Loud laughter and shouts quickly died down to murmurs and coughs as the tall, broad shouldered Principal Othello took to the podium, a single sheet of paper, obviously having been folded up a few times was planted down on the smooth oak wood stand. The principal was a veteran hunter, he wore an eyepatch over his left eye and a large part of his face was covered by big greying mutton chops. His hair was just about always a short black military cut, but tufts of grey had begun to come in and his age had finally begun to show.

The man was an enigma, going against every stereotype laid out for him. His appearance would suggest a formal, serious, strict man who took no nonsense and dealt out punishment as if he was in the army. However he was quite the opposite. He loved jokes, was often caught accidentally swearing in front of students and was seen as much more of a father figure to the student body than that of a principal. It was often the job of his vice deputy, the much younger Dr. Bordeaux to keep students in line and deal out punishment. She wasn't especially cruel though, and often only punished when it was fair and right to do so, unless she was in a bad mood of course.

Othello surveyed the crowd. Many of the students had only been at the school for a few month but they had made remarkable progress. A grin grew on his face as he began to speak.

"Dear students, today marks the first day of the Illuminate festival, a festival many of the older students I know have been excitedly planning for and a festival I hope many of the younger students have no idea about." He said, his grin growing ever wider as he remembered the awestruck youths of yesteryears. "You all know I'm terrible at speeches, so I'll make this one short!" He said taking a sly glance at his watch as a murmur of laughter waved through the crowd. "Go out and have fun for the day, classes are cancelled as far as I'm concerned and the festival awaits." He turned and began walking off stage, to the awestruck face of Dr. Bordeaux, who had not been informed of this decision previous to the speech and would now have a lot of paperwork to do.

---

The assembly hall erupted with students eager to get out and see the festivities. And for good reason, the outside of Illuminate Academy had completely changed. There were stalls set up everywhere, with televisions advertising various companies selling anything from food to weapons to dust. The stalls were just as varied. On one end sat a rather creepy looking old man at a kissing booth while on the other was a very professional looking energy drink stall, complete with pretty girls to coerce young dumb boys into buying what was basically overtly expensive flavoured water.

---

@Mr Allen J @Apollosarcher @Mercurial

---

Collab between @Liberator and @Mr Allen J

Amber's eccentric outfit certainly looked out of place in the sea of relative normality that took up a large part of the student body currently sitting and listening to Principal Othello. Amber had only met the principal once or twice while in the hallway, but every time she had he was more than pleasant. He seemed to genuinely care about each and every student as if they were his own children. The times she had met Dr. Bordeaux were a bit different though, the woman was obsessed with trying to get the student body to wear uniforms at all times, and almost had a stroke when she saw the pastel coloured Amber walking into school.

In contrast to Amber, Jaden was wearing a more casual outfit, meaning, he was wearing the Illunimate school uniform. Wearing fancy outfits all the time never suited Jaden - he just needed to wear them when they were the most important. Like when he was fighting Grimm! You shouldn't die badly dressed - which is why they dressed up those dead guys and suits and dresses! But, Jaden wasn't going to die like them - he was going to die after making himself a world renowned hero!

He was sitting next to Amber, whom he honestly had the closest personal connection to. Given that he was paired with a mad scientist, and a loser who thinks he's so cool because he fought a bunch of Grimm corgs with a stick, that was saying something. Even though Amber was odd, Jaden briefly wondered if he was paired with this team to balance out all the weirdness.

He was no misfit, but perhaps he could whip this team into shape. Turn them into hunters!

Amber wondered intently about the festival, the student and teaching body did a great job of keeping it a secret, she knew legitimately nothing about it. She nudged her teammate, whispering a high pitched question.

"Have you heard anything about the festival? My uncle's a hunter and he's never even mentioned any kind of festival."

Amber asked Jaden a question, and he shrugged

"Heh," Jaden said. "You don't know the festival?" He raised an eyebrow with a cocky look on his face.

"Well, it's this big party that takes place in a nation where people from all over come to eat food, watch the game, come together!" He vibrantly said with a smile. "... But, no one really cares about that - what they really want to see is the tournament, baby!"

Amber sort of raised an eye at his 'baby' comment. She ignored it though, as she was presently being swept up by the overwhelming noise and movement of everyone leaving the hall at once.

She and her team followed suit, until finally they got outside where the crowd properly dispersed and began spreading out through the huge festival. It was a pretty, almost beautiful sight to say the least. The vibrant colours of the grounds had been somehow spruced up by the decorations and stalls that had been put up seemingly over the short time they had spent in school that day.

She hopped in front of her team, her fists on her hips as she happily asked.
"So where do you guys want to go first? I'm thinking food!"

---

---

The Speech itself was nothing to exactly fantasise over, but it could've been worse...Or could've it? I mean...Lessons were important and all, but then again...The Festival. It was things like this that got his mind in a scuffle. Yes, he would be enjoying himself, and could use the time wisely to crack up his communication that his team had been telling him to wise up on, yet he could still be gathering the theoretical side of his progress and acing it like he wished he could be, and was, doing. Unfortunately, why let himself look more of a goon than in previous days when he could be making a name for himself. He did want to make a name for himself? Right?

Sill Vernol had been standing on his own for quite some time. He was one of the first out of the hall, and found a comfortable spot that was not too crowded to allow his team-mates, if they were to show their late and slow backsides soon, to find him without too much trouble. Due to the classes not being in play, Sill did take the opportunity to dress as he normally would, the standard Light-Grey, or Silver over-jacket with the typical white button undershirt. Yes, it was quite smart...But, it was not far from casual. Sill's eyes would flicker around the area, watching people walk past, and the booths that were on display. One that caught his attention in particular housed a very confident woman juggling her produce's bottles around for the fun of it, to try and lure in customers. Unfortunately, confident did not always refer to as Skilled and it only took a matter of seconds for a synchronised chorus of smashing to pipe up.

Now don't get him wrong, Sill can be one of those genuinely nice people who you can just get along with and use as a rant-punching bag if need be, but occasionally to pass the time, Sill would mentally insult people in his thoughts. Only the ones who made fools of themselves. Plus it was not out of spite, but just because clearly everyone else was thinking it. From looking to the guy who thought he was a right lad flirting with four girls at once, to the lass in the corner trying to have a sing to herself, thinking she was amazing, when in reality the only sounds coming out were Grimm Mating calls.

Somehow, from that thought, he went on to thinking about his team once again. Strange bunch, they were, even if it is hypocritical to say so himself. There was Mr. Detachment himself, Gradon Giltwith. Now he was difficult to talk to, especially coming from someone who was just floating around all the time and hovering amongst the social league table. Sure, he was a promising fighter, but there were still certain life skills that needed to be picked up. Sill sometimes wandered if he had even bothered to learn how to walk, considering how much attention he pays to Combat training. He could not argue, though...Gradon was probably a brilliant person on the inside. But the miscommunication that Sill always delivered never really helped.

Who was next? Aha...None other than Liadan Silverstein. Out of all his team-mates, Sill felt like he didn't really speak to her at all. Unless it consisted of work, combat tactics or movement, he was not the sort of person to waltz up and chant multiple greetings and give her a present or something. The two probably could've gotten along very well if they had spoken more in the past, but when it came to getting what needed to be done completed, it was not something of a bad taste. At least that was how Sill saw it. For all he knew, his team could see him in a far different way.

Last, but the heart and soul of the team, to some degree, was Marianne Beiget. The team's leader, she seemed the most capable out of them for that role. Sill could not put his finger on whether he spoke to her the most, or Mr 'How-Do-Doors-Good'? Whether or not he did, Sill was at least prepared to follow the orders she gave, if she did. If it was irrational, sure he may protest or advise other strategies or approaches, but that hadn't been encountered so far. She gave a vibe off of averageness. By that, Sill thought the most interesting thing about her was the fact that she didn't seem to be interesting amongst everyone else. Sill thought he was uninteresting, considering the place and average, happy life he lived coming up to the current days, but she just seemed normal. Her weapon was not exactly the most exciting thing ever, but who cared? As long as it upheld peace...For all he cared it could be a bloody sponge with a Grimm Flag on it.

From thinking about his team...He wondered where they were. A hand of his found the fingers slipping through his hair to check it had not fallen out of place. The style, as per usual, was ruffled into a natural style. What was the point in making you look nice with hair if you were only going to get your head cut off or chewed up? If he was going to die, he might as well die like a normal individual. Yet he was far from normal. Just the typical guy who did what he was told. Never really went against it, as of now...He thought.

"Pfft...Maybe I should start spending more 'social-time' with 'em...Can't hurt that much to actually get all social." That being said, he continued to wait for his team. For the love of everything in existence, he wished they would show up. He was tired of getting eyed by the guy at the Kissing Booth...

As the speech ended, Mary was glanced over by a sense of relief. She could barely look at Principal Othello anymore. Not since she accidentally called the man "Dad", a mistake that the majority of absent-minded students had made at some point. Luckily, this happened at the beginning of the year, and within hours, everyone had forgotten. But Mary never forgot. Even single time she saw the principal, she was reminded of that moment of her life.

Besides that, nothing of her previous time at the academy was notable. No matter what happened in the halls, Mary had been off to the side as the action happened. Though, she ended up as her team's leader. Not because of exemplary skill or behavior, however. She was the only one on her team who could, well, speak up and talk to people. Well, Gradon could also speak and he was a savant when it came to fighting, but he wasn't even considered to be their leader because of the entire door ordeal. By process of elimination and not nomination, Mary was chosen to be the team captain.

This responsibility fell solely on her. Mostly because two others were completely unassertive, and the third, well, couldn't open doors. It was as if it was some sort of comedy act, especially with Gradon. Despite this, the team had managed to overcome their inherent personality flaws to do completely average in every single exercise. Mary's leadership was average, so it was only appropriate that they had such a mediocre performance.

As Mary left the assembly hall, she took off her top, revealing the over-sized washed-out t-shirt that she always wore. In fact, the vast majority of her wardrobe consisted of these t-shirts. It was better not to stand out. She shoved it in her bag and slung her bag onto her back. Her mind quickly wandered back to the assembly. Mary had been absentmindedly listening and reminisced on her past as she left. She remembered some talk about a festival. All of the other students seemed jubilant. She quickly put two and two together, and she realized that the entire school was having a large festival. It was like a kind of party, Mary had thought. However, this joy was quickly cut-off as she realized the implications of a large festival. An absurd cost, probably measured in the thousands. Bleh, the thought of it nearly made her sick.

What was the best way to get rid of this sickness? By eating food, of course! Mary decided to head off to find the others. She was separated from her team, and they must have had the same idea to find each other. Actually, Líadan would more likely be a loner-baby and read in some dark crevice of the school. But, the other two would have to be searching for each other! Well... if Gradon wasn't stopped by his mortal enemy - doors - then he would be searching for others. There was still Sill, but knowing him, he would probably lack the initiative to find the others. It looked like it was up to Mary to find the rest of them.

Without any further ado, she began to look for the others. Who knew what zany situation she would find herself in? Most likely, none. The most wacky situation she had got in was accidentally calling the principal dad.

---

---

Platz stood listening to the speech wind up as he was half lost in thought, considering the past events. He had not informed his family back home upon the events, after all, they had little interest in failure. From what he had understood, at least initially, usually those who failed to pass the entrance Exam would simply be sent away, to try again another year, or go to another Academy that might accept them through their own exams. And yet, they had made some exception to that rule, something that apparently had not sat well with certain powers that be who had no say in the matter. Why there were reserves being kept when it was not normally a practiced activity, well, Platz couldn't readily say. Not yet, he had not been around long enough to actually be able to place why they needed extras. However, for all his work to get here, he would not be readily willing to accept being a spare body hanging around just in case something went wrong and they needed extras to throw into the fray for the senior heroes in the making. Or some such nonsense, he chided himself mentally, he should consider himself fortunate he was here at all. Not that being relegated to back up reserves was something that sat well with him. He was capable of far more than that.

The grounds that he would, upon a team losing someone, be shifted to replace the hole that created was an odd thing. The rejects, as he had heard whispering of already over the past few days he had been here, were certainly an oddity. The speech ending that there would be no courses today and that it was a day of celebration. They would have to forgive the young teen, but he was not feeling festive. He had work to do, he had to improve, clearly the lot thought he was little better than some B-string replacement for their stars. That would simply not do, not in the slightest. But, with no access to the faculties of the Academy, nor the staff since they would likely be revising the fallout from the sudden call to free fun, judging by the shocked looks on some of the staff's faces. The teams seemed to split off in groups, something that also irked Platz. He didn't even know who his teammates were, not really, there were a couple other rejects floating around that were going to likely be part of some half baked idea of a team of spare parts, the idea that he was little more than that stewing and festering in his mind. He had not come this far to be spare parts, the thoughts kept looping in his mind, something dark during a day that was supposed to be free and fun.

The gloomy expression, spawned by the thoughts running through his mind, was quickly brought under wraps as he walked out into the sunlight, the festivities in full swing. Platz looked about, and couldn't help but think at how quaint it all was. Back in Atlas, such affairs were not a thing, military parades and functions the closest one would get to such things. At least as far as Platz was exposed to on a regular basis. Keeping his resting expression, neutral with faint sharpness to it as he walked out, he hardly waited for the others. If their team was to be transient, than he was not going to waste too much time in trying to find them. Even if he wanted to, he knew not their names or, even, really what they would look like. There had been some talk about it, but he frankly was hazy on all that at best. Rather, since he was stuck not training or going through schooling today, he might as well make some use of his surroundings, crude as they were. It struck him almost comedic, a circus of hawkers and scalpers, selling overpriced, subquality goods to those who didn't know better. Platz knew quality, it was necessary for the family business, and could pick out that most of this was just a farce for the sake of amusement, and some quick coin on the part of the business. Ignoring that cretin of an old man running a Kissing Booth, the idea vaguely repulsive, matched only by the fact someone might take him up on it, he chose to walk the weapons stalls.

Adjusting the glasses that, while unnecessary, rested on the bridge of his nose, he was quick to single out the stalls that merely sold fancy, impressive looking affairs that were little more than death sentences to their wielders. Rather, he took his time finding well crafted, older generations of weapons that floated about and took time to examine and talk to the owners and, hopefully, craftsman of such pieces of equipment. He did, he supposed, keep half an eye out for anyone who vaguely looked like someone he might be teamed up with, if he happened to remember the details enough, but he was more interested in the classic weapons and their forgers, talking trade and shop with them as easily as one might discuss the weather. Intricacies of balance, practicality, and style even all were dicussed, merits of each and more giving Platz a general idea of the idea of weapons design in the area around Illuminate Academy, and beyond when they came from abroad. Rather fascinating things that kept Platz's mind off the recent events, and was a far happier way to go about his business. He would likely stand out, the well dressed young man exchanging words and talking shop with often far more unkempt or more practically dressed weapons builders and designers.

@Liberator @Apollosarcher @Mr Allen J

Jing had to wonder why the principal had bothered to gather them all here today at all. His speech lasted but a few fleeting moments and gave them no information they did not already possess. It was as though this entire gathering was an act of formality, as if they felt compelled to give a passing opening to their festival. At the very least, Jing was comforted by the fact they were spared a long, drafty speech about some tedious topic or whatever else might have been intended. They were now free to spend the day as they saw fit. Of course, it was more than likely that Jing would have to spend it in the company of the collection of people that now made up her team at this academy.

Fortunately for Jing, their team's leader, Bran Bass, was a perfectly polite young man. It appeared that he had some experience with high society in spite of being from no prominent household that she was aware of. While she hardly needed every person she met to speak to her with aristocratic level courtesy, it was certainly better than having to deal with some crude, obnoxious individual. If nothing else, he made for tolerable company as far as Jing was concerned.

Then there was Amber Echo. To speak with Amber Echo was akin to having someone forcibly inject sugar into one's veins. Jing had the feeling that if she spent too long listening to the saccharine nonsense that came out of her mouth, she would end up diagnosed with diabetes. In fact, just looking at her was like having your eyes soaked in sugar; the clothes she wore almost made her own extravagant garbs look like common clothing. When speaking with Amber, Jing tended to simply nod along and pretend she was entirely on board with whatever she was talking about, but she was more than often having her patience tested.

Last, and most definitely least, they had Jaden Raldo. Where Amber was made of sugar, Jaden was comprised solely of his own ego. A cocksure male who wasn't afraid to let the entire world know just how much he thought of himself. The worst part was that he managed to be both willing to blather about his own greatness but also loud enough to function as his own personal loudspeaker. Hearing him was enough to give Jing a headache. Just like with Amber, she would usually make an effort to entertain his nonsense and leave him to his delusions of grandeur, but she was always tempted to simply drive a spike through her skull...or his.

When the lot of them had exited the hall, Amber was the first to bring up their plans. Jing only found this festival half as exciting as the prospect of getting back to slaying Grimm, but she supposed she ought to make the most of it. "Food is fine." She replied to her suggestion. "But a more pertinent questions is where we shall get food, I believe." Given it was festival time, Jing imagined there was a whole slew of food vendors taking advantage of the opportunity. Jing had no idea where they would go, and she wasn't particularly fussed either way; she was still rather new to the city life, and trying all the quirky foods was quite a quaint experience. Wherever they wanted to go, Jing would just nod along and see where it took her.

---

Bran Brass

---

Bran smiled as he watched the speech having been seated been seated between Jing and Amber, probably the best course of action to keep the two seperate. Bran looked far different from the rest of his peers he wore suit of dark red and along his back a cloak of black. His clothes were a perfect fit and very flattering, while the boy himself was even more so with neat combed red hair, a clean shaven face, and a caring smile. Many would mistake Bran for a man who had money or power, in truth he had neither and craved neither.

He stood up as the speech end and the were released checking his watch, then his scroll to see the events listed at the festival and there times. While the Jaden and Amber talked, have gave Jing a simple nod letting her know they would go something she would enjoy. Once they had finished conversing Bran spoke, having come up with a pretty decent plan for them for now. "Arena matches don't start for a couple of hours, since the festivals about cultural exchange we've got a lot of options for lunch."

The young man smiled putting his scroll away before he spoke again. "I know it might not be the best but there is a tent and cart doing food from Mistral. If you want to go there I can guarantee good food, if not they've got booths doing dishes from Vacuo." He stopped himself from lumping Atlas in with Vacuo. "That's about it for good food, if we eat somewhere with Atlas's dishes the meal will probably come with complimentary conscription." He rolled his eyes, not a fan of the militarization of a school.

"After that, they've got games made for students here. Target shooting, strength testers, and small one on one bouts with practice weapons first one to touch the other wins." He grinned at all three of comrades reaching back pulling his hood up. "After that I vote we sneak off get some training in as a team however it is our day off so we can do it the democratic way today." The team leader chuckled and looked at his friends before stepping towards the door with most students having filed out of the room.

As the speech ended, Azura found she was surprisingly okay with the idea of the festival. At the very least, the somewhat shabby and rough-looking girl was curious about what it'd be like. Her expression hadn't changed much, but that was a given in most cases. It had been quite surprising for her to hear about, though - seeing as she'd never meant to come here, it wasn't like she'd done her research, so the whole thing was completely unexpected.

Time out of classes was always good though. She'd done pretty well in covering up her own struggles for a while now, but there'd been a few close calls. Any day where she didn't have to worry about people finding out how bad it was, that was a pretty good day.

Speaking of things she'd never intended to have happen, she glanced back at her team members. Her team members who'd apparently decided putting Azura in charge was a fantastic idea. Where that logic had come from she had no idea, but she supposed there were worse choices for the role. Not that any of them were exactly born leaders. As for her teammates themselves, her feelings on the matter were fairly mixed.

Tius, she definitely appreciated having around. She may be the one they put in charge, but despite his intimidating appearance the lizard faunus had shown himself to be the most level-headed of them all. Clear-headed and always ready to diffuse a situation when he had to, she'd found him to be the most reliable and understandable. If she was forced into a situation where she was relying on any of them, he'd probably be the one she'd turn to first. He'd certainly had to stop her from lashing out a couple of times. It hadn't like he particularly wanted to lead them, and his self-sacrificing tendencies were a little... Worrying, though.

Forrest was definitely enthusiastic. Which was nice, or would be if she didn't find the guy so impossible to understand. He was constantly going out of his way to help people out - nice of him, but completely illogical and reckless in her opinion. Didn't he realise that the more he opened up to people, the more chance they had to stab him in the back? In any case, she didn't exactly get it. He was helpful to have around, and she supposed he did add some much-needed energy to the group. All in all, he was nice enough. She just didn't get what made him tick.

And then there was Jin. He was difficult, to say the least. At this point, it seemed basically impossible to get him to do anything she wanted, which was frustrating. Apparently he must have had some kind of potential in him, though, since he was admitted to Illuminate in any case. For a variety of reasons, she found his attitude and actions incredibly annoying.

"We're getting food." she spoke to them bluntly, turning to head off into the festival. It was important that they were all prepared for wherever this thing involved - although as she turned back to look at her team it was obvious that she either didn't notice or didn't care about her own complete lack of manners. They'd probably have figured out by now that it was just how she was - Azura just liked to get to the point.

She seemed to pause for a second, before looking at Forrest - who generally seemed to be the best one to ask questions to. "Anything I - we, should know about this thing?" He was always offering them help with their studies, so she figured he might have enough useless information in his head to tell them something extra about the festival.

Once that was done, she turned to go, assuming that her teammates would catch up with her if they wanted. If they didn't it was no great loss - they could probably handle themselves without her, and she definitely could without them.

As the speech ended the sounds of feet tapping on the ground excitedly could be heard, as well as a small giggle from the dancing Corgi Fauna. He had a big goofy grin on his face, which seemed out of place compared to his professional Hunting outfit, which he changed into shortly before the speech since he wanted to look snazzy for the festival. He was looking forward to the festival since joining the Academy and he can't wait to spend time with his classmates.

Although, he was embarrassed not to have known about classes cancellation for the day. But that was only a minor misstep in this perfect day, albeit he did wonder what will happen to that test that they were going to do later today, as he worked so hard with his teammates to help them prepare for that test.

On the topic of Teammates, Azura was looking back at him and the other two boys of the team, he stopped his little dance of his to wave at her with a bright toothy grin on his face. Azura was the leader of the group of majority vote. Forrest and Tius voted for her, and Jin just muttered 'whatever.' At them when they did the vote. So rather she want's to or not, she's the leader. He would've been the leader but he told them right away he's not much of a leader, he's more of a follower and teammate than a leader. Tius was the second best decision, but he was far to self-sacrificing to be a leader, as he put himself in a lot of danger in fights to protect them, which is a worrying trait in extreme situations. Jin wasn't even considered for the role, nor did he care very much about that little factoid, he's far too lazy and apathetic to be a leader, but damn if Jin's a good fighter when he actually fights for real. So for better or for worse Azura is the best out of them for the role, which is sad. But from what he knew of the others teams in the same year, they aren't much better.

But for as bad as leaders as his teammates are, he would do anything for them. It was a rather common sight to see the Corgi Faunus helping his teammates with school work and study groups. Since they were rather lacking Academically,

Tius, bless his soul does try to do his best, but school was still hard for him. But he is the easiest of his teammates to tutor, he rarely objects to it, and he does try to listen to him, but sometimes it feels like his words go from one ear to the other. Well, that's true with almost everybody whenever Forrest talks.

Azura is a strange case; he knows she doesn't study or do school work. Heck, he has never seen her read or write period, he does try to help her, but she always seems to deny needing help, which he has to accept on the grounds he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

And then there's Jin, mother of God Jin. Forrest tries so hard to tutor him to up his grades in classes, but he always nods off or spaces out when Forrest talks, but Forrest will not give up on him, even if it takes all four years of school he will get him working.

Suddenly Azura curtly spoke, saying that they would get something to eat, before turning towards the festival and walking before the group could say anything, this was an annoying characteristic of their leader to do; Forrest has learned to follow her when she talks since she might leave at any second of speaking.

Forrest followed behind the tall Bluehaired girl, then she suddenly stopped a few feet in front of him and asked him if there's anything the group needs to know about the festival, Forrest's face practically glowed with excitement at the question. "Yes! Many things! Like how there will be food stances from all over remnant, Forrest spoke quickly, before Azura could speak to opened his mouth again. But I wouldn't get anything from the Atlas Booth, they are as Bent as a nine bob note, and they don't know how to shut their laughing gears, so they talk about how big their guns and swords are and just wag off everybody's time. And it doesn't help that they get mighty miffed if you look at them funny, so it's best to avoid looking at them at all. What a numbty bunch of jokers they are." Forrest complained quickly, Forrest hated Atlas, not this it's militarized Academy which is already bad, but the utter Faunas hatred from that whole nation. Forrest looked angry, but before he could go off anymore, he let out an awkward cough and spoke again forcing a smile after realizing he was becoming angry. "Sorry about that, I seem to have lost marbles for a sec, but there's more than food, there's also games, and there's also practice grounds with wooden weapons where one can deal with their Kerfuffles before the tournament. So they don't make an Arse out of themselves. Forrest told Azura and the group, and lastly, he added in with a bright, cheerful smile "So there many things we can do to keep our Knees up!"

Once he was done talking Azura started to walk again, which Forrest followed her quickly. Forrest was so excited to start this festival with his teammates. It will be fun.

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@FateWeaver@Savo@Deathsong12

"Alright everyone! Suit up!" Kalimay's voice echoed out without the least bit of authority, despite her using her 'leader voice' which was a comical two octaves lower than her normally musical soprano tone. Standing at roughly 5'3", with her wavy brown hair pulled back into a tight braid that fell near the small of her back but for a few stray bangs framing her childlike face and shining blue eyes, there was really not much the young girl could do to express the heroic comic book champion she was trying to emulate. "Okay team, let's move out!" One stern finger jutted into the air in seemingly no direction in particular while the other hand formed a tiny fist at her hip, further wrinkling her red plaid uniform skirt. She held this pose for a long moment, admiring how the black blazer did wonders to broaden her shoulders and somewhat mask her petite figure which looked more suited for a girl several years younger. Puffing out her cheeks and giving her best 'drill-sergeant' face did little to complete the illusion but KK didn't seem to take any notice of this as her mouth cracked into its normal bubbly grin. "You're a leader!" She squeaked to her own reflection, her eyes locking with those in the mirror with a fierce look of determination. "A leader..." Something wavered there for a moment, a crack in the facade, but at that instant the girl standing behind KK cleared her throat.

"Umm... excuse me? Are you finished with... the sink?" The young student muttered with a slight look of embarrassment, having been standing awkwardly behind KK for the last minute or so.

Kalimay spun around to face her with a beaming smile. "Ya!" She cheered, causing the student to blink in surprise. Grabbing her fuzzy pink notepad off the sink, complete with fuzzy pink pen, she quickly flipped to her 'To-Do' page and put a big check next to the top line. "Leader peptalk complete! Next objective is the student assembly!" Tossing the book back into her Colorful-Kitten backpack, which fittingly looked like a multicolored cartoon cat, she threw the backpack over her shoulder and skipped out the door. The other student watched the door swing shut with a confused shake of her head.

Kalimay was unsurprisingly late to the assembly and so was forced to a seat near the rear of the auditorium. She spent the entire time trying to peak over the students in front of her but to little effect. She did, however, hear the part about no class and the word 'Festival' which had her standing up on her seat and cheering with the rest of the student body. KK was practically bursting with excitement as she leapt out into the sunlight with the flood of students. "Festivaaaaaaal! Best friend festival!" The squirrelly young girl knew this was the perfect opportunity to bond with her new friends/teammates and so immediately set out looking over the crowd for those familiar faces. It wasn't long before she spotted Farran, her oldest friend from Signal Academy and now teammate, and made a beeline straight for him, pushing past several grumbling students on the way. "Farrieeeee! Best friend FESTIVAL!" Reaching the boy she dove forward to tackle-hug him.

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Sleep came like the falling of an axe. Jin knew it would come, but he neglected to fight it at all. He saw no reason to. Today was a festival day, that meant fun and games for everyone else, but Jin didn't like festivals. People were to happy, always yelling, goading you to do something you don't want to do. Jin would have much rather lounged on a bench and watch the fun then actually join in. His teammates may have had thier own differing opinions on the matter, but Jin rarely listened to them anyway. It went in one ear and out the other for the Quay.

In the auditorium, Jin was lying on three seats, in a near leaden, death-like slumber that, for the moment at least, was not even perturbed by the presence of Principal Othello. Only tidbits of the short speech hit his ears, but the last words definitely did: …classes are cancelled… Despite Jin's expressionless face, he reacted appropriately; by finding a comfortable position and welcoming the deep darkness of sleep. It was nothing new for Jin, his classes usually consisted of the same procedure.

This usually led to student-teacher conversations about his motivation to become a Hunter and were it went. To be honest, Jin had no motivation to become a Hunter, he could careless. He found the job tedious and strenuous, things that weren't good for his health. Why was he here? He had no idea. In the end, he dragged himself out of bed everyday to study for this death defying job that would most likely kill most of the students in the tournament today.

Why was his outlook on the Hunter lifestyle so jaded? No idea. In his opinion, the whole Grimm problem would sort itself, as everything always did whether humanity of Fauns liked it. The only exciting thing about being a Hunter was the instant booty caller it became. Apparently, ladies were attracted to men who put thier lives on the line for them, an amazing perk in his opinion. He could see it now, dozens of cat Fanus ladies caressing his body. It was a dream Jin relived very often.

As the number of student in the auditorium dwindled, more so did the ensuing darkness of sleep ate at the edges of his consciousness. Soon, Jin was pulled deep into the darkness of his own consciousness. At least until Azura's voice hit his ears. It was like a the crinkling of tin foil, it was annoying. His whole team was annoying. He didn't even know thier names, only Azura's name was permanently burned in the back of his head, just because of her attitude. In the end, Jin just ignored her. Not on a festival day. It was like a the crinkling of tin foil, it was annoying. His whole team was annoying. He didn't even know thier names, only Azura's name was permanently burned in the back of his head, just because of her attitude. In the end, Jin just ignored her. Despite that, he immediately dragged himself off of his makeshift bed to follow the group, he would rather not get reported today.

Forrest was a nice guy. The Fauns often tried to tutor him, although it was a lost cause. Jin didn't need tutoring, he was actually quite intelligent in his opinion, he just couldn't be bothered to do anything. Unfortunately, Forrest just never left him alone, he was always there, always offering, always talking, as if he didn't have anywhere else to be. Even now he was talking, monologuing on Azura's and short question.

For a festival, this was gonna be a long day.

Farran sighed as he looked around the assembly hall. That speech was quite... something. Well, from what Farran could tell it was something, he really wasn't listening. All he noticed is people started getting up and cheering.
Not wanting to stick out, he did cheer for a little while before he heard her.

His first reaction? Look around and see where KK was shouting from. The moment he did see her, however, was bad for him. He should have probably expected this, but he definitely wasn't ready for the tackle-hug that came so soon after. The result was simple, he was tackled and hugged at the same time, resulting in him falling down and his usual response being given. "I'm not yer friend! Get that through yer head!"

It was yet another glorious day for the happy residents of Illuminate Academy. Well, to Gradon Giltwith, that's what the other students looked like. Happy campers during the happy festival. Sure, some were quite nervous about the events planned for such an event, but most of others were just relieved that classes had been canceled; and that was enough for anyone to be happy. Walking around the outside area that would encompass the festival, Gradon caught snippets of students concerned about their lack of uniform and he frowned with confusion. Well he wasn't dressed in his school outfit given that it was supposed to be a fun day. Why were clothing regulations still being enforced again? Whatever. Just another thing he just didn't get. In any case, he wondered where the rest of his team was lingering around at, unware that he would be walking past one of them even now.

Lìadan had recluded herself in a small, conspicuous place just in front of a pillar of the hall's entrance. She didn't really like seeing so much people walking around, making noise. If it wasn't for the fact that this social gathering was pretty much mandatory, she would've rushed to the library and dived into her latest find: Etymology II. It was such a wonderful experience to finally understand why different words were made like the way they existed now. At last, it made sense! But now, she was trapped by these... mobs of teenagers... and she couldn't walk past them without bumping into one or two of them. Unless those one or two were actually her assigned companions, just like the person that was passing right in front of him. Quickly reaching out towards him, Líadan's hand managed to take hold of his schoolmate's sleeve and gave what would've been a slight tug if it wasn't by the ensuing force provided by inertia. Well, at least that'd stop him.

"Huh?" said Gradon, near halting in his step as his coat was gripped by something hard. It didn't take a rocket scientist-thank goodness he had enough sense to look around-to figure out that he was being summoned by a fellow friend. Or in this case, just stopped in place by none other than Líadan. "Oh, greetings! I take it you're having fun like the other students?" he asked, obvlivious to the sound of puking somewhere off to the side. Someone poor soul had tried to eat at a more than shifty food booth with...interesting results.

The eerie girl meekly raised her hand to greet Gradon, which was the only indication she gave that she acknowledged his presence in front of her. She stared at him for a couple of seconds before the sound of someone barfing his lunch gained her attention for a few moments before it went back to her teammate. "I don't like them," she quietly replied, and pointed with her head towards the generous student who decided to gift the floor with some regurgitated food. "Puking isn't fun."

"Don't like them? But aren't these our fellow students Líadan?" the boy asked, not quite getting how anyone could dislike a group with similar interests to themself. "Well, maybe the food could use a bit of work but I'm sure there's something here for you too. Aren't you supposed to have fun at festivals? Then again, festivals are supposed to be experienced with other people," he said, voice drifting off as if to ponder this thought before he lit up with realization. "I've got an idea. How about we find a booth where you can have fun at? Like maybe a book booth that sells...books? Not sure how we can find more people experience the fun with though...."

She shrugged at the statement he made about the fun in festivals, and shook her head in response to his proposal. "Those books are rubbish," she bluntly stated "That booth should burn. Where are the others?" Even her tone of voice shifted with that statement, from oozing hatred and regret towards the mere existence of that booth, to an almost silent question coupled with eyes that don't seem to have been closed for at least a week. But the main issue still stood firm: Those books are rubbish, and that booth should burn.

"Er, I don't think we're allowed to set fire to the booths. Also, did you know it's illegal to practice fire Dust in the terms? A technicality in the rule books....so, uh, where is our team actually," said Gradon, looking around the area but not spotting either Marianne or Sill. "But you do have a good point there. Festivals are supposed to have fun and groups of people with which to have fun with. That's it then. We're going to find our team Líadan and we're going to have fun!" Gradon said, already moving forward. He encouraged the girl to keep her grip on him because that way he wouldn't lose her in the bustling crowd. Maybe when the others were here, she could smile a bit more like the students around them. The young girl barely managed to maintain her hold on his sleeve before he darted inside the mass of students. More than happy... she seemed dizzy...

Aurantius Draconus

And with, I'm safe for another day. Tius would think as he let out a sigh of relief. While the festival announcement was great and all, what he cared about at the moment was that he had another night to study for that test. While the Faunus doubted he'd get a B, he was certain that he'd be able to pass if he went over the material again, especially if Forrest was willing to tutor him again. As all the students made their way out the auditorium, Tius would remain sitting, waiting for a majority of students in his row to leave before he did himself so that he didn't risk poking someone with one of his spikes or get his horns stuck in someone's clothes again.

Once he got up to the rest of his team, he'd find Forrest talking in-depth about food stands and condeming Atlas Academy, two things that Tius could get behind as he walked up, his mind wandering towards home.

"Hey Forrest, you think there will be Authentic Vacuo delicacies among the stands, cause while Vale's got a lot of cool stuff, the food's kinda boring. If we ever get a chance to swing by my hometown, I've got to show you this one place that makes the best glazed ham you'll have ever tasted, I gurantee it. The place even had a bunch of different kinds, including one that's served with fresh mangos. . . It was a bit pricey though." Just the thought of the restruant caused his stomach to growl. "Ugh, let's hurry and find a stand before I start eating nibbling on Dust again. After that, anyone up for a little sparring session? If we're going to be fighting in the festival, it couldn't hurt practice."

It shoukd be known among Tius' team that when the Lizard Fauna said 'spar', he meant a full on out fight, because he has no concept of holding back. It's either nothing or everything, anything in the middle wasn't enough for him. It was one of the things that made him a bit annoying to deal with.

@Aquaknight@Lasrever@LokiLeo789

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The hood of his coat pulled down low over his face, Russet snoozed with his back propped up against a tree. It was nice out, and nobody was around to bug him. Perfect time for a nap. A white cord trailed from his pocket up beneath the hood, conveying soft, simple melodies to his ears. He'd fallen asleep to the music nearly an hour ago, and still hadn't managed to wake up. If he slept to long, he was likely to miss the assembly. While he didn't particularly mind, he knew the others would probably come looking for him if he showed up. In order not to miss out, he had set an alarm for himself on the phone. Unfortunately that had been a couple of days ago, and he'd forgotten.

Dragged kicking and screaming from sound sleep by the loud sound of a foghorn in his ears, Russet clawed at his ears in order to dislodge the earbuds. His eyes flew wide open, then shut tight as daylight seared them. In the end he managed to get the earbuds out, but only after falling back against the tree and hitting his head on the trunk. Russet spent several minutes glaring at the underside of the tree's branches before he finally decided to stand. Stretching the stiffness from his muscles, he started towards the assembly hall. Unsurprisingly, he was one of the last few to enter and wove his way into the back of the crowd.

When everyone started screaming and cheering, Russet rolled his eyes and covered his ears to try and block out some of the noise. It didn't help much, so he waited while most everyone else rushed out to greet the free day off they had all been given. While he was looking forward to the festival day, he certainly wasn't that enthused about it. Once the rush had safely passed him by, Russ made his own way out and back into daylight.

It only took a few moments of glancing around to spot his team's illustrious leader. It didn't hurt that at that moment, she was very loud and somewhat airborne. Russet spotted KK just as she reached Farran, arms outstretched and feet of the ground, a bare moment away from crashing into him. As Farran gave his typical reply to this treatment, Russet used the moment to ghost up behind Kali.

"Do we all get an enthusiastic welcome, or is he special somehow?" Russet asked from a scant three inches behind KK, one corner of his mouth pulled up in a grin.

XUAN SARGA

Xuan Sarga ate joyfully while walking around the food area. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to a festival. The snacks here were amazing! The chefs back at the Sarga homestead were excellent, but nothing could compare to the mouthwatering unhealthiness that steamed from this street food. Xuan took in the atmosphere of the festival. If she had to put it into one word, it would be “colourful”. Tents and stalls of all varieties lined up, not neatly in most cases, spreading smiles and definite future bowel movements to everyone who attended. There was just so much energy around and she loved it. This was the best was for her to take her mind off recent developments concerning her academic life. As she explored, the brown-haired girl observed other teens wandering around the festival grounds in their little groups of four. Teams, one could even call them. Xuan felt a pang of sadness in her chest. If she had just tried a little harder at the entrance exams…

She would have been able to make her siblings proud, instead of receiving that disappointing letter that read: “We feared that would happen. Return swiftly”. She would have been able to participate in real missions, real spars with soon-to-be huntsmen and huntresses. She would have been able to make real friends.

Either way she’d have people to help her with the ridiculously large amount of food she was accumulating. Unfortunately there were limits to how much miscellaneous food on a stick one could hold with just their mouth.

This whole reserves thing was a bit confusing, she had to admit. How long was she to wait around for? Was she meant to hope that one of the students from the main course would get eaten by a Beowolf or something? Being a huntsman was a dangerous line of work, so it was definitely a possibility. But Xuan would prefer to not have to wish that sort of injury upon someone, even if it meant benefiting her and the Sargas. Though of course, the elder members of her family would have had no qualms about doing so. Was she supposed to follow along in those footsteps, the ones that had tread over so many others? Xuan chewed dejectedly on her third Mistralese Churro. Maybe that’s why they were so eager for her to work in the boonies. She didn’t have the guts to do the dirty work, make the difficult choices.

Lost in thought, she suddenly found herself out of snacks. Xuan furtively glanced down at her pouch, the one that housed her limitless credit card. She scowled at it and shook her head determinedly. If she was going to make the most of this second chance, she would have to learn to better herself. And that meant no more reckless spending. Even if the food was beautifully greasy and sugary and salty and-

Xuan slapped herself out of her fervor. She needed to find something to distract herself. A quick spin on the spot revealed the weapons area. A whole lotta craftsmen and vendors displaying their firearms and crafting parts. Xuan’s face lit up. It had been a fair while since she had last talked shop with someone. Maybe she’d even find some decent parts for her continued modification of that clunky old BlitzMaw back in her dingy second-rate dorm room. Her attention was soon stolen away by something else. An old-timey gun, something as incredible and well-crafted as the grandfather clock that was displayed in the Sarga House’s main hall. The weapon looked archaic but innovative. Was it an Atlesian design? It had to be Atlesian.

“Woah, shiny…” she breathed. She inched her face closer to the piece to get a better look, unwittingly stalking its owner as a result. The craftsmanship was simply superb. She followed it around the stalls area like a dog sniffing a juicy steak, until the owner of the piece did what any person looking around during a festival did. He stopped. The gun stopped. Xuan didn’t. Her face smacked directly into the gun and the person’s back.

“Ah, pardon me sir!” Xuan grinned sheepishly in apology and bowed her head, “I didn’t mea- I was just admiring that weapon of yours! I’ve never seen a mechanism as intricate as this.”

She allowed herself another peek at the gun and its owner. A bespectacled, well-dressed young man. Rich too, no doubt about that. The teen had an unreal sense of calm regality to him. He was definitely one of those students who were talented enough to get in without being demoted to the reserve course. A clear indicator in the gap of abilities between her and the main course. Xuan straightened her back and smiled wistfully.

“Man, I’d give anything to be able to build something as fancy as that. I bet your team really appreciates those tinkering skills of yours.”

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@FateWeaver@Savo@Deathsong12

"I'm not yer friend! Get that through yer head!"

Kalimay seemed completely unfazed by Farrah's protests and equally unfazed by the fact she was now straddling Farrah on the ground, in public. "It's Friend Festival Day! I want fried noodles! And hot buns! And cold buns! And-"

"Do we all get an enthusiastic welcome, or is he special somehow?" Russet asked from a scant three inches behind KK, one corner of his mouth pulled up in a grin.

Immediately recognizing the voice of her fellow teammate, and fellow short person; Russet; KK twisted about with a beaming smile. "Rusty!" With arms outstretched, she made to similarly leap at the boy. However, just as she launched forward her right foot became tangled in Farrah's clothes and instead of colliding with Russet she collided face-first with the ground. "You're just in time!" She continued speaking as if nothing unusual had happened which, if you knew KK for even a moment, was entirely true for her.

Jumping back to her feet without even dusting herself off or addressing the small red mark in the center of her forehead, Kalimay firlmy planted a foot on Farrah's chest and jutted one finger into the air in the same pose she had practiced in the mirror that morning. "Alright, Team Kolorful! Our mission today is to have tons of fun and to become best of bestest friends! We won't give up! We won't surrender! We won't stop for- Oh, wait where's Gray?." The 'rousing' speech came to an abrupt halt as the young girl realized they were still missing the last member of their troupe.

With a small nod towards Forrest and Tius - about as close to a 'thank you' as she ever seemed to get - Azura spoke. "Not Atlas, then. Well... I've never had Vacuo food. If you say it's good, we'll go with that." she wasn't exactly smiling, but knowing what she was doing at least seemingly lessened her scowl a little. As long as it wasn't too expensive, she'd be fine with it, and ham sounded good to her.

It probably seemed as though she missed Tius' question for a while, but she spoke without turning around. "I will. If no-one else wants to." she shrugged, glancing at the rifle currently strapped to her back. Of course, he'd probably win - it wasn't a matter of skill, but her fighting style didn't mix well with sparring. Winning at any cost and 'poor sportsmanship' in training wasn't good for improvement, at least according to a lectures she'd gotten after the first couple of incidents. Because obviously taking down the bad guys didn't count if you weren't nice about it. Ugh.

The other issue was the semblance. As far as her teammates were concerned, it allowed her to heal them with her aura, but that wasn't too useful in a one-on-one. The whole thing about draining people's aura? Well, she may have 'forgotten' to mention it when they'd discussed them. For good reason, though, since she didn't plan to use it anyway. The risk of overloading was too high, since with her limited power over it the rate it drained aura at was limited, and she couldn't judge how much she could handle. Not telling them was a good way to avoid the issue, but not using any of her semblance in combat wasn't helpful.

Spotting a bright-looking stall laden with food, she glanced back at her teammates wordlessly, looking for confirmation that it was the right one. Seemed like it. She'd actually been looking back at them quite regularly during the trip, partly to make sure she was going the right way, and partly to make sure Jin hadn't walked off to take a nap somewhere while they got food. She wouldn't have put it past him. No doubt he thought walking around the tournament was a complete waste of time.

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Things can get quite boring, as Sill had found out, when you were an independent imbecile who had no initiative to find the people he knew. But to him, what was the point? He'd get lost, and then it would just be more difficult to find them. Indeed, he did want them to be around him, definitely. He could only want to connect with them more, if he had the chance. Sill lusted for getting to know them, despite him knowing them for weeks, and actually cracking down on their true personalities. It was not fun being around on his own and mumbling to himself. Well, even being with someone can be quite discomforting.

"Ey lad...You know where the nearest toilets are?" A far more mature, outgrown voice cracked through his personal silence. It clearly was not a student, for anyone with that low of a voice must've been upper-cut by Puberty hard. Sill actually bothering to make eye contact to this stranger, he saw the figure.

A tall, brawny man. Dressed in some sort of Militarised Hunter outfitting, he stood at around the same height as Sill himself, perhaps slightly taller. Brown hair, lengthy. Well...More inbetween brown and blonde. He didn't look aged, but Sill's guess would've been at around 34 years...Someone in those 30s. He had many pouches in his harness, much like how Sill would have in his, but only more strengthened. Best bet would be a hunter.

"Oh...Toilets...Uhh...I believe there are some by the lane's information kiosk? Though it might be a bit packed soon considering how many people are filling themselves with the over-priced food and all."

"Aha! Thanks lad. Knew they're nearby. Can't trust your instincts always with these large crowds, can y'u?" He chuckled in a very low, raspy chuckle. Though as it sounded low and intimidating, it suited him well considering his attire, appearance and physique. Sill knew that his team were going to take their time, so why couldn't he take his own time to build up on those conversational skills? He can't just limit himself to one team as his source of socialising, can he? "My best bet is that in a few days, the whole crowding will die down. Can't trust it to maintain at this level of intensity."

"You might be right, you might be wrong. I see a lot of general activity dying down in certain areas, but it's good for the salesmen and booths here, right?" Sill was perfectly capable of talking to people, of course. He just usually didn't because people never talked to him. It was more of a fair way, to him. Why strike up unwanted talk?

"Ahhh...Sheer havoc on my end, right now. I'm supposed to be here for business enquiries, but why do that when I can take the time to appreciate the area around me and sell some good old fashioned materials and stuff. Run that stand by the lane's corner. Selling those old weapons and artefacts that I collected over my old adventures. Well I say old...Still got enough in me."

The two kept up the conversation for the next half-hour. Sill still had time to kill whilst waiting for his team, so why not just talk to the man talking to him. He would go on about his days as a Hunter. He trained and taught apparently at Illuminate, obviously speaking for his age, and only left to pursue his dreams as a Hunter, rather than the tutor. Fought loads, travelled a lot. He was an inspiring man, when it came to his wording. He knew exactly what to say, and how to captivate you. It was almost like he persuaded and story-told for a living, rather than killed Grimm. What a man, what a man. In return, Sill would tell him his aspirations, his successes so far in Illuminate. If this was going to happen often at the festival, he might as well introduce him to the team. That would be if they ever turned up in time for that.

"Uhh...Well, sir? Might I ask for your attire's reasoning? It just seemed a little bit peculiar and simple, if that is hypocritical of me." If only Marianne was here to see him...No doubt she'd be somewhat surprised at his sudden urge to speak. At least he hoped she was proud of him, she and her team never really showed that much pride in his actions. This man didn't seem too deniable of his actions, which gave him that sort of fuzzy feeling when you've done something correct.

"Oh this? Well seeing as I am still an independent hunter...I like to keep myself in something basic, but practical. Don't want to confuse or recognise me as someone else." After the agreement, the two shared a handshake, giving each other a farewell. "I should get going...Nice to have a bit of R&R and a chat, I guess. Oh, and if you ever see me again, be sure to not call me Sir...I prefer being called by my name, future-hunter. Just say the magic word, Seb. And don't forget those offers I gave out." After raising half of his face for a grin, he smirked directly at him before wandering off back into the crowd. The offers of which he spoke were training sessions, or at least a seminar of what to do to excel. For someone he just met, it all seemed a bit too much, but in the future it could prove to be more than useful. But it was not his decision. It was his teams...Who when present would get the question...Hopefully though, he was not seen talking to someone with such confidence . It may seem a bit odd...

The talking among the weapons artificers and frauds alike was enlightening on many fronts. The amount of fakes and cheap "fancy" weapons was depressing, while the presence of skilled craftsman a relief to said depressing trend. Of course, his normal discussions and talk with merchants was interrupted by a collision, some young girl who seemed oddly familiar, for some reason. Did she match some vague description given during the discussion on reserve members? Maybe, she looked like someone fitting such a position. Luckily for interpersonal relations, however, he did not overtly say this, instead nodding slightly when she mentioned the unique mechanism on his rifle. She chose a good topic, he was proud of his rifle. He had added his own work to it, as each generation of his family did, and he had focused on retooling the reloading mechanism that had, woefully, become outdated. "Your interest is appreciated, she is an old family heirloom that has seen quite a bit of work. Used to operate on a bolt action, but having to reset aim after every shot was inefficient at best. So its hybridized with a two stage lever action mechanism, the bolt moved forward to not poke the user's eye out when actuated. First stage, unlocks the bolt, second, draws it back to eject the round, conventional or Dust. Levers forward smoothly, drawing the bolt forward to bring the next round into place. Stiff action, due to the multiple stages, but more effective than a bolt or lever alone. And that's just scratching the surface of her intricacies."

While the young woman was clearly giving his rifle and, by extension, Platz another look over, he gave her a more subtle scan. A bit shorter than him, dressed fairly well, perhaps middle to upper instead of high nobility. Pleasant enough tone of voice, polite if distracted, a bit inexperienced with dealing with others. Sheltered life, perhaps? Platz payed it little mind, social graces were, not surprisingly, not a strong suit of the soldiers and mustang officers, as in those from enlisted or low birth, although the company of the precise opposite stock of officer, blue bloods born into their commissions, effectively, also equipped him for operating in those circles as well. Her comment on building something like that would have elicited a good natured smile if not for the second half of the statement, a rare, brief moment of dark displeasure flashing across his face before the smooth, almost unnatural calm reasserted itself. His tone was slightly colder, the only indication of her misstep in communication, and a subtle one at that. "They wouldn't know, the gentlemen in charge of the Entrance Exam decided that I was a better fit for Reserves, spare parts, than an actual team."

Platz had his hands resting with his thumbs hooked into his pockets, a resting position that left the rifle, no doubt to the chagrin of the young lady, much less visible. However, he supposed introductions were in order if they were to continue conversing. Despite her rude comment, she could hardly be held accountable for such a thing. Ignorance was not a crime when it was not by choice, after all. Merely pitiable. He offered his hand in shake, revealing the calluses of long hours working machinery and the steadiness required for fine detailing, a rare combination of traits for most conventional weapons designers. They did one, mass production or custom work, but rarely both. His rifle Timekeeper, she required a special hand, some parts needing a heavy hand while others, the optics notably, requiring a clock smith's steady, unwavering hand. "But I apologize, where are my manners? Platz Grün, scion of Grün Custom Works. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." Most weapon aficionados recognized Grün Custom Works, at least ones with an eye for Atlesian weapons. Timekeeper was an oddity, of course, but she was the background for their work.

Platz could not readily place why she seemed recognizable. Was it because of being possibly another member of the Reserves? In that case, he would have to take a look at her weapon post haste. He would not have shoddy, second rate weapons backing him up, not when he could apply his family trade for fine tuning. Even if he didn't overtly get to change anything, tightening and retooling, especially after analyzing how they used their gear, could vastly improve performance. His own Timekeeper was unwieldy and hard to use after first receiving it, after all, a contributing factor to his Exam performance, and a dangerous one at that. Improvements and alterations had been made, but the damage was done already. Platz did try not to loose himself in thought as to not readily miss anything said, which would have been quite rude of the young man. She had given no reason to be rude, not yet, so he would not act like that. There were tournaments, from what he heard, perhaps if he found more of these Reserves, he could whip them into some semblance of fighting shape. No, he decided, they would tag along of their own volition, or not. He was not leader, far from it, he had no interest in holding a group to his standards. "As for constructing your own masterpiece, ma'am, each designer has their own flair. Their own strong points, and weak points. Take ideas and inspiration, maybe, but never lose your own design vision. Once lost, the weapon is not truly yours anymore, it merely is another nameless weapon."