Jorie Ngo, Sarina Tala Dei, Sterling Johnson, Estellise Sidos Heurassein Nuit - Team JESS – JESS DORM
Sarina entered into her bedroom after search for CPLT came up with nothing. What was interesting was one of the beds, Sarina saw a white-haired pale skinned girl. She observed her momentarily, A bird faunus…an Owl huh. She must be Clairs’ replacement while she’s gone. It would be rude of her to wake her up as she thought. So she walked into the living, made tea from their mini fridge on a preparation counter, and minded her own business until she awoke from her slumber. She would eventually wake up from the sounds of her footsteps. Sarina opened up her tablet to find out the name, Estelle Nuit, wait Bianca had a sister?! Sarina never knew about this and now was curious.
Estelle's subconciousness decided that she needed to be awake and her eyes shot open. She could hear footsteps from somewhere in the room. The Faunus rubbed her head and fixer her hair before pulling herself out of bed. She glanced around the room, noticing the other girl. She decided she should probably introduce herself; after all she was technically trespassing in the poor girl's room. She pushed herself out of the bed, steadying herself against the wall and walked towards the other girl.
"Hello, I'm sorry for missing you, but it seemed everyone was out when I arrived." Estelle began placing a hand forward for her new teammate to shake. "My name is Estelle Nuit, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
“We had duties to attend to that have now passed” as she took a sip from her tea. “My name is Sarina Tala, Ducissa (Duchess) of Dei. I assume you must be a relative of Bianca, her sister?” Sarina had noticed with her awaken she indeed resemble her sister.
"Yes, Bianca is my sister, she is..." Estelle stopped for a second, clicking her tongue trying to think of the right words, but they just refused to come to her "She's not feeling too well after what happened to my mother." Estelle said, shifting her weight onto her back leg and glancing around the room once more. "I heard about you from Bianca though. You showed her around at one point, right?" Estelle asked.
“Yes I did and I hope she gets better soon to return to Beacon. I know the original three of VGNB miss her” as she sipped some more tea.
His search too coming up short, Sterling Johnson was nonetheless still in his typical high spirits as the long-suffering JSSC JESS door was roughly tossed open.
"Ayy, second new teamie in here?" he asked, walking inside with both his fleshy and metallic arms casually entrenched in his pockets. Peering over Sarina's head, his one consistent teammate coincidentally straight in front of him, his eyebrows rose as he saw a pure white and fluffy head of hair.
“Yes, Clairs' replacement.” Finally another one, I wonder where is the Crab.
That looked like the belongings of a cute girl if he ever saw one.
Stepping out from behind the TA (and having accidentally done a remarkable job of concealing his larger, more powerful frame), he raised a hand in greeting and threw her a friendly grin.
"Yo! Welcome aboard, greenhorn! Name's Sterling Johnson and I'll be your tour guide of our humble abode for the evening. That stuff over there--"
His metallic arm now emerged as well, jabbing an indicative finger towards a bed with legs raised high enough to create a miniature mancave below.
"That stuff is mine. Ground rule here and it goes for everyone, not just you: No touching of my stuff without my approval of you touching my stuff."
He gestured to the other three beds.
"This, on the other hand, is everyone else's stuff. Go wild."
The friendly grin became coated heavily with cheek.
Estelle was momentarily taken aback by the sheer stature of her new teammate. The man was massive; there was no getting around it. She couldn't help but release a small giggle at some of the things he was saying. But she took note of it, don't touch his stuff, got it.
"It's nice to meet you too, my name is Estelle Nuit." She said happily shaking his hand with a powerful hand shake. She moved over to the bed that was designated as hers. "I just spoke with Ozpin that was slightly intimidating." Estelle said looking up at the ceiling with a grin.
"This school is definitely going to be interesting." She chirped brushing the hair out of her face. "I was wondering, it seems missions are to begin soon, will we be going out on a mission as well, or do we have duties to offer tutelage to the younger students?" Estelle asked thinking of Bianca's ex-teammates. She wouldn't mind either truly. However, she would enjoy an opportunity to prove herself to her new teammates.
Sarina simply observed as Sterling and Estelle conversed, Estelle owl features, she was just like Bianca
"Well, in short, yeah." he replied unhelpfully. "Sarina here," he began, good naturedly clapping the Mistralese woman on the back just hard enough to not spill her tea (which it must be noted was a learned skill preceded by tremendous failures all throughout earlier years) "Is a TA for Goodwitch, so she helps out. Additionally, sometimes we get schools of fish to babysit on the more easygoing stuff, but this week looks like it's just us on a mission closer to our caliber."
He folded his arms.
"So it looks like we'll have to figure out how you mesh on the fly. Same with Jorie, albeit not as much since we have her match with Taidan to go off of..." his eyes drifted up to the ceiling in thought for a moment, before lidding themselves as he shrugged confidently.
"Eh, no worries. We'll piece it together in no time."
Sarina simply observed as Sterling and Estelle conversed for some time, Estelle owl features, she was just like Bianca. “We can start today with a light sparring match against all three of us in five minute intervals” as she poured more tea from a pitcher into her cup, taking another sip. “That way we can get an idea were you fit in with the team.” Sarina took another sip of her tea before looking directly at Estelle, “Are you alright with that? I can understand if you are still tired but knowing and experiencing what you can do now will benefit the entire team greatly."
"Noooooo," Jorie mumbled out, the disgruntled noises emanating from the closet located somewhere in the room. It only took a few seconds before the wooden door slightly opened, revealing only the hooded face of Jorie. She was actually the first one to arrive on the scene, but after finding the stranger inside of the room prompted her to hide. It only took a few minutes before the conversation between everyone came to be, all the while the shrimp continued to just listen. Though, Jorie felt the need to interject when she heard that they were going to have to fight, again. "I don't want to fight," Jorie stated, lightly speaking her mind to the group, though her face was looking towards the floor even with the hood covering her entire face, excluding the mouth and chin.
And the crab came out, not surprising as Sarina always found to be in different spaces. But she was here before her; she could have introduced herself to Estelle instead of startling the owl.
"That seems fine with me. I'd love to show you what I've got." Estelle said placing a steady hand on her blade sheathed on her hip. She smiled towards the group; she was obviously not threatening them. She heard Jorie from within the closet and her head spun 180 degrees in order to look at her, eliciting a silent "What the fuck" from one Sterling Johnson. Estelle was a little startled; it wasn't everyday someone pops out of a closet. She laughed when she heard Jorie's complaint.
"Well if you don't want to fight I suppose you could always just observe." Estelle giggled, turning her head back to face Sterling and Sarina. She took in everything her new team was saying. They definitely weren't what she had expected, but they would do. She was looking forward to seeing their talents in the field.
"Where is a good place to spar around here?" Estelle asked shooting a glance out the window in their room as if scanning the landscape for an area with few people. She glanced back at Sterling and Sarina, attempting to size them up, but without much knowledge of even their semblance, it was an empty action. She stepped forward towards the two new teammates and prepared for them to show her where they were going.
Her questions were completely lost upon the silver-haired Atlesian.
"Is your neck okay?"
He had much more pressing concerns on his mind.
"Hm? Oh, I'm an owl Faunus, I can do that naturally, I'm sorry for any concern." Estelle answered demonstrating by turning her neck an approximate 260 degrees, almost fully around. She turned it back and smiled at her new teammate.
"Oh." came the succinct and befuddled reply. "Yikes."
Heh, trying to size me up As Sarina had noticed the glance Estelle gave, the typical head turn. We will see how skilled you are shortly… “We have a combat arena were the students spar, settle grudge matches, show of their strength etc.” Sarina then turned her gaze to their team leader, “Eh don’t let your mistakes during your match with Shuai stop you from a fight. Besides, this a good time to redeem yourself” she said with confidence and stoicism (the usual). She then turned her gaze back to Estelle, “Your neck, interesting... unnerving. That will be beneficial to the team.”
"Re-Redeem?" Jorie stuttered as the essence of despair bursting out of the closet as her covered face somehow managed to express the feeling of sadness towards the group. "I was going to watch, but I guess I can fight," Jorie silently stated, her face disappearing into the darkness of the closet.
Soon enough, the door started to open rather slowly. It could almost say that a light gust of wind could open the door faster! Still, it opened, revealing the Jorie's entire short self. You could tell that the cloud of gloom had disappeared in those few seconds, and the look of unhappiness seemed to be missing. Still, she looked rather nervous meeting a new person. However, if her teammates accepted her... Then she could act, normal around her as well. "Uh... Hi, my name is Jorie Ngo, and I'm an Alpheidae Faunus." Jorie awkwardly waved towards Estelle with her claw arm, "I guess we can fight... If you want."
"C'mon, Sarina, quit ribbing the new leader." Sterling muttered in an aside. "Jo-rie! Leader's gotta assert herself a little! Show her your game face before she gets ideas to usurp!" he cheekily advised from on high, ribbing the new leader.
"Besides," he continued without missing a beat or waiting for a reaction, "If we see more of the both of you we know how the both of you fight. Sarina an' I have stuck around on this team for a while, so we know how our styles mesh. You guys are the wild cards here."
"Very well" Estelle said standing up and withdrawing her blade. "Shall we leave to go to our sparring match?" She asked waiting for someone to take the lead. She however didn't pass up the opportunity to glance over at her team leader. The girl seemed somewhat uncertain of herself, though the fact that she was a fellow Faunus struck a chord in Estelle's heart. She found herself drawn by the claw arm, Estelle could see a myriad of ways it would prove useful in combat whether just by being a claw arm or by distracting an opponent, because it was a fucking claw arm. Estelle caught herself wondering if this was how people viewed her neck turning, internally shrugging.
With a lopsided smile, She is new after all only time will tell when the missions come. Sarina stood up and placed the pitcher, the cup and plate on the preparation counter. She grabbed Arbiter and Tormento which had sat leaning besides the chair she sat on. “Yes” she said looking at Estelle “let’s go to the arena.”
--
Jorie Ngo, Sarina Tala Dei, Sterling Johnson, Estellise Sidos Heurassein Nuit - Team JESS – Combat Arena
Team JESS entered into the combat arena. Several students were seated around the arena, just casually relaxing, talking; chatting while there were some students in the arena grounds that had just finished sparring. The presence, the entrance of the Team into the grounds of the arena created a sense of authority as everyone looked at them. Seniors teams were easily identifiable as they were older, matured, and had exuded a permeation that could be felt by others. The arena cleared quickly as the students went to the seats had their attention upon the entire team. A fight was going to happen and there was nothing more entertaining than a match between different students. The commotion of them talking about the Team can be heard whether about the crab Faunus and the owl, to Sterling, to Sarina.
Sarina stood in front of her entire teammates, odd as Jorie should be the one doing this though she had no problem asserting herself in a dominant position. After all she still is a leader [1] of a team from Haven, currently disbanded at the moment and this is what made her known for in Haven and Beacon. “All right, Jorie keep time with your scroll. Estelle, Sterling to the arena. I will begin the match.” Sarina wanted to see what Estelle would fair against Sterling, an impressive fighter as she had known him since she came to Beacon.
Estelle nodded at Sarina, it seemed like the more stoic female was the dominant teammate on this team rather than their captain. She found herself almost...giddy. The students watching the fight that was about to take place, her partner standing across from her, it was enough to make a woman like herself excited. She drew her weapon, placing it in front of her at an angle preparing to fight her new comrade.
"Whenever you're ready Sterling." She said as she began to cover herself and her blade in her aura. [2]
--
Five minutes later…
Sterling nodded in agreement in Sarina. He exited to the sideline, getting five good minutes of fighting as the crowd watched with interest, creating commotion in the seats. Now it was her turn for ten minutes. Ms. Serene stepped onto the stage gazing at Estelle with her red eyes holding Tormento, Arbiter within it. “Ready for challenger two, begin when you are ready” she said stoically.
Sarina had seen Estelle semblance, it was quite impressive but a dangerous one. Weight control vs. luminosity control [3] this was going to be an interesting fight, a thrilling though for Sarina. She had long for a human opponent, the lust of fighting another soul in battle, this would satisfy her.
Estelle took a quick step back and wiped her brow from sweat. The last fight was a fair one, she felt proud of her performance and she could tell at the very least the crowd was entertained by the looks on their faces. But the next fight definitely would be different; Estelle had lost the upper hand and gained a disadvantage.
She eyes Sarina closely, inspecting every movement, breath, and glance. She looked for something, god knows what. She raised her sword in the very same diagonal angle separating her from the rest of the world and faced her new teammate.
"Sarina, whenever you are ready, come at me." Estelle said cracking her neck and keeping her gaze on her opponent. She once more, covered her body and blade in her own aura preparing for combat.
Bad answer… Sarina began running towards Estelle, her weapon still sheathed and with an illuminating flash launched a powerful jump kick at Estelle, her boot landing in her face sending her slaying a few feet away. With her condescending face, she just looked at her waiting to get up as she continued to hold Arbiter/Tormento in her hand, not even unsheathed.
Estelle picked herself up off of the ground, placing her sword on the ground in order to steady herself. 'Okay then, so she can make a light show, fair enough then.' Estelle thought bracing herself for the next impact, she ran towards her opponent slashing downwards towards her, only to use that momentum in order to spin and sweep out Sarina's legs. Estelle then pointed her blade down at the other combatant.
"Don't suppose we're done?" She half-joked, yet retaining her focus and guard.
“Nope not yet.” Not yet as with her empty hand, a blue luminescent light grew quickly around her palm and she released it, causing a flash [4] that blinded Estelle allowing Sarina to make a side roll to get up and launched a several blunt attacks from her sheath onto Estelle pushing her back.
Estelle felt her feet skid against the ground, but not far. She had to thank her semblance for that, regaining her vision she lunged towards her teammate once more. She raised her blade as if she was ready to strike before throwing it directly at her teammate. She used the allotted confusion to tackle Sarina, pining her arms and legs under Estelle's semblance. She made sure to close her eyes as well; she wouldn't need to see in order to keep Sarina exactly where she was.
"Do you yield?" Estelle asked panting from the exertion of fighting one comrade after another.
This pressure is unbearable! With Estelle holding her down, in physical contact instantaneously activated the core ability [5] within her soul. Her eyes, changed immediately from red to an enchanting dreamy blue eyes “Who yields in battle” making a grin afterwards. Sarina began to grow the same blue light, except it was throughout her entire body. “Your dreams…I see…visualized in my mind. You have very interesting ones.” That prophetic statement would have sent chills down someone spine.
Sarina body was growing more intensely blue now at the point Estelle body parts such as her hands and legs would feel a painful burning heat.
Estelle felt the burning sensation along every point of contact on Sarina. She quickly realized this was yet another form of Sarina's semblance. She had to think quickly or she risked taking burns throughout her body, so she kept one hand on her teammate, shifting her position and releasing a powerful kick sending Sarina skidding along the ground at least ten feet. She retrieved her blade and pointed it directly at her adversary. Watching, waiting.
"You yield in battle to avoid further injuries, Sarina." Estelle said still reeling from the heat of Sarina's body.
Sarina stood up; the kick was compensated by her aura. Though now it was time, no more of this held back pressure the two sword wielders had had. With that, she stood back warming up her shoulders with a few rotations. Arbiter/and Tormento, still in her hand, she unsheathed it revealing a hi-tech mechanical sword, facing as she held Arbiter towards Estelle and Tormento in her other hand facing the ground downwards.
“Oh yes but from you, these injuries are a mere child’s play” questioning Estelle strength. After all, Sarina is powerful. There is a reason why Goodwitch selected her to become a TA.
Thus Sarina with all that illuminating blue light, her aura color she collected activated her semblance and the light. Luminous blue threads [6] materialized around her that looked like her defense, revolving around her. Next was a distinct star, in the appearance of an Aster [7] hovered above her head, what was its function. She gazed at Estelle with that serious stoical face “Are you ready?“ A blue light began to illuminate from Arbiter [8], much like with her body
"Sarina, let's end it with this next attack." Estelle said focusing her aura over her entire body. She prepared for a final, devastating attack. She walked towards her opponent, a steady pace. Each step she walked trembled the very ground beneath them. She flipped a small switch on her blade and it sparked to life, electrifying the air around it. When she got to Sarina she paused, looking the girl in the eyes and nodding. She then came down with an overhead strike that held the force of multiple cars, swinging as if it weighed a simple pound. She struck downwards and the very ground beneath her split and air generated by her sword flew out. This was why her blade was called Coup de Foudre. She put the majority of her strength into that last blow, should Sarina somehow withstand it she would allow the fight to go to her teammate.
The powerful pushed back Sarina but with her aura, she managed to get a control herself, as she flew back landed her palm on the ground making a back-flip. She panted but Sarina was impressed with the power she had, her skills more than enough as the crowd had been awed by the two opponents abilities but expected more. With that, Sarina made a half smile, there was no reason to continue the fight. She did not want to kill her teammate on the first day and sheathed Arbiter and deactivated her semblance, withering away back into her as decreased her luminosity. “I have no reason to give you a final blow when our mission is in two days. You are going to fit in quite nicely with the team” she normally, not so stoical but her eyebrows raised, happy, content. After all, Estelle had satisfied Sarina lust.
Estelle smiled, sheathing her blade in its self-contained sheathe, placing it on her hip. She walked over to Sarina and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was a good bout, but we can't give the audience too much information." She laughed, waving to the audience. She wasn't used to this kind of happy atmosphere, but it was so...relaxing. She couldn't begin to imagine why Bianca felt more comfortable in Mistral; Estelle would have to be kidnapped to go back.
She walked back over to Jorie and Sterling, Sarina in tow. "So now that we know how each of us works, might as well get prepped for the mission, correct?" Estelle asked beaming after a good couple fights. [9]
--
Notes
[1]: A Hint of Sarinas background.
[3-8]: I only just started to rework Sarina abilities around Luminosity/Heat control after doing research on how it could work. The abilities seen were added in quickly just for the fight so it is subject to change until I finalize the rework. Kudos to Prince suggesting it.
[2 & 9]: Due to time constraints, we could not add in Sterling fight nor extend Sarina/Estelle Match. Details of it will be added later on.