"Well, obviously, you have skills!" Grizel pointed out cheerfully, "And we can always spar or something! I bet you're the greatest swordsman alive! Or will be." she added with a smile.

When Grizel turned her head forward to see how many paces were left, her vision was suddenly blocked by a... something hitting her face. Taken aback by this sudden assault, the faunus cried out as she stumbled backwards, finally falling on her rear. Something gooey seemed to be resting on her head, and with a confused grunt, tentatively tried to touch her nose.

"...The hell is this?" Grizel mumbled in a daze. It felt like... sludge? Grime? It was something less than desirable to have on your face at any rate. "...Er... you wouldn't happen to have a tissue or something, would you?" Grizel asked Daiki, trying to wipe it from her eyes, "Even better if you've got a bath in your pocket."

Daiki almost laughed, until he noticed more of the slimy projectiles coming towards them. "Wipe yourself off later! There's more incoming!" He yelled as he yanked Grizel by the arm and ran, dodging the projectiles and taking shelter directly under one of the catapults. A few landed close enough and a few spots of slime dotted his pants, but he had avoided a direct hit and that was more than he could say for most of the students.

"Was that a test or a prank? What kind of twisted teacher does this right before the welcoming ceremony?" Daiki cursed as he scanned the path ahead for any more traps. He doubted they would be that easy to see, but he didn't want to be faulted for springing another one on the rest. He turned to Grizel and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, emergency and everything." He apologised politely.

He didn't honestly have much on him that could help clean her off, and he was loathe to use up one of his spare clothes or towels not knowing if the faunus girl would return them. Still, she had been nothing but friendly. He supposed he could returned the favour. He opened up his small trunk and pulled out a small rag he had intended to use for cleaning his stuff anyway.

"Here, use this." He offered with a kind smile.

Reya couldn't help but smile a bit as Arara curtsied. People still did that? She made sure not to chuckle, as she didn't want to be rude. This Lady Sakanade didn't seem to be such a prude, after all. Definitely unlike her sister. The thought of the wench made Reya's blood pressure go up just a teeny-tiny bit. Calm down, Reya. You don't have to see them for four whole years! Life's dandy, and you know it. She chided herself, finally resigning. It was definitely refreshing. "My thoughts exactly." Reya replied to Arara, before beginning her walk to the auditorium once more, new group in tow.

And then it happened. A snap, and then blobs of goo hurtling through the air towards the prospective students. One of the globs was headed straight for Reya, but she'd give the perpetrator no such satisfaction. In one deft movement, Reya pulled the Dust crystal in her satchel out and threw it into the air, sending one of her Rings after it with a twirl of her body. Focusing, she sent the ring into the crystal, cloaking it in a frigid energy, before colliding with the matter and freezing it solid. As she recalled the Ring, the projectile fell to the pavement and shattered. "What a waste of Dust...but this is my favorite cardigan." Reya groaned. But as she hooked the Ring back onto her belt, she smiled. Things like this were exactly why she was here. And judging by the other students reactions, they were prepared for similar occurrences.

Reya saw Arara deflect the goo with an impressive display of...what was that? Her Semblance? A pinging in Reya's purse drew her attention to her phone. On screen, the Aura Reader her father had installed showed a weird fluctuation in the surrounding Aura. "That's...really weird..." She murmured, before shaking her head and heading into the auditorium. No sense in pondering it now. She was sure she'd get answers eventually. Finding an empty spot, a row behind Arara's, Reya settled in and waited for the ceremony to start. Looking over, she smiled at Orion. "How was that for a 'Welcome To Your Potential New Home'?" She couldn't contain the giddy laugh in her voice.

IC:

Alistair would have commented on KK's response, for he did indeed have something to say, but he was cut off by a decidedly unexpected occurrnce; Flying gobs of unidentified gunk. Sayuri attempted to cut one, but it only splattered, prompting Alistair to take anoher option. He drew Heaven from its sheath and batted a gobule aside with the flat of his blade in one swift motion.

It was more effective, though only just. While much of it was knocked away, parts flew through, splattering against his coat. He was spared from having to further deal with the sudden ambush, however, when Sayuri transported the three of them into the building. He grimaced slightly at the matter on his coat, but he seemed more irked by its presence than any stain it might cause.

"Well, that was disgusting. Clearly someone has a faulty sense of humor."

In a miraculous turn of events, the attentions of all within the crowd of students was suddenly diverted to the sharp crack of the trap that sent giant globes of gooey mess hurtling in their direction. "Ooooh, neat!" Kalimay chimed, eyes glittering with amazement at what she thought was some kind of school sponsored celebratory event. It only took a two steps to bring herself up behind Alistair, the large bodied boy effectively shielding her from all but the smallest cursory splashes. She giggled excitedly as chaos erupted among the students but she didn't spend more than a moment enjoying it before Sayuri grabbed her arm and practically carried her into the auditorium.

The squirrely girl cheered as they flew into the safety of the building and when they had finally stopped she bounced beside Sayuri with a her face beaming with child-like wonder. "Let's go again! Let's go again!" Feeling that the moment clearly called for celebratory fireworks, she fished a small chain of firecrackers from her pouch along with the lighter and immediately put flame to wick. "Yaaaaaaaay BEACON!" She shouted, tossing them onto the floor near the stage where they went of with several loud 'Pop pop pops', which drew several concerned shouts from attending teachers who rushed up to kick out the slightly smoking rug. "Soooorry!" KK called back, though she hardly looked anything but pleased.

Orion

---

Orion was happy enough observing the two women chatting, and as such didn’t feel a particular need to interrupt what might become a budding friendship. He didn’t feel a need to make an ass of himself by speaking too much: especially when his mouth could be used to eat any one of the delicious sweets in his little pouch of goodies. He had near enough finished with the hard-boiled sweet and was contemplating which would be his next delight.

Then he saw the trap being sprung.

He didn’t know what to think of the whole situation: nor did he have time to really dwell upon it. Action required reaction, and unlike the two ladies; Orion had no easy way of dealing with the incoming missile. He saw the dust canister fly past first, and was reaching for his weapon when Arara blasted another projectile away with minimal ease. He felt himself scowling at the situation: the fact that polite conversation had been ruined by something like this was enough to make the Faunus want to pop a nerve.

The last projectile was incoming, and Orion knew he’d have to deal with it himself; as much for pride as for practicality. He flicked his weapon into its full form with a motion of his hand: the rectangle that had hung at his side rapidly flicked, extended and twisted until it formed an impressive Polearm. He held the weapon in one hand as he watched the trajectory of the incoming missile with a care and precision ”Here it comes: can’t slice it, so that means a thrusting attack; got to be careful not to split the bag too much…Now!” at his own internal monologue’s behest, Orion thrust the Polearm forward and impaled the gloopy projectile mid-flight a few feet from Orion. He grimaced as a few speckles of…whatever it was, splashed against his arm and shoulder. “Damn it all. I used too much strength.” He said with a sigh, slightly annoyed at his inability to control his own strength in a pressure situation. Precision remained his weakness, it seemed.

Orion used his Polearm to fling the projectile off of his blade and back into the forest, before turning his back on the scene and following Reya and Arara.

---

Issac

---

Isaac was slow to respond to the approach of Tarkus and Morella’s interest, if only because of the musical overture that distracted him so. He noticed the man walking towards him, and took off his headphones in time for the man to ask if he was sick. Isaac didn’t know where the sudden concern was coming from until he noticed that he referenced the little ball of spit on the ground. Isaac put a hand to his temples. “I’m fine, not that you need worry yourself.”

He was about to give his name to the strangers when he saw the trap activate itself. He swore under his breath, wishing he had his BUTLER unit. The weapon was still sealed up in his luggage, as security had insisted. “This is a damnable inconvenience.” Instead of withdrawing any of the two golden dagger-like weapons on his back, the Youth concentrated a fist full of Aura into his fist: control and strength mixing as he slammed one of the projectiles into the ground. The goopy thing popped when it hit the ground, splashing some of its contents onto his shoe: which caused a twitch of anger to roll across his face.

“When I found out which moron organised this little episode. I swear on the Markeel name that I’ll personally extract an apology from his broken jaw!” Isaac didn’t hide his rage, and momentarily he’d forgotten Tarkus and Morella as he stormed towards the auditorium.

~Oliver Kootz~

/M\
/MMM\

Halfway up the pillar, Oliver's ear pricked at a curious sound, a "squelching slushie sploosh" as Oliver would put it. He peered around to see the group of students the target of a veritable overcast of garbage, and their varying levels of success in dodging said garbage. "Tsk," he said, shaking his head at the development, as his other ear pricked at another curious sound. Curious in the location, not the type of sound, as it was above Oliver on what he was currently scaling. He looked up, giving an impressed whistle as he saw someone else calmly walking down the side of the pillar. "Oo-o-o-oh...neato..." he said, continuing his climb up to reach the new face. As he reached higher on the pillar, climbing beside Rygar who was walking up the pillar, he nodded towards the group of students and mass of refuse while asking, "That your work down there?" He shrugged, adding, "Eh, I wouldn't have gone with garbage. Something like pudding, feathers, maybe some glitter would be more my speed. But, hey, to each his own," with a wry smile as he neared the top of the pillar.

Tarkus wasn't sure if the guy was really alright, or if he was just saying that to avoid the question. He eyed the guy questioningly, at least until the spring of the trap at the entrance, and the guy punched the crap out of some sort of goop projectile, which splashed onto his shoe. Tarkus got lucky, only one projectile had made its way to him, which splattered harmlessly against Zoll, though oddly it didn't stick, not even to the non-metallic parts, the globule fell harmlessly onto the ground, though a bit did splash onto the sleeve of his pants. Tarkus reeled back a bit when the guy started shouting death threats to whoever'd made the booby trap, honestly he didn't expect the guy to go from calm to murderyourfaceoff in an attosecond. He was just glad he wasn't the one to build the thing, guy looked like he fully meant every threat he made as he stormed off, leaving Tarkus and Morella for the auditorium.

"Well that was...a thing that happened...Let's uh...get a seat before someone flings more crap from the sidelines." Tarkus said giving Morella a rather confused look as he made his way to the room. He took a seat near the door, and began eyeing the stage, he didn't have a watch, and didn't see a very pronounced clock anywhere, so he couldn't help but ponder how much time remained.

*Morella Cinder*

* ~ *
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Morella calmly sidestepped any stray debris from the trap, as the brunt of it had already been intercepted by several other students. She only raised an eyebrow at Isaac's reaction, returning Tarkus' glance with a small, questioning nod. She followed after Tarkus, sidestepping the remaining gunk on the ground. She spotted faint shadows on the ground, glancing up to the top of the bordering pillars to see two figures silhouetted against the sun. She rolled her eyes as she went into the Auditorium after Tarkus, quickly taking a seat beside him. She crossed her arms and legs, scanning the slowly filling Auditorium. "...it'll probably be another five minutes..." she said, tapping her foot in the air impatiently. She brought up her headphones, her foot tapping rhythmically now along with her head, as she waited.

Rygar walked alongside the stranger as he noted the action below. Rygar just shrugged his shoulders. "It'll be fun seeing than during the exam." Rygar and the stranger would eventually reach the top of the pillar. Admittedly, it was rather impressive. Rygar didn't really think much about this sort of scenery since he's used to be on high places, doing shenanigans. He supposed this was rather nice if he wasn't doing anything important, like running for his life. It would be a fun place to hit up, if it wasn't so open. He was fairly certain Beacon was crawling with surveillance hardware, but that was just a hunch. "So, what brings you here kiddo? I can't imagine that you're trying to avoid anyone, since this is hardly the most subtle way of doing it..." Look down at the ground he noticed many of the students entering the auditorium. Looks like it was about time to head on in. But he would savor the moment for now, and if he's late, there'd be no better rush.

Sitting on the bench Addica enjoyed the peaceful reverie of his thoughts and emotions before they were so unkindly interrupted by the sounds of objects splatting across the walkway as well as the sounds of students running and screaming. Opening his eyes Addica saw huge glob of slime and who knew what else heading towards, activating his semblance he rolled off the bench and out of the way. After effectively dodging the glob Addica left his semblance on in case any other airborne threats appeared. Slowly picking his way through the globs and other splattered things Addica made his way to the auditorium. Looking around Addica found an open seat next to a girl with long brown hair and green eyes (Kiora).

"So I see you got through that little slime trap or prank pretty clean too.... Oh by the way my name's Addica Vald," he said adding the last bit as an afterthought more than an actual introduction.

Jaclyn Kent

The forcefulness of Kalimay's rationalization was actually a little alarming, and Jack couldn't hide the surprise and mild confusion on her face. [b]"Uh, no problem. Glad it's not me. We're cool then?" she asked, not really looking for a response. She didn't really get was going on inside the other girl's head, and she wasn't terribly eager to go poking around for answers.

Anyways, traps happened. As luck would have it though Beacon is a place full of super-talented, super-equipped, prepared for anything sort of people. Just by virtue of not being first in line, Jack didn't have to take any serious action. The gooey projectiles were pretty much all defeated by other students, and as thinned out as the few remaining ones were, they were easy enough to dodge.

Filing into the auditorium, Jack took up a seat near Orion and Reya.

Grizel, surprised at Daiki's sudden dragging, stumbled as she fled from the raining projectiles. Taking rest under a catapult, she sighed with relief, knowing that nothing else was likely to hit her for the moment.
"Ah, don't worry 'bout it," Grizel would have returned the smile, but she was currently poking at her face with disgust and worry. Did she even have time to wash it before that ceremony thing? "Saving my life's nothing to apologise for."

When the rag was offered however, Grizel immediately grabbed it and scrubbed at her face, hopefully getting rid of the worst of the grime. She sighed gratefully, holding the rag out for Daiki, then quickly retracted it when she noticed just how dirty she'd made it.
"Uh, sorry, did you need this? Um... I could, I dunno, wash it out for you or something?" Grizel offered with a concerned look. With a quick glance at the surrounding area, she added, "Though we should maybe make a break for it, too. Just in case."

~Oliver Kootz~

/M\
/MMM\

Oliver smirked at the kiddo, crouching on top of the pillar. He tentatively tugged a nearby cable, leading to the Auditorium with colored flags hanging along it, as he said, "Well, sport, I just happen to like to view from up top. Gives a different perspective," while looking past the Auditorium and higher, to the top of Beacon Tower. An excited grin curling on his lips, he went on, "And mark my words, I'm'ma see the view from up there one of these days," while he stood up and leaned back, stretching his arms and spine with a groan. Hands in his pockets, he calmly stepped out onto the cable, striding on the tether with like walking in the park. He gave a few hops as the cable bounced up and down, as some dust fell from the anchor in the stone of the pillar. Oliver chuckled, saying, "And I do my best to keep from being subtle, I'm about as subtle as a guy flying through the window," while hooking one of his feet below the other, sandwiching the wire in between as he fell backward, spinning around the wire with a couple rotations. The anchor began to jerk, as bits of rock fell from the embedded metal, before one final yank from Oliver tugged it free. On the upwards of his last rotation, Oliver grabbed the cable, reaching the apex of his spin, and giving Rygar a thumbs up. "See you inside, names Ollie!" he said, making another needlessly flashy exit/entrance as he grabbed the cable on his fall, swinging towards the Auditorium with increasing speed.

He couldn't hold back a wide-eyed grin, excited as ever, as he closed in on an open window in the upper levels of the building, possibly two by four feet. He pointed his legs in as the cable fell, Oliver's body soaring straight through as some slack of the wire caught the top of the window, causing Oliver to swing upwards. He timed his release so he wouldn't carry all the force that cable would've transmitted, otherwise it'd have been like a whip snapping him into the roof, but he was still moving fairly fast. But he knew an Amphitheater like this would have rafters for lighting, curtains, stagehands, etc, and while the assortment of bars and beams would normally impede someone flying through the air, Oliver used them to vault and carry himself along. The timing had to be perfect, otherwise his momentum wouldn't be spread out and he'd crash into the wood and metal, but Oliver had been through worse before. He spun, vaulted, and swung through the rafters, the only evidence of his activity being some falling dust and stray creaking. During his last leap, he spotted a long beam near the center of the upper levels of the Auditorium ahead of him, lining up to finish his leap. He landed on the beam, kicking up a few more clouds of dust as he slid along the thin platform, slowing to a stop just inches before the end of the beam. He looked over the edge, quietly whistling at the mostly unsuspecting crowds below, as he took a seat on the beam. Swinging his dangling legs, he leaned on one of the railings above the platform and watched the curtained stage with anticipation. He grumbled, saying, "Miss my pocket bacon..." to himself with a frown, as he reached into his bag. His frown disappeared as he triumphantly pulled out a clear bag of blue and pink tufts of fluff. "Cotton candy, nice and dandy..." he said, grinning as he tore off some of the sugary threads and started munching.

~~
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~~

Behind the curtain was a podium and several chairs. Some of the chairs were occupied by Beacon staff, a handful of notable teachers and faculty members who decided to attend the ceremony.

One of them was a tall, broad shouldered man wore a dark red suit, black shirt, and gold tie. His arms were held behind his back, brow furrowed in thought and worry, as he paced before the podium. Arrun had been walking for nearly an hour now, long before other faculty had come back stage. Towards the end, Dusty leaned against the wall, wearing dark jeans, a wrinkled gray shirt, and a clip-on tie. He tugged on his lit cigarette, blowing a few rings while he spun what was left of his stick gingerly between his fingers. A door next to him opened, as a woman with blue hair walked through. She wore a slim dress, light blue and stylish, swirls of different shades of blue along the body, and detached sleeves with ruffles. She quickly pulled her hair back with an ornate pin, a bright sapphire in it as she set her hair. "Arrun busy worrying?" she asked, bringing her hands down to stifle a yawn as she finished.

Dusty nodded, blowing his smoke behind him so it didn't get on Rose. "Does he do anything else? Nice dress, bee tee dubs," he said, his ears pricking as he nodded to her. He pulled out a small, silver canister, slipping it open as he dropped his cigarette inside, and pocketed it as he followed Rose.

"Oh, this old thing, thanks," she said with a sleepy smile, that contorted into another yawn. She shook her head, eyes opening in alertness while Dusty chuckled. He took his seat as she continued towards Arrun.

The man was mumbling to himself, nearly wearing a new path into the floor. Even though he was obviously nervous, he still gave off an dominating presence. Rose held her hand up to stop him, as he snapped out of his focus and looked to her. "What is it, Ms. Patch? I'm trying to-"

"Calm down, Arrun."

The man paused, before saying, "I am calm, I was just preparing my-"

Rose shook her head, "No, you're stressing out. You trying to treat this like a battle plan, and it's not, so you're feeling uneasy," she said, as Arrun pursed his lips beneath his mustache.

"I'm...I just..." he said, looking down. "This speech is vitally important, it sets the tone of the year. I need to communicate the importance of what they're trying to do here, some of these kids don't seem to understand how serious this is," he went on, turning around and gripping the podium. He sighed, saying, "These curtains will go up, and they'll listen, but they won't hear. I mean, possibility of death is clearly spelled out in the application, they know how dangerous Grimm are even with the protection of Hunters, but..." he paused once more, his grip on the podium tightening. He sighed, giving a small chuckle as he said, "Give me a thousand Grimm beating down our door, and I'll run in with every move planned. Give me a thousand students to speak too, and I'm practically frozen..." as he shook his head with a small smile.

Rose chuckled herself, giving Arrun a pat on the shoulder. "Just be honest with them, communicate with words rather than fists. Speak from the heart, you won't miss a step. And remember, education is a two-way street, it's up to them to try to understand their own perspective on things," she said, giving a small punch to his shoulder.

Arrun smiled, glancing back to the teachers on the stage. He nodded, breathing a small sigh of relief as he set his tie.

Dustin groaned, leaning on the back legs of his chair and saying, "Can we start yet Arrun? I can hear them, they're as bored as we are," exasperatedly.

This time Arrun sighed with annoyance, checking the cuff links on his shirt as he replied, "We have a schedule, Mr. Parker, and I will keep to it. Proper timing is just as important in everyday life as it is in the battlefield, you would do well to learn that."

Dustin groaned, tilting his head to look at Rose, who sat down herself. "Couldn't your pep talk have made him less grouchy?" he asked, while Rose only shrugged and smiled in reply. The curtain would soon rise, and the tension was palpable.

(Anyone else with faculty members without proper CS's, you can post a little thing with them here, just enough to give an idea of the character, we can work specifics out later and retcon things if we have too. :P)

It was about time to head on inside. The kid, Ollie, snapped a wire and used that to get inside. Rygar hoped that his entryway wasn't being guarded, because he was going to follow him. Jumping off the pillar Rygar kept falling until he was just a little bit above the window that the kid took, and once he was at the right height he let his Spiral Edge create an explosion, which propelled him through the window. Now step two involved how he was going to land, because at this rate hew as going to crash into a group of students. Before hitting the ground Rygar threw the Spiral Edge towards a wall, where it embeddable itself into. He jerked on the chain, which retracted and pulled him towards the wall and avoid crushing anyone. From there he just slid down the edge and took a seat next to a familiar face; it was Pascale. "Hey wussup?"

---

Unlike Arrun, who was fretting about the opening speech, one man was more concerned about the ruckus outside. Not in the audience, but just outside the building. He could already detect vandalism, and he was itching to leave to repair it. It wasn't his job though; he was the groundskeeper, not a repair man. But after being at this school for so long, he felt that it was the only thing left to do but ensure that it stays in tip top shape. The old man was dressed in fine clothes, but he rather wear his overalls instead of sitting here like a funeral corpse. He wasn't even sure himself why he was here, though he supposed that as a former headmaster, he was given some bonuses not usually awarded to janitors.

Another not to far away simply sat silently stoic so she wouldn't look diminutive in front of her potential students. Though she stood a good six feet tall, she was actually seven three if you included her large, bunny like ears. She knew very well the hate Faunas had, but she had no intentions to capitalize on it. She was a proud member of Beacon's Staff first, and her racial profile was a distant fifth at best. And unlike some females, instead of a dress she wore a much more formal white suit. It did make her stand out, and in a way that's what she wanted. She wanted people to look at her and she wanted to know what they say first. It allowed her to be able to judge what sort of people she'd be dealing with depending on what they point out.

Next to the bunny fauna was the head doctor. She didn't bother with formal attire and instead dressed in her best doctor's uniform, which most of her students will recognize her by. Besides that, she was certain that no one wanted to discover why the head doctor was made out of stitches more than flesh. She even had to use a hefty amount of makeup to cover up the stiches that kept her head together, just for appearances. "Why so quiet Inaba? You look more like a stone statue than my assistant. Scared of the students already?" Teased the doctor.

The Fauna didn't say anything and simply tried to look composed, and quickly failing before she smirked. "I suppose Arrun's tension is contagious. This would be my first time actually working on the other side of the table, so I guess I'm just trying to remember how I first reacted when I saw all the teachers. I always thought we wore too much black." Inaba pointed out. Soon the curtains began to rise though, and both the doctor and the her assistant quieted. "Let's see how the new subjects react to use than..."

Dustin chuckled, leaning to the Bunny Faunus and saying, "At least no one's one fire, you remember Mr. Pettoli's shoulder catching flame a few years back?" with a grin.

"Oh, honey, give it time, we'll see if we can't get some sparks to fly before the ceremony's done..." a voice slipped through on the stage, smooth like a raw egg slipping down your neck. Long, pink hair bounced past Dustin, a thin hand with purple nails tracing along his and Inaba's shoulders as it passed. Dustin's face contorted oddly, like his eyes were trying to escape into his skull and his mouth was trying to run in his nose. The person's hair was in...his or her eyes, and they wore a very tight suit-coat and pants, both purple, with long high heels. Despite the open shirt halfway down their chest and the body-hugging suit, it was impossible to tell if they were a man or woman. Dustin only shook his head as the person, B.B. took a seat at the end, lipstick smile curled on their face and legs crossed, with hands patting his/her thighs in anticipation, just making it before the curtain rose.

The curtain rose in silence, the din of the audience dying down shortly after. Arrun stood, head down slightly, eyes closed. His mustache bristled as he looked up, eyes scanning over the entire crowd. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly, looking down on the podium to a wrinkled piece of paper.

"To all...welcome, to all new stud...prospective students of Beacon Towe-Academy, I am the Acting...Interim Headm...I am your..." he said, coughing dryly into his hand. He then gestured to the students, his face intense while he stammered, "Th-the, *ahem* The dictionary, ehm, defines school, or an academy, a-as..." He then paused, his hand tightening into a fist.

He took one more breath, balling up the paper and tossing it back to Dustin, who caught it with a smile. Sparks danced on his fingers as the paper burst into flame, quickly going up and disappearing, though he did watch to make sure it didn't catch on anything else.

He stepped away from the podium, this time clearing his throat with a deep cough, his tone finally matching his intense face. "Welcome students, I am your current Headmaster, Arrun Tower. Behind me are some members of the faculty, some faces you might see during your time here. You are free to question them after the ceremony, but this time, right now, you are to listen," he said, deep voice echoing through the auditorium, somehow louder than when he was using the microphone. He turned, slowly pacing on the stage, hands behind his back, posture straight as an arrow. "I was very nervous about this, this speech is what sets the tone for the year. It is vitally important for the relationship between student and teacher..." he stopped to look at the crowd. "To know where each stands. Footing in a battle is just as important as in education, so..." he said, still facing the students while pacing on the stage, "I'm going to tell you what I was told, because while I didn't fully understand these words when I first heard them, I've grown to understand them during my career." He took two steps to face the crowd, two sharp beats punctuating his pause.

"I look out, I see this faces, bright and so full of potential. So full of enthusiasm, so full...of wasted energy," he said, looking down. "Because that's what potential is, if you let it stay, and fester, and mold. We are here," he said, gesturing the the faculty behind him, "To open the doors for you. Whether you become a Hunter after this or move to another field, we are here to open the doors for you to make a difference, to matter, to help. But..." he said, pointing a finger to the crowd. Though he didn't move, it was like he was staring at each and every one of them. "It is up to you to take that opportunity, and to choose to take that first step through the door." He drew his hand back, standing tall with his head in the light. "Open doors are useless if the are not walked through. So find your door, find your step, and find your difference to make..." he said, finally. He paused shortly, standing there before turning to say, "Miss Patch, please finish up," and turning to exit the stage. The students seemed starstruck, some indignant to Arrun's words, some nodding and lost in thought. While some understood, in his message or their own interpretation, some appeared confused. But whether the understood or not, they all heard him.

Rose stood up, walking to the podium and pulling the microphone down. "Hello, students I am Rose Patch. Please return here here by ten PM, you will sleep here, and your initiation will be tomorrow at ten AM. You are free to go to the food court or the library, although the training halls are unavailable until after initiation. You are each afforded one free meal from the Beacon Buffet, though there are other restaurants in the court if you wish to pay for your own meal. We have other staff here if you have any questions, please stay and be seated if you do," she said sweetly, looking to her fellow teachers behind her. Rose then returned to her seat, as some students started filing out. Many stayed and moved closer, however, eager to meet with the other staff at Beacon.

---

~Oliver Kootz~

/M\
/MMM\

Oliver giggled as Arrun first spoke, figuring it was his first time performing in front of a crowd. The giggles ceased as he stepped away from the podium, his commanding presence giving even Oliver goosebumps. He scoffed at the "potential" and "wasted energy" bit, though. What, how does he know anything? Never met the guy, and he thinks he knows anything about me. he thought, shaking his head as he continued munching on cotton candy, more out of nervousness than anything. But his talk on differences and choice, Oliver couldn't help welling up inside. He looked at his bag, setting it down beside him as he turned to listen, leaning on the railing next to him. When Arrun finished, Oliver started to clap, as he was used to doing after a performance or presentation, but quickly stopped when others didn't join in. He sighed, reaching down for his bag without looking, as it had shifted forward while he clapped, and fell off the platform. "Oof, tch," he said, trying to catch it with his feet. He sighed, saying, "Well, that's embarrassing, hope someone's in the mood for cotton candy down there..." he said, watching the bag fall and gently land on a seat below. He quickly got up and monkeyed his way through the bars to one of the open windows, no one could see him up there with the lights focused on the stage, but he thought it best to get down to ground level with the others. "Oh, man," he said, stretching out as reached the window. "That felt like a week, hope nothing else takes this long," he said to himself, quickly scampering out and sliding down the cable to reach the bottom.

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*Morella Cinder*

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Morella was quiet as Arrun spoke. Eyes focused on him, as his tone shifted when he stepped away, and went over everything he said. Hmm...he's right, actually. I completely agree... she thought, thinking about her own life. She felt that she could spend much more time training, perfecting herself, sharpening her skills. She sometimes felt left out by other students acting normally, when she felt more at home working on her weapons or running training drills. While it was her choice whether she trained or not, from Arrun's speech, she felt that she had an obligation to work even harder. I guess helping the world should be more important than friends, anyways she thought, looking down on her watch. "...It'll be a few more hours till we have to be back. What do you want to do?" she asked Tarkus, nudging him with her elbow. With the training hall currently off limits, she didn't have much inclination towards anything else, as she didn't currently need to work on her weapon at all. She glanced at some students passing by, but stayed in her seat till Tarkus replied.

IC:

Alistair was silent throughout the speech, watching and listening attently. The first thing he did when the curtains went up was to make note of the faculty currently on-stage, the doctor in particular. Always best to know who the doctor was. Though he notced that one of rge faculty was a faunus, it wasn't all that surprising; Beacon did have one of the highest faunus to human population ratios, after all.

What was most fascinating, however, was the speech. The headmaster started out slowly, hesitantly, and he was clearly ill at ease. After the ffifth or so mistake, however, he burned the script, quite literally, and stepped away from the podium. A lot can be told about a person from how they behave when asked to speak, and Arrun was no different. Alistar could tell from his seemigly habitual pacing that he was a man of action, more accustomed to moving than speaking. The vibrancy in his speech after he tossed out the written speech was palpable, and his voice rang clearly. He seemed a natural leader, but he also seemed like he wasn't used to being headmaster. is beavior indicated a mind that far preferred clear, decisive action rather than the bureaucracy of his new job.

The speech was equally fascinating; What was said seemed simple, and truthfully, it was. It was something that anyone from Alistair's home could have told you. It wasn't enough to be talented, or to be able to do something well; You needed to do it. Potential didn't matter if you didn't use it. A dilgent commoner was worth two laz geniuses, because only the forer actually used what potential they had.

Nodding silently to himself, he stood when the speech ended, stretching slightly. Sounds like he'd be headed to Beacon Buffet. It was free, and really, free was what he could afford.

"Anyone want to go to the buffet?" He asked Sayuri and KK, though it occurred to him the instant that he said it hat expressing interest in the free meal wasn't doing much to counteract the image his ratty coat and eccentrc weapons were setting.

Tarkus sat at attention, when Arrun's speech finally hit it's Apex his back was straighter than a 2x4, his arm encased in Zoll clutched his right knee, he was lost in thought about Arrun's words as the speech concluded, thinking about all that he'd done in his training at Signal."He's right...There's no sense in a door open if nobody's going to walk through it, no point in a bridge being built with none to walk it. But...With Cadeyrn at the very least...I've already taken the first step." He thought silently as he grasped the handle of Cadeyrn with Zoll, oddly Cadeyrn felt lighter than ever, he wasn't sure if he'd just done enough conditioning with his arms, or if Zoll was bolstering his strength, but it didn't matter.

His mind snapped back from philosophical land when Morella elbowed him, she asked about what they should do until the time came, and Tarkus slowly rose from his seat. He turned to her with the most stony face imagineable, the look on his face would have been enough to convince someone that he'd seen men sliced in two, the kind of look a veteran soldier with a missing leg gives their family after returning from war. He turned his head to the ground, and he clenched his fist before saying:
"Cindy...Isn't it obvious? We should..." He paused for a moment, now looking straight up into the ceiling, before finishing with: "We should...GO GET SOME FREE FOOD!" His expression turned a complete 180, his eyes now alight and a grin beaming across his face. He must have looked like he was ready to bolt out of there, but he still looked eagerly at Morella for her decision. That and he thought about food.

Reya's eyes were glued to Arrun as he gave his speech. Well...once he got over that initial hurdle. That was kind of pitiful. But the rest! Oh, wow, that was inspiring. Everything he said was true, and as forceful as it should be. It was necessary to understand the risks of Beacon. Reya remembered the clear statement on the application...the one covering the fact that they could die. They were facing Grimm, after all. Though, that danger definitely was a part of the allure. Reya found herself nodding along with the acting Headmaster's speech, clapping as soon as it was over.

"Now, if that doesn't get you pumped, I don't know what will." Reya said, mostly to herself. She nearly missed Ms. Patch's announcement about food, and the curfew. So tomorrow was the day. Her dark eyes had a gleam of raw energy, seemingly at odds with her calm appearance. As she got up and stretched, she looked from Arara to Orion. "I dunno about you, but 'free' doesn't sound bad. I'd rather not blow all of my money right away." She said, knowing that maybe going to another eatery wouldn't rob her. She just felt that she might find more interesting people at the buffet. Pulling both Rings from their resting places, she tapped them together, causing them to unfold and shift into Priestess. Folded, of course, no need for bad luck. Reya began moving out with the other prospects, until she was outside of the auditorium.

With a smile, she unfolded Priestess, it's pink parasol accenting her outfit perfectly. Not only was it a deadly weapon, but it was also a lovely fashion statement. She decided to wait a bit, just in case Orion decided to accompany her. There was a feeling that sat inside her saying that a buffet wasn't exactly Arara's cup of tea. One could always be wrong, though.

Sayuri smiled as she listened to Arruns speech, 'He's a lot like me preffering actions over words. Though the open doors part reminds me of my father a little bit too much. He probably means better then my dad...' when the speech ended and Rose stepped up she half zoned out thinking about what her friends were doing over at Shroud and the other schools they decided to go to and if they were having a better time then she was being with each other. Alistair getting up brought her back to reality, "Sure, I'm always up for getting free food. I just hope this school has better food then my old one."

Getting up she looks around and notices how many students were deciding to stick around. Shrugging she turns to look at the other two she tilts her head, "Would you mind if we stopped so I could get a couple things out of my bags first?"