Arrun turned around as a student swiftly walked past him and through a maintenance door, to the lower cargo bay of the ship. Arrun was about to follow, before a commotion on the docks. He sighed, as a student on a motorcycle flew into the hold and used his weapon to tether himself to the ceiling, keeping from slamming into either more students or the ship’s interior. He grumbled, walking over to one of the ship’s workers and said, “Mr. Beyer, I need you to go grab someone for me.”
The worker snickered, asking, “Is it Michael Rotch?” Arrun only raised an eyebrow in response,
not amused, as the worker quickly stopped giggling and coughed, saying, “Ah, who, sir?”
“The student who went through that door, I’m about to make an announcement and I need everyone here. Plus, he can’t be there when the ship takes off, it’s dangerous,” Arrun said, as the worker nodded. Arrun stepped aside as the worker walked past, and Arrun turned to walk to Rygar.
Gren Beyer whistled to himself as he walked toward the maintenance door, opening it and hopping down the stairs. He circle around, making his way to the cargo bay, to see a student leaning on a box with their headphones on. He leaned in front of Issac’s view, waving a clipboard to get his attention. “Ah, sorry, sir, could you come with me?” Gren asked brightly, pointing with the clipboard back whence he came. “There’s about to be an announcement, and only approved personnel are allowed in here when the ship takes off…which we’re about to do.” Gren shrugged with smirk, waiting for Isaac to follow.
Ollie slid down the window, hopping off when he neared the bottom. He made popping noises with his mouth, making his way through the crowd, he passed by a girl with black hair and a pink headband and a large student beside her. They were quiet for the moment, but seemed to be talking. Oliver smiled at them, nodding at Orion and giving a wink to Reya. He was going to give a passing remark, before an explosion came from out on the docks. Oliver watched a motorcycle come flying through, wincing as the driver was yanked from flying forward as his weapon latched into the ceiling of the airship. Oliver breathed a sigh of relief as the driver was apparently okay, and gave a surprised look when he saw it was the student who had the outburst the night before.
He smirked, jogging through the crowd to the motorcycle. The driver, Rygar, was still slightly shaking from the ordeal, as a few students around him gave a few odd stares. Oliver vaulted off the shoulders of another student, landing gently on the front of the Sepulcher “Ni-i-ice wheels, dude. You might wanna watch your driving, though, especially around a cliff. Driving off one would prolly su-u-uck, almost as much as getting thrown off one,” Oliver said with a smirk, tilting his head. “Speaking of which, you feeling better than last night? It was probably first day jitters, you just got a little punchy and murdery. Happens to the best of us, champ,” Ollie said, giving a dismissive wave and a wry smile.
“I take it you two aren’t causing trouble again?” Arrun asked, as Oliver winced with a nervous smile. “Mr. Kootz, I trust you’re minding your own business, and Mr….” Arrun said, looking to a holo readout on his watch. He sighed, shaking his head and saying to himself, “Of course the file doesn’t have the full name, it’s not like anyone
besides Headmaster Luster would need to know student’s full names, this is just like with Cororo Sakanade’s file,” He looked back to the two, saying, “And Mr. Rygar, I trust you will not be damaging Beacon property again. We try very hard to keep our vehicles and facilities in good shape, it would reflect poorly on your record if you caused more damages.” He then looked back to see Gren walk up before Isaac, giving a thumbs up before locking the door once the student walked through.
Arrun nodded, turning and walked to the door to the cockpit. “We’re ready for take-off, now,” he said, as the pilot nodded. There was a short alarm, as the light outside the ship’s door started blinking, signaling the closing of the dock doors. Arrun turned back, gripping a handle beside as he looked out the front window. He heard some small commotion behind, but it was nothing to require his attention. The outer door closed, and the engines roared to life, while the ship shuddered. It lifted off, gaining speed as It circled around, flying over the campus. The large side window revealed several upperclassmen waving them off as they flew, before going about their first day of classes.
The ship flew for a few minutes, quickly soaring over the countryside. Forests, streams, watefalls went by as the campus shrank in the background. Arrun turned away from the cockpit, snapping his fingers. Several of the workers on the ship came out, carrying small boxes on trays. Each one had a student’s name on it, and were locked.
Arrun cleared his throat, calling the student’s attention while the workers moved throughout them, silently handing the boxes out. “Prospective Students of Beacon Academy, this is it. This is the First Test, the first step towards your chosen life. We are traveling to an area that will push you to your limits, filled with dangers you’ve yet to experience. You will be faced with real Grimm, and not the smaller ones you
might have seen in your preparatory schools. You’re primary goal, is to survive,” Arrun called out, pacing before them. “But you will not do it alone, the purpose of this test is to place you in teams, teams that you will be in for the remainder of your education. Your comrades will learn and fight alongside you, and you will rely on each other to grow in skill and power. Now,” he paused, gesturing out to them when the last box was handed out. “You may wonder how this will be done, if there’s a special format, if there’s some procedure to assign your teams. The answer is in your hands, you may now open your boxes.”
The workers all filed back into the main cockpit behind Arrun, the door shutting behind them. The boxes the students held then unlocked, unfolding to reveal a small device on a cushion. “These items before you are Wearable Aura Trackers and Communication Handlinks. They’re holopads linked to the school’s mainframe through Beacon Tower. These W.A.T.C.H.’s will monitor your Aura levels and biometrics, as well as offer some limited scans of the environment. With them, you can keep track of your personal power levels to better fight, and navigate your battleground. As of right now, they have limited capacity. They only give the map of the location below, they will be fully activated after the test is over,” he said, before going on. “These devices will also identify you as Beacon students when on missions that require interaction with the general public. It’s
not a badge, or a license to do anything crazy,” he said, as a familiar groan of a circus boy sounded from the crowd. Arrun continued, “But it will show you are officially affiliated with the school, which should make dealing with some people easier when on Beacon business, but make sure your actions don’t reflect poorly on the school.” He said, looking to everyone in the room. He then paused, letting them inspect their devices.
Once activated, the Watch gave a small tutorial, going over its functions. It first needed to bond to bare skin, and at that time it would register the user’s Aura, and start monitoring their power levels, biometrics, etc. Then, it could be affixed to their wrist, chest, belt, even their weapon if the student desired. The watch was made of special “Multi-variable nanotubes” that could bond and integrate with almost any device or weapon, as a merged addition. At this point, it was usually just a general attachment, but it said that modifications could be made to the Watch later to customize it’s operation, functions, and even appearance, once the First Test was over. Voice commands and a holo keyboard were available to operate it, and it also came with a special ear piece to communicate between linked Watches. At this point, it only gave a small map of the terrain below, and a dot which showed them where they were on it.
Arrun walked over to the window, facing it while the rest of the students looked out as well. “Below you is part of the Boulin Mountain Range, the Death Grip Forest, Lake Listless with the Sinkhole Island in the center, and Helldrop Ravine. That is what’s below us, not to mention and underground tunnel system of an abandoned Dust Mine, with several cave entrances to it throughout the surrounding area,” he said, gesturing out. “Once you are sent into the battleground, you are to seek out another student. Your Watch will show each unpaired student near you, you are to follow one signal, and after both your Watches sync, you will be partners. You will be given a name, and this will be your permanent partner for the next four years, so get used to it.. Then, your Watch will give different locations, of Data Caches. These caches are in Grimm infested area, and it is your job, with your partner, to find them. Each cache has a pair elsewhere in the battleground, and a team will be formed when both sets of partners finds each Data Cache, and then find each other. Once the team has joined, your Watches will lock your lineup in the Beacon Database, and give you a full team name from the name of each partnership. Then, you will be given a location to move to for an airship to pick you up and bring you back to campus.”
Arrun, obviously tired of talking, turned and walked back to the cockpit door, as the students continued watching him. “This test will be a trial by fire, and make no mistake, death is a high possibility. This is not something to take lightly. You’ve all read the application, you know what kind of life we lead, but some of you may have gotten this far with rose colored glasses. If you go into this test without being able to overcome the fear of dying, you won’t survive. So, this is your last chance. If any of you still have reservations, if any of you have fears you can’t push through, then step forward. There’s no shame in it if you aren’t suited for the job, you shouldn’t have to die because you’re afraid if people think you’re a coward, but you can’t turn back after this.” He paused, eyes looking over each and every student. A few seconds passed, then a few more. After a few more seconds went by, and no one walked up, Arrun’s moustache turned up with a smile. “Very well, prepare yourselves for landing.
Morella CinderMorella gave an odd look, saying, “You must have had an interesting family, I’m surprised you turned out…actually, scratch that, it makes sense,” as she took a seat beside him. She pulled her headphones up, detaching one from the strap and handing it to Tarkus. She then settled in her seat, taking turns with him for picking songs, and was quiet for most of the trip.
-Later-Morella looked up when Arrun coughed, taking back her headphones and wrapping them in her pocket. She listened intently on what he said, muscles tensing in excitement when he mentioned there were live Grimm to fight. She’d seen some smaller ones in captivity for a research project, and observed two Hunters fighting a Beowolf at the same facility, but she wasn’t allowed to engage it herself. Fighting people is fine, but she felt the real test for her would be fighting the actual monsters Hunters were trained to, well, hunt.
She looked to the worker handing out the boxes, taking out the device inside when the box unlocked and Arrun said to. She looked at it, it was gray and black, and had a very simple design. She turned it on and placed it on her wrist, as a holoscreen popped up. Several other students were doing the same, either with a hologram or just using the Watch-face itself. It showed a silhouette of a head, as several blank bars read, “Scanning,” with lines on them going back and forth. Then they lit up, as the silhouette turned into a picture of Morella, with a green bar beside her face. She tapped a few keystrokes on the holopad, looking over her biometrics and Aura levels. She gave an slightly impressed, “Hm,” before reaching back and detaching her Midnight Shadows.
She flipped them in her hands before setting them down, and quickly stepped inside them. Lines, dots, and dashes all along the boots lit up, glowing brightly white before dulling down and turning light blue. She knelt down, holding her Watch to her boots, and activated its Weapon scanner. It blinked, as the lights on her boots blinked as well, before a new tab opened on her readout. She tapped it, showing general schematics of her Boots, and was a little glad that it didn’t seem able to fully scan them.
I can add that later if I want, but it’s good that they’re full functionality isn’t easily seen, she thought, looking over the Dust levels for the weapon. This would make it easier for her to keep track of her cartridges, and to have a general diagnostic during the test. The First Test would also be
her first proper test of her Boots, as they were still technically prototypes.
She then looked as Arrun continued, talking about how the test would run and how the teams would be decided. She didn’t think the terrain would be an issue, her Glyphs could assist her with almost any kind of footing, and the map would give her enough bearing to decide where to go. She looked down on her Boots, unable to keep a small smile from her face, and bounced on her forefeet. They were a little heavy, but they felt solid and secure, she felt she could even dance in them. Still bouncing on her feet, she tapped Tarkus’ arm. “You ready for this?” she asked, the small smile still on her face, while Arrun paused for anyone to step forward to not take the test. “I
can’t wait till we land…” Morella added, her brow determined as she waited for the ship to touch down.
The JerksThe group of five made their way to the docks as the rest of the students were, with Christophe leading them. “Ah, this is gonna be a good day, guys. I’m
so stoked for this,” he said, shadow boxing as they walked.
Jonah sighed, having Naomi ride on his shoulder. “Dude, you’re gonna wear yourself out, let’s just focus on not dying,” he said, as Ash nodded.
Lorelei looked to the docks, a thin smile curling on her lips. “Oh, look, it’s that cute raggedy boy with the rickety sword. How do I look, guys? I want to make a
good impression,” she said, tussling her hair and tugging slightly on her shirt. Ash, Jonah, and Naomi all rolled their eyes simultaneously, as they knew she was only doing it to get a rise out of Christophe.
Who, in turn, looked towards the docks in anger. His good mood gone, Christophe put his hands in his pockets and marched towards the airship, the four other members of the group following close behind. Lorelei couldn’t help but giggle as they zeroed in on Alistair.
Christophe walked between their group and purposefully bumped into the brown-haired student, sending him stumbling forward. “Oops, sorry, it’s difficult not to step on insignificant things,” Christophe said, walking ahead into the airship. Ash and Naomi gave him a shrug, as Jonah simply followed Christophe, while Lorelei offered a hand to Alistair to help him up.
“Aw, sorry about him, he has trouble around cute boys,” she said, raising an eyebrow above her sunglasses. But in helping him up, she gently pulled him off balance, causing him to fall on top of her. Her sunglasses stayed over her eyes, though her cheeks blushed slightly. “Ooh, sweetie, we’ve only just met…” she said sweetly, tracing a finger along his cheek, before he clambered to his feet. Before he could say anything in response Lorelei blew him a kiss and turned, walking back in to join the rest of her group.
Ash raised an eyebrow when she walked up, saying, “You sure do love stirrin’ the pot, Lorrie,” as the girl shrugged with a grin.
“Quiet guys, let’s focus on this test now, I don’t want any mistakes,” Christophe said, his demeanor much more focused than before. This time, though he was angered, he knew what to channel it to, unlike the
last time someone angered him on an airship and he whiffed his punches. His fists clenched tightly, as he looked to the ax on his back, brow furrowed and dark.
Ollie had finished talking with Rygar once the W.A.T.C.H.’s were handed out, he just wanted to make sure the guy was alright from last night. He didn’t bear any ill-will, he figured he’d have likely survived being thrown off a cliff anyways, and it seemed to be an isolated incident. So Ollie focused on playing with his new toy, tossing the box aside when he took out the device. He sighed as he saw it looked boring, but apparently it could be modified once they passed the test. He was looking forward to jazzing it up, as right now it looked boring. And Oliver did not like boring.
He placed it on his wrist, waiting for it to turn on. The screen appeared, and flashed
incredibly brightly, brighter than the other students around. Oliver shielded his eyes, as a few close to him groaned in pain, smacking his arms and thinking he’d done it one purpose. Oliver squinted, as the screen darkened slightly and he could see a silhouette of a head. The meters all read, “…adjusting…adjusting…adjusting…” as the Aura levels started to even out. The light of the meter was first pure white, but very close to the edge of the screen, and slowly turned green as the meter filled. It blinked, less brightly this time, reading, “Complete.”
Oliver chuckled, checking out what the device had on him. He saw a blank tab for “Weapons,” and looked asked to the glove on his hand. Underneath it was another glove, his jeweled weapon, that was in close enough proximity for the W.A.T.C.H. to scan. He paused, finger twitching about the holoscreen, debating whether or not to let it try to scan or integrate with it. He shrugged, figuring he should at least try it out. He hit the tab, as it blinked while apparently scanning the object, but didn’t light up or activate. Confused, Oliver read a message on the screen, “Scan inconclusive, weapon not within range or compatible with device.” Oliver shrugged, figuring that he could use his weapon just fine anyways, and didn’t need a device to see how it was doing.
He looked up, as Arrun mentioned this being the last chance to walk away. Oliver took a breath, looking down. Truth be told, he still felt very out of place here. Well, he felt out of place everywhere, but here, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. He knew the dangers, his uncle and dad told him that he could likely lose his life, but he felt at home when doing dangerous things. Hell, he’d been in more danger growing up than many normal people in their lives, so the risk of dying wasn’t an issue. He just thought that maybe, this life wasn’t for him, this was important work. Rather than entertaining, this would be saving lives, helping people far away in trouble or pain. Oliver didn’t know if he’d be significant enough to do anything, or if he was better off wearing a read nose, giant shoes, and pedaling a tiny bicycle over banana peels.
But he wanted to find out.
He looked up, a confident smile and a furrowed brow. He knew Arrun wasn’t looked directly at him, but somehow, he felt that his resolve was evident. We was ready for anything.
“Very well, prepare yourselves for landing.”
Arrun then smiled, hand gripping the handle beside the door. All the students in front of him looked out the window, expecting the ship to lower.
“Ah…hey, Mr. T?” Oliver asked, after a few moments of silence. “So, is the ship gonna…you know, drop down?”
“Oh, part of it, sure,” Arrun said, nodding.
“…I thought you said we were landing,” Oliver asked again, confused.
“Oh, yes, that’s true,” Arrun said, nodding once more before pointing. “
You are landing, good luck!” he said, as a large metal door encircled Arrun and the front of the ship, leaving a window for him to look out of.
Around the students, several sounds of clattering metal reverberated through the walls, like giant claws were unhooking. Then the room shuddered, and slowly slid backwards before starting to drop. Fast. The front of the ship pulled away as the room with the students began twirling. They were in free fall.
Instantly, it was chaotic. Many were quickly activating their weapons, and trying to smash through the walls, which was proving ineffective. Some went for the windows, which showed some signs of cracking, but held strong.
Amidst the fervor, Ollie was floating nonchalantly. He was no stranger to high stress and high altitude situations, and they still had several minutes before they’d hit the ground. He smiled, taking off his glove. He looked at the aged metal where the jewels were set, and the worn leather that was added after Oliver found it. The plastic tubes holding what Dust he had ran along the bottom of his forearm, above the W.A.T.C.H. strap, and were securely fastened. He smiled to himself, still wanting to keep his weapon’s abilities a secret, and knowing that he’d garner little attention while most people were going crazy. He drifted to the top of the room, where the metal supports were. He looked down, as he saw some people had the brains to get to the doors at either end of the hold, and were about to open them.
Oliver placed his hand on the ceiling, as the jewel on his gloved palm started to glow. The ceiling panel, a bout two feet wide, started to glow orange, like it was filled with light. Oliver blocked the panel with his body, but right when the doors were opened on the bottom of the ship, the purple jewel on the top of his glove flashed, and the ceiling panel disappeared, along with the hull behind it. Oliver wasn’t sucked out, as the cabin pressurized when the doors on the bottom opened, but the air rushing was still very strong. He climbed out, saying, “There’s an open hatch up here too!” to the crowds of students inside who were shoving past each other to get out, as they came back and tried jumping out the hold Oliver made.
The circus boy chuckled, as he held onto the ship. He looked down off the edge, as clouds soon left them while they were nearing the ground. He spotted curious panels on the side of the ship, opposite the giant window. They had handles and switches on them, and when Oliver reached down to push on, it shot forward like a catapult. He laughed, figuring it was so students could launch themselves from freefall around the terrain, though it would likely be difficult to pick where, as the hull was spinning.
Oliver climbed down and gripped the handle, grinning broadly as he pressed the switch. It was like being a human cannonball again, as the panel shot out and propelled him away from the falling ship-hold. “
CO-O-O-O-OWA-A-A-ABU-U-U-UNGA-A-A-A!!!!” Oliver shouted as he sailed, twirling through the air. He laughed, spinning and flipping, as he looked down. The forest, with the grabbable vines and branch handholds, went by as he flew, overshooting it completely. He looked down, sighing as the rocky base of the mountain came into view. He rolled his eyes, saying, “Probably should look before I leap from the stratosphere, I’ll remember next ti-OOF!!” as he hit the ground, kicking up a huge amount of dust and leaving a large crater as he skipped and bounced, coughing as he cracked a rock by a cave entrance and careened to the side, spinning like a ragdoll through the air, and landing flat on the side of a smooth rock, slightly embedded in it with a few cracks in the stone around his splayed body.
He let go a breath, and a slight groan of pain. “Ugh, oy, well, I always wanted to leave a good impression,” he said, chuckling weakly. “Hah, oh, man, it hurts to laugh,” he sighed, taking a few moments to catch his breath.
