dragonpiece

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Fredrick Jones

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After teaching the classes before lunch, Fredrick finally started to unwind in his class. He loosened his tie as he pulled a chair to do some paperwork by the window. He usually found himself diverting his attention between grading and watching the clouds roll by. Watching time pass, giving a somewhat melancholic look all the while. He pulls out his pocket watch, giving quick inspection to it. Slowly, the ticking hands drew him into its time.

The grumbling of his stomach brought him back out of his sedated state. He took a look at the wall clock to see only 10 minutes had passed since he lost focus. Fredrick put his watch away and began to rub his eyes. He stretched in his chair and but the papers into their folder and then placed them in his backpack. "I should get some lunch" as he stood up, throwing his pack over his shoulder, and started towards the door. "Come on Emily!" He said with a bit more energy, smiling at his cat. Emily stretched herself back to life and quickly hopped on Fredrick's shoulder. Fredrick scratched under her chin as he walked to the teacher's lounge.

As he entered the lounge, Fredrick went and popped a ready-to-go meal in the microwave and poured himself some of the cold leftover coffee. He turned around and leaned on the counter as he checked who was in the room to see the infectious smile of Herman. That grin of his always had a way of making Fredrick smile. "Hey Herman how are you?" still leaning against the counter, stirring a large amount of flavored cream into his coffee.

@Th3King0fChaos

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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Henry found some amusement in Nikolay's rambling. Henry felt slightly more comforted seeing a small fault in someone. He tended to see people as more earnest and genuine when they show some minor flaws. As he was appreciating the slight rambling, Henry finally recalled that his accent was different this morning. He couldn't make heads or tails of what this meant but at least it wouldn't surprise him too much next time he switches. I wonder if his German accent is any good? That would be pretty funny, Henry thought for a moment.

Watching as Nikolay went to the other side of the ring, he watched as the hands appeared. Henry has never inspected the hands before as they seem to look somewhat like a stone. The fact that they were just floating there was a bit creepy but mostly captivating. It was rare to see a Noble Arm that didn't need to be wielded by its user. But with that Nikolay readied up.

As the hands seemed to glow red he could see the same for Nikolay's eyes, so his eyes indicate what his hands are doing? I'm not too sure so I'll have to keep an eye on it. Henry began to dash forward, bounding off his right leg to gain the burst of speed. Henry was going about 30mph with that dash, refraining from going into a full-on sprint. He saw the hands produce these red beams of light that although by themselves weren't moving fast, became major obstacles with how fast Henry was moving. Henry opted out of thinking too hard of his options and just decided to slide under them. As Henry got near the energy blast, he threw his feet forward, letting his center of mass go tumbling toward the floor, sending him into a slide tackle. Henry nearly got hit by the attack either way, as his slide tackle needs a fair amount of work. If his timing was any worse he would have kissed the dang things. With barely dodging the attack, Henry continues the slide tackle. Henry began to slow the tackle down, using his gauntlets to scrape the ground, as he began to worry what a slide tackle at this speed would do to Nikolay. Either way, it would be best if he dodged this one.

@The Man Emperor

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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While lost in thought about who to potentially spar, Nikolay came into Henry's view, surprising him slightly. Henry smiled out of reflex and processed what he asked. Wasn't my first choice but if he wants to spar, why not accept his offer. Henry took his arm and patted Nikolay on the back, "Thank you for asking, Nikolay. I will gladly spar you." Henry now looked Nikolay in the eyes to see them glowing. Henry pulled himself back a little as they caught him off guard. He did like how they looked though, there were literal glowing eyes after all.

Henry equipped his gauntlets, starting in Spring, and began to walk away from Nikolay to get into position. Henry wasn't a fan of starting in Spring time, it just never suits his style. However, right now he is in the mood to just fight. Besides not knowing what Nikolay's hands do exactly did make it a difficult decision whether he should've started in a different season. Henry remembered from before classes that he rudely ignored Nikolay. "Oh, and sorry about ignoring you this morning. I was in a hurry but that doesn't excuse my rudeness, I hope you can forgive me." With a slightly clearer mind Henry gets ready

Henry began by taking a wide stance, leading with his right foot. Once Nikolay showed that he was ready, Henry had planned on dashing at him to get in close.

@The Man Emperor

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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Henry felt tight as he ran, still trying to shake some of the feelings he had earlier. He decided it would be best to just run all the laps again rather than skimping out on some. Quickly, his body adjusted to what was going on. The laps were completed with haste. Like usual he wasn't satisfied with a light warm up. He preferred to go heavier with his start. Mr. Cinter called people into the circle, Henry joined the circle, still wanting to run more. He put his arms behind him, having them support his weight. He knew stretches were coming up next. Stretching was fun to Henry. It reminded him of simpler times before he had thrown on a lot of muscle and grew. He was actually quite flexible before he started training. Now some of it has left but he can still do the splits if he warms up properly.

Henry listened to Mr. Cinter's instructions and started to spread out accordingly. Henry gave himself a good bit more room to compensate for his size. Wouldn't want to accidentally hit someone. Henry reflected on his strengths and weaknesses for only a moment until he came to the conclusion of almost anything is his worst scenario. I guess a gun or a spear would be the worst right now. Henry tried to create a gunmen at the moment but it quickly failed as he realized he has no experience with firearms. Spear it is then. He has never committed to this before, always feeling embarrassment from trying. He just hopes he will be able to focus properly on it or this exercise doesn't mean much.

The mental imagery formed a rough image of a person, around 1.7 meters using a 2 meter long pole. No face or really distinguishable features to speak of. Just a greyish mass in the form of a human. He didn't know how someone with a spear would fight so he just imagined that this thing was trying to kill him. Henry began to do a good bit of side stepping to move out of the prodding spear. He batted it out of the way once. He felt confident that was a good move. That is until he considered what if he couldn't touch the spear for some reason. Then he realized he wasn't moving nearly enough. It was predictable. He started to form a mental cylinder with the center if it being the spear wielder. He set it to around 2 meter radius, the same as the spear. Stepping out of the circle would mean death. And with that Henry began his image training. Dodging to the side, rolling to the other side, slapping it away. A momentous moment came when he saw he made an opening for himself. This is it! He took a step backwards to get himself ready to finally go on the offensive. Just then Mr. Cinter called time. Henry opened his eyes, now feeling even more frustrated than before. As he looks down to calm himself. He realizes he stepped out of the circle on that last step. Henry couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that.

Next was sparring, apparently. Henry usually despised sparring but right now with all that has happened he is in the perfect mood for it. A small smile seems to curl up from his previously blank expression. The only person he knew had a spear is Cynthia. The thought of sparring with someone who may be upset with you just sounds like a safety hazard. Henry took his basic face again and started to let his mind wander to each person. Jordan would be fun to spar with that rifle of his; Oscar has that Sword of Light of his; Nathaniel has a pair of revolver, wait, can't he shoot lightning?; Nikolay has... Hands?; I'm not sure what Pablo has. Now then, who to spar? As he was thinking he remembered Hailey might have to participate in the sparing. Henry is still worried because of what happened earlier. With that he decided he should leave himself open until he sees what she does.

@BigPapaBelial

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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Henry was waiting to see what Cynthia was coming over for. He hoped for a maybe a light talk before Gym. But from the way she walked over and her tone Henry knew that wasn't the case. Henry listened as he sat back, nodding like he understood with a neutral face. He pulled out his phone and began translating whatever she was saying right there. Okay let us see what she is upset about.

As he began to translate her rant toward him, he got the gist of what she was saying. It was surprising to him to say the least. However, Henry also had no reason to band against Virgil. Sure he has a monopoly on the school at the moment but that doesn't affect Henry. Frankly the cost of the facilities is already too steep for him to use to begin with. Besides that they are just acting like privileged people and Henry has no qualms with it. Use what you have to succeed. She probably doesn't like him for other reasons besides his supposed reign on the school, Henry thought.

After collecting his thoughts he was finally ready to give input. He leaned forward a little to enlarge his silhouette, as he made eye contact to get Cynthia's attention "I really don't have issues with Virgil if I'm being honest. I haven't been personally affected by his actions. His attitude towards his other students is rude from what I have seen but to say he is the cancer of this school is very rude and honestly makes it hard to take your side. Also from the little I know about Vane what he cares about is strength. Why would he band with you if doing so actively puts him in a detriment. And from what I have seen Vane and you are not close enough for him to set that aside." Henry begins to stand up, letting his massive frame tower over the German youth. His face showed a mixture of disappointment and sadness "I am sorry Cynthia. I really am but there is no way I would join your group against Virgil right now. Maybe if you came here with a compelling argument, one that could move me to action, then I would gladly join you. But for now you only come off as a vexed child." Henry begins to step past her, stopping once he is slightly past her to make one final remark to her before he goes for his jog "Also your suggestion to beat him up and hang him from a flagpole only proves to me that you are not that much different than him."

The last thing Henry said to Cynthia is bugging him slightly. He wonders if he went too far with it. She was obviously trying to do what she believed was right. Henry, to a degree, admires how outspoken she can be about injustices she sees. Her zeal alone almost won Henry over, however, her crude and dehumanizing language toward her fellow students just made her seem like part of the issue rather than the hero. A part of Henry wishes that she could mellow her black and white mentality to be less antagonistic to Virgil's group. It is obvious that some people actually benefit from Virgil giving another way to get into these expensive facilities.

As he finally stopped thinking of his words towards Cynthia, he noticed Hailey sitting down on the bleacher away from people. Perfect Henry thought to himself. As he jogged he got out his pocket notepad and began to write his number down. As Henry was going by he jogged up to Hailey and handed her the folded piece of paper. "Hey Hailey! Me and some of your classmates are coming over to my dorm room for dinner. I would love to have you join. Text me if you want to come alright" as he makes finger guns toward the paper signifying that as his number. Henry turns on his heels and with a split second gets into a full sprint "There will be a plate for you either way though!" as he continues running.

@Landaus Five-One@Letter Bee

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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As Henry finally sat down with Oscar, Jordan, and he thinks Nathaniel, he relaxed and rolled his shoulders as if trying to get rid of any tension. As he was getting comfortable Nathaniel got up to go do his laps. Henry felt a hand pat his back as he looked over at Oscar, saying he did well. Henry smiled at Oscar, showing some gratitude for the acknowledgement.

He thought of the smile he was able to see of Hailey's. Seeing a smile like that has a way of melting the fatigue away from any heart. It is what Henry needed as his big mission was coming up later today with these two men. Henry did have some reservations with doing such an important mission with people he hadn't worked with yet. He felt his lack of experience in group settings would cause his teammates issues. But he didn't have time to shy away from it now that It was set in stone.

Mr. Cinter had started to make his way over to share the news. The news was indeed sudden and took Henry by surprise. Henry was thoroughly excited about the delay. With that time extension Jordan, Oscar, and himself the opportunity to really become a cohesive unit. It seemed like Jordan had the same idea. Henry said "Sure, we could really use the additional training" giving a thumbs up to Jordan. With Oscar's also wanting to meet after school were all set. Having just noticed Nikolay Henry gave him a smile and a wave. Henry must have been too lost in thought to have noticed Nikolay there. Henry was perplexed whether Nikolay's voice was different or was Henry just that forgetful. Either way it didn't bother Henry too much.

Looking around the gym Henry noticed Nathaniel speaking to Hailey. It caught his attention and he just watched as he was thinking about what to have for dinner after the training session. Probably want a bit more than usual if I'm going to be training more. Henry looked up every now and then to check what was happening. Seeing that Hailey was crying first caused some worry for Henry, on further inspection though they seemed to be the good kind of tears. Henry relaxed again and was met with the comical sight of Nathaniel seeing Hailey cry. Henry went back to planning his meal looking up to Nathaniel and Hailey sharing food.

Inspiration struck Henry as he thought I'll invite them to dinner! Henry checked his food list on his phone. He has enough to feed a few months he thought. Henry looked over to Jordan, Oscar, and Nikolay "Would you guys like to join me for dinner tonight at my dorm?" He would have to invite Hailey and Nathaniel in a bit. If only Henry had their numbers.

Nikolay seemed to spot Cynthia. Henry gave a look in her general direction, curious on what she was coming to the gym for. Whatever the case, he waved at her letting her know it is okay to come over.

_{@The Man Emperor@Th3King0fChaos@BigPapaBelial@Letter Bee}

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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The shocked look on Hailey's face filled Henry with confusion as he did not know if it was positive or negative with how much had happened. The smile followed by her joyous tears made this all worth it to Henry. The smile was different then the one she showed him previously. Her then verbally confirming their friendship made Henry think I'm happy I turned back around. As Hailey tightened her hold on Henry, he loosened his own to enjoy the moment. In that moment Henry's eyes seem to lose focus.

When Henry came to Trinidad he didn't know much about the school, culture, language, or country he will hopefully be staying in as he studies. He tried to shoulder all of this silently, never trying to show his worries to his families and especially his classmates. He overestimated himself and found that daily life had become a slog. No it was further back… as he reflected often on his own state of being he came to realize that this tiredness had been building for a long time now. Henry did as he always did and repressed it, always prioritizing someone else.

Eye's refocusing on Hailey listening to her again. "Yeah, doing the rest of the laps is important. I don't think Mr. Cinter would be angry if you needed a break this time." Henry slowly began to separate from her allowing the both of them to stand up. As he listened to her final thank you Henry had to say "I'm glad that I was able to help this time. If there is anything you need or just want to hang out let me know and I'll do the same." As she stated that Oscar was kind, Henry couldn't help but agree with her with a shake of the head. As she went off to do the rest of her laps, Henry finally walked up to Oscar, Jordan, and Nathaniel waving to them to let them know he was heading over. He was still a little restless from what he heard about Hailey's father but that is going to have to wait until a combat class.

_{@Th3King0fChaos@Landaus Five-One@The Man Emperor@BigPapaBelial}

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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As the chaos brought by the Noble Arm passes Henry begins to relax his body. He lets out a relieved sigh, still holding a smile towards Hailey. The momentary reprieve didn't last long as Henry could fill her still shivering from the incident. He pulled her slightly closer to show he was still there.

I”I-I believe you, Henry… b-but… it’s always there...”

@Landaus Five-One

He could only listen calmly as she reveals that this… fear… never truly seems to go away. The thought of living with such a crippling pain stung and tightened his chest. He couldn't show the grimace of his heart to her when she was so vulnerable. Hailey smiled at Henry as she thanked him. At this point he was making direct eye contact with her the entire time and like a storm he could see coming from deep inside of her heart. Preparing for this Henry put his hand behind her head and pulled her into his chest. What he heard sent chills down his back. Why… These words echoed through Henry's mind. The idea of throwing out your kid like that enraged him to no end. He couldn't accept that. Henry's heart was sent aflame with anger over a person he didn't even know. He had to hide it for now, she still needed comfort and these emotions are nothing compared to the living hell she goes through. Henry just gently caressed the back of her head to help calm her down the best he could.

She seemed to recompose herself after the PTSD like experience. Henry knew those words weren't meant for him to know. However now that he does he made a promise to himself that he would never betray her as her confidant. Hailey thanked him again and now confirmed Henry's thoughts that this was her Noble Arm. A Noble Arm that would cause such grieve to their user was unheard of to Henry. But all those inquiries were shoved to the wayside as Henry needed to make this clear. With a quiet but clear voice Henry spoke "I don't know your full situation or how I can help but what I do know is that I want to be there and help. Would you have me as your friend?" Henry learned at a young age from his father that when you feel this strongly you need to be direct.

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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Henry felt relieved that Hailey would let him try and comfort her. The sprinting hug was a surprise though. Although it caught him off guard, Henry wouldn't be pushed down by someone her size jumping on him. Henry took her charge full force and wrapped his arms around her, doing his best to make her feel comfortable. As he held her, he couldn't help but thank himself for taking a shower. Henry just said "it's okay" a common thing anyone says to someone in need.

However things got scary as Henry could feel her get more scared as he held her. At first she said stop it and Henry loosened his hold on her. She still seemed to be latched on so Henry was momentarily confused. That is when the sudden drop in temperature hit. Out of instinct he pulled Hailey close again, looking around for what could be causing the phenomenon. Not being able to figure it out, Henry pulls Hailey and himself to the floor, holding her more securely than before. "It's going to be okay" Henry said to her trying to calm her down. Hailey spoke again this time she seemed to speak to her Noble Arm. The phenomenon seemed to calm down after her plea. Henry could only hold her as he realized the pain her Noble Arm must put her through. "Your alright now, it's going to be alright"

_{@Landaus Five-One}

Academy of Noble Arms - The Golden Generation

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Henry

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A small bit of time passed between asking and him getting an answer. Much to Henry's surprise, Oscar was the one to answer him. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least as Henry hasn't spoken to anyone in German since he got here. It felt like a weight had been off of Henry. Not only was the one he could now speak his native tongue to his was his teammate but also someone Henry knew was a good guy. With a more cheerful voice, Henry said "Thank you" to Oscar, still in his native tongue.
_{@Th3King0fChaos}

To think things couldn't get better for Henry as a small in comparison girl approached. Henry dove into his memories as she approached trying to remember her name. His memory didn't fail him like it did with Oscar this time. This was Hailey speaking to him. "Hello" he said to Hailey with a smile. As Henry listened to Hailey speak he started to pay closer attention to her mannerism. Her slight shaking, the puffy eyes, her scared tone all made Henry more concerned for her. Henry continued to smile at her like nothing was wrong to not worry her more so. Henry did let out a small laugh as she said he was intimidating. He scratched the back of his head "I get that a lot actually" as he continued to chuckle at that. Once she left, Henry slowly made his walk over to Oscar and Jordan.

Her scared demeanor has struck something in Henry as he began to reminisce of the bullying his younger siblings had to go through. Henry would come to see them looking devoid of feeling or sometimes just crying. All he could do for them was hold them and help out in the moment. He could never fix the issues but just watching them suffer without trying to help would kill Henry. Those feelings rose into Henry's chest as he walked away from her. Henry tried to suppress his emotions, using the fact he didn't know her that well as an excuse. Finally he couldn't bear the thought of seeing someone so visibly shaken and leaving them without offering the only comfort he knew how to give.

He turned on his heels and began to walk over to Hailey. She was jogging so he just predicted where they would meet up at his walking pace. Henry called out to Hailey "Hailey", Henry's stoic features softened to a warm smile as he extended his arms out towards her "Do you need a hug?" Although it sounded like a question, Henry's outstretched arms and soft smile made it evident that he believed Hailey needed one. Henry hoped so much that she would take it up, recalling how much it hurts to keep your pains to yourself.
_{@Landaus Five-One}