[center][color=00a99d][h2]Ernest Mars[/h2][/color][/center] [center][img]http://i68.tinypic.com/63x8xz.jpg[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=silver]π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / π•Œπ•Šπ”Έβ„π•€π•ƒβ„• 𝔼𝕒𝕀π•₯ / / π”Ήπ•¦π•šπ•π••π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜ 𝔹 / / πŸ™πŸšπŸπŸ˜[/color][/center][hr] Marcus had left on his own so Ernie did the same, taking the time to visit his long-awaited new dorm. Silence. Ernie breathed it in, loosening his shoulders as he closed the door behind him. Solace at last. No dumbass classmates to get in his face, no asshole guards to shove him around. A little piece of paradise. His two vacuums, his big axe, his tomahawk, his cooler. Ernie relaxed at the sight of the familiar goods, doing a mental count as he inspected every piece. Everything was here. His time putting everything in its place was unfortunately shortlived, a peace that was lost too easily. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here, away from everything outside. Ernie stood by the door, stock still. There wasn't anything wrong with staying, right? He wasn't going to learn anything either way! What was the worst they could do? Taze him? Solitary confinement? It was nothing he hadn't gone through before! He just needed to stay a few more minutes, just really take in his new room and-- With all the strength he could muster Ernie pounded his fist to his chest, creating an audible thump to accompany the incoming bruise. That goddamn Stigma was getting pissier by the day. He needed to go right now, before the rest of those useless thoughts came. Ernie burst through the doorway with an agitated pace. If he left quickly enough, he wouldn't have enough time to think about it. By the time he reached the classroom, he was breathless. [hr] He sat in the corner seat again, the same bored expression from earlier branding itself on his face as soon as he entered the threshold. The sight of Marcus two seats down only served to worsen his already irritable mood. Sure, the scarred boy had seemed [i]kinda[/i] sorry about it, but it didn't change the fact that he had made Ernie look bad. If it weren't for the girl between them, Marcus probably would have found a pen embedded in his thigh by now. Bleeding AND ink poisoning, what a combo that would be. Ernie shook his head vigorously. Geh, he needed to sate himself soon. Sure, he wanted to get back at Marcus for earlier. But violence wasn't the answer to that, unfortunately. No, Ernie needed to fight verbal sneakiness with more verbal sneakiness. But how would he do it... Ernie's eyes followed Fredric as he entered the room. However, it was on another dark haired mage in the front where his gaze settled. Emma, huh? That'd be a good start. She'd seemed pretty spooked by whatever happened in the cafeteria but if she was used once, she could be helpful a second time. Satisfied with the planned course of action, Ernie allowed himself a relaxed smirk and decided to actually pay attention to up front this time. A combat exercise on his first day. Guess that was to be expected of East. Ernie breathed. It was just a game. Good. No stakes, no life and death nonsense. Nothing he needed to think too hard about. Just him, some bits of velcro, and a bunch of teammates he didn't know or particularly care about. Simple. With the briefing finally out of the way, Ernie could finally return to ignoring the lessons. Instead, he pored his Electives sheet. He didn't want to have to take anything else he'd just ignore. Something he could ace would probably be his best choice. It would be nice to not fail a class for once. So Home Ec was his number one. Cooking and chores were something he could do in his sleep. So he'd be doing it in class too. [hider=Elective Preferences] Art/Photography - 3 Creative Writing - 8 Woodworking - 2 P.E. - 5 Film Study - 4 Music Theory - 7 Home Ec - 1 Computer Science – 6[/hider] [hr] Before he knew it, class was over and it was time to get ready for combat. Strategies and talks with teammates were tossed out the window. He didn't know any of his teammates besides Emma and last he'd seen of her, she didn't seem up for talking. So that left equipment. He entered the dorm once again and went through his things. Steel toe work boots were a definite must. Sneakers in a combat zone were a bad idea. A few hairties on the wrist in case his hair got extra fussy. He changed into something breezier; a dark blue singlet and cargo pants. Combat meant lots of running about, so he always wore something that'd let him cool off. Plus there was less chance of getting a shirt sleeve caught on something. He looped his belt through along with an axe holster. Clothing was sorted so now it was time for the heavier stuff. On his desk laid a Makarov PM, his woodchopping axe and his tomahawk. The gun was out of the question. "No lethal methods" after all. So it was between Chopper and Tommy. The violent release zone at East was different. He'd read about it on DnT. West's release zone lacked the time-looping phantom that was required for a sustainable venting space for subnaturals. So Kleinfelder had to make do with the local resources, more specifically, the local forests. The Fallout Zone was nothing more than a glorified wood-chopping competition, with the occasional terrorized bear and subnatural wrestling matches. The 'destruction' that was expected in the Fallout Zone had always been far too mild for Ernie's needs. It worked well enough for the pansy Aberrations at West. Felling trees was therapeutic alright, but not in the way his Stigma demanded. So he'd needed other methods of destruction. Looked like that wouldn't be the case for this campus, though. Ernie packed away the wood-chopping axe. No more trees for this guy. Instead, he grabbed the tomahawk and tucked it into its holster, sheathed of course. With his preparations finished, he headed off to Ground Zero.