Welcome to Beacon: Next, Rondo Finale!

Outside combat? Interesting. Don't know what for though. Still, Dia seems nice. And James. And Auolish. And Adrian. And Wu's always a sweetie– god I should have just done this in the beginning...

Nadia inwardly sighed in relief at James's assurance, though a cynical part of her still remarked on how it wasn't exactly a mistake. But said cynical part of herself could go jump in a lake for all she cared right now. It was that exact string of dark thoughts and self-doubt that had led her down this #$&%ing path to begin with–!

She composed herself not a moment too soon. A stray spark had leapt from her now tensed tail onto the metal of her Pummelgun. No need for an explosion right now. In a forest was bad enough. In a forest full of people was inexcusable.

Still, James's further words soothed her further, and on pure impulse she suddenly got up and gave him a short hug. Muttering a 'thanks' as she pulled away, one accompanied by a sweet, grateful smile, she then returned to her previous seating position, a light red tinge on her cheeks being the only indication of how heavily she was kicking herself for her actions.

Oh god why'd I do that I just embarrassed him in front of everybody and it looked so awkward and I think I was too stiff and damn it I wish I still had that jacket so I can live in it and never come out again!

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 4th 2018 at 3:48:03 PM

"James has a point. It could be a simple mistake there."

Dia noticed Nadia hug James like that. She was... well, to say the least, surprised, and most definitely not expecting that to happen.

What she also was NOT expecting was Auolish taking a look at her scroll. This caught her by surprise and she turned around, somewhat embarrassed that her privacy had been seen. With a swift and graceful movement, Dia placed the flat and held right beside her leg.

While her facial expression tried to hide that, the blush definitely gave the embarrassment away. She tried to hide it as best she could in her tone of speaking but there was definitely bit of it getting through.

"Oh hey there Miss Chesterfield. I'm writing on my Scroll about... something about Semblances."

Her green eyes tried their best to look straight.

Auolish "hmm'd" and leaned closer.

"Are you spyin' on peeps? Man, are you a government agent?"

She leaned even closer.

Dia continues to blush. Calming herself down internally, she replies in a composed tone but she's clearly a bit embarrassed as her hand holds the scroll in a somewhat nervous manner.

"No, I am not a government agent. I'm just trying to record down everyone else's Semblances so I can see how I can work with them."

Her response becomes a whisper halfway through.

(I just want people who can protect me and see how they can protect me? What's your problem with that?)

The poor kid practically froze, facing practically bright and red as a traffic light at this point.

"I-I-I, u-u-um, y-y-you're...y-you're...w-w-welcome...? I-I...u-um, w-w-well, G-Gage can t-take c-care of t-the rest of t-the dishes, I-I-I...erm..." James fidgeted anxiously, desperately trying to think of a reason to excuse himself and get out of there. "...U-U-Um, I-I'm going t-to go a-and d-double c-check t-that I'm r-ready f-for whatever I-I end up d-doing t-today w-while there's still t-t-time s-so i-if you'll e-e-excuse me..."

And with that James quickly turned on his heels and tried to leave, hoping not to crash into anyone else in the process.

Auolish drew back.

"Sure, feel free to copy down mine. I was talkin' about it earlier."

Is she listing our strengths and weaknesses? Is she as nice as she appears? Who is she? Auolish wondered.

While "aggressively" scrubbing the silverware clean, Wu took peeks at Nadia's reveal of her being a faunus, somewhat resisting an urge to rush out and glomp her there and then, reasoning with herself that someone who's actually that timid would be hugely uncomfortable having someone suddenly hug them for no apparent reason. Besides, the dishes needed to be done. For the moment, she simply was glad that Nadia seemed to be becoming honest with herself. She could not see any trace of the Nadia she knew for the past month, none of the loud, somewhat-strangely-talking girl who would always insist on hooded jackets for some reason.

Eventually Wu was done with her share of the dishes, and looked up just in time to see Nadia hug James, even if it was just for a little while. A smirk grew across her face, and she mentally commented about how quick the improvement was.

"Hey, boss, honestly it doesn't matter to me much whether you're human or faunus or some other thing. We're in this together, y'know? It's good to be open like this."

Dia tried to compose herself as her embarrassment at her acrhiving being exposed somewhat faded.

"Thanks. I have already done so earlier."

She held her Scroll tightly towards her leg before leaning in towards Auolish, speaking in a soft but concerned and slightly worried tone.

"I just... need to know how capable you would all be if... an incident happened."

The way Dia said it made it sound that she really didn't want to talk about what that possible incident was.

(...if I get kidnapped. Please protect me...)

"Eh?"

Auolish leaned back in. I may have judged too quickly again...she may be faking it...but she looks sincere enough... she thought.

"I'll watch out for you, m'kay? Nobody and nothin's gettin' close to you if I can help it."

Dia gave Auolish a smile that was one of both relief and thankfulness, before doing a polite bow.

"Thank you indeed."

She then put her Scroll away in her vest as she began checking up on her "belt". Everything was still fine and ready for her, thankfully.

There definitely was something up but Dia didn't want to say it out. She really disliked the kidnap trauma in the past that kept haunting her ever since and it was a massive block towards her feelings. Unlike Nadia, Dia had much more difficulty getting her dark secrets out.

Camp

Scarlet let out a small sigh. "I read your file, Azure. Not only are you not fire proof, you're weak to..."

Her train of thought was cut off by Azure's words. Her glare was murderous and the heat in the entire area spiked by several degrees. "Okay, Buckethead. You know what? No. You want a duel that's one thing but you have ten seconds to apologize for that racist garbage or I'm gonna send you straight to the hospital." She ordered.

Scarlet stood, her chain already wrapped around her arm, it's length undulating like a living thing. "Eight seconds." She hissed.

Edited by guyshane on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:52:38 AM

Camp

That dented his good mood, certainly enough. "Well, that was uncalled fooooooo-" Marvin found himself being caught off as the wave of heat washed over him, the pale snake faunus scooting away from Scarlet as he fidgeted in his spot, his hands moving up to tug at his collar. "Hey, Red, cool it a little bit? I don't think she meant it that way." He continued, trying to placate his friend.

CAMP, THE STAND OFF

Azure stood up, drawing Ymir and pointing it at Scarlett, the blade cooling the air somewhat as she glared at her captain, she drew Surtr as well, pointing it at Marvin.

"I am sick of both of you coddling me like I can't do anything!" She roared, gripping the sword tightly, "I am just as much a warrior as either of you! More! I'm a Reisetoter! I was fighting when you were shitting yourself in diapers!" She addressed Marvin, turning back to face Scarlett. "Now, if you're going to coddle me and hide behind a Faunus? I refuse to follow a cowardly cunt like you." Behind her blindfold, her catlike eyes glared at her.

Edited by TroyandHawk on Sep 4th 2018 at 11:32:00 AM

Camp

Scarlet's chain reached out and tapped Sutur, the flames quickly traveling its length and setting the weapon alight. Scarlet herself took up a lower stance, her eyes brimming with anger and excitement.

"Five, please, give me an excuse." She replied.

Wednesday, Tempestas 19, Far Eastern Region, Vale - 7:44 AM

The horned Faunus finally got the locker open and pulled out a Yeomanry SAW. "The engine works fine, but the Mosskvitch can't make it past them logs." She reached and began to assemble it, only the slight shiver in her fingers betraying her fear. "Clear those out if you can. I don't wanna be here any longer."

There was a sudden rustling the treeline, something fast yet heavy tearing through the branches and leaves, dusting the area in fallen leaves and branches. Professor Peach let out a low whistle and signaled ELDER to circle up...

Just as something big speared towards the professor. Her purple eyes sharpened and, in a sudden burst of movement, drew her weapon to deflect the projectile; a huge bone shard still smoking with black matter which buried itself into a nearby tree trunk.

All while more shapes began to burst from the undergrowth, charging for Emi and Rogaedyn. Black things with bone-white carapaces which ran on all fours, eyes protuding from the freakish masks as tails whipped frenziedly. Murdermeleons, the smaller form of the Gigameleon. Five of them, charging forward and rushing towards them.

Wednesday, Tempestas 19, Gareth's Bay, Far Eastern Region, Vale - 7:31 AM

Professor Port listened to every answer his way before raising a hand to silence.

"All good answers, students. And even correct. But the reason that Professor Peach made them abandon their vehicles is to teach independence." Those closest saw one of his eyes open.

"It is good to have vehicles with you, don't you doubt it. But those can and will break down at any given time. Weapons too. Your own bodies, your stamina may even betray you." He looked ever each and every team. "But because you are here, because you made the choice, you cannot stop. You cannot give up. Not when everything will come to depend on you."

Professor Port let the lesson sink in and let the moment of severity pass. "Now warm up and prep your weapons. I will give your respective leaders your assignments for today. Mr. Gage," he looked towards the delinquent, who staggered lightly under a mountain of dishes. "Get those dishes set away and prep your dancing suit. You will be free past the activity."

Gage, in turn, grinned and hurried to get his appointed chore done with a lot more alacrity that he showed since they arrived at Gareth's Bay. A few minutes later, James, Scarlet, and Nadia received their assignments. CRCG and CRMS would be engaged in Capture the Flag with Teams MSRE and MINT respectively. RWAN would be with the blustery professor until the afternoon.

Edited by KR_Vandal on Sep 5th 2018 at 10:49:01 PM

Okay. Watching James stagger off like a drunken baby deer was worth it a little. A part of her admittedly went all felt warm and fuzzy at the sight of his reaction, and she couldn't help but giggle a bit at his antics.

In any case, Wu had declared herself to be on her side as well – which while not shocking, was still indeed encouraging. The dog Faunus would receive one of Nadia's should-really-be-patented sweet smiles of thanks.

Although honestly with all this superfluous kindness she was starting to feel a little exhausted with replying to all of them. She truly appreciated every single statement of them sympathizing, but she felt like if she would grin any wider her face would fall off.

The ensuing scuffle between a certain team certainly dampened her mood though, and Azure's brash comments were certainly cutting. A brief flash back to how she would overhear some of the assaults on her kin late at night overcame her for a moment, but she inwardly shook herself out of it. Her empathy was useful, yes, but it could also be crippling. She knew that now.

And so if the warrior were to notice, the look of uncharacteristic spite on the fox Faunus' face was nigh-palpable – even to the point of mirroring Scarlet's own look of morbid excitement. As if daring her to take it that one step too far.

But Port's commands eventually caused her to lose interest, and she picked up her Pummelgun for its third and final look-over. The thing had Dust only for its sniper mode, so it was rather conservative – since she would usually subtly use her Semblance for any other necessary boosts to its capabilities.

So we're with Professor Port for now. I don't know what to expect... but we'd best be prepared for anything. As he said, weapons and vehicles mean next to nothing if the character of the wielder isn't powerful enough to stand o their own.

She involuntarily shivered.

Confidence, however little you may be, please don't fail me now...

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 5th 2018 at 3:47:32 PM

Whoops. Accidental doublepost. Please ignore.

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 5th 2018 at 3:48:40 PM

Camp

Adrian just smiled at the interactions between Nadia and the others. It was good that he wasn't proven wrong in thinking the others would accept her heritage. Said smile morphed into a teasing grin when he saw Nadia hug a furiously blushing James. Well ain't that sweet... He thought, tossing around the idea of teasing Nadia about the beginnings of what looked like to be a crush.

Sadly, Adrian's plans for teasing were dashed when Scarlett and Azure began bickering. Again. With a frustrated growl, the Faunus drew Vega and slammed the bat onto the ground. The weapon flashed green as the dust shell inside activated, and a wall of earth erupted between the two huntresses. "Yer both actin' like fuckin' toddlers!" He roared. "Yer goin' up against a senior team, and ya still want ta scrap? Yer team needs both of ya ta be in fightin' shape, not goin' into the game with half the stuffin' beaten out of ya!" Hefting Vega on his shoulder, Adrian glared at the two, almost daring them to take him on if they disagreed. "Either save yer brawl for after the game, or don't bother participatin'. Ahm' not gonna let yer teammates fail this task 'cause half their team's nothin' more than useless dead weight."

Edited by svenorzokarkoff on Sep 5th 2018 at 8:17:49 AM

Auolish withdrew to a safe distance and began checking Talonclaw again.

"I wash my handsa this. Ain't my business. Scarlet, you do realize that Azure is a Faunus too, right? And she was referring to the term 'teacher's pet.' Cool down, wouldya. We got a fight to win."

"If I ain't beat by the end of Capture-The-Flag then I wanna have a go at you two. But 'til then, concentrate on yo' goal. Throwin' hissy fits won't help. Actions speak louder than words, an' it's better to knock people's socks off than let 'em know what you can do right off the bat."

Camp

Scarlet's eyes shifted over to Adrian. "Kindly piss off. I'm busy here." She growled. Then she heard Auolish's comment. Scarlet blinked slowly. "Fuck, right the files. Cat eyes, hidden behind the blindfold. Dammit."

Scarlet let out a breath, her chain extinguishing and the heat dying down. "Azure, I'm sorry for accusing you of racism. You got me worked up and I wasn't thinking straight. You want a fight so bad you'll get one once we're at Beacon."

"Auolish, Marvin, we've got capture the flag against team MINT." Scarlet told them looking at her scroll. "I'll meet you over there in five. I feel the need to let off some heat."She explained before walking away from the other students.

Auolish turned to Azure.

"Ain't no one coddlin' you, sister. You made it through Initiation. You deserve your spot here. Ain't no one tryna take it away. Calm down."

Then she resumed checking Talonclaw.

Roggy, Vs. Murdermeleons

'tis a rare kind of man who laughs gregariously in face of the incoming swarm of Grimm. "Malak 21-01: And Zophiel the Wise sayeth: let Foulbeasts taste sword and flame, and" One could consider it bad form to start firing in the middle of the sermon, but Rogaedyn wasn't the kind of man who bothered with etiquette. "let us sow FEAR IN THEM, BY GAIA'S WORD!"

Despite his fervor, his shots were focused and accurate. A high-caliber payload designed to give even bigger specimen pause, Rogaedyn aimed with deadly precision, sending exactly five bullets at the five Grimm in front of him; three from the right revolver and two from the left one.

Camp.

James was just content to get out of the kitchen before he froze up completely from embarrassment. Although when the small noise from his scroll notifying him of a message had come through, James grabbed his backpack before heading outside to look at it and send off two more messages.

Although when he walked back into the main tent, he definitely looked like he was prepared, if still a little flustered, with his backpack on once more and leaning a little on Sunset as he gave a small nod at Cerise.

"...O...Okay. H-Hopefully Gage won't take too much longer doing his share of the dishes and I sent a message to him and Dia on the scroll t-to let them know, so...u-um...how about you? Are you ready or do you n-need a hand? We're up against Team MSRE in Capture the Flag t-today."

James wasn't sure how they'd go against their opponents, what the rules were or if they'd even be followed, but...he'd worry about that later. For now, he was content to wait and leave with his team once they were prepared.

Dia's hand felt her Scroll vibrate and heard it ring as she received a message from James. She gently put it up to her eye level of height as she read the message, walking towards James.

As she caught sight of her shy leader, she made a faint smile and nodded to affirm. Her tone was calm and somewhat confident as she took off her vest and Scroll to place it on the nearest table, before she closed her eyes.

"I'm mostly ready."

A few of the crystals stashed within Dia's vest emerged. Green blades of sharp, glowing crystal came out of the pockets within, one by one, as Dia began to disintegrate the sharp edges of some of the crystals to make them less lethal. No way did she want to use lethal force against other Hunters. At the very least, they could still cause a good bit of blunt damage.

She did keep some sharp ones in case of a Grimm attack. One always had to be prepared after all. The blunted crystals then slid back into her vest before Dia opened her eyes again with a look of confidence.

Miss Rayfer gave a nod towards James as she put back on her vest and held her Scroll, before adjusting Corona on her waist.

"I'm ready, Leader."

Team ELDR, wherein things get hectic

Feeling somewhat defeated as he came to realize he wasn't doing much to fix the antennae, Duncan jumped down off of the roof roughly around the same time as the bone shard came hurtling out of the underbrush. Realizing that repairs were going to have to wait, Duncan leaned against the crawler's nearest window and said "Goin' t' be frank with you, that barricade isn't goin' anywhere any time soon, if you two can hunker down for a few minutes while we get to work, everythin' should be fine. You've got my word that nothin' is gonna be causin' you any harm"

With that, Duncan began walking away from the crawler as he rolled his shoulders and got ready for the fight to come. Placing himself in what he deemed to be the direct line between him and the Grimm in the woods, ready to intercept it if it decided that charging was a good idea. As he waited for the beast to attack Duncan called out to Lis "Lis, don't suppose those fancy scanners o' yours are pickin' up on just what the hell this thing in the woods is?"