Asvoria Laurent - Emerald Forest - Tuesday "Sometime"

"Do you happen to have an idea of where we're going?" She asked the other girl, "I wasn't completely listening to the principal's speech."

"I actually was listening to most of the speech. We just need to head north and find these shard thingies." Asvoria replied. The day had been quite interesting so far and could only get much more exciting. "Come! Follow me!" The blond girl exclaimed raising her free hand into the air. "Judging from the way the shadows are coming. . ." He free hand pointed in a direction, "We just need to go north this way!" That was one of the skills she picked up in her years of training. Knowing the time of day was very important overall and without a clock, one would need to best judge the position of the sun to assume many things. Time of day, direction, sleeping when they can't see the light of day.

"This challenge should be easy enough. Even if we end up having to fight more Grimm than Momma did back when she was out in some ruins outside the city by herself to save-" She cut herself off before apologizing quickly. "Sorry, sorry. Nothing you want to know about probably." She mentioned with a giggle moving her weapon from her right shoulder to her left. "Anyhow, keep you eyes out for hostiles. Or the shards too! We need one of those."

Cyra was having difficulties. Her first attempts to untangle herself not only had ended in failure, but was also giving her a headache. All the blood rushing to her head made her fingers nearly useless, and since the shields extended a couple inches past her fingertips, trying to use most objects involved a scooping motion. Unwrapping a shoelace from around a branch, while hanging upside down from said branch? Not happening.

She was contemplating how to possibly shoot the branch off, while avoiding her own foot in the process, when the crackle and snapping of branches reached her ears and made her freeze. Something, or someone was approaching.

Dirt. Rocks. Trees. More trees. Nothing metallic that might be Sun Down, no glimmers that might be gems, and certainly no other people. Eos ran faster, huffing as her rather poor stamina began to drain. It had only been a few minutes since she hit the ground, but already things were looking rather bleak.

Rounding a large oak, changing directions as whim dictated, she thought she spotted a patch of color in the distance, near another copse of trees. It definitely wasn't the gold of Sun Down, but with any luck it would be something of use. Perhaps the school had left caches of goods, medicine or food, for if students got lost, or simply to aid them during the initiation. Summoning the last of her current wind, she ducked into a sprint, hoping this move, at least, would be a good one.

As she approached through the underbrush, it became clear that what awaited her was not food, or medicine, but a person. Even better, she thought, slowing to a jog. As far as she could tell, no Grimm were closing in at present, and any young people in the area at the time should be fellow students. "Hullo up there!" she called up, hands cupped around her mouth. "Need a hand, stranger?"

For a long moment, Cyra stayed silent. It was partially because of the embarrassment of being discovered hanging upside down in a tree, and partially embarrassment of what the newcomer was wearing. There was very little left to the imagination, and Cyra quickly turned her gaze away. Of all the times to be discovered. Finally, she spoke up. "Yes please."

"Sure thing!" Eos called back up, reaching the foot of the tree and leaning against it, panting, to catch her breath. This tree wouldn't be the biggest thing she'd have ever had to climb. Back home in Kiln, she used to scale the watchtowers ringing the co-op a few times a day, fetching water for the guards or taking her own turn at watch. Still, she usually wouldn't be carrying more than a backpack with a water bladder. If she had to carry this stranger down from the tree, that would pose a far greater level of difficulty. Still, from what Eos could see, they didn't appear injured, and were communicative, which suggested the brunt of her task would just be getting up there and getting her free. At least, she assumed the figure in the tree was female. It was hard to see a figure that high from the ground, and they hadn't had enough of a conversation yet to be able to ask about gender or, really, much of anything.

Breath restored, Eos drew upon her aura as she grasped the trunk. There seemed to be enough friction in the bark, and sufficient handholds, if she were careful as she proceeded. Careful to maintain three points of contact at all times, as her mother used to lecture her endlessly back in the day, she began to inch her way up to the higher expanse of the tree. It seemed big enough that her body weight was not shaking it significantly, but an amount of swaying was present. "Hang on! I'm coming!" she called brightly, though her muscles were screaming.

As she got higher, she was able to grab onto a branch and pull herself up, and she studied the situation. "So, uh....how'd this happen?" Eos asked, picking at a splinter of wood in her palm. Her companion's situation was, while clearly perilous, not immediately life-threatening, so they had a moment to evaluate the problem and come up with a solution, as she saw it. While she couldn't see their face, she figured they were probably scared. No sense being too aggressive with my movements and panicking them, maybe accidentally triggering a fall, she thought.

Cyra eyed the girl as she made her way up through the branches, then looked away as her feet came to eye level. "Um, my shoelace got caught around a branch as I was coming down. I must not have tied them very well." She bit her lip, thankful that the other girl hadn't noticed the flush in her cheeks. "Didn't think it would be something that could do this."

Silence followed, broken only by the creaking of branches from the girl shifting her weight as she fiddled with the branch above. "So, um, I'm Cyra, by the way. I guess this means we'r-whaaaa!" A jerk interupted her, and she yelped as gravity reasserted itself, sending her crashing through the branches below her, until she landed on the ground with a solid thump. Cyra groaned as she opened her eyes, staring up at the girl peering down at her in concern. "Ow." Now you decide to catch me, she grumbled in her mind.

Though they weren't too far apart, the wind was catching the top of the tree, and Eos couldn't hear more than a few snatches of what was being called down to her. As the other girl plummeted to the ground, Eos gave a loud cry of alarm, wings flaring outward, nearly falling off the tree herself in her panic. "H-hey! You okay?" she shouted, a heartbeat after the other landed and opened her eyes again. She wasn't well-trained with medical matters, anything more than a splint would be beyond her. But if one of them was unable to go on with the test, wouldn't they both fail and be rejected? Eos wasn't going to let that happen.

Clambering back down the trunk of the tree, a far quicker matter than her (ultimately futile) climb up had been, Eos approached her new, fallen partner. "They say you shouldn't touch someone who's just been seriously hurt. Something about arteries? I'm not sure, I wasn't with the medical apprenticeship corps. Do you think it's bad? Can you walk if I support you?" It occurred to her that the snapping branches, loud bangs and shouting that they had been doing were a perfect recipe for attracting Grimm.

Shaking her head, Cyra pushed herself to her feet. "I-I'm okay. It wasn't that much of a fall, and once I'm on the ground I'm fine." She reached out to grab a nearby branch, then twisted about until a series of pops rippled from her back. The only real damage she could make out as a small tear in the shoulder of her hoodie where a branch had caught her, but the shirt underneath was unharmed. She'd have to keep a little more distance between herself and her new partner, but otherwise they seemed to be off to a great start. "See? Everything's fine. Don't need to worry about me."

Eos gave a sigh of relief as she watched her new partner stretch out and proclaim herself to be fine. It seemed the two of them weren't quite out of the running yet. That is, unless something else went wrong unexpectedly. Despite having heard little about Beacon Academy's initiation ceremony, she had a feeling it was only going to get more chaotic from here on out.

"That's the spirit!" she responded, shooting her teammate a double thumbs-up gesture. "Now that you're free, maybe you could help me with the problem I ran into on my way down." Gesturing to the empty pouch strapped to her left thigh, Eos explained, "I was trying to draw my weapon, Sun Down, as I approached my landing point, but...it, ah, fell. Not where I did, sadly." She gave a honking laugh, throwing her hands up as if to say "what can you do?"

Cyra nodded. Well, at least I'm not the only one not having a good day. "Um, do you have any idea where it landed? Or what direction?" She glanced at the girl's thigh pouch, then quickly looked away. Based on its size, trying to find her weapon in a forest this size was looking like an impossible task. Then there was still the Dust shard they had to find, which could literally be anywhere. How were they expected to do this? "Grimm shouldn't be a problem, I'm kind of good with dealing with them, if there aren't too many..."

Eos scratched a wing, discomfited. "Well, uh...it should be within like...two klicks of here? There is...one option, but it's not exactly good." Fishing in the lower pouch on her left thigh, she pulled out a metallic brick roughly the length of her thumb, with three matte black buttons in a row down the top surface. Holding it out so the other girl could take a look, Eos thought about how stupid she would sound as she explained the addition she had made to her weapon.

"I installed a locator on Sun Down about a year ago, back when my main problem was other journeyers nicking my stuff as a prank. I press this, and the alarm goes off. Loudly. So we'd find it, but anything else out there would be finding us." Her face reddening, she fiddled with the remote brick, trying not to look her companion in the eyes.

"That wouldn't necessarily be so bad, right? I mean, maybe we'd just get found by other people?" she offered in a chirp, then sighed, knowing she wasn't even convincing herself. "I was hoping I wouldn't need it, and I would just find Sun Down soon if I kept running. Instead I found you. But that's okay!" Eos added quickly, with a nervous laugh. "I doubt I would have found it even if I hadn't met you."

Scratching her palms nervously, Cyra bit her lip. "Well, it's a big forest, and your weapon doesn't look very big. We could look for it, but... I think that might take a while." She glanced around. "I don't know where to even start." She looked up at the sky, squinting through the leafy branches. "I mean, if you don't want to do that, it's fine..."

Giving a shrug, Eos tossed the remote in the air, before catching it one handed and slapping it down on the back of her other wrist. "Heads!" she barked gaily, before thumbing down the top button. For a period of about fifteen seconds, nothing broke the near-stillness of the forest's ambient noise.

All at once, a cacophany of horn honking sounds arose faintly in the distance, as if a great host of clowns had arisen to wage war with the Grimm threat. "There's my Sun Down! Race ya!" Eos exclaimed, hurling herself into yet another run. Whenever they managed to get out of this place, she was going to be laying into a bag of burgers with gusto.

If she pushed herself, Eos thought she might be able to make it to Sun Down before anything bigger than her got there first. She definitely wasn't used to running on terrain with so many roots and slippery leaves, but compared to running up an all-but vertical mountain passage or across shifting desert sands, this was cake. The absence of stifling heat definitely didn't hurt, either. Snapping into a piece of jerky from her pocket for a quick burst of energy, and feeling the flashes of sunlight through the trees' canopies replenishing her stores of solar energy, she felt her usual sense of optimism returning. Things were definitely looking up.

As she passed out of one expanse of trees and into a small clearing, following the sound of Sun Down's alarm, she spotted the flash of gold, about 25 meters before her, that could only mean one thing. Turning her head back towards where she assumed her partner was running behind her, she started to speak before realizing the other girl wasn't there.

What was there, however, was the hunched, umbrous form of a Grimm, porcine and heavily tusked, snorting jets of hot breath. In her haste to reach Sun Down, and with the loud alarm blaring before her, she had completely overlooked the boarbatusk's approach, and the ordinarily unsubtle creature had come upon her unaware.

Drawing upon her semblance, she hurled a sphere of blinding light towards the malevolent creature's face, then, executing a sharp about-face, bolted for Sun Down, without looking to see if her projectile had had any effect on the Grimm's pursuit of her. Where was her partner in all this, she thought frantically, did it get to her first?

Cyra did not like running. At all. Her thick clothing, while very good at keeping her carapace concealed from sight, and to a lesser extent touch, also meant that any sort of strenuous activity made her very hot and sweaty, very quickly. So when her partner (who still had not introduced herself, it occurred to her) took off running, Cyra groaned and tried to follow as best she could. It didn't take long to lose sight of her, but Cyra tried not to worry too much. The loud blaring of the alarm ahead gave her a clear destination.

However, things were not good when she arrived. Apparently her partner had encountered a Boarbatusk along her way, and was now playing a rather frantic game of keep-away with it. The Grimm had seemed to figure out that she had been separated from her weapon, and every time her partner made a move towards it, it would attempt to run her down, forcing her to dance away. During one of these engagements, the girl's foot caught on a rock, sending her tumbling to the ground, and the Boarbatusk instantly seized its opportunity, throwing itself into a spin and barreling towards her.

Cyra made a series of finger movements with her right hand, and a pair of red lights lit up on the shield's surface. Then she raised the shield and fired.

A sound like an avalanche split the air, as a barrage of bullets and flame erupted from the shield's front edge, slamming into the spinning Boarbatusk's side. Each bullet detonated on impact, causing the surprised Grimm to go careening off course and plow through a nearby boulder. Cyra ceased firing and moved forward, panting hard. "Go," she shouted, keeping her eyes focused on the squealing Grimm as it righted itself.

Pushing up off the ground and spitting out a mouthful of dirt and decaying leaves, Eos managed to cross over to Sun Down, pulling it out of a small crater in the ground where it had driven into the loosely-packed earth on impact. As she cradled it in her arms, palm pressing firmly into her emblem etched on one of the flat sides in frosted silver, the alarm quieted. "My dearest Sun Down," she cooed into the metal box, "I thought I'd lost you. I'm never letting you go again!"

No time for a mushy reunion; there were Grimm to eliminate, and she wasn't about to let her partner do all the work. Another boarbatusk had broken through the treeline ahead and to the right of her, likely drawn by the sound of its fellow's suffering at the hands of her companion's mighty artillery. "Dibs!" she called over her shoulder, but it seemed doubtful the other girl heard her over the din of battle. Her aura welling up within her, she activated Sun Down's melee form with a turn of her palm across her embossed emblem.

A long handle jutted out from the narrow edge of the paddle-like metal box, which she grasped firmly in both hands. Glimmering feather-like spikes sprouted from the edges of the paddle, lightly serrated and polished to a blinding sheen. "Come and get some, porky!" she called out, dashing forward with the toothiest of grins. Finally, a conflict she was actually prepared for today.

The shadow creature gave a grotesque roar in answer, charging towards her. Good monster, she thought, feinting to the side as it surged past, before stopping in confusion. She was behind it in moments, swinging her bladed weapon's viciously sharp edged points down across the beast's throat. Amplifying her force with her aura, which burned hot and bright in her blood like an out-of-control fever, she threw herself backwards in a jump, blasting a beam of searing light from her weapon's tip, Sun Down acting as a conduit as the amassed power rolled through her body.

The Grimm, injured, fell back with a roar of pain, eyes screwed shut from the scorching light. An opening like that was just what she'd been waiting for. Scooping a red-tinted grenade from her upper left thigh pouch, she pulled the pin with her teeth and, turning Sun Down slightly in her hand, hefted the explosive in the air, and swung with all her might. The projectile shot towards the boarbatusk, bouncing dully off its face and rolling on the ground before it.

"...Oh...it didn't do anyth-" Eos managed to say, disappointedly, before an incendiary blast tore the beast apart like tissue paper. "Yes!" she shouted, jumping in the air and waving Sun Down about like a lacrosse stick. "One of my dust grenades actually worked! I need to write to mom and tell her about this, buddy!"

As the smoke from the blast cleared, her teammate's form came into view. She too appeared triumphant over her foe, the barrels of her firearms glowing orange from the numerous rounds she had gotten off. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, Eos called to her, "Looks like we've got this one in the bag! Next stop, the sh- shit look out!"

Today was apparently the day for boarbatusk ambushes. This one was huge, easily twice the size of the one she had just executed, and, she was willing to wager, twice as mean. It was headed for her teammate at a gallop, slavering from its porcine maw.

Her partner's shout caused Cyra to turn around. The initial Boarbatusk hadn't been a great deal of trouble, a combination of explosive and armor-piercing rounds from both shields sending it stumbling down before it could take a proper run. Eventually it had fallen back, exposing its more vulnerable underside, and was finished.

With this creature, however, there was no time. Even as Cyra turned to face it, the Boarbatusk lunged into a spinning charge, barreling down on the small girl at full speed. A flash of light exploded between them, an attempt from her nameless partner to prevent the attack, but it failed to stop the rampaging Grimm. Cyra made no attempt to evade. Instead, she raised Khthon vertically in front of her, its side and bottom edges expanding into a full-sized shield, and braced. Breathing slowly and evenly, she felt again the massiveness of the ground beneath her feet. A sound like stone clashing against metal rang through the open clearing as the Boarbatusk slammed into its target, and proceeded to bounce off, the Huntress not moving even an inch. She made a series of finger movements with her other hand, and the small triangle at Lithos’s front edge extended and separated into a pair of tines, a sharp whine filling the air as she raised the shield.

If her previous attacks had sounded like an avalanche, this one was more akin to a thunderclap. An ear-splitting detonation, a flash of light, and the Boarbatusk seemed to just disappear. A few feet away a trench carved itself out of the ground, throwing up clods of dirt. A sizable chunk of a tree exploded, sending the towering giant toppling over, followed by two more trees behind it.

Cyra rose and took a few steps forward, peering into the shadowed forest. Several feet away, the Boarbatusk lay crumpled against the base of a fallen tree, large cracks radiating out from its face armor, both tusks shattered. She shifted Khthon into its Assault mode, and fired again, and again the Grimm disappeared, exploding in a shower of dirt and splinters. Satisfied, she shifted both shields back into Suppression mode, then reached up, tugging her hood off and her bandanna down. Chin length black hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, and she blew a heavy breath as she turned back to the shocked Eos.

“Could we not run again, please?”

Tim had just killed an Ursa. His first Grimm kill. How did he feel about it? How did he feel right now?

"Ugh." He said sickly.

Not very well.

It wasn't the Grimm kill that was making him feel bad. That particular event was far from his mind. He was currently headbutting a tree, trying to abate his headache. It wasn't major, but it was unpleasant, to say the least, and he was feeling a little sluggish. Despite the Ursa cushioning his fall, he'd still taken damage from it. Combining that with a lack of sleep made for a poor morning indeed.

Tim stopped headbutting the tree and turned, sighing. He let himself fall down to sit on the forest floor, leaning back in the tree as his head pounded lightly. Despite his tiredness and damage, he'd only need to wait a little to recover enough to keep going. Maybe he wouldn't be 100%, but he'd be maybe 80%. 75% would be good enough, really.

Tim took the time to relax, listening to the forest itself. Leaves rustled here and there, and if he focused hard enough, he could hear what seemed to be animal sounds in the distance. He took the time to ponder his next move, since he'd basically forgotten Ozpin's instructions while his terrified body sailed through the air.
I think he said something about crystals? Tim thought. And we're supposed to go to the north side of the forest?

After resting for about a minute, Tim got up and stretched. He was good enough to keep going for now, and he reasoned that he should get this done fast.
Still haven't found a partner yet, Tim mused as he stretched. But I guess I should've expected that. Not a bad thing for me, anyway.
Tim looked up into the sky to gauge the position of the sun. Both his dad and brother had stressed the importance of learning the cardinal directions by using the position of the sun.

The sun rises in the east. since it's morning, that means... Tim thought.
He looked up and forward in the direction of the sun and turned 90 degrees to the left.
That way, then. Tim confirmed before setting off.

Tim began walking. No reason to rush, even if he didn't have a partner. He was the first one to enter the forest and his uncoordinated launch had put him behind a little bit, so he was sure that there'd be people on the way there. And besides, he had the only partner he needed.

MJ, the ever-faithful silver sphere, was tucked under his arm. As Tim began walking, he took MJ from under his arm and began absentmindedly dribbling it as he walked. It was peaceful currently, and Tim could finally take it easy. He began whistling a tune, mainly out of boredom, as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

---

A little later - Close to a nearby cave

"Hm..." Tim said, troubled.

He sat on a high branch of a tree, looking down at the forest floor. Below was a group of 3 Ursa, growling and staring up at him with hatred in their eyes.
"This is quite the pickle." Tim said.

As he'd been walking along, the Ursa had come out of nowhere, taking Tim by surprise. He'd managed to get up the tree quickly thanks to his semblance and good old MJ, but he couldn't get down without them mauling him to death. Quite unfortunate too, since he'd found a cave nearby and had been planning to explore it.

"So." Tim said, still looking down at the angry Ursa. "Let me see..."
He could drop MJ on one of them and they'd probably die. But that entailed losing MJ, and it'd be awkward getting it back. The other option was to just leave, which sounded pretty good. But where to?
Back to the cave, maybe. Tim thought. I think I could throw that far...

Tim was snapped out of his musings as the tree shook underneath him. Grabbing a branch in panic, he looked down to see the Ursa clawing at the tree, likely in an attempt to take him down.
"Aw man." Tim said, getting up on his feet.
A little shaky, but he managed it. One of his hands was on the tree, the other was holding MJ. Winding it back, he marked MJ before he shot his arm forward, throwing the silver sphere back towards where he came from. The shaking was getting more violent but Tim just closed his eyes, tracking the mark's progress.

He stood like he was standing on the ground, entrusting half of his weight to each foot, though holding the branch for support. As the tree shook about, Tim felt the mark's descent suddenly stop, ascending a little before going back down. Once it'd stopped moving, Tim imagined himself. He imagined himself behind the mark, standing just as he was. As the tree shook and leaves rained down on him, he disappeared.

Tim appeared quite the ways away and found himself in front the dark gaping mouth of the cave he'd found earlier.
"Excellent." Tim said, bending down to retrieve MJ.
Tim picked up his trusty friend, dusting it off before walking into the cave. And why was he so keen on exploring this cave?

It had been conspicuous. An unexpected addition to what was ostensibly featureless forest. There were certainly other rock formations around, but Tim had a feeling something was in the cave. He'd learned to trust his instincts, and his instincts were telling him the cave was worth exploring.
As long as I do this before the bears get back, I'll be fine. Tim told himself.

Entering the cave, Tim noticed that it was really dark. He'd noticed it before, of course, but he'd also noted that it was quite small. Smaller than the cave mouth would imply it was. He could smell the distinct smell of animal fur and something foul, though to what it belonged, he wasn't sure. Judging by the three Ursa that were nearby, however, he assumed it was theirs.

As Tim walked deeper into the cave, his eyes adjusted enough to see. He saw small rocks strewn across the floor here and there, and the odd lump of... brown 'graced' the area (and air). Tim held his nose at the stench and pressed on, only to see that the cave ended shortly. It was a dead end, with nothing in sight.

Tim was about to turn around when he noticed something odd in one of the mounds of poop. Something that glowed. Tim walked over to it and bent down as far as he dared, still holding his nose. It was quite old, so the stench wasn't as bad, but it was still bad. And he had a sneaking suspicion that he'd found something interesting.
"This can't be." Tim said, eyes narrowing. "They wouldn't out it here."

With one hand, he held his nose. With the other, he put MJ on the ground and picked up a nearby long rock. Poking at the defecation released new eye-watering odors, but he kept going. Eventually, the brown gave way to a gentle glowing blue. The strange thing was finally revealed: a softly glowing blue crystal.
"Fuck." Tim said.

He had to pick it up. He knew it was a dust crystal. Even a poor family like his knew about dust. It was the dust crystal - one of the ten Ozpin had mentioned. And now he had to pick it up.

Tim put the rock down as far from him as he could and wondered how he would do this. One part of the crystal had been exposed, so he wouldn't have to touch the poop. But that didn't mean it wouldn't smell. Tim squatted uncertainly for some time before reaching down tentatively with his left hand, he stopped when he noticed that his glove was still on.
Don't want to get this dirty... Tim thought.

He took his glove off. Both of them, for good measure. He then continued slowly reaching down to grab the crystal. Tentatively, he pinched the end of the dust crystal and pulled it out of the old pile of faeces. It slid out without a sound, one end clear blue, the other smeared with brown. The crystal was cold to the touch, but the smell. By god.

Tim had never before regretted that he was right so much as he did now.

Coughing from the sudden outpouring of odor, Tim held the crystal away from his face as he coughed in the other direction. Once his coughing fit was over, he held the poopy crystal as far away from him as possible and slowly got up, picking up MJ with his free hand. Tim held looked at the crystal with a sour expression, seriously regretting his decision.
I have to take this with me. Tim thought. Fuck.

Tim suddenly stiffened as he heard growling behind him. He slowly turned, crystal and ball in hand, to see the three Ursa coming into the cave from behind, blocking his exit.
"Shit." Tim cursed. I took too long.
Tim got up to his feet slowly. The Ursa advanced menacingly. Tim held MJ and let it fall, catching it when it bounced back up. He did this slowly, as the Ursa advanced, unsure of what to do.
I need to escape, somehow. Tim thought.

His eyes darted around, looking for an opening. The ceiling was too low to lob MJ above the Ursa and the three were large enough to block the width of the cave. They seemed to know Tim was cornered and advanced slowly. Tim kept calm, dribbling MJ regularly. When the Ursa were close enough to pounce, Tim slowed down his dribbling.

As the ball came up to his hand, the Ursa pounced.

Tim ducked quickly, ready to throw MJ at the Ursa, when he noticed the gap the jumping Ursa had made. Changing his course, he threw MJ as hard as he could through the gap. The sphere sped out of the cave, lightened by his aura, as the Ursa's mass flew through where Tim's upper torso had been. When it hit the ground, it skidded around to face Tim. Now he was really surrounded. The other two Ursa launched their attacks, each sending a claw towards Tim. Tim ducked once again, then jumped as the Ursa behind swung at him. Landing on his feet, he turned this way and that, unsure of who to face. The Ursa circled him, wary of anything he might be trying. One was in front of him to the left, the other on the right, and there was the one behind him.

Tim stepped lightly, avoiding the Ursa's attacks. One swipe at his head, he ducked. The one on his left aimed a downwards swipe. He dodged right. The ursa behind began to charge and Tim ran forward. The Ursa on the right aimed a deadly swing, intent on interrupting Tim's sprint, but they'd underestimated him. They gave him time to focus, time to come up with a plan. He could feel the mark.

Tim ducked the swing as he ran, closing his eyes, sliding forward on his bent feet. He could sense MJ's mark outside the cave, still now as it'd stopped moving. As he slid, his right hand scooped towards the floor at nothing. But Tim imagined the mark in his hand, and suddenly it was. The reassuring weight of MJ forced Tim to open his eyes. He was several meters out the front of the cave, but that wasn't far enough. He could hear the angry howls of the Ursa, and they'd come after him soon enough. However, he hadn't lost his momentum yet.

Sliding forward, he used his momentum to come back up to a standing position, running forward while dribbling MJ. His hand clutched the crystal tightly, thankfully not holding the brown parts. As he sprinted for his life, he headed into the trees. He knew there was a river close by, and he needed to wash off the scent to throw off the bears.

Seconds into the forest, he could hear the Ursa crashing through the underbrush, howling for blood. 2 to his sides one directly behind him. They were gaining quickly. Tim three MJ as he ran to the left then made as if to receive a pass. He imagined himself catching the ball and suddenly, he was. The Ursa on the left tried to turn, skidding as his uncoordinated legs thrashed the tangled bushes. It successfully turned and continued its pursuit along with its brother in the middle, but Tim was already ahead.

He'd thrown it ahead of him and blinked to it a few times, putting more and more distance between them. When Tim decided that there was enough distance between them, he threw MJ straight up. Up ahead, there was a short drop off to the other parts of the forest. Tim kept running. He could see the daylight streaming through the gaps where the trees ended, but kept running. He put on an extra burst of speed as the bears, ever in pursuit, ran to catch him. Coming to the drop off, he didn't stop. He ran and jumped forward into the air, hand extended upwards as if to catch something, before he disappeared. The Ursa skidded to a halt, crashing into each other to stop. They slowly ground to a halt on the edge of the drop off, spraying dirt over the edge, and recovered slowly, confused. Their prey had disappeared and they couldn't smell him anymore. They scoured the underbrush, looking for any sign of the tricky human. They looked over the edge to find traces of the human and found none. Disappointed and angry, they meandered off the way they came.

---

Tim appeared in high up in the treetops, hands held high, catching MJ before they caught a high tree branch near the top of the tree. The feeble branch couldn't support his weight, however, and broke to Tim's cursing. As he fell, he turned towards the ground and saw a thick tree branch coming to meet him. Landing with a thump, he quickly hugged the tree branch with all his might, praying that he wouldn't slip off. The tree branch dipped worryingly, taking his momentum, before slowly rising to its original position.

Tim held on for a few tense moments before breathing a sigh of relief. He tried to rise to a sitting position which was difficult while holding a silver basketball and a shitty crystal, both soaked by desperate sweat. Tim left his legs wrapped around the tree branch and pushed himself up using MJ, managing to sit up for the time building. He sighed once more in an attempt to calm his pounding heart. Thankfully, the tree was high enough for the Ursa not to notice him. He couldn't quite see them below but heard their efforts to navigate the brush. He finally relaxed when their sounds faded away into the distance and leant back against the trunk of the tree, sighing in relief.
"Finally." Tim said.

His first chase ever. It'd felt like 10 minutes of running, but it was likely only about 2. He was sure that he could've beaten them unconscious if he had both hands free but his left hand had been occupied by the glowing blue brown-stained crystal.
"So, this is a dust crystal, huh?" Tim said, analyzing the object that'd given him much grief over the last few minutes.
It was still covered in Ursa poop, so he'd have to fix that.

"Here we go again." Tim said, trying to get up.
He managed to stand on the branch, even with both hands occupied, and jumped to a branch on the other side of the tree to get a better vantage point. Looking out, he could see the river down below, below the drop off point. It was, thankfully, in the direction he was headed.
"Thank god for small mercies." Tim muttered under his breath, getting ready to throw Mj once again.

Using his aura he made the ball lighter and marked it again, since the old mark was fading. Tim threw MJ as far as he could, hoping it'd reach the riverbank. When he sensed that the mark had stopped moving, Tim imagined himself there. He disappeared and reappeared standing up with the river in front of him. Tim once again (again) sighed with relief and picked up MJ, walking slowly down to the river before squatting down and dipping the shitty crystal in the cool water.

The river flowed rapidly, washing away the blue crystal's brown stains. It was soon clean and Tim could see the blue crystal clearly. It was a rich blue color, deeply reminiscent of water. It glowed faintly, not as intense as it had in the cave. Perhaps sunlight was having an effect on it. Nevertheless, he set it down next to him before taking off his shoes, pulling up his pant legs and dipping his tired feet into the cool flowing water.
"Hah." Tim sighed contentedly.
He removed his scarf, setting it down by the crystal, and dipped his hands in the water. Wiping his face with his wet hands, he tried to relax and let the cold water carry him away. He'd gotten the crystal successfully and it'd been very stressful. He deserved a break.

Tim leaned back, supporting his body with his hands, as he enjoyed the water on his feet.
"All that trouble for just one crystal." Tim said. "Stupid bears."

Orlan’s guess at his new companion’s identity was confirmed when he mentioned the party the previous night before introducing himself. He rolled his stiff shoulders after Morgan’s firm slap on his back. Though he had hardly felt the blow through his coat and armor, he was stiff and sore after the dynamic landing.

”Don’t worry about me, you’d have to move pretty quick to leave me behind. My name is Orlan, nice to finally meet you. I hope you brought more than just that rum last night.” smiling as he introduces himself in turn, he reaches into his ammo pouch with his left hand as he speaks. Pulling out a handful of shells, he quickly reloads Axios. The last shell loaded, and with this weapon the first to be fired, glowed icy blue and was cool to the touch.

”Shall we?” he asks a few seconds later when finished, nodding northward. Spear in hand, he takes off at a steady run.

“Fantastic, I won’t need to keep calling you step two while we’re looking for step three,” Morgan replied as Orlan introduced himself.

Following his example Morgan leaped from tree to tree after Orlan’s retreating form.
He did so practiced ease having spent most of his early years buckling swash with his family aboard the Fluffy Cloud. The sturdy limbs of the overgrown trees weren’t terribly different than the mast of a ship, perhaps a bit bushier, but to someone used to clambering atop steel masts and oiled machinery it was a far simpler task.

Smaller branches and leaves shook free from his makeshift platforms as Morgan leaped, but he kept his eyes trained forward, trusting his reflexes and balance were honed enough to keep him from tumbling down. In the meantime, he took advantage of his elevation in the meantime to scout ahead. Scanning through the overgrown and foliage covered geography of the forest was a much more difficult task than looking over a clear horizon.

“Did Ozpin ever give any more specific instructions on where our dust crystals are supposed to be?” He asked as he realized that the two of them had only the vaguest idea of where they were supposed to start looking.

Morgan slowed to a stop, perching atop another branch as his keen eyesight detected movement ahead.

“Mate, I’m seeing something on the leeward side.”

“No idea,” came Orlan’s reply to the question about the instructions. All they had really been told was that there were ten crystals, and that they were hidden. “They wouldn’t hide them just anywhere though. I’m sure we’ll know what we’re looking for when we find it.”

When he heard Morgan slow down and then stop behind him Orlan slowed to a stop of his own, jogging the last few steps until he could put his back to a tree and peer around.

“Which way is leeward?” he called, searching what he could see of the forest. While he wasn’t altogether a stranger to boats, he didn’t have the familiarity his new partner seemed to.

Light flickered as Aegis came to life once again, the shield putting off a faint bronze glow in the shadows of the trees. Axios, the head whole once more for the moment, was ready for trouble in his right hand. The forest was supposed to be teeming with Grimm, even before all the crystals were to come together, and at this point Orlan found it unlikely that they had run into other students already. Besides, he was itching for a good fight.

“Leeward, towards the direction of the wind.” Morgan answered, keeping his eyes trained on the forest.

Pulling out a small silver spy glass from his belt and extending it to its full length, he peered out towards the movement he had detected. At first all he caught sight of were more trees and bushes blocking his vision and making a general nuisance of ranged detection, but a flicker of movement at the end of his telescopic sight caught his attention and he focused in on it.

Dozens of Black-furred creatures with red eyes covered in the tell-tale bone structures of Grimm came into view. A pack of them wandered far ahead of their location in various sizes ranging from barely the size of a large dog to more than twice Morgan’s height. More experienced with fighting Banshees and Skyrats than he was the more terrestrial variety of Grimm, he none the less recognized one of the most common varieties of Grimm known to man.

“Looks like a pack of beowolves.” He continued. “We’re downwind so they haven’t caught our scent.”

Morgan grinned as he glanced down and saw Orlan already prepped for a fight with sword and spear in hand.

“We could probably sneak around them,” Morgan said airily. “But that’d be no fun.”
Morgan slipped his spy glass back onto his belt and hopped off his branch and into the air.
A scarlet tentacle ripped free from the trunk of the tree behind Morgan winding itself tightly like a spring before thrusting out and throwing him rocketing through the forest towards the pack of Grimm ahead.

“Keeping up I hope!” Morgan shouted as he once again whistled through the air his voice rapidly fading off in the distance.

The blackened snout of a beowolf perked up as its wolf-like ears heard a keening noise overhead. Looking up, the Grimm had time for sharp yelp of surprise before Morgan slammed squarely onto its back with a crunch before bouncing off into a rough roll over the leafy terrain. Landing upright Morgan let the momentum carry him forward as he drew a cutlass free from its scabbard and thrust into the sturdy frame of another beowolf, which had the misfortune of finding itself in his immediate path, impaling the wolf-like monster. Morgan immediately kicked the monster back as it howled in pain and tried to make a swipe at Morgan, freeing his blade as he did so. As the beowolf reared backwards, he ripped one of Fortune’s Six’s pistols out of its holsters and cracked off three shots into the monster’s body, dropping it.

Angry growls surrounded Morgan as the rest of the pack circled around and charged. With an adrenaline filled grin, he swept his blade from side to side and fired wildly into the pack circling around.

“Don’t let me have all the fun!”

As his companion rushed off, Orlan felt his lips part in a grin. He barely knew Morgan, but he could tell they would work well together just from the beginning of this one encounter. Picking his way along the ground in a stealthier manner, he followed his partner towards the oncoming Grimm. He stood aside for a moment, letting Morgan engage first and draw the attention of most of the pack. With their backs mostly turned, Orlan took his turn in handing out devastation.

A beowolf on the edge of the fight noticed the calm form approaching from one side, and diverted to charge at it. As it neared, claws flashing on their descent toward his shoulder, Orlan slammed his full weight behind Aegis. Smashing the beowolf’s nose with the shimmering barrier, he pushes it aside after planting his spear in its gut for a moment. His first enemy dispatched, Orlan turns to help his new friend.

Breaking into a run, he lets Aegis fade and twists the centerpoint of Axios handle. Taking a low grip on the spear with both hands, Orlan focuses his aura and takes a sprinting leap. His feet connect first with the back of one Grimm, and then the the top of another’s head. Pushing off, he drives Axios straight down with a loud battle cry. Even as the shot pushes Orlan upward in a pole vault, the dust from the charge creates a blast of freezing cold.

Several beowolves now frozen in place, Orlan reactivates Aegis and closes Axios upon reaching the peak of his several-yard-high leap. As he begins to fall, he angles his spear to drive it through the highest concentration of frozen beowolves. Suffusing himself with aura to mitigate the damage of the fall, he shatters most of the frozen Grimm outright as he crashes down.

“Good enough for you?” Orlan yells lightheartedly, setting shield and spear at the ready again. The stunt left him breathing hard with the effort, but relatively unscathed.

Morgan tilted his head in appreciation of Orlan’s feat and continued firing more shots from the pistol in his right hand at the remainder of the snarling pack as they tried to close the distance, heedless of their fallen.

“Almost.” he answered, and then sneezed sending a dusting of frost flying away from the frozen form of the beowolf he’d been in the process of impaling. Orlan’s stunt had frosted over a good number of the wolves, but ended up catching Morgan’s cutlass and his left sword arm in the process. Encasing it in a chilly block of ice attached to the beowolf’s frozen form.
“But we’re not done yet.”

The ice encasing his cutlass shattered along with the body of the beowolf it was lodged in as the blade forcefully retracted and folded into Fortune Six’s pistol form. Spinning around Morgan cracked a shot off toward Orlan’s panting form. The shot whizzed toward Orlan’s head, and then past it to slam into the face of a crouched beowolf stalking towards his partner’s exposed back. The beowolf crumpled to the ground without a sound and began to fade away into a stream of black smoke.

Meanwhile, a dozen glowing red eyes perked out of the treeline as more beowolves joined stalked out of the undergrowth to replace their fallen comrades.

As if in response another black form charged at his back and tried to make dog food out of Morgan. He spun around and peppered the charging interloper with pistol fire, dropping it with a quick shot to the knee and chest before blasting off its slavering maw for good measure. Another leaped over its fallen friend only to yelp in surprise as a scarlet tentacle ripped out of the ground and wrapped itself around its torso and throwing it back into the next in line.

Leaping backwards, Morgan continued firing into charging forms of grimm coming at them, before landing beside Orlan, still firing and picking off the last of the original pack of beowolves.

It appears, Morgan thought as he fired, that the pack the two of them were facing was far larger than he’d anticipated. Between the two of them they’d easily taken down about a dozen of the black monsters, but a dozen more were crawling out of the woods attracted to the sound of gunfire and fighting.

Suddenly, a thunderous howl split through the forest and a beowolf easily the size of a pine tree ripped out of the woods, tearing apart a pair of trees in its wake as it charged towards the two hunters-in-training. The massive grimm easily dwarfed its kin by nearly five times and it sported more numerous bone-like protrusions all over its body like armor.

Orlan could not help but chuckle at his own folly as Morgan destroyed the ice encasing his arm. So his shot hadn’t been so perfect after all. The distraction lasted until Morgan fired one of his pistols in his direction, right past his ear. Turning to face the dissipating beowolf, Orlan’s grunt of appreciation turns into a groan. All around them the black-and-white forms of their enemy stalked.

Trusting his back to his ally, Orlan stares down the approaching Grimm. Just as one starts to come within reach of his spear, the entire fight seems to pause. A monstrous howl splits the air, followed by the crashing footsteps of something massive. Glancing over his shoulder, Orlan spots the gargantuan beowolf and his eyes widen dramatically.

”Morgan, we can’t fight that on our own. I vote we run like hell until we die or find help. I’ll make an opening, just be ready to go!” Despite the calm in his voice, Orlan’s hands shake with excitement and terror as he replaces the spent shell with a silvery-white high impact round from his pouch. As the huge creature bears down on the pair, he takes off at a run.

Hoping that Morgan is following him he shoves his way through a group of four beowolves with the help of Aegis, unlocking Axios and saving the weapon for the proper moment. As they neared the edge of the clearing, and the last Grimm between them and open ground, Orlan put on a boost of speed to run ahead of Morgan. Getting his shield under him, he drops into a sudden baseball slide. As he passes under the dumbfounded creature’s outstretched arms, the spread and gleaming tip of Axios darts up to strike it under the chin.

Not stopping to admire his handiwork as he rolls out of his slide and back into a run, Orlan doesn’t see the beowolf fly high into the air. At the apex of its ascent, there is a meaty impact as an airborne boarbatusk slams into it, causing both to start to dissolve before they reach the ground. Behind and unnoticed by the fleeing pair, a sparkling red crystal juts out from under one of the bony segments on the massive beowolf’s back.

Nova rose just before the dawn to find that she was by herself in the empty lecture hall, the other occupant packed up and long gone. It didn't really matter to her since she had only been here so Cyra wouldn't get all the blame if she was caught away from the group and Nova could always slip back with the others at this point or just say she woke up early without being able to find her way back after exploring. She rolled up her sleeping bag, securing it next to her pack before rummaging for an outfit as well as some armor. Once her armor was securely in place on her chest, forearms and shins, Nova quickly pulled on a long sleeve black shirt with a pair of jeans and some boots. The armor felt a little strange, usually never in use but she wanted to be prepared for anything that might be thrown at them and armor could mean all the difference. Instead of journeying back to the ballroom, she decided to just watch the sunrise while fixing her braid since it had became a mess through the night. Once the sun was a little more in the sky, an announcement came on that all first years were to report to the cliffs for initiation. That being said, she grabbed her stuff and Mystral before heading off to the meeting point.



The speech had only strengthened her resolve, knowing that she would not and could not fail to become a Huntress. Her hand unconsciously went for her pocket, her fingers curling around the warm metal of the watch that sat there. It made her feel like she wasn't in any of this alone and that he was still around.
I won't fail you. I am going to pass this test and go on to save anyone I can...I can't let you down after working so hard., she thought to herself. Nova's blue eyes drifted to the others, wondering just who would be her partner and who would actually pass out of this large group. The first person suddenly launched, making her look to her own feet and a plan quickly formed in her head. The branches would hurt only a little but all and all it would be the best option. She quickly pulled Mystral out of its sheath, bending a bit as she readied for her own launch pad to go off. She was unfortunately, one of the last ones in the long line but it got to her turn eventually as the sounds of the gears turning cause a small smile to grace her lips before she was off. The wind and warmth of the day felt nice, it would almost be an amazing experience and feeling if it wasn't for the small fact of what goes up must come down. She moved Mystral so that it was under her body before opening it up to its second form, using the giant fan as a shield against the branches though some still poked through the openings it was mostly block by her armor since her form was curled. The ground was getting closer now, the branches out of the way so she was in a free fall but she quickly flipped her fan in a different direction and pointing it at the trees. Nova wasn't a very good aim bit with at least six tries, one was bound to hit the mark and with that thought in mind she pulled the trigger to release the blades. The blades shooting in different directions outwards before it buried into the trunks, slowing her decent as the wires tightened and letting her touch down gracefully.

It only took a few sharp yanks before the blades let go of the poor stabbed vegetation and back into its natural position. She then closed up the fan so that her sword was at the ready for any negative in counters. She looked up, covering her eyes a bit as she figured out which way north was from the positioning of the sun and the direction it was moving in. North it was and hopefully she would meet a partner soon along the way.

Varen nodded silently.

The girl was interesting to say the least. She felt like she was far too chipper to be keeping secrets but who was she to judge? Varen herself probably seemed like someone who should be keeping a lot of secrets, but she never really did. If someone asked her something she would probably tell them whatever they wanted to know. Varen definitely wanted to get closer to her, maybe she'd find out the reason for it, if there was one besides her just being a stranger. Maybe people weren't as bad as she thought they were.

"If you need dust cartridges don't hesitate to ask." Varen said, "I have a lot."

She wasn't entirely sure if the small girl's weapon could use dust cartridges but it never hurt to offer something. Varen took the clip out of her gun and studied it for any errant wasted ammunition as she walked after Asvoria. In the earlier stages of the creation of her gun, sometimes it would consume more ammo than intended and it had taken a while to fix. She'd kept doing it a lot of the time though, mostly out of habit and sometimes because she wasn't sure how much she'd shot.

Looks like it's about enough for 25 shots. She thought.

The ammo capacity of one clip was about 30 rounds for the assault rifle, taking 3 rounds per sniper round, and 5 rounds per shotgun round. The conversion rate for the shotgun was 5 rounds for 9 pellets so it wasn't bad, but she could definitely up the efficiency. The conversion rates really do give her grief sometimes. Sometimes she could end up with 4 in the clip while using the shotgun and then having to switch to sniper mode then assault rifle mode for the sake of efficiency. Each clip took a full dust crystal so it really wasn't cheap to refill.

Varen slung her gun over her shoulder and took a small jar from the Ammo Box. She emptied the clip into it and stowed it away in her pockets while grabbing 4 clips from the Ammo Box and slotting one into her gun. It would be best to start on a full clip. If she got caught out she wanted every piece of dust in that ammo clip ready to fire, and she'd be able to use the powder with her semblance in case she needed too. Full crystals were a little dangerous after all.

"It might be best to scout ahead from higher up." Varen said, "Maybe we'll see something from the top of the trees."

@Crimson Raven

Razor looked to each Beowolf looking for a way out. He knew he needed to fight the Grimm eventually, but with his new found teammate near him. He didn’t want to risk his Semblance to activate. He snarled as he saw no way out but fighting. Guess there’s no choice in the matter Razor thought before he flung both his yoyos at one of the beowolves. Instead of the chainsaws moving to the outer radios of the yoyos, small light blue swirls formed on the sides of the yoyos.

“Ice Wolf Bite!” Razor yelled as his yoyos where incased in large ice blocks that formed into wolf heads. The two wolf heads slammed into one of the Grimm. It was sent backwards as the ice shattered. Razor retracted his yoyos before he turned to Light and shouted, “Are you going to stand there all day or help?” Razor caught his yoyos before he flung them back towards the beowolves. This time the chainsaw blades moved to the outside edges of the yoyos and began to spin.

“Damn Grimm don’t know how to stay down,” Razor said as his two yoyos cut into the flesh of another Grimm that howled in pain. It tried to swipe at the yoyos strings, but Razor was quick enough to pull his yoyos back to him. The Grimm he had knocked down first started to get back up. Damn it, these things are tough Razor thought.

“Howling Wolf Bite!” Razor shouted as he flung his yoyos at the Grimm trying to get up. The chainsaw blades whirled even faster and let out a howling sound like a wolf. One of the yoyos hit the Beowolf in the chest while the other lodged itself in the Beowolf’s neck. Razor smiled as the blades spun and he retracted his yoyos. The one in the Grimm’s neck sliced through the fur and flesh as a fountain of blood spewed from its neck. The wolf howled in pain before dropping to the ground.

“Well that’s one down, five more to go,” Razor sighed before he waited for another Grimm to attack. He looked to light and said, “If you have some super awesome weapon. Now’s the time to use it kid.”

"Right, no objections here Paris." Carlin said with a beaming grin as she steped over to Heather's side and placed an arm around her in a familar, friendly manner and began to lead her away from the group, gesturing with her free hand for the detachment of iron woods troops to follow after them "We'll take care of Crete. Hopefully with my incredibly useful ability to move through heavily wooded areas easily we'll there and back quick enough to provide support for anyone who may require it. Laters!"

Once they out of each shot of the rest, keeping a brisk pace and a good close hold of Heather to give them privacy from the accompanying detachment of troops she whispered "Okay Heather, I want to know everything..." She gave her a sly, sideways glance and added with a little knowing emphasis to her voice "...and I do mean everything~."

Heather blushed as Carlin asked to know "everything"... and decided to start from the beginning. "Uh... well... it kinda... just... happened yesterday. I was uh... walking through th ship and um... well I sorta don't have um... sealegs? And I... fell on her... which was embarassing. After that we had a little talk... and she got scared about the boat and I hugged her... then we ended up sparring in the cargo hold... then uh... um... I-I-I... kissed her..." Heather blushed from the memory of her first kiss the night before. She looked sheepishly back at Carlin, her nervous crooked smile on her face, "Uhhh... and uh... we just sorta... cuddled that night and went to sleep... w-we didn't um... do anything... just slept... and then this morning we got breakfast a-and F-f-fern... who alo knows uh... she talked with us uh, and I kissed Sapphire again and um... then Fern left and we uh... ate." now Heather REALLY blushed... thinking about the rest of the events of the morning... but Carlin DID say she wanted to know everything.

"Um.. then we were gonna go back to the cabin to play Remnant... but uh... I kissed h-her again and uh... we started making out and uh, then she took off her clothes and uh... I took-"

"O-okay." Carlin suddenly interjected with a sort of nerviously shaky voice. Her own face had gotten red when Heather began to share more personal details about her time with her new girl friend and the time they spend together. Infact the normaly golden hazel colored flowers on her head band had also changed hue into a brlliant scarlet color. "P-perhaps not everything, everything." She chuckled a little bit to her self, before taking a breath to calm her nerves. "But wow Heather, color me impressed. You are having quite the big first week back at school. Big important mission, new girlfriend..." The blush returns for a moment, the flowers tips growing red once more "...Other things..." She choughed once to clear her throat as she stumbled on that thought.

"Sounds like a great start to the next semster. Now we just need a smothly ran mission to solidify it. So since you missed the full debrief, and I do mean brief, do you have any questions about what you missed? I would be happy to fill you in."

Heather was surprised by Carlin's sudden stopping of her description... she had expected Carlin to be absolutely bugging out over wanting to hear EVERY detail... but it seemed her gossipy friend didn't want to hear about... well what Heather had done in her cabin. She raised an eyebrow as Carlin then continued to avoid mentioning or even saying the word sex, despite the fact she was so... filterless with everything else. It made Heather giggle a little bit at Carlin's embarassment, but decided she would poke fun at her for it after she had heard all the mission details, "Uh, yes please... like I said I was... not available when uh... you were debriefed..." Heather replied, smiling and blushing at her own memories.

Carlin really REALLY wanted to make a joke about 'de-briefing' given the direction Heathers earlier story, but the thought of making such a direct sex joke about sex that ACTUALLY happened was enough to make her feel like she was going to explode from embarrassment. She pushed away the thought and focused on pulling together into a more coherent line. "So short story even shorter. You know that terrorist group that has been causing all that trouble lately? Well seems like they are planing a possible attack here. This island, in addition to having Signal Acadamy, is home to a handful of small villages which could also be vulnerable to attack. our job is to aid in the evacuation, but to not make it known that the terrorist group may be involved to keep panic from spreading and making any possible actions by them or grim easier. We are all splitting up into groups of two..." she gestured back behind her "W..." she gestured back behind her "With some of ironwoods toy soldiers for back up, to make sure everything goes smoothly. I'm hoping we can get in and out quickly enough that we can provide back up for another team. Any questions or objections to that plan?"

Heather shined her crooked smile, "J-just o-one Carlin... um... have you uh... never... had a boyfriend? Or... uh girlfriend?" she couldn't believe she was teasing Carlin, but she couldn't stop, she just giggled as she thought about the charming, outgoing and confident Carlin not having any sort of relationship before Heather, who was about the opposite of Carlin in every way. She looked at Carlin again, her damn annoying smile still plastered on her face, "Di-did I lose... uh... m-my v-v-v-v-v-v-virginty... before you? *giggle*" she found it amusing to no end.

As heather spoke her question the color began to rapidly return to Carlin's face and the flowers of her head band. her mouth worked uselessly for a moment before her second question hit her like a left hook to the jaw. Her flowers literally burst into flames on her head band, the little flash fire dieing out quickly as wisps of smoke floated up from the ashy remains. Carlin took a deep breath, the process calming her nerves and bringing the flowers back to life, but not back into bloom. With a sigh she responded.

"Yes Heather, not only is my virginity in tact, but I'm still 0 for 0 on significant others." she admitted with far more sheepishness that she had ever shown before. "High society is much more into the arranged sort of things most of the time. Plus, many of the families keep to themselves, outside of very formal gatherings. That makes it hard to get to know anyone that way. Especially since most of us are watched by hawks so we don't do anything that will 'tarnish' the family name. And heaven forbid we go 'gallivanting with common folk'..." She gave heather a somewhat pleading look "Maybe...maybe don't tell anyone that okay?"

Heather softened her smile, she knew more about the sheltered life of the rich than Carlin could ever know... but... maybe she could know. Carlin was always so open with Heather and Heather... she had never told Carlin ANYTHING about herself... not about her mother, or her childhood or... nothing. She sighed loudly... she had to tell her... something... she looked at Carlin, her nervous smile back, "Uh... don't worry... I uh... won't tell anyone... I um... kn-kn-know what uh... you mean by erm... the uh, high class... isolation stuff... that was about all Heather Di managed to get out, looking away after finishing.

Carlin smiled a thankful smile to Heather before raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her comment of sympathy. "Oh? I knew your family wasn't exactly common, but I was unsure. I only know about who my parents think are 'important' for me and my family to be acquainted with. Paris for example, didn't really know him all that well before ending up on the team, but I certainly knew his family. What they wouldn't give to get a better chance to study that tree of theirs." she gave a disdainful little sniff at the thought of them "Bunch of high-brow snobs, the lot of them. They care so much more for expanding the families influence or gaining more knowledge about dust than me or any of the other kids in my family." She leaned in closer to Heather and added "Not that any of my cousins are much better than them but hey you can't pick your family"

Heather frowned, knowing that 'you can't pick your family' wasn't so true in her case, looking at Carlin, "Well... yea... you've probably not heard um... of my mom then... though uh... I erm... don't know... maybe? From what mom uh... says and um... does I think we must have... l-like... a lot of money... uh... H-hanna Mint? I know she is erm... active but... your family is like... ancient right? So... maybe not..." Heather wasn't sure if Carlin even did know her mother, and if she did she propbably hadn't guessed Heather's relation, being a Faunus and such... plus she wasn't sure how much mother really mentioned her to other's... but maybe?

Carlin pursed her lips as heather spoke. "Hanna Mint....Hanna Mint...That name does ring a bell..." she mumbled more to her self than to Heather, the brought up a finger and began to tap her chin in thought. "If I had to guess I think my parents may have mentioned her being one of their bigger business partners in recent years...maybe...It would make the most sense. I am fairly certain I would have remembered meeting them in person, and my parents tend to keep my away from the important business partners when they can, don't want me making bad impression. If they just talked to them about me...well I would have only picked up on every third word or so. They just love to go on and on about such things. Like the businesses we own don't practically run them selves at this point."

Heather giggled a bit, realizing just how LITTLE Carlin cared about her families business. She felt good about sharing that much with her best friend, smiling as they walked in silence for a bit. She was sure they were getting close to the village by now, but she decided she would make ONE more tease at Carlin's expense. She stood on her tiptoes, right next Carlin's ear, whispering to her, By the way, wanna know something good? In... t-the cabin... Sapphire-" the actual content of the whisper is too lewd to say, suffice to say Heather hoped it would elicit a funny reaction from her best friend.

In reaction to the information Carlin could do little more than lose a great deal of her motor functions. She literally just fell face first onto the ground after tripping over her own feet. She got back to her knees looking at her friend while rubbing her nose "I...you...and she...but...and...with the..." as she stuttered she made several motions that could with her arms that could have been perfectly harmless with out the context that Carlin had been given before she just sort of sat there for a second and blurted out "HOW ARE YOU WALKING STRAIGHT!?!"

Heather almost fell over laughing, stifling them to pretend to put her finger to her lips to think, Hmmmmm... w-well they say baby deer uh, can walk seconds after their born... so I guess it must be the Faunus version of that." she smirked at Carlin, offering her hand, "Besides, it's not like i'm some big baby, though... I'm not sure YOU could handle it." she couldn't stop giggling, she had just managed to take away Carlin`s motor skills with a sentence.

Carlin stared at Heather in a sort of shocked wonderment for a moment before smiling and taking her hand, She rose to her feet dusting dirt and such from her body, laughing softly to herself as she did. "I suspect you are right about that at least, I'm fairly certain I couldn't handle...that." she gave heather a quick hug "I'm proud of you, and I hope this will continue to be a good thing for the both of you. It's certainly bringing you a bit out of your shell. Confidence is a good look on you." She said with a wink.

By now they had reached the edge of the dock's area and were approaching the deep, wild woods of Patch. Carlin stood before it for a second "Okay, the mission officially starts now Part one, Get to Crete." she out stretched her hand and focused her mind on he semblance, reaching out and feeling the plant life sprawled out before her like one enormous presence. It was an old and suborn forest, filled with darkness and danger. But the green things in it would at least yield to her semblance, Spring. Branches, trunks, bushes and vines all writhed at her command, making a mostly smooth path for them to walk for several yards forward. She would have to repeat the process once they reached the point where her range ended but it certainly made the footing more sure.

Carlin let out a little exhale and smiled "Okay Heather, After you."

When Fern and Tilian seperated from the group, ten of Ironwood's men came along with them. Though they seemed to be all serious and stoic while they were at the docks, once the group got a bit into the forest, they started to relax a bit more and talk among themselves, joking and laughing occasionally. Fern was kind of relieved about this, considering she expected them to be observing her and Tilian and how they acted or something like that. Knowing they were just going to do their own thing while they traveled made the walk seem like less of a drag.

They stuck to one of the few main roads that cut through the island, they were protected by some rather low quality electric fences that were probably used to keep the Grimm from crossing the main roads. They had headed straight for a while, but once they reached a fork in the road and saw a sign that indicated which direction to head in to get to Sutton, they went that way. For the most part, Fern had been quiet the entire time, just keeping her eyes and ears on her surroundings. To say she was feeling uptight would be an understatement.

Tilian had been relaxed this entire time. He never got why Fern was always on high alert on a mission. Since the Grimm never went for a stealthy aproach. And even though it was nice for someone to be sentry. The thing was that she had been silent the entire time. Which had been somewhat awkward. At first Tilian just ignored it. Then het got bored. Then he got agitated. And then he decided to break the ice." So how has your vaction been?"He said.

The sound of Tilian's voice made Fern visibly jump in fright. She turned towards him and threw a glare his way. "Come on, don't scare me like that." she said, pouting as she crossed her arms. "And you would know how it was if you would have answered my calls or replied to my messages, but noooo... apparently you're too cool to talk to me. Jerk." she said, rolling her eyes and looking ahead again.

A few moments of silence passed and Fern sighed, thinking that was a bit.... meaner than she's wanted it to be. She frowned again and rubbed her arm and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

Tilian rolled his eyes as she rambeld on, yet he stopped walking when she actually apologized. He looked at her with a face of actual concern and said." Who are you and what did you do to Fern?"

"Do you wan't to die?" Fern asked him, stopping in her walking as well. She turned to look at him and smiled. "Is that better?"

Tilian got a smile on his face as he gave Fern gave thumbs up."See? Thats the Fern I hate and love. But seriously we have been walking for hours and you never even told me the briefing." He then started walking again."But how has life been for you? Sorry for not being able to respond all the time. I was just being busy with buissnes."

Fern was unsure if he was implying that she can't be nice or something, but decided to disregard it. She would restrain herself from causing any physical harm to him in front of others, but she could save it for another time. When he mentioned not being briefed yet, Fern facepalmed herself for forgetting. She was about to tell him the plan but he continued on talking, asking about how she's been. It kind of threw her off for a second.

"Uh... I've been fine I suppose. Sapphire's been keeping me company while Rust sleeps all day and you are busy... doing 'business'. I forgot you were a full-time delinquent." she said sarcastically as she started walking after him. She looked around for the few soldiers that were with them and they were just some few paces behind them, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Tilian gasped dramaticly."How dare you accuse me of being a thief. Let me tell you that I am everything but a thief. I am just a buissnes man who deals in certain... products. And before you ask. No I do not deal in drugs. Because drugs are bad." This was actually true as the control on drugs in vale where pretty hard. Making drug smuggling very dangerous.

Fern just rolled her eyes. "Riiiight, of course, how could I confuse you with a delinquent? I'm sure everything you do is within the parameters of the law." she said, her tone thick with sarcasm.

"Hey I need to make a living too. Plus i have a lot of connections that i can't leave. It would cause problems if i did."

"Oh no, I'm not denying that. I couldn't care less what you do on your own time. Just know, that your shit better not come back to but the team in the ass. We have a reputation of professionalism to uphold." Fern said, pausing afterwards. "Also... Do you happen to know anyone who does nails? I seriously need a manicure."

Tilian raised an eyevrow at the last question."You can relax. I already made sure they don't screw with me on Beacon. Plus it's not like they will try to grab me or anything. At least I eh... hope not." Tilian realized that he had forgotten to drop the money off. This send him into a small almost not noticeable panic."And yeah i got a couple of people i know who can do manicures. Don't ask me how I know them I just do."

Fern noticed the slight change in expression on his face but was unsure what he was thinking about. "Right... well, when we're done here, remind me to ask you for that contact. My nails have seriously been suffering." she told him.

"But uh... you know you can't trust everyone, right? Just be careful. And if you ever need any help... with anything, you can ask me. The worst I'll do is skin you alive." she told him with a smirk.

Tilian laughed a nervous laugh. Somewhere in his rotten heart he kind of felt worried about getting Fern into his world."I appreciate the offer but since you want to skin me alive I think I'm gonna go with no. Besides, they never ever tried to screw with me. Apparently someone having a flying weapon tends to scare people of for some weird reason."

Fern nodded. "Yeah... I can see that." she said shrugging. "Well, my offer still stands. I want to be the one to kill you at the end of the day." she teased, placing a hand on her hip. "Not... someone else."

" Why? Do you hate me so much you can't give someone else the pleasure of killing me? Because I am flatterd if that's the case."

"I'm sure there's no greater pleasure than being the one to wipe that smug little grin off your face." she said, reaching out to pinch one of his cheeks. "Why would I ever give that up?"

" Because you love me? He said in a very sarcastic and high tone.

"Exactly." she said sarcastically, releasing her friend's cheek. She opened her scroll, checking the map to make sure they were going the right way. It was odd and also a relif that they hadn't encountered any Grimm along the way thus far, but it was equally as odd that no one was walking along this main road like they were. By this time it was already late in the day and the sun was starting to slowly make its way down. Despite this, there was not a single living creature walking with them along the road. It seemed... unnatural.

Fern took a deep breath in through her nose, the smells of the forest around them calmed her some and she was able to relax.

Tilian saw Fern relax somewhat and decided to ask the less fun questions.
" So eh, about Sapphire since you know her and all. How long will it take before she calms the fuck down? Because seriously she is still on about it.

"Honestly, she has a right to be. I mean... you know how she is." Fern said with a shrug. She remembered the... recent news she'd gotten from her faunus friend earlier and a frown of worry came onto her face. "But, I would say she's... moved on."

Tilian sighed frustratingly. " If she had moved on, she wouldn't be looking like she wanted to stab me in the face. And I know how she is. Very bloody annoying." Tilian bit on his lip for he knew that Fern and Saphire were best friends. Which was weird considering the two barely looked alike. "No offense Fern, I just found her to be so horribly dramatic from the begging.

Fern sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, we all have our flaws you know. I'm violent and clingy, Rust is lazy, Sapphire is whiny... but, you're certainly not the easiest person to get along with either." she said, giving him a sharp look. "It's a shame actually. It really is. We've been together for a year now and we may be strong, but that hardly means anything if we can't stand being around each other."

Tilian sighed because what he was about to say would sound really wrong in Fern's ears.
"Well Fern you are the less worst of them all. I mean your still a bitch sometimes but you have my somewhat respect. And yes I know i'm horrible as well. But i have my reasons for that."

"We all have our reasons for being how we are. Honestly, I love you guys. I wouldn't send you so many messages and calls and I wouldn't cling to Rust and be best friends with Sapphire if I didn't. The thing is... I'm so happy that I finally have friends, that I can look past all the shit you guys pull and see you three are all pretty great." She rubbed her arm as she blushed in embarassment.

Tilian shook his head.And looked down on the ground. " Fern if you knew the the shit I pulled you wouldn't want me to be in your eye sight." He then laughed as he saw Fern blushing. "Are you actually blushing right now? Becuse if so i belief i just wittnessed a miracle.

"Hey, shut it." she said, pulling some of her hair forward to hide her face. "Let's just pick up the pace." she told him, going into a speed walk.

" But of course my Ice queen.

"If you're going to call me something, make it Flower Princess or something like that." she told him, her voice indicating she was probably pouting.

" Sure whatever you wish flowerpot.

Light wanted to point out that technically, Ozzie said, "eye contact" which he had specifically avoided, but as usualy, the other kid was too dense to realize that. Light ignored the kid's pathetic attempt to insult him, after all, he was five foot six, thank you very much. He opened his mouth to return verbal fire, but his retort died, unspoken as they were surrounded by a pack of slavering Ursa.

The mere sight of them brought back nightmares of that night. The night his father died. But those nightmares had long since lost their power over him. Instead, he only felt hatred, hatred to those monsters who took the last of his family from him. It didn't matter to him that these where not the same. All of them deserved annihilation. He was aware of the other kid's efforts that resulted in the death on one of the Grimm.

"If you have some super awesome weapon, nows the time to use it, kid."

If that wasn't a straight line, then Light didn't know what was.

Light gathered his fury into his aura, and channeled his semblance, charging each of the five Dynamos with plasma. They started to glow a deep purple and began to crackle and hum, almost inaudably. He raised his hand to his face, and the dynamos gathered in front of him. They tilted untill they were parallel to the ground, each pointing at a different Ursa. He then extended his arm, and they darted forward to embed themselved in each of the Ursa's skulls. He clenched his hand into a fist, and five almost simultaneous explosions rang out as the Dynamos discharged their energy in a single, massive, burst. Five smoking, headless corpses fell to the earth. Light turned to face the other kid, and looked him straight in his eyes. "Fine. We will work together. But don't expect us to be friends." He said.

@Rex

"Dust Cartridges?" Asvoria questioned with a smirk. "Not to brag," a blatant lie of course , "But this piece of work here? Randgrid? All Girl-Power." She did her best to twirl it around a bit like it were some kind of baton or flag dancers toss around. The size made it a little unwieldy but the girl managed to make her point. "Well, that's a little besides the point. OH! But sweets are a great idea! I like those. A happy me is a happy team? Or something?" She had to giggle at her little bit of confusing conversation but continued smiling until Varen asked if they should scout at the top of the trees.

"Hmm, why bring the fight to them when we can have them bring the fight to us?" The blond set her mallet down against a tree. At first she thought it would be good to hand it to Varen, but that would have just left the girl struggling a little bit. "HEY LOSER GRIMM! I BET YER' ALL SCARED OF A GIRL WITH A HAMMER!!" She couldn't help but turn to Varen as one of the bushes started to rustle. Her face was a pure smile as she turned from the girl to her hammer and to the bush as the monstrosity from nearby showed up. "Oh my, can't say I was expecting this." Asvoria was ever a optimist in such a dangerous situation that stood with her delusion that nothing could kill her as she smiled at the threat, still though, the sight of an Ursa Major was nothing short of breath-taking. "Oh wow, I think I'm trembling a little. With excitement, not fear. . . Probably." The girl braced herself as the Ursa made a beeline for her.

With a feral grunt the creature swiped at her with its clawed paws. Instinctively, Asvoria sidesteped to the right and delivered a tough blow from her weapon to the creatures side causing it to stagger a bit. If nothing else, it didn't seem to expect that such a little thing could inflict such a massive blow. . . But its pain was nothing it couldn't just ignore for now. "This thing is a lot bigger in person. And armored. . . Varen, good buddy, I think this is a thing we need to take--" The creature attacked again with another dodge from Asvoria, nothing she could counter with this time. "--out together." If nothing else, this was a great test of how well the two could work as partners.

@Crimson Raven

“At least you can fight. So that’s a positive,” Razor said as he placed his yoyos back into the pouch on his right side. Razor laughed when Light mentioned them not being friends.

“That’s funny. I was going to say the same thing to you,” Razor said with a smile before he walked past Light and said, “Now let’s go sport, we need to find these Dust Crystals so we can finish this. I would rather be in the academy then in a forest surrounded by Grimm.” The problem is: where are we going to find these crystals? They could be anywhere Razor thought. He stopped and he took a deep breath, smelling the air around him. His right ear rotated, listening to the sounds around him while his left ear stayed stationary.

“If I’m correct, we might find some crystals dead ahead. Most of the Dust crystals give off a unique sent, but there’s something else that way as well. I’m not sure what it is, but it stinks to the high heavens,” Razor explained before he walked forward towards them sent.

“Are you coming sport or do you want to wonder the woods with Grimm all around you?” Razor asked as he turned to light.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"Go away..."

Yawning, a curled creature, that had previously been cocooned in a sleeping bag in a lonely corner, woke from its slumber and in its rebirth, rose like a majestic and glorious butterfly only to be tore to shreds by a passing bird. "Uh... what time is it? Initiation? Ah... great. Go team me."

After giving a pathetic air-punch and looking like an idiot that talks to herself, Tara fetched a hairbrush and set about lazily taming her snowy strands. She wasn't a very good morning person but if she had a nice little cup of strong coffee, she'd be awake in no time! Unfortunately, however, it seemed that the school had no appreciation of getting a decent breakfast or even a drink before taking them out for a jolly little jaunt to the cliffs. Speaking of which, she didn't like the sound of cliffs. In the life of a huntress, bad things were shitty and most good things were also pretty shitty.

Amber eyes darted around the room, greedily taking in every detail and preserving it in that thick skull of hers. She liked watching people - not in the weird, heavy breathing sorta pervy watching but the watching people go about their lives sort of watching. She loved information of any sort and it was available in copious amounts from her various classmates. One boy even seemed to be having some sort of nightmares. She was tempted to go over and wake him up but another guy beat her to the punch so she retreated back to her corner.

Once she was through a change of clothes and a fairly short period of donning the little armour she had, Tara was ready to roll. Humming a soft tune, she dragged Weeds up onto her ears and plugged the device into her scroll. As she left the ballroom, she proceeded to half-walk, half-dance her way up the hills to the cliffs were the professors were apparently waiting.

Just as foretold, both Ozpin and Goodwitch were standing waiting with a number of podiums before them. A few of the students had already taken their place on the podiums so Tara followed suit. From the looks of it, it just looked like a podium but there was no way in hell they would just sit a bunch of podiums on the edge of a cliff. Something was up. Her hand defensively crept over to the hilt of Thistle and she gave a rather prudent glance about her, almost as if her fellow students were about to leap out as Grimm. Given Beacon's reputation for starting off with a bang _{(Heather *cough* Sapphire)} she wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if they did prepare some great conspiracy theory to throw at this year's line-up.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your skills will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. At this Academy, we do not accept dreamers... those of you who may think you have what it takes, but lack the capabilities to be considered a true Huntsman. Should you not pass this final test... we will not allow you entrance into the Academy."

Tara desperately wanted to put her hand up and ask if that was because anyone who failed typically didn't get out of the Emerald Forest but she thought that was a rather negative thought and given the fact that she was pretty shit at combat, it would be her who would receive the brunt of that joke. So her hand remained firmly sheathed. She spotted nightmare boy and gave him an invisible thumbs-up.

"It is well known that a Huntsman can only do so much on his own, and so during their time in one of the four Academies, they are assigned to teams. I'm sure you may have heard rumors about the assignment of teams... Well, let us put an end to the confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today. These teammates will be with you for the remainder of your time at this Academy. I would say it is important to be paired with someone whom you can work well. However... that being said, the first person you make eye contact with upon landing shall be your partner for the next four years."

That... actually wasn't so bad. It meant that she was probably not going to get mauled by some scary Grimm plus it also meant that she could use her semblance without just being completely useless while doing so! Pew. However, knowing her luck, she probably would have been paired with him; she knew he was an aspiring Hunter and Beacon was practically the best hunting academy in the world so it made sense if he came here. PEW. Agh I'm fine! It's not like we're going to be the people whose eyes meet to form an everlasting covenant between man and woman. PEW! Ew... that sounded way too familiar for my liking. Also, what the hell is that no- Nyaaaaaaaaahhhh!

Just as suspected, the so-called podium became a catapult of death and without warning -well, more appropriately, warning that Tara was too wrapped-up in her own thoughts to notice- she was launched into the sky. Her ascent was none too pleasant and she honestly thought she was going to become ex-ballerina shish kabobs. Thankfully, as she leveled out and began to slip into a free-fall, her brains and natural nimbleness kicked in and she finally got control of the spinning. Her hand found Thistle once more and she somehow completed a mid-air change of the dust crystal in the hilt from a fire one to an ice one. Her brain kicked into overdrive, apparently awake from her little jaunt through the skies above the Emerald Forest, and began looking for any tree that she could negate her fall on. Finally, after a rather sweat-inducing hunt for said branch, one came right into her field of view and she kicked into action.

Flicking a switch, Thistle was released into its blade whip form. It would have to be timed perfectly. There could be no flaws. She hated that but she risked humiliation and a lot of pain if she didn't do the landing right. Time itself seemed to slow in silent anticipation as she waited for the last possible moment before she could spring. Getting that moment, her hand dragged Thistle whistling back through the air before slashing it back violently. It caught the branch and strong blades dug into the bark and stopped her fall completely. Her arm was nearly dragged from its socket but fortunately, the ice crystal had already done its work and Thistle became locked entirely. She spun, looking like a rather enthralled propeller that was very slowly losing power. When her spinning stopped, she was protectively clinging around the hilt of her blade and looked like she had already had enough with the Emerald Forest. Fortunately for her, more fun was to come! Amber eyes glanced upwards and released that something had failed in her weapon - the dust crystal was gone entirely and it seemed that a fair majority of the tree had just become a Popsicle.

"Oh for Heaven's sake!" A large snap echoed around the surrounding area and her eyes went wide, realising that its origin was from the branch above her. More snaps followed and very slowly, she could feel the branch giving way. Just as it snapped, she leaped to a more sturdy looking branch below her and just in time too - the icy branch that she had used for a landing snapped entirely and fell, sunlight glinting along its sharp edges as it slipped to the forest floor.

Thinking she had successfully gotten out of both frying pan and fire, Tara breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away the sweat on her forehead. And then, almost as if it was a reminder that she was still in forest full of Grimm, a bloody yet pained howled was released right below her. Her eyes went wide - it sounded big and very, very angry. She dropped down from the tree to find a Major Ursa.

It must have been lounging under the tree out of the sunlight and happened upon a stroke of bad luck that almost rivaled her own - apparently, in the roasting height of the summer day, it had become impaled in the ground by a very large shard of ice that may or may not have held Thistle tightly locked in it. "Oh God... Oh... Um... Ow... That looks kinda painful." It roared in response but she could already tell that it didn't have much left in it - physically and figuratively. "Yeah, um, sorry about that... I guess I didn't mean to? Oh God... Ugh, they didn't train me for this."

Advancing on the dying creature, it put up a feeble fight but it was rather useless as she dodged its attack and ripped Thistle from the massive ice shard. After putting up a futile fight, the thing simply lay back and accepted its fate as she clicked Thistle back down into its sword form. She hated having to do this - she didn't mind it when they were trying to kill her but it was weak and defenseless; she was killing it for mercy now. Using her boots to nudge its fruitless paws from her path, she raised her blade above its chest. Casting her darkened eyes towards its own bloody ones, she thought she saw something there - something more than simple pain. Giving one last cry of defiance, the Ursa raised its other paw, swiping but much too late as her blade jammed down right into its chest, killing it instantly.

Sighing, she raised herself to her full stature and sheathed Thistle as the remains of the Ursa faded back to the dust from where they all came. Some lessons were hard to receive but those were usually the best ones. Letting the tension in her body slip, she raised Weeds from its place on her shoulder and covered her ears once again. It adjusted, picking something slow for her, something she could lose herself in. Yet still, those red eyes found her and their dark twinge of fear made her very afraid.

"Wait... What do I have to do?"

Stars darted out from behind Asvoria, racing forward and hitting the Ursa Major right in the nose. The sudden shower of light made it flinch, and Varen took the opportunity to go in, dashing past Asvoria as she slotted in the shotgun grip. She fired once, staggering the Ursa Major. She fired again, and kept going. She flipped her gun into automatic mode and emptied her clip, each blast forcing the Ursa Major backwards. Without giving it a chance to breathe she took out a small dust crystal, about half the size of a normal one and activated her semblance.

She launched it forward and it detonated, knocking the Ursa off of its feet.

"Finish it!" She shouted.

Liam Yugure - Emerald Forest - Tuesday mid morning

Liam walked the forest, he knew he was behind the rest of the students, so he moved with purpose, but he hoped he would meet someone along the way. He was annoyed at the loss he was at, he figured that if he didn't get a crystal soon, he'll be kicked out.
"ARGH, this is so annoying. Why didn't those pads launch me further. I swear..." he said to himself before he heard a large amount of beowulfs. He turned and he saw four average sized beowulfs and two large ones. His chaingun was already in his hands, he smirked and loaded a fire crystal into his chamber.
"Come and get some, before i get bored." The four small beowulfs all attacked at once, Liam activated his semblance, the beowulfs bounced back only to get up to a line of fire from Liams chiangun. The two larger beowulfs attack. Liam grabs the other handle of his weapon and readies himself to use his sword. The first comes from the left, Liam strikes upwards slicing the beowulfs chest and face, leaving it dead in the grass. The second tries sweeping Liams feet, he throws his blade into the ground and jumps, the beowulfs hand chatches the blade, slicing its hand open. Liam grabs the beowulf by the head and slams it into the ground. He picks up Pis'mo and brings the blade down into the second beowulfs skull.
"Too easy..." he said to himself again walking deeper into the forest.
"Time to keep moving i guess."

Light sneered at his new companion. "Damn straight I can fight. I can kick your ass too, and calling me 'sport' is a good way to make me want to. I'll at least commend your sences, if not your fighting ability. My instruments indicated there was a high concentration of Dust energy in this direction, too. Which was why I was going this way in the first place." Light said. After he finished, his dynamos moved down to his feet, slightly in front of him, and arranged themselves in a pattern. They changed shape too, unfolding to a flatter, more streamlined design. Light stepped on them, his feet on the two center-most dynamos, one in front of the other, as hey began to levitate, lifting him. He leaned and flew forward on his own high-tech hoverboard. "Try to keep up." Light taunted, as he passed Razor, going about as fast as a running person. He he easily kept his balance from long practice, going around trees and ducking low branches, keeping an eye out for more Grim.

@Rex

@Crimson Raven

Razor rolled his eyes before he said, “You haven’t seen anything yet. A good hunter keeps his ace in the whole a secret until he needs it,” Razor said before he smiled and added, “Besides: unlike you and the rest of the students. I didn’t combine my weapon with a gun. Got to keep it original sometimes since everything seems to be combined with a gun. It’s so stupid some times.” Razor sighed before he ran after Light. Since he was brought up in the Moon Blood village, it was easy for him to keep up.

“Well what would you like me to call you? Short stack? Squirt? Maybe if you’d told me your name, I wouldn’t have to give you a nickname because calling you white hair would be giving you too much credit,” Razor said before he took another deep breath and yelled, “Shit.” He suddenly stopped and took another deep breath to smell the air.

“I was hoping I was wrong on what that other smell was, but I can clearly smell it now,” Razor said before he started running again to catch up with light. When he did he explained, “Up ahead is the dust crystal. I can smell two of them, but there’s also a nest of Grimm there as well. Smells like Creeps. A whole lot of them to make that much of a smell, but there’s also another smell mixed with the creeps and the dust. Smells like they just got back from a hunt because I can smell the scent of death. Either their eating whatever they captured, or just got done. Either way this should be good for us. Creeps are sluggish after a meal.” Great, another fight, and another chance for it to activate. This isn’t good Razor thought. Unbeknownst to him a sickly green aura flashed around his body for a second before disappearing.

"Here! Todd Reynolds is absolutely here and totally not! late!" The dark man made a dead sprint towards the remaining crowd near the Beacon Cliffs, desperately trying to shove his hand into a sea themed gauntlet. Todd was really pushing his luck. Not only did he barely make it to initiation yesterday, he forgot to put an alarm for this morning, and was running late for the real initiation! Todd managed to throw on a blue hoodie with the sleeves cut off, the necklace with the red coral around his neck, some beige shorts and worn sneakers. Over his casual clothes were sea themed leather gauntlets with a matching leather chest plate, and strapped to the holster on his back was a very unimipressive fishing harpoon. Sure it made a few of the students he walked by chuckle, but he knew the weapon's true power. In real combat the harpoon turns into a great Trident that holds great power! It was the pride of his small town of Caiter. But the weapon prefers to humble itself, becoming a tool that is used by a hard working and dedicated person. Ever since Todd's father died he was that man. The weapon chose him, and he will use its power to become a hunter and protect the world from this fear!

But he can't do that when he's late! He arrived at the crowd, doubling over and holding up a thumbs up. "Alright.... I'm good... What did I miss?" A few of the students snickered at his direction, making him run a hand through his jet black hair in embarrassment. Profesor Ozpin gave a humored smile at the young man, and repeated the instructions. As he talked Todd looked out into the vast amount of trees. The Emerald Forest. Get the crystal, fight your way out. Got it.

"So, uh how do we get down there? Some sort of elevator or someth-- WHOOOAAAAAAAA!!!! Todd was launched into the air with a few other students, and as someone who spent his whole life on the sea and beach, heights weren't his favorite thing. His dark green eyes scanned desperately for which way was up, and what was down. Maybe Litore could help him! He tumbled in the air, trying to pull his weapon out from his back, but suddenly the blurred images stopped immediately, and a large thump hit his head. After seeing nothing but stars for a second, he had got his bearings and came with the conclusion that he was hanging in mid air.

The tip of the Harpoon's blade was wedged into a massive tree trunk, suspending Todd from his back at a sickening height. "Alright... A graceful entrance..." Todd looked upwards to the harpoon's blade, and frowned. With a bit of effort Todd managed to slide the weapon out of the back holster, and grabbed on the shaft, hanging from it. He pulled himself up onto the harpoon, planted his feet on the trunk of the tree so that he was parallel with the ground, and tried to yank Litore out of the tree. "Come on, don't do this to me... We are sitting ducks out here!" Todd muttered, pulling even harder on the harpoon. When he was finally successful at pulling his weapon out of the tree, he immediately started to scream as they were now falling towards the ground yet again.

Todd managed to landed on a thick branch, moving his arms frantically trying to keep balance, which he failed at. The second branch he hit wasn't as kind. He landed hard on the branch, his crotch making contact. He gave a weak whimper as he slid off the branch, but the third one he managed to grab on to by his chest. He gave a sigh of relief as the pain started to melt away, but his eyes shot back open when he heard a crack. The branch broke off, and once again Todd went tumbling through the sky.

The green eyed man didn't die from this fall, probably because his fall was cushioned by someone else's body. He gave a groan of pain, and was immediately pushed off of someone. He struggled to his feet, his fishing harpoon in hand, holding the side of his head. "Sorry about that, I uh, not that good at flying." Todd said, looking at the figure he landed on.

She had long dark hair, a very deadly looking sword, and her glare was just as deadly as the sword. He couldn't really blame the girl. Not many people were happy when someone falls on them from the sky. Especially when that person has just become your partner for the next four years in this academy. "I'm Todd. Todd Reynolds." The boy's voice was strong and confident, an apologetic grin on his face.

@Akayaofthemoon

With the Ursa launched off of its feet and her partner calling out to her to finish it Asvoria could not help but to oblige. "You got it! The girl couldn't help but be as flashy as she could with the finish, and considering it was an Ursa Major, she wanted to make sure there was enough force to finish the beast anyhow. Changing the form of Randgrid into it's axe form, the small blonde girl started running towards a tree near the Ursa Major and started running straight up it. It was times like these that she was glad that she could make her huge weapon lighter than it was, or else this would get very difficult very quickly.

After hitting the height she felt would just bring her right back down and braced for a second and pushed off towards where the ursa was knocked down and falling straight back down to the ground. The creature looked like it had started to get up from it's knocked over state. . . But only too late after all. Asvoria had all the time she needed to set up a finish for the creature. Nearing the Grimm, Asvoria brought her axe down and increased the weight a little too much and rended through a lot of the creature since it started to stand up. With little other sound, the Ursa's body thudded on the ground, disappearing as Grimm do. "And that is that." Asvoria smiled with her conquest. "Great setup, Varen!"

The girl just about ran over to her partner when something shiny glimmered in her eye. "Hmm, what's this? It looks like a shard of something. OH! Maybe this is what we were suppose to find?!" Asvoria grabbed the piece and ran over to her partner anyhow and even almost excited knocked her over trying to show her the shard.

"It's a Dust Shard." Varen said with certainty, "Thunder element. Guess it's our's now."

She recognized the color because she saw it a lot. Using different kinds of Dust Crystals gave different properties for her semblance so she memorized the colors and which ones to mix in her spare time. Well now that they had the shard, it was time to head North. That was one of the only parts of the speech she'd heard which was fortunate because it seemed to be the only part that mattered.

"We're heading North now, aren't we?" She said, "We do have to find our other teammates now right?"