"And I guess cutting to close someone else's wounds kind of kills the idea even further, doesn't it?" I agreed wryly, flexing my palm a few times.

"At least I've got the hair right."

Poof.

Well, it wasn't long enough that I could blow it out of my eyes yet, so that was something, at least. That meant it wasn't too ridiculous, right?

Or it was just really stubborn...

After all it did have a habit of hanging over an eye. Frankly though, I thought this length looked good on me. My competitive drive when it came to making a bet against my sisters had a silver lining after all...

Of course, it was a sucker's bet.

April had been planning on switching to a ponytail for months, and Dawn somehow managed to change hairstyles every third week. In short, I had realized my loss after a scant few months.

...Why do I feel like that makes me a bit dense?

I looked back down to Beryl, who was currently laying almost flat on her stomach in the water. Like the most literal interpretation of the term "water bed" that you could ever hope to see.

How the heck was she doing that? I mean, being a good swimmer was one thing, but at least that was something I could wrap my head around! If I tried to do this, the closest I could have gotten was the dead man's float! Even on my back, I had a lot of trouble these days?

...I guess I could contribute that to density, though. While I've never been necessarily out of shape, my body composition had greatly changed after training, especially in regards to my muscle / fat ratio.

Still, Beryl cut a lean figure in her own right. I was more than aware of that, and actively beat down memories as to why so as to keep myself focused. As a guy, I was always going to be more cut simply due to how biology works, but for her to float like this so easily was still out of the question normally!

I had to ask.

I couldn't not ask.

For the sake of my own curiosity, no, for the sake of mankind, I would ask.

"...How are you floating like that, anyway?"

I thought in that moment, fleetingly, that I was beginning to understand Gratia.

@HereComesTheSnow@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

"Float like what?" Came the confused reply. She stared at Luke for a couple seconds before a look of understanding appeared on her face.

"Oh, ummm. Probably my semblance." She said, a slightly embarrassed blush appearing. "I can detect and control the water around me. It tends to kick in when I swim whether or not I mean to. It's like...it's like walking or picking something up with a hand. You don't tell your body to do it, it just does. Semblances are an extension of the soul and when I'm swimming and I can just...feel the water, all of it, it's like I am the water."

As she had spoken one of her hands dropped from the edge of the pool and into the water. Beryl stared at it, feeling the ever so slight movements of the water in the pool before pushing outward. The motion causing its own current that rippled out from the young Faunus.

"It's hard to explain to other people. Unless they have a similar semblance to mine most people just lack the proper frame of reference."

Because he was listening attentively to the mornings birdsong, Abel picked up on the unique noise made by the Sea Legs hitting fairly quickly. The weaponized clothing, containing almost as much dust as they did wood, managed to be distinctive without being a dead giveaway. Nobody would think twice about the noise not having known what it was previously. On tile, though, it would have been a different matter. Abel bet that the clatter they'd put up would put clogs to shame. He returned the wave of Krysanthe as she approached. “Good morning, Krysanthe! Not at all. Thanks for coming.” A slight pickup in the wind caused him to look out over the cliff at his destination: the Emerald Forest. From here, it looked just like a green ocean, just waiting for a couple of intrepid hunters to jump in.

“So this is the spot where the other teams got started. While the rest of us were running amuck in Forever Fall, half of the students were here.” He bent slightly to look over the edge, and gave a sound of consternation. “Hm. Cliff's a bit higher here, and there's no ziplines.” Next for inspection were metal plates on the ground. He'd seen them before, but hadn't gone near them. “Guy in a hoodie told me they used these to launch 'em off the edge. People had to come up with their own 'landing strategies'.” He glanced at Krysanthe. Not for the first time, he wondered why -and simultaneously thanked his lucky stars- such a knockout was hanging out with him. No matter—he would make sure that he did not disappoint. If most people tended to think he was dull and cautious, he would show them today.

Clutching his partizan, the guardian inhaled deeply and pointed it over the edge. “Whaddya say we give it a try? I always wanted to fly. Nice bit of excitement to get the morning going.” He smiled as he suggested it, his mind racing to come up with a 'landing strategy' of his own.

I stepped away from the piano as the crowd dispersed. So did the band. I had met a few waiters in my time, but none seemed this intent on not doing their job. Which was charming in its own sort of way. Like a Rhotic accent, from southern Vale. It was charming, perhaps endearing but it just didn’t feel right. He certainly wasn't from Vale himself, they didn't sculpt them like that in Vale. No, he was probably closer to Atlas, maybe Vacuo but then again he seemed to proper, pale, and socially adequate for Vacuo. Still there was something about Jer that hooked her, perhaps not a conversationalist by nature. But he was saying more with his body than he was with his mouth. Like he felt trapped in those nice clothes. Which would make sense considering it seemed whoever did the seeming wasn’t taking into account his definition around his shoulders and back, the shirt was stretched over his pectoral so that much was obvious. Perhaps he was borrowing it for someone.

Bianca, you’re thinking too much. He’s a cute waiter, enjoy his company. I loosened my expression and reached into my handbag, putting a hand on the deadliest weapon I had at my disposal.

I quickly traced my lips with the pinkish lipstick, just to make sure I was looking my best, turning back to him with a small smile I put my lipstick back into my bag and reached in once more, this time for my ticket.

“So it looks like I lucked out and grabbed the penthouse ticket. The room number is 1001, which means 10th floor and first room I guess. The elevator looked like it only went up to ten when I checked it out. Say, Jer, why don’t you hold the order? I’m not so hungry anyway…”

I really wasn’t at all. I hadn’t really felt hungry since I got back, sure I pecked at the food Gratia brought me but my appetite was all but lost.

“Anyway I shouldn’t keep you that much longer, should I? When you finish your shift feel free to come and find me though!”

"Aaaah." I said plainly, nodding my head in mostly-understanding.

Literally being the water... You know, I didn't think that was what Bruce Lee had in mind when he said that. Indeed, famous actor and martial artist and fitness guru that he was, I very much doubted a spiritual connection towards any body of water you were in were what he was expecting.

Beryl, I hate to break it to you, but the man might have called you an overachiever.

Still, though.

"That's..." I found myself stifling yawns again. "Pretty impressive."

I knew better than to trust a yawn to tell me if I was going to sleep any more.

If every bit of water around her did indeed extend further than simply standing bodies around her, then it wasn't just impressive. It was absolutely insane. Terrifying, once you remembered how much of the body is made of water.

I reminded myself to stay on her good side, but fortunately, I was growing to realize her good side had to be a mile wide.

"The semblance coming from the soul's always been an interesting theory." I mused, watching her kick back off the edge of the pool and back out into the water. Maybe it was just me having her semblance so recently explained and thinking about water in general, but the pattern of ripples in her wake caught my eye for a bit.

Kind of mesmerizing.

"I mean, I wonder how it decides which part of the soul it takes from. If it can ever change if the person changes. What it says about my sister that hers is creating auric strings, while mine heals me..."

I blinked.

"...and others, now."

Hrm. What deep and philosophical questions those were.

Seriously, is Dawn a puppeteer or something? A seamstress? I don't understand that.

Where to go after receiving a promotion to a teacher at Beacon. It’s a question she was sure had crossed the minds of many famous academics and hunters. Her instincts told her a night on the town, all expenses paid on her shitty father. What was it Ozpin had said?

It wasn’t much. His body language read that he was helping me out. But there were points when it sure didn’t feel that way. Still, Estelle was never one to go against instinct. The bar it was. Going for a quick run on the way back to her dorm room she felt the cold night air whisk at her skin. Fall was coming. She was jealous of Bianca who got to go on some kind of luxury cruise where it would be nice and warm. She had gotten the text earlier that day. Bianca had barely bothered to catch her up on the fact that she had her wings back. Which is kind of Bianca honestly. Knowing her she’d probably be hoping to meet Captain Atlas or James Bond on that kind of cruise.

Upon reaching her dorm she quickly ran her hand through her underwear drawer waiting for a specific feeling. A thing plastic card. Finally her hands latched onto it and her fingers quickly danced across her scroll. The private car would be around shortly. Junior would know he had a special guest coming. It was nice having an in that strong at some of the better bars. But Junior’s was essentially if some Valian frat boy looked at Vacuo and said ‘I’m cool too.’

It was pretty pathetic.

Estelle tore through her wardrobe looking for the exact weapon for the occasion. Finding it in a leather jacket, a pair of leggings and a crop top. She quickly discarded her old clothes.

You have played out your use to me.

She got her hands on the new clothing and clenched her fist around them. This was your purpose. To serve me as your master.

“You will do just fine.”

Meeting the car out front she noticed some of the budding hunters and huntresses she may be teaching coming Monday. She saw them waiting for the bus, chatting on the lawn. Best not to interact with them just yet. The bar can provide a nice break from any potential students as well – a definite bonus.

She pulled up to Junior’s noticing a larger line and a literal red carpet – security flanking both. Nothing but the B-Team but what’d you except for Junior? Rumor had it some seventeen year old kicked his entire security team’s ass a couple days ago. Estelle stepped out. She almost expected camera’s to start going off due to the reaction she got. Jaw’s dropped and perhaps some panties did too. Brought a small tear to Estelle’s eyes as she smiled at the line and security. A quick flash of the sigil on her scroll was all it took to keep her connected to a whiskey tap. She was escorted inside and quickly found a seat at the bar, putting a nice tip in for the bartender. She looked overworked anyway.

This was going to be nice. A nice night to relax away from it all.

@HereComesTheSnow@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

Luke's current insomnia distraction had taken to floating on her back around the pool. The occasional flick of her tail or feet keeping her constantly in motion.

"You want to survive, to push through whatever struggle lies before you no matter how harsh it may be. An admirable trait that requires an extraordinarily sturdy heart. Your recent change, if I had to guess, means that you want those around you to survive as well. Your friends and family, even if it means that you must suffer for it to happen."

A chuckle bubbled up through her thoughtful tone.

"As for your sister, well, I can't say I know your family that well but I would suggest you watch what you say around her. You wouldn't happen to have taken a bad bet in recent months now would you?"

Pushing through struggles?

Well, that'd be a nice romanticization of it. Really, I'd have argued something more along the lines of stumbling, but...

She wasn't wrong about the others. It was the whole reason I'd stepped up for electroshock torture all of four hours prior, after all. I could take a lot, but letting other people get hurt...

It sat wrongly with me. As if I'd failed them somehow.

...So I bleed as an act of penance for my failures?

Weeeeh, that's a weird way to turn. Are we sure this wasn't some repressed masochism?

Maybe. But if it could help others, I could accept being a little less sane than I liked to pretend. As long as it didn't make anything weird, I was actually really grateful for... whatever had bubbled up inside of me. This drive I'd gained to support others. This desire to lend them some of whatever gumption kept me ticking.

The conviction to see everyone through to the end, no matter the cost.

Well, taking it seriously, that sure sounded goo—hold that thought WHAT

I turned my head to Beryl, trying my level best to mask my shock. I had just been thinking about it, when did she learn?! Wasn't your semblance a hydrokinetic sort of thing, and not mindreading?!

"What makes you say that?" I responded, carefully neutralizing my voice.

@HereComesTheSnow@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

"Your semblance requires you to be hurt in order to remove the pain from another. In essence you take a part of their suffering upon yourself."

Beryl turned so that she was looking "up" at him as she lay in the water. Her face now wore a look of worry as she worked through her train of thought.

"Even with your, frankly ridiculous, healing ability a trait like that gives me a fair idea of just how far you will go to save those around you. And it is far. Far enough to get you killed if you are not careful."

Please don't get yourself killed Luke.I don't want to lose another friend.

"Ah--"

Awkward! Very awkward! I had meant to ask that in regards to me, April, and Dawn's bet, not my semblance! I had completely switched gears, and now was caught into having to backtrack!

...Well, I supposed the bright side was that this proved she wasn't a mind-reader after all. The privacy of my thoughts were indeed safe. With that relief, I could laugh the rest of it off.

"I wouldn't worry about that. If anything, I'm way too careful already." I felt a wan smile grow on my face. "This mission was a bit of an eye-opener. I can't be so methodical about every single thing when lives are at stake, y'know."

Was I reminding her, or reminding myself?

...Yes, I was.

"But... I actually was asking about where you got making a bet from." I explained, trying not to let my tone indicate one way or the other whether I had or had not.

@HereComesTheSnow@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

Beryl turned bright, bright red and sank beneath the surface of the pool until just her eyes and the top of her head showed above the small waves that were now rippling off of her. She stared at Luke for several seconds, her mind flying at a speed only achievable by one trying to find a way out of a suddenly awkward moment.

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That sounded really pretentious didn't it? I bet he thinks I'm full of myself or something. Uhuuhuuhuu, I wish the ground would swallow me.

The nuances of her last thought was rather lost to her in her current scatterbrained state.

Eventually she lifted just enough out of the water for her mummled reply to be audible.

_{"I have about a dozen younger siblings back home and you seemed too earnest not to have been messed with."}

Kuhaku Shiro - Beacon Cafeteria

"Whoop!" Shiro suddenly felt himself being lifted off of the ground by the scruff of his collar. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt compelled to freeze up and stick his arms and legs straight out as he was essentially manhandled by his friend. Blinking as he 'levitated' to his new spot next to Gren, he settled down and recomposed himself. Puffing out his cheeks in a pout as he crossed his arms. Shooting Gren a mean look. He didn't appreciate being moved around like that.

"Alright, alright! I got it! Y'didn't have to pick me up like that, y'know! Sheesh!"
Uncrossing his arms to scratch at his ears, his cheeks deflating of air, he flashed Sangue a wide grin coupled with a nervous chuckle.
"Hehe, sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes and can get a bit rude without meaning to. I meant no offense if I was too handsy-touchy."
He made grabby hands with his fingers.
Again, personal space was a foreign concept to him.
Shiro blinked and jumped a bit when Sangue suddenly coughed.
His ears twitched a few times.
"You okay? Sick or somefin'? You need water or..."
Shiro took a step towards the red-haired girl, but stopped when he saw her nod in agreement towards their offer of helping.
Flick of the switch, Shiro's thought train reversed and derailed as his expression instantly brightened up.
Wide, toothy excited grin on his face.
Gloved hands balled into pumping fists, Shiro now had a new project to work on that benefited a fellow friend.

Shiro suddenly slunk his way up Gren's back and sat on his shoulders, roughing smacking the top of his teammate's head with one hand as he pointed at Sangue.
"Gren! Gren! Gren! You saw that! She nodded! She'll let us help! You know what that means! Let's do this!"
Swift flash of silver, Shiro was then near instantly right in front of Sangue.
He was bouncing up and down.
"Whoo! No time to waste, let's go!"
He took Sangue's hand.
"AAAAAADVENTURE! WHOO-HOO!"
To quote Gren.
And with a zip, off the two of them went.
Shiro bursting into a sprint as he pulled Sangue along with the biggest and stupidest smile on his face, laughing giddily as he dragged her along and per the usual course bulldozed the straightest and quickest path towards the Armory.

Oh god hnnngh too much cute

I won't deny I locked up in my own right at the display, but thankfully by the time she'd managed to lift her head out of the water and explain herself, I'd quite literally shaken myself back into focus.

"Ah, that makes sense..." I began. It was true, after all. April, Dawn, and I were always keeping eachother on our toes. Granted, over the years it had increasingly felt like there was a shift in the power structure as the two girls formed an alliance, but that wasn't to say I was entirely helpless against them...

And then the other shoe dropped as I processed the first half of her sentence.

"A dozen?!" I repeated back, shocked. I couldn't even begin to imagine how helpless I would have been if faced with six of each...

"That's crazy."

@HereComesTheSnow@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

When Luke did not completely reject her in a huff Beryl floated a bit higher. Still lower than would normally be expected but she could at least properly carry on a conversation.

"It was usually around twelve. Sometimes there were more, sometimes less. There was no way that Father would be able to handle them all on his own so I had to step up and be the responsible older sister. I think I learned most of my fighting from handling my younger brothers"

Is he mad? I can't tell. He might just be hiding it. Oh please don't be mad, I really like him. He offered to show me the pool right after we met and never said any weird things to me.

She was still somewhat off kilter. A fact attested to by the slight chop in the water around her.

The exclamation of an excited boy, and the confusion of a quiet girl.

Sangue blinked when Shiro began saying something excitedly to his good friend. Staring at the Faunus with slightly widened eyes, the woman blinked yet again when Shiro grabbed her hand.

Alas, her fate was sealed as soon as the man started dragging her down the cafeteria. If Shiro was a boat moving at an admirably fast pace, Sangue was the flag stuck to it that fluttered like a ragdoll. Thankfully, her feet kept up with Shiro's excitement. Her expression remained as composed as ever as the grip of the white-haired student practically let her experience the power of flight for a split second.

She opened her mouth to say something, then fell silent again.

I... can eat later, I suppose, the swordswoman thought as Shiro brought her with him to what she'd presume to be a forge of some kind. Or an armory. Or whatever it was called.

Oswald watched in a mixture of shock, resignation and a little bit of pity as Diamond rolled up her sleeve, exposing her arm to the others. He'd never seen anything like that in his life, but Oswald couldn't find it in himself to even remotely care about this previously unknown-to-him phenomenon. That was his teammate's arm, covered in the unfortunate side effects of an ill-advised surgery and a trip directly into the face of hell.

Diamond....was disfigured. Sure, the others were hurt, but Diamond was right: their injuries would heal. Even Cobalt's concussion would likely cause few long-term side effects, thanks to both modern medicine and his Aura. Diamond, though...even with the small consolation that her abilities had a higher ceiling before becoming dangerous again, Diamond would face the reminder of what happened every time she looked at her arm.

Oswald deflated when he fully processed what had happened. Nobody got out of there unscathed, huh... He wanted to scream. He wanted to get off his bed and toss it through the wall, to walk off into the Emerald Forest with his gear and spent hours killing everything that crossed his path. Anger flared to the front of his mind yet again, before it transformed into something even more dangerous: bloodthirsty rage.

He had to find out who the hell attacked them. He needed to find out where they trained, who else they worked with, and how the hell one of them managed to turn themselves into a monster capable of such destruction and chaos.

And he had to destroy them.

Cobalt frowned as Diamond rolled up her sleeve, showing off her own wounds to everyone. This was certainly troubling, his concussion didn't have shit on this permanent disfigurement. There was a bright side though. According to the doctor she might one day regain feeling in her arm, and this would make her slightly more powerful. But it wasn't worth the cost, almost nothing is worth this.

Cobalt clenched his fist out of frustration and felt his fingernails digging into his hand. He couldn't let this happen again, he needed to be stronger. He needed to be a better leader too, this happened because he let them split up. If he had put his foot down and made them stay together, maybe they would've done better. But now wasn't the time for what ifs, now was the time to improve.

This couldn't happen again. Not to Diamond, not to Oswald, not to Emerald, never again. Cobalt's eyes filled with resolve and he looked at Diamond, hopefully getting the message across. He wasn't going to ever let this repeat.

Krysthane smiled, "Of course I'd come, glad I didn't keep you waiting." she in response as she watched Able examine the platforms curiously as she did the same. So these were supposed to send people flying? Well that sounded... Fun! Krysanthe grinned and stepped on one experimentally and braced herself. "I'll give it a try, sounds like a good way to start off the day. So we just stand on one and the fun starts ya?" she asked cheerily, several ideas running through her head for 'landing strategies'. Able always seemed so relaxed, it was nice. Skyra was flighty, Sepia was just kind of submissive, and well... That was that. She'd come to chill, not worry about things and that was just what she'd do!

"Well," I replied after a low whistle. "That's understandable. Not even my dad could handle 6 of April and Dawn apie—"

Amazingly, I found myself cut off again. I had, once more, suddenly realized something about that sentence was strange, even though I at first had casually skimmed through it and begun a natural response based off of that before brutally comprehending what I had just heard.

Was this the mental equivalent to The World Champ's Satan Fist? A delayed attack that explodes as soon as you've let your guard down?!

If I was being subjected to such a fearsome technique, my healing powers must have been indeed very amazing. In fact, I would argue them nothing short of Super.

"Hold on," I said again, feeling as though I were falling into a soon-to-be dead and tired routine. "Sometimes?"

"Oh, shit...what haven't I been on?" Lauren asked rhetorically. The grifter lifted up her nose to the crisp evening breeze in thought. "There was a while where it felt like I was running the planet for a while, between Atlas and Mistral. Always drinking something new and fancy off stolen car money. But that wasn't really real. I never actually owned a car, like, bought one with my own money before. I spent it all on a hotel, or a place to stay for a while, or drinks."

She bit down on her lip.

"Weirdest thing I've ever had to drink was seawater," she explained. "The first time my dumb ass got to Mistral, it got there by stealing a little charter boat. For four days, all I lived off of was beef jerky, High Life, and marlin I caught with my bare hands. Marlin. You know what a marlin is, Cap?"

"Babe...marlin are actually pretty comm--"

"I thought that gross motherfucker was a baby swordfish," Lauren continued, barreling right over the objections of her team leader. "Black people don't trust that open water shit, babe. It was a whole new world. So anyway, after I got tired of three days of drinking shitty beer, I decided to drink from the seawater. I thought it was gonna be safe, since it comes from Mother Gaia and all, but noooo-oooooo-ooooooo. Hell, no. I was sick until I got to Mistral. I even had to crack open the ship's supply of bottled water--" and here, the interruption this time came from Ben's surprised sputtering "--well, I didn't wanna open it! Because Pops always said the Atlesians were fugazi as fuck for selling us something as vitally important as water. Said there was all sorts of chemicals in the water they sold, and you know what? They were right! That's probably what turned me gay!"

...

The Huntress' cute mouth scrunched up in a thoughtful pout, then relaxed with a sigh.

"Nah, that ain't what turned me gay."

Ben wasn't say anything. He must have been waiting for her to finish her story. That's my Cap!

As they settled into line (holy shit, what a line!) at Junior's, Lauren was still talking about her past experiences in the other kingdoms.

"They do shit kinda funny in those parts of Mistral. One time I was at a club and this cute bartender, total fucking honey, tells me that on Thursdays her special is sex on the beach. And I'm thinking, fuck yeah, I want some sex on the beach. Turns out it's just a cocktail. But I didn't grow up in Zephyr, I grew up in some shithole neighborhood in--" and here a sports car tore down the street adjacent to Ben and Lauren's sidewalk jaunt, drowning out her next few words "--so I grew up kinda stupid about those fancy cocktails and shit. Specially when you're sixteen or seventeen."

She shrugged and checked the (glacial) moving progress of the line at the club before she turned back to Ben.

"Specially 'cause one time, in Atlas, I drank this crazy ass rich dude gin and chased it with this cheap-ass bottle of Simply Lemonade, and I ended up waking up inside a mechanical bull with all my clothes on. So I guess I must have been hiding from the Bratva or something. And I guess it worked, because the Bratva didn't find me, and I was too hungover to find a way out until, like, nearly dinner time. It was pretty hype!"

...

Suddenly, and a bit manically, a bit of the energy ebbed away from Lauren Negasi.

"I don't know how many stories like that I'm gonna get to tell about my time here. All they teach at Beacon is reinforcement of my Advanced Hatred for the White Devil degree."