[3 months ago]

“I used to study human history, for I have lived through many ages. But what is there to study, when they repeat the same mistakes again and again? Nothing. Left on their own, they are little more than a drop of water in a river, doomed to follow the same road forever; But now, as they near destruction, it is my time to intervene. Mankind needs heroes, and so I shall provide them.”
A man fully adorned in silver armor stands on the ledge in beacon tower

“What are you on about now?” inquired the headmaster, sitting at his desk, filing paperwork for the new batch of students

“The day is coming, Ozpin. You know as well as I do. The silver clad warrior reminded, strolling towards the headmasters desk, his voice booming in the empty room

“Indeed, they will not sleep forever. But how much longer do we have?”

“A few more years, at least. Long enough to prepare the newest crop.” He sighed, the purple glow of his eyes fading out for a moment “Just pray they are enough.” With that, the silvered knight departed, retrieving an enormous sheath and the swords within as he passed by the doorway “I have work that must be done. Make sure the assassin is properly contained, we don't want that maniac getting out before his time.”
With that, he disappeared,somehow making his way out of the school unnoticed.
[today]
“Ozpin, the new students will be arriving soon” reminded Glynda Goodwitch, looking over the roster “Some of them seem, different, somehow. It's almost as if-”
“As if what, Glynda?” the professor interrupted “Never mind, would you like to do a rehearsal speech?” the headmaster chuckled “How many years have I been doing this, Glynda?” the teacher sighed
“Too many, I think.”
“I fear you may just be right.”

[That afternoon, Beacon Academy landing zone]
A brown haired teacher stands at the cliff, watching the inbound shuttles, beside him, a sharp eyed young man, wearing the beacon uniform “So, excited to meet your new schoolmates?” the teacher asked “Underclassmen, not like I'll be living with them,” he reminded “I should get back to the dorm, the rest of the team is waiting or me.” the teacher patted his son on the shoulder “Say hi to your cousins for me, Garen. And keep them away from the new students. The three of them can be... intimidating, at a glance.” the hawk-eyed boy nodded in agreement “Good luck with the recruits, dad.” Grey chuckles nervously “Let's just hope I don't need it.”
(Your characters are on the first airship. 4 rounds until next GM post. BEGIN!)

One of the perks of spending a large majority of your life on a boat was that you ended up developing a tremendous tolerance to motion sickness. Battering waves and torrential downpours makes for excellent stomach conditioning and ensures you have a steady pair of legs. And when push came to shove, you needed to be able to survive under pressure to make sure that the ship stayed afloat in the severe conditions that plagued the sea. It had been years since there had been a situation, at least one that didn’t involve Grimm, that managed to unnerve Leon.

At sea that is.

The fledgling hunter got an abrupt wake up call about this distinction as he was sucker punched with a long dormant fear of heights. You know, after he was already several thousand, horrifying feet above the the all too reassuring ground.

“This isn’t right,” he mumbled to himself, steeling his resolve to not throw up, “you can't just give gravity the middle finger like this.” Any sensible person would look away from a sight that caused such anxiety, but unfortunately Leon was the stubborn type that downright refused to admit to himself that something as dumb as looking out a window could make him freak out. With one hand on the glass for structural support and the other on his stomach for mental support, Leon couldn’t wait for the ridiculous ship to come to a halt. Preferably without crashing in flames, but he was getting less and less picky by the minute, as his scrunched up face all but announced to everybody aboard the airship.

He traced the engraving in the polished wooden grip of the gun with his fingers for the hundredth time since the airship took off. The same symbol he'd put on his armor. It felt different to hold something that had belonged to his father than to just look at pictures, like he was somehow closer. Sighing Jason slipped the revolver back into its dark leather holster, shifting a little as he was still trying to get used to the extra weight. He leaned against the wall to look out at the city below.

"Man everything looks so different from up here." He mumbled, leaning closer to the glass trying to get a better view. "I think I can see my hou... Nope that's the zoo."

His eyes were drawn to someones disgruntled mumbling, seeing someone about his height but thinner looking almost as green as the pants he was wearing. He barely managed to suppress a chuckle at that thought.

Lyle had managed to squeeze herself into one of the corners, where she hopefully wouldn't attract too much attention since everyone seemed to be focusing on the windows, and seeing an aerial view of Vale wasn't really that interesting to her.

In fact, she'd really prefer nobody pay much attention to her at all, she was still pretty self conscious about her scars and too many people approached her for the wrong reasons. The stares weren't exactly appreciated either, come to think of it.

In any event she was doing her best not to attract stares, keeping her eyes on the ground and wearing her hood up to obscure at least some of her face. She knew she wouldn't be able to get away with keeping hidden like this forever, but the longer she was able to keep out of notice the better.

After takeoff, Ferrin spent the first part of the ride with his sketchbook working on an idea that had been bouncing around his head for awhile. Eventually he got bored and sighing he put it away to look out the windows at the view. As he stood up and strolled over to the large windows, that ran the length of the craft and made up each wall, he heard people whispering. "Look at his arm..." "What is that?" Is it him?" He slightly self-consciously tugged the sleeve of his duster down over his right arm. I guess no matter where I go I'm still going to stand out of a crowd. He thought to himself. He wasn't entirely displeased by that thought. He look around at all the people on the airship with him, wondering which of them will be his teammates at Beacon. Ah well, it doesn't matter. Ferrin thought to himself smugly.

Diana buried her nose in her book as the airship took off, she had her hood up and tried her best to ignore the chattering of the other initiates and just hoped nobody would try to talk to her. Behind the cover of her book, a thick novel by one of her favorite authors, Diana fidgeted with the heart shaped locket that hung from a thin gold chain around her neck, she flipped it open briefly and looked at the picture of a man with a wiry build and auburn hair and a woman with kind brown eyes that were near mirrors of her daughter's far less innocent orbs. Not for the first time Diana wondered what her parents would think of her if they were still alive, shaking her head free of that pointless train of thought Diana closed the locket and tucked it under her t-shirt, then she turned her attention back to her book as a small thrill of anticipation ran through her body, she was nearly on her way to becoming a Huntress, she just hoped she wouldn't need to spend more time than necessary with the other students, they would just get in her way.

Among the hustle and bustle of the excited students, eager to admire the view or get to know there fellow future classmates, a gentle rasping noise could be heard. It repeated at rhythmic almost meditative pace. Those who cared to find the source of this add noise would find Cinis Vulcan doing what she often did when she didn't have much else to do. She worked on her sword. The young woman's dark eyes were focused only on the blade in her lap, and the careful yet firm motion of her sharpening stone. The Gladius was an old family weapon, and she took great care in keeping it battle ready. She supposed that anywhere else she'd be an intimidating sight. A young woman so casually and expertly honing the edge of her blade as if she had violence in mind. But here, among this crowd, she was just another student. The thought made her smile a little. It would be nice, in a way, to get away from her family and their reputation for a time. She couldn't walk the streets of her home town these days with getting some unpleasant looks from someone. But here, the name of 'Vulcan' would care less weight. Her smile turned a bit rueful. ~Not that I intend to hid my family name. That's why your here right? To whip away your parents folly with your valor. To make the Vulcan family name once more stand for something worthy of your history.- She could only hope it was as easy to do as it was to think. From there, her thoughts turned to her team. She was...apprehensive at the random selection process that academy tended to use. But they had all been accepted, surly they'd all be as serious and determined to be master hunters and huntresses as she was.

Norsun sighed as he pushed his way through a group blocking the passage to the viewing area, the sound coming out more like a growl as it made its way through the gas mask on his face. This earned him a few odd glances, but they were easily ignored, the Faunus used to the questioning looks, and ignored them as they disappeared from sight once he was past, the immense weapon on his back hiding them from view. He thought he heard a grumble from someone as it bounced gently off of them, but Jet Stream was surprisingly light for the moment. Either way he didn't bother to respond, doggedly trying to escape from the crowd. Norsun entered the viewing area, thankfully finding it quieter than the passageway he had just left, his heartbeat calming down now that he'd gotten some space to himself.

Norsun looked around the room for a distraction, trying to distance himself from the situation he was in. There was little here he found familiar, no sea breeze bringing the smell of salt, no roar of machinery as boats were readied for the next outing. None of the familiar comforts he had grown up with. All that was with in sight was clouds and people, and he had little experience with either. His mouth flexed inside as he fought the urge to take off the mask, unused to keeping it on for so long. Norsun had usually only donned it for quick trips into town, and it was rather humid inside, but it was less uncomfortable than the looks he received from most other Faunus and all humans for the rows of teeth his mouth held. They we're certainly no cute little bunny ears, and they marked him undeniably as a predator, a fact that often brought forth that primal fight or flight instinct in most who saw it.

Norsun made his way to a sitting area near a window, leaning Jet Stream against the armrest of the couch, a heavy thump as it hit the couch once he released it, and sat down, looking around quickly to confirm he was alone for the moment. A smile graced his lips as he loosened the straps on his mask, letting it hang from his ears slightly, a contented sigh escaping as the cold air hit his face, a look of relaxation coming upon him. He could feel a tooth growing loose as he habitually ran his tongue over them to check for such occurrences. He was tempted to yank it out, but it could wait for the moment.

He relaxed as he stared out the window, a small glare crossing his eyes as he tried to will the clouds away, looking for a break to catch sight of the sea he had once known as well as his back hand. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't missing what was left of his family, but those thoughts were what drove him as well, knowing they needed him here to keep their way of life. The thoughts of family brought a smile to his face as he placed his hand on the head of Jet Stream. For a moment nothing happened aside from a small pulse of blue light spreading from his hand, before it opened to reveal a handful of cartridges holding dust of various shades, blue making up the majority. He gingerly grabbed one of the blue ones, emptying a small bit of the blue powder onto the table in front of him before replacing it in the weapon, the head quickly closing back on itself. He spent a few moments shifting the blue sands around on the table, making small clusters close together, becoming unaware of the world around him in his task, before giving a nod and extending a hand towards the pile, sending a shock of pale blue Aura through it, a brief flash and light crackling noise revealing a small ice sculpture on the table now. He smiled with nostalgia as the form showed a young girl before him, no older than 13 at best in a plain dress. His sister had been one of the last things he'd seen as he'd boarded the ship, waving from the platform as he left. The memory of her waving form brought a smile to his face.

Tamn wasn't entirely sure she was enjoying flying, it wasn't that she didn't like it, so much as that she had to be cooped up inside this thing to manage it. She had spent the first few minutes of their ascent gawping out the window, she had never really seen the world from this high up before, and it was stunning. Before long however the awe had dissipated, leaving her tired from yet another practically sleepless night. Slumping down with her back against the window, she glanced around at the other new students, before turning her head to look back out the window. Her wolf ears flicking softly as heard a voice.
“This isn’t right, you can't just give gravity the middle finger like this.”
Glancing around she noted a boy leaning against the glass further along, looking slightly queasy, probably the one who had spoken. Silently chuckling, she blearily mused that giving gravity the middle finger was practically the definition of her semblance. She tilted her head back so it was leaning against the glass, letting out a yawn Tamn closed her eyes, her thoughts fading out as she snagged a few zzz's.

(making an early GM post because the order got all fucked up)
As the airship approaches Beacon, a hologram appears in the middle of the observation deck. it is of a short, somewhat attractive individual with light brown hair "Is this thing on? they ask in a very soft voice "Greetings students, I am Umuthi Iqhawe. normally Professor Goodwitch would handle this, but she's otherwise occupied," they look around the group
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
The hologram looks to the side "Did I get that right? they ask uncertainly, adding "Oh, good." as the hologram disappears
(3 rounds, you may continue. to keep things from stagnating too much, both teams can post at the same time, but the post order for members of each time must be followed.)

As the holographic greeting played out Cinis couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in an expression of mild skepticism. Well that had certainly been...different. She had expected something more formal? or better prepared. She rather hoped that didn't set the tone for the rest of her year, she wasn't sure she could bear it with out potential outbursts of frustration. And hat would be most unbecoming of a aspiring huntress. Never the less, that greeting meant they were nearly there. Time to get ready to land. She lifted her sword and checked the blade, making sure her work was finished to her satisfaction. With a swift practiced motion she slipped the blade back into its sheath and stood, giving her whole body a stretch after the time spent sitting down. She turned to look out the window and admire the sights. She was a long way from home, and she honestly liked it that way.

The holographic messenger did little to alleviate Leon's discomfort, but seeing a huntress made him decide to quit moping. After all, he didn't give up the freedom of the sea so that he could be such a wimp. Their was still a slight ocean scent to his scarf, which had become a staple part of his apparel, that he found reassuring.

Tearing his eyes away from the glass, at last, he scanned the unfamiliar faces around him once more. Some looked confident while others seemed to shy away. Leon had fallen into the latter category, so to make up for it he felt a need to drag somebody else our of their shell. Even if he had to do it with them kicking and screaming. Especially if they are kicking and screaming, he silently mused.

There were a number of valid targets, such Ms. Bookworm in one corner and the male faunus staring out the window, but one he chose had chosen a different corner. Hood up and eyes down, the initiate had a good feeling he knew exactly what type of person he was dealing with. Through sheer force of willpower, Leon shrugged off his queasiness and strode over to his unsuspecting victim.

"You know," he said, taking a squat so he could look Lyle in the eyes, "I have never heard of a person successfully staring a hole into the ground, but you definitely seem committed." He waited a brief moment before adding with a smile, "I'm Leon by the way."

Ferrin only half-listened to the holographic message after it said Professor Goodwitch was otherwise occupied. He thought furiously about what could be so important to occupy one of the top teachers at Beacon from attending the first day of the school year. Peace? Yeah right. After that disturbance last year I have a feeling peace will become a distant memory. he thought pessimisticly to himself. He felt no urge to talk to anyone, preferring to be alone with his thoughts. Altough what he really wanted to do, he coulden't because what he needed was packed away with his luggage. "I knew I should have grabbed it when I had the chance. Oh well." He muttered Maybe I'll catch some Zs untill we arrive." With that he sat down crosslegged, put his back to the wall and pretended to go to sleep.

"Oh, good." As the hologram blinked off Jason couldn't help a small smile from appearing at the speakers verbal floundering.

The general air of excitement from the rest of the passengers and quite chatter increased as well, giving the area a pleasant buzz of anticipation. As Jason pondered the words of the hologram, a familiar feeling whenever something important was about to happen crept into him. A mild tightness in his stomach accompanied by the an inkling that something or everything was about to go horribly wrong.

Don't do this to yourself you idiot. Taking a deep breath, he did his best to push the thoughts from his mind before they could take hold. Slowly releasing his breath he felt the tightness leave with it, the unease turning to the excitement he'd felt upon first boarding the ship. With that his mind was once again draw to the new weight of antique iron wrapped in dark leather at his leg. He rested his hand against the wooden grip, feeling over the engraving and small blemishes it had gathered over its long life.

I wonder if you felt this way too.

He resumed his gazing out to the city below, wondering at what would be next.

Norsun stood as the figure in the hologram disipated, reafixing the mask back to his face, inwardly cringing at the sauna like effect, as the small ice statuette melted quickly on the table. He'd have to work on fixing that problem if he was going to be wearing the damn thing more often now, but there'd be time for that later. He extended his semblance to Jet Stream as he picked it up, attaching the handle a clasp on his back, and could see many of the others handling their own weapons now that they were nearing the end of the trip.

Nor had to admit that this was one of the things he was enjoying about his new setting. Weapons of all kinds could be seen, most varying from one student to the next, from the standard models most aspiring hunters could grab from any store, to a few that had been customized to the point of barely resembling a weapon of any sort. Although one had caught Nor's attention early in, a few whispers from other students making it obvious that they had noticed as well. It seemed the young, , seemingly battle scarred, man had a gauntlet of unusual design. It wasn't that unusual a weapon choice among the more martial arts inclined, but the design seemed more organic, the usual bulkieness of dust infused combat gauntlets apparently missing.

Nor could see the young man seemed to be sleeping for the moment, and figured it'd be best not to bother him for the moment, but curiosity niggled at the back of his mind. He found himself walking towards the sleep in figure, mentally talking himself into what he knew he was going to do regardless. Besides it wasn't like he was,going to take the damn thing apart, he was simply going to observe it.

Convinced of the innocence of such an act, Nor found himself crouched mere inches from the sleeping form, eyes gazing at the smoothly constructed weapon. Nor was having trouble figuring out how it could have any offensive capabilities, being so thin he doubted it could do more than cover the arm within. He felt the need to investigate further, digging through his pockets and retrieving a pen, staring up at the owners face for a moment to assure he was still in a slumber, before gently using the pen to slowly raise the arm of the coat, trying to figure out how high the gauntlet went, marveling at the elegant designs.

Diana looked up from her book after the hologram had cut out, internally she indulged in a loud mental snort of derision at the woman's words, or had it been a man? The person's voice and body struck her as odd. Anyway, after that little bit of idiotic naiveté she was feeling irritable, who the hell was dumb enough to actually believe that crap about upholding peace, or even that there was a peace to uphold, Diana knew differently, while things might be nice for the upper and middle classes of the Kingdoms, those below them still lived hard, and often short, and hopeless lives working for barely enough to get by on. Looking around at her fellow initiates Diana saw an odd sight, a tallish boy in a gas mask was fiddling with what looked to be some sleeping guy's robotic arm. Diana shrugged, people were weird, and the Hunter profession seemed to attract the weirdest, not that she could throw stones at that particular glass house, she was an antisocial ex-criminal who still picked the pockets of people who annoyed her for her own amusement, either that or froze them in a block of ice, electrocuted them or set their pants on fire. Rolling her eyes, Diana went back to her book.

Lyle's attempt to remain mostly unnoticed or ignored had failed, it seemed, as a voice she couldn't pretend wasn't directed at her vied for attention. With a resigned sigh she looked up to view her new unwanted companion, shadows from her hood no longer obscuring her face the gruesome scars were easily visible, and when she spoke her voice gave away her sex even less than androgynous face did.

“Well you know, I wanted to be the one doing the staring for once. So out of all the people here to talk to, why'd you choose the one who clearly wants to be left alone?” Her tone of voice was difficult to interpret but it seemed to fall somewhere between standoffish and teasing, though there was clearly no malice behind her words.

Blinking awake at the sound of a voice, Tamn regarded the 'human' with curiosity, sure, she had seen holograms before, but not that often. The given message seemed a bit…… under dramatic? Or was that just the way it was delivered? They probably don't want to freak people out just yet. she thought, shifting so she was sitting in a more comfortable position. Her train of thought was then directed on a different track as she realized how very little she knew about this school. She had heard it was a place she would learn to become a hunter, someone to eradicate Grimm, and that had been enough for her to apply, but really? she had no idea what she was leaping into. Resolutely deciding she really needed more information, Tamn sprung to her feet, picking her target and weaving her way over to where he was staring out the window. Standing behind and to his right she tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, do you know much of what the school's like?" She asked, "Or what it's said to be like, anyway." she hastily added after it clicked that they were all newcomers.

As it turned out, she put up her sharpening too soon. She had assumed that they would be landing in the next minute or two after the announcement...but she still didn't feel the airship descending at all. Seemed she had jumped the gun and now her restless energy had no output. Cinis was a woman of action. She often had trouble staying still or content when she had no task to occupy her energy. Patients, outside of a fight at least, had never been a strong suite of hers. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sheathed sword, her fingers drumming restlessly on the smooth surface. She had been sitting still for too long and had to burn some energy or she was going to burst into flames.

But there wasn't much in the way of options for her to do anything really, even if they were not yet landing they would be in the very near future. She had already put up her weapon maintenance gear into her pack and getting out again simple to put it right back up once they did land didn't sit well with her herself of productivity. She turned away for the view. They were so high up the ground below them hardly seemed to be moving at all and the perceived slow pace maddened her restless spirit further. She decided then she needed to stretch her legs, walking about the cabin was better than standing still wishing for something to do.

The raven haired girl began to carefully walk her way about the ship's cabin. She had to take extra care. While the ship wasn't overly crowded she did have shield strapped to her back that was nearly as tall as her and almost as wide of two of her put together. She was well used to its size and weight so moving with it was not a problem to her anymore, but maneuvering a crowd without jostling anyone was something of a challenge at times. Especially a group as distracted and excited as hunters and huntresses in training about to arrive at school.

While she walked she took in her peers, wondering who among these many students would be her team members. It was impossible to say, and foolish to place hopes for anyone specific. Especially since she didn't know any of them. While she was going to Beacon that was partly because she wanted away from her home while she trained for a better chance at a fresh start. Everyone she knew was still in Mistral. And even when she had been training at Sanctum she hadn't been the most social. She didn't really know anyone here she realized with a odd moment of loneliness. Her brothers and sisters, her only real friends, were all back home. She pushed the thought away and refocused on looking about the cabin.

That when she noted a young man with a mask getting horribly close to a sleeping fellow. She frowned slightly, she didn't know what exactly was happening but she knew it wasn't polite to be that close to someone, much less disturb a sleeping individual. she re settled herself, carefully near a reading woman and decided to observe what happened between them. If things looked like trouble perhaps she would intervene.