[IC] Four Winds

[Letter Bee]

Mikhail Suburov-Tachibana

Mikhail found himself out of his depth. Fog billowing all around him, a girl changing into a panther, and the smoker manifesting arms of darkness and choosing to fight against said panther. And the worst of all is...Nico was rushing towards his position, towards where the bullying redhead was!

"Nico!" Mikhail shouted, rushing to interpose himself between Donovan and Nico, hoping to protect the latter before the former did anything to him. Then, he would notice the other boy's hand, the one with sigils, glowing, and, a sudden feeling of calm overtaking him, a feeling of calm that was obviously unnatural, although he didn't know what the source was until he saw Donovan's rune glowing as well. Hurrying towards the two, Mikhail would have snatched Nico from the bullying redhead, but the calm was taking over now, a calm that allowed him to register what Donovan said:

“We stay together now. It’s our best chance to show that Varus prick what we can do.”

@banjoanjo

"Don't hurt Nico," Mikhail warned. "Don't do anything bad to him or I will follow through on my own threat." Mikhail's voice lost its bite, due to the fact that he was unable to muster much passion in the unnatural calm given by Donovan. And because Mikhail's voice lost its bite, he wasn't able to stop Donovan from shouting to the rest of the class to calm down - then again, that part was agreeable. Then came something that, without passion to blind him, was actually a sound proposition from the bullying redhead.

“You guys are going after Varus, right?” he asked and proudly indicated at the light on his chest, “Can’t say that I’d be much help if you want me to do a sneak attack, but I’d gladly distract him long enough for you to kick his ass.”

@banjoanjo

"I can help," Mikhail offered. "I have an aura that can grant some resistance to Magic. But again, don't hurt Nico, especially after this" A pause.

"Also, my unarmed combat skills are related to grappling and wrestling, what is yours'? Anyway...my name is Mikhail Suburov-Tachibana; tell me your own name whenever you can."

@January@KOgaming@Ayemdar@Nanashi Ninanai@Scio@banjoanjo@King Tai@hagroden@RoflsMazoy[GreenGoat]

[Ayemdar]

"With that said, Let's see what you guys have to offer. The headmaster says that all of you have the potential to be great, but I've yet to be convinced. Show me that you belong here; there are no rules, I don't care how you do it. Remember, those who don't make the cut, are out of here."

Once Varus spoke these words it felt like all hell broke loose. All the people around her went and started freaking out or used their magic. Annabelle watched the hysteria, in shock. She didn't have much time to react to the various displays of magic before everyone was enshrouded in black fog.

Panic started to seep into Annabelle's brain. She couldn't think, she didn't know what to do. She needed this school, but it was absolutely crazy... But then the calm hit. The panic dissipated and Annabelle was able to think clearly. Fog. Fog.... Water! She could do something about the fog! "Wait I'm not powerful enough..." She whispered quietly. Think Annabelle, think. Annabelle had heard Mikhail's voice shouting. "If I get to him, there will be others around."

Annabelle walked carefully through the dark fog towards where she hoped her friends would be. Once Annabelle thought she was close, she opened her vial and tossed the water in front of her. She lifted her hands and focused on the water, holding it in the air. She began moving her hand in circles, causing the water to make a little tornado which gave her small visibility in the fog. "If anyone can help, I can clear some of the fog if I was stronger!" She shouted so that someone would hear her.

[hagroden]

~ Nihiri Rakkan

@Riffus Maximus

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'Well, this is... New'

Nihiri had found himself into quite an odd predicament, due to the pitch-black fog surrounding him, he had been unable to retain his balance mid-air, and after feeling himself collide with the Panther in the surrounding darkness he was unable to do much more than simply drop back to the ground. This alone wasn't strange, he had fallen plenty of times before and likely would again in the future, he wasn't particularly clumsy, but it happened to everyone now and again.

What was truly perplexing was that because of some odd twist of fate, he had somehow managed to fall directly under the Panther, whom had now seated herself atop his chest. Given that she hadn't already began to maul him, he assumed it was safe to retract his claws, and he did so quickly. What few knew was that the only way he could retain his claws was to suffer through the intense agony caused by his scars, and every second his magic was activated he felt as if his arms were being sliced open by a white-hot razor, and although he had learned to focus past the pain, it was still an agonizing process.

As the black metal moved back into his scars, another tear fell from his eye, trailing down his face. While using his magic was painful, activating or deactivating his abilities hurt infinitely more, and if he suffered from it for more than the split second he did, he would likely faint from the pain and shock it caused.

As the tear continued to fall, he felt the odd sandpaper-like sensation of the Panther's tongue dragging across his face, forcing himself to resist the urge to push her away. Instead he chuckled nervously, a soft blush spreading from his cheeks as the Panther purred out a compliment, to which he replied calmly, given the circumstances.

"Well... I'm glad I made a good first Impression?"

[Scio]

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UPDATE

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@January@GreenGoat@Riffus Maximus@RoflsMazoy@Ayemdar@Mercurial@Masaki Haruna@KOgaming@banjoanjo@Nanashi Ninanai@hagroden@hagroden@King Tai@Letter Bee@BassDropp@Thecrash20

Promptly responding to the challenge presented to them by their auburn-haired instructor, most turned frantic as they remained clueless on what they should do. With his arms were crossed against his chest and smile on his face, Varus watched his students panic and couldn’t help himself from feeling amused. They were all so inexperienced; it reminded him of a pair of two worthless amateurs from long ago.

Varus’ moment of reminiscing was immediately interupted by a presence he had felt behind him. He turned his head backwards, trying to catch a glimpse of what was actually there. Apparently, a portal of some sort had appeared on his jacket.

“Finally.” He thought to himself as a knife-wielding arm had emerged. To actually point a weapon at Varus could have been considered incredibly brave or extremely foolish. Either way, Varus appreciated the effort. Sadly, this wasn’t enough to impress him.

“You have to do better than that!” Varus exclaimed as he reached for the arm, grabbing it by the wrist. He wasn’t sure who it belonged to, but that didn’t matter. A faint crimson aura had suddenly enveloped Varus’ hand before letting loose a miniature explosion. His hair was slighlty blown to the side, the knife was scorched, and the portal behind him was no more.

The force generated by Varus’ explosion pushed Alice backwards, causing her to lose balance and stumble to the ground. She was stunned at what had happened; what was meant to be a harmless act lead to dire consequences in an instant. However, anxiousness soon filled her mind as she turned to her damaged arm. Or at least, that’s what she was expecting. Upon seeing it, she was surprised to see that she was mistaken. Although a bit numb, her arm remained unscathed as a flickering translucent lining appeared to have protected her.

Alice

Don’t worry, Alice is fine. And at least, even if she wasn’t successful in impressing Varus, she discovered a few things. A clue to what his ability is and the presence of some sort of protective spell around Alice. Time for round two?

As soon as the portal behind him had vanished, Varus was surprised to see someone actually approaching him this time.

“Oh oh, me first!” Akasha said excitedly.

Varus wasn’t sure whether it was absolute confidence in what she could do or merely simple naivity. The only thing he was certain was that he wanted to see what the tan-skinned amazon could do. Closing her eyes, she focused. It was surprising to see someone her age and skill practice the art of chanting; similar to naming, it was considered a variant of spell casting and was usually taught. What Varus wanted to find out was where she learned to do such a technique.

A booming roar suddenly echoed througout the area, redirecting Varus’ attention away from the idle questions that he was contemplating on. The degree of control over her transformation was notable, but what Varus found more intriguing was the brief moment where she was completely dominated by her primal instincts. Akasha was definetely a beast that had yet to discover the entirety of its ferocity.

Also, although not that relevant, Varus adored anything related to felines. Despite his efforts to keep a straight face, he couldn’t help but blush upon seeing Akasha transforming into an actual panther. His fondness for cats was fucking obvious and a tad embarassing.

Akasha, however, was oblivious to Varus’ response. Instead of approaching their instructor, she quickly turned around to face the groups of students with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She spent no time in finding the target of her playfulness as she pounced on her unsuspecting prey.

With an extended arm, Varus stopped himself from going after the panther. As much as he wanted to play with it, he had to be professional and continue to facilitate the ongoing trial. Instead of appreciating the incoming clash between the Akasha and Nihiri, Varus just felt nothing but jealousy. Clearly frustrated by the fact that he wasn’t able to pet Akasha, he bit his buttom lip and grumbled what one could only assume to be incomprehensible words.

His envy had soon dissipated as a good amount of fog billowed into the area. Varus' eyes traced its source and caught a glimpse of Junko before she was completely swallowed by her own magic. As much as he wanted to observe even further, it appeared that he couldn't as the overall visibility of the area had eventually been reduced to nothing.

A blanket of darkness had creepily enveloped everyone. Aside from the shining light from runes an sigils, their vision was completely obscured and most had lost sight of one another.

Junko had hoped to frustrate Varus by tossing a wrench into his plans, but this seemingly didn't annoy the auburn-haired man one bit. On the contrary, it had the opposite effect.

Varus broke out in laughter, as a few tears trickled down from his eyes. "I don't know what your name is, but I like the way you think!

With one arm pressed against his chest and the other resting on his hip, he tried to contain himself before speaking once more. Let's see you lot try and impress me in this fog! I guess there's gonna me more expulsions than I expected"

---

Like any other student, Tav was worried since he had no clue on how to take on the challenge given to them. It didn't help that they were suddenly swallowed by a thick cloud of black fog. Taking the initiative, Tav immediately moved and took to the skies. He couldn't think clearly due to all the commission that was taking place. Maybe the skies could calm his mind and give him a better view of what was actually happening.

Sadly, at the peak of his ascent, the most he could see was a dim glow within the fog. What this mean or who this was? He really couldn't tell.

Tav

The idea was great, but unfortunately, the fog's just to thick. I remember you mentioning something about gliding downwards? I suppose Tav could attempt some crude alternative using his shirt. Based from his image, he has two layers of clothing. Perfect time to practice, right?

---

While every other student had their own ways of attempting to impress Varus, there was a few that had gathered together; they planned to simply catch him off guard and give him a well-deserved punch. Impressive? Definitely, if they pulled it off. Dangerous? Sure, only if they caught. As most of them began to discuss strategies, impatience fueled by what I assume could only be sugar, had overcome one of them. Relying nothing but her speed and skill, Kyou zoomed through the fog and headed straight to Varus. With a combination of weaves and feints, she hoped to surprise their instructor and show off her supposed talents for close quarters combat.

There would have been some merit to Kyou's action if she just knew where Varus actually was. It was a good thing that she was hidden in the fog; if not, most would see her fighting nothing but thin air. I mean, she could say that she was shadow boxing or something, but everyone would eventually figure out what was actually going on.

OOC

Sorry, guys. Because of the fog, Varus wasn't able to see the others who were showing off. Specifically, Eran's display of power and the crash between Nihiri and Akasha. I guess what you can pick up from this post is that before doing anything, you have to make sure that you at least tried to get Varus' attention. With everyone simultaneously trying to show him what they've got, it wouldn't be unlikely that he'd miss a few people. Maybe doing something as a group was the better choice, right?

[Vox Angelis]

Hearing the boy out, Akasha smiled cheerfully at his statement. While it was true that he did a good first impression, she felt like she was the only one who had felt it. Maybe it was the fog that had occurred just before the impact, or because only she felt the great strength in his bestial clawed arms.

“Mmhmm, yup you did! But I don’t think the others saw you though. It’s a shame…” Akasha replied calmly.

Now that she had calmed down, the young amazon sort of felt guilty towards the young man. Had it not been for the sudden darkness, maybe he could’ve shown off his true potential to the instructor.

Even though it was pitch black and impossible to see, she could hear well the others, and she even recalled that she could “sense” them around her. Perhaps it was a mix of her smell and her hearing that allowed her to know where they were. They seemed to be gathering up to impress the teacher as a group.

It was then that an idea popped up in Akasha’s mind. She could still make up to her friend underneath her! When sight fails, other senses prevail, and while Akasha was no master at this, she knew for sure she could at least navigate blindly.

While she was still sitting on top of him, with her face still inches from the guy’s, she whispered her plan to his ear.

“Hey, I got an idea. You’re rather quick and powerful, aren’t you? How about we jump on the Chief-in-training to impress him? I’m pretty sure I can help us move around in this darkness, and I can serve as a leverage point for when you charge at him. Sounds good? Alright, get up!” She enthusiastically said, grabbing his hands as she got off from him.

While she wasn’t one to rely on plans most of the times, Akasha’s odd state of tranquility made her less brash and more aware of the situation. Some would say it’s her hyperactivity that prevented her from focusing. This sudden soothing calm indeed made her more clear-minded. Couple this with the fact that as the weakest Amazon of her tribe, she had to find ways previously to topple down stronger foes.

[January]

NICO LEHMANN

Nico shuffled behind Donovan quietly, heart still far outpacing his slow and unsteady steps. In the ensuing events of his haphazard rush to the worst human on the planet, a black fog had rolled in, the pitch-darkness like a void, and in that terrifying moment when the world turned monochrome a blinding light had burst from the chest of the one person Nico didn't want to feel grateful to.

And yet, this bane of humanity was illuminating the darkness, even more than the vermilion glow of Nico's sigils. As the asswipe's reaction went from anger to a giddy sort of excitement, Nico had only watched in stunned silence, shocked at the turn of events and at himself. His mind faintly registered the sounds of a panther's roar and a thudding impact a short distance away, but he couldn't find the focus to look or care. A thought like a Post-It note pointed out Mikhail's presence nearby, but nothing would process through, the thoughts scattering to the depths of his mind just as soon as they had surfaced, replaced by Nico's confusion.

Why did I do that?

That one thought played on repeat in his mind, every repetition changing an intonation here, an emphasis there.

I don't understand.

A stifling calm had enveloped him, choking out the initial urge to punch the universe's number one asshole despite Nico's guilty relief that his powers had activated after all. Gratitude and hatred was a nauseating combination and Nico found some irritating comfort in the oppressive calm. His eyes flicked to the jerk's hair again, mind automatically noting the muted orange shade once more. He even had more color. A twisting whorl of jealousy spun briefly in Nico's heart before the calm washed it out. Nico's gaze fell to the ground, his vision sliding aimlessly over the grass before fixating on one random location.

Where is this feeling from? Please not him.

Before he could even muster up the will to ask, the two of them had reached another group of students: a small girl with long, black hair and a guy wearing sunglasses despite the black fog.

Something about Varus came up in the conversation, and Nico looked up from the hole he had been trying to bore into the ground with his eyes.

OOC

Catch up post for Nico in prep for something else.

[KOgaming]

Hidden from everyone else was Valechka. She kept a low profile, laying on her stomach, undetected it seemed. She observed that the others were either too imperceptive or were simply too occupied with their displays of power to notice her. At first, Valechka was intimidated by the situation, unsure of what to do. However, after some waiting patiently, she had deduced what was going on. Under concealment both behind some shrubbery and under the fog, Valechka kept herself steady.

Through the fog, Valechka could discern vague shadows. Some of girls, some of boys, one of a cat, and one of a helicopter. She attempted to restrain herself, waiting until the time was just right. Through the combat screams, banter, and shouting, Valechka was able to hear the person who was apparently their instructor speak. "Impress me through the fog" he said.

Valechka's plan was simple. She was going to hide inside the fog, then when everybody else had wore themselves out, jump out to take everybody, including the instructor, down. Without her trusty mosin, it was the least she could do. Sadly, such a thing could not make it through airport security.

[BassDropp]

Alex Kaplan

Interacting with: Alais Méténier
@Nanashi Ninanai

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"With that said, Let's see what you guys have to offer. The headmaster says that all of you have the potential to be great, but I've yet to be convinced. Show me that you belong here; there are no rules, I don't care how you do it. Remember, those who don't make the cut, are out of here."

Challenge accepted.

At least, that was the plan, until the crowd of novice magic-users exploded into chaos. It caught Alex off guard because he was not a fan of pandemonium. Varus's said to impress him not make him laugh. Jumping straight into action was naive and based on the results of the first "attack," quite ineffective. Alex decided to stay back and watch for an opening. He was a close-ranged fighter, so he'd have to get close to Varus somehow. That was his intentions, the best way to get the instructor's attention was to get up in his face and show the man that he belonged at this Academy.

Sadly, life wasn't that easy and liked to throw shit in his way. On top of students randomly breaking out and fighting each other, one special fucking sunflower decided that releasing a cloud of black fog that encompassed the whole training field would be a bright fucking idea. How was he going to get to Varus if he couldn't even see two feet in front of him?

Alex decided he would just have to use his resources to find Varus, he wasn't going to let his hampered vision be the reason why he didn't get accepted into Four Winds. Using his sense of hearing, Alex did his best to follow the sound of voices. If someone could see through the fog, they would notice that Alex's dominant arm (his left one) had turned into a shining silver color. The skin under his shirt was steel as well. He kept his chest and torso steel because it was the largest part of him that could be damaged, and danger could come from any direction in this damned fog.

Loud noises and dim light shined off to his left. As he got closer he noticed it was the brute and the kid he had fought with earlier on in the introduction of Four Winds. Alex kept silent, making sure to stay out of their way, he was aiming for Varus, not a fight with an arrogant prick. In the back of his mind he noted that he had been overwhelmingly calm while close to them. To the point where it was unnatural, his guess was that one of them was enchanted with some sort of aura that controls emotions. It was a shot in the dark, but the further he got from them, the more his normal emotions started coming back.

Finally he found the person he was looking for. Earlier he had observed a girl use some sort of teleportation magic. A power like that could be very useful in this situation.

"Need some help?" Whether or not she accepted it, Alex would push on and introduce himself. "I'm Alex by the way, and you are?"
He wouldn't ask for her help immediately, he didn't want to sound selfish. Plus, he needed all the friends he could get. So instead of saying anything else he just offered her a small but genuine smile.

[Nanashi Ninanai]

It took Alice a while to reconsolidate herself after her failed attempt to attack Varus, although, despite her pride being hurt and the initial shock she had on how bad it backfired, Alice had to admit to herself that it was a poor attempt on her part. At the very least, she knew that Varus had some sort of explosive magic with him. What kind though? Her arm didn't get blown up by it, and while it was somewhat painful along with the great knockback she felt, something still felt off about the explosion. Before she could really do anything else however, the area immediately got covered with fog, much to her bemusement.

"...Were that person trying to sabotage everyone else's attempt or something? How troublesome..."

Despite trying her best to not show it, Alice was worried, of course. While she could clearly hear the chaos around her as the other students continued their efforts, she was focusing on the fact that she couldn't even see anything now outside of a pretty short range near her. Her magic required her to pinpoint the exit's location using her sight. She couldn't just make the exit anywhere she liked, and so this meant that she had to get close to Varus, wherever he would be right now, otherwise she wouldn't be able to do anything. Perhaps alternatively she could find the foggy person and knock them out, but that'd be harder to do. At the very least Varus was a loud person.

She lost track on where her baggage was, but it's not the time to think about that. Her notebook was on the smaller bag she's carrying around at least, and she was elated to know that it was still there. Though...hm...she thought about something for a bit. The goal here would be impressing Varus, not defeating him although that would be possible. Alice was not in a position to defeat him without just being a support to others (and she'd get barely any credits if she did that). So, even if she's just scratching him a bit, if it's done in a ballsy-enough way...

Alice smiled as she tore some the back, empty pages of her notebook. She also unbuttoned her vest and jacket, making sure that she could take them off at any moment's notice. She would only get one chance to do this, and it's pretty risky anyway, as it would eat up almost every single one of her remaining Windows for the day. Now what she would need=

"Need some help?"

"Uh, I-"

Alice turned around, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw the wonder of the earth behind her. Silverish gray hair perhaps, earrings, and most importantly, dead-on handsome. The routes kept on opening themselves to her! What a lucky day to be alive. Even in her dating sims, things didn't happen this conveniently. Alice praised her luck and charms inside as she continued to look at the young man in silence. At first she was comparing him to Nico and started to weigh in which one of the two should she pursue with the knowledge she had now, though her thought drifted to the possibility of romancing both and-

"I'm Alex by the way, and you are?"

"A-aah! I-I mean...I'm Alice. It's...nice to meet you, Alex."

Alright, that should sound enough like a lovestruck shy girl. Though, her fantasies didn't last long as the fog made her realize what she's supposed to be doing. It's not the time for her to be a dating sim heroine, she's supposed to be a chosen one that led and impress the masses now! Not that they're mutually exclusive, but Alice had to remind herself that there's a time and place for everything, and romantic first meeting wasn't something she should indulge herself with now. With her mind back on track, Alice decided to get back to the important topic.

"Err...say, could you perhaps lead us to rush towards Varus' direction? I think I have an idea, but that'd require you and me to be close to him...

And well, I need you or someone you know to either throw me or my jacket high enough above. U-uh! I don't mean to push you around r-really, I just thinking that perhaps what I am planning can work."

@BassDropp

[Mercurial]

Things were getting too overwhelming for poor old Enver. At first it seemed so simple; put on a show to satisfy the ginger ninja. Then everyone started showing off, and all the powers started overlapping. The worst part was the ruddy fog. Now nobody could see shit. More importantly, nobody could see Enver. How was Enver supposed to put on a damn show with all this fog around? He could hear people shouting about punching Varus at one point. It sounded like a great lark...if only he could bloody well see it. This had to be the worst start to this little test imaginable. This fog was like a huge wall blocking him from having fun.

Of course, even if it wasn't for all this horse-crock, Enver had the looming problem of not being able to use his powers whenever he felt like it. Sure, he had managed a few times, but every time he had no idea how he had managed it. He figured it was too much to hope for that his powers would suddenly work today in some theatrical bout of luck. All he could do was try and flick his wrists in the same way he had tried every other time, and...

...nothing.

He sighed and flicked his wrists again. Nothing. He kept flicking them furiously, cursing under his breath. If he couldn't even produce his magic, how was he supposed to gain entrance to this academy? He would be royally screwed. He kept at it, desperately trying to produce even the tiniest flame. Just when he was about to give up, he felt it; the warmth of fire against his cheek. "Haha, yes!" He called out. But then he took a closer look at what he had produced. It wasn't the small, contained flame he usually put out. It was a whopping huge plume of flame. In a panic, he tried to flick it out, like he had with all the other flames. It wasn't flicking out. He started waving it around, as if he expected to just shake it off like that. Bits of flame started shooting all over the place, landing on anything nearby. Before he knew it, Enver had produced multiple fires. But all he could think of was putting out this flame. He started running around, desperate to get rid of it, and in his haste, ended up making more fires.

There was going to be a lot of fire on this field.

[Menhir]

Layle stood with a hand on her chin, inspecting her new ally-to-be. He (and it definitely was a he) was a Shiba Inu- or was it an Akita Inu? She could never tell the difference. He was some kind of Inu, at least. His head was crowned with a rash of bald spots, and he lacked both a collar and most of his tail. Odds were pretty good that the guy either didn't have an owner or had one that didn't give a damn. Either way, it was good enough for Layla.

"Oi!", she shouted, strolling towards the erstwhile stray, "You there, with the four legs!"

The dog looked up and around, surprised. After a few seconds he noticed Layla, crouching down to sniff her. Layla thought for a minute. What did they call dogs here? Hachiko? No, that was the statue. Over here, all the dogs were named...

"...Pochi!", she finished her train of thought aloud, "Yeah, I'm gonna call you Pochi."

Pochi growled.

"Hey, hey, Pochi.", Layla said as she made a casual swipe at his jaw, snapping the dog's head back, "Let's don't get fresh, alright? We're buddies now."

Taking advantage of the pooch's stunned state, Layla swung herself onto his back with the practiced ease of one who had done this a hundred times before. Pulling the measuring tape off her neck, she drew it through Pochi's mouth like a set of reins.

Pochi, for his part, was very confused about what had just happened.

"C'mon, Pochi!", Layla said as she squeezed the dog's sides, "Onwards, to adventure!"

And so the pair set off on a magical journey for gold, glory, and the world's least-reputable school.

Oh, and some dog treats would also be nice.

[RoflsMazoy]

---

((Collab Post between @RoflsMazoy, @GreenGoat, @Letter Bee, @January, @banjoanjo, and @Ayemdar))

Sounds of chaos started to rise all around her.

A strange feeling started to rise up inside her. Was it elation? Satisfaction? Or perhaps even pure exhilaration from all the chaos she was causing? In any case, Junko was enjoying that feeling immensely. Causing mass confusion upon the soon to be students plus one walrus gathering there was something she'd never expect to actually amuse her.

"Hey there!"

A voice called out to her suddenly, followed by a tap on her shoulders, making her almost jump out of her skin with shock. The black fog flickered for a moment, losing its black color for an instant. It was one of the boys, though she knew not his name.

"This is some pretty good work if you wanted to piss him off, but just this wouldn't be enough for you, would it? Why don't I lead you to him, so you can punch him in the face?"

"No."

A simple reply. She had no real intention of explaining that she was concentrating on maintaining the darkness and the fog's spread, just so she could interfere with this... show out of spite. However, what she elicited out of the man was not one of annoyance, but of amusement instead. Infuriating, to say the least.

"Why is that?" Mikhail interrupted, trying to be kind and finding that attempt bolstered by what he thought was Donovan's calming aura. He analyzed Junko's voice, trying to dissect what emotions were behind it. What he was finding...well, let's just say that it was the unnatural calm on him prevented the sixteen-year old from acting irrationally.

"No, I'm curious, why is that?"

"Actually, I don't think that matters all too much." Clive said, a smirk coming to his lips.

Part of the power in his eyes was to see emotions, and he could see all too well the reason why the gas mask girl had refused. Despite the wave of calmness, it didn't seem to block emotions of annoyance. After all, someone just appeared out of nowhere seemingly immune to her ability. Maybe that wasn't all of it, but it was enough to act on.

All he'd need to do was feed that annoyance.

"If you don't want to do it, then it's fine." He said condescendingly, smiling all the wider. "All I needed you for was to show off anyway. I guess it doesn't matter whether you want to come or not."

Junko gave no reaction to whether those words affected her or if she even heard it at all. She was almost seething underneath her calm, stopped only from beating Clive over the head with her gas mask due to Donovan's aura, though she had no knowledge of that.

"Concentrating." She spoke, answering the previous question. "I'm concentrating."

If it was not for the black fog surrounding her, she looked for all the world like she was spaced out thinking about nothing in particular. But from what she said and what was happening around her, it was pretty obvious what she meant. It didn't seem like she'd actually reply to Clive.

Meanwhile, Donovan was still lauding himself over being able to taunt Running Fist yet another time.

"Don't hurt Nico," the guy had warned. "Don't do anything bad to him or I will follow through on my own threat.

The pissed off guy’s voice had lost its edge. Donovan had seen these exact symptoms numerous times before. He smirked at Running Fist’s futile attitude, knowing that there was little he could do about Donovan at this point in time.

“Riiight,” he had smiled condescendingly, stretching out the word with a drawl, “Wouldn’t want to get on your bad side or anything.”

He let Sunnies' and Gas Mask Girl's conversation play out. It seemed like the bloke could convince her easily enough. He didn't see any need to step in.

"The calming wave is your power, right?" Clive said, turning around.

From an outsider's point of view, it looked like Clive was homing in on his scent, and it wasn't entirely false. Clive had seen a literal wave when Donovan's ability had been activated, the same color as the sigil he could see on his chest.

He wasn't sure yet if he could use it, but he was glad for the extra help.

"Name's Clive," He said, extending a hand.

Donovan, though he was slightly surprised by Sunnies' sudden approach, shrugged nonchalantly, as if he was trying to muster up the humility that any decent person would have in their reserves. The light from his chest reflected in Sunnies', well, sunnies.

"Swanky and smart, eh? But yep, you got me. My power basically lets me make people tone themselves down a notch."

He took Clive's hand with a firm shake.

"Donovan. I should probably mention though," he added, indicating to the nervous wreck behind him, "right now, this little guy is helping me out. He's got some sort of power tuning ability. Usually I don't affect nearly as many people as I am currently."

A flicker of enthusiasm slipeed through the calm and returned to Mikhail once Donovan revealed what Nico's power was. Going over to Nico, the boy would say, his eyes open wide in admiration:

"That is so cool, Nico! I always knew you'd have such an awesome ability!" Mikhail would have a wide grin on his face, as if to say: I knew you wouldn't fail. Taking deep breaths, as if to fan that small flicker of enthusiasm, Mikhail would then say happily, as though lovestruck anew:

"This is great; we - the team - will be able to protect you better with this."

Nico flinched away from Mikhail's sudden approach, the other boy's enthusiasm shocking him out of his thoughts. Blinking, his eyes hovered at some space to Mikhail's left, the reminder that Mikhail was right there bringing with it a surge of awkward tension.

He nodded in response, a tightening of his lips and a slight squint of his eyes the only indicators that he felt uncomfortable.

Annoying.

The thought surprised him, but a lurking feeling like he had expected it muddled his response.

No. What...?

Maybe you just like being--

Stop it.

--doted upon.

A sharp intake of breath punctuated the silence that followed his thoughts and Nico cast his eyes elsewhere, trying to look at anything but the space between him and Mikhail.

Annabelle looked around and watched the many introductions. Normally her mind would be racing, overloaded by what was going on, but all she felt was calmness. She wondered why she felt this way, because it wasn't normal for her.

However, she couldn't dwell on it long. She knew they needed to impress Varus. Maybe this once it would be alright to work with others...

Annabelle spoke up, not speaking to anyone specifically and introduced herself. "I'm Annabelle."

"Welcome to the League, Annabelle," Clive said.

A water controller. Boosted by the nervous boy maybe she would've been able to move the fog like she said, but they had the fog controller right here anyway. The symbol was a fairly generic one, so the power made sense. How it'd fit in the grand scheme of things however, he had no clue. They were a motley crew by any description. They were missing a lot of things, like direct attack power, and they were definitely going to need some if they wanted to even get close to Varus.

"Hmmm, let's see..." He said, peering out into the fog.

There were plenty of other people who seemed useable but he didn't know who to use. Panther girl was a possibility, and also the demon guy she was with. Maybe Kyou could do it too? She seemed plenty battle ready, maybe a little too battle ready. He didn't have a completely solid plan in mind. He wanted a fairly complex distraction.

He thought idly about how Kyou would be if she were more docile. He was pretty sure Donovan's aura would mellow her out a little.

"Wait..." He said, inspiration hitting like a lightning bolt. "Donovan, I need the range of your ability. I've got a plan."

---

@Scio

[Vox Angelis]

~ Nihiri Rakkan

---

~"I wouldn't say all that, but It could work nonetheless."
He mused out loud, looking at what would be his scars if he wasn't surrounded in this unnatural darkness. He wasn't particularly upset that no one had seen him do much more than unsheath his claws, he had always preferred to be out of the spotlight. He'd learned from his Grandfather a long time ago that not everyone could be king, and he had learned since that he was correct. He'd also grown to discover that after you stop trying to be the main character of the world's story, it wasn't hard to become happy, a bit of humility can move mountains within someone. After all, every king needed an advisor, and every knight a page.

He felt her hands on his, and stood himself up, thankful for the bit of guidance amongst all this darkness. He also noticed a bit of a decline in her flamboyance, and noted that he himself felt a bit more grounded than usual, although he rarely wasn't.
~"Alright then love, lead the way."
He said softly, squinting to try and make out anything in the fog.

---

"Alright then, here we go. Stay close. I'll transform to find him, then I will call you when I find him" Akasha replied, still holding the guy's hand.

Just a bit earlier, Akasha had heard Varus' voice echoing behind them, taunting the students mainly because of the fog. Indeed, while some could not see and do much in this pitch-black darkness, some people like Akasha however would surely navigate in this darkness and still impress the instructor. After all, perhaps were they not totally wrong to unite their strengths. Even the wild girl paired up with someone in the end. She could definitively do it alone, but her compassion towards others drove her to help.

"Alright, pick up the pace. He must somewhere over there." The amazoness stated.

While she did not know exactly where the man evaluating the students was, it's now that her ability would come in handy.

Focus... focus. Focus, focus-focusfocus "hmmmnnnYAAAAAAAHHHHH" Akasha roared, her panther side taking over once more.

Now that she was in her animal form, her sight had gotten better, but it wasn't for her improved vision she was counting on, but her sense of smell.

Pausing, Panthera took a minute to sniff around. There were a tremendous amount of different smell. Lots of people, even an animal she had yet to see. A bear, perhaps? She was lost dor a moment, but then picked up a peculiar smell.

There was a strong smell of scorched metal just about in the direction they were heading. Was it linked to Varus? She had heard an explosion earlier coming from this direction too. Perhaps someone threw him something metallic? Whatever that was, she had to bet on it.

Turning her head to the guy following her, hopefully, the black leopard nodded her head in a direction, as if to indicate where she was heading. Then suddenly, she darted straight towards the smell of burnt metal.

With astonishing speed true to one of the quickest feline on the planet, it didn't take long to Panther Akasha to reach her destination. The source of the smell seemed to emanate from a blasted knife.

Looking around, Akasha circled the area, still sniffing around. It was then that she saw him, her prey. Her animal instincts wanted to jump the instructor so bad, but for the sake of her partner, she had to show restraint.

Instead, the female black panther stalked her prey. In this pitch-black fog, her fur matched its color, making her almost impossible to see if it wasn't for the feline's yellow eyes. She discreetly sneaked around the instructor until she reached his back, then roared a call at the top of her lungs soon before aiming for Varus' pants. Hopefully, she would pin him there while her partner would make a charge to their location.

---

~Nihiri Rakkan
He had nodded in the dark to the strange girl, his footsteps almost silent as he jogged hand in hand with her, not reading too deeply into the contact he had with her. It was almost pitch black and she was all but blindly leading the blind, they'd get separated with ease if they let go.

He moved faster as she spoke, his scars straining against his skin as he exerted himself, preparing to summon forth his claws. As he began to run to keep up, he felt his lungs pushing against his chest and his gums begin to throb. He felt something stir inside of himself, something much different than the calm he often felt, something stronger, something instinctual, something animalistic.

He felt himself barring his teeth, his lungs pushing faster and faster as he ran, his hand pulling from the girl's as he began to run at the same speed as her, he knew where he was going without being able to see anything around him, his sense weren't heightened, but he felt a pull in his gut. Just as he began to overtake her, she stopped, and so did he, and as she roared and transformed, he felt something shoot up his spine, causing goosebumps to spread across his skin. Before he had a moment to react, she had already began to sprint forward, tracking the instructor with her hearing and smell.

A tear fell down his cheek again as he summoned forth his claws, the instinctual pull in his stomach blasting forth into every nerve in his body, and he ran like he never had before. She however, was faster, and disappeared completely out of the reach of his senses, but he kept moving forward, guided by the pull of every fibre in his being. Because of the intensity of the situation he was in, he wasn't able to noticed that his claws were stretching out just a bit longer than usual, and the blackness of his scars moved a bit further up his arms then before.

After a few moments of sprinting blindly, he heard the roar of his companion a few yards in front of him, and saw the faint flash of her eyes directing him to his target. As he approached nearer and nearer, he began to just barely make out the form of their Instructor, and as he closed in, he saw her in front of him, and the back of Valrus. He was moving too quickly to change direction and avoid slamming into her, so instead he leaped forward, a clawed hand clenched into a fist that he threw with incredible strength towards the Teacher, if the man didn't move out of the way fast enough, he would be hit with the force of a hammer square in the back. Nihiri knew he had to impress the man to stay, and if the hit landed, he knew he would find himself a successor of the trial before him.

[Baklava]

Some optional ambience.

A thin, expensively glitter-encased smart phone went sailing through the trees and softly crunched into the forest's underbrush, accompanied by the sneering, frustrated squeal of Rhian as she stood there, half facing the phone she just threw.

Nothing works! she inwardly growled.

She had read online that her phone and other pieces of technology wouldn't work at Four Winds, but she'd assumed that meant they'd be confiscated or something-- not die at 49% and refuse to turn back on. So much for Google Maps... not that it would've helped her. Right before the screen went blank and she searched her location, the map of Mount Fuji seemed to be blanketed in shadow. It was more than just a dead zone-- it was creepy.

She released a defeated sigh as she went to pick up her phone. Were these "powers" her parents had hoped for so diligently destined to cause her nothing but trouble? The whole reason she was in this mess was because of them. Well, because of them and one of Japan's most cherished insects: a big, loud, loathsome cicada.

There she was, cheerfully-- that is to say, grimly-- dragging her feet towards the Magic School of Freaks not but 15 minutes ago when a cicada decided she wanted to get close and personal with Rhian's face. With so many creepy crawlies residing in the woods, she had already amassed a tiny, disgusting army-- which slithered and skittered at her heels. All she had to do was not look down or back. Despite her sky-high discomfort, she felt she was managing quite well. It also had helped that none of her unwanted fan club members could fly before then.

"Go away-- GO AWAY!" she'd tried commanding the cicada; she would not be deterred. All it took was one bump-- one revolting "kcht!" of the nasty little creature's wings and tiny body crashing against her cheek to send her off the edge. It was all she could do to swallow a scream (not wanting to draw attention to herself) as the cicada started growing. It's giant red eyes bore into her-- as if expecting something.

And so, Rhian did what any normal human being would probably do in the face of a dog-sized cicada.

She ran.

And in running, she managed to lose the beast-- but also the trail.

So here she was. Brushing dirt and twigs off her phone while a tiny pile of worms and beetles pooled at her feet.

[lydyn]

_{(Interacting with: @Baklava)}

"Um.. hi.." That was all Rosa was able to manage at first, giving Rhian a curious sort of look before pursing her lips as her eyes caught movement at the woman's feet. It didn't take her long to figure out that something was amiss, prompting her to follow up the greeting with, "I guess.. you're here for the school too?" She asked as she pointed in the general direction of where she taught it might be. ".. I mean.. if I could ever find my way. I guess that's what I get for being distracted.." she half said to herself.

Again, Rose took a moment to study her new companion, smiling slightly to herself despite the pool of insects at Rhian's heels. Simply, she adored the woman's tastes in clothing and had originally worn similar outfits - though right now she was donning a more sci-fi nerdy sort of punk look, or at least she considered it so, topped with a headband that almost looked like headphones. "We could walk together? I think I know the general direction.. oh, and, uh.. my name is Rosaleen. You can call me Rosa or Rose though - if you want." She gave a polite sort of smile, fidgeting lightly with her shirt as she did so. In all honesty, she was nervous. She didn't want anyone being scared of her magic like everyone else had been most of her life. She just wanted friends - preferably a girlfriend - but she'd settle for friends. After all, it was certainly better than being alone your whole life.

OOC

Sorry it's not a long detailed post. I just felt that there wasn't much else to say? ^.^

[GreenGoat]

Junko Adevelt

Ignoring those loud idiots standing nearby, she wondered why she was even trying. At most, all she was doing was damping Varus' clothes a bit. There was no point of actually keeping up the black fog if it didn't do anything, even if it was kinda fun to hear the others being disoriented in it. Junko had no actual feelings towards the others at the moment after all; she only wanted to mess up Varus' show. Plus, while she can keep this up for quite a while, it was still draining to actively control the fog instead of just letting it be.

Feeling slightly deflated, she donned the gas mask, then pulled the red raincoat's hood over her head once more.

The fog lost its color, thinning out slowly back into mist. With her ability suppressed, visibility and light returned to normal. As normal as it gets with thick mist rolling about anyways. By now she could see the others trying their best to impress Varus, all doing their own special tricks or teaming up with others to do some coordinated action and... one guy running around like a headless chicken on fire.

Except he was actually on fire, or at least his hand was, and he was spreading it around by doing that incessant dancing.

There was absolutely no way she could put that fire on his hand out, short of knocking him out. And even that wouldn't be a certain fix to the situation; the flame could still very easily continue burning on, consuming the boy as well. So Junko did the next best thing, and started following him about, putting out the smaller fires he was spreading by just blasting the mist into the fire's base.

[Baklava]

_{(Interacting with: @lydyn)}

"Um.. hi.."

Rhian turned and and stared at the pink haired girl. She raised her eyebrows impatiently, immediately glancing the girl over from top to bottom. If she wasn't in such a foul mood, she might have complimented the girl's shirt, but, as it were, she wanted nothing to do with any of the freaks attending Four Winds.

"I guess.. you're here for the school too?" the girl finally continued, her eyes on Rhian's shoes. Shit-- she almost forgot! Some of the insects were starting to creep a little too close to the lip of her boots. As the girl continued talking, Rhian turned away and shook them off, stomping them into the ground while looking off in the distance and biting her lip.

Don't lose your cool, she cautioned herself. You're not a freak. You're not one of them. Keep. Your. Composure.

"We could walk together?"

Rhian stopped and faced the girl. She didn't want to walk anywhere with her. She didn't want to walk anywhere with one of them. But if she didn't, who knew how long she'd be lost out here. If she missed orientation, the school might call her parents. Then it would be bye-bye America and bye-bye Harvard.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by what sounded like a chainsaw. It was getting closer. Rhian's face went pale. Why couldn't it have been a chainsaw?

She let out a breath, a slightly hysteric laugh accompanying it. Her mind was made up for her, it seemed.

"Ok, fine. Which direction?" her Scottish accent made itself known.

She ran up, bugs flying off her heels, grabbed Rosaleen's hand and pulled, "Hurry! Come on! We need to leave. NOW! We-we're, uh, gonna miss orientation! Let's go!"

[Letter Bee]

And...apparently, others had decided to attack Varus, and, from the boy's perspective, were actually doing a good job of it. Mikhail flared his 'Aura of the Cornerstone', pressing back slightly against Donovan's aura, which the panther girl and darkness-arm boy were resisting better than he was. Nevertheless, that was not his concern right now. His concern was to distract Varus. Making his way to the front of Varus, he would then shout:

"Hello, Mr. Instructor, Panther Girl, Darkness-Arm Boy! Sorry to interrupt, but I have a few questions to ask!" A smile at that, before Mikhail brought up what he knew of Four Winds' history.

"How many of the people you trained ended up being mass murderers, thieves and other types of criminal?! How do we make sure that the same thing won't happen to us?! Does Four Winds really teach anything resembling responsibility?! It seems you're just toying with the student body!" Mikhail's aura was shining brighter now, allowing slight - slight - breaks in his calm. Clenching his fists, the boy would keep shouting, taking note of the events occuring around him:

"The fog is clearing! Rank upon rank of outraged students are organizing for their counterattack! Flames are spreading! Tell me, Mr. Varus, how can you manage this sort of chaos?!" He would then activate 'Presumption of Innocence', taking in the scent of sulfur from the people around him. A grin.

"Sins hang over you like a veil! The people you've trained who ended up adbicating their responsibilities, you had your own part in shaping them! Judgement will come upon you!" There, was that enough of a distraction?!

[Zero Hex]

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" came a loud, excited scream from somewhere above the girls' heads and in a clear descent, mixing into the cicada's frankly insufferable shrill droning as it approached the ground. Down from the treetops, a plunge far too steep to be considered as anything other than hazardous to one's health by normal human beings, dropped a tall, tan teenager. Right towards the giant bug and feet first in fact. Though that was not at all the way to break one's fall from great heights, in fact it's a fantastic way to completely destroy one's legs, he didn't seem any worse for the wear. The cicada was another story.

With a sickening crunch, Reynaldo Riestra's boot-clad feet smashed down on the insect and squashed the poor creature despite its considerable increase in size. Its loud buzzing came to a sudden halt and its guts splattered around, its eyes trying to center themselves on what had ended it. Rey, meanwhile, looked not at all weirded out or uncomfortable and seemed to be beaming with pride at his catch much like one would after a succesful hunting trip. At least, until Rhian's magic ceased to be and the creature was once again reduced to its not at all impressive but far more natural size.

"Aaaaw dammit, fuckin giant shrinkin bugs. How am I gonna show uncle this thing's size now?" he grumbled, rubbing off some overgrown cicada...stuff on the dirt and kicking the sad little corpse away. Only then did he notice the girls a short distance away, holding hands and rapidly moving away from him. "Ey why you runnin! Ain't gonna do nuthin to ya, was just chillin up the trees!"

@Baklava @lydyn