Diamond was watching the processing. Unlike others she was in no hurry to go help the person, fuck no! What if whatever he was dying of was contagious? She was all for helping people, but she always came first. If Oswald and... Manganese guy fancied growing black eyes, good for them, she'll be right here. Other people can get creepy sick, people actually paid for it. Emerald seemed to have a similar idea, kissing the floor right after returning her hat. Note to self: No horror movie nights unless planning revenge. the thief though as she bent down, loading the unconscious cat over her shoulder and heading for their dorm.

Once there, she put the faunus on her bed and went to fetch a glass of water for when the lights turned back on. Sitting at the edge of the bed, she gave Emmy a look: "You know, this is the second time in two weeks you were out cold and I had to haul you here. I'm thinking maybe a scary night is in order to make you a bit resistant to things." She chuckled, "Not taking you out drinking agin though, you're hopeless there and a mean drunk."

Sangue Naga - Math

The red-haired woman nodded, feeling drowsiness wear her down. She made sure to study a bit of Calculus before jumping into Beacon, but it still wore her down like a giant golden cow.

But Ben had a point. Looking like a lazy person right after just barely being accepted by Beacon seemed like a bad idea, especially for Benjamin Lloyd, their team leader. If anything, she needed to be thankful that she was not paired up by supremely egotistic hunters.

If only she had those styrofoam ball thingies. Then she could draw out a dot for two and plaster them over her delicate pair of eyes. Surely it could at least bring a thirty minute nap-

No, if Ben was not doing it, then she shouldn't. She did not enjoy looking bad in front of her teammates, let alone her leader. Even if she was a bit quiet.

But in the case that Ben could not handle the graphs and the application functions, she would be ready to help him. The same went for her teammates, really.

"Don't stress... yourself out," she spoke quietly (as usual). "We are friends.. right?"

She wondered if she was getting better at this socializing thing. With that in mind, she solved a problem she had nearly completed earlier. Her expression remained idle as ever.

@Krayzikk

"Little stress is part of the job." Ben's neck cracked quietly as he stretched, making him wince internally about the last time he'd heard that sound. Still, he felt marginally better than he did when that fight ended. He wasn't actively bleeding, and the Tylenol was doing wonders to at least keep him from noticing how sore he was. The young man looked over at his teammate, relatively focused (more than he was, at least) on her paper, with a half smile. "Thanks for the concern, though. It's not too bad. Might actually be good for me, all things considered. Forces me to goof off a little less. Work ethic was always my weakest point."

"And of course we're friends." His half grin widened, replaced by a bright, friendly grin. "Not just friends, either. You're my teammate. Means I trust you to watch my back, and as much as someone else'd probably do a better job, you can trust me to watch yours."

His grin expanded to rival the Cheshire Cat. "Though with the egos in this room, even I'm better than the alternative."

The music had been an increasing volume in the background for a while now, but one he'd been trying to tune out. When it finally grew loud enough to overcome his attempts to ignore it, half the class was already vacating the room. Amy's hearing was making things much worse for her, and his eyes narrowed.

"Any chance Amy can move?"

Violet merely looked at both boys, she didn't recall ever sparring with them before. It was of no matter, as soon as Akashi said 'ready' she went into action, she 'marked' Akashi with her semblance before diving towards Amber and performing a sweeping kick at his legs, attempting to knock him off his feet before rolling away and jumping back to her feet, expecting Akashi to take a shot at them she ducked behind a crate.

Amber back flipped onto the the crates behind him as Violet swiped at his legs. Aiming his Twin Shot at Violet, he fired his now orange round right at her. The bullet exploded in a small fiery eruption as fire infused lighting lashed out in random directions.

"Quick off the mark, are we Vi?" Akashi chuckled as he quickly collapsed Black Eclipse and placed it behind him before quickly taking a step back from the girl.Back flipping a few times to a safe distance, he saw Amber take aim at Violet and fired, what he didn't expect was the shot that Amber took flew everywhere."Yikes! Was that on purpose or was that a mistake?!" the brown haired archer shouted to his comrade, before hitting the wall, hard. "That was also not supposed to happen, but!" flipping onto the wall, he pushed himself off hard with his legs diving straight back into the fray, quickly cocking his right arm, he fired a well placed strike into Amber's chest. It was an attack to make him move, and taking it head on was a very bad idea.

Violet felt the heat from the explosions as she narrowly dove out of harms way. Akashi had decided to attack Amber, and that was fine. It gave Violet a chance to slip away. She quickly hid behind one of the loading vehicles as she reformed her bow, all the while keeping track of Akashi with her semblance, if Akashi ever tried to move towards her, she'd automatically be aware of it.

After Amber shot his first combo round, he shoved in two greens as Violet ran away while Akashi yelled at him from afar. "It was planed, and I have more up my sleeve too." As Akashi dived at him, he rolled off a random crate, and quickly took off into the opposite direction.

Getting far enough where he thought no one could see him, Amber started to blend into his surroundings, "Good luck finding me."

"Ahhhh....." As Akashi skidded to a halt, he saw that both his teammates were now hidden from him. "Oi, wasn't this suppose to be a sparing match?"

Quietly, Akashi waited for a response before sighing to himself. The annoyed boy took out his weapon and soon knotted another the arrow into the bow. "Alright then, lemme get this back on track then guys!" smirking to himself, he soon raised the Black Eclipse into air and began firing several arrows high into the sky. Gravity quickly did its job and his arrows landed all across the battlefield. "Since we are playing the hide and seek game, that you two like so much," a dark grin took place on his face, "Why don't you come out and play nice?"

As if on cue, the arrows that Akashi spread around the area started to beep loudly as the bottom of the arrows flashed. "Now I wonder what that can be?" he asked childishly, "could that be my explosive arrows?"

Akashi's rhetorical question was answered with an arrow flying straight towards him, if the arrogant boy had spent less time standing around talking, maybe he would have heard Violet stealthy making her way towards him, stopping behind a nearby crate, and then stepping out while firing her shot. She didn't even need to see him with her eyes, as little did Akashi know that he was marked by Violet's semblance. She knew where he was at all times, and the arrow that she had fired was also laced with a paralyzing poison, just for good measure.

Amber slowly made his way around the make shift area, and as he moved towards the general area of the two sparring partners, he was going to get up behind the two a surprise attack the both of them. Suddenly, Akashi's arrows landed around the poor boy with one dangerously close to his position. Worried, he started to move faster, trying to get away from the exploding arrows with his camouflage trying to keep up with the faster pace.

Akashi had narrowly dodged the arrow sailing towards him at high speeds, and that certainly brought him out of his talkative mood. "Fine then," smiling once more before turning serious, "Let's play then."

Akashi then pressed a button on his weapon, and the arrows that he had fired previously exploded all around him, debris and dust quickly filling the area masking everyone's presence.

He soon fired another arrow into Violet's crate, and quickly detonated it without hesitation, Akashi soon started to run, skidding behind a thick support beam. The archer was soon reloading another case of arrows into the Black Eclipse. "Gotta thank them, they really know how to fight."

The explosions proved to be a large distraction that Violet could easily take advantage of, and as the smoke filled the room, Violet quickly moved to find new cover as staying in one place was simply suicide. She then found herself behind yet another crate, just as Akashi destroyed the previous one with another explosion.

As Violet squinted her eyes at the cloudy room, it was impossible to see very far through the cloud of dust, even with her sharp faunus eyes. However, she worried not. If she relied solely on her eyes to find her prey, she wouldn't be a very good predator. The wolf had her ears, her sense of smell, and of course Akashi was still marked with her semblance. She didn't need to physically see him to know where he was. Amber would just be more difficult to locate with his camouflage, and his own faunus senses could prove quite dangerous in the smoke.

For now she couldn't worry about Amber, she needed to focus on the target at hand. In the distance, she could barely make out the support beam, and she could sense Akashi was in that direction. However, with her semblance, she could easily tell that he was just behind a steel beam. She quietly reached behind her back for her sheath of arrows, feeling the arrows until her fingers found the one she wanted. Violet pulled it out, putting it into her bow before raising it and pulling back the string, aiming towards the beam. If Akashi liked explosion so much, he was going to love this! She let go, sending the arrow flying out of the bow, gliding towards the beam, it barely missed as the arrow flew past, or was it not the intended target? The arrow landed just behind the beam, right where Akashi was, and it exploded into a small inferno as the arrow had been laced with fire dust.

Amber heard someone moving quickly, he started to pace himself even further to follow the two. Letting his semblance drop, he used the cover of the dust to hide himself. This is getting crazier and crazier. Let us add some more fun to the mix. He pointed his gun, not at where he thought Violet was, but at the guy blowing up their once nice arena. His ears soon picked up Akashi talking once again. Firing the shot, the bullet hit something causing a harsh gush of wind pushing the smoke away while knocking back/away anything in the area.

Akashi was soon regretting being the center of attention. His actions and words had certainly cut of his work for him. First, it was an explosion that soon turned into an inferno. With that, Akashi’s train of though was derailed and he was shifting his priority to getting to safety, which meant finding a new place to take cover.

Unfortunately for him…or fortunately, (However you want to put it) a strong gust of wind quickly blew away his smoke, and hopefully the raging fire would also have been put out. Luckily, that was the case for Akashi. But somehow, the fire was now on his clothing, burning a large hole into his favorite shirt. “Ah man, not my clothes!” he whined. Despite his cry over his clothes, Akashi Mayhiro failed to realize that Amber’s wind bullet had not only blew the fire, it had blew the smoke away too.

The wind had swept him off his feet, sending him flying into the stone wall once again. Akashi quickly got his mind back into gear. He twisted his body so that his feet were flat on the wall, and as the two came together, he bent his knees, enduring the wind trying to flatten him into the wall.

Once the attack ended, Akashi fell onto the ground with a loud thud, still lightly gripping onto his weapon. While on the floor, he took the opportunity to place his ears the ground to track the two of his two teammates via their footsteps, all while feinting to be unconscious.

“Come on then.” His mind had formulated a plan, but in order to carry it out: Amber and Violet would have to take the first move.

It appeared Akashi was down for the count, at least he wasn't moving at any rate. Was he unconscious? There was no way to be certain, but for now, Violet thought it would be wise to focus on her other opponent, Amber. Amber's weapon was loud when it fired, so when he had started to fire upon Akashi, she knew the general area that he had to be hiding in. Violet silently drew another arrow, this one loaded with another dust type, water. She aimed up at the ceiling and let loose another arrow. The missile flew gracefully into the air, it made a silent thud as it hit the ceiling above the area. The area where Amber had to been standing in the entire time. The dust inside the arrow then went off, the ceiling under Amber quickly become a flood of water that rained down on everything below. And with Amber below, it would be almost impossible without him getting soaked.

Amber smiled at the little show that he made with Akashi. One down and one to go.

He rotated the cylinder on his rifle so the last two shots would line up for the next shots. First up, he had loaded a water round and then a lightning round. Just as he lined them up, Amber was suddenly drenched in water. "Really Violet? If I smelled you could have just told me. Maybe after this, I can get you wet?" Moving another few feet to his left, he hid behind some cover, trying to pin point the location of Violet.

Soon, Akashi could feel the footsteps of his comrade as they made their moves, yet the brown haired hunter opted not to move instantly. Getting up and moving with the cloudy room gone would easily shift the focus back onto him. Right now, he was relying on his hearing skills for the right course of action. His thoughts were right. Not even for a solid minute, the footsteps ceased, and was now replaced by...raindrops? Not that he didn't mine the rain, he zoned out for a bit, listening to the pitter patter of the water created by whoever.

As Amber had started to speak, Violet was indeed somewhere below where her arrow had struck, and the resulting effect had gotten her comrade soaked. The slightest smirk grew on her face, now she didn't need to know where he was, at least not exactly. She readied another arrow, this time, one was laced with lighting dust. She soon aimed at the wet floor, not far from where she'd heard him speaking. Amber had to be hiding somewhere nearby. So, she released it, and the arrow flew straight and true, striking the ground. As it did, the arrow erupted into a spectacular display of light and electricity.

Now as many learn in school, electricity conducts very well in water. Unfortunately, for poor Amber, not only was the floor he was standing in soaked in water, but he was always covered in water. The electricity did as it was expected to do in water, it traveled through the wet floor, and then most likely through Amber. Unless he could move faster than electricity itself, he was in for a shock.

While Amber did move from the center of the puddle, he didn't move quick enough to be out of the water all together. Before he could realize his fatal mistake, a current of electricity flowed though the boy and sent him into a spasming fit. Amber cried out in pain. After the fit, he was laying on the ground breathing heavily with a pissed off look on his face.

"You...are.....so....dead." he managed to wheeze out.

Violet lowered her bow, as far as she was concerned the fight was over. Akashi was down for the count, and the cries of pain she'd heard from Amber confirmed her attack had been a success, she seriously doubted he was in any condition to keep fighting. She put away her weapon and stepped out from her hiding place.

"This fight is over, neither of you are in any condition to fight."

Amber started getting up onto his feet as Violet finished talking. Mustering up his strength, he started making his way over to her her. Keeping himself, hopefully, out of her vision tell he got close and tried to grapple her.

In all honesty, Violet had not been expecting Amber to attempt to grapple her. Violet had mistakenly assumed that Amber would stop fighting once his aura was in the red, and so was taken by surprise when Amber lunched at her. She managed to reach out with her hands as Amber grabbed her, and reached for his face, attempting to push hard against his temples to get him to back off.

Amber smiled with malicious intent as soon as he got a hold of Violet. "Gotcha" Aiming his rifle at the ground he fired the second to last round at the ground causing anything in the area to become wet. A second later he fired the last round in his rifle causing lightning to lash out at nearby things, including giving Amber another painful shock. Amber fell over hard onto the ground completely out like a light.

Violet struggled to get out of Amber's grip, but was little too late. As the electricity went through both their bodies all Violet could do was grit her teeth as the attack ate up her aura. Of course Amber took the hit as well and since he was unable to withstand another electrical shock collapsed on the ground. Violet felt to her knees, panting loudly as she regained control of her body's functions.

"Bloody fool..." Violet spat out angrily, before looking up towards the ceiling. "Well? Are we done here?" She called out, expecting that familiar voice that had no face to respond to her call.

"Indeed. The three of you are meeting expectations. Take the rest of the day off to recuperate and liven up. It is important that you do not develop lasting resentments against one another. Be advised that the final member of Midnight Squad will be joining you shortly."

Gren Orchid

Gren could see from a distance the commotion going on, the lone humanoid figure that arrived and everyone rushing to his aid. Sapphire and Oswald nearly bowled over everyone to get to him, though surprisingly to Gren Cobalt managed to get to the boy first. Though he was too far away to make out any details, Gren had a sneaking suspicion that Sapphire was giving his opponent a hard time. Gren would have to find him later and apologize on Sapphire's behalf. Gren shortly debated going to help himself, but refrained from it seeing that he couldn't catch up to them in time. He might just get in the way and there were already plenty of others on site to help. Gren was about to leave when Shirp arrived, shortly after the his message did. Gren was going to message Abel himself in the event that Shiro couldn't find him, but seeing that the disaster was averted there was no real need for Abel to arrive.

"Business as usual. Sapphire going off doing her own thing without telling any of us, then taking command. A problem of hers; she demands respect and authority when she's done nothing to earn it. I've been meaning to talk to her about it, but she seems to find any chance she can to get away from her own teammates." If Gren had a cape this would be when the wind would blow and cause it to billow through the air heroically. Now that he thought of it, having an armored cloak with his symbol emblazoned on it... Maybe with a hood too, so he could do the mysterious stranger look... Gren put that on his to-do list. It was low priority however as he had other things to worry about, namely the fact that he and Shiro were here alone.

"Ever since we returned from our mission I've wondered what we could have done better. I will admit the way we handled things were... Less then optimal. I was trigger happy; I thought I was facing against unspeakable horrors. But what I've found instead were victims of circumstances, circumstances which has condemned them, and made us enemies. And this is because of our lack of communication. Shiro, our team doesn't really talk to each other. You and I are partners, but I hardly know you, and you hardly know me. Sapphire seems intent on maintaining a sense of unfamiliarity and Abel keeps to himself too much. We have to fix this. But before we go helping others, we'd have to help ourselves."

Gren turned towards Shiro (Hopefully with the sun against his back for dramatic effect) before looking at his white-tiger faunas friend. "Do you have time to talk? There is a matter I wish to discuss with you at length."

Sangue Naga

Math was over. Fascinating.

Sangue felt her focus shatter the instant moment she stopped focusing on her work, music blaring into her ears. She looked around confusedly as she blinked, unable to comprehend a fitting comment for the situation.

"..."

The woman looked around, turning her head softly as her eyes zipped around wherever her head turned. She soon turned back to Ben, her expression idle as usual.

"...A quiet place sounds nice," she admitted, remembering the sweet calmness of the early portions of Math.

The red-haired swordswoman lightly tugged at Ben shoulder as she stood up.

"...Let's... go help."

@Krayzikk @Kaithas

Lauren Negasi

Lauren looked up to the approaching Ben and Sangue, and then back to Amy Desire. The music had stopped not a minute ago, but Lauren wasn't quite sure if it would start up again; moreso, she was still pretty concerned that her teammate's eardrums might still be ringing around inside her head doing god-knows-what to her senses. Lauren bit down on her lip in nervous thought and nudged the headphones off of Amy's right ear.

"Desire? Are you good?" she asked, trying to smile with her chewed-on bottom lip. She had to make the effort not to infuse any excitement into her voice, and found it more difficult than she could've ever guessed. But something told her that typical Negasi wasn't exactly what Amaranth needed at the moment. "Ben and Sangue are coming. If you don't wanna move...well, we're on your schedule, girl. Right, guys?"

Shiro turned 'round and listened intently as Gren spoke. Giving him the quiet respect of speaking uninterrupted. Raising his gloved hand to his brow, he shielded his eyes from the sun as Gren stood with it to his back. Making it hard for the feline faunus and his sensitive eyes to see him.

Sitting down and crossing his legs, Shiro reached behind him and pulled his hood over his ears to help shade his vision. For a moment, Shiro mulled over his friend's words. He was right after all. Every bit of it. Now, Shiro didn't mind telling his comrade what he wanted to know about his past. As long as he didn't pry too deeply to make him uncomfortable. There were things he wanted to at least try keep under wraps, if he could. Otherwise, he trusted Gren. He could easily open up to him and Abel, at least.

"O-okay. What do you want to talk about? Shoot."

Vega Venetia (VGNB) and Sarina Tala Dei (SSC)

…Really you two upstand me like that in an entire class…

Gratia walking out on her had annoyed Vega to a scathing degree. At least Napoli had the decency to decline her request but she was irked by his request. “Your choice, I will see you later!” Tsk, assholes as she walked out of the classroom and made a brisk pace to the source of the music.

--

Vega had caught up with Sarina to the source of the music. Why is their large music playing at this time? Why does not the faculty know about it? “Look” Vega whispered. The pair noticed a boy who fell upon Fullbuster arms who looked to odd to be in Beacon with his tattered clothes. What the… “Let’s go.” Vega nodded and the two followed briskly behind the students carrying the student.

The two then arrived in front of the Infirmary, casually walking up to the three students conversing among each other. “Anything you can tell me about the individual in the infirmary?”

The sudden arrival of Robert in Ozpin's office was an unexpected surprise, but from the boy's tone, exhaustion, and troubling words, the headmaster got the distinct impression that something was very wrong. Moving with a surprising haste given his age, Ozpin marched from his office with Robert in disorderly pursuit, and behind him the two new students. Quickly and efficiently he descended the flight of stairs, mulling over the things that the teamless leader had told him. Embodiment, did he say? Where had he heard that before...? On the way, the headmaster told the three boys to leave him and return to their business. “This is school business, no concern of yours. Return to class.” His tone made it clear that he would be brooking no nonsense.



With a loud squeal, the infirmary door was thrown open, and in marched Beacon's principle. Though normally a man to wear a look of casual curiosity, as if some great knowledge lay behind his eyes for students to discover, Ozpin now bore a visage of utter seriousness. He approached the bedside, saying in a quiet but clear manner, “Students, please leave now. Algernon, go with them and continue your class as usual; there's still at least twenty minutes before the bell. Make sure to properly penalize any absentees. Seniors, you have duties to attend to as well.”

After the math instructor had left with Cobalt, Oswald, and Sapphire, Ozpin stood by the unconscious boy's shoulder. He bent to examine the stitching around the mouth and turned up a surprising conclusion. Judging by appearance alone, it was somewhat elastic, and would stretch to permit the boy to drink and make some facial expressions. As Ozpin watched, the kid turned his odd eyes to look at him. When the air around the headmaster began to move, vibrating at complex frequencies to produce sounds, he listened intently. ”Thank...you. Be...ready. The Painter...follows.” Through narrowed eyes, Ozpin could see that the air within the boy's mouth vibrated too. Perhaps, he reasoned coolly, whoever did this to him was trying to keep whatever singularity of sound that lay within him from bursting out when his semblance was active. This semblance, in fact, was like nothing Ozpin had ever seen. It seemed to be constantly on, and totally untied to the boy's obviously depleted aura. It was more like...hmm. Semblances derived their name from old folk tales about beings with incredible power over forces in nature, practically akin to magic. Human characters in those stories, seeing these grand magics, labored to emulate them, so producing for each a 'semblance' of the power of the gods. This ability, however, combined with the distinctive tattoo, seemed to lend itself to the idea that it was an 'embodiment' of such power—a projection far beyond that of an ordinary person. To Ozpin's immediate knowledge, this was the first time he'd ever seen such a thing. It was a matter of no small concern, especially if this hyper-powerful kid seemed to be afraid of someone -or something- called 'The Painter'. Now was not, however, a good time to delve into the hardships inflicted upon him.

“What is your name?”

The air contorted itself to sound out a melodic reply. ”Jay...”

Ozpin spoke up before the boy could continue. “Don't worry any more, Jay. We will take care of you.”

Abel Fulgurate

“Someone call my name?”

Without proper warning, Abel was there. He looked at Shiro, then Gren, then back again, and held up his phone needlessly “Got your message. I followed the people with the kid for a way, but I didn't want to just hang around bein' useless so I came back. I don't know what's up with him. I heard someone saying that class isn't canceled though, so we oughta head back.” Shrugging, Abel waiting for one of his comrades to reply, not aware that he'd stepped into a potentially important conversation.

With that said, a loud banging sound rebounded through the entire warehouse as someone kicked open the door to the warehouse. The harsh sound echoed through the spacious room, and silence soon loomed over the trio of tired soldiers yet again.

Footsteps soon echoed through the building, they were light and slow, but somehow it could be heard quite distinctly. Soon, the footsteps started to become more distinct to the ones with excellent hearing, the person filling the shoes was getting closer and closer. Who is this new recruit? How powerful are they? Is the new recruit an adorable girl? All were equally important questions, and soon, all would be answered within the next few seconds.

After several suspenseful seconds, all three would notice that the stranger was finally in view, well, at least his shoe. With another large step, the entire body was visible. And... every expectation around him was quickly knocked down. He was short compared to his peers, Violet and Akashi were both around or above six feet tall, and Amber was most likely around his height of 5'11 (5'9 while slouching). Valin also looked like he had just gotten out of bed, one side of his hair was flattened down while the other side was perked up! It actually looked like he used a ton of hair gel to get his hair looking like that. His clothes looked displeasing to the eye as well, it looked like he was working for the mafia, a very poor mafia. Everything he was wearing was wrinkled or worn without wash, was he blind? An annoyed look on his face, he pulled out his cigarette case, opening it with one hand and pulling out one with his mouth. Valin's eyes darted across the three people before lighting the cigarette.

The grimy boy pulled the haphazard stick from his mouth, and when it looked like he was going to blow the smoke, he threw burning cigarette into his mouth, and crunched into it. His eyes continued to look around, his posture still looking really relaxed, and Valin continued to chew on the cigarette. With a few more chews, he swallowed the entire stick and gave a sly smirk at the trio, "Already fighting without me?" Valin squatted onto the floor, trying to level himself face to face with the people on the floor and still had that irritating looking smile. "How are you guys and gals doing?"

Gren Orchid

Stepping forward Gren used his own body to shade Shiro from the sun. he was going to speak when he noticed Abel arriving. Though Gren intended to speak to Shiro in private he suppose there was no harm for Abel to be here as well. At some point it was going to be brought up to him anyways, so no sense in keeping secrets between the three of them. "It's about your semblance."

Gren extended his hand to protect a hologram of Shiro back at the beginning, where he had some strange mood and fled from the hospital. "Ever since you ran away from us back then and told us that it's been linked to your Semblance, I've been concerned about your health. You mentioned that using your powers makes you forget things, like some sort of reoccurring amnesia. I don't know about you, Shiro, but that is unacceptable. I cannot in good conscience know that your own unique ability can harm you like that. Even if you're fine to settle with not using it ever again, I want to be able to help you bypass this weakness. Additionally, I wonder how much damage your semblance might have already caused you before you chose to refrain from using it. Do you remember much about yourself anymore? Family? Childhood? The past in general?"

The hologram continued to show Shiro get up from a bed and throw himself out a window, causing him to vanish. A few moments later it showed Shiro again curled up on the ground. From here a perspective mind would be able to tell that this hologram was actually a projection of what Gren had saw during that day, albeit at a third-person angle. "Fortunately there hasn't been a similar incident since then, but I want to make sure it never happens again. I need to know what your problem is Shiro. Do you even know what's wrong with you?" Gren knew he was coming off as a bit harsh, but the concern in his voice also spoke of his worry. He wasn't trying to insult or berate Shiro, but trying to find some sort of solution.

After he sternly issued an order to the newly acquainted team, Ozpin scanned over each of their faces to assure his words found their way into their skulls before taking his leave. The three were left in dead silence, with only the ambience of rustling trees and straggling students returning to their classes to compensate for the lack of conversation. Judging from how the other two uneasily moved in place, Delta was the only one who knew that the team leader they were tasked to seek was standing right beside them. Now the only challenge was breaking the ice.

The only leverage Grane had on Robert was merely a greeting and a few curses before a faculty member came to collect the two at the docks. It was a chance meeting, having arrived at the same time, they ended up bumping into each other. Literally. Delta, being the smaller of the two, obviously fell onto his rear, and was chastised for endangering the wellbeing of a certain beverage he later pledged to keep quiet about. After all, Grane did seem to be a bit on the older side, he had probably already built up a tolerance to alcohol. The same case applied to Delta, albeit he never consumed drinks designed to wash away the worries of adults, he had been around soldiers who inhaled more beer bottles than bullets they ever shot.

They could probably hold their liquor just as well as Grane, if not, even better.

The boy’s nose scrunched up at the memory of the smell of the stuff, which resulted in him letting out a tired sigh, the first noise emitted out of the trio. He made eye contact with the two and spent more time than necessary choosing his words. After all, this would technically be the first words to transpire between the recently founded, yet still incomplete team. It was to be considered a milestone event. ”Well… Er-”

”GET DOWN! IT’S A SEAGULL!” Whimpered Eve as it burrowed deeper into the makeshift leather pouch. Delta stared down at the embodiment of his semblance with only contempt in his eyes. He then looked up to the sky and confirmed that there was indeed the faint outline of a bird high above. For some odd reason, birds of flight always had a craving for the familiar, even though it held no nutritional value whatsoever. They were right under a ginormous tower, what else would they expect? Delta calmly zipped the pouch shut, which instantly incited muffled cries for sunlight.

The boy tugged on one of his hat’s straps and cleared his throat, ”As I was saying, we should proceed to our classroom, and drop our belongings off during lunch. Team leader, we’re still new to the campus. Would you mind leading the way?” His putting a little emphasis on his designation for Robert was his roundabout way of telling Grane that they had already completed their initial task. ”Oh, and um… Is there by chance a vending machine with canned coffee on the way?”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Delta sighed out of relief after he gulped down a sip of the bitter beverage. Better yet, the machine sold them already heated. Technology had surely come a long way. Nowadays, androids and abruptly surfaced dust applications took presidence in the news, but nobody spared any time for the little things which made everyday life just that much better. If Delta was an adolescent of faith, he would thank the deity or deities in power for giving the raw materials necessary to make such a convenient way to distribute coffee.

”Oi. Delta. Are you zoning out again? Wait, didn’t you have a cup of that stuff before we boarded the airship?” The student peered down at the tiny familiar sitting primly on his hat. He shook his head in response while running a hand through grey locks of hair. It felt odd with that piece of apparel absent, but his father advised to not wear his hat in class, as it was considered disrespectful by most teachers. Almost entirely circular eyes narrowed at his nonchalant composure, still not satisfied with the silent answer. ”Is it alright if I talk to Grane and Robert? I want to get to know our cohorts.” Following his normal fashion, Delta mutely nodded to give the little being of energy the go ahead.

Eve giddily jumped on the hat before pacing its way over to the edge of Delta’s desk, ”How’s it going you two? Oh, do any of you two have some spare notebook paper? Delta forgot to pack some this morning, and I’d like him to have a tangible version of his notes. History’s next, right? I hope Delta and Grane can get up to speed fast! Also, what’s for lunch today? Mind telling me a little bit about yourselves?” Eve machine-gunned multiple topics, after all, the semblance hadn’t gotten too many chances to speak with teenagers over the past years.

Delta’s gaze strayed off towards the doorway, where his and Grane’s luggage resided. A lethargic flow of students trickled into the classroom. Had all of them abandoned their seats for the spectacle which was a boy with a sewn mouth shrouded in mystery? There was only a few minutes left in the class. ”I wonder if the professor will introduce us. If I remember correctly, all of these students are in my next class, I think.” Delta thought to himself as he took another sip of the coffee. He could have fared just fine without the milk already mixed into the drink.

Skyra blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.
"Uhm, Moku? Are you alright?"
Of course she wouldn't have any idea that this probably might even have been Mokuren's first hug ever. Maybe she just destroyed a precious moment in her life without even noticing.
"Uh... I'm sorry!", Skyra uttered and let go of the shut-down girl.
"I didn't know you were uncomfortable with hugging. Was this your first ever hug? I hug people all the time. Well, the people I like anyways.", Skyra sputtered in quick succession.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Kuhaku Shiro - Beacon Academy Rooftops...

Shiro turned his head when Abel made his sudden and rather convenient appearance. "Well, that was fast." Listening for a moment, he then turned away when his friend was finished speaking. His ears drooped and his tail lazily swept the shingles behind him when Abel mentioned returning to the hellacious class period that was Mathematics.

"Awe, but I don't wanna go back.."
A little contradictory as he dreaded being late to class..
But didn't quite care that he was essentially skipping class.
Did it count against your attendance record if you appeared for roll call then dipped out? He didn't know.

Looking back to Gren, he removed his hood when the jolly green giant blotted out the light to protect his eyes from the glaring sun's rays. He smiled and was about to voice his thanks, until the next words that came from Gren's mouth questioned Shiro and his Semblance. His body grew rigid as he froze in place solid, his voice getting caught in his throat for the second time that he could remember for the day.

Blinking, Shiro watched as Gren displayed a hologram of...someone who looked to be himself. But frowning, he tilted his head. He didn't recall that event. In fact, he didn't recall telling Abel or Gren anything about the details of his powers. Had he ever done that? He didn't know. Eyes raising to meet Gren's as he spoke, he again sat in silence. Paying close attention, like a good little boy should. Golden eyes looking at the hologram and then to Gren at alternating intervals. Shiro appreciated Gren's concern for him, he truly did. But it wasn't as if he could help his memory loss. When Gren questioned his memory of who Shiro was and what he could remember he looked away. Lowered eyes scanning the shingles in front of him.

"Remember...about myself?"
Shiro scratched at a shingle as he bit his lips.
"Geez, this feels more like an interrogation than anything.."
He felt extremely nervous. Uneasy. Uncomfortable. It wasn't hard to tell as his ears frantically twitched around, his tail sweeping to and fro restlessly.
He could feel a potential attack coming, but he cleared his throat and fought it back.
"Come on, Shiro. You can do this. Just one thing at a time..."
Shiro sighed and looked up at Gren, repositioning himself so that he addressed Abel as well.
"I don't have a family. My childhood was nothing special, and the past is just that. The past. Behind me. Nothing unique to talk about. There's nothing wrong with me." Shiro crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks out a little, as if he pouted. Straight and to the point. "If this is going to be some sort of 'interrogate Shiro' pow wow. Then I won't have any of it." Shiro stood and dusted his rear off. Normally, Shiro would be blabbing away as he suffered from another unofficial disease. Word vomit. Diarrhea of the mouth. Thankfully, something helped him from spilling his heart and guts out. "All I do know is that I'm Kuhaku Shiro. I'm 17 years old and I'm a White Tiger Faunus. Most importantly, I'm a student here at the prestigious Beacon Academy training to become a Hunter. Not just any Hunter too, but a great one. A legendary one." Pointing to Abel and Gren, he continued. "Who you and Abel were in the past doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that you're by my side and that you're my friends. You two have my back and I have yours." Adjusting his clothing and his belongings that were slung on his back, Shiro casually turned away from Gren to walk off. "You can't stop me from using my powers and I won't. If your lives were ever in danger and depended on me giving us a bit of an edge, then I won't hesitate to do whatever is necessary. No matter the cost, no matter what happens to me."

His tone then changed. His expression brightened as he grinned at Abel, approaching him. It was painfully obvious what he was trying to do. "So! Enough of that! Abel, spill the deets. What's the sitch? Got any info on what's going on down there with that funky music?" Clearly, he was trying to weasel his way out of another uncomfortable situation. Trying to change the topic of discussion. Trying to run away from the conversation.

Cian Kuze

She sat down as she hummed a quiet tune to herself the noise seemed to have stopped and despite that a new one tooks its place. "Chaos seems to spread from one drop much like water water forms ripples" She said quietly to herself as she watched the people. Things was really odd but she supposed it was just another day all things considered. Hopefully though things got back to some form of order soon as she was really getting tired of all the chaos.

Robert Fallson - The Halls of Beacon

Robert was definitely disappointed after being told by Ozpin to head back to class, partly because of how boring Math was but mostly because he wanted to help with the "new arrival." That's the kind of person he was, the kind who would put anyone's safety above his own. Nonetheless, he obeyed the orders of his superiors. "Yes, Mr. Ozpin," Robert replied.

One of the other students that Robert had never seen before then began addressing him and the other new guy. "Team leader-? he asked in confusion. Momentarily, the red-haired student turned his back to his new teammates. "He means me. Why am I their team leader when I already lead a team? Unless Priscilla, Greyson, and Daniel are truly gone. What does Ozpin know that I don't?" he whispered to himself. Robert didn't expect anything diabolical from Beacon's headmaster, but the fact remained that overnight his team went missing and was replaced the next morning. Ozpin had to have had some kind of evidence that his original team wasn't coming back and, no matter how horrible the truth might be, Robert needed to find out what it was. For now, he needed to act normal, people were in need of his help. Even if it wasn't a dire emergency. Turning back to the two, Robert replied, "Yeah, we should go to Mr. Fullbuster's class. I think there's a vending machine on the way there. Come on."

-=-=-

The leader of the, as of yet, unnamed and incomplete team was lost in thought, mumbling to himself as he sat at his seat. "Did someone take them? And if so, why didn't they take me? Why was I spared? If they're in danger, I would have gladly taken any of their spots if given the choice. Why didn't they- What?" Robert stared, mystified at the strange figure that was Delta's semblance. Strange as it might have been, he saw nothing wrong with being friendly with the small creature, and answered its questions. "Slow down there little... Guy? Girl? Thing? I'm, uh, fine I guess. Yeah, I got some paper Delta could use. What are teammates for, right? Yes, History is next. And, uh, what was the next question? Lunch? Yeah, lunch. Um, I don't know. The Beacon cafeteria usually has a wide range of food. Pizza, burgers, nachos, et cetera. And you want to know more about me, huh? Uhh, where to start? Hmm. Could you be more specific on what you want to know?"

Krysthane reluctantly left the infirmary quickly making her way back to math, she still had that one nasty problem, but at least with the music gone she could focus on it now. To her surprise when she looked at the problem again she found what she was doing wrong and quickly solved it. Krysthane closed her book satisfied... and now bored. She found herself wondering what her next period would be like.

Mokuren took a while to realize that Skyra had stopped hugging her. Then, systems rebooted, and she regained control of herself, blushing in a rather embarassed manner.
"I...sorry. You didn't hurt me, its just. I.....never really get a lot of emotion directed at me that isn't scorn, or disdain. And it's not just because I am a Faunus either. I'm sure you have noticed that I have a rather, unique personality. And I try to control it, but it never really works out right. And so everyone hates me because they don't understand me. You are the first one who has felt friendly towards me. And, the first person to hug me in a very long time. I, I, think I am feeling emotion for you as well. Really thought I had lost that ability, but it's back now..." Mokuren rambled on, hoping Skyra wouldn't dislike her for all the sudden talking she was doing.

Jasmine Grace Banks: tall, toned, tough. Even if it wasn't obvious in Beacon's school uniform, it was hinted at when she rolled the sleeves up to reveal her hairy and hard forearms. This was typically the case, as the uniform grew too hot for her too often, and even in her senior year she wasn't quite used to it. She didn't care much for the dress code, made even more clear by her skirt being pulled up just a tad too high--but have you seen her legs? Well of course you have, everyone has, and they're great so who can complain?

The young woman sauntered down the hall toward her class. Her green eyes flickered about, eyeing freshmen; it was strange how much younger a few years could make them look, but it mostly their clueless and nervous behavior that made them the most noticeable. When she finally arrived at her class, she yawned, her fang-like canines visible for the moment her mouth was stretched far open in tiredness.

Sterling Johnson

...

Man, traveling. Stuff really did get boring after the first couple hundred miles, and when you're working with an ocean, there honestly aren't many landmarks to spice the in-between points up.

Gotta love it, huh? Boats.

Unfortunately, that was the easiest way to get back home from Atlas-- by sea. Thus, when family issues happened, he'd ended up having to cut vacation short and, not only that, miss the first couple of weeks of classes. Now, it wasn't as if he looked forward to them, far from it, but if three years prior had taught him anything, it was that he didn't want to have to play catch up if he could help it.

Thankfully, at least granny was still the same tough old lady she ever was, hip of bone or titanium.

Leaning back on the wall, he whipped out his scroll, artificial arm dancing across the keyboard with just as much fluidity as any flesh and bone.

Messages --> Contacts --> Team --> Group Message

should be back in vale tomorrow

anything fun over there? the freshmen even shorter than last year?

Smirking, he awaited a response from the two (or three now, right?) ladies back home.

Er, home away from home.

----------------------------

Luke Schwarz -- Roaming the halls

"What..."

What the hell had just happened there?!

Everything had gone by so fast, and he'd only just gotten there behind the crowd after poor Cian had, understandably, elected to not get closer to the nigh-unbearable din. And in hindsight, 20/20 as it ever was, he really did wish he'd stayed there with her...

I mean, if it weren't for my aura, I'm fairly sure my eardrums'd be bleeding.

Brushing past a tall, toned upperclassman, he turned with a polite apology on his li--

Ho-ly--

L O N D O N

A few seconds passed as he found himself staring after her retreating form, ahoge standing at attention, but evidently not being noteworthy enough to warrant any reaction as she turned down the hall towards her class, wherever that was.

Wouldn't he like to kno-- He needed to stop skirting the line of creepster.

Focus, Luke!

Picking his jaw up off the floor and shaking about four paragraphs worth of raving prose about the senior's powerful, lioness-like form from his brain, the black-haired freshman recomposed himself and continued back down the hall for Math. Now, where was he?

Right. Whatever the heck had just happened back there. Having shown up late, he'd have to ask around.

Opening the door to the still mostly-empty classroom, he tried to go back over things again, sparing Cian a nod as he took his seat behind her.

Mom's gonna love hearing about today...