[IC] Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Airship Docks

Golden-brown eyes stared at Abel and Sapphire's back as they left, Shiro's window of opportunity had opened. Pointed ears perked, white tail erect, he waited with bated breath until they had gone some distance away. When his two teammates were beyond normal earshot, he rapidly reassembled his weapons in a flurry. Scoot stood off to the side and watched curiously as Shiro pieced together each part with expert precision and did a quick functions check of his sword and shield. Slinging Kladenets and Perun onto his back Shiro bounded on all fours over to the spot where he saw Sapphire stand, more than likely in search of her daggers too. With his head tilted back and nose in the air, Shiro furiously sniffed at the air until he started to get dizzy from over-saturating his bloodstream with oxygen. Frowning, his black pupils narrowed into thin sclera as he scanned the lake below and cliffside. Quickly becoming frustrated, his heightened Faunus senses couldn't pinpoint where his team leader's daggers may have ended up. No faint glimmer of light reflected off of the metal blades. No faint scent trail of his team leader lingered in the air, other than the most recent one. Frowning, Shiro quietly whined with discontent. Still peering over the edge, he pouted as he tried to think what could have happened to them.

"The daggers could've been blown over the side by the Airships." His eyes scanned as best they could along the cliffside.
"They could've ended up anywhere! Stuck in some nook in the cliffside..." His line of sight snapped to the lake.
"Dropped into the water...Picked up by someone else..." He placed both of his hands on his head and shut his eyes. Eyes snapping open, he grabbed at his tail and stuffed it into his mouth as his mind started to torture him with increasingly negative possibilities. "What if some bird or Nevermore took them to line their nest?" Pulling his hood over his head, his blood pressure skyrocketed. "What if they got caught up in an Airship's engine and got EXPLODED?!"

As his mind was filled with horrible images of fiery explosions, Scoot ran around him in circles. Taking notice of the ferret, Shiro removed his tail from his mouth and lowered his hood. Deciding to maybe ask for his companion's opinion, he scooped up the rodent and brought him up to his face. "What do you think, Scoot? You have any ideas?" The telepathic creature hopped out of Shiro's gloved hands and continued to run the Tiger Faunus in a circle. Exclaiming with his psionic Semblance "Food! Food!" Shiro blinked, Scoot having derailed his train of thought temporarily. Placing a hand on his own stomach, he could feel it rumbling. "Huh. Empty."

"Guess I could use a bite to eat."

It was true, he hadn't eaten since this morning. He was probably well over due for a good lunch. Shaking his head, Shiro turned his attention back to the task at hand. Peering back over the edge, he wondered if he could possibly get a better look if he were to dive into the lake and search its floor. Maybe upon scaling the cliffside, he may find it lodged between some rock or in some nest. As he contemplated removing his cowl and boots to jump off the cliffside, his ears twitched as he detected up a loud roaring in the distance. Looking up, he saw the approach of more airships. Possibly holding other Beacon Students as cargo. Some little voice in his head told Shiro it probably wasn't the best idea to jump off the side of the airship docks in the middle of the day. Not only would it raise some alarms, but word would get out. Shiro would probably get himself into some sticky situation or worse, get himself discovered by Sapphire herself. If he were to keep this a surprise, he would have to do it some time later. Maybe during the evening or night. As the airships came close enough to kick up the wind, Shiro grabbed Scoot and quickly made his way back to his pack. Setting the ferret on his head, Shiro slung his pack on one shoulder and started to clear the airship dock before he realized that Gren was still present. Messing with his Scroll or something, it seemed.

Weakly, tiger-boy offered Gren a crooked grin as he waved his comrade off. "Uh, I'm gonna go head inside Gren! Gonna drop off my things and get something to eat! Don't wait up!" He yelled over the roar of the approaching airships, the wind rustling his hair and clothing dramatically. With that, Shiro took off on all fours straight towards the dormitories. Looking back at Gren as he ran off, he hoped he didn't catch on to what he was doing. As sharp as his own senses could be sometimes, his attention span was severely lacking.

Airship Docks -> Dormitories

The door to their dorm violently and loudly swung open, as Shiro practically kicked the door in. Standing in the threshold, his excited expression sagged into one of horror as he remembered that he left his portion of the room in an utter hellish mess. "Whoops. Uhh...gotta remember to clean all of that up when I get the chance." Walking into the room, he set his pack down in his area and scanned around him. Other than Scoot, Shiro stood in the room alone. "Hm. Where did Abel and Sapphire go?" He arched an eyebrow as he stared at the ceiling in search of an answer. One could almost see the light bulb pop over his white head of hair and ding as it dawned on them that his teammates were in worse physical shape than he was coming back from their first mission. "Ohhh...! Right! They were pretty badly hurt. Probably went to the Infirmary or something." Shrugging, Shiro spun around with his arms outstretched as he turned to Scoot. "This is your new home, buddy! It's usually kept a bit cleaner but ah..Well, I'll straighten it out later. Let me go turn my weapons into the Armory and I'll show you where the cafeteria is!" Beckoning to the ferret, Scoot darted and hopped up onto Shiro's shoulder. As Shiro grabbed the doorknob and began to pull it shut, he turned his head to look at the perched rodent. "Oh, and don't touch Sapphire's stuff. Like, at all. Or you and I will both die."

The ferret tilted his head. "Fun! Fun!"
Shiro chuckled, giving Scoot a curious look.
"You don't really say much, do you?"
"Food! Food!"
"Right, well okay."

With a slam, Shiro shut and locked the door to his team's room.

Dormitories -> Armory

The Armory custodians all stood gathered at the counter. Their arms were folded, expressions' cross. They apparently remembered Shiro's face and how he had barged in to make a 'withdrawal' of his equipment, leaving their papers scattered all round. If their demeanour were anything to go off of, apparently those papers took hours to reorganize and file away to their proper homes. Standing on the other side of the counter, Shiro had a sheepish grin on his face as he nervously rubbed the side of his arms. Head kept low, he slowly unslung his sword and shield and slid it across to the closest custodian who was a female student with braided pigtails and glasses.

"U-uh...Hey, guys! H-how're you? I-i'm here to sign my-"

A packet of papers was shoved into his face, causing him to stumble backwards. Looking at the papers in his hands, he looked back up to the bespectacled girl. "Sign. Date. Time." the girl said. As she stabbed a pen into the counter, Shiro jumped with a start. K & P clattered on the countertop with the force of her vicious attack. It was clear they were irate with him.

He flipped through the paperwork and nervously chuckled.
"Heh-heh...I...I'm gonna go over there."
He unstuck the pen from the counter and sidled away into a corner.

Armory -> Cafeteria

"Man, what was her problem? I said I was sorry..." Shiro pouted as he walked into the cafeteria and picked up his plate and utensils. Scoot turned to him, "Fun! Food!" Shiro smirked. "Well, what I just went through wasn't really that fun, but yes. Now is food time!" Scoot scrabbled all across Shiro's body with fervor. "Food! Food!"

Brow furrowing, he frowned at the ferret. "I mean, I agree. Food is awesome and good but, is that all you seriously think of?"
Scoot stopped to look at the Faunus boy.
"Food!" Scoot exclaimed telepathically.
Shiro sighed, but then laughed.
"Right." He petted Scoot on the head as he strolled through the line.

Ears twitching, Shiro looked around him and realized that the cafeteria was practically empty. Save for a few students he didn't exactly recognize. It only just dawned on him, being how quiet and barren it was, how large the cafeteria actually was. He quickly realized that it was probably because most of the student body were still out in the field on their missions. He again wondered how they were doing. As he piled his plate with the usual various cuts of all types of meat, poultry, and fish, he found a peaceful spot and settled down with his glass of milk. Neatly setting his place, he picked up his knife and fork and went to cut into a medium-rare steak but stopped. Seeing Scoot sit sniffing at Shiro's food, he forgot to ask.

"Wait. What do ferrets eat?"
Scoot looked up at him. "Food."
Shiro let go of his knife and fork, the utensils clanging loudly and echoing.
"Gee! Thanks, Scoot! I would've NEVER figured that out!"
The ferret tilted his head. "Food?"
Shiro shook his head and reflexively went for his Scroll.

Only problem was...

"Oh. Right."
He had broken his already.
Slamming his fists on the table, he caused the ferret bounce on the table.
Standing, Shiro threw his arms outward as he exclaimed to the almost empty cafeteria.

"GAAAHHH! WHAT DO FERRETS EAT?!"
If he had his Scroll, he could've probably looked it up on Oogle or something.
Maybe even text his friends from the other teams to see how they were doing on their first missions.
Well, if he had friends from the other teams. Not that he could recall anyways.

Pushing his plate away from him, he slumped onto the cafeteria table. As Shiro began to lightly bash his forehead against the table repeatedly, Scoot crawled up to him. Shiro paused his headbanging to look up, staring at the rodent. "Fun!"Scoot proclaimed. Shiro, mentally and spiritually drained, could only lament.
"Use your words!"

[Eklispe]

Krysthane frowned, she really thought she had it with that stunt. A grin soon resurfaced when she saw the adorable ice cream sundae, it looked delicous. She walked back to Sepia with her ice cream in hand already devouring it, "Mhmm this sundae is really good, you should get one, maybe you'll even get the speical prize." Krysthane said excitedly and poked Sepia towards the game a little. She was perhaps a little too happy about having ice cream. "These knights aren't bugging you are they?" Krysthane asked Sepia viewing the two knights suspicously.

@SevenStormStyle

[Forsythe]

Just as she started lending a hand to the truckies, Diamond spotted what was happening at the mouth of the cave. The sight nearly made her hurl. She wasn't siding with any camp right until that moment. "Get those guns out of their faces!" She growled in low tone on the guards, the shadowy tendrils of her foul looking aura coiling around her in a rather evil image. She was beyond livid.

Walking over, she picked up the message from Oswald and her eyes flown over it quickly. Damn it! Damn Oswald, Marcus, and their stubborn naivety! "Those people are no threat, they need medical attention for Gods' sake!" She shoved one of the guard's guns out of the way, having half a mind to break his arm while she was on it.

Walking up to Marcus, she gave the letter to him to read. "I don't care what we do. Just... Promise me we'll get that scumbag!" she pleaded, her fist clenched. She was going to disembowel Rice with a shadow cooking spoon. "If we can't get them to let us call for help, the rig will be ready to go in few minutes. Just tell me when to go." she said, hoping she would get to. Because then she'd go straight for the fatso the second help was on the way.

[Pannette]

Clair Carnelian and Sarina Tala Dei (SC)

When she felt her Scroll vibrate, she was sitting by the ponds in the academy gardens, enjoying the heat from the midday sharp sunshine. She let out a long sigh, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Looking at the clouds pass through the school's highest towers, it was like watching some castle from a long-forgotten fairy tale, a faint memory. Seeing this kind of scenery in her childhood, in her time at Haven, she was used to it - but this was like seeing a fable walk out of her dreams.

"Sarina Tala Dei" was the name of the message's sender, the girl who Headmaster Ozpin had told her she would be hearing from.

"A Haven girl, like yourself," he had said resassuringly. "I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

Reading this message, she wasn't so sure - anyone who called a get-together "socialization" was sure to be anything but sociable.

Maybe it’s better that I get to know the all-business types, she thought. Less work in the long run.

Pulling up a campus map on her Scroll, she picked up her belongings and headed back to the academy's main avenue.

Following the trail of students (she figured it was around lunchtime), she came to the dining hall. In contrast with the rest of the school, the outermost entrance was a relatively plain set of double doors, propped open on account of the warm weather. Leaning against the wall just next to the entrance was a girl, likely a classmate of hers - but maybe, she thought, it was better to call someone with an aura like this a "young woman."

Definitely an all-business type.

"Sarina?" Clair asked, setting down her suitcase. "Sarina... Tala Dei?"

The young woman turned to face her. "Yes, Sarina Tala Dei. You must be Clair. Welcome to Beacon," she said, each syllable spoken with the utmost precision.

Clair nodded. "That's me. You here to give me a tour? Is there some reason why you wanted to talk?"

"That depends on how I feel," Sarina said nonchalantly. "Anyways, yes. Most of the students here with me today with the exception of one are from Haven. Being around students from your former school will help you form a network of people you can rely on."

She stepped away from the wall. "Come, they're in the middle of eating. If you're lucky, there might still be pizza."

She paused. "Unless they decided to pig out," she added, chuckling at her own afterthought.

Clair let the young woman's invitation hang in the air. Sarina was looking at her, expectingly.

This girl... Who does she think she is, anyways? What's with this forced friendliness all of a sudden?

"Sorry," Clair began. "Would it be alright if I just talked with you today?"

I could really do without all of this, she thought.

The exhaustion from her last mission was still hanging over. Standing in a crowded dining hall, surrounded by strangers, bombarded by overlapping conversations - that was the last place she wanted to be.

"I've already had a busy day," she continued. "And I haven't even been to my room yet. Wouldn't this be easier if just you and I talked?"

Sarina furrowed her brow. She doesn't want to meet potential friends, she mused. To making potential allies...

She shrugged. "So be it. But remember: forming connections is crucial," she said, returning to her previous position. "You have questions? Ask away."

Sarina looked into the transfer student's eyes. This girl betrayed no emotions with her expression - indeed, she felt a kind of distance. This girl was someone like her, she thought. She wondered if they were thinking the same thing.

I didn't really think she would back off that easily, Clair thought. Kind of a relief.

She took a slow breath in and let out a sigh. "Well, first thing's first," she said. "Ozpin didn't tell me anything about it, but I know they're going to put me on a team. Did he tell you who I'm assigned with? And another thing," she continued, reaching into her bag. She pulled out her Scroll and showed Sarina the email with her room assignment.

"Any chance you could show me where this is? This place is a maze. I doubt I'll be able to get there on my own."

"Hm. Let me see," Sarina said, taking her own Scroll out of her bag. Clair watched as she dragged her finger intently along the screen.

"It appears that we are teammates," she said, without a hint of emotion.

Clair stood silent. She looked like she had just missed the punchline to a joke.

"Did you say that we're teammates?"

Sarina remained unexpressive. "Yes, we are a team. As of this moment, it is just the two of us. I can show you to my - our room, I suppose - eventually. I am almost finished with this tour."

Clair crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

So, she's my teammate. I don't know how strong she is or what her abilities are like, but if Ozpin trusts her enough to send me to her, then she has to be at least half decent.

She opened one eye, giving Sarina a quick once-over.

And I can't get a read on her personality, but it doesn't seem like she's the type to get overly attached to someone. So...

"This will probably work out," she mumbled. Sarina tilted her head in confusion.

"S-Sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to say that out loud. I'm, um, looking forward to rooming with you."

She tapped her foot as she glanced around the courtyard.

"So, um," she said after some time. "You said that you're almost done with the tour, but I just got here. Is there really that little to show me?"

This girl is most certainly an introvert, Sarina thought. I wonder if she'll show me her social side - that is, if she has one.

"There are a few more places that I plan on taking the tour group before ending at the student dorms," she said. "Since you arrived late, I can give you a tour of the places you missed, if you would like, or you can visit them on your own time."

"Wha - Tour group? That would explain why you're with all the transfer students." Clair scratched her head. "Ozpin didn't tell me you were in the middle of giving a tour. That's fine, then. So long as you tell me where to go I can catch up on everything I've missed."

Clair shuffled her feet.

"I didn't realize you were already showing people around. Sorry for imposing on you like that. I'll follow you when you're ready to head out." She paused. "But I'm not really in the mood for small talk, so you might not hear from me much until we get back to my - er, our room."

Sarina nodded. "If you insist." She glanced over at the table where the other transfer students were sitting. "It looks as though there's still some food left for you - you're welcome to have it if you like. Come along." She started off towards the dining hall but turned back to shoot Clair a look. "You need to at least make your presence known in the school," she said. Clair felt the pressure in her gaze.

She glared right back. "Easy with the evil eye, jeez. I'm coming, aren't I?"

I just can't get a read on this girl. And I'm going to be rooming with her?

Clair took one last look at the sunny courtyard outside. She took a deep breath and felt the fresh air fill her lungs.

This is going to be some school year, that's for sure.

With a final sigh, she turned to follow Sarina into the dining hall. "Alright, let's go."

Sarina gave a quiet laugh as the two of them approached the table full of transfer students. Clair stood behind Sarina as she began her formal introduction.

"I would like to introduce to you all Miss Clair Carnelian," she said, like a true tour guide. "She will be joining me as my teammate and, like most of us, also comes from Haven. You may have seen her walking around the halls."

[Lucius Cypher]

Gren Orchid

Sapphire chose not to take up Gren's offer, which was fine with him. She needed to see to her injuries anyways. Soon the team departed, even Shiro beat a hasty retreat somewhere. He was acting quite strange, but that was appropriate for Shiro. He was going to have a serious talk to him about his powers and his actions... But later. It was a long day, even for Gren, and he wanted to go and relax. So the big boar faunas took his sweet time getting back to his dorm, where he would gather his things for an afternoon of relaxation.

Sunglasses, his personal computer, a conical straw hat, and a basket full of fruit. He didn't stay at the dorm however, and left shortly after and headed towards the beacon garden. These past few days Gren was given permission to plant some flowers of his own, though all he had was a few seeds. It would take at least a month before they would begin sprouting, and with care and consideration, within six he may see them bloom out of season. He did his best to try to align their growth with the season however, not that it stopped him from glowing them in the green house in case there were complications.

Wearing his straw hat Gren filled an elephant themed watering can with water from a nearby faucet. Once full he carried it past many beautiful gardens containing various flowers and fauna handled by others. By their masterful hands they were able to arrange and organize breath-taking plants together in ways that, while not exactly "Natural", shows that not everything man-made can't be naturally amazing. And than Gren arrived to his garden.

A bare, black patch of dirt. There were some weeds growing out. It was fenced off from the other gardens, largely so the invasive plants don't crossover and take over. Carefully, the hulk of metal and flesh made his way over to each weed, digging his fingers into the dirt to pull the unwanted plants out one-by-one. He covered the hole they made with more dirt, and threw the weeds away into a bucket. Once he was finished Gren began to water his seeds.

"These begonia's are going to kick ass when they bloom."

[Abillioncats]

IC: Emerald

"OH MY GOD IT'S ADORABLE!" Shiro's outburst had caught the attention of Emmy, and the moment she saw the ferret her eyes had widened even more than they already were. Completely forgetting her conversation with Vega, she leaped out of her chair and ran up to Shiro and his furry companion. The faunus boy seemed busy banging his head against the table, that was kind of weird, but the ferret was busy BEING ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE.

"Where'd you get the ferret he's so cute!" Emmy squealed, resisting the urge to pick up the ferret and squeeze it, but only barely. The ferret seemed to be hungry though, the faunus boy didn't seem to know what to feed it, well that was silly, you fed it meat of course! Emmy nonchalantly snatched Shiro's plate of food and placed it before the ferret.

"Feed him meat silly boy!" Emmy explained, shaking her head. "How do you have such a cute little animal without knowing what to feed him?"

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Cafeteria

"Heh?" His ears swiveled as he heard a female voice shouting. Pausing his headbanging session, both he and Scoot turned toward the direction of the voice and at the same time tilted their heads in curiosity. Seeing the source, a feline Faunus girl, leaping out of her chair and sprinting her way towards them caused both of them to become alarmed. Scoot hopped onto Shiro and burrowed his way through the boy's clothing to hide. Shiro reflexively picked up his plate of food and put it behind him in a defensive posture. As the girl neared, Shiro leaned away from her as she squealed. Loudly asking where he found his new friend.

Smiling brightly, Shiro set his plate down and removed Scoot from his shirt to bring him up to Emmy's face.
"Oh, me and my team just got back from our first mission! I found this little guy while we were out there. I named him Scoot! Because he is the bestest scootinest Scoot!"
Scoot sniffed at Emmy and telepathically exclaimed "Fun!"
Grinning widely, Shiro set Scoot down on the table and was about to offer the girl the chance to hold him. But, he watched in surprise as she took his plate of food to set in front of his tiny friend. "Hey! That's mine!" Reaching towards his plate with a hand, he thought to voice his concerns but stopped. That would be a bit rude to Scoot. He didn't mind sharing some of his food, but the main issue was whether it was healthy and proper for the ferret to eat meat.

Scratching at his white ears, Shiro made a face.
"Well, you see about that. I'm not sure if meat is right for him. I don't know if ferrets are herbivores, carnivores, insectivores or omnivores. I don't want to get my little buddy sick, so I was going to look it up. But...I broke my Scroll during my mission."
As he spoke, his eyes trailed from Scoot who was sniffing at Shiro's plate, to the Faunus girl. Looking her over, he couldn't help but smile again. It was nice to see another feline-type Faunus. He hadn't seen many others of his kind during his short time here. He was beginning to think he was one of the only few at Beacon, as unlikely as that was.

[Abillioncats]

IC: Emerald

"Awww...Scoot is such a cute name! It's purrfect!" Emmy practically squealed with delight, she couldn't get enough of the cute fuzzy ferret. The ferret sniffed her, making Emmy want to reach out and pet him...

"Fun!"

Emmy looked at Scoot in surprise, had the ferret just said something to her...inside her head!? That was crazy...and awesome! She'd never met a telepathic ferret before, she'd have to tell her parents when she had a chance to call them, they probably wouldn't believe it! Shiro meanwhile was explaining how he didn't know what to feed the ferret, and that his Scroll was damaged and he couldn't look it up. Emmy patted Scoot's head as he sniffed the plate of meat, and then she patted Shiro's head, it looked like he needed it.

"Well, lucky for you I actually know quite a bit about what ferrets eat! I've seen them in the wilds near my home, they typically go after small creatures like mice, basically like cats. They're carnivores. I've also heard they can eat cat food but they prefer fresh meat." Emmy decided to get her brand new Scroll out and looked up ferrets. "Hmmm yeah, it says it here too, they're carnivores."

Emmy was glad she could be helpful, but she was starting to feel like she was forgetting something important...

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Emerald Felicia! You can call me Emmy if you want though!"

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Cafeteria

Shiro blinked a few times.
"Did...did she really just say 'purrfect'? Wow. Okay."
Shiro grinned widely and decided that he liked this girl.
"Come to think of it, I don't think I recognize her. What team is she with..."

As he looked up at no spot in particular in thought, he was surprised when she suddenly patted his head after patting Scoot's. No one had ever petted him before. It was an awkward and odd feeling. His cheeks tinged a slight pink in embarrassment as he put his hands on the top of his head and flattened his ears. The girl didn't seem to notice and went on to explain that she did indeed know what ferrets ate and even double-checked her information with a quick search on her Scroll. Turning to Scoot who was still sniffing at his plate of food, Shiro picked up the knife and fork and cut a small cube of meat and brought up to the ferret's face. Scoot plucked the meat cube off of the fork tines and began nibbling away. The small creature decided that he liked it and paused to look up at the girl and Shiro.

"Food! Good!" Scoot telepathically said as he proceeded to nibble away, stuffing his face.
Shiro smiled and turned to the girl as she introduced herself.
"Oh, right! Where are my manners? I'm Kuhaku Shiro from Team Swansong, it's a pleasure to meet you Emmy! Say, I don't think I recognize you. What team are you with? Did your team finish with your mission assignment so quickly already?"
He presented his gloved hand for her to shake. He liked Emmy, she seemed energetic and nice.

[Suku]

Ciel - A confused Rabbit
This is bad very bad was all she thought as she froze it looked like her team mates died but she was sure that Mokuren was not inside the building so It was very unlikely she was dead. "Luke if you are really alive I want you to punch me" she stated it was finally dawning on her that this might not be reality and if it wasn't she knew that it would haunt her. Letting Byakko drop and rest on her shoulder she waited either "Luke" would scream something again and punch her or stay quiet. If he stayed quiet she would know that he was dead and than she would act as of right now she was practically fighting every instinct that told her to act.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Lucas Schwarz -- Flabbergasted

What did she just say?

"P-"

"Punch you?!" he repeated dumbfoundedly, skidding to a halt not halfway from Morgan. Looking at his teammate as though she'd grown three heads, he turned halfway towards her, keeping the enemy still in his peripheral vision.

"Are you sure?" He asked, preemptively deactivating one of his gauntlets. Didn't he have a Lieutenant to be punching instead? What could possibly--

Wait.

It all dawned on him at once, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. The simple beauty of Ciel's plan! An actual masterstroke, even under such confusing trials! And yet also so simple, he was kicking himself for not thinking of it already.

The order relied on exploiting the key differences in the illusions she was perceiving, and reality. What the illusion was causing her to perceive was that he was dead, which was simple enough. The Caster herself had clued him into that. However, that perception was brought into question by his own outburst moments later, a direct contradiction to Morgan's intentions. What she had perceived as reality had suddenly turned into one big question mark.

Now, ordering his "dead" body to move-- what would in normal circumstances be a sad display of an unwillingness to accept his death would actually serve as the turning point as to whether or not they broke through the tinted lens placed over Ciel's eyes.

That is, it put Morgan into a lose-lose situation. Illusions were only that. Illusions. They had no weight nor mass behind them, so if his "stand-in" complied with the order, she would be punched by nothing but air, especially something that had just been assumedly shown to be dead.

Enough for anyone to catch on. Now, if I myself were to run in and punch her, whatever I appear to be is now speaking with my voice and is following orders directed at me flawlessly. It can also punch her just like I can, thus proving that the illusory me is in fact, neither dead nor real, along with adding a jolt of pain to her nervous system. Proving the illusion wrong and adding a jolting, sudden stimulus to the nervous system, forcing it to break concentration. A combination that will always shatter a misguided perception of reality.

In other words, the jig is up no matter what happens.

"All right. Sorry, but you asked for it, Ciel! Here I come!" he shouted, sprinting towards her as if she'd taken his lunch money. Cocking that same unarmored fist back, he thanked her for placing such trust in him during desperate times...

And uncorked a half-powered punch straight into her bellybutton. Not hard enough to severely hurt her, but just enough for her to feel it, without any doubt.

He grimaced as he felt it connect.

Again, she asked for it. But that didn't make having to "turn on" a teammate the most enjoyable of prospects.

Sorry.

[Abillioncats]

IC: Emerald

"Well I don't actually have a team yet..." Emmy scratched the back of her head, fidgeting. "I just transfered from Haven, I always wanted to go to Beacon see, but I couldn't afford to actually get here...but the student exchange program took care of that!" She gave a thumbs up along with a big grin on her face. "Ozpin said he'd find me a team in the next day or two, so no worries there!"

"But enough about me! What about you? What is your team like? What is your semblance? What weapons do you use? How was your mission? Was it full of danger!? Was it scary!? Did you beat up Grimm and bad guys!? Did you remember to brush your teeth afterwards!? Huh?!?" Emmy shot whatever questions she could think of as fast as her mouth could handle, which was actually quite a lot.

[Ookawa]

Skyra Dawn, Patrol Mission

Skyra threw both girls a quick smirk. "Good girl.", she exclaimed nodding and then proceeded to follow Ebon who already was a couple of yards ahead of her.
After the girls were out of view, Skyra sighed. Once more she successfully avoided killing somebody without being hurt herself. She definitely counted this as an achievement worth striving for.

Not much later, the Horn of Plenty made itself known to Skyra's nose. She absolutely hated that place. Not because of the commotion or anything, no. It was the crazy amount of smells that bothered her. One or two different meals would be bearable, but not this many. A quick guess trying to differentiate between different odours brought up at least ten to fifteen completely different meals, all of those biting each other.

She saw the police band long before the police spotted the two hunters.
Burglary, eh? Doesn't seem that special from here. She retracted that thought as soon as the police officer contacted them.
"Aye. What seems to be the problem, sir?"

[Lugubrious]

Abel Fulgurate

A raised eyebrow greeted Robert's request. Out of everything, he wanted to focus on the ferret? The scruffy little critter and its single-track mind hadn't made much of an impression on Abel, but he couldn't help but admit that the horrible thing was at least adorably horrible. It would be a little while before anyone could stand it enough to figure out its true potential, and was therefore a perfect fit for Shiro. That, the guardian mused, or it was simply a mindless animal with special abilities. Yikes—unfortunate implications indeed, if he'd have been shortsighted enough to say it aloud.

“Well, it's small, and mostly gray. It's got dark coloring around its eyes, so it looks like it's wearing a superhero mask. Its teeth stick out slightly, and it's kinda ragged. Definitely not as sleek as normal ferrets. But it's just as stretchy, like most are. You ever hold one? They're like furry slinkies. This one had a lot of aura, even had a semblance. He could speak into our brains, but he's as dumb as any other ferret, so all it said was 'food' and 'fun'. Shiro loved him, named him Scoot 'cause when he moves around on the ground it looks like he's sliding, I guess. Sapph hates him though, because he's nice.” Abel noticed that he'd transitioned to calling Scoot 'he' rather than 'it' halfway through his explanation. Was the critter growing on him already? Abel shrugged. As long as it didn't nip him, he supposed he could pet it now and again.

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Cafeteria

Shiro lowered his hand as he tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow. "You're a transfer student from Haven? Oh, cool. What's Haven l-" Before Shiro could finish his question, Emmy went fully-automatic with a slew of rapid-fire questions. With each question she asked, his smile broke out into a wider and wider growing grin as his eyes began to practically sparkle with bursting stars. "This gal can definitely be my friend." Motivated by her enthusiasm and energy, he could feel his own feverish energy levels rising as well. Leaning in, he answered her questions in no particular order but with the same talkative speed and ardor.

"Oh, like I said I'm with Team Swansong. I have two other teammates Abel and Gren who are pretty swell guys! Abel has this lightning Semblance and Gren, who is a Boar Faunus, has this 'sticky' Semblance. Our team leader is Sapphire and she...Well, enough about her. I have a sword and shield that combine into giant axe! My mission- Well, some parts were pretty fun! Pretty dangerous but exciting! I did beat up...something." He looked away and scratched at his head, unsure of how to categorize the massive lizard he and his other friends fought against. Cocking an eyebrow, he couldn't help but break out into laughter at her dental hygiene question. "Ha ha! No, I didn't brush my teeth afterward! I don't know why that would be a thing. But, my Semblance is pretty cool too, want to see?!" Leaping up onto the cafeteria table, Shiro stood and began to slowly suck in a large volume of air. As he did, his golden-brown eyes 'froze' over and took on their glowing icy-blue hue. Black streaks 'burned' onto parts of his hair, face, and tail. Lungs filled to capacity, he was just about to unleash the full force of his Semblance's ability but stopped and held his breath.

Looking 'round the cafeteria, he slowly exhaled as his chest deflated. Though the dining hall was sparsely populated, he was certain that it wasn't very wise to just suddenly unleash his power upon the few poor unsuspecting students that were eating. Not to mention the faculty and his team leader wouldn't like hearing about this. Nervously laughing, he hopped off of the cafeteria table and took his seat. Scratching his head again, he figured that somewhere else at some other time would be better to show off. "Uh, sorry. Maybe I can show you later outside or something." As he calmed down and pulled himself back, he posed some of the same questions back to Emmy. "What about you? What was Haven like? What are your weapons and Semblance?"

[Abillioncats]

IC: Emerald

Emerald's eyes widened in curiosity about Shiro's semblance, but it seemed like she'd have to found out another time. Shiro's team sounded really cool! She wanted to meet them if she could! She hoped she'd get a team that sounded as cool as Shiro's Swansong!

With that out of the way, Shiro decided to turn the questions around on her. It was very sneaky of him, but Emmy was prepared! She gave Scoot another pat on the head as she took in a breath.

"Haven is a decent academy, not quite as famous as Beacon but it wasn't a bad school. I wasn't there for very long though, I got transferred to here pretty quickly." Emmy wasn't sure what else to say about Haven, quite frankly she was far more excited about the school she was currently in, shivers went up her body just thinking about how she was actually in Beacon! How lucky could she get? The next question however, she was very happy to answer.

"My weapons are pretty awesome! They're semi-automatic shotguns! They attach to my arms and blow stuff up! I call them Shock and Awe." She giggled. "They also combine into a giant cannon that turns most things into craters..." Was she forgetting anything? Oh right! Her semblance!

"Now my semblance is...well it's easier just to show you." Emmy focused, her face becoming serious for a moment as she concentrated. Soon the air around Shiro began to twirl around him, faster and faster till his hair and clothes started to blow back and forth as the wind picked up speed.

[Crimmy]

Gratia Mindaro - Cafeteria

"Hey hey hey~ ... shut the fuck up."

The atmosphere had changed. Gratia's eyes were creased. Her smile was lopsided, bearing the merest of hints of her gleaming white teeth. Her head was tilted slightly, expressing unwavering was she gazed at Emerald and Shiro. The air seemed to be heavy, tense ... draining. And it was extremely evident that the young Huntress was impeccably annoyed by the disturbance brought about by the entrance of the latter Faunus into the cafeteria. Her slice of pizza seemed to shrivel in her left hand. The draining feeling continued to intensify.

"I would utterly love to consume the flesh of my meal with no interruptions," she spoke, tone eerily more casual than it had been earlier. "But I do have to wonder; when the fuck did you cunts turn this place into a fucking zoo?"

The atmosphere changed back.

She took a bite of the slice. It disappeared down her gullet. It was gone. Utterly gone, soon to be converted into nutrients that provided her body with power. Utterly gone like she wanted all the fucking shit happening to be. She wanted to find where they were going to fucking stay, fix up her fucking music player, and get to doing something that wasn't sitting around eating pizza.

It was good pizza though, she could admit.

[Agent B52]

Marcus Goldstein - Convoy Escort Operation Enduring Clusterfuck

Marcus remained the very picture of calm as he heard the guard complain. The man unwittingly neatly summed up the reasons why negotiations were left to MODA. Even as Oswald and Diamond practically exploded, Marcus remained impassive. The only hint towards his feelings was that the cannon reorientated to point harmlessly at the sky, away from the entrance. Marcus guessed these Faunus were in fact nomads, presumably promised the world if they operated the mine. Of course, once the mine was actually staffed, the Schnee company simply moved in a bunch of guards with modern weaponry and that was that.

Detestable, for more than one reason. So, now to fix this.

First off the guards.

“Gentlemen. Stand down, and that is now an order. You are correct that if the miners have no way out they will in fact fight like cornered animals. So I intend to give them one, as I can do per Vale's laws regarding hunter operations. If you want I can recite the exact relevant sections later. Second, you have a Magnalux Type 73 radio here. I need it's parabolic antenna. I also require a direct line to your generator. This is for a counter to the bugs.” he barked out briefly.

He spotted Oswald disarming and registered the implied threat in the swordsman's words.

“Oswald, one second, take these.” he called out before the swordsman made for the cave. Marcus reached out and pressed the quick-release on one of the larger storage boxes in the bustle rack.

“Medicinal kits. Second-” Marcus turned around and popped the lid off another box.

“Food supplies. Originally for about a dozen people for three weeks, but just take all of it. Mostly canned goods and powders, not very tasty but it nourishes.” he explained. Thankfully he was paranoid enough to anticipate that MODA and the convoy might be stuck without resupply for three weeks. A better decision than taking all the Arctic gear, that was for sure.

“Lastly, this is for their leader.” Marcus said and held out his entire note-block. While he had unclipped the various lids, his off hand had hastily written a reply note.

By 'Fat Human' I presume you mean mister Rice, who has run away. Whatever accord you may have had with him, you will have to reach a new one with me. I will be frank here:

I need the jamming stopped now before the bugs return. I can produce a weapon that will kill the bugs but it will only work if the jamming stops. I cannot save anyone if it is not stopped. One way or another, it will stop.

I want to spare as many lives as I can. As a token of goodwill this food, medicine, pen and paper is yours to keep. Please, do not force my hand. Enough blood has been shed.

We have roughly half an hour to an hour before another attack comes. Once that wave is defeated I intend to transport everyone out of here. Should you desire to go somewhere other than Vale, you are free to go. Once you have cleared out, I intend to hunt down whomever controls the bugs.

I am open to an alternative solutions, however the jammer still needs to stop. That is not negotiable.

Tm. Ldr. Marcus Goldstein

Now then, to finish it all off, the guards needed to be placated. Marcus could practically smell their festering anger.

“As for you guardsmen, the same goes. Those who are not busy with that antenna, I have food and first aid for you. The deaths stop now.” he said. It was as simple and direct as he could be while remaining polite.

[Lucius Cypher]

Gren Orchid

Gren spent some time at his garden, but after watering it there wasn't much else to do. He double checked his messages to see if he got anything new (He didn't) and made sure that none of the other gardens around caught any diseases that could spread to his flowers. He was basically done at his garden, which left him a lot of time to do... Anything. "Well... I guess I need to find Shiro."

He was going to put it off at first, but now would be the best time for Gren to at least mention to Shiro things he needs to fix for the team as far as temperament. He took out his SCROLL to call Shiro, but he got a dead line. Wondering why Shiro had his phone off, Gren then remembered that it was destroyed. For some reason Shiro crushed his phone in a fit of rage back at the island. Sighing, Gren figured that Shiro was still at the docks last he saw him. Or perhaps he moved back to the dorms. Either way, Gren was going to head back to the dorms to get Shiro one of his spare phones.

Back at the dorms Gren looked around. It certainly seemed like Shiro was here, though perhaps that was just the chaotic nature of his side of the room. It occasionally shifted and fluxed on it's own, like a natural entity. He chuckled to himself and debated if he should stay and clean but, but he refrained. He knew that for some people, what they perceive as a "Mess" was just their way of organizing their belongings. Gren would at least wait until he had Shiro before he made him clean up his room. For now Gren put away most of his misc gear. But while he was here he also went to his person computer. Gren chose to remove his bed and instead got himself a nice set up for his computer. It was quite massive, with his keyboard, mouse, and monitor build into the rig, but despite it's bulk it was quite advanced. This was certainly no civilian terminal. Gren didn't even turn it on, but instead looked around.

He knew Sapphire had a semblance that allowed her to go undetected, so Gren was careful to reveal his actions even in the privacy of the dorm. "Sapphire, I know you're here, and I don't want you to tell anyone what you're about to see. It's very embarrassing and I don't want to talk about it." he said out loud. On the off chance that Sapphire was here then Gren could at least say he asked her not to mention what he was going to do. And if she wasn't, than no one will know.

Removing his gauntlet Gren revealed what looked to be his hand. Green, like his skin, and fleshy like most people. It felt calloused and leathery however, signs that it has seen much hard work. And than Gren began to peel the skin off like a glove, revealing a red ichor. What people may believe to be blood was actually just a colored adhesive that helps insulate and keep Gren's flesh attached to his body. Because underneath his flesh was a thick mess of subdermal armor, biotic muscle, and wires. Gren rooted around in his arm until he felt a smooth button, and when he clicked it a small chip popped out of his forearm. A microchip that contained a bit of information he had gathered today, which essentially meant everything he perceived since he started the mission, as well as everything he took from the security videos. He saved this information onto his computer, which all he needed to do was insert the chip into the computer and let it run. His machine buzzed to live despite the monitor being off, as Gren knew he needed to do nothing else except get the chip later. Putting the flesh back onto his hand Gren slid his gauntlet back on and left the dorm.

Trying to put off lecturing Shiro about the virtues of restraint, Gren decided to head to the cafeteria to whip himself up something to eat. After the mission was over he was in the mood for something sweet and chocolatey.

"I would utterly love to consume the flesh of my meal with no interruptions, but I do have to wonder; when the fuck did you cunts turn this place into a fucking zoo?

A deep sigh left Gren's mouth. His work is never done. Gren looked at the huntress who said the venomous words and noticed Shiro not too far away. With him was Scoot the ferret and another faunas. Gren made a mental note. "Seems like Shiro managed to find himself some pussy. I wonder if this other bitch wants his tiger bone too." He chuckled to himself about the vulgar thoughts in his head, but he put those aside for the matter at hand. He approached Shiro and the company he kept, making himself known if he already didn't.

"If you have a problem with my friends here, you're in the wrong place."

Caravan Mission

The head guard looked at Team MODA with disdain. He didn't like what they were doing. But like it or not, they were the only hopes he had to get out of here. The other guards looked uneasy, uncertain of who's orders to follow. Technically they only answered to the Schnee Company, and by extension whoever put they put in charge. But most of them just wanted to get out of here and hoped that Marcus knew what he was doing. the ultimatum was reached when the head guard barked out.

"Well? What are you waiting for? You heard him! Go find what's left of the radio and see if the generator is still operational! Any of you who needs to band aids, food, or to finally take a shit go and do so. We're not out of the woods yet so don't take your sweet time! And keep and eye on the skies and around the camp. I want someone ready to start shouting when you see trouble."

The guardsmen scrambled to do as the guard said. He was going to go help some of his men work the generator before he turned to Marcus. "We're putting our lives in your hands now, Hunters. If we die we're going to haunt you and your family!" He than ran off to help some of his men repair the generator.

As Oswald approached the two faunas, the male stood up holding the girl close to his chest. He let Oswald take the letter, but he looked ready to slug the hunter too. The fear in his eyes were mixed with rage, and if he wasn't defenseless he might have been foolish enough to lead an all out attack. But for not he simply held the girl in his arms and made sure Oswald didn't get close to the cave. That's when the girl spoke. Between hiccups she tried to convey a message in broken sentences.

"I... I do. And grandma. A-and..."

The girl seemed to about to have a heart attack, but the man cooed her. He began to sing softly into her ear, which at least managed to get her to stop crying long enough to say a full sentence.

"I bring you to her."

The male faunas growled something in their native tongue, but the girl spoke back. Her ear began to bleed again and she was growing faint. And while the man tried to help her up she pushed him away. She said something else and sat down. The male faunas growled at Oswald but began to back into the cave. "Follow him. He take you to grandma. I stay here..." The male faunas was obviously have second thoughts about leaving the girl here, but when he tried to get closer she just looked at him. He teared up and turned, walking back into the cave expecting Oswald to follow him. She just smiled at Oswald. "I will okay. I will live."

Patrol Mission

The officer bowed her head to Skyra and Ebon as they approached, then briefed the two on the situation. "I got a call from the higher-ups to get your attention if you showed up here. This is one of the shops that got hit by these recent strings of robberies, Headlight Fluid. A car shop and gas station. Like the last few robberies no money was taken, just food. However manager also notes that some of their other products were stolen, such as wiper juice, spark plugs, and of course Headlight Fluid. We haven't been able to send a forensic team yet since most are still working cases at other locations, but my bosses says that you guys are allowed to look around as long as you don't take anything."

And with that the officer allowed the two hunters to take a look around. Normally most officers would question letting teenagers take a look at a crime scene, but they were putting a lot of faith in the hunters. Plus they could always use a fresh pair of eyes who could look for anything, instead of a seasoned set that instinctively look for what's familiar.

At the Land of Walt one of the Knights laughed heartily, shaking his head. "No trouble at all lass. We just heard a commotion and thought someone was getting angry at the Ursa game again. You'd think for a game you can play for free and get ice cream for just trying wouldn't anger people so much, but alas..." The other knight who had told Sepia the hint to hit 100% with the bear than spoke out. "Say, shouldn't you huntresses be in school? What brings you over to the Land of Walt today? You're not skipping are you?" It wouldn't be the first time they had kids from Beacon skip school to come to the Land of Walt. Most of the time the knights just write a report and hand it to Beacon, so long as the hunters don't cause any trouble.

[Guess Who]

Robert Fallson - Beacon Infirmary

Robert quietly listened to Abel without interrupting him. When Abel mentioned that Scoot had a semblance, he eyed the guardian quizzically. After he finished speaking, Robert replied with a few qustions, “Wait he has a semblance? Animals can have semblances? How long has this been a thing?” The next question he asked was at a barely audible whisper since he was more asking himself than Abel, “How can an animal have a semblance but I’ve got nothing?” Suddenly Robert got an idea in his head. He looked over at Greyson who still lay quietly on the infirmary bed. He certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and now that Robert thought about it, he didn’t want to be here when the awkward topic of Greyson’s confession from today’s mission was brought up. Turning back to Abel he asked one final question, “Mind if I see it? I’ve never seen a ferret before, especially one with a semblance.”

Ciel and Luke vs Morgan

“Nooooooo!” Morgan screamed after Ciel told Luke her plan. She had gotten cocky and arrogant, now everything was about to come apart because of that. All Morgan could do now was try to keep the illusion up as long as possible, causing Ciel to see a large Ursa Major curl its paw into a fist and try to punch her in the chest. The illusion broke on impact and everything returned to normal. Morgan watched in shock as she realized the odds of her defeating these two Beacon students on her own. She threw her arms in the air and shouted, “I surrender! Please don’t hurt me!”