[IC] RWBY AU;Heroes of a Different Story (Mission terminated. Wishing you all well.)

[Phantomlink959]

Three months ago
"I found no need to study the history of Man, for I have lived through many ages. And what is there to study, when they repeat the same mistakes time and time again? Nothing. Left on their own, they are little more than a drop of water in a river, doomed to follow the same road forever. But now, as they near ultimate destruction, it is time to invervene. Mankind needs heroes, and so I shall provide them." He mused as he stood in front of the window of the Headmaster's tower, gazing out over the school and the city beyond.

"What are you muttering about now, General?" Inquired the Headmaster. He glanced up from where he was sitting at his desk, filing paperwork for the latest batch of hopeful students.

"The day is fast approaching, Ozpin. You know this as well as I do." The silver-clad man reminded him as he stepped away from the window. His voice boomed in the empty room, accentuated by the soft sounds of the gears grinding in the background.

"Indeed." Ozpin agreed, inclining his head. "They will not sleep forever. How much longer do we have?"

"A few more years, at least, and a decade at most. Long enough to prepare the newest soldiers in any case." He sighed heavily, the purple glow emanating from his eyes dimming for a moment. "Just pray they are enough."

With those ominous words he departed, retrieving an enourmous sheath and the swords contained within from beside the door. He paused in front of the elevator and glanced back at Ozpin. "I have work that must be done. I trust you have everything in hand."

He swept from the room before Ozpin could reply. The Headmaster sighed as he refocused on his paperwork. "Yes, of course."

Present Day

"Headmaster, the new students will be arriving soon." Glynda stepped up behind the older man, focused on the scroll she held. "It seems we have a few promising students again this year."

"I certainly hope so." Ozpin mused. Glynda shot him a glance but he didn't notice, and she chalked it up to the Headmaster being cryptic as always "How many years have I been doing this, Glynda?"

"Too many, some might say." She told him, well used to the question. He sighed into his mug.

"Sometimes I fear they may be right."

"There's no one better for the job, sir." She assured him. "Beacon just wouldn't be the same without you."

"You flatter me, Glynda."

Below, on the Beacon Cliff, a tall Professor with brown hair watched the inbound shuttles as they flew over the city. Beside him, a lanky young man wearing the Beacon student uniform watched with sharp eyes. "So, are you excited to meet your new schoolmates, son?"

"Underclassmen, dad. It's not like they'll share classes with me." He reminded the older man. The hawk-eyed boy turned to leave. "I should get back to the dorm; the rest of the team will be waiting for me."

The Professor patted his son on the shoulder as he walked away. "Say hi to your cousins for me, Garen. Oh, and keep them away from the new arrivals. They can be a bit...intimidating at first glance."

The brown haired young man nodded in agreement as he threw a wave over his shoulder. "Good luck with the recruits."

The fatherly man turned back to watch the approaching airship and muttered to himself, "Let's hope I don't need it."

(Your characters are on the first airship. You have two rounds until airship welcome speech.)

[The Fox Without]

NORSUN

Norsun sighed as he pushed his way through a group blocking the passage to the viewing area, the sound coming out more like a growl as it made its way through the gas mask on his face. This earned him a few odd glances, but they were easily ignored, the Faunus used to the questioning looks, and ignored them as they disappeared from sight once he was past, the immense weapon on his back hiding them from view. He thought he heard a grumble from someone as it bounced gently off of them, but Jet Stream was surprisingly light for the moment. Either way he didn't bother to respond, doggedly trying to escape from the crowd. Norsun entered the viewing area, thankfully finding it quieter than the passageway he had just left, his heartbeat calming down now that he'd gotten some space to himself.

Norsun looked around the room for a distraction, trying to distance himself from the situation he was in. There was little here he found familiar, no sea breeze bringing the smell of salt, no roar of machinery as boats were readied for the next outing. None of the familiar comforts he had grown up with. All that was with in sight was clouds and people, and he had little experience with either. His mouth flexed inside as he fought the urge to take off the mask, unused to keeping it on for so long. Norsun had usually only donned it for quick trips into town, and it was rather humid inside, but it was less uncomfortable than the looks he received from most other Faunus and all humans for the rows of teeth his mouth held. They we're certainly no cute little bunny ears, and they marked him undeniably as a predator, a fact that often brought forth that primal fight or flight instinct in most who saw it.

Norsun made his way to a sitting area near a window, leaning Jet Stream against the armrest of the couch, a heavy thump as it hit the couch once he released it, and sat down, looking around quickly to confirm he was alone for the moment. A smile graced his lips as he loosened the straps on his mask, letting it hang from his ears slightly, a contented sigh escaping as the cold air hit his face, a look of relaxation coming upon him. He could feel a tooth growing loose as he habitually ran his tongue over them to check for such occurrences. He was tempted to yank it out, but it could wait for the moment.

He relaxed as he stared out the window, a small glare crossing his eyes as he tried to will the clouds away, looking for a break to catch sight of the sea he had once known as well as his back hand. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't missing what was left of his family, but those thoughts were what drove him as well, knowing they needed him here to keep their way of life. The thoughts of family brought a smile to his face as he placed his hand on the head of Jet Stream. For a moment nothing happened aside from a small pulse of blue light spreading from his hand, before it opened to reveal a handful of cartridges holding dust of various shades, blue making up the majority. He gingerly grabbed one of the blue ones, emptying a small bit of the blue powder onto the table in front of him before replacing it in the weapon, the head quickly closing back on itself. He spent a few moments shifting the blue sands around on the table, making small clusters close together, becoming unaware of the world around him in his task, before giving a nod and extending a hand towards the pile, sending a shock of pale blue Aura through it, a brief flash and light crackling noise revealing a small ice sculpture on the table now. He smiled with nostalgia as the form showed a young girl before him, no older than 13 at best in a plain dress. His sister had been one of the last things he'd seen as he'd boarded the ship, waving from the platform as he left. The memory of her waving form brought a smile to his face.

(Round 1)

[SpiritedDream]

Cereza

Cereza fidgeted with her personal scroll anxiously, one hand in a pouch and the other tapping one of the magazines for Droed Gwyn strapped to her thigh, as she stared out the window to the city of Vale below. This was it, the penultimate culmination of everything she had been working for since she had turned thirteen. She was going to fulfill Midas’s dreams.

She should be excited and joyful, but the blonde really just felt kind of sick. What if she failed the entrance exam? Cereza didn’t think she could bear going back to her brother and facing him after failing to become a Hunter. Not after all he had done for her.

The airship was slow, almost agonizingly slow for a tech savvy girl who was used to the fast-paced circuits of computers. For a moment the tall teen deliberated reaching out with her semblance just to try and make it fly faster, but logic won out. It was highly likely that it wouldn’t work – the airship was very large and possibly had multiple CPU’s, and that was if it was even run electronically. And there were already too many processing chips pinging at her semblance, distracting her as they constantly moved about with their owners. Scrolls, the anti-social girl hazarded as she flicked her neon eyes around the ship, as it was highly unlikely that anyone else had weapons like her own. The aura-chips she’d installed into her own technology sat heavily in her mind as well. Normally the weight felt comforting but right now it felt like a burden, reminding her of the weapons her brother had helped build and the time he had dedicated to her, the dream he had sacrificed to raise her. It should have been him standing here on this ship, flying towards his destiny.

Cereza breathed a sigh through her nose. The slow speed of the airship was allowing her to dwell on things she only peripherally understood – the messy-haired blonde knew that the concept of sacrificing your own desires for someone else was foreign to her, though she could appreciate the sentiment in this case, and thinking about it wouldn’t increase her understanding. The only thing she could do was repay him, and that was why she was here. She needed to become a Hunter, to achieve Midas’s dream for him since he no longer had the opportunity.

The adolescent almost ran the messaging program on her scroll to send a text to her only father figure, but cancelled it at the last second. The computer-lover was here now; she couldn’t be texting her brother at the drop of a hat. He had his own problems to deal with, such as getting his new hacker’s guild up and running. He would text her if he needed her.

The young hacker slumped down onto the nearest bench and drummed the blades of Llaw Du impatiently. The metallic tapping soothed her impatience a touch as it occupied a small part of her mind, and the wannabe-Huntress decided to fill her time by running a diagnostic on Droed Gwyn even as she checked her lien balance. Her scroll stayed in her pouch though, as she simply ran the executable file using her semblance. ‘2000 lien.’ That should be enough for the year, especially since the lithe girl would be studying full time. It wasn’t like she couldn’t get more anyway.

A group of teenagers chattering off to her right let out a peal of raucous laughter, and she twitched in annoyance. It was perhaps the thing Cereza was dreading most – the crowds. The airship was packed with people, and Midas had told her there would be classes and a cafeteria and shared dorms, as well as a team who would be together almost constantly. After a childhood spent living in various safe houses where it had just been Midas and herself and the occasional new recruit for Midas’s gang in the later years, the sheer amount of people around her was crushing.

She would persevere though; Cereza had to become a Huntress. There was no other option. ‘Run Beacon.exe.’ she thought to herself, quirking a small grin as her scroll whirred in response but did nothing. There was no Beacon.exe installed on the tech; maybe in her downtime she could create it?

(Round 1)

[Cyrania]

Tierra

Reference to Norsun
It was crowded on the ship, too crowded for Tierra's taste. And most of the crowd was human. There were a few Faunus at least and one who wore a gas mask who seemed like a Faunus somehow, she could probably rely on them if trouble happened, but there were still too many humans for her taste. She had known though when she accepted the first scholarship that the majority of Hunters were human. She just needed a break from the crowd to calm herself down. Besides, if another person bumped into her, Sola and Luna might accidentally release blood, either from her or from the bumper. That was the problem with using hook swords, even sheathed they could be dangerous. So Tierra ducked into the viewing area and went to look out the window.

In the viewing area, Tierra was able to relax. It was amazing how much more it felt like flying when she was able to see what they were flying over. She was disappointed not to see the forests around Beacon yet, but still felt lighter just viewing the clouds. Then she noticed by the reflection on the glass that she was not alone. She saw the boy with the gas mask from earlier, but with his mask off. She then saw that indeed he was a Faunus, no human could have a mouth like that. She looked him and his weapon over again through the reflection, thinking that he looked like good partner material. And it wasn't just the fact that he was Faunus, though Tierra desperately hoped that her partner would be Faunus at least if not her whole team. This boy though actually looked like he would be dependable in a fight, she could get use to the mask and the face. She looked down and extended her claws, he wasn't the only one who had to conceal his faunus trait. Then she noticed a sculpture on the table, an ice one that seemed to be of young girl. She wondered who that was.
(Round 1)

[Madninja324]

Argent sat on one of the benches off to the side of the airship, he had his sword, Michael, out and was honing the edge, the action was so familiar to him that he wasn't even paying attention to his hands, instead he was looking around at the other passengers, trying to see if any of them would be good prospective teammates, they all seemed interesting. There was a boy in a gas mask with a huge flail strapped to his back, a blonde girl sat by herself, absently tapping the floor with a three bladed polearm, she looked uncomfortable, another girl with light brown skin and a pair of hook blades was examining her nails, claws actually, she was a Faunus, presumably of some kind of feline persuasion, the Faunus girl looked even more uncomfortable than the blonde. Argent noticed that the girl's eyes flicked nervously to the Humans on the airship, himself included, every so often and Argent felt a brief stab of sadness, wondering what might have happened to this girl that she suspected every Human near her, even if only subconsciously. The silver haired knight finished sharpening his blade and shifted the weapon into it's ranged form, the thick, bulky revolver was a comfortable weight in his hand as he checked the cylinders before returning Michael to sword mode and sheathing the blade, it was time to move on to checking Raphael, his parents had drilled into him that you needed to check all your weapons before a battle, and whatever Initiation involved there would almost definitely be combat involved, he was looking forward to it.
(Round 1)

[Against This]

Leon

One of the perks of spending a large majority of your life on a boat was that you ended up developing a tremendous tolerance to motion sickness. Battering waves and torrential downpours makes for excellent stomach conditioning and ensures you have a steady pair of legs. And when push came to shove, you needed to be able to survive under pressure to make sure that the ship stayed afloat in the severe conditions that plagued the sea. It had been years since there had been a situation, at least one that didn’t involve Grimm, which managed to unnerve Leon.

At sea that is.

The fledgling hunter got an abrupt wakeup call about this distinction as he was sucker punched with a long dormant fear of flying. You know, after he was already several thousand, horrifying feet above the all too reassuring ground.

His usual smirk was replaced with a grimace and his skin had started to strike an unnerving resemblance to his green pants. Any sensible person would look away from a sight that caused such anxiety, but unfortunately Leon was the stubborn type that downright refused to admit to himself that something as dumb as looking out a window could make him freak out. With one hand on the glass for structural support and the other on his stomach for mental support, Leon couldn’t wait for the ridiculous ship to come to a halt. Preferably without crashing in flames, but he was getting less and less picky by the minute, as his scrunched up face all but announced to everybody aboard the airship.

“This isn’t right,” he mumbled to himself, steeling his resolve to not throw up, “you can't just give gravity the middle finger like this.”

(Round 1)

[Mcmolly]

Russ

Russ was used to taking quick power-naps, often in far less comfortable places than the padded seats of the airship. Nevertheless she was a light sleeper and it didn't take long for the occasional bumps in the path to wake her. Without a watch to tell the time she wasn't sure how long she'd slept, but it was enough to at least leave her feeling a bit revitalized.

Standing up from her seat, Russ stretched her arms out wide, much to the aggravation of a flanking student. She offered a mumbled, half-assed apology and turned her attention to the rest of the inhabitants. There would be no use getting her hopes up if she saw a capable student, as it was unlikely she'd get them as teammates, but keeping her senses sharp never seemed like a bad idea. Not that hunters and huntresses were the most subtle of people. Elegant, flashy outfits and unique albeit cumbersome weapons did little to make one inconspicuous. As she looked over the other students and headed for the viewing area a few thoughts passed through her head, the most prevalent being along the lines of "overcompensation". The rest were the subtle little restraints that she knew she no longer needed to enforce but nonetheless reminded herself of. Stealing from fellow students could and would only lead to bad things, and no matter how full someone's wallet looked, so to speak, allies were allies and breaking the law on them was bad. Bad Russ.

The sight of a boy who looked about ready to empty his stomach onto the floor made her walk a bit faster. If it was the motion, then the unfortunate student would just have to suffer the rest of the way, if it was the height...well then she supposed he would just have to suffer the rest of the way. Whoops. He didn't sound too pleased about his predicament either, and she hoped for his sake there were sick-bags around.

In the viewing area proper she saw that there were far less people, though the ones present certainly had the unique twist to them. One looked like a monster, and she didn't know a more polite way to put it. She figured he knew how he looked, and if he was comfortable enough to show it off then he'd probably heard his fair share of bullshit by this point. Besides, with that hulk of a flail he could handle himself. The little sculpture caught her attention though, and for the brief moment before she realized it was ice and not diamond, she had begun forming a plan to snatch it. Dammit, bad.

Then there was the other faunus, and Russ couldn't really tell what she was. Old Snappy was some kind of shark faunus, but the girl just looked vaguely bestial. Maybe that had been for the best, Russ had always heard horror stories of faunus being treated horribly. With wide, nervous eyes like those, it didn't seem like a bad guess to think the girl had seen a hard time.

Out of habit she gave an absent wave and then took a seat, being sure to give Jaws some space. "Guess this is the cool kids room," she said, turning her attention tot he window. It really was a nice view, it was a shame some people couldn't look at it without getting the urge to vomit.

(Round 1)

[KiltmanBagz]

Cinis Vulcan

Among the hustle and bustle of the excited students, eager to admire the view or get to know there fellow future classmates, a gentle rasping noise could be heard. It repeated at rhythmic, almost meditative pace. Those who cared to find the source of this odd noise would find Cinis Vulcan doing what she often did when she didn't have much else to do. Working on her sword. The young woman's dark eyes were focused only on the blade in her lap and the careful, yet firm, motion of her sharpening stone. The Gladius was an old family weapon, and she took great care in keeping it battle ready. Ever now and then she'd let her eyes wonder up, examining the others around her and letting her mind wander.

While she took in the other youthful and excited hunters it was difficult for her to not wonder who among these many students could potentially be her team members in the very near future. It was impossible to say, and foolish to place hopes for anyone specific. Especially since she didn't know any of them. While she was going to Beacon that was partly because she wanted away from her home while she trained. A new place and a fresh start. Everyone she knew was still in Mistral. And even when she had been training at Sanctum she hadn't been the most social. Not that it would have been exactly easy to make many friends. Some of the students there had been directly affected by her families poor decisions, if not indirectly at some point. That was the sort of thing to get around the rumor mill and make creating meaningful connections a tad bit more problematic. To that end, she didn't really know anyone here she realized with a odd moment of loneliness. Her brothers and sisters, her only real friends, were all back home. She pushed the thought away and looked back down at her sword and focused once more on the soothing task of honing its edge.

A faint smirk came to her lips as she did. She supposed that anywhere else she'd be an intimidating sight. A young woman so casually and expertly honing the edge of her blade as if she had violence in mind. But here, among this crowd, she was just another student. The thought made her smile a little. It would be nice, in a way, to get away from her family and their reputation for a time. She couldn't walk the streets of her home town these days with getting some unpleasant looks from someone. But here, the name of 'Vulcan' would care less weight. Her smile turned a bit rueful. ~Not that I intend to hid my family name. That's why your here right? To redeem your parents folly with your valor. To make the Vulcan family name once more stand for something worthy of your history.- She could only hope it was as easy to do as it was to think. From there, her thoughts turned back to her future team. She was...apprehensive at the random selection process that academy tended to use. But they had all been accepted into Becon, surly they'd all be as serious and determined to be master hunters and huntresses as she was.

Motion, noise, and a faint grumbling from near her caught her attention. She looked up from her busy work and noted . A boy near where she was sitting and looking rather sickly out the window cursing about gravity. "First time flyer?" she stated more than asked. "Looking out the window only tends to make motion sickness worst you know. And flying is still statistically the safest way to travel." She casually stated the facts, though she was fairly sure that they wouldn't help the boy much it she always thought it best to share these things in case they didn't know. "And since I'd really rather not get your lunch all over my shield..." she continued reaching into her back and pulling out a small back of candied ginger "Here, take one. Ginger helps calm nausea."

[The Fox Without]

NOR, RUSS, and TIERRA

Nor sighed as he felt someone sit on couch with him, the new arrival rousting him from his memories, turning enough only to give her an exasperated standout of the corner of his cold eyes. The pallid Faunus knew she had seen his teeth by this point, but he'd never been a fan of encouraging people's morbid fascination and replaced his mask regardless."I suppose it might be," his voice sounding distant as it reverberated through the mask, seeing a rather thuggish green haired student leaving the area after giving Nor a rather disgusted look. "Unfortunately they seem to be leaving in hurry, maybe an allergy to fish," he continued as he studied the rather dourly clothed huntress, absent mindedly adjusting the edges of his mask to a more comfortable fit.

Russ cocked a brow to the shark faunus when he spoke. Odd, she hadn’t expected a response, let alone from him. It didn’t take him long to put the mask back on, guess he wasn’t as well-adjusted as she’d thought. Oh well, she couldn’t blame him.
When the grass-head left she shrugged. “Probably scared of your face,” she said flatly. “Pity’s on him though, I hear some allergies are deadly. Especially when they come armed.”
She kicked her feet up on the table, avoiding the sculpture and giving it one last look-over to make sure that it wasn’t in fact any kind of precious stone. “Pretty, you should open a business.”

Nor let out a somewhat harsh bark of laughter at that, picking up the statue and tossing it casually to his new acquaintance, the statue already starting to melt some. "Sounds like a plan, I can hang up Jetstream here, and get myself a nice little stand in Vale market selling ice statues of little girls."

She caught the statue only to be met with the feel of cool water. Make the best of the situation she figured. Holding it up over her head, she snatched a few drops to drink before setting it back down on the table. “maybe somewhere a bit colder," she said, and wiped her hands off on her cuirass.

Nor gave her an odd as she...drank his statue, smirking a bit at the strange girl, "Maybe, but never been a fan of the cold though," he said as he watched the ice sculpture turning into a puddle on the table.

"Suppose I'm doomed to the dull life of a hunter," the pale student decided witha chuckle, "what about you, giving up on your dreams of art fame on your way to Beacon Miss..." he trailed, leaving the question open.

“Russ,” she said, but didn’t offer a hand. Handshakes were too fluffy for meeting strangers, she thought, so instead she just gave him a little salute with her index finger. “And sadly yes, most people can’t pick out my artistic nature though, buried below all the dirt and lack of artistic talent. Props. But hey, it’s not all bad, I’m sure there are plenty of people happy that we could bite it at any moment.”

She nodded to him then leaned back comfortably once again. “What do they call you?”

Nor nodded as he returned to staring out the window, "Nor's fine, it's what most people I know call me," Nor answered, trying not to think about how most people he knew consisted of his father, not the most talkative sort, and his sort, and his sister.

“Just Nor? Huh, was hopin’ you’d have some kind of cool nickname,” Russ said, but nodded nonetheless. “Alright, Nor. Good luck out there, try not to die. You’ll make a lot of people like the grass-head happy if you do.”

"If 'grass-head' is the type to be made happy." Tierra said as she came over. She needed to do something rather than just hope for the trees to appear, extend her claws, and wonder why the silver-haired boy kept looking at her, so why not join the conversation. "Some people just aren't no matter what a Faunus does, name's Tierra by the way. That was a good-looking statue there before it melted."

"Well Russ is hardly much to go with itself, I imagine you'll make do though," he responded languidly as he watched the newcomer make her way over. He was beginning to regret having drawn such a crowd, but years of manners from helping deal with clients had been ingrained, barring him from simply brushing off the pair.

"So I've been informed, unfortunately we've come to the conclusion that there's simply no place to ply my trade, so I hit things rather hard," he said, watching the rather tense looking Faunus.

"But regardless, I'm pleased to make you're acquaintance Miss Tierra, I'm Nor of North Vale, or what's left of it, and this is Russ," he said, a slight tenseness to his voice, "and I wouldn't concern yourself with the this grass-head or whatever," with a tone of forced casualness, "his type aren't much to worry about, at least if you keep them free of the torches and pitchforks," he said with a forced chuckle as he leaned back into the couch. Truth be told there were more than a few who still had fresh wounds from the White Fang attacks and were willing to act on them, but Nor doubted it'd be allowed to get out of hand at Beacon.

Tierra had to chuckle herself. It wasn't an image of a mob with pitchforks and torches that haunted her dreams. " No, it's been a while since they've actually used pitchforks and torches. I hail from Vale City myself. What about you, Russ?"

Russ pulled her attention back to the conversation at hand. She'd never witnessed much faunus harrassment herself, but didn't doubt for a moment that it was terrible in more places than it wasn't. People found ways to hate things wherever they went, she was sure she'd see it at Beacon too.

"Oh, here and there," she shrugged. "Came here from some little mining town way out of the way. Not many pitchforks or torches there, plenty of rocks though. Lots of incentive not to stay what with there being nothing to do and all."

Whoops, two seconds into the conversation with a new person and already there was lying. Russ didn't even think about it until she'd already said her piece, but there wasn't any going back to it now. Rude Russ, very rude.

Tierra just stared at Russ for a while. She could tell that the girl was holding something back, but why and what about? The weapons were unique, but the girl herself locked almost sickly. She didn't seem like the type to have murdered someone, but maybe a theif. Then to break the awkwardness, Tierra said "Is it not on the map then or would it take forever to find it on the map?"

Nor broke in between the two, "I'm afraid we must save the getting to know each other bit for later, it looks like we'd better get our stuff in order," the clouds finally breaking to reveal the Academy, while now visible was still some distance away.

Then Tierra looked for herself and was astounded by the beauty that was already visible. She looked again at Rus, then at Beacon. She would need to keep her eye out for some people, but Beacon's campus was incredible and Nor seemed dependable. She walked back to the window, this was the place she was to become a Huntress no matter what she had to face. Her claws extended again, and Tierra sighed to herself. She was going to have to get rid of that nervous tick somehow.

Russ was content to leave things at that. As far as introductions went it hadn't been terrible. Sharkboy was entertaining enough and the other girl, Tierra, had helped take time off the rest of the trip. Still, fun was fun, and when the tests went out and the teams were divyed up, she didn't expect they'd be standing side by side or anything. Still, she'd meant it when she wished them luck.

Nor tarried a moment as the other seemed to disperse, enjoying the comfort of the couch as he reclaimed his solitude. The clouds were steadily disappearing as Beacon loomed in the distance. It was the best chance he and his family had at this point. He could feel a storm of emotions brewing as the faces of his clan swam in front of him. Shades of red started to film over his vision, before Nor started what was now a regular exercise, an image of a solid wall of marble in his mind placed between him and the storm, layer after mental layer as he pushed the wild storm further back. A blank look came over his face as stood, deciding to go check on his luggage to give himself a task to take his mind off the subject.

(Round 2)

[SpiritedDream]

Cereza and Tamn

This wasn't good, Tamn decided, furiously blinking in an attempt to keep her eyes open. She'd had even less sleep last night than she normally did, scraping by with barely two hours, enough to keep her sane and awake-ish, but with the movement of the airship, she was seriously heading back to nod.

Unlike the other students, who mixed and mingled, Tamn slumped down on a bench watching zombie-like as she fought sleep.

Cereza was broken out of her thoughts by the feeling of someone slumping against her shoulder, startling the girl. She glanced down in surprise at the shock of red hair with a pair of wolf ears drooping against the owner's skull before furtively looking around the airship. Was this something people just did? She didn't know - the only interaction she'd had growing up was her brother, who wasn't the most physical of people when it came to affection.

"Um. Excuse me." She tried politely. When the girl only sniffled slightly in her sleep, she tried a bit more forcefully. "Get off. Now."

The blonde shrugged her shoulder, dislodging the girl from her rest.

"Whhaa!" Tamn complained, sliding onto the floor, "Huh?" She turned round, dragging a hand across her eyes, and blinking as a girl came into veiw. A human girl. A very darkly clothed human girl. "Ahhh……" she started, running out of sounds halfway through. What had happened? She had just been watching people, how had she ended up on the floor??!!! Utterly bewildered, Tamn paused, taking another look at this girl she had somehow, Upset? She was kind of pretty, and looking closer, her clothes weren't that dark, the blue highlights striking in contrast to the black, and her eyes were a neon blue, catching Tamn's gaze.

Cereza stared at the wolf-girl now sitting on the floor looking up at her coolly, and crossed one leg over the other. "Is it normal for strangers to fall asleep on one another?"

"I wouldn't know." Tamn grinned back, her ears perking up ever so slightly, "It is where I come from, but then again, we aren't strangers there."

The words made sense in a round about way, and Cereza filed it away underneath the Investigate Later file on her scroll. She'd probably have to ask Midas. She drummed Llaw Du's blades on the floor again, glancing around.

"Is it normal for strangers to push other strangers off their shoulders when the second is sleeping?" Tamn querried, eyeing the …interesting weapon that had just caught her attention.

"I wouldn't know. It was only ever my brother and I." Cereza admitted. It was a simple enough statement, not anything that could endanger her brother's new gang. Silence fell between the two for a second, as Cereza was made very much aware of how little social interaction she actually knew about. "How does one make small talk?"

Tamn blinked, "You're asking me? How would I know? …… wait, what is small talk?"

Cereza paused, focusing her Semblance through her scroll and connecting to an online dictionary she'd used quite often before. She cocked her head, "The dictionary defines it as 'noun: polite conversation about unimportant or uncontroversial matters, especially as engaged in on social occasions.' So I suppose one would talk about inconsequential things. Have you seen the latest coding on the Infirmaware Anti-Spy update?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just when did you check that in the dictionary? And why would I want to talk about 'inconsequential' things? Isn't that boring? ……… And what's this Infa… Infer… Inn… Oh that thing?" Tamn gave up attempting the infernal words, resorting back to something easy to get the point across.

"Just now. I used my scroll." Here Cereza finally pulled out her scroll, showing the small black device to the Faunus girl, as she furrowed her brow. "Well, I'm not sure what the point of this 'small talk' is, but apparently it's a social norm. And Infirmaware is the latest technology in anti-hacker and virus protectors. Personally, I don't think it's strong enough. The coding leaves great holes in any firewall they try to build, allowing hackers to slip through undetected and steal plenty of valuable data, including things like bank account details and passwords to extremely sensitive information. Of course, the military firewalls are much stronger as they use a private anti-virus program. Only skilled hackers can get through them."

The blank look on the crimson girl's face told Cereza everything she needed to know. The slim woman had no clue what she was talking about. "Nevermind."

"…Uh……huh" Tamn understood about…… the beginning of that. Up until the other girl mentioned this… techno stuff.
Suddenly realising she was looking up at the girl, it also clicked that Tamn was still situated on the floor, in a fairly uncomfortable possition no less. Leaping up and brushing off imaginary dirt, a gesture left over from when she had normally spent time sitting on the bare ground. Inching slightly away from the blades of the other's weapon, Tamn perched herself back on the bench, noting she didn't seem quite as tired as before, having distractions helped.

Cereza gave a small smirk at the way the other tall girl inched away from her, noticing the way her eyes flicked to the movements of Llaw Du's blades. That was what they were for, after all - intimidation of her opponents. Nothing creepier than a weapon that moved like real fingers with no visible way of controlling it. She stretched out her legs again, staring out the small piece of window she could actually see above the crowds of students around the pair.

"Soo…… uh……" Tamn fumbled for something to say, not really wanting to slip back into the silence that seemed to surround her so often recently, "Do a lot of people avoid your weapon?" There had been something in the way the other had smirked, that indicated this, …and the way Tamn herself seemed to have to be a distance away from it.

"Only when they see it move." Cereza dropped her voice in a conspiring whisper. "My brother told me he stole the soul of a Grimm and shoved it into the shaft, which is why the blades move."

Tamn's ears shot straight up, and the 'fur' that was her hair literally stood on end, making her head look like a bloody porcupine. She might have also jumped a few inches off the bench before it occurred to her that the girl was probably joking. Probably.

The small smirk on the neon-eyed girl's face curled into a large grin at her reaction. She continued, "I'm not very good at controlling it yet, so I wouldn't trust it. Llaw Du is a bit...temperamental. He might just...take a bite."

To make things worse, Cereza curled the blades back with a sharp snap, bringing the sharp edge parallel to the shaft in a mockery of some kind of biting attack.

Tamn frowned, The girl was just taking the mickey, surely. She wasn't going to fall for this one. No. She wasn…… Okay maybe it scared her a bit?… Definitely jumping nearly a foot in the air as a snap sliced through her thoughts, Tamn clapped her hands to her sides, letting Oath drop into a pair of short handled hammers as she searched for the source of the noise. Swivelling her ears, Tamn looked back at the girl, a thought occuring to her as she glanced at the bladed weapon. She was being messed with! The girl was messing with her! This made Tamn a little mad, but not as teasing would normally get her. Sure this rankled, but it wasn't cruel like it seemed to often be when directed at her.

"Oh, sorry. I was just closing him up." Cereza added innocently, collapsing Llaw Du back into it's holstered form and clipping it to the back of her belt. "I didn't scare you, did I?"

Snarling ever so slightly, but not in a menacing fashion, Tamn let Oath's handle collapse, dropping them both back into the holster hanging either side of her belt. Running a hand through her hair in an attempt to calm it, she padded back over to the bench. Her leaping around having unwittingly sent her away from the bench. "Oh. Okay." And just like that her grin was back, lighting up her face once more. "Ah, yeah; I'm Tamnocrven by the way."

Cereza had heard of happy people, but the way the lithe girl went from being ruffled and leaping away from her to a grin that make her golden eyes literally sparkle seemed a bit much.

Dropping back on the bench once more, Tamn's grin widened at the other girl's confused expression.

A commotion over by the windows caught Cereza's attention again, and she ran a hand through messy blonde locks as she stood. She could just see the Beacon logo over the heads of the other students, which soon flickered and changed. Should probably check that out."This was a pleasant enough conversation, Tamnox...Tamn. My name is Cereza."

She offered the girl a quick smile, which she had read was the standard way of greeting someone or introducing oneself. The tech savvy girl pointed in the direction of the hologram. "And now I am going this way."

Bounding up and glancing over, Tamn noted what had caught Cereza's attention, it seemed vaguely important, leading her to decide that investigating was probably in order. Although she didn't really mean to, Tamn ended up following Cereza, Like a lost puppy she thought ruefully.

(Round 2)

[Against This]

Leon and Cinis

There were definitely words being spoken. Of that, Leon was certain. And they even seemed to be directed at him. "...And flying is still statistically the safest way to travel," he heard and took almost immediate offense to. How could you possibly be safe in a glorified death trap hurtling through the sky?

He didn't have time to express this thought of his, as there was a piece of candy being offered to him. "Errrr, thanks?" he said, with a confounded look on his face. Taking the piece of ginger candy, he looked at the black haired individual before him. "I'm Leon," he offered. "And I'm usually not this... How do you say?" he paused, reaching for the right word. "Oh yeah, Wimpy."

Cinis nodded approval as the young man took her offered piece of candy. She took out a piece herself and popped it into her mouth. While flying had never bothered her much on an emotional level, motion sickness was no respector of person. She had learned to deal with it, but always kept a bag of the stomach soothing snacks with her. A bumpy ride and a rather undignified travel experance were always in the cards.

"Cinis, and I'd rather hope not, or else I would begin to question the schools standards for admission." she responded simply, returning her focus mostly back to her blade. "Safe as it may be, flying is not for everyone. No shame in that."

A small grin crept into Leon's nauseous expression. No-nonsense people like Cinis would always have a soft spot in his heart, as it reminded him all too much of what his dad was like. And of course, that also meant that he was prone to irritate such people. Generally this was a natural consequence rather than a conscious choice.

Sucking on the candy was already proving to be a great help, but talking was helping his nerves even more. Thus there was little to keep him from sitting next to Cinis and saying, "So if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up on this rust bucket?'

Cinis had to resist the urdge to grimace as the lad took a seat next to her. She hadn't meant her kind offering to be an invitation to conversation. She had simply wanted to prevent him from getting them both covered in vomit. Why couldn't the interaction have ended with 'thanks' 'your welcome' and he could have gone off and left her to her sword and thoughts. She bit back that knee jerk response, she was somewhat interested in making better first impressions and she had been the one to start the conversation.

"Kind of a big question, all things considered." she responded carefully, starting to polish the blade after putting the wetstone away. If he was going to insist on speaking with her least she could do was put away the blade. "Simple answer would be that I went to Sanctum, graduated, then came here. Wasn't exactly intersted in staying at home." She gave him a slightly warning glance as she finished up polishing the gladius and added "The longer answer is off limits."

Leon noticed the deliberately vague word choice Cinis had used. Noticed the glare that practically screamed, "Tread carefully." And of course, he heard her saying that he would be getting no more out of her. The full blown smile on his face made it clear that he understood all of that, but would be having none of it if he had a say. The former sailor simply wasn't the type to let such an interesting development slip through his fingers.

"Now that sounds like an interesting story," he said, scratching his chin contemplatively. "Let me guess, you're on the run from the law and this your attempt at a new life. Or better yet, you're a princess who had to flee home because your evil uncle took over the kingdom. I've got a load of these, just tell me when I get it right."

Cinis took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Leon clearly didn't take her hint to lay off that topic. She promised herself that she wouldn't bloody her nice and clean sword so soon after finishing her maintance on it. Though as the word 'princess' and 'on the run' came up she flinched a little bit. The former word had been a somewhat common one used as a derogitory term by students at Sanctum who had the guts to try and start things with her given her old family and big money heritage. The latter had been what her father had called her going off to beacon. 'running away'.

The flinch caused her hand to slip as it was finishing up polishing the blade, her thumb caught the edge and she gasped a bit as she felt teh sting of the gladius biting into her flesh. She jerked her hand back shakeing it out and brifely putting the thumb in her mouth out of reflex and shot Leon a glare. When she pulled her thumb out the cut was already gone and when Cinis opened her mouth something rather like a small puff of smoke with bits of ash came out with her words. "I've never been to found of Guessing Games Leon. How about you tell me a little about yourself instead." her words were a little cliped and laced with a warning tone.

Head tilted, Leon knew better than to keep pushing his luck. Cinis might be able to recover from a thumb prick, but he sorely doubted his ability to come back from a sword to the kidneys. Besides, it was obvious that he had struck a nerve, but not an entertaining one that he cared to keep prodding. Being obnoxious was one thing, but it was quite another to bring up painful memories.

None of this thinking showed on his expression though, as he merely shrugged nonchalantly and complied. "That's a shame, I'm awfully good at it I hear. But we shall have it your way." There was a brief pause as he gathered his thoughts. "Whelp, I was born to a sailor, raised a sailor, dreamed of sailing, but am now on my way to be a hunter." If he was to be honest with himself, there was still a large part of him that missed the sea greatly, so it was unsurpring that a wistful tone slipped into his voice without permission.

"But believe me," he said, his voice normal and a smirk out in full force, "Even the full story is pretty boring."

Cinis cleaned off the little bit of blood from her blade before final putting it away in its oddly shaped sheath. The item more like a tool box in overall size and shape. She gave Leon a nod, not so much of thanks for dropping the subject as she was not exactly in a grateful mood after being made to cut her finger and think of unpleasant things, but one of application at least.

As he stated a story that rivaled her own in terms of no real details she couldn't help but quirk a brow and give him a somewhat skeptical look. She leaned back a little in her seat, crossed her legs and without a word gestured for him to continue.

There was still a nauseous tinge to his expression, but it couldn't keep Leon's smile at bay. "Pretty annoying when they leave all the fun bits out, huh?" he teased, waggling his eyebrows at her. "It really isn't an unusual story, and I know you're not interested in the boring details,", he gestured at her weapon to accentuate his point. "But have you ever had a moment where you realize that you could be doing so much more? Like you just got smacked upside the head by a sense of purpose?" Leon unconsciouly grabbed a hold of his scarf. It was the one constant reminder he had of his life on the seas.

Cinis couldn't help but roll her eyes as he called her out on keeping her story details to her self. But turn about was fair play, so they always said. "Point taken, but my story is still my own. Maybe you'll hear it anouther time but not on the first meeting."

As he went on, her expresion went a bit distant, a calm comprhension of his statment glinted in her eyes. Her hand settled on the hilt of her blade, fingers wraping around the gripping firmly; the cool feeling familare, comfertable, and reasuring to her. "Yeah...I think I know what your talking about."

[Phantomlink959]

The airship languidly approached Beacon, the slow pace merely increasing the tension and nerves of the hopeful applicants. Just as the prestigous academy came into view a hologram of the Beacon Academy symbol shimmered in front of the window, blocking any attempts to study the elaborate buildings beyond. It flickered for a moment before changing to reveal a short and somewhat attractive indiviual with tawny hair.

"Is this thing on?" They asked someone off screen in a demure voice. Whoever it was off screen must have given the affirmative because the Professor turned back to face the camera, a fidgety manner belaying their unfamiliarity with the task. "Greetings, and welcome to Beacon! I am Umuthi Iqhawe. Normally Professor Goodwitch would handle this, but she's otherwise occupied."

They glanced around the group as they explained and took a deep breath before launching into an obviouly memorised speech. "You are among a priviledged few who have recieved the honour of being elected to attend this prestigious Academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace-" Here a few of the student broke out in disparaging mutters, but the short Porfessor soldiered on, "-and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."

The hologram gave an expectant glance to the side and uncertainly asked, "Did I get that right? Oh, good."

The hologram switches back to the Beacon symbol before disappearing entirely, revealing a perfect view of the Academy beyond.
(You have two rounds until the airship lands)

[Cyrania]

Tierra

Reference to Cereza

" Well that was, interesting." Tierra thought to herself, " That Professor seemed too nervous to be a teacher. And he... or is he a she? The hair's a mostly male cut, but the face is more female. The body's small like a ladies but the nerdy types also have that kind of figure. Ugh, the name even could go either way. But there has to be something..." And on she went, trying to decide what gender was the Professor. Finally she decided there was only one sure way to tell without asking, but that way would probably get either her or the Professor in trouble. So she decided instead to just call the Professor "Professor" and wait for it to be revealed. But it still irked her, even as she enjoyed the view of Beacon's wondrous campus. Back at the orphanage, after she had "snapped out of it", she had given advice once to the others on how they could act like the opposite gender while having fun with costumes and from then on they kept having her guess either a random person's gender or one them heavily costumed. A brief smile touched Tierra's face, " And I never lost a round."

Tierra stayed like that a while, thinking about all the fun times of her past. But, the ship would be landing soon so Tierra went to gather her stuff. As she went weaving through the crowd, she lost focus in what was directly in front of her. So as she went to another opening, she didn't realize a person was there until she full-on smashed into them. " Sorry, are you alright?" Tierra said as she got up and offered assistance for the other girl to do the same. " Hmm, blonde hair, weirdly cut. Blue neon eyes. Sturdy build, would do well in a fight especially if she can use the... weird looking square thing she has, probably folds out to be a polearm judging from the fact her blades are only on one side. She's human, but common curtsies are still to be practiced." But Tierra still had something she needed to do, so as soon as all required assistance, injury checks, and other required curtsies were over with, she wished the girl a good day and continued on to gather her things.

(Round 1)

[Madninja324]

Argent looked up from cleaning Raphael to listen to the man...woman? Either way the professor Iqhawe seemed like they didn't know quite what they were doing, though to be fair, this apparently wasn't in the normal job description. With a shrug Argent went back to polishing the shield, then, once he'd finished, he began removing his armor piece by piece and examining it for dents scratches and rust, he found none and replaced each piece of armor as he finished with it.

[SpiritedDream]

Cereza and Tamn

With mention of Tierra

The view of the castle-like building that made up Beacon was amazing, and Cereza enjoyed it for all of two seconds before the push of the crowd around the tall girl made her twitch. The blonde paid no attention to the red head that had followed her as she retreated to a quiet, out of the way place, assuming that the other girl had merely gotten up to see what the message was herself.

She'd just spotted a viewing dock off to one side with only a few people sitting in it and started to make her way over when a black missile ran straight into her. The lithe girl hit the ground hard, luckily not taking anyone down with her, and hissed in pain, Llaw Du automatically twitching on it's hook. The next thing the blonde knew, a black haired girl was pulling her back to her feet ,'How the heck did she do that? She's a foot shorter than me! and talking.

"Sorry, are you alright?" Cereza wasn't given much of a chance to answer as the thin girl gave her a quick glance over, her eyes lingering on Cereza's undercut and weapon as she quickly rattled off what Cereza would assume were the standard questions when dealing with someone you just potentially injured accidentally, before giving a rushed wave and hurrying off a "Have a nice day!" as she disappeared into the crowd again.

Cereza stood there for a moment, staring after the strange person who'd just knocked her over as the crowd swallowed her.

"Uh, are you okay? Tamn asked, peering round Cereza and managed to snag a glimpse of fleeting black hair.

"I think so." Cereza replied automatically, not even registering that the wolf girl was still following her as she tried to understand the black and tan whirlwind that had been the other girl. "I'm not hurt?"

"You don't look hurt." Tamn appraised the other, checking for obvious signs of injury. There didn't seem to be any beyond a few scuff marks on her clothes from where everyone had been walking.

Blinking in surprise, Cereza continued walking to the quieter viewing area, where there was less chance of strange missles attacking her. She turned to the crimson huntress, "I think I'm more confused. How did she pull me up? I'm more than a foot taller than her!"

"Dunno." Tamn hadn't really seen all of it, far too busy contemplating the speech.

Cereza plonked herself on a bench as soon as they left the crowd and unstrapped Droed Gwyn, pulling the dual pistols from their rails as she checked the fall hadn't damaged them in any way. Her semblance whirred as the hacker ran a diagnostic once more to make sure nothing had happened inside either any of her weapons.

"Whoa!" Tamn breathed, watching Cereza dislodge a pair of… What even was that?

"Hm?" Cereza glanced out the corner of her eye at the slim Huntress-wannabe, noting her gaze seemed to be on Droed Gwyn as the taller girl checked them over. She finished by looking down the sights of the pistols, aiming them at the ceiling, before sliding them back onto her heels. "It's just a pair of pistols."

Eyeing the pistols, Tamn frowned, she wasn't really an expert on guns, hence Oath only having melee forms, but she was sure that guns were suppoed to have triggers, weren't they? "Uh huh." she noted, tilting her head as she asked, "And you fire them …how?" While guns might not be her thing, Tamn still managed to be interested in others weapons, ranged or combat, especially as many were both.

"Maybe when the airship lands, I'll give you a demonstration." Cereza told her idly, pulling Llaw Du out and extending him again. Midas would be so proud, watching me socialise. The things I do for him. "Can't do much in here though."

"Oh." the disappointment showing not in Tamn's voice, but rather the slight droop of her ears. "Soo… What's the difference between Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"Ears up, little wolf. You'll get your demonstration." Cereza admonished her companion as she looked over her weapon, making sure not to hit the girl next to her. She didn't need any negative attention before she even arrived, after all. "And Huntsmen are male while Huntresses are female. Collectively they are called Hunters."

"Why the need for gender distinction?" Tamn really was confused here, back at home, gender had not really mattered just like it hadden't mattered that some were Faunus and some not.

"It's a call back from when women and men had different standards. We are lucky to live in a world where men and women are actually equal and therefore allowed to do the same things without fear of reprisal. The only major inequalities that I have heard about these days are the difference between Human and Faunus, but it's only irrational simpletons who actually believe Faunus to be lesser beings." Cereza explained. This was something that, while not having talked about it in person, was everywhere on the news. She'd studied the differences between them over the years and found that there wasn't enough of one to really be of interest, and therefore something she had filed underneath the Do Not Care list years ago. She folded away Llaw Du and hooked it back onto her belt in a practised motion, stretching out her legs.

"Oh, Okay." Tamn perked up at the irrational simpletons comment. Happily grinning as she finally perched her butt next to Cereza.

Cereza realised with a start that Tamnox....Tamn, 'Why does she have to have such a difficult name? What ever happened to simple ones, like Midas and Cereza?', was the only person she'd ever talked to for more than two minutes at a time, discounting her teachers and Midas. 'Look at me, getting this socialising thing down pat. It's not as hard as the books make it sound.'

The blonde girl didn't even think about what she did next - she felt the gas build up in her intestines and let it rip, all the while staring casually out a window nearby. It was only the slight shifting away of Tamn that made her glance back at the wolf girl. "...What?"

Wrinkling her nose at the minor stench Cereza had just let loose, Tamn shuffled a few inches away, trying to get her nose out of the direct line of fire. "Ohh…" she gasped in reply, then grabbed Cereza's hand and tugged her away from the bench. Leaning over, all conspiritorial, Tamn muttered; "In public keep 'em quiet, long as no one hears, you can get away with practically anything." all the while with this wicked grin on her face.

"What, farts? It's a natural bodily function - why would it be a problem? Do you know the kind of damage they can do to your intestines if you suppress them?" Cereza asked in bewilderment.

She couldn't help it, Tamn doubled over laughing, struggiling for breath, "Sorry…… sorry," she gasped, "Normaly it is considered rude." she giggled.

Cereza watched the girl laugh, crossing her arms and pouting. 'I take it back. Socialising is hard.'

(Round 1)

[The Fox Without]

NORSUN, ROST, and LILA

Nor growled as he looked through the mass of luggage, the airship having made a mess of the students belongings, the past few minutes having become increasingly frustrating as he dug through the pile. His brow was beginning to furrow, a vein on his temple pulsing visibly and he was getting ready to start throwing aside the offending cases. The sound of the of the door sliding open stopped him moments before he tossed the bag currently in his hands. He turned to see who had joined him, a groan escaping as he saw his guests, the tempo of his heart increasing.

Standing in the door way was a group of young men, the green haired boy from before had been joined by two boys obviously related, either brothers or close cousins, and what seemed to be a mountain of a human, the orange Mohawk atop his head standing more than a foot above Nor. The pair seemed to be pointing to Nor, the pair in the back pantomiming a smile with fingers as they snickered, the green haired one pushing the obvious leader towards him. Mohawk took a moment to check for any sort of authority here before caving in, a wicked grin on his face as he advanced on Nor. The shark Faunus doubt he had any good intentions.

Nor was tempted to let the bully actually start something. He'd needed something to let off steam, and if Mohawk was willing to make himself a target, Nor was happy to oblige. He'd already started idley fiddling with the handle of Jet Stream, a small hum seeming to emit from the weapon. He was stopped as he caught sight of a camera in the corner of the room, surely capturing every moment in the room. The last thing he'd need was to start his arrival with a threat of expulsion, if not a straight shot to it. With a soft growl , Nor turned sharply from the group, not really paying attention as he rushed from the room. He could hear the sounds of derisive laughter, a deep voice from behind calling after him, "C'mon, all we want is a smile buddy."

"Don't mind those guys," came a soft male voice "Jerks like that don't do well at Beacon." added a similar feminine one as a pair of cloaked figures seemed to materialize on either side of the doorway, each with a simple canvas pack slung over one shoulder. On the left, a girl with a somewhat odd hairpin, on the right a boy who, aside from the lock of a hairpin, was indistinguishable "He's Rost," hairpin says "She's Lila." finishes the boy
"Nice to meet you" they say together, each extending a hand.

Nor stared derisively at the pair, their words were obviously given in an attempt to calm him down, but at this point they simply served to irk him further, reminding him they were supposed take such attitudes as the norm, that any human had a free pass at Faunus. The pale Faunus brushed past between the pair, "Then maybe you two can let them know," he said through a voice tinged with indignant rage, rubbing his temple as it pounded, "seems likes something important they'd want to hear, but don't worry about what they say," he said, a layer of acid as he returned their advice.

"Guess he didn't hear about what happened last year." the boy whispers to his twin "must not have." she utters back, just loud enough to hear. "We've dealt with his kind before, it did not end well. For them." Lila says, looking over the shark faunus' shoulder at the muscle-bound boy with the orange mohawk "He looks way weaker than that guy was." they whisper in unison, sharing a devilish grin "Should we?" "Nah, dad would get mad at us." they banter back and forth, their attention starting to break somewhat

Nor rolled his eyes at the two, " I'm not exactly worried about him," as he looked back to the group from before. They eyed him from the window of the door back to the luggage room, but seemed to be content to watch now that he'd been joined by others, unwilling to go after a group. "But I suppose it's nice to know I've got my own guardian rodents watching my back," he said with a chuckle tinged with irritation, but was finding it hard to keep up the anger amongst these two now that the group seemed to be keeping to themselves. There flippant attitude was rather infectious. He turned back to the pair , the red from his face slowly dissipating, "So do you stereoscopic pair usually go around giving therapy sessions, or am I just lucky," he said as his voice took on a less hostile tone, though it was obvious he wasn't exactly enthused to have company.

"More often than you might think," Lila says, her brother turning away as his mouse ears perked up a bit "Usually to just one person, though." turning to peer across the crowded ship with Rost for a moment, "Speaking of which, have you seen a cute boy with really light hair around?" the masculine sibling asks, trying to spot their primary target

Nor smiled at question, although there was little visible change, seeing an opportunity placed so easily before him. He pointed past the pair to the viewing room he had recently left, "Not sure if it's the one your looking for, but saw a few people in there with light hair, though can't really attest whether or not they're cute," he said, hoping they'd take the bait. Seemed impossible to get a moment alone, though he supposed that wasn't too strange considering the small ship they were on.

"You'd definitely recognize our friend, he's pretty small for a boy. and definitely cute." Lila says, both of them blushing ever-so-slightly "You stay here, Rost, I'll go look for him." with that, the girl fades into the crowd, in the general direction of the viewing room

(Round 1)

[Mcmolly]

Russ and BTRW

Like the rest of the students, Russ's attention was taken immediately by the window-monitors, and shortly after by the odd individual 'standing' there. She stayed put for most of the speech, interested in learning from what she could only assume to be a source at Beacon. By the end though, her interest had waned and her gaze drifted back to the table and the rest of the now mostly empty room. Damn, had Jaws left? When did that happen? She needed to pay more attention. Was there an odd smell in the room as well? Hell, where had her mind been the past few minutes? At this rate she'd be lucky to remember exiting the damn vehicle.

On that note, she decided it would be best to begin making her way to the rest of the bodies. Russ wasn't too fond of waiting, and she had a feeling the tiny exits would be pretty crammed up before too long once they landed.

A whistle found its way past her lips as she made her way from the viewing room, something she hadn't done in a while but nonetheless enjoyed. Besides, it wouldn't harm anyone, not beneath the rest of the noise, she could hardly hear herself think as it was.

A wolf whistle sounded, cutting above the din of the crowd as Rufus looked the slim girl up and down. He activated his semblance, flexing his aura and drawing the attention of everyone around him as his tail flicked, and the tiger boy ran a hand over his hair. The short girl he was looking at was thin and pale, with the kind of black hair that looked as though she'd been running her hands through it, but built with the litheness of a runner. "Well, hello there. Did you swallow a magnet? Because you're very attractive."

He tugged on his vest, making sure his abs were on perfect display. Sure, he wouldn't actually do anything, but flirting was always fun and who knows? She might be on his team later.

Russ couldn't tell what it was at first, but her attention practically tore itself away from whatever had been on her mind and refocused upon an approaching man, another faunus at that. The whistle died down when she focused on him, and for whatever reason --though she was convinced it was her own will to do so-- she began to do what she always did to approaching, interesting strangers.

Tall, taller than her, and huge. She'd never seen a faunus his size, and it looked way more like muscle than fat. The tail suggested some kind of feline faunus, tiger by the pattern. The vest was moved, yep, muscle not fat. Since when did faunus get this jacked? She couldn't help the step back she took, more a steady for herself than a move to flee. Well, so far she'd interacted with two people and it had gone pretty well, maybe she could go three for--

Oh. Oh she supposed she wouldn't be going three for three. What did he just say? Her focus was broken by a laugh that was stifled in her throat. She held up a finger while she regained her composure.

"Wow, that was...wow. Alright hold up, I think I got one," she said, tongue lolling in her mouth. She clicked it off the roof and shook her head. "Nah I got nothing, you win, cheesiest pick up line of the year."

Rufus blinked in surprise. She thought he was cheesy? He'd show her a cheesy pick up line. "Well...my name's Rufus. Did you get your license suspended for driving all the guys crazy?"

He gave a large grin, shoving his hands in his pockets. So she hadn't responded to his flirting; it was no big deal. As long as she kept talking to him, Rufus had all the chances in the world. And it was always fun to meet someone new who could match him wit for wit.

Jus behind the tiger boy, looking extremely uncomfortable, stood a pale skinned boy with unusually light hair. The youth attempts to slip past, unintentionally bumping into Rufus and passing the supernatural chill of his aura into the testosterone fueled faunus "Excuse me," he mutters, attempting to flee the rather intimidating student

Rufus shuddered as an unnatural chill, errupting along his spine following someone bumping into him, derailed any thoughts he may have had of continuing his flirtations. His semblance deactivated, letting the other students turn their attention away again, as the well built boy turned to face the person who had bumped him. "Geez, what'd you do, stand in a freezer for three days?"

Russ wasn't sure exactly what about the dainty boy had pulled the large young man's attention away, but she felt immediately thankful. Her focus on the tiger faunus ebbed away without much resistance, and she let herself relax a bit in her stance. She watched the other boy and grinned.

"Might want to join him next time, you look like you could use a little cooling off, tiger," she said.

"Um, I'd really rather-" the pale boy begins, raising one hand in protest.

"Ugh. No way - This tiger's all about the heat." Rufus interrupted. "Heat of the battle, heat of the moment, heat of the night - if you get what I mean." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, playing up the corniness with a large grin.

Kalte sighs, a light mist pouring from his mouth "Not that you could last that long in a deep freeze..." he mutters under his breath, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly at the rather imposing faunus boy as he sidestepped, trying to avoid being at the literal center of the discussion.

"Bah. Who'd want to?" Rufus asked retorically. "However, three nights in a Grimm infested forest - that I can do." He puffed up his chest as he boasted, vest falling aside to reveal the tiger paw-print tattoo on his chest.

Russ scoffed, she couldn't help but sympathize with the little guy. Watching little confrontations never failed to entertain.

"Yeah I'm sure you get a good bit of cardio in running for your life and all."

"Even I can survive 3 days" he responds, a wavering touch of confidence in his soft voice. "My dad took me on camping trips more intensive than that."

"I said nights, not days." Rufus hissed like a disgruntled cat, his dark brown eyes flashing. "And I'll have you know I was the strongest person in my whole hometown."

"And my dad is a huntsman, one of the lead instructors at Signal. Taught me everything."

"So? He's old. I bet I'll be stronger than him when I'm that age." The muscular boys tail was lashing back and forth, displaying his agitation quite easily as he pulled his hands from his pockets again, flexing his fingers.

"Boys!" Russ snapped, remaining where she stood. No way was she going to stand in the big fella's way if a fight broke out. "The results of the pissing contest are back, you're both winners, come back next year and break the tie then, yeah?"

Kalte immediately goes beet-red, shrinking back considerably, the chill surrounding him seeming to recede with his confidence "Sorry, miss." he says half-heartedly, taking a half step backwards to attempt an escape, hopefully towards someone familiar.

Rufus scowled heavily and turned away. "Whatever. I don't have to listen to you. See you later, whimp." With that he threw a jaunty wave over his shoulder, heading back into the crowd.

And nearly as quickly as it started, it ended. Tiger was up and out and Russ couldn't say she wasn't a bit happy to have the tension out of the air. The other boy seemed the worse off, and she wasn't about to hold him up from scurrying away. She knew what it was like wanting to shrink out of view.

"Hey, kid," she offered before he would have gone from view. "Chin up, yeah? Folks like that everywhere, just look out for yourself, don't get caught or nothin'."

"Easy for you," he mumbles, "I have to deal with those types every day." the chilly boy finishes, fiddling nervously with one of several dust phials on his belt.

"Kalte! I've been looking all over for you!" a female voice emerges from the crowd, followed shortly by a brown haired girl in a hooded cloak "Me and Rost found someone you might like to talk to." she continues, looking at Russ "Who's this?" as an afterthought, the mouse eared girl adds. "And did you see that tiger thumping around?"

Russ's lips pursed to hold back any other urges to continue the conversation. The boy had it rough, she wasn't about to take that from him. Kid like that needed every hardening experience he could get if he was gonna last, she figured.

Then like a godsend there came another person, this one seemed to know 'Kalte', as it were. Good, now she could move on and not feel as bad about it. By the sounds of things Tiger was busy with himself anyway.

"Don't mind me, just wandering," she said, offering a wave before stepping back herself to the crowd. "G'luck with the landing and all." And then she left the two to their own devices.

[SpiritedDream]

Cereza and Tamn

Having eventually gotten her breath back, Tamn pulled herself up, grinning from there to kingdom-come, where ever that might be. Cereza seemed to be pouting. That is if the crossed arms and frowny expression had any say in it. This only made Tamn grin more.

'It's just a fart. What's so funny or rude about that?' Cereza thought to herself. And that wolf girl just would not stop grinning about it!

"Apparently I'm not the only innocent one here" she declared, before ruining it; "anyway, feel free to be loud and proud, but I personally prefer silent and violent."

"I...guess?" Cereza agreed uncertainly. It sounded like advice for every day life as a Hunter, but with the topic they'd just been talking about..."Wait, was that a joke about farts?"

Her grin stretching so wide it was a miracle it hadn't yet pushed it's way off her face, "…maayyybe" she admitted drawing the word out playfully.

"I - Oh my word." Cereza buried her face in one hand in disbelief, shaking her head, before dragging her fingers through her hair and messing it up even further. "Are fart jokes a thing? I thought they were for children!"

"Bad ones, sure, they're everywhere, but good ones? Nope; they're rare." Flicking an ear disdainfully she somehow made her grin expand even more, a spark flickering in her eyes as she contemplated whether she really should ……Oh what the hell. leaning against a wall, Tamn offered up another fart joke as fodder for the conversation; "While at dinner party, a man farts. Other man says 'How dare you fart in front of my wife?!' First man says 'Sorry, I didn't realize it was her turn'. "

"I - what?" Cereza choked and gave a snort of incredulous laughter. "Was that supposed to be a good one or a bad one?"

"That is what you call; so bad it's good." Cereza might not agree, but it had been worth it to see her face.

"Right. Well, okay then. No farting in public, unless I want to be subjected to truly terrible jokes. Got it." Cereza took a breath, still tyring to stop the sniggers as she smoothed out her bodice. One more lesson learned today. Small talk and fart jokes; integral parts of normal conversation, I'm sure. Hooray. The sarcasm was thick even in her mind.

Laughing softly, Tamn let out her own silently violent one. Grabbing Cereza by the hand once more and tugging her away from the scene of the crime, "Accomplices!" she laughed, happier than she had been for a while; it felt nice to run round madly like a little pup again.

Cereza let out a startled laugh of her own, stumbling after the excitable girl as she was dragged along. The blonde didn't think she'd ever been this carefree her entire life.

It felt like no time had passed at all when the crowd suddenly started to thin, and Cereza realised in surprise that while she had been distracted with the crimson wolf the airship had landed and people were starting to disembark, most of them towing their stuff behind them. Her mind flashed to her briefcase, still tucked away underneath her swag in the baggage compartment. 'I can't believe I forgot about them. No one had better have touched it.'"I've got to go to the bag room and pick up my stuff. Do you need to grab yours?"

"Uh, huh?" Tamn asked, not really paying attention, "Uh… no" She gestured to a slouching grey rucksack slung over a single shoulder. Her eyes still focused on the academy outside.

Cereza honestly hadn't noticed the bag behind all the bright colours that made up Tamn. "Oh, alright. I'll see you outside then." She gave a small wave goodbye to the lithe girl, striding towards the back of the airship to grab her gear.

"Suure…" But Tamn really wasn't listening, she'd probably have given the same answer even if Cereza had said something shocking. Slipping through the crowd around the door, Tamn ducked outside, gratefully sucking in lungfulls of the fresh air, it wasn't as if the stuff inside the airship was toxic, in most places at least, but she always enjoyed clear air the best. The veiw was also pretty stunning, even having glimsed some of it from the airship, it still managed to blow her away. It was only when she turned to comment on it to Cereza that Tamn realized she was on her own. Shrugging a little, she pushed out the dissapointment; Maybe she had been a bit too hyper for the other. She reasoned that she could have just lost her in the crowd, …and anyway they were both here, she'd probably find Cereza again later. With that thought, and her face and ears back into happy mode, she dived back into the crowd, heading for the monstrosity that was called a school.

The computer-lover waited until the ship was almost completely empty before stepping outside, letting most of the crowds wander further into Beacon's majestic grounds to give herself some more space to breath. She was used to privacy and an almost empty house - Tamn had distracted her well, but the hacker had still felt the crush of people from all sides. The tall girl glanced around, but couldn't see the red-head Faunus she'd spent most of the trip talking to and shrugged. 'Guess she found someone else to talk to. It means I don't have to demonstrate Droed Gwyn, so I'm not complaining.'With that final thought she stepped off the last step and finally into Beacon itself.

(Round 2)

[The Fox Without]

NOR, ARGENT, TIERRA, and ROST

When at the baggage train, Tierra quickly found her bag containing the rest of her few possesions; a sleeping bag, a pair of pyjamias, toothbrush,toothpaste, and her textbooks. She didn't buy much, and what she did buy she made sure was worthwhile. She grabbed it and started out the door, wondering why people weren't rushing in to grab their stuff since she could feel that the ship was going to land soon.

Argent stood and walked over to the bag storage area, he reached it just as the door opened and the small, brown skinned faunus girl he had seen nervously eyeing the humans on board earlier walked out and nearly bumped into him. "Excuse me."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I need to pay more attention to where I'm going." Tierra quickly said in reply "Great, that was almost the second time during this trip that I've bumped into someone. Why have I been so careless? I'm not usually this careless, am I?"

"Its fine, not like you can see through doors, can you?" Argent reassured. "My name is Argent, whats yours?"

"Tierra," she replied, then said with a smile. "No, I can't see through walls but that would be an interesting semblance to have."

Argent returned the smile and replied. "It would be, but I dont see it being very useful in a fight."

"It would be in the city," Tierra responded, "with all the buildings around or in espionage missions were you need to attack a room quickly or see what they're doing exactly. Besides, if it works through walls, it would probably work through trees and other visual obstacles with enough training."

Argent nodded. "Fair points, I could see how those would be useful."

_______________________

Nor's groans and exasperated sighs seemed to go unnoticed as the young rodent chittered incessantly, every inane thought spouting out since Nor had been able to get rid of the sister. He could feel a headache coming on, finger tips massaging his temple to quiet stabbing pains. He needed to be rid of this mouse quickly, briefly considering simply flashing him a wide grin in the hopes of scaring him off, when a shock of white caught his attention. A fair ways down the hallway he could see someone talking to the Faunus from earlier, the shock of Silver hair on his head hard to miss, and hopefully the shark Faunus' chance at some peace. "Sorry to interrupt," he said loudly as the boy started another anecdote concerning what sound like a brother. Nor shuddered at the thought that there might be more in Rost's brood, but soldiered on, "might that be the boy you and your sister are looking for," he asked, pointing out his sacrifice down the hall, sending a silent apology to his fellow Faunus' next target..

The mouse eared youth pauses, turning and scanning the indicated region, his eyes lock in and a grin crosses his face "Might be, come on!" he shouts, gripping Nor's wrist with an unexpected strength, dragging the taller faunus along the corridor towards the light haired boy and the faunus with which he was conversing

Nor let loose a quiet string of profanity as he found the excitable boy's hands held tightly to his wrist. His head felt a spike of pain as he saw the figures drawing near. His plans had sorely backfired, and now he had three people to play nice with.

"Hmm, traditional weapons, appearance hides the guns I saw him cleaning, looks uber dependable in a fight, seems perfectly honest and sincere, not that bad really for a hu... Hey, what's going on here?", Tierra's train of thought being interrupted by the appearance of two individuals coming over, one pulling the other. " Why is Nor being pulled by the little mouse guy? He's definitely not Nor's equal in strength. And why are they coming here?" Then, as the strange Faunus duo arrived, she thought"Well, I guess I'm going to find out soon enough."

The small Faunus rushes excitedly towards the light haired boy, a large grin on his face until he notices the distinct lack of blue in his targets hair, skidding to a sudden halt, his grin turning to a silent pout."You're not Kalte..." he mumbles. Dropping his shoulders, Rost begins to turn away from the group

Nor sighed as he watched the young mouse turned away, leaving him to take the curious looks of the pair. He could feel the building pressure in his head as the shark toothed Faunus's headache kicked it up a notch. He was saved as he heard a tone signalling their arrival to Beacon, offering the perfect opportunity. "Sorry to interrupt, need to cut between the two of you to get my gear, " he said quickly, not giving the pair a chance to waylay him, a sigh of relief as he noted Mohawk's gang had seemed to have departed as he grabbed his luggage.

[Phantomlink959]

As the students talk among themselves and the ships begin to land...

The silver-clad man stood atop the tallest tower of Beacon, a silent sentinal overlooking his charge. He watched intently as the airships let out numerous streams of hopeful applicants. He murmured softly to himself, 
"The troops arrive."

In the office below, a trio of Professors argued on a subject that had been brought up many times before. "We should have cleared out the forest months ago! CVFY has been back from   their latest mission for three weeks now - they had ample time to do  it.  If not them, then VLCN has been itching for something to do!"

"He knows what he is doing, Glynda," Ozpin reassured her with an exasperated tone, and heaved a sigh as he stared solemnly into his mug.
"Even if he doesn't tell us what exactly that is."

"Besides," The youngest teacher in the room cut in from his perch by the window. "How can they be trusted with the protection of our Kingdom of they can't handle a few Grimm?"

"A few Grimm?" Came Glynda's heated retort, practically spitting in her fury. "A few Grimm is a pack of Beowolves. A few Grimm is a herd of Boarbatusk. A few Grimm is not-"

"You said yourself that we have a few promising students this year," Ozpin cut her off, attempting to defuse the volatile situation. "Has that changed in the past three months?"

"But they're not ready for-" She started again, only for the brown haired man to jump in.

"My son and his team managed just fine when they went through initiation." He rolled his eyes dismissively. 
"If anything, theirs was worse."

"Last year, Professor Waldgrun, we had an exceptional crop of students." She hissed with icy fury. "The kind that only comes around once a generation. We can't just let these new students face something so dangerous alone."

"Glynda, they won't be alone. He will be watching them. We will be watching them." Ozpin responded with an exasperated sigh, ignoring Grey's mutters of 'Not a Professor' in the background.

The elevator chimed behind them, and the group fell silent as the imposing figure of Solace Nocte enterred the room. His eyes seemed to focus on each of them at once, assessing the situation before turning to Glynda. "I have heard your concerns, and they are trivial in this matter. You will simply have to trust me on this."

His   words were simple, but the weight behind them left Glynda with no   choice but to subside with her argument. She glanced away from his   piercing gaze. 
"...Fine."

Satisfied that he would be hearing no more argument from Glynda, on this matter at least, he turned back to Ozpin. "The relics are in place, correct?"

Ozpin shook his head, fiddling with his cane. "We've experienced a minor delay, I'm afraid."

Solace   clicked his tongue in disdain, turning away from the man to stare out   the window. He could just see the last of the students disembarking the   airships and entering the main courtyard. He could just see a   confrontation beginning between a group of boys, and his eyes narrowed. "No matter. I shall deal with them this year."

1 round until Ozpin's speech. please make your way to the auditorium, collabs strongly encouraged.