The Irish Tree

RWBY: Chasing Shadows

Turq Beaufort

---

Much as Turq wanted to prove himself some more, there was a great deal of relief washing over him. He'd unconsciously lowered his stance as Auron reached for his chest, fully expecting him to rip it off and start getting serious. But, once the huntsman mentioned calling it, the peacock Faunus stood up straight and retracted the chains and blades of his weapons, also dropping the pipe from before.

As was the case with all teachers, there was something they told Turq to improve on...though it seemed that Caramella got most of the flak for her stunt of using him as a springboard. While he understood the idea, he also started thinking that it might have worked better if he'd have known, since he could have kicked the bottom of her feet to help her jump farther. With a light shake of his head, Turq figured that since his fantastic First-Day-Graduation-Formula flopped, he'd have no choice other than to actually be a team player. Then, came the most important question he'd heard all day.

Why did Turq want to become a huntsman?

The answer was so instinctual and basic that Turq was amazed that anybody would need to ask. But that also made it difficult to answer, since Turq was almost certain this was one of those questions where not answering it with full conviction would mean that you were failed automatically. Thus, the faunus was left with no choice but to tell the truth for all it was worth. "I want power," was all that he said initially, as if that actually explained anything. "In Vacuo, power doesn't come from cushy places like a government office or a high paying job; It comes from surviving so long that living to spite everything is the only thing keeping you going. I hate that," Turq said, adjusting his hair a bit before finishing his statement.

"But I hate the idea of a Grimm getting to pick me apart just because I'm not the strongest even more," he said, finishing his statement with a flick of his hand through his hair, knocking loose the last bit of sand clinging to his locks. "Oh, and getting to see someplace that isn't 99% SAND would be nice."

Okay. Now he was done.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

A kindly smile slipped onto the nomad girl's face as their druidic friend spoke. Its true, most people just kind of assumed swinging something sharp or heavy was enough to win a fight, but skill was what won out in the end. "It is a lot to think about, but its one of those things where you hammer it into your body until it becomes second nature. Kinda like...an instinct, I guess?" Steppe Archer posed this answering question while looking confused herself, not really having to think about this...like, ever. Tapping her knuckle against her cheek she pondered if that was the right phrasing, since an instinct was more something you were born with. Reaction? Maybe its reaction. But there was also the phrase "fighting instincts", and it wasn't like babies were born knowing how to fight.

While stuck in her pondering she narrowly missed the question of who taught her to fight and, before she could answer, the druid girl's stomach roared its own answer. It sounded like it learned to fight from not being fed enough. A snicker escaped the nomad's lips before she held her own gut, trying not to laugh at the grumbling stomach. "My...snort sorry, my father was the one who taught me. Oh, and my grandfather. And uncle. And Aunt. And other Aunt. And cousins...oh, and I sparred with my clansmen often. Its not too uncommon for women to grow up learning to defend themselves on the steppes, what with the bandits and all. Aaaaanyways, let's get some food and fill that stomach. Sound good?" With her hand extended and back bent forward, she offered an easy way for the embarrassed druid girl to bring herself up.

"You did good today!"

RWBY: Chasing Shadows

Turq Beaufort

---

Once again, the pipe was proving itself to be Turq's match in combat as the faunus boy found himself locked in bitter combat with something that, at one point in time, was a simple piece of building material that was now probably the most deadly swordfighter he'd ever met. ...That was something to be proud of, he supposed. Still, after the last barrage he'd gotten a little accustomed to the speed of the strikes, and the orbiting boomerangs would occasionally interrupt a swing as it went through, opening up small gaps that Turq used to launch his attacks on Auron from afar while Caramelle's head-on attacks pressured him.

As a loud cry of thunder struck across the arid landscape, Turq smiled as he saw the shot from Jet cause the pipe to tear away from him. Now, he was free to attack with his full strength, his orbiters and Caramelle's strikes soon giving Veloce the chance to both knock Auron back, and chide him for his earlier statement. "You say that as if you'd ever have landed that shot if we weren't distracting him, Turq retorted, putting his hands on his hips and smirking, before looking at both the pipe and scrap metal around the yard. "Actually...I wonder if this means scrap is stronger than both," he would say, rubbing his chin with one hand while flicking one of his kusarigama at the pipe, sending it flying towards him before he caught it.

With the countless pieces of junk lying around, Turq smiled as he realized something. He hadn't been fighting... creatively enough. A smile spread on his lips once more, before he asked: "So, is this the part where we pass whatever test this was supposed to be? Because at this rate, I think we're passing before lunch time, 'Sir'." Despite him using the agreed on term, Turq clearly wanted to see what else his new instructor had in store for him. If all it took to beat a trained huntsman was three novices and one EXTREMELY talented, powerful, outstanding genius fighter who's name started with a T and rhymed with "irk", then that was a fair bit disappointing.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

At the orders being given to the various factory overseers, Levia was beyond delighted that her's actually pertained to her job. Like, her FAVORITE part of her job. So what if she wasn't allowed to dissolve anything? SHE GOT TO BREAK THINGS INTO TINY PIECES ON DUTY! Levia's amber eyes positively sparkled, her obsidian tail swished to and fro behind her, and the large lizard hands connected to her hip clenched. "YES MA'AM RIGHT AWAY MA'AM!" she said before hurriedly rushing off to one of the designated facilities to be destroyed. Even if she didn't get to melt anything down, the mere act of breakin' was enough to get her knees quakin'.

Standing atop the first of many facilities that were to meet her end, the dragonic chimera had not waited for Gammaton before beginning her work. She was that eager to go ahead and get to doing it. Taking in a deep breath, Levia would hold her hands out, fists clenched, and elbows at her side as she took a deep breath in. She had to temporarily disable her Ki's poisonous properties, lest she wind up melting the building's materials with her fists. With her ki now very un-dangerous for the time being, the chimera's left humanoid hand would raise and begin shining with a golden light. Blood pumped through her body rapidly, her heart itself circulating at such speeds that it was damaging her body to fuel the Planet Rocker that was being charged up.

In the dark of the cave, that light shone for a fair distance once a loud crack resounded, 5% of her HP being converted into raw damage that broke through every part of the facility in need of demolishing. Breaking from just the wind generated by her fist, a hole formed, then, the aftershock resounded. Concrete cracked, steel bent, and whatever this place that was formerly a building was, it was now a pile of junk to be processed. There wasn't anything left standing but Levia, who was quivering with excitement. "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I LOVE MY JOB!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, furiously pummeling the concrete to let off a bit of excess steam, before poisonous steam exited her nose. "Ahhh this is the best! Simply the best! Lady Faetalis is the BEST!" she said, jumping up and down, her feet stamping down the rubble into more uniform chunks before stopping and standing.

Sticking an envenomed nail of her finger into her mouth, Levia drooled at the thought of getting to destroy a lot more buildings with official approval, while also poisoning herself to heal back the miniscule damage that she'd taken. Sadly, she had to deliver the materials first and foremost, getting to deliver some of the largest pieces of rubble with many small pieces stacked atop it to be processed by Cormac. On her way back she would spot the figure flying into the air, her tail slapping the ground once in excitement. "Is that...Lady Faetalis!? I didn't know she was a dragon!"

RWBY: Chasing Shadows

Turq Beaufort

---

Turq wasn't a complete and utter stranger to losing in a fight. But he was a stranger to getting his ass absolutely beat by a pipe. Like, not a guy with a pipe, just a pipe that decided to bibbidy bobbidy boo its way into being a fighter on par with him. Taken aback by the sudden lack of a person to actually hit, Turq was left confused and on the backpedal as he fought the pipe off, so caught up in it that he didn't think about the fact that his boomerang hadn't returned yet. It would eventually though, sliding along the sand towards his handle while he fought off the pipe, only for their new teacher to turn his attention to Turq.

Turq would raise his arms to defend himself, only to find his eyes forced to close from the blows to his face. Something...no, someone, with very green pants had knocked the wind out of him before he even had a chance to put up his guard. Suddenly the sky was all that Turq could see as he was sent flying, mouth agape as his senses finally caught up to him. Just in time for his bruised sternum to promptly get used as a springboard for the shrimp of a girl on their team. Skidding a few times across the sand from the force of the impact, Turq would land head first and swallow at least a mouthful of sand as his jaw slammed into the ground.

Shaking his head and steadily rising, one eye shut tight after sand had got in it. "The hell kind of question is that!? Why a boomerang? I'll tell you why!" he shouted, whipping his picks around before the boomerangs detached, a tangible connection forming between the center of the 'rangs and Turq's aura. A hand moved from his chain to his hair, slicking it back a bit to fix the damage done after getting slammed into the ground. "Because boomerangs are cool! And bullets are expensive!"

With his doctorate paper published verbally the faunus would charge forward, the boomerangs spinning relatively quickly in an orbit around him, held in their rotation by his semblance as he once more tried to attack their teacher, this time only having his blunt handles and his boomerang orbiters. He'd be mindful to not get too close to the others, using his handles as thrown projectiles in-between the rhythmic turning of his boomerangs. He would also briefly remember being stepped on, but figured that could wait until after they won. Now that he knew to keep his guard up, there was no way for their instructor to waltz through his patented "Cyclone Ripper Ultra Deluxe Supreme Tyrant Killer Defense Field". No way whatsoever!

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

"See!? Big Red's holding back a bit, but its way harder for him to try and knock me down when I'm in a proper stance." The nomad girl was hoping the lesson would be obvious, but it seemed that their druidic friend would need more instruction than just showing. "You have a point. Learning the rights and wrongs of proper stances is better by doing it yourself. Here!" she said, handing over her stick to the girl before going to find another one.

"The staff you carry would be really good at blocking bladed weapons since its sturdy, but we can go over that another time. For now, take your stance and I'll hit your stick. I guess while we do this, Big Red can be our referee. He's way better at fighting than I am," she said, looking to their lizard companion. "That is if you don't mind, and all."

The girl seemed very enthusiastic about getting to teach a little bit. That and, it probably made more sense to not have the physically weakest member of the party start off sparring with the strongest one.

RWBY: Chasing Shadows

Turq Beaufort

---

The finest of days in Vacuo always began with sand, sun, some more sand, some more sun, and a good brawl. Naturally, this meet and greet was ideal for Turq Beaufort, who was quite ready for some "fun" in the sun. A smirk crossed the faunus's lips as he put his hands on his belt, the turqoise cylindrical object on it releasing a jagged blade on each side as it was pulled apart. "Turq Beaufort. Born and raised here in lovely Vacuo, and born to make shit suck less for everyone. And, nice pants," Turq would say, before starting to advance. As he had spoken with his weapon drawn he had gradually pulled the cylindrical handles apart, a chain connecting them that Turq lengthened until it was about seven feet in length, hands moving to grasp at just one handle and the chain. "Mindless is a bad way to put it. After all, a huntsman's used to dealing with Grimm rushing 'em. This is more like...four one-man armies," Turq said, hyping himself up as he spun his chain faster and faster.

With a dextrous motion, Turq's right hand shot to the spinning handle and caught it, another flick snapping it to the right at an angle. In that singular arc of motion the blade detached and launched itself, sailing in a wide arc off to the right of the group as it spun and spun, its trajectory aimed right at Auron. Breaking into a sprint with his right hand once again twirling the chain, Turq advanced with an appraising look in his eye. Their instructor was damn tough, but, right now, Turq felt on top of the world. Maybe if they beat the hell out of their instructor now, they'd get to skip past the certification and become Huntsmen right then and there. Seeing victory before he even saw the fight, Turq would maneuver around Veloce and throw his blunted handle directly into the sand before Auron. His intention was to blind their instructor to distract from the rapidly approaching Boomerang, drawn to the handle it had detached from.

Turq grinned as he withdrew his handle, readying himself to attack with the bladed pick while Veloce did his thing. If his plan worked, there would be too many things incoming for Auron to defend himself with his pipe, especially if the sand actually had gotten in his eyes. Actually depending on others for a team play while they had 0 time to get to know each other beyond name was kind of a dumb idea, since it wasn't like they had time to explain the mechanics of their weapons. Much as he hated having his spotlight stolen, Turq could deal with it while this "strongest" pack of lone wolves all raced towards the same target.

Why were they the strongest?

Well, obviously because Turq was in it. And if his boomerang sneak attack worked, that'd just prove once again that he's more than qualified to be a Huntsman. Oscuro was a stepping stone in comparison, whereas taking out a true Huntsman would solidify Turq (and company)'s positions as certified ass-kickers. Besides, with just a pipe, what could one guy do against four!?

Much as Turq liked a good self-introduction, a challenge was being made, and by shade he was going to throw down. Of course this also meant that it'd bruise his ego pretty badly when they all got trumped but hey, it builds character.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Levia would pout, hiding her face under her hat. She wanted to be thanked for her speedy arrival...but instead, Tungsten had stolen the show by being, well useful. But even if she was upset at not being a big hero, she was glad that her master was alive and well. Kneeling once the question of how everyone had been affected, Levia would recall the extensive damage her facility had received. It was already fairly small, so it wasn't like it had a massive amount to break, but still...any breaking had to be approved by a form filed in triplicate! "At my best estimate, my facility has lost about 90% of its Slimes, with my total numbers now only at about...four. Two Reslimeclers, one Inslimerator, and one Neutraslimer, Levia said, spouting off the nonsensical names her three slime jobs had without shame or hesitation.

"If its a priority I can try and get more breeding to supply materials, but since everything we need to move is mostly like...rocks...I imagine that's low priority. If my lady permits it, I'd like to help clear the rubble and get the other facilities up and running. Until hazardous materials become apparent, I can function as on-site assistance for rubble clearing and excavation.

After realizing that she had prior given Faetalis an order, and violated Gammaton's personal space, the dragoness bowed her head completely, feeling absolutely stupid for making so many blunders in one day. Admittedly Gammaton moved at the speed of a larva inside a dead guy, but still, it was rude of her to scoop him up like that...

Guild of Renta-Experts [[CANCELLED]]

Any kind of plan to placate the raging senior citizen faded once she started raging at Brandy. Like, wow. She was angry. Extremely so. When asked what they did, Alice was confused until she started hearing that it seemed that everyone, every single person in town had laid the blame upon them. Those damnable gossiping ladies that she'd done their laundry for and hung up, good as new...she'd think that they'd at least say it was the DOG that got the stuff dirty, and not mention the two girls trying to wrangle the thing without a-

That's right. Elmwood insisted that he needed no leash or harness.

"Ma'am, when we took the job to walk your dog, we were specifically told he needed no leash nor harness, but a literal MINUTE after we left your doorstep, Francoise started running amock."

"Don't go blaming my dog when you two can't even-

Alice continued unabated, suddenly seeming larger. "Your dog played in mud, scarfed down meat, and bathed in a river and seemed happy to do all of it," she said, while Francoise tried to snobbishly turn its head away in disgust, tail wagging at all the fun times he'd just had.

"Your job was to watch him! Not-"

"Ma'am. Our job was to walk a dog of unknown breed and not get it dirty. But when we aren't even given the tools to walk a dog, how is it our responsibility when he runs away, without anything stopping him but thoughts and prayers, that he behaves like a dog!?"

Alarmingly enough, Alice was gaining ground in the argument and Elmwood hated it.

"Francoise is a championship breed-"

"There are no dog shows held within 500 miles of this village. And for a championship breed, he sure enjoys being a normal dog. Right Francoise?" she asked, turning around and petting the dog who, unconsciously, yipped and wagged its tail before sinking its head, locking eyes with Elmwood.

Alice was good at arguing. As all retail workers who are so jaded that they leave it behind forever become. After she realized that Elmwood was just an elderly lady that didn't know her own dog, that was nothing compared to the werewolves that Alice was accustomed to.

"I'm fine if you don't want to pay us the rest of the contract fee, ma'am, but in the future...buy a leash or a harness." Right now, Alice looked large and in charge, chest puffed out as she stood her ground on the issue. She knew they weren't getting paid. Now it was just a principle matter.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Steppe Archer would examine the druid girl's stance and softly grasped her knees and feet, moving them into a proper position. "If you had a stance like the one before, a light breeze could knock you down. Like this, say, if a spear was coming at you and you had a shield up, you'd just get knocked down, and then they could stab your neck. Or worse, they could stab your legs and send you rolling, and you wouldn't be balanced enough to defend them," the nomad girl said, tapping various parts of Druid girl's body to show how super dead she'd be in a martial fight.

"Its one of those things that're hard to know if someone doesn't teach you is the thing. So, how about this? Me and Big Red will spar with some sticks, and you can see how we position and move. That sound good?" she asked, and, before even getting an answer, would find a sturdy, long stick, toss it to the Lizardfolk fighter, and then grab her own. "Even if Big Red is way bigger than me, as long as I have a proper stance, he shouldn't be able to knock me down without a fight. If you would, Mr. Red?" the girl said, holding her stick aloft to block a strike, urging for Red to demonstrate that the girl wouldn't be totally floored from one attack. Which, judging from her stance, she might have a chance at. Even if archery was her forte, it didn't mean that she was weak physically. If anything, her arms were impressive for her small stature, betraying countless hours spent shooting targets, and her stance showed she'd clearly practiced a little with her sword.

Of course, Red could always just teach her a lesson in shaping up her melee skills by beating her up. But that'd be rude.