that he was looking at everyone upside-down... When did he get there? They took their eyes off him for literally a second. He was a strange fellow, it didn't seem like he took anything seriously, and something about him seemed shady but no one here could quite pinpoint it. When they arrived to fight the Nevermore he was already riding it, didn't look like he was trying to kill it, well... It was more accurate to say he couldn't. He just couldn't hurt it enough, so he decided to ride it instead. Surprisingly, he's the only one here without a single wound from combat. Not even a tiny scratch. He seemed to have this confident smile about him at all times too. In response to Emy... Em... Emmy's introduction, he commented.

"And man Emmy, putting yourself a little high a little eh? Well there's no problem with that, just don't look so high up that you lose you footing when you climb okay? Then again I read somewhere that's what teams were for or something... Oh yeah, I forgot to say...", he continued on, sitting upright now.

"I'm here because city got boring. Besides, I found out I had a semblance, so I figured why not. Not even sure how teams work, but whatever, Aury's got something planned right?", he was kind of putting him on the spot there. Jack wasn't being purposely provocative though, he was kind of tactless. Okay, really tactless.

After the ceremony, Ineko, his armor now covered in scratches and dents, turned to his team. "LET'S GET SOME DOWN TIME IN OUR ROOM.", he said, sure that everyone was at least winded. The four traveled down the hallway, with Ineko leading the way. They arrived at their designated dorm after picking up some of their baggage. Ineko opened the door and they entered their living room, which was mostly empty.

There was a large pile of green military shipping style boxes, with sophisticated looking locks on them. Ineko smiled as the top boxes automatically opened. "I DIDN'T EXPECT THEM TO ACTUALLY DO THIS. MAN, WE'RE GOING TO NEED SOME TABLES." He remarked. He set his baggage down and started to sort through his small mountain of boxes. They contained various tools, several cans of paint that was only marked by numbers, a glass box with dirt inside, and a lot of technology bits.

During the ceremony, Gideon stood alongside the rest of his team with enough bandages to appear as if he really should be in a hospital, a number of dressings wrapped around his arm as well as across his chest and right leg, the only visible blood was that which seeped through his arm's wrapping. Despite his injuries he refused to be viewed as the weak link in the team. Thus, Gideon's presence was on his volition to be present with the rest of the team, despite his body's requests to rest. Even his eyes had lost their steely intensity and appeared ragged and tired.

Therefore it was no surprise when he followed Ineko and the rest to their room in complete silence. When they arrived, he appraised the room with a searching gaze, and it only took half a second for Gideon to find what he was looking for. A bed. For the first time in a while, his parched mouth opened. "Is there a preference in bedding I should be wary of? I do not mind where I sleep but I would like to sleep soon." A simple question, but somehow the entire team understood it was an urgent one.

Trico followed her team back to the room, angry welts and stiches around her body where the Beowulf man....err...wolf-handling had been less than good. They didn't quite hurt so much now though, so she regained her smiling obliviousness, and only Laura was any the wiser that it had left in the first place. The whole leader thing was a bit up in the air, but then so was the entire team, so it fit.

When their fearsome and mighty leader walked over to her bunk, Trico followed her, and took off her staff and blade before sitting down softly next to her, not wanting to open any wounds.
"So, we are an awesome team now! Lets go get some tea and natter about our teamliness" she offered, grinning broadly.