---

"The floor may look uncomfortable, but it's actually quite well maintained..." Aeschel mused, though perhaps he was biased for sleeping on a mat. "Either way, leaning on a wall will just create a creak in your neck; much worse than sleeping on a rough floor" He closed his notebook and slipped it back into his bag, noting that everyone else in the hall seemed to be getting ready to sleep, might as well join them. "There's nothing abnormal about my height" He crossed his arms as he replied to Aqua, before moving on with setting up for bed. Biggest obstacle, his tail, he had to roughly yank it out from under himself so that it curled up at his side with a grunt of effort. On some nights, his tail could be a magnificently soft pillow, but on most nights, it was a pain taking up space.

"You guys wanna be hunters, right?"

Aeschel scoffed indignantly. "No, I came to Beacon to be a janitor..." It took a few seconds of awkward silence for Aeschel to realize that he had muttered that thought out loud. "...Did I say that out loud? Sorry!" He immediately turned to his side, trying to hide his face in the mat, hoping for sleep to take him before he let anything else slip out of his mouth.

Once more the proceedings in the morning past by rather quickly, almost a blur of motion and activity and panic. After he was ripped from the world of dreams, jumping to his feet before his brain could even register that he was awake. He stole glances at the people around him, not exactly sure if any of these people were a morning person or would get the wrong idea. He blinked. Before he could even yawn, he found himself in a shower, banging his tail against the wall to beat out any grime he might have caught in the night. Another blink and he was rushing out of the changing rooms, still halfway through pulling his shirt on as he got in line for breakfast, hoping to get this done with as quickly as possible so he could check over his weapon and ammo for the fifty-second time. Though for a moment in between shoving eggs and bacon down his gullet, he did get a flash of embarrassment at essentially flashing passers-by for a minute; oh god, were those people he heard giggling laughing at him?

He didn't have time to look out for any familiar faces in the room, he probably wouldn't have even noticed if anyone sat next to him, for after another blink he was at his locket. In one hand he cradled his Twin Babylon, the other pulled specially crafted arrows, noticeably missing arrowheads, and slotting them in the quiver that hung on his shoulder while clipping a strap carrying arrowheads to his undershirt, protected by his outer jacket. "Time to show them what you're made of... That you deserve to be here" He muttered to himself, turning to march out the door.

On the way to the initiation grounds, he saw plenty of familiar faces, maybe even traded a few words with them, a few awkward misunderstandings and some laughs. But his mind remained focused on what was ahead, his body preparing itself for what came next.Would it be a test of strength and skill against one another? Would he be forced to fight with or against the pleasant people he just met? Bring it on, Beacon. You better look out, because here comes Aeschel

"Oh, and when I said a few minutes, I meant ten seconds ago."

You did that on purpose, you PRIIIII- Aeschel was not prepared to be launched through the air, over a dense forest of thick trees and deadly creatures, but he had to adapt quickly. A Huntsman adapts, that's how they survive. And he was gonna be a Huntsman, damn it! "First person, I make eye contact with? Well, that won't matter if I'm putty by the time I reach the ground" He had ten seconds, enough time to formulate and execute a plan of action.

He needed to land. Safely.

The area had some workable surface materials that could soften the landing, but they weren't where his body was headed.

He had to make his own.

How?

He had dust, he could use that.

Take out his bow, notch an ice dust-tipped arrow.

Where would he land?

It wasn't the easiest shot, the wind resistance would be a problem.

The arrow would land beneath him.

Teleporting was an option, but an inch too far...

He had to do it.

At the ninth second, Aeschel unveiled his bow, the small container extending as the blades of each end shot out, curving to form the bow as a metal string shot out of the tip to act as the bowstring. Quickly, he attached a blue arrowhead to his arrow, notched the arrow under the bowstring and fired. He saw flickers of blue as the arrow feel and exploded under him, coating a rocky landing patch in an icy make-shift ramp. Amber eyes clamped themselves shut, every molecule of his body began to vibrate, to twist, to flicker, all adding up to a tickling sensation that left him nauseous. When his eyes finally opened, the surrounding trees and mountains had only grown larger, his body now flying through a thicket of wood and green, a patch of blue directly in front of him.

His feet hit to ice patch at just the right angle, allowing him to smoothly skate his way down the ramp with relative ease. "Ha! It's working!" He switched his bow back to sword mode, the blades straightening to a more traditional sword look, allowing him to stab them into the ground, causing friction and slowing down his momentum. Smooth sailing from here.

Aha! Yes! I did it! Oh, Aeschel, you're such a smooth criminal for that magnificent landing. It was cool, cool as ic-

And then there was a tree.

SMASH!

Daedalus, upon waking the next morning, reactivated his cybernetics and slipped from his sleeping bag without a word. He was quick to wash and dress himself in a clean copy of his usual outfit, hood up and sleeves down as he had been on the airship. His carbon-black jeans covered everything down to his ankles with a discreet zip along the back, running from the hem to the back of the knee. He wore no shoes, seeing as he had no feet to protect, instead leaving his cybernetic feet exposed. In passing, they could be mistaken for black armoured boots with orange lights on them, so it wasn't often a problem for him anyway.

Breakfast was a quick and quiet affair, his mind more focussed on other things as he wordlessly ate and drank a fairly substantial amount of food and coffee, allowing his internal systems to convert the excess food into additional electrical charge. He bypassed the lockers in locker-room, having no tangible weapons to collect, instead going over to one of the benches to run through a few quick diagnostics. He rolled up both of his sleeves and, with a clench of his fist, the metal panels on his arm opened like an angry pinecone, allowing him to make a few adjustments before closing up again. Repeating this on his other arm, he then moved to his legs. Unzipping the back of his trousers, the panels on each leg opened before closing around the loose fabric. The glow from his eye flashed before settling down slightly but noticeably brighter than before. A soft female voice spoke in his ear, reminding of what his mother would sound like if she was 17. "Icarus System: Online."

He stood up at the voice that no-one else had heard, pausing briefly to glance at Aqua... hugging her weapon? He brushed it off as one of her usual quirks before striding out of the room, towards the landing pad. As he walked, he was aware of the occasional stare of the more interested students but, in his current state, his cybernetics looked like a set of hi-tech gauntlets and greaves at a glance, so most lost interest after a second or two. He reached the landing pad in good time, embarking quietly with a brief nod to Aqua as she boarded before him.

As the airship was in flight, Daedalus's mind wandered back to the team allocation, only paying half a mind to the P.A. as Ozpin came on. The teams were going to be in effect for several years to come, so they probably had some kind of algorithm that carefully selected the members based on compatibility and...

"...Whoever you first make eye contact with will be your partner."

What? Daedalus blanked for a second. Surely it wasn't that arbitrary... right?

"... You and your team will be determined by which relic you take."

What!? In a rare moment of losing his cool, calm demeanour, the cyborg's head shot up to stare at the P.A. speaker. He closed his eyes and exhaled, forcing the nonsensical nature of the headmaster from his thoughts. He instantly began strategising his next course of action and a few contingencies; He would wait for them to be dropped off and instantly avoid contact with people until he could observe them and make a decision based on who would better compliment his abilities...

"Oh, and when I said a few minutes, I meant ten seconds ago."

"Damn it." He muttered softly to himself. And then he was falling.

Quickly adjusting to the sudden drop, he twisted himself mid-air so that he was aiming head-first towards the ground, shooting downwards like a thrown dart. About 45 metres from the ground, he flipped himself over so that he was falling feet-first, palms out and with his left leg slightly bent before cycling his dust chamber onto Gravity Dust and activating the devices. A purple-black mimicry of a jet flame erupted from a port on each of his palms and feet, rapidly reducing his impact velocity until he finally hit the ground.

Although the booster jets had helped, the residual velocity was still enough to force him onto one knee, hand in front to stop him from falling forward and the other clenched behind him to assist his balance. Kind of like a superhero from those old comics, he mused before standing up. He took a long glance around him, searching for Grimm or other students alike, before allowing a small ghost of a smile onto his face as he softly muttered a phrase he has once heard before to himself.

"I am combat-ready."

He set off in the direction of the ruins, but a distant thud gave him pause. He gave a quick glance it where it came from and a cold chill ran down his back. He didn't put much faith in superstitions, but he knew that was a bad omen. Shaking his head, he turned back in the direction he was heading and started head off again, this time at a slightly faster pace.

---

The day had well and truly come. The students found themselves on a small helicopter, each and every one of them ready for their initation. Below awaited the Emerald Forest - the land where the future hunters would prove themselves, though, at the moment Kobalt simply wondered when they'd get down there. His assumption was that they would be dropped off into the forest - and eventually, he'd find out just how right - and how wrong - he was.

Ozpin began to explain the whole teams system, and how it worked within the initiation process. "Whoever you first make eye contact with will be your partner." Well, it was certainly a unique system to Kobalt, though he briefly wondered if that meant that people could just shield their eyes and not get partnered with someone. He thought someone would definitely try that, though he didn't care for this idea.

Along with that, it was explained that acquiring a relic would tie into the creation of one's team, an interesting - and vital part of information indeed. It seemed very strange to Kobalt, but he thought he understood it. Aside from that, Ozpin spoke a few more words of wisdom, before uttering something else of note. "Oh, and when I said a few minutes, I meant ten seconds ago."

Before this could even properly register in Kobalt's mind... almost instantly, the floor disappeared into the helicopter in a brief moment, and the same went for the chairs. Then, Kobalt found himself falling. '... Seriously?! They're just gonna drop us into this place like that...? Dammit, I didn't expect this at all...! But I ain't gonna complain. That's not what a true Zaffre does.' Fortunately, like the rest of the students, Kobalt was equipped with his weapon of choice before being dropped into the forest, significantly increasing the chances of his survival. 'Alright, gotta calm down and look for a way to get myself down. Well, without splattering myself onto the grass. That'd be a start.'

Unsurprisingly, the Emerald Forest lived up to its name, being full of large trees with leaves that were almost emerald in colour. A plan began to form in Kobalt's head, which made use of the capabilities of his Whip Gauntlets - the Twin Thunderbolts. With a quick motion of his left thumb, Kobalt activated the wrist launcher on his gauntlets, which quickly activated, firing forth a dark black cord towards a nearby tree. In short time, the cord latched itself into the tree - and with another hand motion, this time using his index finger, he pulled himself towards the cord, leaving him suspended against the tree. This quick motion led to his hat falling off his head, to which he sighed.

'Alright... from here, I can easily lower myself down.' Kobalt thought - and with a motion utilizing his ring finger, the cord began to retract, lowering Kobalt closer and closer to the ground. Eventually, he set foot onto the ground onto the green grass of the Emerald Forest, where he quickly headed over to his hat, placed it onto his head, and looked up at the helicopter above. 'Sure, I ain't winning any style points, but I'm alive.'

Kobalt dusted himself off, and looked around, yet all he could see was the deep forest that surrounded him. 'I'm supposed to be heading to the ruins, yeah? May as well start walking already.' Though, it was at this moment that he thought he'd heard something - like the sound of something crashing into well, something, far off in the distance. Kobalt didn't think about it too much, though, as he began the trek through the forests, the Twin Thunderbolts at the ready.

'... This is the right way, isn't it?'

---

Interactions: Nobody this time around.

Cinna was tempted to sneak out when everyone was sleeping and have a little explore around the school to satisfy her curiosity, but her conscience, despite its small voice, convinced her to simply call it in for the night. The chance to look around would come soon enough.

Next morning, she got up and took care of all her hygiene needs like brushing her teeth and such. The outfit she had picked out for today was her absolute favorite, it was light as allowed her to move well while looking cool. There wasn't a lot of conservation before, during, or even really after breakfast. Cinna didn't mind because it allowed her to focus on the luxury breakfast in front of her that she took her time enjoying. Her mind only started to think about the fact they would be picking teams today when she had finished. It was not a huge deal who her team was going to be, they would either get along with her or they would bend a knee. There simply was no other choice for them.

Cinna walked up to her locker and put in her code, giving her access to Sovereign Right. A smile came over her lips as she retrieved it, the weapon currently in its compact-carrying mode. The weapon was much more than a simple tool to use against the Grimm for her, it was the symbol of her determination to become a huntress. She slid its holster around her chest but she didn't place it in just yet, she wanted to hold it for the ride to the initiation grounds. A fierceness shined in her eyes as the locker was closed. There was no going back for her. It was this or nothing. No one was going to stand in her way.

Her foot tapped gently as she sat in her seat, eager to get out of this machine and into the fight. Was she nervous? Sure, anyone would be but she would be damned she if let anyone else see it. Sovereign Right sat in her lap, hand tightly gripped around its handle, when the headmaster decided to finally start talking. So it was completely random then? A smirk crossed her lips. Aeshcel sure won't be happy about that. She was already planning on get to the ruins first, the spirit of competition burning deep in her chest.

"Oh, and when I said a few minutes, I meant ten seconds ago."

Wait, what? Cinna didn't get to properly process that thought before the whole lot of them were being dropped from the sky. As the air flew into her face, she started to laugh as Sovereign Right extended to its full length "Woohoo!" She screamed out in joy. Though it was technically falling, she felt like she was flying through the air. Alright, Cinna, what the is the game plan? Not smash into the ground, that was goal number 1. She pointed the lance-weapon behind her as she got closer and closer to the ground. Once she reached the tree-tops, she activated the thrusters on Sovereign Right at full power which slowed down her velocity while pushing her forward. Her feet touched the ground and slid a few feet, like dirt-surfing, due to the speed she retained.

She immediately turned to her scroll to see where these ruins were supposedly located. After studying for a few seconds, she nodded to herself in confirmation "Got it. No time to lose, gotta get moving." She said to herself and started sprinting in the direction she believed the ruins to be while watching for other students and Grimm. Honestly, she would cool with any of those from last night. They didn't seem like rough characters so it would be easy to operate around them. Adrenaline was still flowing through her veins from the drop and she was looking for a fight along the way. It would be boring to reach the ruins and not meet any Grimm along the way.

---

Aeschel did not smash into a tree. Nobody heard him smash into a tree. No one saw him smash into a tree. So, he did not smash into a tree. As far as everyone else knew, he landed like a smooth badass, quipped a dumb pun and slid on out of there. Well, that's what he told himself as he got to his feet, grunting out fake chuckles as he praised his aura's defenses. "No time for slacking" He told him, pushing on past the tree and into the sea of rough wood ahead. "Ozpin didn't mention a time limit, but I can't keep my future partner and team wait for their last member, can I?"

The trees were tall and thick, leaving little room to navigate through with flushing bushes that obstructed most of the view; the road ahead was not a suitable one. He needed to get to higher ground. "Squirrel powers activate, or something..." His foot nestled between the base of the nearest tree, that initial force of pushing himself upwards gave him an easy headstart on climbing the tall tree, the act of scaling up the rough surface coming as second nature for him. Soon, he reached the branch layer of the tree, his climbing now feeling more like walking up steps or a ladder, though looking down he found himself thankful that he didn't fear heights.

His mind played out trains of logic in front of him. From the high ground, he'd be able to more easily spot any notable landmarks and head in that direction, putting him on the right path. This elevated trail also forged a new path he could take through the trees, an approach that made him much less noticeable, his bushy tail mostly blending in as a color of the natural surroundings. Thus he could easily get the drop on most Grimm, and his would-be partner. As he moved between trees, hopping from branch to branch, his sword at the ready in case any tree-based creepy crawlers came out of the woodwork, he mused to himself about partners.

"I think I could fight well with Cinna. Unless she's gone down a drastically different path when it comes to how she uses her lance, my bow and dust effects could work in tandem with her lance fighting style" He recalled that he did think he had heard someone landing nearby before his unfortunate meeting with the tree. "Personality-wise, I think I could get along with Aqua and Kolbat" As he moved on, his ears began to perk up, he could definitely hear someone close by; didn't sound like Grimm. "Only one of them that I'm unsure about is Xinyue, I feel like with her personality so far, I'd make for a poor counterbalance and slow her down..." He kept to his sheltered path, rationalizing in his mind that if someone really was nearby, he needed to make a good first impression, plan out a cool look entrance that would knock their socks off. It would be a big hinderance to his team mates if he and his partner started off disliking one another.

A flip? Fire and arrow and slide in? Cool guys don't look at explosions? He needed to work on this...

Sure enough, dawn was around the corner, and with it came a hearty breakfast for all the candidates to enjoy. Well.. for most of them anyway. Xinyue got up early that morning and had another cold shower and put on another clean china dress (along with fresh under of course), and had just gotten to the great hall... once again with dismay written all over her face.

'Great... an even bigger mess of foods not fit for a vegan,' Xinyue sighed as this thought came across her mind. She couldn't blame the staff who organized these feasts though; after all, they would've had to cater for everyone else as well, and the masses typically didn't have such a dietary complication as Xinyue had. At least they had a decent selection of fruits available this time around...

After getting her fill of different melons and a papaya or two, Xinyue immediately went into her locker, grabbed her Arcus Splinters and a myriad of metal bolt and Water Dust bolt magazines, feeling as though she might need them for this specific initiation, before boarding the vessel that would take the candidates into the Emerald Forest, where the initiation was to take place.

...

While in the vessel, Xinyue listened in on the PA system, compartmentalizing everything she heard into a few key points. Namely, the trial was said to start in a few minutes, partners were to be determined as the first candidate one saw after they've landed, and they were to find a relic inside some ruins. The PA also mentioned that there were Grimm inside and told everyone that they should work together and not push themselves, but all that was a given. However, there was one thing in particular that Xinyue would scrutinize over...

"Oh, and when I said a few minutes, I meant ten seconds ago."

"Tch. That sly fie-..." before she could finish her remark, she was propelled straight through the open floor of the vessel, and left to devise how exactly to go about landing on solid ground without become street pizza on her own. One would think that that was what a parachute was for, but apparently that would be too easy. She kept her arms and legs spread wide in order to slow her descent, which would give her time to think. However, she couldn't see much from so far up in the sky. As she continued her descent, however, Xinyue could see that the tree tops were starting to become clear. First, she amassed some light in both arms and launched it down towards the forest floor.

Those would come into play later when she got closer to the ground.

With her Arcus Splinters in hand, Xinyue then brought her arms forward and her legs together, making her fall at a much faster. She charged her Arcus Splinters while she was there, and fired some of the metal bolts, aiming to make a clearing and ensure no stray branches would impede her descent. With enough charged shots, she could see the dirt 'hole' that she'd made and aimed straight for it. She spread her arms out again just at the last second, only for two tiger spirits to lunge at her from a nearby tree, capture each arm in their respective maws and propel her back up into the air momentarily, diverting her path into another upright tree before letting go. Of course, Xinyue had planned for that entirely, using her legs to rebound off said tree, touching the ground with her hands and performing a back-flip, before finally landing on her feet; knees bent, right hand on the ground next to her feet and left arm outstretched for balance. Her tail had even swished from one side to another in a show-off like manner, as the two tiger spirits resounded near her side.

"I'd like to think that landing of mine was most extravagant; all things considered," Xinyue quipped, rising back up to full height as she searched for her potential partner with her two tiger spirits in tow.

---

---

Ready.

Aurelia had been staring at herself in the bathroom mirror for a good minute before she decided she was ready. Well rested, well armed, and soon to be in her area of expertise--battle. There was no thinking of possible friendships or watching the crowd while you're by yourself in a fight, all you needed to focus on was taking down the enemy. There was no need for her to beware the Grimm--they needed to look out for her. She was fierce, she was capable, she was...thinking way too much about this.

The truth was that while her head was in the game, she was still a little nervous. Having waken up to the sound of her neighbor's rather loud snoring, she had been thrown off when instead of awakening to her maid telling her that her bath was ready, instead it was a jumble of noise coming from her classmates. The shock only wore off when she got into the very cold shower, though being a shivering mess as she got into her clothes didn't do much for her. She had resigned herself to the fact that things wouldn't be the same as they were in her manor, but admittedly all the new experiences were starting to make her anxious.

Which is why, upon announcement that she battle portion of initiation would begin, she was estatic.

Of course, getting dropped into the Emerald Forest was...different. Unexpected. It actually took her a moment to realize they had been dropped, the rush of air and the sinking feeling only really hitting her about halfway down. Aurelia watched the ship get smaller and smaller, realizing she was probably going to hit something soon. Looking down, she brandished her staff, her head spinning with multiple ideas on how to get her feet to the ground without breaking all the bones in her legs. As the trees neared, she gripped her weapon with both hands and braced herself as she collided with several branches. She let out a yelp of surprise as her staff got caught on one of the branches, promptly halting her descent. The force of the hook caused the branch to break, sending her tumbling through other branches.

Landing on her bum with a small 'oof', Aurelia exhaled as she looked around. Not the most graceful of landings, but she hadn't broken anything, at least. Getting to her feet, she would dust herself off and take a look around. Get a partner, find a relic, no problem.

Right?

If is wasn't for the bow at the end of her hair, there would be strands flying off in every direction as she ran. Sovereign Right was more in its compacted form, resting in its holster on her backs, so that she could run with less effort. She had no intentions of finding her partner right at this moment, they would find each other at the end right?

It was hard to miss the tiger faunas with the two, ethereal tiger spirits following her. Ghost Tigers? Now that was pretty cool. No one else seemed to be around so Cinna approached her "Yo Xinyue!" She caled out, slowing down as she got within proper speaking distance. "Looks like you survived the landing alright." Her voice infused with humor. Shark girl or robo-dude would have been cool options but now she knew Xinyue could make phantom tigers, it raised her coolness level with her.

She hoped Xinyue was just as fast as a tiger, the impact from landing had given Cinna a bit of juice so she had been using it run faster. Even though there was no spoken reward for getting there first, Cinna wanted the acknowledgement that she was there before anyone else.

For how Grimm-infested the Emerald Forest was renowned to be, Daedalus found it pretty unusual that he had made it so far without being accosted by anything more threatening than a lone Beowulf or a few Boarbatusks. Granted he had only been moving (more akin to a sprint with a liberal dash of parkour to overcome obstacles in his path) for 10 minutes at most, and the Grimm in question were dealt with swiftly and before they could call for help, but he was able to conserve his energy more effectively because of it so he wasn't complaining.

He spotted a black shape moving through the trees ahead of him and slowed his pace, allowing to focus more on the potential targets ahead of him. Two more shapes joined the first, and he managed to catch a glimpse of one as it passed. Beowolves. He skirted the trio, only to see a half-dozen more in the trees behind them. He pulled back before mentally cycling though his weapon modes, his arms in front of his face like a boxer blocking a strike.

"Ranged Mode."
The dual-barreled hard-light cannons rose from the top of his forearms, about 6 inches end to end. Orange energy glowed within the barrels, ready to form into bolts of deadly burning light at the squeeze of a metaphorical trigger. He released a slow exhale before stepping around the tree, arm extended and fist clenched. Time seemed to slow as he brought the weapon to bare on the nearest Beowulf, about 15 meters away.

"Configure: High Impact Mode."
In almost slow motion, the light coalesced between the two rail-like barrels into a 5 inch long bolt before shooting off faster than the eye could follow. It smashed into the Grimm's head, the force of the impact and the subsequent explosion of kinetic energy obliterating everything above the shoulder and tossing the remaining corpse backwards. The remaining Grimm turned to address the new threat, but not fast enough to prevent a second shot tearing off the right arm and a fair amount of the chest of a second Beowulf. The burst of action took only a second and a half, but it was enough for Daedalus to break out into a run, heading straight for one of the stragglers at the back of the pack.

"Configure: Rapid Fire Mode."
Arms raised, he fired off his weapons again but instead of a single bolt from between the rails, a hail of 2 inch nail-like bolts flew from the ends of each barrel. The smaller bolts, only a fifth of the power of the previous ones, weren't enough to instantly kill the Grimm, but they still had the power to tear off small chunks of black matter that equated to their flesh. Peppered with damage, the monster fell to its knees a second before Daedalus struck it with a flying kick, carrying it backwards with him on top like a surfer. It didn't have time to recover though, as the instant it hit the ground Daedalus let loose a fresh hail of bolts at point black. They tore through the unprotected neck and chin with ease, only stopping at they hit the boney armour plates on the other side. The creature was dead before it'd even stopped moving.

Without loosing his momentum, the cyborg kept running for a few more steps before spinning on his heel and taking a firing stance, opening up on the approaching Grimm with his right arm in Rapid Fire mode. Partially defended by the trees, the nearest Grimm was barely able to reach him, intent of slashing him with its claws. He sidestepped the Beowulf's attempt, allowing the creature to stumble past him, before extending his left arm and firing off a High Impact shot, tearing a messy hole roughly the size of a basketball through its torso. He turned back to the remainder of the pack, only to dive back to avoid having his head removed by another Beowulf's claws. He responded in kind with a long burst of Rapid Fire from both arms, forcing the creature to turn away to protect its face and instead shredding its left arm and shoulder. The ghost of a frown danced across his face as he saw this and his cybernetic eye flashed as his dismissed his guns.

"Blade Mode."
Flicking his arms down and out to the sides, the hardlight blades blazed into life in a half-second as he burst forward, intent on finishing the wounded monster. One of the others stepped in his path, either to defend its ally or to simply kill him itself, but he ducked under its lazy swipe and kept running, leaving it a deep score in its side for the trouble from a passing blade slash. His original target notices his approach and swung his uninjured claw in a desperate strike, but Daedalus had been expecting that. Keeping his body low and his legs bent, he waited until the last moment before springing up, letting the Grimm's flailing attempt brush the tip of his metallic foot. At the apex of his jump, he cocked his left arm back with his right behind him before punching forward, the length of the blade tearing through the area between its neck and shoulders and coming back out a few inches below the opposite shoulder blade. As he landed, he ripped the blade out as he stepped back, tearing out the area of its back that would have been a spine and most of its left shoulder.

Forced onto its knees by the momentum of the cyborg's landing, its entire left arm flopped uselessly as it roared, only to be silenced as his second blade separated its head from its shoulders. Two of the surviving Beowulfs decided to try their luck at the same time, only to be swiftly destroyed as Daedalus spun on his heel and rammed the length of the blade through their necks with two simultaneous thrusts. Waiting a second, he them harshly ripped the blades out, letting the already-decaying bodies to fall to the ground. During the whole ordeal, he didn't say a word, instead letting his weapons speak for him.

He stopped for a second, looking at the 3 remaining Beowulfs. They seemed to be frozen, stuck in place by fear or self-preservation, until he spoke. It was more for himself than the Grimm, but a casual observer might have assumed it was a taunt.

"Well?"

(tl;dr - Daedalus just slaughtered 6 Beowulfs and scared 3 shitless)

---

Aeschel hadn't been there for the whole fight, but from his position nestled under the shelter of the trees, he found that he had the est seats in the house to the cyborge slaughtering some Grimm. The man showed a wide range of skill, confidence and style as he unleashed his prowess on the oncomming Grim in a haze of kicks, slices and explosions. It was cool enough on it's own, but the added factor of the guy being a cyborge made the engineer in Aeschel squee at seeing all that machinery in action.

Hmmm, he seems to be alone... And I'm looking right at him... Aeschel crouched down on the branch, stroking his chin as two thought process fought for dominance. One wanted to anylise the methods and fighting styles the man used and the strategies he implimented, but the other thought train was banging on about- PARTNER!, which in the end won out. But this wasn't the time to squee, or drool or ask creepy questions about what screws he uses on his metal parts. This was a time to make a first impression. He looked like he could handle the final 3 Grimm that were heading his way, but this was the perfect oppertunity for Aeschel to show some lethality.

The plan was simple, one crimson explosive right to the middle one's head, the explosion takes the first one out and scatters the other two. THen, Aeschel swoops in while Tinman wondered what the hell is going on and ges dicing, first one in hindered by a cap off the knee, then a stab to the stomach, but the other one would go down quickly with a downward drive into it's hea- Was that hissing he could hear?

Aeschel didn't need to turn around to realise that God was currently laughing at him, but his body compelled him to take a peak. In the thick sea of green and brow at his back, he could just spot the slightly dark patch that slivered through the tree tops, a long, thick and large shape. Before Aeschel could even mutter a 'why did it have to be snakes?', two pairs of blood red eyes made themselves know through the blanket of leaves. It was a Taijitu Grimm, and it was lunging straight for him.

When a giant, two-headed snake charged at you, fangs bared and a love for Faunus flesh on the tongue, you didn't stop to tank it. Even if you were durable enough for the damage to not mean much, the sheer size and capacity of it's mouth allowed it to swallow a house. And nothing needed to be said about the strength of it's coil, if that thing wraped it's body around something, that something was dead. So, Asechel's first insticts were to throw his weight backwards, his legs wrapping around the tree branch so that his body was left ducking into a hanging position just as one head of the dead redator tore through the top of the tree to try and bite Aeschel's head off.

"Grandpa Aspro, don't fail me now!" He managed to keep a good grip on the branch as his weapon slipped into his palm, already in sword mode by the time he gripped the hilt. He had a split second ebfore the creature dove down on him, so Aeschel quickly went to putting it off balance, pulling his sword up and stabbing one end into the first part of the creature's body he could reach. And when said creature was as big as a house, aiming wasn't exactly a problem. "I have to be careful how I hit it. Taijitu scales are insanely durable, need to get under them instead of trying to get through them"

The sword hit home and cleanly slid into the beast's flesh, poking at whatever insides it had. The fact that it was still moving, coiling itself around the tree for the sake of stability, meant that he just had to sit still and let it drag his sword across it's body itself. That advntage didn't last long though, as soon big white head number two made it's appearance, sneering at it's prey as it went for anther bite. Aeschel pulled out his sword in a split-second, instead slicing at the tree branch he was hanging on, cutting it off and sending him to the floor.

He thoguht he'd jsut pulled his ass out of the fire, but as he hit the ground and dragged himself to his feet, he found a great tail waiting there for him. Before he could make a move, the giant limb slammed into him, sending his body flying backwards and even through a few trees, offering one hell of a ride. "I really hope Ozpin pays the gardener enough for all this..." He groaned to himself as he pulled himself out of a pile of timber, branches and leaves. "Of all the Grimm to meet first, I have to meet the giant snake and not the puppies" By the time he was back to standing, a kiler creak in his neck, he stared the beast down as it crushed the tree it hung on, now standing to full height with the room it just made. "I can do this. Ozpin wouln't have allowed any Grimm in here that he didn't think we could take on... But, a helping hand would be of use" Though, bringing the problem to his maybe-partner was a danger in of itself. Beaowolf pack AND a Taijitu.

No matter what, nothing could be done with the beast circling him and blocking off all exits. Just a few stabs would just piss it off furhter, not make and actual progress, aside from ripping off scales to give a ranged attack a chance. He needed to give this situation a handicap, people like eyes, right? As the beast rushed towards him, Aeschel reached back to quickly snap his sword into bow-mode, having the bow ready and armed with a red arrow on the string in record time. Say what you want about Aeschel's other attributes, but his reflexes were on point. With the Taijitu closing in, Aeschel raised the bow and let the arrow slip from the string, a red glint sailing through the air and embedding itself in black head's eye.

There was no time to spare as the white one, non-terred by the screaming of it's twin, bore down upon Aeschel. Predicting this, Aaeschel leaped backwards, a blue arrow notched in the bow. Using the rest of the creature's body as a platform to stablize himself, Asechel fired the ice arrow at the downed white head, pinning it to the ground in an explosion of ice. It wouldn't last long, but it gave him time as the black head suddenly found how sensetive and explosive red dust could get to violent vibrations. "Should I go for help, or would I just be making things worse for him?"

On the bright side, his new partner probably saw and heard all of this going down and could make the decision on his own.

---

---

Aurelia nearly jumped out of her skin as Aquarius had called out to her. She hadn't expected to run into anyone so soon, having expected an attack from the Grimm. The blonde blinked twice, registering the blue haired girl's words, and then realizing they had made eye contact. So they were partners now? Well, at least her partner hadn't been a complete stranger, so that was good, right? Relaxing slightly, Aurelia frowned, picking off a twig that had been stuck to her dress. She didn't want to admit her less than spectacular landing was because she was caught off guard. Actually, the fact that Aquarius had noticed it at all was actually pretty embarrassing. So much for a good first impression.

Letting out a small cough, she cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Unexpected, but a success nonetheless; I am uninjured," Aurelia declared, wagging her finger as she spoke. "Admittedly for future purposes I will do my best to...have more grace." She paused for a moment, bringing her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "...I wish you hadn't seen that..." She murmured, though she decided to move on. "Well, then, let's go about securing a relic, shall we?"

True to his prediction, The three remaining Grimm were child's play. After shaking themselves out of their stupor, they all rushed forwards together in hopes of overwhelming the prospective Huntsman. Daedalus responded by ducking under the first Beowulf's attack and cleaving its head from its shoulders with a rotating slash, bringing his other blade up in time to deflect the jaws of the second. Without stopping, he did a half turn in time to nearly split the third monster in half from hip to shoulder. As it fell back, body dissipating into smoke and dust, he crossed his blades around the final Grimm's neck and pulled them apart, severing it's head like a grisly pair of shears.

Before he could enjoy his victory, however, a crash of exploding wood came from behind him and he turned in time to reflexively activate his shields, protecting him from a brief shower of wooden fragments. As his vision cleared, he spotted a huge black and white shape bat something through another tree and recognised it as a King Taijitu. He hissed a little to himself, not too happy with the prospect of facing down the gigantic Grimm, but it was fighting something that was more than likely another student and he couldn't stand back and let them come to harm when he was in a position to assist.

He burst forward, nimbly dodging the huge fragments of torn lumber strewn through the forest in time to see a somewhat familiar face in a somewhat unexpected circumstance. The squirrel faunus was aiming a bow, an unusual weapon choice but he wasn't one to complain about 'unusual', at the rapidly approaching Grimm. He let loose a red-tipped arrow, but it impaled the creature's eye without detonating. 'A misfire? Not good...' With a greater grace than Daedalus was expecting, he managed to dodge the second head's retaliatory strike and immobilized it with an icy blast. The Grimm shook violently, but the red-tipped arrow then exploded, taking a fairly decent sized chuck out of the side of its black head. 'Not a misfire then, a timed trigger maybe?'

The force and damage of the explosion seemed to give the Taijitu a renewed aggression, maybe even desperation, as it struggled and broke free of its icy restrains. 'This is where I step in...' The less injured white head swung around to clamp down on the faunus on its back but before it could even turn halfway, two bolts of compressed flame exploded against it in rapid succession. The first exploded against the side of its face, knocking it back for a second and igniting it burning Dust powder that clung to it scales with thermite. The second, by a stroke of luck, struck the soft gel of its eye and instantly liquefied it, the burning jelly-slag pouring out its empty socket as it screamed in pain.

He lowered his arms briefly before making a run for where Aeschel would be, taking a long glance as he did so. Despite the poor display on the airship, Daedalus was actually slightly impressed at the skill the faunus had displayed over the past few seconds. Surviving 1 on 1 with a King Taijitu was no small feat, and it proved that he had the skill to be at Beacon.

That said, he was hardly his first choice for a partner... Maybe he could avoid making eye-contact?

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---

"And now to continue with the other head..." Aeschel's idea had been to briefly distract one head with the eye wound, then trigger the explosion AFTER he stuck the other head with ice, thus securing a much longer time where the first head would be reeling in pain. So, when the squirrel faunus put the white head on ice, he readied another arrow, an ice once again, hoping that freezing the wound caused by the explosion would have a 'bleeding' effect. The ice would constantly sting the open wound like salt. But, it seemed like fate had other plans with the arrival of Daedalus, knocking the head to the floor and doubling back. Aeschel jumped to join him, eager to meet his new partner, immediately sticking out a hand for a second long greeting.

"Thanks for the help back there, Mr... Well, uh... Partner. I think. I'm Aeschel and-" Hissing noises alerted him to the fact that their stubborn foe wasn't out for the count yet. "Huh, and I had thought for sure your attacks had bludgeoned it to death. This must be an older example of the species if it's so durable..." He swung around to make sure he kept his eye on the slivering form as two wounded heads rose up, fire in their eyes as they looked down upon the two puny creatures that dared harm them so much. "We'll save introduction for when we're out of harms way then" He re-notched the blue arrow, looking between the beast and the trail left from the creature snapping all those trees. "All this noise is gonna attract more Grimm and even more if any of us get too negative" Why do I feel like he's judging me? "Hmmm... I got up high to get a lay of the land. There's a cliff that way, off the way we both came from. Conveniently, it seems to just be off the path to the Ruins we're supposed to go through. If we could lure it there, we might be able to trap it with a prison of high altitude rocks and then get on our way"

The snake was still groggy from the blows, but lethal if they tried to get close. "Of course, if you have any input on such a plan, best to get it out now"

Without knowing it, Aeschel had managed to back Daedalus into a proverbial corner with his greeting. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't think of a way to respond without either offending him and thus earning animosity for a snubbed greeting or making eye-contact and thus locking him in as his partner for the next four years. Mentally exhaling, he resigned himself to the reality that he had, in fact, no means of escaping this and thus had to bite the bullet. He turned and shook the faunus's hand briefly, making mildly intense eye contact for a full second before letting go and turning back towards the King Taijitu. "Daedalus Atsali."

As he listened to the faunus's proposed plan, he had to stop himself from glaring at the faunus in total bemused exasperation. A King Taijitu, completely healthy, was an enemy that a single first-year student could take down alone, with a responsible amount of skill. The one in question was heavily wounded, half-blind. By all accounts, it would be child's play with the two of them, yet he wanted to lure it away and trap it like a major level threat? This wasn't a Death Stalker or anything close... Staring unfazed at the Grimm in front of them, he instead offered his own plan as he glanced at Aeschel out of the corner of his cybernetic eye. "It makes more sense to take it down now, instead of risking it escaping and catching another student off-guard."

He readied his Icarus System again, setting it to Rapid Fire and disengaging the Dust Excitation units. "One of us draws its attention while the other aims for a vulnerability like one of its remaining eyes, switching when they get its attention... Or I can just take it on myself, your call." The last statement came out a little sharper than he had intended, but the faunus's reaction had cause a falter in Daedalus's confidence in his abilities.

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"Hmmm, good point. Shouldn't unload our problems onto other students..." The look in the man's eyes as they finally met face-to-face made Aeschel feel guilty, as if he had committed an unknown crime towards the man. Still, he pushed that strange feeling of dread aside, put on a smile and focused on the situation at hand. "A valid strategy. You seem to be the more close-combat type, so I'll leave the leading charge of this operation to you. I can use my arrows to mess with the terrain and unbalance the creature as well, making it hard to hit you. Sound good?" He kept his sword in bow form, reaching for a blue tipped arrow. At this point, ice arrows were the safest, any others had a big risk of catching Daedalus in the blast. "Your shield semblence should help keep you a step ahead of it, also, try to attack from under, not directly, side or above; otherwise your attacks are more likely to just bounce off"

The beast came to it's full height, shaking it's heads and focusing on them. If Aeschel ever saw the opening, he was tempted to try and aim an arrow at the creature's mouth, forcing it to rely more on his slower and easier to avoid body. "Ready when you are, Partner"

---

"Yo Xinyue! Looks like you survived the landing alright."

Sure enough, that was the sound of Cinna calling out to Xinyue. Xinyue herself would've preferred Aeschel herself, since he was the only one she knew well enough to gauge how competent he'd actually be as a Huntsman. Xinyue did not have that same information from everyone else that she'd met that night. However, rules were rules, and because of that...

'It appears I'm to be sided with Cinna for this mission. Well then, we'll see how capable she is first hand,' she nodded to herself, possibly in addition to acknowledging to Cinna that she did indeed survive the landing. Then suddenly, Cinna took off again.

"I don't recall there being a prize for first place!" Xinyue tried to call out, but sighed in anticipation that it might not have reached Cinna, "Let's just hope her impatience doesn't get the best of her..."

...

As she and her tiger spirits raced to catch up to Cinna, Xinyue could sense something from beyond the tree tops. There was no mistaking that unholy stigma; and there was only one type of Grimm that it would make sense for it to be as well.

'Nevermore. And it's mocking us from above that canopy, too,' with that, Xinyue swapped her metal bolts for her Water Dust bolts and, after the exchange was made, propelled herself up the closest tree she could find. She had to ascertain its exact location before it could procure the chance to strike her and Cinna down from above.

---

---

'Well, looks like this is the right way after all.' Kobalt mused, his trek through the forest having brought him to a small gathering of jet black beasts, each of which seemed to wear a white mask decorated with red. They were Grimm, three of them - two Boarbatusk, and one Beowolf. Kobalt laid eyes on the enemies that stood before him, as if analyzing them. 'Yeah, definitely the right way. May as well mash these monsters. Been a while since I've had a good scrap, anyways. Let's see if I can get through without getting hit.'

Twin Thunderbolts at the ready, Kobalt slowly began to walk towards the three Grimm. It didn't take too long for the shadowy beasts to take notice that someone had approached... precisely what Kobalt wanted. The Beowolf of the group didn't waste a moment - as soon as it noticed the presence of a human, it charged forth, baring its fangs. It didn't take long for it to get close to Kobalt... who suddenly dashed out of the Beowolf's path. With a snarl, the Beowolf didn't shift its attention to anything else but the prey who'd entered its territory. Kobalt noted the beast's movements. It had rushed forwards in a straight line towards its target, at high speed... knowing was half the battle, and knowing that could make his battle significantly easier.

'Finally... time to let loose...!' Kobalt waited for his target, the Beowolf to get close. That was the prime opportunity for Kobalt to deliver an attack of his own. Though, he knew not to shift his attention away from the two Boarbatusk, who were on the other side of Kobalt. He deemed this not a problem. In fact, the presence of the Boarbatusk opened up a new possibility... though, he thought it best to wait until he'd defeated the Beowolf before he explored that idea of his. It didn't take long for the Beowolf to charge forth again, in a rather similar pattern to before. Again, Kobalt dodged this, though this time he delivered a quick punch to his opponent. It wasn't aura enhanced, but it'd do. However, the two Boarbatusk saw this as the prime opportunity to attack. And this time, Kobalt didn't evade. A claw slashed against his arm, and a slight wave of pain rushed through his body - though, dulled due to the effect of Aura. 'Was hoping to get through this without getting hit once... not gonna lie to myself, I'm a little pissed off now. Since that ain't a thing anymore, I'll just clobber these freaks into next week!'

Turning his attention to the Boarbatusk that attacked him, Kobalt unleashed a flurry of punches - with each punch, he stepped to the left in a circle around his foe until he'd traveled in a full rotation around the Boarbatusk. For his final strike, he began to channel Aura into his dominant hand - and swung his fist with all the force he could muster in an uppercut, sending the Boarbatusk slightly into the air. "Don't tell me you're already done - because it's only just started!" With a finger motion, Kobalt fired forth the rope from his Twin Thunderbolts, which embedded itself into the Boarbatusk. Channeling his strength, Kobalt began to swing the aerial Boarbatusk in a clockwise motion - with this attack, he managed to smash the Boarbatusk's body into the Beowolf, though he couldn't keep it up the attack for much longer - Grimm weren't as light as one would hope. So, Kobalt retracted the rope from the Boarbatusk, which sent it and the Boarbatusk flying into a tree, creating quite the loud thud. Kobalt couldn't help but smirk - he thought this was a clever move.

"Guessing that means more of these Grimm will come and stop by, huh. That's good. Wouldn't hurt to get more practice." Kobalt stepped over to the remaining Boarbatusk, which he narrowed his eyes at. The beast didn't move, though even still, Kobalt saw fit to give it a good, aura-empowered hit. This strike knocked it onto its back. "I say bring 'em on. Kobalt Zaffre'll welcome all challengers. And, just know... next time, I won't take a single hit." He boasted to nobody in particular, as he began to leave the scene, sparing not even a look behind him. He wasn't worried about more Grimm - no, he hoped more came. Though... whether that was wise or not was another question entirely. Though, what was for sure... was that his actions would bring forth Grimm Tidings.

---

Interactions: None. Kobalt's playing it solo right now.

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Interactions: None, he's alone this post

Ship Trip:

It had been very difficult for Roman to sneak out of his little Village and into the Ship heading towards the school, but he had managed to pull it off. Now he sat quietly off on his own, not talking to any other person there. I'm not going to make friends.. I need to learn how to fight, these others will just get in my way. I don't need friends, I can kill Grimm on my own. He thought to himself as he started out the window he was sitting in front of. The sky looked very calm and peaceful.. Nothing like the woods that surrounded his village. Even though a wall kept the Grimms out, they could still be heard howling at night. Shaking his head a bit he shoved the thoughts of the Village and the things his over protective Father had done and closing his eyes waited for them to land.

The sounds of people talking all at once made Romand wake from the sleep he had fallen into without realizing it. With a soft sigh he stood up and waited for everyone to exit the Ship before getting off himself. As if he were a shadow Romand moved through the crowd of people without being noticed by anyone. Ugh so many people just standing around talking.. What is the point, we have things to do.. I bet they all think this is a fun game.. Oh well I'll get inside and figure out where I need to be. Maybe things can start quickly. Romand thought as he moved through the students to what looked a Teacher.

Emerald Forest:

As he listened to how the teams would be made Romand let out an annoyed sigh under his breath. Teams? Really we are going to be put into teams? I would rather work along but I guess I have to do what they say.. He thought to himself, taking a deep breath. The moment the others started getting shot out Romand readied himself and grinned slightly when he was shot off into the forest. I have to try hard to to be seen by anyone until I get to the relics.. I don't want to be held back. I'll stay up in the trees. The boy told himself as he flew through the air. Taking his bow that he had slung over his shoulder Romand used it to grab hold of a branch as he fell, kneeling on the tree as he looked around. There was no one around so with quick movements he made his way through the trees, jumping and using his bow to grab branches. I'm glad these trees are close together.. Any father and I'd need to be down there. No one's around though so that's a good sign. I wonder who will be on my "team", I hope they can all fight decently.. As he moved through the trees he shot at a few Grimms mainly as target practice. Being Ranged he liked to stay far away from the Target, keeping hidden and taking time to line his arrows so they could do the most damage possible.

In the distance Romand saw a Beowolf sniffing the air, he had been found out by the Grimm. Grinning to himself Romand carefully aimed his bow and added a Water Arrow to it. His goal was to hit the Grimm right between the eyes, just to test his aim since he was far enough to not be seen. As if it knew the boy was aiming for it the Beowolf spun and bolted towards the tree Romand was sitting in. It struck the tree, making Romand miss the shot, getting the Grimm on the back of the head. It still slowed and stumbled as he aimed again, but Roamnd was annoyed he had missed his target. Groaning under his voice he fired another arrow, this time hitting between the eyes and making the beast slump to the ground.What a horrible shot.. Father would be angry if he had seen that it took me two shots from this position.. Oh well all I can do is move on and stay hidden.. I hope I don't run into anyone. He thought as he began to jump and swing through the trees again. As he did he found himself grateful that his village was in the middle of a forest, since he had grown up swing just like this while hunting with his Father.