[Theloria Shadecloak]

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Instructor Shadecloak[attr=class,punkihover1]

959 total words

July 26th, 25 AV

Today was one of the rare days that the students were called in to the classroom rather than one of the many fields or other training facilities across campus. That was the first clue that something was up, because the last time they had been in a classroom at all with Shadecloak as the instructor was the infrequent homeroom classes where they were given new equipment or informed about new changes. That never really happened in Team Combat class, until today. The second clue that something was up was the fact that she had instructed students to not bother to bring their weapons to the class itself. That had never happened before and was sure to ring some alarm bells.

The classroom was the same as their infrequent homeroom, a basic small scale auditorium classroom with a semi-circle of seats in multiple rows around an area that was big enough for individual sparring and demonstrations. There was no podium there, just a semi-circle desk that wasn’t quite tall enough to serve the same purpose as a podium that she stood in front of pacing back and forth slowly and deliberately. There were several chalk boards behind the desk, and in big and bold letters the following was written:

Briefing begins at 1200hrs.

It was currently 1150hrs, so there was some time left. Shadecloak was dressed in her usual dress slacks, white dress shirt, and black tuxedo vest. For her part, the Faunus looked as bored as ever with her green eyes having the appearance of being rather disinterested like this was going to be some meeting about what color the school was going to be painted or something. On the desk sat a projector that was currently off, but pointed towards the blackboards. While pacing for other individuals could be seen as a sign of nervousness or anxiety, that was not the case with this Huntress. Green bangs were brushed out of the woman’s face as she continued to pace, body language as self-assured as ever.

Some people felt the need to project their confidence by puffed up chests or showmanship, but Shade was never that type of person. She was simultaneously the most introverted and hands off teacher on campus, and that fact wasn’t exactly a secret. As such, seeing her in a traditional classroom setting was even weirder than it would be for most other classes. She was never the type to sit there and do lectures or anything, and in fact she hadn’t done one the entire year thus far.

There was a lot of unusual activity in and around campus over the past month, and anyone who was paying attention had to know that something was coming. The school had sent periodic emails out to inform the students that certain events like the temporary assignment of Atlas technicians to campus were happening, but they were never really told why. The coverage of the Atlas cargo ships being shot down quite some time ago was big, but the school kept silent about what they were going to do about it. This was largely due to the fact that they had to wait for the Council to make a decision as to what was going to be done about it, and what role the trainees would play in that puzzle. Shadecloak herself had just gotten back from a three day absence, and like with any time a professor took a leave of absence off of campus there were tons of rumors swirling around as to why due to the fact that the email never said why and was only concerned with the logistics of having someone cover the classes that the teacher would miss.

It was likely that some or all the students knew or at least assumed that they would get at least some of those answers that they were denied for the past few weeks now… and they would be correct. The ones who were completely clueless and unaware of their surroundings would be informed at least in part today, to the extent that Shade was allowed to do so. There were some things that had to be kept under wraps, of course, but broad strokes this was something that they needed to be given time to prepare for and time to actually discuss and deal with.

The funny part is that for the students that wanted more choice and freedom, this was their chance to shine. The fact of the matter was that no faculty were going to be around to support them, so most if not all of the decisions made on the field would be decided by whoever the students decided would be making those decisions. Groups being made by anyone other than the students themselves would be a detriment, because even a good combination on paper would turn out very badly if personalities clashed heavily enough. Some of the rivalries between students were no secret even to the teachers, and putting two people who hated each other in the same room and expecting them to actually work well together was always going to end in disappointment.

The Council, thankfully, had seen the wisdom in that and had assented to giving the students at least some element of choice in what they would ask them to do. Shade was given leeway in how she presented it and how she handled the discussion, and she was going to abuse that leeway as much as possible. She would endeavor to interfere as little as possible aside from giving objective facts and information about their new assignment, and giving timetables and other necessary information before letting the trainees loose to form their own little subgroups to discuss how to move forward.

SPOILER: Click to show

Open thread, with the next and final post by Shade occurring at or after June 10th to give people an opportunity to post here before the actual briefing takes place. Please note the date in this post, and the fact that it is well in advance of our real world time. This is intentional and allows the slower nature of group threads to have some time to breathe as more event related stuff continues to roll out over time. Other threads related to the event are not allowed at this time, and more information will be posted in the next post in this thread in roughly a week’s time. This thread is an Event Thread so each person posting gets double the usual experience for doing so.

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[Elena Thorne]

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[attr="class","puppycat"]708 words

Well, this was odd.

It was rare to get messages from teachers except within an hour or so of class, but the reassignment to their homeroom was sent at eight in the morning. Something was different, that was for sure, and maybe they’d even finally get some answers. Anyone who wandered around the city proper enough would be able to recognize the fact that things were different. Heavily armed strangers coming into the city, staying away from normal citizens and not making a fuss was a clear sign that there was an influx of licensed Huntsmen in the capital of Mistral. It was building over time, with people noticing it more and more. Rumor has it that a few people from the Vale came in just the other day as a group and rented out an apartment on the city outskirts.

Elena was dressed in her school uniform as she had just popped in between classes, with the black blazer jacket and the black and gray checkboard skirt with black leggings underneath as it had gotten a bit cold up in the mountains this time of year. Her uniforms were always in decent condition, at least insofar as she folded them up immediately after the dryer cycle was done and didn’t let too many wrinkles appear, but it wasn’t like… meticulously ironed or anything every day like some of her classmates were prone to do. She didn’t have time for that, frankly, because she was too busy sleeping for as long as absolutely possible every morning. Being a shadow manipulator that was forced to wake up at the crack of dawn every morning was a special type of torture, but it was simply how the world worked for the most part and she was stuck on that schedule until she got her license and had made peace with that fact.

Something really big was happening in the capital, and like usual the students were the last to find out about it. Elena wasn’t a big fan of how it was, but she couldn’t deny that the moment that a group of teenagers was told something the entire city would know a few hours later. Keeping them in the dark made sense, but it also rubbed her the wrong way. She was there earlier than most, it looked like, coming in about ten minutes before. Professor Shadecloak looked as bored as ever, which just meant that she probably just had that expression stuck on her face for the long haul. Come to think of it, every single licensed huntress that she had met so far that had survived more than a few years alone tended to have some sort of… uh, quirk about them.

Some of them went insane, some of them talked to themselves, some of them talked to inanimate objects, some of them became incapable of holding normal human conversations, some of them got horrific screaming nightmares, and apparently Shade just lost the ability to give even a single fuck about anything. Giant army of bandits to fight tomorrow? Nah, boring as fuck. The type of shit someone would have to see in order to find that prospect boring was crazy, and with any luck Elena would never see the equivalent. For now, she would mind her own damn business and take the first available empty chair. Shit was going to go down in ten minutes, she could feel it in her bones.

With so many people around maybe, she’d get to fly a plane again. That was probably the most exhilarating experience of her life to that point, honestly. It was so fun to be able to zip through the clouds and shit… but landing was another story altogether. Landing was the devil, as far as she was concerned, and Elena wasn’t looking forward to that panic again. In hindsight, that whole fiasco could have been avoided by just reading the manual in its entirety before flying and not going with the excuse of ‘it doesn’t look that hard’ when it came to life or death situations. Surprisingly enough, things that didn’t look very hard to an observer tended to be extremely difficult to perform by the one who actually had to do it. Who knew?

MADE BY MIZO

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[Ruqa Reyes]

Anyone could see blue haired Miss Reyes lounging in one of the classroom desks, leaning the plastic chair back it at a precarious angle, dangerously edging toward an clumsy self-fatality if she didn't catch herself first. It seemed that today was moving at a snails pace which she did not like all that much but kept stiff lipped about it. Speaking of stiff lipped...

Ruqa ceases her rocking and looks to the other occupants of the room. Ms.Shadeclock, teacher at Haven Academy, a no nonsense, no hint of surprise or intrigue kind of woman. Having no experience with the teacher to speak of, Ruqa had to admit that she had an intimidating presence. If a person was teaching aura enhanced children, one had to assume that there was some sort of character to them that made them suitable or at least hardy enough to endure such a job and had some ability to control the teenagers who all possessed what were essentially superpowers. Yet Ruqa didn't detect the kind of Alpha dog personality she assumed with many of her Atlessian instructors nor any cool teacher vibes that might have kept the attention of a handful of impressionable kids. Shade just had a kind of attitude that made you cold sober. There wasn't any complex substance behind it. You'd just have to learn from her level headed example. No sense exhausting her attention trying anything else.

Today, Ruqa had gone on to wear the school uniform with some minor alterations to the regular outfit. She wore the whole ensemble in a casual kind of grunge style, keeping the skirt unremarkably plain but leaving the collar buttons undone and allowing the tie to dangle loosely from her neck, letting her skin breath a little. The sleeves were noticably absent from the shirt, the shoulders ending in tattered tuffs of white, likely ripped off in a hasty fashion in order to make enough room to expose her armaments. The final piece of flair to her outfit was her bright blue jean jacket tied around her waist, completing the look. She didn't ask but surely it was fine in her case. Ruqa was no stranger to uniformity, the white kingdom of Atlas having certain predilections about maintaining strict homogeneity across many aspects of life. Though that wasn't to say the Atlesians abhorred anything abnormal or untraditional, the variety of weapons that she'd seem many Atlesian hunters only an example of how colourful and creativity they could be. She'd expect Haven to be a little more loose than that so she had expectations for some crazy things from the Mistrallians as well.

Ruqa makes eye contact with a familiar face, Elena who she knew from the Perimeter Defense Mission. With an unmistakable goofy grin, she raises her eyebrows coyly and pulls out four pens from her pocket. A writing utensil in each hand, she clicks them, at rapid pace, filling the empty room with the sound of mechanical pens.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

WC 498

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 409 TAG: @everyone NOTES: HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS She hadn't been at Haven for very long yet, but this definitely seemed out of the ordinary, even to Carmim. The room just had a very grim (pun unintended) feeling to it, and she couldn't exactly place why, but she distinctly felt a shift in atmosphere as she walked through the door. She was relatively early to the class, seeing a handful of students seated, waiting for the professor to speak. Not really anybody she knew, exactly, but that never stopped her from making friends before. Although... Maybe breaking the silence with a cheery greeting wasn't the best idea right now. Glancing up at Professor Shadecloak, as she picked out a seat, it was hard to tell if the woman was upset, tired, or just bored. The lack of expression on her face wasn't the easiest to read, by any means. That, or maybe Carmim just wasn't accustomed to all the um... unique. Personalities of Haven. She ended up taking her seat by the window, catching a few rays of sunshine peeking through the clouds. The sun certainly did its best to pierce the solemnity around her- something she appreciated. She never did like when things got too heavy. Growing up, she'd faced a lot of hardships, but always with a keen sense of humor and optimism. Even when the Grimm attacked her home, she refused to let it bring her down. Hopefully that wasn't where this assembly was going. Would that be something assembly-worthy? She really had no clue. Obviously, Grimm attacks on small towns and villages were something to defend against and be vigilant for, but was that a "gather-all-the-students-together" kind of thing? It didn't seem that way. Which made her wonder what the meeting could be about. Whatever it is, I will just have to be ready, she thought to herself, gently patting her drum in self-assurance. Maybe it had something to do with those news bulletins that had been popping up on the TV lately? Carmim didn't really know much about those either, just vaguely recalling something about Atlas and a robbery. Could it be something to do with that? She scratched her head, deep in thought. Maybe. If one of the other kingdoms was in trouble, it would make sense for Mistral to try and do something about it. Of course, there was still nothing to do but sit and wait, and hope for answers from the professor.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Theloria Shadecloak]

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Instructor Shadecloak[attr=class,punkihover1]

1503 words, 2465 total words

When it was time, the lion faunus produced a clicker and the projector immediately turned on to reveal the exterior of a train that was projected on the empty blackboards. Professor Shadecloak would speak with her usual tone of bored disinterest, but those that recognized the image on the spot would likely be able to guess what was coming next.

”This, as some of you might already be aware, is the Argus Limited.” the faunus started, ”For those of you who aren’t Mistral natives, the Argus Limited was the train that connected the two major cities of Argus on our northern coast with the capital. It ceased operation quite some time ago due to both not having enough licensed Huntsmen to spare protecting the thing and the rise in bandits in the area making the safety of the passengers impossible to guarantee. While there are some defense systems in place,” the woman flicked the projector to show a slide of the automated defense system of the Argus Limited without pausing her speech. ”Frankly the automated defenses are insufficient against any except for the most minor threats. Sure, it’ll take out a few beowolves, lancers, or random hobos trying to break into the train… but anything tougher than that and things start getting dicey.”

”As most of you are aware, there were a few Atlas cargo ships that were shot down a while ago over Mistral airspace. Those ships were carrying the new model of combat androids in the Atlesian Knight line, and as you may imagine Atlas really wants them back. The deal that was made boils down to the fact that Mistral will get their bots back if we got a new trade deal. The tower that they’ve been building on campus is an expansion of the same internet and phone lines, and you’ll be transporting more of the same parts over to Argus. This will supposedly allow for Mistral and Argus to communicate via the intranet, drastically increasing response time to incidents in that area.” there was a slight pause, then, before Shade decided to add: ”If they can actually do it, it would make the entirety of northern Mistral a lot safer for villages in the area.”

”It’ll be your job to make sure that these materials actually make it to Argus safely. In terms of specifications, each train car is about 18 and a half meters long, three meters wide, and almost four meters tall. There’s not a lot of room side to side, and that will unfortunately be limited even further by the fact that we’re going to introduce a lot of fakes on the train itself. The cargo will be contained in metal boxes that are a bit more than half a meter tall and wide that will line both sides of every car, but there will only be a small number of these cases that will actually have anything valuable in it. The rest will mostly have random junk inside to just keep the things heavy, but each container will have identical locks to make it a giant pain in the ass to get to the real ones. There was enough to have some redundant parts, but they are very small and really if more than one of the actual boxes of parts gets damaged or stolen the operation is considered a failure.” Without missing a beat verbally, the huntress would again switch the slide to one that showed the mountains that the train would pass through.

”It will be your job to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Most of the route goes through the mountains where your enemies might drop on the train at any moment, but there are the occasional tunnels that should more or less be safe and are a fantastic opportunity to take out any Grimm that might be trailing you at various points throughout your journey. You’ll be given a week to prepare, and then you’ll be expected to protect the cargo so that it makes it to its destination safe and sound. Details that the train is going to be operational again are going to be leaked, as well as mentions that it is carrying something very fragile and very valuable. That will prevent them from just blowing up the track, because their motivation is primarily economic at this point. They’ll chase lien, especially if they think the train is barely defended by a few extra old model combat droids. The people that they send will likely be a team of second rate fighters, because they’d have to be idiots to send their best fighters in when there was so much airship activity the past few weeks in and out of the city.”

”For the most part, you will be two to a car. Metal doors will be set down between doors, though each trainee will be expected to memorize the code that unlocks every gate except the first car where the driver will be residing and the second car to make absolutely sure that that first car is as safe as possible, because I know damned well that one of you will write it down on a post it note or something and then promptly get that note stolen between now and then.”

At no point would the woman’s voice raise, and at no point would the cadence of the words change. It was the same disaffected tone that one might use to read out someone else’s grocery list aloud, even when telling jokes like that one. For those that weren’t necessarily used to it, it tended to be a bit unsettling due to the expectation that the prospect of sending children to dangerous missions alone tended to be a bit more… worthy of some sort of outward expression of emotion, really.

”The only assignments that are set in stone at this point are the first two cars. Elena Thorne will be in the driver’s car due to her previous experience in operating vehicles and her semblance and will receive some training throughout the week on specifically how to operate a train in case anything happens, while Colton Deraine will be in the second car – which will be outfitted with a bit more metal than the other cars. Any other requests for extra equipment added to the train cars are to be sent to my email, and depending on what is asked I can probably get most things that aren’t more dust and doesn’t require remodeling the train car itself. Students are given the opportunity to select their partners outside of the two mentioned, and have the next forty-eight hours to create these teams of two and twenty-four hours to submit any equipment or train car modification requests.”

”Your mission ends in a success if the train stops in Argus with all the important cargo intact. You’ll be staying in the city for a few days until the construction of the smaller tower there can be completed, at which time we’ll be able to communicate if the way back is going to be safe by train or not. Ideally, this will be the start of the train returning to full operation. We’re not sure who will be sent over to try and take the parts, but we do know that there’s the ever-present threat of Grimm attack as well as the assumption that at least a small team will be sent in order to steal the containers. There’s the possibility that you’re left completely alone and that this entire thing goes off without a hitch, but there’s also the possibility that the bandits are indeed irrational and send a dozen operatives over because they can’t allocate resources at all – and if that’s the case the train needs as many trainees as it can get. To put it bluntly, if you fail Mistral takes an enormous risk for very little payoff.”

”I know some of you would rather be off with the attack on the enemy, but quite frankly this is a job that is arguably more important and given that we don’t know how many will be coming for this train, we wouldn’t even know how many licensed Huntsmen to put on this particular mission. Fire dust will be unavailable for this mission, and air dust will be on short supply. Earth dust is available but not allowed for reasons that I hope will be obvious to everyone as well. There’s always the possibility I forgot to mention something, but that’s the gist. Class today is essentially cancelled to allow for preliminary planning amongst yourselves. I can offer feedback or answer questions if needed, but I obviously won’t be accompanying you on this particular mission and neither is any other faculty member. This is essentially your first mission collectively as trainees, so this is a great opportunity to get some experience planning and executing some basic strategy. Any questions?” Green eyes would survey the classroom at that point with the same bored, disinterested expression etched across the woman’s face.

SPOILER: Click to show

Any student is free to post after this acting as if their character had been in the room the entire time. In fact, for people coming into the thread after this post that is one hundred percent encouraged. Posting order is now disabled for this thread, and branch off threads with individual characters are now allowed if you wish to take planning outside of this thread. Those threads must be marked with the '[Event]' tag before the title in order to be eligible for double experience.

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[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

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Carmim Clover -x- 615 words -x- anxiety strikes

Evangeline had arrived in the nick of time, somewhat later than most of the other students, but still in time before Shadecloak began her briefing. It was not a normal occurrence for such a meeting to be called, that was for sure, and Evangeline had already guessed that it probably had something to do with the news that she had seen earlier. Or perhaps it was something completely unrelated. Regardless, Evangeline saw this as a chance to definitely do something of value. She hurried into the class, her uniform of white shirt and checkered skirt looking as clean as it always did on her, lugging a small bag on her back and her violin case grasped in both hands. She spotted a familiar red head almost instantly as she entered the classroom and made her way over, picking out a seat next to Carmim, beaming a silent greeting at the red haired girl, a smile already on her face. She didn't say anything however, as by the time she had settled in her seat, Shadecloak turned on the projector and began her briefing.

Evangeline's blue eyes would study all of the pictures presented intently, flicking between them and the lion faunus professor, nodding occasionally according to Shadecloak's instructions. She mused over the details being explained, thoughts turning in her head. They would have to defend a train from attackers? That seemed somewhat easy enough, and perhaps more suited to Evangeline's skillset. Though she didn't look too forward to actually engaging in combat, this kind of mission probably meant that she could abuse Lis Fleurissant's crossbow capabilities to shoot potential threats from a distance. And, of course, she could support her teammates very well, allowing them to flourish in their own capabilities, thus making up for her own lack of combat experience and abilities. Evangeline was doubly inspired to actually take part in this mission to make sure it succeeded when Shadecloak enunciated that it would make a lot of the northern places in Mistral a lot safer. Safe was good, it meant less people being in danger. This would help a lot, and that was the reason why Evangeline had come to Mistral's academy, was it not? To help people. Well, this was her chance right here, staring her in the face.

Memorizing the codes to the gates wouldn't be too hard. Evangeline was studious and had a good memory, so she could commit such things to memory without too much difficulty. The priority would be the second and first cart, for obvious reasons. And aside from that, they would have to prevent even a single box of cargo from going missing. Meaning that they could not allow any threats to go past them. Teams of two... That was preferable, but also tricky. Evangeline flourished best in groups and team. Two people meant that she would need to pick a teammate who could cover her weaknesses, which was mainly melee combat. She bit her lip, brows slightly furrowed. She didn't know who was going to be a part of this mission, and who she could pair up with.

Once the briefing was finished, Evangeline would continue to mull over her thoughts, looking unsure and somewhat lost. She turned her head towards Carmim, and spoke up, " 'Zis is quite an assignment... Do you have any idea where to begin with 'zis preparations?" Evangeline hoped her friend could provide some insight or thoughts that would give Evangeline a starting point, perhaps some indication of what to do. Or, if Carmim was just as unsure as she was, at least Evangeline would feel comforted by the fact that she wasn't the only one feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

[Braun von Baer]

Words - 374

Braun flipped through the small notebook he had been scribbling in while Shadecloak was talking. A train! This was badass! He thought about the trip through the mountains, the glorious scenery, all during which there could be bandits or Grimm at any moment. This was why he had come here, and surely... he shot a sideways glance at the fancy faunus faculty at the front of the room. They were definitely going to be assessed based on their performance. This was almost as much of a test as it was a job, and if they failed their part, while it would suck in general for the group, it would suck especially for whoever gets blamed for the failure. He glanced at what he had written.

"The confined space of the cars makes General Thumper less useful than out in the open, so I guess I'll be stuck with using battering. Since we'll be on a train, that'll make Impact's leaping useless as well..." Braun knit his brow together in worry, before taking a deep breath.

"Nevermind that, I can still make it work. The smaller space means that engagements will be close together, and there'll be less distance to close before they're in whacking distance." A small smile crept across his face, before vanishing again as he went further down his notes.

Two to a car. They wanted the students to get a buddy system going, so... Braun leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, with the sleeves of his school uniform rolled up. He casually scanned the room, and saw that some people were already giving one another glances like they'd already found a partner. "Better act fast before everyone's matched up." he muttered to himself.

Braun leaned towards one of the guys sitting nearby, Argent, he thought he heard his name was. "Pretty wild how they're sending a bunch of students to help on such an important delivery, huh? Especially when there's a risk of bandits, I never thought they'd throw us in this early. I guess it'd attract too much attention if they called a bunch of veteran Huntsman to the job, though. I'm Braun von Baer, by the way." He showed a friendly smile, and offered a fist bump.

[Argent Steele]

There’s always a king. Always a queen. Always a wolf.
But he who holds the ace, always has the last word.

❝

The snake Faunus listened to Shadecloak, and he didn’t like what he heard.

There was an attack being planned on the enemy, on the scum of the earth who decided to pass their days by preying on those without the power to defend themselves. That meant that Shin, and Jade, would no doubt be there.

And if he wasn’t studying here, he would be there with them.

For the briefest of moments, Argent closed his eyes. Remembering those days spent in the Huntsman’s company. Remembering the way the presence of those two had chased away the aching loneliness that had plagued him, the loneliness that had steadily returned since his enrollment, only exacerbated by their absence. More than simply remembering, he yearned to be back with them, where he knew he belonged.

But that yearning was suppressed, shoved down, and tucked away like so much mental debris. He was here to learn how to not be a burden - he was here to learn how to be their equal. Being out there, being protected by the people he cared about and hampering their ability to fight at full strength - it wasn’t what he wanted. Not in the least.

He had to get stronger.

Argent opened his eyes and folded his arms, sinking into thought. A train car. An enclosed space, with poor sight lines and little maneuverability, due to the cargo being transported. That, and the possibility of fighting outside the car didn’t escape him - if they entered through an explosive breach rather than in through any of the regular entry points, it was likely that they would have to escape the train car and fight in the surrounding environment to prevent themselves from being flanked and cornered. Similarly, if those bandits had the presence of mind to target the engine car and remove it from the cargo platforms, they would be stranded in the mountains where they could surround and pick out the cargo they wanted at will.

Extra arrows. Some throwing weapons. A switch that can control the car’s lighting, and a few flashbangs. Ice dust, perhaps. If available. We might need to hold off an extended assault.

Thinking hard, Argent almost didn’t recognise that the other had spoken to him and only broke out of his strategizing session to stare blankly at the other and his raised fist for a second, before he snapped out of the small trance he’d fallen into while planning. While he did realize that the other had been talking to him, it took him a while longer to figure out that the fist was intended as a show of solidarity rather than some archaic form of exterting dominance. One hand slowly reached up to return the gesture gingerly, the scales on his skin cool to the ever so slight touch. Immediately after, however, Argent withdrew his hand and tucked it back into the pocket of his jacket, blinking at the other twice before he remembered to respond.

“Steele. Argent Steele.”

Glancing back down to the briefing where Shadecloak had written everything out, the snake Faunus looked back to von Baer, and then back to the briefing.

“The trainees before us used to be sent out too, back when. This was coming sooner or later.”

@ ● 541 words ● 541 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Braun von Baer]

Words - 381

"Good to meet you, Argent." Scales... woahhh. Braun thought, having never fist-bumped a faunus before. And the scales were real! He tried to hide his surprise, trying not to be uncool. Where he came from, faunus didn't appear as often as when compared to other places, so he never really knew them very well, just that there was often some social issues revolving around them, which was, in his mind, kind of a bummer. Personally, he never found a serious reason to dislike faunus, and his Mom made a point to hammer a degree of tolerance into her son.

When he had been a very young boy, he had picked on a faunus kid at school and made fun of him for having a tail. Later, his mom found out and looked him in the eye, explaining to him that there was a number of issues Braun could take with another kid, but how they looked was not one of them. It should be noted that this was after giving him a number of beatings.

Braun winced in pain internally before banishing the memory again, and turned to face Argent a bit more directly. The faunus seemed a little awkward, if anything, but there could be a dozen things in the back of his mind for all Braun knew. Couldn't blame him for being a bit distracted, especially when this much information had been dropped all at once during the briefing. "Really? Well, maybe this also serves as kind of a test for us. Like, to see if we can hold our own out there, I mean she said we'd probably only be going against, like, some second-rate bandits, so I think the test is more focused on how we can prepare ourselves, both as individuals and, like, as teams. Preparation is half the battle, after all. Some great general said that at some point, uh, probably."

"I think it's pretty clear that explosives or long weaponry like polearms won't be great for when we're inside a train car... Since they're giving us so much freedom, I'd imagine you've got some ideas, right? For equipment to use, or something you're looking for in a partner, or like, extra defensive measures that could be taken? Anything you're willing to share?"

[Colton Deraine]

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[attr="class","firstfriend"]

Bravery is believing in yourself, and that's one thing nobody can teach you.

Huh.

Looked like he was working alone this time. It wasn’t that he really minded, though he was a bit surprised. Maybe the numbers just ended up with one person being superfluous and he was the best candidate to go solo. He couldn’t argue with that logic, frankly, especially because the train cars probably weren’t big enough to house three comfortably with all the shit in it and the narrow cars. The great thing about the train cars being that small, though, was there was nowhere to dodge and nowhere to really hide for the ones who were busting their way in.

His usual weakness of having shit mobility was basically nullified, and he was one of the few who could even go outside the train car without any fear of falling off due to Polarity. It also meant that accuracy was of a secondary concern as long as all the doors in between the train cars were sturdy enough to withstand some hits, which would make things even easier. The Argus native would simply lean back in his seat and with his cold brown gaze observe how the others reacted.

While it was true that he’d rather be out striking at the bandit camps, Colton was going to be the last one to bitch and complain about not being assigned there… least of all to Shadecloak who was well aware of his shortcomings at this point. She was entrusting him with an important spot, because if the driver car was fucked with enough the train would either crash or be disabled and stranded in the middle of nowhere.

The bright side, at least, was the fact that all their best fighters would be tied up fighting the huntsmen at home. That would leave their second or third best to be sent to the train, if the bandits sent anyone at all. Their best and brightest might be as tough as an Alpha, but their rank and file were basically just normal people with weapons. Some of them didn’t even have activated aura, and those that did still mostly didn’t have any semblances. People with activated semblances were still a lower percentage of the population, simply because it took so much effort for the average person with not a luck of luck to figure out. They’d either send a lot of shitters or a small number of more elite people to the train, and honestly either way was fine with the brunette.

If they carried around metal in that enclosed space, they were doomed from the start unless they had some weird as fuck semblance. That was always possible, sure, but the chances of them having a better close quarters power than him were slim to none when the environment was taken into consideration. Some of the others would have some issues moving forward, especially the ones who were used to plucking away at range that hadn’t bothered to learn how to fight up close yet.

Happily enough, though, that wasn’t his problem.

※ OPEN ✎ 503 words ✉ D rank semblance, E ranked martial arts, E ranked durability, E rank weapon enhancement, E ranked weapon, F rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Qiu'li]

[attr="class","popqiu"] ❝May the crimson leaves show me the path I must follow.❞ wc:539 | twc: 539 Qiu'li

[attr="class","qiutext"] Qiu'li was seated in the middle rows with his head propped up on his arm that was resting on the classroom desks. It wasn't out of boredom, but rather just a comfortable position that he had founded over time as he watched the slides pass on while Professor Shadecloak continued on about the tasks that they would be assigned to. There's a train that will be carrying valuable equipment on there to be delivered to the capital. There is a risk of bandits that may board on to steal the contents as well as the threat of Grimm trailing behind, and their job is to prevent them from getting the goods. Seems simple in principle, though the raven-haired man knew that anything can happen to turn a simple job sour. He glanced at the various students that were present. About half of them he was familiar with, while the other half were complete strangers to him. Qiu'li merely looked at time as they turned to socialize with each other as the briefing concluded. While he's gotten a lot better at talking to people and has stopped speaking in so many damn fragments, initiating friendly, or even idle conversation is still not his strong suit. Being told to leave his weapon behind for this briefing made him a bit uncomfortable, as the weight of his weapons at his side was a familiar, comforting feeling. Not having them made him feel slightly vulnerable, though he kept that to himself as he leaned back on his chair slightly. He was wearing the Haven Academy uniform, albeit still slightly messy since he hadn't gotten quite used to wearing it like how Flower had shown him how, and also because he disliked the tight sensation that these uniforms gave the raven haired man. Qiu'li kept the jacket unbuttoned and the collared shirt untucked for that reason, and his mind wandered briefly towards a longing desire to switch back to his usual outfit to continue training at the Training Grounds.  Confined spaces... This meant that his mobility wouldn't be of much help unless he were to take the fight to the top of the train or to assist other students in the event of an attack, though this also meant that he could close the distance between mobile enemies that dared try to break in as well. In any case, fighting with his glaive would give him a good range advantage, and should the enemy drop in with a gun, Qiu'li could close the distance before they have the chance to get a proper shot. Worse case scenario, he could rely on his Semblance to be able to dodge incoming attacks before landing a first strike on them too. For the time being, Qiu'li would simply stare blankly with his characteristic glare as he thought about what kinds of equipment he would need for this upcoming assignment that they would be tasked with. If anyone tried to get his attention by waving or calling out to him, it'd be rather futile since he easily spaced out. They would have to literally stand right in front of him or talked loudly right beside him for the raven-haired man to notice or snap out of his daze.

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Fènnù (+Strength +Agility +Projectile Sword Beam) | Rank E
Lóngtóu and Panlong | Rank F
Falling Ashes (Leap) | Rank E
Weapon Proficiency I (Martial Arts) | Rank E
Resilience of the Crimson Oaks I (Durability) | Rank F
Dance of the Wild Winds II (Acrobatics) | Rank E

[Argent Steele]

There’s always a king. Always a queen. Always a wolf.
But he who holds the ace, always has the last word.

❝

Argent nodded slowly, eyes somewhat glazed over and clearly still deep in thought for a few moments before they focused once more on the other male.

“The mission is protecting the goods on the train until it reaches its destination. Ideally, we would be fighting inside the cars if the bandits decide to just steal what they can and get out without making a fuss. But…”

Staring downwards at his hands, the snake Faunus began to list off potential ways the mission could go wrong as they came to him.

“If the bandits have heavy ordinance, they could simply break the point of contact between the engine car and the other cars so they can loot everything at will while it comes to a halt before reinforcements arrive. Alternatively, they might destroy part of the railway before we get there to force the train to derail, or even just stop so they can pick us off at leisure. We don’t have a lot of information going in, which is worrying.”

Looking up, Argent paused before forcing the frown that had come upon him during that small tirade to flatten out into a neutral expression. He didn’t want to make the other guy think it was his fault that he wasn’t in a good mood.

“We might need to fight in the train, on the train, or in the environment surrounding, if it gives us a better chance of winning. I’ll be requesting extra ammunition and throwing weapons, and lighting controls in the car I’m in wired to my Scroll, if it can be done. Test or not, these are still armed criminals we’re going up against, and we’re not Huntsmen yet. I don’t want to take any chances.”

With a small exhale, he leaned back in his seat.

“I would prefer another Faunus, versed in close combat, but if that is not possible, I will adapt to whoever decides to work with me. And you?”

@ ● 325 words ● 866 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Braun von Baer]

Words - 426

Braun took in what Argent said, occasionally nodding as he spoke. He had a point, maybe this trip wasn't as 'in-the-bag' as he initially hoped. Armed criminals. Hmm. Still though... "I don't think we need to worry too much about the bandits derailing the train, as long as the people in charge do their job leaking that the cargo is fragile. I don't know about you, but something like a train crash is not the method I'd use to get something that's easily broken. Like, they're not exactly gentle." Braun let out a small chuckle, before going on.

"You have a point about the separating of the engine car though, if that happens not only will we be exposed and sitting ducks, we also might be isolated up in the mountains and if we're like, in a remote area, that could also mean Grimm interfering, which would totally suck. But, uh, you probably figured that part out though."

Braun wasn't put off much by Argent's being upset, figuring his acting up was just due to stress. The faunus seemed to know his stuff, though, and maybe requisitioning equipment was something to be considered a bit more.

"Hopefully I won't need them, but I think I'm going to bring an entire crate of shells on the train if they let me. Maybe Ice Dust would be a good idea, if we're on a moving train car then any boarders would be slipping and sliding around. The lights idea might be good too, though uh... I don't think I could figure out a use for that myself..." Braun trailed off and shrugged. It made sense for Argent to prefer another Faunus for a partner, they'd probably get along a bit better, plus the tactical bonus of better night vision. Night vision, wait... The realization struck him, and a broad smile broke out across his face.

"Wait, dude! You're a genius! Don't most faunus see in the dark? That's probably why you're getting control over the lights! That's awesome, man!" He nearly facepalmed for not thinking of it earlier. They taught about faunus traits in combat during officer training, how could he forget?

"But when it comes to partners, though, I'm not really choosy as long as they don't shit themselves at the first sign of trouble, you know? Though, it'd be nice if they could make good conversation for a while. The ride is going to be kind of long, and like, sitting around in a train car doing nothing for several hours is going to be booorriiiinng."

[Ruqa Reyes]

Ceaselessly figiting in her seat, the pens spin around in Ruqa's quick fingers, barely taking up any mental capacity to do so. Seemingly laid back, it is only when Miss Shade begins to speak that Ruqa stops, the pens caught still in the air. What she hears makes her stiffen cold with a furrowed look on her face, her hands reflexively forming into fists.

Bandits. Bastards that deserved nothing but her wrath.

She has trouble concentrating on the rest of Shadecloak's words, her nerves growing hot with violent anticipation. This is exactly the thing she joined Haven for. Real combat with the worst brand of people Remnant had to offer and fighting scum that ought to removed from the world. She'd make sure to make them hurt. Hurt...

Ruqa takes on a mechanical stiffness which she has to ease out of. She lets out a quiet breath, her mouth a grim line. She'd have to take care⁠—not like last time. She'd meet the outlaws head on with someone strong by her side. Perhaps someone that could support her, take out the threats she couldn't handle.

Ruqa leans over to a few students closest to her, Carmim and Evangeline, loudly whispering to them. "Opportunistic robbers like these never fight fair, too weak to fight on a level field against those with REAL strength. All the pity for them because I know I've got the strength and I'm definitely not going to fight fair." Ruqa smile cracks up into a toothy smirk. "If these bandits think the train is going to be poorly defended they'll be in for the surprise of their lives. You can call me Ruqa Reyes, you could say I've some experience fighting bandits. Are you guys thinking of coming along for the mission too?"

[Nikolas Burzanov]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","oneword1"]

[attr="class","fromyou1"]
@ everyone

1365 words

heroes die with honor i'm no hero

[attr="class","itsover"]

Half or more of the whole class was here, it seems. And so it wasn't a surprise to see the somewhat infamous Storm King at the back of the class, lounging in his chair with boredom on his face and a casual kind of arrogance to his posture. His face gave off the impression that he couldn't care less about the instruction being given by none other than Shadecloak, but his eyes were sharp, flicking between any and all notable faces within the class, his ears hearing every word spoken by the Faunus professor.[break][break]

His eyes started from the instructor herself. His feelings on Shadecloak was fairly neutral. She was a teacher, she was in charge of guiding them and leading them, she was a no-nonsense kind of person who was strict yet fair, and seemed to be emotionally dead. Perfectly fine with Nikolas, even if she had threatened to shoot out his femurs in the past. She gave him the chance to kill a lot of Grimm, and that was already a plus in his book. [break][break]

Moving his gaze onwards, it now landed on a girl with very long brown hair. He couldn't tell much about her, given that he was at the back of the class, so he only had a view of her back, but from the width of her shoulders and arms... She seemed far too thin to be healthy. He frowned, wondering if there was a story behind it. Whereas some people, like himself, could exude their presence in a room, making themselves known by simply being there in the vicinity, she seemed to be intent on drawing all of that into her self, diminishing her presence as much as she could. A coward then. Nikolas dismissed her after that scrutiny and moved on to the next person.[break][break]

Now further back, his eyes landed on a shock of red hair, belonging to... A midget? Nikolas' brows furrowed in mild confusion and scrutiny as he realized that, no, it wasn't a midget, but merely a very, very small girl. Striking red hair, similarly colored eyes and an almost easy going attitude surrounding her, the effect emphasized by the rays of sunlight hitting her from the window she sat next to. He wondered if she was young or just that small, and if it had anything to do with her semblance. Either way, she didn't strike him as anyone interesting, and the sunlight reflecting off of her hair was getting somewhat irksome to look at.[break][break]

Nikolas almost squinted. He would have to take back his internal statement about the red haired girl being hard to look at. Right next to her, almost equally small, sat a girl that could probably substitute herself for the sun. Bright golden hair and a kind of bubbly air around her, albeit it seemed to get more and more muted as Shadecloak talked. Another coward. Nikolas' lips pursed in distaste, his arms crossing as his gaze shifted.[break][break]

Next, his eyes landed on a man who practically screamed military. Built like a truck, with a blond hairstyle that seemed like a more lax version of the kind you see on soldiers, his appearance seemed to be completely at odds with his very friendly demeanor. Judging by how he was acting and conversing, it seemed to be an almost disturbing contrast, and a bit of an insult to military discipline. Probably not military then, maybe just overly enthusiastic. He was at a Huntsman academy, after all.[break][break]

Talking with the military man, was a familiar face. Argent seemed to be as sulky as ever; the snake faunus always looked like he was debating between throwing a punch at someone or punching himself. Kind of like Nikolas, in the regards of brooding, but whereas Nikolas looked more like a brewing storm in his brooding, Argent just looked conflicted and in pain. Regardless, Nikolas and Argent had been in the same squad during internships, and they had gone through their trial by fire together. So, Nikolas held some measure of respect for the Snake Faunus as a capable, tested warrior, albeit he hadn't forgotten how Argent had almost screwed up the entire mission by jumping the gun.[break][break]

Then there was Colton. Another familiar face who had survived the storm with Nikolas and Argent. Not much to think about Colton that Nikolas hadn't already thought of. A very capable warrior, albeit with a pole up his ass at times. A good leader with a powerful semblance. Nikolas respected him, giving credit where it was due. But that didn't mean he liked Colton. It wasn't a dislike either, they just hadn't ever talked, or seen a reason to talk. Colton didn't talk much. That suited Nikolas just fine. [break][break]

His gaze shifted and reached the final familiar face of the bunch, and the final part of their former squad. Qiu'li. Someone who Nikolas was very acquainted with. Out of everyone here, his history with Qiu'li was probably the longest. And almost everytime they had met, they were either punching the shit out of each other, or they were punching the shit out of something else, or as it happened in the internship, getting the shit punched out of them. Qiu'li was definitely someone Nikolas had interest in, probably more than the rest of the students here. Definitely a rival to contend with, Qiu'li and Nikolas both had a grudging admiration for each other's skill as a warrior. But aside from that, they could never get along, their personalities directly conflicting with each other. Therefore, Nikolas couldn't really consider Qiu'li as a 'friend'. Someone he'd trust to watch his back in a fight? Definitely. But not someone he could visualize himself sitting down and having an easy chat with. At least, not one that didn't turn into another fist fight. [break][break]

And then, the last person that caught his eye so far, a woman who was actually tall for once. She looked capable enough, but what caught Nikolas eye was her face. Nikolas recongized the expression on her face. That set of the jaw, that slightly feral look in her eyes. What was displayed on her face was something that Nikolas had seen several times in the mirror; hatred. Pure, seething hatred. She looked like she could barely contain her urge to kill with something about the mission at hand, and Nikolas wondered what was provoking such reaction from her. Either way, Nikolas made a mental note about her, to ask about it next time. Maybe she could be someone who would understand Nikolas' own thoughts and drive. [break][break]

The lecture ended and the students began to mingle, talking and planning. No one really approached Nikolas, which was to be expected. He had already gathered a bad reputation as being somewhat unhinged. Rumors of him tearing up one of the indoor training facilities, fraternizing with the academy doctor (who was a reputation in her own rights), ignoring most objectives in classes and aggressively assaulting his classmates instead had gotten around a lot, and he didn't really help the fact by neither denying nor attesting to any of the alleged rumors. Nikolas straightened up, standing up to his impressive height and walking over towards the window, where the three women sat. [break][break]

They would have to pair up, and thus, he was hoping to perhaps find a partner that wouldn't prove too much of a hassle to deal with. He had his eyes on the big woman sitting next to the two dwarves, as she seemed pretty capable. So he walked up to the three women, stopping infront of the tiny golden one as she was in the middle, hands in his pockets.
"I'm looking for a team mate. Preferably one who isn't going to get in the way of my weapon." He said flatly, his gray eyes flicking between the three, lingering only a moment longer on the larger woman. "Someone good at range. It would be inconvenient for me to watch every swing I make so I don't mistakenly lop a limb off." He added, his gray eyes boring into the blonde's eyes, as she seemed to be frozen with fear, almost like a deer in the headlights. [break][break]

ulla

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