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\
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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.
*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.
