[IC] A Grimm War [Vena Sera & Scout]

[Scout]

Lyra nodded defiantly, "Yeah." She added pointlessly to Ulyssa's thoughts. The girl hugged her knees slightly, basking in the fire's warmth as it dried the water from her skin. She felt kind of bad - after all, Soren hadn't been looking that she could remember... Then again, he was probably the only one who knew about how to cook to prep an animal. Her mouth was already watering and the meat wasn't even on the fire yet. Did Soren just smile at her? In his shoes, she would honestly be quite agitated. The faintest twitch came to the corners of her lips as she turned her crimson eyes back to the blaze.

Owyn scowled, not turning around to so much as face the girls. He scooted toward Soren and helped him drag the boars, shaking his head, muttering under his breath. "Can you believe this shit..?" He asked in a near-snarl. Once they were past the treeline, he observed Soren gutting the boar and taking necessary action to prep it for meal. There was little he could do, but he acted as asked - his stomach was more ravenous than his disgusted brain or lack of desire to learn this side of being a Huntsman. He could duel, he could fight, but he hadn't been raised in these conditions. For others it would be the opposite... Then he thought about Ulyssa - her parents were Huntsmen. Had this been her entire life before she got here? Had she always had to live in life-or-death situations, cooking, skinning, hunting, gutting..? He cringed mentally at the idea of such a childhood.

"Sorry about Owyn," She said, shaking her head, "He's insufferable... I'm sure your afternoon would have gone far more smoothly without him... You get used to it, I promise. There's at least you and Soren, you guys both seem like amazing future Huntsmen already... I think you'll pull the team along just fine, I'll try not to slow you down and keep you-know-who the Hell of your backs."

The girl looked back to her knees and softly rubbed her shins. It was cold, but she was finally almost dry. Her eyes cut through the trees for a moment before she rose to her feet and grabbed her clothes, putting them back on. She sighed and brushed them off to make sure they weren't too nasty. Apart from some of the dried blood, they should be okay until they got back to the school, especially if she kept herself clean and they didn't seek out too many more Grimm.

Owyn did what little he could to help cook the boar, but Lyra surprisingly was willing to aid Soren and he found himself waiting for the food and unable to help. The Faunus was hungry and while she wasn't the most fantastic cook, she did enjoy helping and thought it wasn't really fair that Soren wound up with so much work alone. She did as much as she cook, letting him rest and just give her pointers for cooking over the fire. The house's staff back home never showed shame or disdain for her, so when she would wander into the kitchen after the chefs and staff, they would be happy to let her taste whatever they were making or sit and watch from a countertop. They liked having her around, but she didn't really know how the machines worked, or how long to cook things for, but she knew when the tasted good and all kinds of spices and the like to put in them.

[GambolMuse]

So this was an exciting way to end their first day, becoming perverts by wandering on on their female teammates. As if anyone could have expected that to happen, Soren questioned why they were even bathing at a time like this. Yes they were dirty by now, but with still two days to go washing up tonight was a moot point. On top of that they were going to have to deal with being cold and wet for some time, which risked catching a cold. There wasn't much he knew, but being outdoors and trying to live off the land was one of the few things he was well versed in. Far be it from him to tell the others how to spend their time though, he'd do what he knew was best and leave them to their devices.

Grabbing one of the boar carcasses he dragged it a ways from the camp, withholding his groans of protest as his arms and back ached from the day's events. Swinging his sword around and manhandling Grimm might look easy, but both took a fair amount of effort to pull off, and he'd done quite a lot today. "Complaining won't help us any, best to just do it and move on," Soren commented with a slight roll of his eyes. It was unfortunate sure but there was no changing it, and really he wouldn't ask the girls to do this job anyways. It was disgusting, that fact never changed, you only built up a tolerance for it over time. Sure enough as they were gutting the animals and tossing aside the remains he swore Owyn looked ready to pass out, though to his credit he never did.

---

At last, the end of the third day. Tired, sore and stressed from the events of the Initiation students began to pour out of the treeline, reaching the safety of Beacon grounds once more. By this time several teams had been formed, with team SOUL one of the foremost of those leaving the forest. Notably there were less students than when the testing had begun, whether due to withdrawals or something else was unclear. When all was said and done roughly a dozen teams stood before the Headmaster and the professors, ragged and nervous but triumphant. Having overcome the Initiation and survived in a forest teeming with Grimm surely now they had earned their place among Huntsmen? Surely now, with all of that said and done, they earned the right to enroll in Beacon Academy.

"Well done students, I am pleased to see that you did not become a Grimm's lunch in the past three days," Ozpin finally spoke, standing upon a stage at the forefront of the gathering spot. A small swathe of field just on the edge of Beacon grounds, with pillars lining the area bearing a banner for each of the major cities, a sign of union despite Beacon's home in Vale. "A few students decided the test too trying and withdrew, but all of you here have overcome the challenges and risen to the opportunity. First of all, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you, for doing something that not many in our history have been able to do."

Pausing briefly Ozpin coughed into his hand, straightening himself out before stepping closer to the podium at his feet. "And secondly... I wish to be blunt with you. This only marks the beginning of your training, and no doubt the road ahead will be even more arduous than what you went through these past few days. But unlike when you entered the Forest you are not alone. With you now is your team, people who you've no doubt formed bonds with through life and death. So as your Headmaster I share this with you: Look ahead to the challenges before you and embrace them, do not back down. Remember that with your team at your side you can overcome any obstacles, so long as you work hard enough for it. From this day forward, students or otherwise, you are officially Huntsmen. Make your kingdoms, your families, and your team proud."

"The remainder of the day is yours, students. But come tomorrow we begin class immediately, regardless of how you might feel right now. The life of a Huntsmen is rarely an easy one, and just because you are no longer in the Emerald Forest does not mean you can now relax. There will be opportunities to rest I assure you, and depending on the effort you put into your time here at Beacon it could be an easy ride. But know that how you do here may well reflect on how well you do out there. I suggest you take your time here seriously, you never know which of your lessons might save your life one day. With that out of the way you are all dismissed. There is food in the hall just behind me, feel free to help yourselves if you wish. You will be shown to your quarters in roughly an hour, so do not stray too far from here."

-----

So that was there commencement ceremony then? A few words of wisdom from the Headmaster and a verbal pat on the back? Just as well, Soren didn't particularly want any extravagant or ridiculous showing for what they had done. Just as Ozpin himself had said this was simply the beginning of their training, celebrating now would be silly. Even so there was certainly an air of excitement and self-gratification among the students, and even he allowed himself a smile as he thought about what they had done. They had made it through combat school, and in his case anyways had learned to fight for survival, just as they had done over these last few days. While in long terms it may mean little it was an accomplishment nonetheless, and the fact his team hadn't imploded during the time in the forest bode well for their future, or so he hoped.

"Fantastic, I am so very glad to be done with that trial," Ulyssa moaned as her shoulder sagged slightly. "If we never have to go into those woods again it'll be too soon." Amazing how different her experience was when her parents were not present. She'd fought Grimm before to be sure, but more in a support fashion than anything. Front line fighting, personally striking the Grimm, those were all new things to her and it showed. Her teammates hadn't said anything yet she felt like she'd performed inadequately to say the least. Tomorrow though they would begin classes, book work, meaning she could show in some way what she was truly capable of. Intellect was something she most certainly did not lack in and she'd rise to the top of her class in marks, she was positive of that.

Rubbing one of her shoulders to try and rid it of soreness Ulyssa turned to face her friends, smiling despite her own exhaustion. "Well done by the way, we performed like true Huntsmen out there. I'm certain we'll finish our time here among the top of our class. But that of course means we have to apply ourselves the entire way," she began, placing a hand on her hip and pointing between the three with her other, "That means studying, training, learning everything you can about Grimm, we can't possibly spend one day slacking. I expect all of you to but your all into everything you do here."

"Yeah, of course..." Soren muttered with a sigh, rubbing at his head as he shut one eye, "But even Ozpin said we'll have off days, and I'm not spending those with my nose in a book, sorry." There was that glare of hers again, and that weird smile too. Looking at Ulyssa as she glowered at him he finally put his hands up defensively, seeing there was little chance of her backing down on the matter. "Okay... Okay, I'll spend a little time each day regardless, but I'm not spending all day doing it. We'll burn out if we do that." Or I will, he thought to himself.

[Scout]

For two days, Lyra sniffled and sneezed her way through Initiation. It didn't help them to hide much from Grimm, but still, it was worth the evening bath on the first night. The trio mostly managed to stay put throughout the trial, although they found out that the reason they didn't run into too many students was because they'd accidentally traveled farther than most did. She realized now that that likely explained why something like an Ursa was just having a good old time out there. Still, they'd proven themselves capable and, save for her cold, Lyra had never felt better. Upon their return greeting, she fought every sneeze and cough that tried to force its way from her body, failing only a couple of times. It was hardly flattering - the fact that she had to breathe through her mouth while watching their Headmaster greet them. Oh well, she was starting to feel better as of that morning. Some sleep in a real bed would do her wonders.

Owyn, on the other hand, managed to adapt better than he initially seemed, but still didn't quite thrive the way Lyra did in the land. Certainly, he was excited to hunt down every Grimm that they could in the final two days of the trial, but that didn't mean he was still up for the work of camping. He hardly seemed to be listening as Ozpin spoke, which was to be expected of most students - they were already all exhausted and were only trying to cope with the idea that the school could get any harder than that.

Lyra smirked as Soren and Ulyssa argued, "Hey, don't fight," she instructed, shaking her head, "We'll get plenty of studying and fun in when it's time. For today, let's just take a breather. We earned it," She pointed out, crossing her arms, "Besi-"

"Is that Faunus really trying to tell her teammates what to do?" The girl's ears pricked slightly and she stopped talking when she heard a voice. She didn't know who it was, but she could hear the disgust in it even from this distance. "If we had one of those things on our team, I don't think I could ever take it seriously..."

"Pfft, as if they do. I'm sure they're just trying not to piss it off... You know how their tempers can be, after all. They gotta spend four years with it - that's rough."

Lyra cleared her throat and let out a breath, trying to ignore the conversation, "Sorry, I uh, lost my thought. So, what do you guys wanna do?"

Owyn reached into the sky, stretching his back out, "I know I wanna get a bed and a room... Like, pronto. How do you think they're splitting us up? By team or what?"

Lyra rolled her eyes, "Ugh, Owyn, didn't you read anything about the school? If a team's co-ed, you sleep in separate rooms. We'll split with a team that's got two other girls and two other guys. You'll room with the boys and we'll obviously room with the girls, but still do everything else as a team. Duh," She explained to her incessantly understudied brother.

"Well, Miss Know-It-All, what should we do while we wait for the room assignment?"

"I dunno about you guys, but I just wanna look around," She said, putting on a smile. I'd never take it seriously... the words rang in her head. Honestly, she thought that only the snobby people around her family were like that. Even Owyn wasn't that horrid - he wasn't nice, but he had at least been keeping his mouth shut around father.

-----

An hour later, Lyra was tossing her bag onto a bed over Ulyssa's excitedly. "Thank you so much for letting me take the top one!" She said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "This is gonna be so cool!" The girl pulled her bow from her back and placed it on her mattress her too before walking to the window, leaning on the sill with a big smile plastered on her face, "And look at this view! I know it's really high up, but you can see almost all of Vale if it's not too foggy! It's so beautiful... How lucky are we that we get to take a room on the highest floor like this?"

The other pair of bunk beds appeared to already have a pair of tenants, but the owners must have be out for the day. Lyra's eyes lit up, "Ulyssa, do you think our roommates are older students? Like maybe even second or third year. That would be so cool..."

Owyn and Soren, on the other hand, walked into their room to find a similar sight, with one exception: one of the two pre-established roommates was actually in the room. Owyn dropped his bag, deciding he didn't care whether he was top or bottom, so he'd let Soren choose. It was hardly a selfless move - he honestly just didn't care. The boy who was there before them had his eyes glued to a book and didn't quite look up at first. His brow was furrowed, the front read Tales of Grimm and Aura – seemed a bit more non-fictional than the titled implied, however, based on the lack of coverart or fancy font for the title. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, “But that doesn’t explain…” Finally, shaking his head, he snapped the book closed and dropped it onto his end table beside the bottom bunk. “It’ll make more sense later,” He explained to nobody before getting up and stretching his back.

“Hey,” He said, finally noticing the newbies in his room. Well, it was obvious he’d noticed them, it was more finally acknowledging them than anything. “Name’s Voyd, from Team RAVN. You guys must be our new roommates. Nice to meet ya,” He said with a smile, offering a hand for either of them to shake. “We’re graduating at the end of this year, welcome to Beacon. I hear they upped the Initiation run this year – based on how you two look, I’d be willing to bet that it was pretty rough. Congratulations – I wish they’d let me go through it again. Initiation was such a blast,” what was initially a polite and friendly smile turned into more of a devilish smirk. Anybody who could read a first impression could tell that this guy lived to die and tell about it.

“Aero’s our other roomie, he’s probably out doing something… Well… You’ll see pretty soon how he is. Not much of one for conversation if you catch my drift...” He shrugged, waving a hand dismissively, “Anyway, you guys can pick out your beds. I’m sure you’re tired, but if you’ve got any questions, fire away.”

[GambolMuse]

If they didn't balance their work then they'd burn out in no time. Ulyssa might be fine with studying incessantly, in fact Soren almost thought she was looking forward to it, there was no way he could pull through. Being physically active was one thing and while not always fun it was easier for him to do; head in a book, sitting still for hours on end, the very notion of that made him cringe. Relenting as Lyra cut in he raised an eyebrow as she went silent for a moment, wondering why it was she cut herself off mid-sentence. When she started again a moment later she appeared somewhat uncomfortable yet tried to play it off, and out of respect Soren didn't ask her what it was bothering her.

"Finding our room doesn't sound terrible, I wouldn't mind cleaning up a little." They had bathed in the lake just to feel some semblance of sanitation yet it paled in comparison to an actual shower or bath. Reaching up with one hand he rubbed at his shoulder, giving it a slight roll as his joints popped and muscles groaned in protest. Owyn's question was a fairly obvious one seeing as he even knew the answer, and he hardly paid any attention to the particulars this far. "Looking around sounds fun, but I'd like to see our room first. We'll see you girls later," Soren added, waving to them before nodding to Owyn, "Let's go, shouldn't be too hard finding our place."

-----

Well the quarters at Beacon weren't anything to write home about but it certainly trumped sleeping out on the forest floor. Two sets of bunk beds, a few dressers, a restroom attached to the bedroom and two desks, simplistic yet just what they would need. Almost as soon as they had entered the room Lyra darted over to the top bed, and with no reservations pleaded to have the uppermost bed. Ulyssa relented with a smile, finding her excitability to be amusing. "Don't mention it, I don't mind having the bottom bunk," she replied as she set her bags down, sighing happily at now having a room of their own. Piquing her interest as Lyra gushed over the view at the window she moved over to join her, peering out at the view. It really was a lovely sight, certainly better than just looking out at the sea of green that was the Emerald Forest.

"Who knows? Could be we'll have other first year students like us too," Ulyssa observed as she went to the beds to inspect them. The bottom bunk was pristine and well kept, though she was curious about the assortment of stuffed animals gathered around the pillows. The top bunk on the other hand made a little part of her die inside, with all of the owner's clothing as well as various personal belongings strewn all over it. How in the world did anyone sleep like that? "Ridiculous, I can't share a room with someone like this..." she commented with a shake of her head, climbing up the ladder and glancing at the mess. Just as she had begun to rearrange the items and try to sort them out the door swung open, causing Ulyssa to jump and promptly descend the ladder, not wanting to anger their new roommates right away.

"Oh boy, what a day! All those Grimm too!" Stepping into her room Rayne raised her arms up in a stretch, letting out an unladylike belch before setting her hands on her stomach. And they even got themselves a hefty lunch out of it, what could be better? Once in her bedroom she headed directly for her bed, ignoring Ulyssa's baffled expression at first as she climbed up, grabbed a black hooded sweatshirt with a skull on both breasts and dropping back onto her feet. Only now did she finally acknowledge the other two girls, not that she hadn't seen them initially. "So you must be some of the girls who didn't die during initiation, awesome! Pretty cool that we'll have new roommates for a bit!" Rayne said cheerfully, grinning as she extended a hand to Ulyssa. "I'm Rayne, and this here is..." Huh, where was her teammate? Furrowing her brow the girl let out an audible sigh before cupping her hands around her mouth and turning to the door. "Noriko, get your butt in here! We have new roommates."

Slowly another girl entered the room, her eyes downcast as she shuffled her way inside. Why did there have to be new people? She was much more comfortable when it was just her and Rayne, now she'd have to get used to even more company. "Uh... H-Hi..." the Faunus mumbled, folding her hands at her waist and wringing them together nervously. Oh no, she could feel everyone's eyes on her, what would they say? She had her beret on as always and kept her tail concealed, but what if they knew somehow? What if they treated her like other people treated Faunus? Growing red in the face Noriko squirmed uncomfortably on the spot, letting out a meek gasp when Rayne threw her arm around her shoulders.

"Don't mind her, she's just shy around new people! She'll warm up to you in no time though," Rayne declared with a wink, putting her free hand on her hip, "Anyways welcome to our room newbies, hope you like your stay here! We just have some simple rules for you to know, so pay attention! One, lock the door if you're the last one out, we don't want bozos coming in here. Two, replace something if it runs out, its common courtesy, you know? And three don't touch our stuff or you're dead."

"S-She's kidding... About the dead part..." Noriko added timidly.

Even a simple room like this seemed luxurious to Soren. Accustomed to homes with not even 6 rooms, and whose rooms were smaller than this, even sharing this with three others seemed like a treat. Having bunk beds was a bit irregular especially given their age but he wouldn't complain, a bed was a bed. Before either he or Owyn could get settled though they should introduce themselves to their roommates, or roommate, as the case might be. One other boy was already present in the room and seemingly engrossed in his book to the point where they were paid no mind. Exchanging a silent glance with Owyn, Soren shrugged his shoulders and cleared his throat to signal their presence.

"Uh... Right, it was a little difficult I guess, but we made it through," Soren responded, awkwardly taking the older boy's hand and giving it a shake. He wasn't one to complain normally but would anyone seriously want to go through that? It was taxing and they were left sore as could be from it, and knowing it was only the beginning hadn't instilled much excitement in any of them either. "I guess that puts you a few years ahead of us too, must be nice to almost be done." Even better was they would have this room to themselves, provided there weren't new students again next year, which undoubtedly there would be. The mention of their fourth roommate, Aero, could have just as well gone without mention for how little interest Soren had in it. If these two were going to be gone by the year's end then it meant little to form any meaningful relationship with them, a first name basis was about as far as they had to go. "Right... Well I'm sure we'll get along swimmingly," he commented as he slung his bag onto the bottom bunk, hoping that was the end of their chat.

[Scout]

"Uh... Ulyssa... I... I don't think you should touch their stuff, I mean - you know, if they're not here and we haven't even met them yet... Doesn't it seem a bit intrusive?" She asked, rubbing her neck as she turned from the window. "Plus, her clothes look kind of... like she doesn't like them being touched," The girl noted, seeing skulls and different punky designs on them. When their roommates finally walked in and introduced themselves, she quirked an eyebrow.

Lyra grinned after the introductions, "Wait, Rayne and Noriko... Like team RAVN..? THAT Rayne and Noriko?" She asked brightly, "Oh my god, my papa took me to the Vytal Tournament last year - we watched all four of you fight. I didn't get to see the actual championship fight, we had to come home 'cause he had work... But it was so cool watching you guys all take down the other team! It was... so cool," She praised excitedly, hopping to her bunk all the way from the floor to sit on it and look at their room from up high.

It was only just now that she realized how mild Noriko seemed... But she was such a skilled fighter... What was making her uncomfortable?

You know what kind of tempers they have...

Lyra's ear's dropped a little, "Oh, uh, I hope you guys don't mind my being a Faunus. I've already heard some people around campus muttering about it - I certainly thought there'd be more like me here, but... I guess I didn't know just how Vale looked at us until recently. I mean, I knew, but I thought it was a little different here, so if it's a problem... Y'know, we can figure something out. Talk to the Headmaster or something, I'm sure they understand." She worked not to sound downtrodden over it, more addressing it as just a fact. In actuality, if the two members of Team RAVN, whom she'd only just met, didn't like her because of the way she was born, then she'd probably break down on the spot. She glanced to Ulyssa, realizing she hadn't really figured out if the other girl didn't care or if she was just really good at hiding it.

Owyn pulled his sheath from his belt and set it down, looking at their roommate as he introduced himself. He didn't shake hands, just shrugged, "Cool," He said coldly, starting to unpack his bags. "Yeah, what he said... Name's Owyn." For now, he could really care less. He just wanted some sleep in a bed and some peace and quiet. These last three days sucked and this 'Voyd' guy hardly seemed like anybody worth his time. Only a psychopath would want to see Initiation through to the end again. Maybe by the time they were ready to graduate, Initiation would seem like cakewalk.

Once he had most of his things unpacked, Owyn pulled his jacket off and kicked off his boots, climbing into bed. "Night," He said, without really acknowledging any further conversation, his back turned and his bed only half-made.

Voyd raised an eyebrow, "Alright... Well, based on your could-give-a-fuck attitude, I'm gonna let you two know right now..." With a grin, he leaned forward, "I don't like either of you. Fuck, try to make some friends while you're here, or you'll die out there. You're in a team of four, but you gotta work in groups of teams sometimes too - the more people who don't like you, the harder it's gonna be. Not to mention, if you even make it to graduation, Mr. Soren, Mr. Owyn, once you're real, real Huntsmen, you're going to be working alongside everybody here. Including me. And Aero. And your other teammates."

He shrugged and smirked, "Yeah... Swimmingly," He teased.

-----

Droplets of blood black as night spattered the ground as Lysander flicked his blade clean. He didn't take his eyes off the creature on the ground until it disintegrated. He pulled his rifle from his side and collapsed his katana, fitting it snugly into the firearm before extending the stock and pressing it firmly into his shoulder. He cleared his throat and cracked his neck, looking to the sky, waiting... listening...

The entire forest felt silent as he stood in the center. Because of Initiation, they hadn't let him hunt for three days... Three days! How ludicrous that they extended it. Were those little kids supposed to clean the place up? For Pete's sake, it would probably take four of them to handle a single Death Stalker... Or two to take down an Ursa. What a joke. He felt sorry for the ones who had to face off against a Nevermore. That was his prey of choice... He grinned at the thought of the newbies - they'd all have their share of obstacles and challenges with the Grimm here... But this, how he and his team were right now, this was how Huntsmen were. The students were defensive prey, but Team RAVN were predators. They were Huntsmen. He stared down the slightly magnified score and watched sky... The massive crows - harbingers of death - were his favorite targets. They fought like hell, had the aerial advantage, and, best of all, got to act as ironic omens of their own demise.

CAW!! The sound split the forest, echoing through every tree and bouncing off the mountains in the distance. Finally! God, he was beginning to think he'd hunted them out. What a shame that would be.

Lysander waited for it to break into his field of vision in the large, plain-like clearing. No doubt the sound from his last fight had drawn it out. Wait for it... Wait for it... There it was! The taste left his mouth and he could only hear things extremely close to him, but he could make out every single feather on that soulless bird's body as he fired round after round into it from the floor, taking a knee. It let out a bone-chilling screech as it finally spotted him and shook off the pain of his ranged weapon.

"Come and get it..." He muttered, his senses returning as he pulled the katana from his gun once more, lengthening it quickly and readying for the attack.

--

THUD! The bird came crashing out of the sky and into the field, a victorious soon-to-be-Hunstman holding a blade in its back and still firing a gun into the rear of its head. It was certainly dead, but he was making sure. Finally, he stopped, and it turned to smoke under him before he fell to the ground and landed upright. He spit on the floor, "Plenty more to come. Maybe I'll come hunt your flockmates tomorrow," He said waving a hand at the death site. He looked over his cloak... Good, he didn't spill anything on it. At least nothing that stuck. Time to get back.

As he ascended the stairs to his room at the top of his dormitory's tower at Beacon, he sighed... Chances were that he and Voyd were going to have new roommates. He'd actually hoped they'd get a year without them, but no such luck. He knew the newbies were coming, and he and Voyd would be expected to hold their hands and tell them it was all going to be just great! Ugh... disgusting.

[GambolMuse]

"Oh relax, it's not intrusive. I'm just curious that's all," Ulyssa shushed, tossing aside another shirt and peering at another. It was pink and yet bore skulls all over it, and the wrists had frills that resembled some kind of spikes. Raising an eyebrow she picked up the shirt and examined it, showing it to Lyra before setting it down. Seems like they had a very interesting roommate to wear that sort of clothing. She was about to go and look at another before hearing the door open behind them, hastily dropping off the ladder and folding her hands behind her back. Oops, probably not the best first impression.

Rayne grinned toothily as Lyra gushed over her and Noriko's appearance, giving a playful bow as their display was praised. "The one and only, the pleasure is all yours I'm sure," she said, laughing as she placed both hands on her hips, "And the championship fight was pretty boring honestly, they were total pushovers. I don't even know how that team got to the end, we beat two of them in under a minute, it was kind of pathetic really. Team uh..." Furrowing her brow as she wracked her brain for the information the eccentric girl groaned, stomping her foot on the carpeted floor before looking at Noriko. "Hey Nori, what was their team name again?"

"Uh... DUSK... I t-think..."

"Oh yeah, DUSK! Some edgy crap, I expected them to all be wearing black," Rayne continued, smirking as she then pointed to herself with her thumb, "There's only one person here who can pull that look off and not look like a complete idiot, and that's me. After we kicked their butts and won the whole thing we took a bit of a parade around town, it was a blast. You should have seen the stuff we got into!" Well the stuff she got into, the rest of her team had respectfully stood off to the side as she raised hell. But hey, she had been celebrating a big victory and it was deserved, who could blame her for that?

"Faunus? Girl I don't give a fuck if you're a human or a Faunus or a yellow and purple polka-dot monster, if you're cool then we're cool," Rayne replied dismissively, moving over to her bed and clambering up the ladder to her bunk. "In our line of work you don't have time for being one of those prejudiced assholes, I'll take anyone who's willing to watch my back in a fight," she continued as she began throwing clothes around, trying to dig up her guitar from the mountain of mess. Finally finding it she beamed and hopped back down, brandishing her instrument as she strummed the strings idly, "You aren't the only Faunus in Beacon either girly, there's a lot more, even if they try hiding it. Way I see it is anyone who treats you like crap for who you are isn't worth your time," Rayne said with a wink, strumming the strings again before setting her instrument at her feet, "And they're losing out on a fine young girl by being jerks."

Well this was... Intriguing. Rayne certainly had a personality and loved to talk, not to mention her unusual outfits. So much for some semblance of normalcy while they were roommates. Clearing her throat Ulyssa smiled awkwardly and folded her hands behind her back, hoping Rayne was through with her sermon. "Yes, well... I'm glad to see you're so open minded. We won't be a nuisance while we're here I assure you, and we certainly will take your advice. Personally I don't see the reason for the bigotry, Faunus haven't done any wrong by me and I have no reason to dislike them," she explained, casting a smile towards Lyra.

-------------------

Their time spent in Emerald Forest was taxing to be sure, but did they really have to turn in so soon? Soren would be fine for a while yet and would prefer getting a decent meal now as to laying down. Glancing over his shoulder and watching his teammate climb into his bunk he sighed, figuring he was off to the mess hall by himself then. Turning his head then towards Voyd as he began speaking again he frowned at the tone being taken with them, disliking already how they were being spoken down to. Was he saying that as if he or Owyn didn't know this already? They assigned teams for a reason, and obviously some missions would require cooperation among groups, that was a given. It annoyed him how Voyd assumed they weren't going to have any success in that department, but he kept his remarks to himself.

"We'll keep that in mind, thanks," Soren responded simply, his eyes locking on Voyd briefly before he glanced back at Owyn, "I'm heading down for some food, see you later." He didn't need to sit around and be lectured by some fourth year, even if he might know what he was talking about. There was being helpful and then there was being a presumptuous, arrogant jerk, which Voyd came off as. Stepping out of the room he shut the door behind himself, breathing a heavy sigh before heading for the stairwell. He just hoped Owyn didn't open his mouth and get himself killed while he was out eating, it would be a pain in the neck to replace someone on the first day.

It was strange in a way, thinking that they were true Huntsmen now. That wasn't wholly correct to say he supposed but they were beginning their training at last, after what felt like countless hours at both the battle academy and in the Emerald Forest. Soren was hardly disheartened at knowing they had some years ahead of them still, confident he could take that time to hone his skills and become a decidedly decent Huntsman. He didn't need to be one of the big names, he just had to be successful enough to send money home, that was all. While he'd prefer to begin doing that part as soon as possible he knew work was a ways off for them, he'd have to do his best to help in whatever way he could until then. Furrowing his brow as he considered what he could offer now he accidentally bumped into someone on the stairs, glancing up briefly to see who it was an mutter "Sorry" before continuing on.

[Scout]

Lyra smiled and nodded, "Fine by me - I just grew up around the bigotry, so I was pretty used to it. No biggie - I wouldn't hide it even if somebody wanted me to. I love what I am," She said with a big grin, "It makes me who I am." The girl nodded decisively as her tail waved behind her back. "If you guys don't mind, I'd really, really appreciate the chance to take a shower," She said, seeing as nobody seemed in any hurry to get in.

"Maybe you can see what the guys wanna do later, Ulyssa? I mean, this place is full of things to see and do, right? Tired or not, if we sleep now, we won't be able to get to bed tonight..." She nabbed a towel from her bag and a couple articles of clothing before slipping away and into the restroom. Shortly after, the sound of water filled the room and within minutes, the steam was softly drifting from under the door and out of the bathroom window. A pleasant tune filled the restroom too as Lyra hummed one of her favorite songs, quickly losing herself in her mind and the comfort of hot running water and soap.

Owyn rolled his eyes behind their lids, trying to fall asleep... He found that his muscles were too tired and simultaneously restless and his clothes too dirty to comfortably get to sleep. He pushed himself out of the bed and shook his head in agitation as he began to unpack his things into half of the empty drawers and closet space left for him, giving Soren the rest. He and Voyd didn't speak much as he folded or hung each of his articles and put them away. The door opened and a white haired young man entered, a rather intimidating robed warrior with a bladed rifle over his chest, on hand holding it steadily pointed at the ground. He didn't even acknowledge Owyn, looking to Voyd.

Voyd grinned and got up from the floor, where he'd moved to read his book for a bit. "Bro, I woke up this morning and you were already gone, why the Hell didn't you get me? I wanted to go hunting too!" He exclaimed, offering a hand.

Aero smirked and shook his head, grasping Voyd's forearm tightly for a moment in response, "You're a showboater - I was taking care of myself today. We get enough time in training together, I gotta make sure I don't get too reliant and rusty, you know that."

"Anything good?" Voyd asked, releasing his grip and crossing his arms.

Aero shrugged, "Pretty moderately sized Nevermore and a couple of fodder, but nothing else with wings or claws large enough to seem exciting. Felt good enough though," He stated matter-of-factly, stretching out a bit before pulling his rifle off over his head and removing his katana from its port. He placed the gun carefully on a rack and adjusted the blade to its full length, setting it carefully on a pair of pegs on the wall directly over the rifle, in a sheath. "What'd you get up to?"

"Some light reading," Voyd said, showing his book before tossing it to his bed. "We got new guys - one just left to get some food. Bit of a snarky loner - like you with an attitude. Or more like you if your bark was worse than your bite... And fold-and-stow over here. Owyn, right?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at their new roommate.

"Yeah, hey," He said, waving a hand.

Voyd lowered his voice and leaned toward Aero, "He's a bit of a diva, too."

"Shut up, geeze!" Owyn said, slamming a drawer shut as he finished putting everything inside of it. "Oh my god, do you ever just... Not act like the coolest shit since the North Pole? I've known you for like twenty minutes and that's all you've sounded like."

Voyd put his hands up and feigned fear, "Oh, whoa whoa whoa there guy... Calm down a bit - you were the one who came here not acting friendly. I assumed you were treating others how you wanted to be treated. Give respect to get it, bub," He stated, rolling his eyes, "Now quiet down, I got some reading and Aero... I dunno, what've you gotta do, bud?"

Aero shrugged, "Eat." The fighter grabbed his blade and belted it to his back - he never left without at least one weapon, even if he was just headed for food. Most students didn't. At this point, they were all trained to expect anything at any minute.