[IC] Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

[Lady Seraphina]

Sapphire Rode - Infirmary

Sapphire sat on the bed and listened to Abel and Robert talk as Greyson and Daniel started up a game of cheat. Priscilla was noticeable compared to the way Sapphire had seen her all week. Listening to the conversation it was rather easy to guess what had happened. Robert and Priscilla were an item on campus it was pretty obvious to everyone even if they'd yet to officially declare themselves a couple. Sapphire heard Greyson request that Daniel not comment on Robert or Priscilla before their card game began.

The awkward team team dynamic that had developed was not exactly difficult to deduce. Greyson was pretty seriously wounded if that had happened on the mission and he was still conscious and believed himself a deadman he'd more then likely confess truths that he'd otherwise wish to keep to himself. If he didn't want to talk to either Priscilla or Robert then it was undoubtedly about them and if they were feeling too awkward to talk to him then it wasn't a throw away comment. Chances were good that Greyson had professed some sort of romantic interest in Priscilla thinking he would die. Now that he was perfectly alright friction had developed between the team members.

This Sapphire read in a couple minutes of watching but it was neither her business nor something that overly interested her. Sapphire stood up from her bed. She didn't like the infirmary and since her wounds had been stitched there was no reason she needed to stay. The azure haired girl heaved herself off the bed and walked up to Robert. "Just be glad your room doesn't have a ferret. They get into everything and aren't picky about where they leave there droppings. Plus it has a fondness for the word 'food' and never stops shouting it in your head. Abel, I'm taking off. The armoury should have a temporary replacement for my lost weapons until I can have them reforged."

Sapphire was about to leave when on whim she walked up to the boys playing cards. "Good luck with the girl trouble Greyson, it doesn't get simpler from here." she said with a hint of a wicked smile before exiting the room. The various lacerations on Sapphire's body twinged slightly but as long as she kept them upright and didn't twist too much they were fine. Besides with accelerated healing via her aura she'd heal over the weak end.

The armoury had a vast store of available weapons for the students to borrow. Some were quite simple and others amazingly complicated. The more complex ones required a great deal of paperwork to utilize so Sapphire was content with finding something similar to her mother's daggers in size and shape even if they might lack the extra features entailed there.

The anelaces Sapphire found in the armoury were perhaps two inches longer then the ones she was used to wielding. That and the fact that she now had to draw them from a scabbard would take some getting used to. After signing the weapons out of the armoury Sapphire decided to drop by the training hall to train with them. They'd likely been used by countless students and she wanted to test there metal.

Sapphire had told Gren she wanted to return to Beacon and lick her wounds but the truth was she'd wanted to be finished with the entire shelter affair. Too many decisions to be made and not enough battles to be fought. It was wearisome. Not least of which was having to corral Shiro's actions. She only wished she'd thrown the ferret into the water rather then the floor of the boat.

When Sapphire arrived at the training hall she was met with an interesting if slightly gruesome sight. Oswald, the boy she'd fought against in the first day of training was there and he was punching a sandbag until his knuckles split and his hands bled. It was a bad habit among those that trained really hard when they got angry. It hadn't been uncommon for Sapphire to see her brother do the same thing. At least until she was seven. She didn't see him at all after that.

As Oswald repaired the minor abrasions on his knuckles with aura and started to wipe his blood off the sandbag Sapphire walked over to him. She made sure her footsteps echoed across the floor so that he'd know she was coming even though she was perfectly capable of going completely silent. When she was within a few feet she looked the sandbag up and down and turned to Oswald. "It had you on the ropes there for awhile but I think you showed it who's boss."

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz--Really?

That increasingly familiar flattened crease of the mouth returned, as the reactionary hunter's expression once again became an unamused grimace. What was the point of stubbornly rebuffing him like that? She definitely did count as gone, after all. She'd had to retreat, and thusly remove herself from the situation and location they were all in: Infiltrating the casino. Why deny that? It was her fault she'd went and blown her own cover...

Despite his multitude of complaints at such flippant treatment, he withheld them and simply shrugged it off. He really didn't feel like pressing the argument right now, anyway. Call it an inkling of a feeling, but he was pretty sure it would just go in circles anyway, no matter what points he'd try to make. It wasn't worth the effort.

What an odd, troublesome teammate.

Leaning his head back against the seat, he closed his eyes and tried to sink into the cushioning, allowing his mind to wander as he waited for takeoff.

Mom's gonna have a fun time hearing about this.

Heh. Bet her first mission didn't get this crazy.

Not that it mattered.

[Lucius Cypher]

SKYRA & EBON COLLAB!

The inside of Headlight Fluid was a mess. Glass shards were everywhere, and metal pipes were scattered about or peirced through some of the shelving and walls. As the officer said, most of the foodstuff were taken, as well as some car supplies. The register was untouched and in fact it looked as though the destruction was limited only to the food area and car supplies. There was a knocked over ATM, but that seemed to be more like colateral damage from the break in rather than the target. Aside from being knocked over, it was undamaged and still operational.

"They didn't take any money whatsoever...", Skyra mumbled. It didn't really make much sense to her. Why would you rob a shop and not take the money as well? She turned around to the officer.

"Do you know what items are missing?"

The officer came over and handed Skyra a list of the objects taken. Just about all of it were various types of snack foods, from chips and soda to pastries and canned chilli. Seemed like most of the stuff found on the shelves and floor were taken. Notably, the drinks in the refrigerator section was largely untouched. Additionally there were the car supplies, but there were only a specific few taken. "Had the owner help us catalog what went missing. Just like all the other robberies, just food, left behind the money. Admittedly it's strange to me as well. We also found pipes and bike chains everywhere, but that's nothing new."

As soon as he entered the gas station Ebon let his R-Types out and scanned the area. Instead of using his Arrowheads however, he had a different type of R-Type released: The Midnight Eye, a recon R-Type. He gave them the orders to look around and report back anything of note. Though since he was rather vague with what counted "Of note", the R-Types started to scan everything. It was going to take them some time.

"We should call the others and see what they've found out so far."

Skyra scratched her chin.
"It does sound like a pretty good idea. Maybe we'll get some leads from them."
Although she said that, she still crawled further into the place almost stumbling over one of the pipes.
"This is... strange. Why would you leave pipes and chains at the crime scene, but take the food, which is worth less...", Skyra wondered out loud. Gingerly she picked up one of the smaller pipes. To Skyra, who didn't really have any prior experience with such things, they looked like normal, ordinary pipes.

As Skyra looked at the pipes, she may notice oil stains on it. It was only a little bit and almost translucent, but after being left on the ground for so long it harden and glossed over itself. Skyra would also note that the pipes were quite light; they were not lead pipes but PVC pipes. Ebon's R-Types would also find a similar oil on the bike chains. And underneath all the debris there was something else; black marks. They were hard to notice on the grey floor, but Ebon's R-Types would pick them up as an outside anomaly; it wasn't part of the floor.

"Oil?", Skyra murmured. That seemed strange. Why have oil on a PVC pipe, it didn't make sense to her.
"Officer, do you have any idea what this oil may be?"

The officer looked over at the pipe that Skyra had. She wasn't entirely certain either seeing that it was so small, but the smell was familiar. "Um... I think this is engine oil. No! It's gun oil! That's what it is. I can smell it. It's an oil you put on your gun to keep it lubercated and such. These pipes must have been shot out from a big gun or something." That was the officer's guess. Surely they couldn't have just been thrown in here, so it made some sense that they were launched out. But what sort of gun shoots pipes?

Guns shooting pipes? That seemed ridiculous, even to Skyra.
[color=F02100]"Why would you even shoot pipes?"]/color], she exclaimed with a hand to her forehead. She really hoped that maybe Ebon had any ideas about this, as she was completely at a loss.

"Because they're spare parts." Ebon looked at the pipes and took note of any brand or markings on them that would allow him to get the identify of their makers. Ebon looked down at the black marks on the floor after the R-Types alerted him about it. It wasn't like the oil on the pipes, so Ebon tried to get a sample and figure out what it was. "Who ever attacks the shops lack proper weapons, but access to these pipes and chains. Maybe they think if they use these they'll be harder to trace back than with just a simple weapon. But they're wrong."

Skyra glanced up from the pipes to Ebon.
"You have an idea? You can trace it? ", she inquired.

From Ebon's observations he could make out the name "Pipe Pain" on some of the pipes. It was a defunct pipe factory that went under due to trying to sell their pipes on the military market, claiming them to be stronger and lighter than the commercial brand. While it was indeed stronger and lighter, it was only by a small amount which was far too much for the price they were trying to sell it for. They could be found at the edge of the Square Garden.

As for the marks on the ground it was essentially burnt rubber, like that of a wheel. One of his R-Types would also pick up another mark, but this one had a much more defined detail. One thing his machines would pick up; it wasn't a motorcycle.

"Yeah. Pipe Pain, an old factory on the edge of Square Garden. And these marks... Tire marks. Motorcycles maybe. Or more likely..." Looking outside Ebon glared at a something standing in the corner. "Robots. I don't know their armament, but I'd imagine they have some sort of propulsion weapon on their person. That could explain how they shot the pipes out. I'm certain the chains are just extra parts they had to throw around, since their only objective was the break into the windows. As for why they want to rob these stores... Who knows. But we could figure that out later." Ebon slammed his shield against the ground and called the R-Types back into The Kingdom. He took out his Scroll and called for Krysanthe and Sepia. They needed to know what they discovered.

Skyra stood behind Ebon to be picked up by his scroll's video camera as they reported their findings to their team leader and Sepia.
"So, Ebon suggests we all head to Square Garden, then. You with us?"

@Eklispe@SevenStormStyle@PyroDash888@Ryonara

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Beacon Gardens

Outside of combat, Shiro severely lacked his usual grace and focus. Only in the intense adrenaline-inducing moments of battle did his true ability bloom. Any other time? He was about as clumsy as a newborn cub. After bolting out of the cafeteria in his perilous sprint to get away from a potentially bad situation, he only served to cause more mayhem. His heightened Faunus senses amounted to nothing as he would constantly look back to see if anyone gave chase, slamming into the few Beacon Huntsmen-in-train roaming the barren hallways and generally disturbing the peace. Recovering shortly after bumping into one student, he would stumble and move onto the next poor sap in the chain combo of disaster and ruin. Practically bulldozing any and every unsuspecting person in his warpath. Those who were wiser and already knew of Shiro's reputation as a derailed crazy train knew to give him a wide berth and were able to avoid the chaos that followed him.

"Hey!" One student would exclaim after being spun 180 degrees on the spot.
"Sorry!"
"Woah!" Another student after being flipped like a pancake.
"Pardon me!"
"Oof!" Yet another Huntsman body-slammed into a wall.
"Excuse me!"

Kuhaku Shiro everyone. The tiger-boy bowling ball. As he shook his head in his sprint, a single thought broke through in a brief flash of clarity. "Outside! Outside! Outside! I need to get outside!" Throughout all of this bedlam, Scoot had impressively clung onto Shiro's clothing. Though, the poor thing was starting to get sick after being jostled about to and fro. "Fun! Fun!" Either Scoot had mild brain trauma or was just innately twisted, the terrible creature still found the events to be enjoyable. Straining, Shiro attempted to clear his tunnel-vision just in time to see a way out. An open door leading to the grounds just outside of Beacon proper offered the Tiger Faunus a window of opportunity. Salvation, if you would. At a nearly 90 sharp angle, Shiro shifted gears and practically drifted his way outside after blowing through a group of friends. Once Shiro got to moving, it was always difficult for him to stop which included his word vomitous trap of a mouth.

Smashing through to the outside world, he quickly found himself out in the Gardens on the school's grounds. Certain that no one was chasing after him after his mishap at the dining hall, he was able to slow down. Tail standing on end and with ears perked, he peered behind and around him as his chest heaved panting. Sucking in deep gulps of air and coated in a thin sheen of nervous sweat, the outside air and earthy smell of nature helped him to calm down some more. Sighing heavily, Shiro let his body collapse in the grass to take a break. Not that he was tired, but more so relieved that no one else was around. Scoot hilariously staggered away from the boy to collapse alongside him, dizzied almost drunkenly so. Poor thing. Though a few students got violently and rudely introduced to Kuhaku Shiro, Scoot had to be the one driving passenger side. Being able to relax, Shiro couldn't help but let escape a laugh upon laying eyes on the ferret. Comfortable in the dirt and grass, Shiro decided that he wouldn't be moving and turned over to lay on his back and bask in the sun's rays for a moment.

"Phew...That was close. I was sure someone was going to yoke me up."
Scoot lay unresponsive, the world still spinning with bursting stars in his vision.
Stretching, the light jog wore him out more than he thought it would. Or rather, was it perhaps the stress from his morally challenging first mission as a Hunter finally catching up with him? He didn't really know, nor did he care. The mission was over with and therefore out of his mind for now. Placing his gloved hands behind his head as a pillow, he gazed at the skies above wondering what he should do next. His original plan was to fill his belly and maybe continue his workout regimen. To shower afterward and maybe take a leisurely stroll throughout the nearby town.

"No, wait. That's not right.."
Sapphire's daggers!
Bolting upright in a sitting position amongst the flowers, the memory hit him like a pile of bricks.
"Sapphire!"
But, what could he do? He still had no plan as to even locate much less retrieve his leader's weapons.
Frowning, he rested the elbow of one arm on the other as he grabbed at his chin in deep thought.
"...Nada."
Letting his upper back fall back onto the soft grass, he puffed out his cheeks in frustration. Zilch being the results of the 10-seconds of 'deep thought'. No plan to show for it.
Deflating his cheeks, he sprawled his body outward on the ground and pondered some more.
"Well, the weekend is coming up soon. I guess I could add cliff-diving and rock climbing to my list of things to do."
Shiro turned to Scoot and posed to ask the ferret his opinion. But, alas. The rodent was still recovering, while Shiro's energy tanks already recovered to capacity.
"Nevermind. Maybe after a nap in the sun and I can come up with a brilliant plan. Yeah, THAT sounds real good right about now."

Content with his decision, he felt all the weight and burden on his thin frame being lifted. His simple mind blissfully allowing him peace and rest for now as he quickly found himself dozing off in the warm, radiant glow of the sun. Within a minute, Shiro was out cold amongst the flora of Beacon's gardens. Snoozing softly, partially concealed by the abundant flowers a stupid smile on his face.

[Lugubrious]

Reports. They were hardly Ozpin's favorite part of the day -in fact, they lay fairly close to the opposite end of the spectrum- but, like most bureaucracy, they were a necessary evil. These reports, however, did hold a speck of interest for Beacon's headmaster. Perhaps it had been a mistake to allow first-years to perform such non-standard missions, but personally Ozpin thought that remarkable situations afforded remarkable growth. Still...a disturbing amount of these missions had involved the White Fang, in one way or another. Had the terrorist group truly become such a dominant and wide-spread force that they more often than not worked their way into whatever jobs the school could find? It was an alarming prospect. A brutal attack on a peaceful protest, barely averted. A potentially disastrous procedure, confiscated and prevented. Worst of all, a bloody and thoughtless massacre that left a permanent wound in team MODA. Yes, Ozpin decided: the missions would need to be scaled back. More analysis of the situation at hand, more Grimm fighting in general, and fewer human conflicts. Aurellius, for instance, would have to be transferred; lucky that a suitable replacement was on hand to fill his spot in MODA.

Ozpin breathed a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair, allowing him a moment's respite. What was he world coming to? Did the Kingdoms really need the Grimm to be torn apart? Or would they do it to themselves, deterioration over time, a slow poison they absently injected into themselves?

-=-=-

Two days passed. For some, it was a time of celebration, gaming, talking, and getting to know one another. For others it was a hurtful healing procedure of the body, and still others suffered their less visible wounds, those on the mind, untreated. Over the intercom, Ozpin had made it clear that if it was necessary to bring in a psychological therapist, the students should let him know. Regardless of how it was spent, Beacon's was an interesting first weekend, but it had yet to fully conclude.

The late afternoon sun smiled down on the earth, seldom obscured by the few wandering clouds. Tonight, the students would be allowed to 'hit the town', as the saying went. Right now, most were in their rooms, but that would soon change. The city beneath the clifftop academy would soon find itself stuffed wih students, eager to watch movies, visit arcades, go shopping, or simply hang out and enjoy the dual pleasures of life and youth whilst they were still afforded to them.

It promised to be an auspicious evening. With classes looming on the morrow, every thought was to make these hours count.

[MULTI_MEDIA_MAN]

The Ship Sets Sail

Oswald Connolly and Sapphire Rode- Training Hall

Turning to Sapphire, Oswald let out a hearty laugh. "You need glasses. I was clearly in charge of the fight the whole time. Until that sneaky bag knocked me on my face." He gave his knuckles a gentle rub and shook his head. "Bad habit, I know. Mission went to shit the second it really started. How'd yours go?"

Sapphire sighed. Her mission had not exactly gone as well as she would have liked but looking at the way Oswald attacked the sandbag it had clearly gone better then his. The doctor had told her not to speak because of the damage Pop may have done to her vocal cords but Sapphire decided that her aura would compensate.

"Twelve stitches in various points on my back, three of which are courtesy of Shiro's uncontrolled enthusiasm. Bruises over both my collar bones. Mildly bruised vocal cords and Shiro managed to lose my..." Sapphire gestured at the leather bands on her wrists that normally held Morpheus and Phobator. It wasn't common knowledge that they have been forged by Sapphire's mother but anyone would know at a second glance that they meant a great deal to Sapphire based on the way she cared for them. "No deaths and the others only have minor injuries. Overall I suppose it was a successful mission." Sapphire gestured at the sandbag. "I assume you were just telling him how yours went?"

Whistling at Sapphire's description of her wounds, Oswald shook his head. "Damn, you've got a bad habit of getting wounded on the job, eh?" Giving a little chuckle, Oswald cocked an eyebrow when Sapphire mentioned her lost weapons. "You're...not gonna get them back or something? I know I'd rip someone's spine out through their ass if they so much as scratched my sword. That thing means...a lot to me. It's more than just a weapon in a lot of ways."

Sighing, he looked back at the sandbag and his shoulders slumped. "Marcus blew the barricade at the mission location. We thought an invading force had set up an ambush for us, since or radios went dark as soon as we got too close, and a horde of millions of bugs tore through the trucks once we opened fire. Killed the crew on one of them outright, almost got the other two. We had to blow the truck to wipe the fuckers out." Pausing for a moment to think, he continued.

"So, we get into the camp, guns blazing, only for me to realize we'd accidentally wiped out a bunch of Schnee Dust employees and Faunus miners. I called Marcus and Aurellius off, but...it was too late. There was so much fire and death. One of the guards was on the verge of death. Impaled by shrapnel, had taken a decent amount of fire. He had maybe a minute or two of painful blood loss before he keeled over."

It took Oswald a few seconds to continue. "I ended his suffering." It felt bittersweet to say that. It was good to remind himself that he at least had a reason for driving his sword through that man's chest, but he also knew that it hardly mattered. "I knew there was no way I could save him, so I made his death quick. That was all I could do to help him." He stopped there, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly, letting out a weary breath.

Sapphire shook her head. Her mother's dagger had meant a lot to her. It was really the only part of her mother that she still had with her. Cecilia had an old photo and Demetra had a locket of hers set with a blue stone. Everything else that reminded there father of Maria had been locked away where he wouldn't have to look at it. It wasn't that he wished to shut her out of his life, Janus simply couldn't bear to be reminded of her at every turn.

As much as Sapphire had cherished those daggers she'd checked for them on the side of the cliff. They'd been stable there when they left but with several airships coming and going since then chances were they'd have fallen into the lake below, or else been trapped in the rocks of the cliff. Even if she could retrieve them the amount of time, effort, resources and more then likely lien would be more then it was worth. Instead Sapphire would have facsimiles forged. She still had her mother's blueprints for the originals Sapphire could remake them. "No, I've no way of knowing where they ended up and even if I did the work it would take to retrieve them outweighs the gain. I have the original plans. I'll have copies of them made."

Sapphire listened to Oswald's description of his mission. Sapphire hadn't been pleased with either her own performance or the end result of her mission but at least it hadn't ended with a mass slaughter. There weren't many things that Sapphire could say to improve Oswald's mood. Even if she had some cheery advice the fact was that what had happened to Oswald wasn't exactly unprecedented. Accidents happened and people died and sometimes it was a hunter pulling the trigger. There were more hunters than Sapphire cared to count that had human or faunus blood on there hands.

"That's what people don't see. The other side of being a hunter. Everyone sees the glory and the fame and the badass fighting skills. Not many of them realize that we're warriors, soldiers just like the military and sometimes we have to make the hard decisions. Sometimes we don't make the right ones and sometimes no matter what we choose someone will die because of it. If you look at most of our class you'll realize that not many of them have realized it yet either. They still only see the glory and honor in this job. It's going to be a rude awakening when there time comes." Sapphire shook her head a bit as though shaking off a bad thought. "I'm sorry, you're the one who's had the bad day not me. I should be saying something more encouraging."

Oswald shrugged at Sapphire's explanation. He wouldn't have given up so easily to search for his own weapon, but he wasn't going to say that to Sapphire. If anything, he had an idea of what he would spend his weekend doing.

When Sapphire said her piece about the life of a Hunter, Oswald could only nod in agreement. "No. There's no need for encouragement, for empty platitudes. I've been down this road before. How do you think someone as short as I am gets to be so...big?" He wasn't bragging, but Oswald was heavy for his height. His body was somewhat soft, but also extremely muscular underneath it. His shoulders jutted out significantly further than average, his waist was wide but firm, his arms looked like they could tear an Ursa's jaw off, and his neck was nearly semi-circular from the muscles jutting from his body.

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I just need to figure out how to keep it from happening again, and aim for that goal. The first time was because I wasn't strong enough to fight the Grimm that had broken the line. So I went crazy trying to build mass. Did a number on my body, suffered my fair share of pain for these results. But I think it was worth it."

Continuing his recollection of how his mission went, Oswald's eyes glazed over as he remembered the Faunus girl breaking down at the sight of the Unsubtle. "I brought a note to the Faunus after the fighting was over. The girl they sent out with the reply...Sapphire, her ear was missing. The kind we don't have." To demonstrate, he put his hands behind the back of his head, making a poorly mimed set of cat ears. "She broke down when she saw Marcus's tank. I nearly slaughtered the guards right then and there. I was so angry." Turning back to the punching bag, he chuckled. "As you noticed."

"Long story short, I met with their leader. Some weird liquid Grimm was controlling the bugs. Diamond and I braved a storm of the bugs to kill the damned thing. Came within a few seconds of death once or twice, but I knew what I was doing. Made it out with a little time to spare."

Oswald didn't pursue the matter of Sapphire's lost weapons any further and Sapphire was more than pleased to let it drop. Despite what she might tell everyone the loss of those weapons did in fact trouble her greatly. She just didn't believe there was a hope that they could be retrieved. A replica was the best she could hope for.

As Oswald described his failure when he as young and how he'd increased his training Sapphire smiled slightly. "I just figured you ate a lot of pastries as a kid." She said trying to lighten the mood.

Oswald continued to describe his mission in detail. When he talked about the faunus girl with a missing ear Sapphire's brow furrowed. That couldn't have been easy. It made her think of Pop's procedure, to have the faunus bits surgically removed. Why would anyone wish that one themselves. Sapphire may have not been fond of Shiro but she'd still feel sorry for him if he had any of his faunus appendages torn from him.

"Well at least you had your moral compass. You knew you were doing the right thing. I can't help but feel my mission was a failure cause maybe I should have made different choices."

Nodding at Sapphire's dilemma, Oswald closed his eyes and spoke. "I can understand the feeling. Haven't quite lead enough missions to have experienced something like that, but I'm the type to charge forward, making a path that feels right to me. Maybe some day I'll look back and realize I made a bad call. I can't quite be sure."

Taking the bag down with relative ease, Oswald returned it to where he'd gotten it and resumed his conversation. "I was pretty glad when Marcus was made team leader. It's a tough job, even if I think I can handle it. Wears on ya real hard." Smirking, Oswald gave Sapphire a slow, careful, appraising look. "What decision did you make that's gotten you so worn about your mission? Despite all the hell that happened, even our mission was...technically a success. I think."

"We were sent to this animal aura lab. The doctor there had been doing experiments on the side. He was researching a procedure to allow faunus to have there animal halves removed and live as humans. I'd imagine you can see how that could easily go wrong. Used as a weapon against the faunus. Hell it's probably anger the White Fang into a full blown uprising. I burned his research and had him arrested. I'm not really sure that was a great idea now. I mean sure that procedure would have downsides but there are numerous beneficial applications for it. I'll likely never know if I did the right thing." Sapphire shrugged. Then looked at the punching bag Oswald had taken down. "Were planing on doing any more training or are you done for the day?"

All Oswald could offer Sapphire was a smile. "For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing. A person's heritage, Faunus or not...is important. While I'm certain many people would benefit from such a treatment, I also believe that the world is not ready for such a thing. It would be weaponized far too readily. It would also give racist bastards an out. 'Well, why don't you just get cured, freak?' is something I could imagine a few of the scum I've had the misfortune to meet saying."

Following Sapphire's gaze, Oswald shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest. Might go for a walk. Might go eat. Can never really be sure, honestly."

Sapphire looked at Oswald and made a split second decision. By nature Sapphire was not a social person but she found Oswald easier to talk to compared to the other students. The student body that had prolong contact with her regarded her as cold, her teammates expected her to be something that she wasn't and Gren was far to willing to jump into her position should she show any sign she could not fill it. Oswald on the other hand listened and responded, simple as that, he didn't expect anything of her. It was sort of nice to be able to simply talk to someone. So Sapphire made a split second decision. "If you're going for dinner would you mind a companion? I heard they were serving pizza today."

Well....that was a shocker. Sapphire inviting him to dinner? Oswald was half-tempted to make some kind of joke, but this was a moment he didn't want to ruin. "Sure, sounds like a decent plan. It's...been a long time since I've had pizza. I'd like that." While he was sure he looked a mess, he was pretty darn hungry. What with this being an academy to train warriors, he doubted that anybody would care if he looked a little rough.

A merest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Sapphire's face upon hearing Oswald's acceptance. They were both a little dirty. Sapphire's cloths were singed and cut in several places from the ice/fire dust reaction during her fight with Pop. Not that it really mattered. They attended a school to train huntsmen. Chances were they wouldn't be the only ones looking a mess.

Sapphire inclined her head to Oswald in a slightly mocking but good natured bow. "Lead the way then good sir."

Rolling his eyes at Sapphire, Oswald took the lead, beginning the walk to the cafeteria. "Oh, but of course, fair lady." He couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. As they walked, Oswald couldn't help but ask a question. "What do you usually do with your spare time? I'm either in the training hall or the armory. You could say I'm a bit...overzealous with my training, I suppose. I've never really had anything else I was particularly great at." Rather than being modest or self-deprecating, Oswald's tone was simply factual. As if he were stating that the sky was blue or that grass was green.

Sapphire smiled at Oswald's respond. Fair lady. She paused after his question. This was the part she wasn't never good at. If you wanted her to face down a nine ton Ursa, or sky dive from an airship she could do it without hesitation but this interpersonal stuff was never a strong suit for her. "You might try picking up a couple hobbies. Training's important of course but there is such a thing as overdoing it." Sapphire stopped for a moment. Oswald had left the question open. She could answer with as little or as much information as she wanted. If she liked she could just shut him out like she did most people but if they were going to be sparring partners as had been suggested after there training match this stuff would eventually come out.

"When I'm not training or strategizing I like to read." Sapphire hesitated before continuing. "My mother had a flare for tinkering and music. She was the one that designed my weapons. She taught me how to play the violin. When I've got spare time, if no ones around I like to practice it."

"Well...I suppose I could afford to find something to do to spend time other than pushing myself to insanity by over-muscleyness." Laughing at the fake word he'd made up on the spot, Oswald almost stumbled for a moment when he heard the last bit that Sapphire said. Her mother designed them and she's just gonna replace them? That's...I don't know if I should be angry or sad. Sighing, Oswald gave his companion a shrug.

"Never got into reading. I'm sure you've noticed, but I'm...not particularly bright. Kind of a meathead, I guess. Spent a lot of time training. And training. And training. I mean, if it can be applied to combat, I've probably got a decent idea of it, but...well, my training was almost strictly for combat. My education was mostly combat theory, dust application, Grimm studies, stuff like that."

Sapphire knew that Oswald came from a border town, and from what she'd heard the defenders of those places were almost fully fledged huntsmen in their own right. Still that couldn't be all there was to life. Even Sapphire who'd essentially been devoted to this fight since she was seven years old had other hobbies. "The work we do as hunters is important but you've got to have something to occupy your free time away from all this. As much as I love a good fight I'd go stir crazy if that's all my life contained. Tell you what," sticking out her neck for someone when it wasn't a life or death situation was also quite unlike Sapphire's usual self but she felt a little bit sorry for Oswald. He really needed something other than fighting to occupy his time. "Next time you've got some shore leave I'll take you down to this little karaoke bar my uncle owns in central Vale. You can practice your battle roar."

Cocking an eyebrow, Oswald gave Sapphire I sideways glance before shrugging. "Gotta say I didn't see that coming. Then again, we didn't even have a...wait, what the heck is karaoke? I mean, bars I'm familiar with, but...no clue what karaoke is. I...well, sure, yeah, I guess I'll think about it." It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Oswald was surprised at the invitation, but it seemed that Sapphire had some sort of soft spot for him.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz--R&R
As it happened, Saturday had ended up being a less-than-well planned out period for the punchiest quarter of JCML. Setting up a room, mandatory post-mission debriefings and check-ups, sending that first text home...

Binge-playing some games on his laptop...

Needless to say, the lack of both sleep and things to do had resulted in an inelegant pile of limbs hastily covered by a bedsheet inhabiting JCML's room (a co-ed room?!) from mid-afternoon to late evening. He did vaguely remember having plans at one point, but must have assumed he would get them done later in the day, instead deciding to force the blinds shut and enjoy a rare luxury. A nap.

The rhythmic rise and fall of his back began to fall off-beat, and he shifted his head over to the other side, squinting as his eyes fell into a sunbeam.

"mgfbmmmmm..." came the groan out of his always-eloquent mouth, and he continued to stir.

Couldn't sleep the whole day away, after all.

[Ookawa]

After her shower this morning, Skyra noticed, she was still slightly sore from Friday's rather eventful afternoon. That certainly was a thing...
She didn't expect to have to fight on her first mission with her team... and voila, she had to do it twice even, although the second time hadn't been much of a challenge.
Although her muscles were still sore, she decided to head to the gym. At least she could get her morning training done, if not more. She had to admit, she loved the thrill of exercising, of working out, of lifting her body towards abilities she didn't possess yet.
Still in her dorm room, she slipped into her gym clothes which she noticed to be slightly too tight. I guess I have to buy a new outfit soon.She was, in a way still, in puberty. Although she had no hope whatsoever of growing even one more inch and her top deck, she suspected, wasn't going to grow either. But she thought that in her fading puberty, her training seemed more efficient in building up her body. Maybe, since she last put on the gym clothes, her body grew a bit more muscular. Not that she was bulky, no. She still had a lean, maybe even slender figure.

She slowly walked through the gangways of Beacon, finally feeling at home here, so she allowed her hips to sway a lot more than usual, just for fun, she guessed.

In the gym, she warmed up by doing stretches and push-ups. Then she got to work with a lot more stronger stuff, like punching and treadmilling.

[Sho Minazuki]

Jack Orpheus | Vale

Jack was already up early in the morning, already walking the streets of Vale shortly before lunch time. What did he do while out? Hit the game arcade of course. He played largely the skill based games and won loads of tickets that way, and is now holding large bags of prizes that make people stare, and now he's trying to find a place to sit down and eat lunch. Among the prizes he had were plush toys, little novelty toys, keychains, stuff like hats and scarves, and so on. It was also strange that they would willingly make plush toys of Grimm too, but they did, while not so popular, someone out there is actually making a full collection of these, every named species of Grimm out there was willingly being made into a plush toy by someone. In any case, there were a lot of good potential places to eat. He'd already checked out ones of the East side of Vale, so now he was looking to something new. The money they earned from the last mission wasn't going to be easily eaten up today unless he went clothes shopping, but his clothes were for the current season now, so he didn't have to worry about that.

"Hmmm... I wonder what everyone else is doing... Mokuren wasn't there when I woke, and Luke's probably still asleep... What about Cian..."

[KabenSaal]

Mokuren had woken early as she always did - sleep didn't like her, and the feeling was mutual - and was simply milling around. She had showered, and gotten dressed, picked up her sword and wandered, tail swishing behind her from habit of not really caring what it did. Maybe one day she would, but not to day.
On the topic of what she was going to do, there was nothing in her mind right now. Maybe she should train, become stronger, quicker, faster. But a much larger thought was why Grimm dissolved. It was like their blood was made of acid, and reacted with being stabbed. But then, why did they dissolve when being shot? It was an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a cardigan, and tormented the poor fox girl so much that she was stopped dead by a certain scent that invaded her nose. It was a new scent, a nice scent. A Good Scent. Mokuren shuddered at the sudden onslaught of this new smell. There was something so strange about it, something she hadn't felt in such a long time, but by a different name, a different flavour. She felt every hair stand on end, and her feet moved before she even knew what they where doing.

These feet led her to the gym, with little subtly to her movements before she managed to regain control of them, and stare at the people in front of her. Her eyes quickly honed in on their target however, and it would be quite obvious who she was staring at, but she just could not help it. She was frozen with some new feeling that she could barely comprehend, and so stood like a gormless, sword wielding fox-faunus in the middle of the gym.

[Suku]

Cian - Vale errands

Cian had woken early set on getting her business done for the day. After the whole situation with the arena she decided that one during the mission she found out her coat while comfortable was actually not good for missions. Since it got in the way more times than not and her shoes was no good anymore either with the holes and other things that it had gotten during the mission. So not only did she need a new wardrobe but she had some training to do in trying to get better. Heading she wandered around vale her some new clothes was on her list for the foremost as wind passed by it blew her hair with it covering her face. With a sigh she stopped for a moment and brushed her hair out of the way it seemed that a hair cut might be in order as well she personally could not stand long hair since with her weapon it can get in the way of her sights. Though as she was about to step out she spotted Jack and decided to at least pay greetings to her team leader.

"Ah hello there Jack how are you this day?" she decided to ask after all if anything Jack might be able to point her out to the best place to get some better clothes.

[Sho Minazuki]

Jack Orpheus | Vale

"I'm doing pretty okay I think", he responded, seeing Cian on the next street as she greeted him. Coincidence that he was just thinking about the rest of the team and Cian the only one he wasn't sure of was here. Mokuren on the other hand always did her thing and he's kind of used to that now. Though... He was more than doing okay, judging by all the arcade prizes he was holding. What was he going to do with these...? Where was he going to put them...? Probably in the team room. The Ursa and Deathstalker plushies might look good on the cupboard, but in any case...

"Just trying to find somewhere for lunch. What about you? Bored? Need to find something?... Want a plushie?", he asked in return, pulling out an Ursa plush toy.

[Suku]

Cian - Vale

"I was unaware they made plus toys of Grimm, though to answer your previous questions I came out to replace my wardrobe with some new clothes since in the last missions they were ripped." Cian mentioned as she was currently just wearing her Beacon uniform being the only piece of clothing she had that wasn't ripped in one way or another. "Though I might also trim my hair its getting to long which can interfere with my sights." She mentioned offhand. It was odd she though that after what happened some people can just automatically go back to being "normal" though she supposed she did not have much room to talk either.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz--Awakening

His face scrunched up into an overblown frown. Reaction to the light?

Maybe

His breath hitched--once, twice--

"H-atchoo!"

Somebody must have been taking about him. Hair a slightly disheveled mess, The Schwarz's eldest son slowly sat up, blinking a little leftover sleep out of his eyes and feeling absolutely stellar. A nice rest really did the body good, because he felt ready for action like he hadn't since before he'd even transferred here. Now then, what time was it?

He looked over at his phone, and had a minor heart attack.

What the--

How could I sleep in so much?! My first day of classes down the drain! Am I doomed to forever be a bad student ever since hitting puberty?! Just when I had turned it around in senior year, too!

...

Wait. It's still Saturday.

With a meaty smack, his palm crashed into his forehead with ruthless delight. He hated it when he scared himself like that! Why did it happen so often, anyway? What was with naps and forgetting he'd been taking them?

I can't be the only person this has happened to...

Tossing the sheets off of himself, Luke quickly changed out from the black tee he'd designated for sleeping in and into a plain white collared shirt and dark jeans. As he got his hair in order, he went through the mental checklist for today.

• Get on the next ride down to Vale.
• Use newly acquired Lien to purchase a new bike since you wrecked your old one two months ago.
• Do not mention how.
• Try to make sure it's reasonably good for the price, don't overblow it
• Have fun.
• Don't have too much fun.
• To prevent having too much fun, stop by the bank and deposit some of your money.
• Grab Dinner, maybe with friends.
• Blow up little sister's phone incessantly.
• Get phone blown up in response, all typos called out.
• Have some quality control when making lists.
• Call home.

Shouldn't be too bad. He thought with a bright grin, slipping on his tennis shoes and bounding out the dorm, making sure to lock the door behind him. Just like any other time wandering the city, really. You know, the scant few he did so instead of sticking to his particular suburb.

Whatever, man.

Within a very small number of minutes, the next airship down had one extra student waiting in line, ahoge swaying gracefully in the breeze.

[Crimmy]

Gratia Mindaro - Beacon Airship Dock

Large headphones hanging from her neck and hands tightly enclosed in the warm pockets of her winter coat, Gratia Mindaro exuded the appearance of merely another teenage girl stoically waiting in line for the chance to enjoy some time out on the town while classes were still yet to start. Her face was moulded into her standard impassive expression, the only real sign of any emotion beyond that being the end of a lollipop that slowly rotated around as her mouth moved with slight impatience. Some student activist had been selling candy for charity purposes outside of their dorm when she had woken for the day, so she had bought one (lime-flavoured) on a whim (and in order to get the activist to shoo; there was something quite creepy about people stalking around the door of her room). It was honestly a pretty shit and overpriced lollipop; the ones sold by the newsagency down the road from her place back in Mistral were far better and cheaper (probably because they were mass-produced by some confectionary corporation). Still, she wasn't going to waste food.

A gust of wind blew through the line, her long flowing locks immediately reacting by blowing everywhere. She pulled her left hand out of her pocket and brushed some hair away from her face that had been obscuring her vision. Long hair could be a pain sometimes, but Gratia had never really felt like having it cut. There was honestly no point.

How long would it take for the airship to finally receive everybody in line? She held no particular emotion towards enjoying a tour of Vale's city districts, but it was important for her to familiarise herself with the locations she would possibly need to visit during her time here at Beacon Academy. There was a limited amount of time for her to do so, especially with classes soon to begin for her. It was a shame however, that public transport here was just as horrible as it was back home. Her lollipop shifted again. Waiting in line was not something she enjoyed doing, with everyone nearby being oh-so-very loud and aggravating.

Gratia was admittedly ... somewhat pleased ... that the boy standing behind her with that strange cowlick hair-thing was silent.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz-- Don't be awkward

That same gust of wind that blew through the line, it must be repeated, did indeed blow Gratia's hair everywhere. I ncluding, as some weird twist of fate dictated, black enough that the tips of a few strands brushed against Luke's nose and mouth, eliciting a natural reaction that gave him mere milliseconds to react to.

Taking a half-step back, Luke's entire face scrunched up as he plugged his nose, silently turning away, holding his breath, and desperately trying not to sneeze. At least she wasn't wearing one of those ridiculously powerful shampoos on top of it. Vanilla could kill if applied correctly...

Wiping the reactionary water from his eyes, Luke frowned as he considered whether or not to close the distance once more, and run the risk of that happening again.

If it weren't for the fact that she was practically radiating impatience, he'd probably just make some small talk...

[Crimmy]

Gratia Mindaro - Beacon Airship Dock

From her peripheral vision, the teenaged Huntress noted that her hair had elicited a negative reaction from the boy behind her. Not entirely unexpected; her locks had been long enough to easily cover the short distance between them, and the gust of wind that had blown by a few seconds earlier had definitely allowed them to assault the other teenager's mouth and nose. It was not particularly something Gratia would have usually cared for, and would have merely ignored the effects her hair had wrought on the other as its impacts on her would be minimal, but a whimsical thought came to mind, and she decided to address him.

An emotionless "sorry" immediately left her mouth. She wasn't actually apologetic in any manner, but she supposed it was ... polite at least, to pretend that she was. Engaging in common courtesy wasn't particularly her thing, and really, there had been no real need to deign herself to even address the teenager behind her, but, she had done it anyway.

[Sho Minazuki]

Jack Orpheus | Vale

"Oh, so that's why you're in uniform", he stated, putting the plushie back into it's bag. He turned back to Cian, and continued.

"Okay, you want help? I can even take care of the hair now", who knows where he was keeping one of his twin blades, because before either knew it, he had one of them in his hand. After a brief pause and jolly expression he put it away and reassured Cian,

"Ahahahaa, it's okay, I'm joking about that... Maybe... I think I really wanted to give that a shot...", he went from joking to probably being serious about it, he looked a little into the distance as if thinking about it, but just as quickly he turned back to Cian and continued.

"Well anyway... I've got nothing else to do for the rest of the day except lunch, so you want any help?", he finally came back down to the base offer without the joking around.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz--Exchange of Pleasantries

"All good." came the reply a moment later, almost equally as rooted in decorum as the apology, but at the same time not quite so unrepentantly uncaring. Luke had never really found the capability to be quite so icy ever since he'd exited junior year, and as such treated these common courtesies with apparently much less flippancy than the girl before him. Not to say he cared overly much, but at least in his mind he was certainly much less standoffish about it.

"Breezy day..." he observed, mostly to himself.

Mostly, yet not entirely. Part of him felt like carrying on with small talk. Time seemed to move faster when you were occupied, after all.

If nothing else, he could serve to help this young woman's impatience and then not bother her any more once they were in the city.

A regular good samaritan, he was.

[Crimmy]

Gratia Mindaro - Beacon Airship Dock

Small talk. Was that what the boy behind her wanted from her? Gratia's initial response would have been to ignore him and simply continue waiting for the airship in silence; she did not have the time or energy to waste on conversing with people she did not particularly care about. However, she was in a surprisingly good mood today (though her fuse was slowly shortening as the day went on, especially with the airship being so fucking late) and so decided again that she'd humour the boy. There was little that she could do beyond stand around impatiently or listen to music, and she had yet to switch out another tape of the latter to provide her with some form of amusement. If nothing else, it would be a time-killer of sorts.

"I suppose," she replied, though her tone was somewhat half-hearted. Windy days were far more prevalent in Mistral than they were here in Vale, it seemed. The Huntress was used to them; they were a constant part of life in the far-flung city-state, so the breeze was merely the norm for her.