RWBY - Hunters of Atlas [Inactive]

Rhea scanned the large hall as student slowly filled in a low him of chatter tuning into a dull roar as more students started to talk and get to know one another. Rhea didn't want to risk turning and hitting anyone with the large sword on her back so she shifted to a less populated part of the room, lingering around the outer edge of the crowd. She looked over all the other students wondering to herself just how many of them would pass the first exam, no doubt the crow would be severely thinned out by the end. She just hoped to be part of the surviving group. "Just have to stay focused..." she thought to herself.


Her gaze shifted as the same woman from the TV woke up, welcoming them once more to Pheros. her attention was fixed on the Headmaster as he gave his introduction speech more doubt starting to nag at the back of her mind but she decided to ignore it. This was no place for doubt or fear. She found it odd that they would be all staying in the hall with each other, "Then again why prepare a bunch of dorms for student who may or may not even make it past the exam." Rhea decided the corner which she found her self would probably be the best to settle for the evening. She slipped off her sword allowing she sheathed blade to rest on the floor beside her suit case. Rhea could help but stretched with the weight off of her back before looking out over the crowd again wondering if she should try talking to anyone.
 
The moment he heard "bedding" Gareth was out like a light, right on the cold, marble edging of the floor, his head resting on crossed arms, stomach on the ground, and weapon still strapped to the small of his back. Gareth loved sleep, but he hated dreaming. Tonight, Gareth dreamed of home, his town was burning, screaming filled the air and atop the corpse of a large Ursa, staring into the flames, and laughing stood... Gareth. "No... NO! that isn't me... This isn't me!" His dream shifted to the city he was in, but it was different, empty. Vines grew through large holes in the buildings, and the entire bridge was in the valley below. Gareth went through the doorway to the building he had fallen asleep in, over the doors that had been smashed in by some massive force. "Everybody just... disappeared..." Gareth said to himself. "They had to abandon this place after what you had done." He heard his own voice reply, echoing around the grand hall. "What I had done...?" Gareth repeated, confused. "You failed. When their only hope had lain on you, you failed, and the survivors had to abandon this place." Gareth began to respond, but his throat refused to open as he looked around the room, and there were bodies. Corpses everywhere, some reduced to skeletons, some rotting and maggot-infested, some still bleeding, and the blood began to soak the floor. The doors had returned to their hinges and slammed shut, and blood poured from gaping wounds faster and faster, filling the room. Gareth wanted to call for help, to run away, but all he could do was keep afloat at the top of the blood as he neared the ceiling. Every motion he made toward the windows or the stairs seemed only to pull him further away. As he neared the rafters, skin caked in blood, hair matted to his scalp, Gareth knew there was no hope, and he gave up. He let his body lie limp, floating on the surface of the water... water? Gareth straightened himself up, looking around. The sun shone feebly through the pine needles above him, and the water was clear, cool, and refreshing. He remembered this lake, it was the last time-- "Gary! I thought I'd find you here." Gareth turned to the source of the voice. "Celina?" he tried to say more, but his voice caught at all the things he wanted to say. Celina took off her shoes and sat at the edge of the lake, dangling her feet in the water. "Gary, I... I'm leaving." No! You can't go, not again! "Why?" Gareth heard himself say, unable to change the memory. "I just... I don't think it's right, the worship of something that kills indiscriminately, and... you know about my father..." Gareth swam to the shore next to her and hauled himself out. Earlier that month, when Celina's mother died, they had been cleaning out her house and found several letters between Celina's mother and her father, who Celina had never met. According to the letters, Celina's father had been a human, dealing under the table with members of the Titan branch of the White Fang, and Celina's mother was one of those members. They ran away together to have their forbidden love, but when the White Fang began making threats, her father left without so much as a note on the nightstand. "I have to find him. I have to ask him why." Celina said, her voice resolute. "I... I won't stop you," I love you. Then something happened in the dream that didn't happen at that time; Gareth pulled Celina close and kissed her. When he pulled away, tears streamed down his face "Don't go, it's not safe," but she was gone, and Gareth was alone. Waking to the sound of several hundred initiates breathing steadily, some snoring, and some still settling down to sleep, Gareth didn't move, he just lay where he was and let the tears flow silently down his face. It's not safe...
 
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When Tio finally emerged from behind the palms of her hands, there was another student, the girl who had almost walked off the bridge earlier, sitting practically right beside her, causing the faunus girl to recoil, not having expected someone to be sitting so close to her, and if they did she sort of assumed that she'd have noticed.


Before either of the two students had a chance to say anything, their welcoming speech began, the woman from the viewscreens earlier saying a brief foreword before Headmaster Cromwell took to the balcony, explaining that the test was the same as last year, confirming the rumour about students from the year prior, and even going on to say that the test wouldn't be changing for quite some time.


With what seemed like an extremely hurried speech over, Beatrice returned to the front, and told the students that bedding and belongings would arrive shortly, then she too disappeared out a door toward the rear of the balcony.


Sure enough it was only a brief moment before what were either older students, or hired hands entered the hall with what luggage students couldn't carry up to the school, and carts of futon mattresses, enough that each student could have one. While it was a kind thought to bring them out for every student, Tio felt terribly awkward taking one, what with it only being about half as long as she was tall.


Ignoring the fact that her legs hung off the end of the mattress onto the solid marble floor uncomfortably Tio tried to get some sleep, she was sure that the next day would be a rough one, and being well rested would probably make it a little bit easier.
 
Rasia nodded to the finale of the speech, it was straight forward and yet still thorough. She had little need to do anything this time and felt it best to sleep right away. Upon receiving her mattress and setting up, she notice the girl from which she sat next to, "Would you like to use my blanket?? I have my own as is." she placed the rolled up blanket next to the large Faunus girl.


Rasia began thinking back to one of her training missions back in the forests around her old home. "Mother..." she looked down for a moment, an emptiness appearing for but a second as though a sad thought crossed her mind.
 
As the evening went on,the students in the audience hall went to sleep,or at least,they tried to. Nerves have claimed the minds of many,knowing that the next day is going to be Hell,just to see if they were "worthy" of being Hunters,in Cromwell's eyes. As Cromwell,Sterling,and Beatrice left the hall,several older students came in with carts,loaded down with air mattresses,pillows,and blankets,so the students had somewhere to sleep in the hall. When every student got a "bed",the carts were wheeled out,and more older students came in to replace them,these ones armed. To anyone who asked,they explained themselves as security for the students and their property. Anyone who was paying attention to the news the past four months would know that people were vanishing across the continent. They were just being careful.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In Cromwell's office,the Headmaster and his majordomo sat at a large table,going through several maps and reports. "Take a look at this one,Sterling." He passed the man a folder containing nothing more than a marked map,a short written report,and a handful of images. "Do you think this Deathstalker will pose an issue?" Deathstalkers,though large and extremely destructive,didn't live in most regions of Atlas. It was too cold,for the most part. But,this one,for whatever reason,was one valley over from the exam location. "Your call."





The Headmaster poured himself a cup of coffee from the coffee machine's carafte,which was resting on the table with the papers. After a splash of cream and some sugar,the Headmaster drank deeply. "I truly hope we have some students worth our time this year..."





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The next day dawned with little incident. At six in the morning,a school-wide buzzer went off,likely everyone's wake-up call. The buzzer repeated four times,and was followed by an announcement from Beatrice. "All first year students,your exam begins at noon. Meet at the bridge into Hiyas no later than quarter to noon. Anyone who is late will be delayed a year." The announcement ended,and the students woke from their slumber. Maps around the school were available,pointing students to where they'd like to go,which,nigh universally,was the caf for some breakfast.


At the caf,the breakfast being served was a breakfast of egg,sausage,bacon,oatmeal,and oranges with OJ to drink. All were high energy,and the eggs and oatmeal were good stick to your ribs food. There were also calorie bars,which,while they held no nutritional value,were good for keeping you going in a pinch.


However,time passed all-too-quickly,and the six hours flew by. The students were assembled at the bridge that they arrived on,with Cromwell and Sterling standing before several large airships. "Today you stand upon the brink of destiny." The Headmaster cast his gaze across the crowd as he spoke. "This test will be harsh. You will be delivered by these ships into the mountains surrounding Hiyas. There,you will have twelve hours to find and reach a ruined watchtower of the Old City. Contained in the basement are several devices. You will take one of these devices,then make your way back to Hiyas. On foot,within the remainder of your twelve hour time limit. Of further note,the first person you make contact with will be your partner for the rest of your time here at Pharos. Between the two of you,you will recover one device."





Cromwell paused for a moment,and continued. "Any who do not make the time limit,or fail to retrieve a device,will be sent back home. No exceptions." Then,something happened. For the briefest of moments,Cromwell's eyes glowed red,and he began to leak a black smoke from his body. At the same time,everyone present beheld what they feared the most. Then,it was gone. "Board the ships,and secure your gear to your seat with the restraints provided. You'll be on your own out there. Try not to die. I do not enjoy writing such letters."





(I have pre-arranged the teams. I'll be PMing the players about it.)
 
Zewl let out a small growl as he saw the image of his father being ripped apart by Grimm. His father was then replaced with all the people's he's seen. He shook himself as it disappeared and Zewl tensed himself. This was it, he checked on his gear and saw they were working properly. He then boarded the ship. "This'll be good, lcukily with my father's training I have advantage here." He took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. "The hunt draws nearer, I can feel it!" He let out a small growl of excitement as he secured his items.
 
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The next morning Tio awoke with the sun, though shortly after an alarm buzzed across the room, and likely the rest of the school. After three more repetitions of the buzzer, Beatrice came onto the intercomm again, explaining to the first-years when their exam would begin, and where.


While other students were just starting to be roused from their slumber, Tio saw the moment as an opportunity to find the cafeteria, and get herself a meal quickly, then eat, and maybe even squeeze in a shower if they weren't too crowded; or small.


Unfortunately, while she was awake earlier, Tio found herself quite hopelessly lost as in her sleep-addled mind she'd forgotten to put her glasses back on, and had even walked away without them. Now the noise of other initiates echoed through the halls, and they weren't terribly close either. Without her glasses, Tio couldn't even count her own fingers at arm's length, and must have walked right past a map, maybe more than one. Walking the halls without her glasses only further strengthened the image that Tio was sure that she'd already accidentally left, long stride carrying her quickly down the halls while she squinted just to see anything in front of her, but even then she only really noticed anyone was there once they were quite close. Three other students had hissed a curse over their shoulder at the faunus girl as she passed, thinking she was intentionally just going to bowl over them no doubt, which just made Tio more flustered than she already was.


Walking quickly past a corner, Tio didn't realize she was headed straight into a wall until she plowed into it with a crash, horn clacking against stone, then face following right behind it. Before she realized what exactly had happened, Tio found herself sitting on the floor, staring straight ahead at a blurry grey wall, just like the blurry grey floor and ceiling, had she just walked into it?


Quiet snickering came from a little ways down the hall, though it silenced the instant that Tio tried to identify its source, cut off with a sharp yelp.


Tio~ why do you have to suck at this~


A voice pouted in her head, her own voice really, but sometimes it was less embarrassing to pretend it was somebody else.


It's not my fault, I couldn't see it there.


It's a wall Tio, how could you not see it!?


Well it's just the same grey as everything else isn't it? Everything's just one big blurry blob of grey damnit!





Picking herself up off the floor, decidedly more red in the face than she'd been before, Tio looked back the way she came, seeing the same grey blur as before, then looked left, also the same grey blur, then to the right, and some ways off into that blur, she could see a slight brownish blur.


Well, at least brown is a new colour of blur, I'm sure we'll get somewhere that way, right?





Choosing to head toward the brownish blur, Tio could hear voices speaking, a dull crescendo of activity, and while she was reasonably sure that the other initiates would have been headed for the cafeteria, she couldn't smell any food, even as she began to draw near. The blurry brown mass had some grey above it, so it was obviously a doorway, obviously not intended for someone over ten feet tall, though at least the rooms and hallways had high ceilings.


Ducking through the doorway, Tio realized her mistake just an instant too late as dozens of voices suddenly quieted all at once, and she could feel the gaze of all their eyes on her. This was a classroom wasn't it?


You just walked into a classroom!?


How the heck should I know!





A mature voice broke the silence several seconds later, and only seemed to make the weight of attention even heavier.


"I'm sorry, miss? I don't believe you're part of this class, and; I don't think you're part of any of my classes for that matter."


Tio's face warmed up an awful lot more in a hurry, and her left hand drifted up to her horn self-consciously as she tried to back out of the room, eyes down-cast without saying a word. Unfortunately the faunus girl forgot that the doorway was right behind her, and her head met the top stone of it with a resounding crack before it slid out of its housing, striking the floor with a much louder sound.


"You're a first year, aren't you?" the voice asked, not bothering to wait for this giant of a girl to say, excuse herself, either from the classroom, or for knocking loose the stone brick. Of course there was a sharp pain in the back of Tio's head, but she didn't want to move her left hand to it, and her right hand was still identifying the edge of the doorway so that she didn't walk right into that too.


"Amber, show this girl back to the antechamber, I imagine there's been some cruel prank played on her," there was a wordless response following that, and a reddish blur came across the room to stand in front of Tio after that while she still tried to untangle her horn from the ceiling with her nerves frayed as they were.


"Somebody hide your glasses?" a rather apathetic girl's voice came from the red blob, to which Tio nodded wordlessly, though her face couldn't get any redder than it already was she imagined. It was a lie, but the rhino-girl was in no shape to clarify that at the moment.


What Tio could only imagine was the voice of the teacher uttered an elucidated syllable, then tried to calm the class back down and continue the lesson.


The two students walked through various gray blurry blobs, and even ducked through a doorway that Tio didn't remember passing through, so in hindsight it seemed that she'd gotten pretty lost. While they made their way back to the antechamber, Amber tried to strike up some conversation, though halfheartedly if her tone were any indication.


"Pharos' first rhino faunus huh?" she said, "Thought you guys didn't like the idea of hunting."


Tio made no verbal reply, and simply shrugged very lightly, Amber didn't bother to look.


"Well, you know my name already, it's Amber, but who're you?" she asked, still monotonously though Tio felt like it was a genuine question.


This time Tio responded, though in such a tiny, choked voice it was almost comical to hear coming from her mouth.


"Tio."


Alright, you're already up to two people, talking to two people in the first twenty-four hours!


Ease back on that excitement, you've barely said anything at all.


Why do you always have to rain on my parade?





The senior student spoke up again at that.


"Wow, you're doomed," she said, and didn't speak again, not even once they'd reached the big room full of airmatresses, she just turned and left.


Gulp





Finally with her glasses, the rest of Tio's morning went relatively without incident, getting a few bowls of oatmeal, if a little bit cold, and only shooting orange juice from her nose when someone sat beside her on the bench, which sent them away in a bit of a hurry. Afterwards, getting somewhat close to the deadline for their test, she managed to squeeze in a shower with only two other girls in the enormous shower-room, both at the far end, though they hurried out after Tio came in.


Coming up to the bridge, this time with Yolmak in hand, rather than in its case, as most all of the other students did now, with her harness on, and goggles as well. For the first time since she'd arrived, despite the circumstances, Tio felt confident in herself, though it evaporated when Cromwell activated his aura.


There is a spade in Tio's hands while she tills the soil, several other tools similar to her own strike the dirt all around, and a glance shows her brothers and sisters all around, though as she opens her mouth to speak there is the sound of great wingbeats approaching. Everyone in the fields begins to look around when suddenly five nevermore drop from the sky on black wings, talons raking across Ulvi's, her eldest brother's back, paring flesh away like a knife through the skin of a pear. To the left, Lale, the eldest sister was grabbed by the arm, hauling it up, free of its socket while she clutched to the fence for dear life, a sickening crunch reaching even Tio's ears.


Eyes darting around, looking for the next to touch down, Tio saw Nadiye, her baby sister, not even eight years old, curled into a ball not thirty feet away with one of the grimm descending on her. Before she even realized what she was doing, Tio was off like a shot, sprinting for her little sister, hurling the shovel from her hands at the colossal bird in an attempt to distract the thing. Just before she reached Nadiye, the nevermore scooped both girls into the air in its talons, though the weight of both faunus was too much for it as it struggled to ascend. A hundred feet in the air it decided to drop the heavier charge, and as both sisters screamed for one another, Tio fell...


As she started, breaking free of the memory, Tio realized that several students had drawn their weapons, and in fact, so had she, one arrow pulled from Yolmak's pod, brandished like a spear in her hands with Yolmak itself on the ground beside her. Giving the students a moment to gather themselves again, Cromwell continued, then told them to strap into the airships, and try not to get themselves killed in this test, though by the tone in his voice, it wasn't entirely for their sake.
 
Gareth woke a little later than most everyone else, having finally fallen asleep only an hour before the alarms sounded, but with his eating habits, he was one of the first students finished and out of the cafeteria. He loitered around the bridge, trying in vain to think about anything but home, anything but Celina.


The letter had come three weeks after Celina left, and Gareth had been listed as next of kin, so he had to be the one to give as much information as he could to the police. Her things had been found a mile outside of the capitol, no body, no signs of struggle, no camp to indicate she planned on returning, just gone. The officers told Gareth that they would do everything they could to find her. That was three years, eleven months, and five days ago, and Gareth hasn't heard a word about it since.


Gareth was roused from his memories when most of the initiates had arrived. He listened, albeit distractedly, as Cromwell gave his speech. When Cromwell activated his semblance, Gareth saw black smoke from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, Gareth saw Celina, walking away, trees all around, and he couldn't move, couldn't speak. Powerless. Then he realized he was kneeling on the ground, bent over something. He was bent over Celina's body, drenched in blood, and he held the knife in his hands. He had succumb to his inner demons. Gareth looked to the skies to cry in pain and grief, but he saw Cromwell, standing where he was before, eyes red, smoke billowing around him. He saw reality. Gareth blinked, and the smoke was gone, everyone was tense, most had drawn weapons, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When Gareth stepped in the ship and began to relax with the low hum of the engine, he loosened up and looked around for someone to talk to, thankful that the seats had been cleverly designed to accommodate tails. His weapon was hooked to his seat, the first time it left his back since he got on the airship to come here, and he kept his body language open, as if to silently say 'sit next to me, I want to chat.'
 
Rhea woke up with the early birds, she hasn't gotten much sleep thanks to her nerves. The large breakfast however made up for the lack of sleep. She ate mostly carbs with some eggs not but didn't eat heavy, her nerves didn't allow that though that was probably for the best. She spend the time between breakfast maintaining her sword a nervous habit she had developed it kept her weapon in great condition but also made her come off anti-social and some time intimidating if she happened to be sharpening it. She was at the bridge an hour a head of time wondering what challenges the day would bring and remembering lessons from previous lessons. She noticed several other students lost in their own thoughts, at least she wasn't the only one worried


She stood at attention when Cromwell arrived and started giving his speech making mental notes on what had to be done. "Partner up with the first person I see?" She looked around in the large group of students wondering who would she end up partnering with but also how they were going to end up arriving at the testing ground if they were going to be scattered. Her train of thought was broken with black smoke. She looked up in time to see the headmaster with his smoking eyes before everything when dark.


Rhea looked around anxiously before hearing terrible screams. The smell of burning smoke and fire and with flames which were eating away at her home. She wanted to move but was paralyzed in place as she witnessed her parent being attacked by shadowed creatures. She tried to move to draw her sword and protect them but she couldn't move. She was helpless to protect her family. Just as she was able to force her arm to move and draw her sword the illusion faded and she was back on the bridge with the cold air feeling down right frigged at that moment. She realized her hand was on the handle of her sword and sighed relaxing slightly and dropping her hand. Why did he do that? Just to try and trip them up? Rhea shook off the questions as the group started to move towards the air ships. Try not to die, wasn't that the goal of this whole thing?


Everyone else looked shaken up or lost in thought, not surprise there. As Rhea approached the ship she spotted one brunet who almost reminded her of a puppy. She smiled slightly figuring if they had to try and team up with someone might as well try to talk to some of the people on the ship. She took one of the seats next to the brunet faunna slipping her large blade off her back and into the designated slot. She was a bit unsure on how to open up to the other person until she noticed the weapon clipped to his seat as well. "That's a really interesting weapon."
 
Despite what Cromwell said in the announcements, in the time before Alto's bedding arrived he didn't notice a lot of small talk. Instead it was people pacing, talking out-loud or trying to find a comfortable position on their new mattresses. He could empathize, as a millions thought were rushing through his head- he'd already fired a hole in the ceiling, how hard could it be to fail a test?


Just as this panic passed through him, bedding was shoved in his direction and he made a comfortable spot on the ground. His focus was the tiny hole in the ceiling, that he had shot himself with Rotta-Cidre, getting scolded by two of his fellow students in the end. It was with his eyes focused on this spot, that they eventually closed, heavy lidded, and Alto fell asleep.


The boy woke with a start at the sound of a buzzer, kicking off his sheets and getting up to hear the announcement. Although there were plenty of maps around, like the woman had said, the boy had just followed his other classmates to the cafeteria. Upon seeing the food quantity so big, he realized he would need it, and ate at a moderate pace, stuffing away the protein bar for later consumption.


Finally, on the bridge, Alto did shuffle from foot to foot due to nerves but he wasn't the worst of the students on the bridge. Before he misfired again, he prepared Rotta-Cidre by swinging her around his front, only the extension staying strapped to his back. After Crowmell explained the test and before he let them all strap into the airships, something...scary happened.


Alto wasn't sure how to explain it, but it was as if a subtle mist passed by him, and his semblance flared up. The sense were still dull, in the sudden dream-scape environment of the bridge- now full of people who he'd met at least once. They seemed to be ignoring him, and strangely enough, he himself had missed the Grimms that started attacking the patrons. Alto could do nothing but stand there, as they ignored his presence and he was rooted to the spot.


Intead, the people seemed to openly curse him as a non-existent, blaming him for the attack in the first place. Alto snapped out of it with a start, his senses flared up enough that the engines, even on idle were bothering him. Never mind the smell of the people near him- despite their brave faces someone had urinated.


Alto shook his head, and avoided the smell like the plague, securing himself in a drop ship with his buddy from yesterday. Although, he sat across from him due to the girl who sat beside him now.
 
Seeming to bear a slight grin, Sterling shook his head.


"Nah, we'll see how our lovely bunch this year deals with this Deathstalker, if it evens comes into play. With all the happenings around here of late, a Deathstalker is certainly odd, but not entirely out of the pattern. Perhaps Seele is moving in on our grounds. Their experiments with the Grimm could explain why a Deathstalker is here, out of it's element." He mused, snapping his fingers, a spark of electricity flashing each time he did so. He seemed entirely amused and more concerned with the electricity than the talk of the entrance exam and the students.


Leaning back in his chair, reaching for the mug of black coffee that lay in front of him, Sterling shifted back, resting an elbow on the armrest, and then in turn resting his chin on the palm of his hand. His eye took a cold quality as he gazed over the papers.


"I feel like we've got a good crop this year." He said, his gut instinct telling him so.


~~~~


The next morning, while standing beside Cromwell who was in the middle of giving his speech, Sterling seemed to beam with a brilliant smile and a winning glint to his eyes.


When Cromwell unleashed his semblance for moment, he even seemed entirely unfazed. Perhaps what he had seen from the effect of terror hadn't been so different from the reality of the situation...
 
By the time the first buzzer sounded, Elise was already awake, or something like that. Her eyes were open and she had a general awareness of her surroundings, but her brain had yet to fully kick in. She laid on the air mattress for a good while, finally bringing herself to get up by the third buzzer.


Still rubbing the last remnants of sleep out of her system, Elise dragged her feet through her morning routine. It was only with the heavy scent of bacon did she finally perk up at the cafeteria. Bacon. Was there anything more glorious than it? Other than chocolate that is. Of course, the blonde piled up as much as she could on her plate, though she also included eggs and a spot of oatmeal as well.


Elise didn't really talk to anyone around her, other than a shallow greeting or answering simple questions. She wasn't exactly bored though. There were conversations going on all around her, and though not meaning to, at least not that much, she was eavesdropping. The air was filled with gossip, worries and well wishes. And with them keeping her entertained, six hours passed by within what seemed like minutes.


The deadline rapidly approaching, Elise made her way to the bridge, doing her best to remember the way from yesterday. Once there, she found her spot amongst the students already there, with more filing in behind her. Cromwell explained their initiation test. Sounded pretty standard, go to this place, take this thing, bring it back. However, the risk of grimm, nature and lack of skills hardly made this standard. Last year, not a single person passed and obviously for a reason. But none of that mattered. She would pass. She couldn't afford not to.


Elise had succeeded in keeping herself calm during the test's explanation, however there was something behind the headmaster that made her heart skip a beat. It was . . . herself. The other Elise stared back at her, giving a small wave and smiling. Her eyes went dark. Her smile growing into one almost sinister. A crack formed on her cheek, growing until a piece of her face broke off, fading into dust. A shadowy substance leaked from the hole, vanishing like smoke once it made it a certain distance from the copycat.


Elise's jaw tensed as she watched more of herself break apart, turning to dust before vanishing completely. She looked away, though the feeling of the doppelganger's presence still fresh in her mind. The more she tried to convince herself that this couldn't be real, the more she failed to do so. Until ultimately, she forced herself to look back up. Her double looked back at her with a smile, mouthing something Elise couldn't quite make out, before disappearing completely in a cloud of smoke and dust.


The images ended, but the effect was sill there. The eyes that had eagerly hunted for the rhino faunus the day before were now glued to the ground. Elise took her place in one of the drop ships, brushing her fingers against Noir to bring her comfort. She would pass this test. She had to.
 
Gareth looked up at the girl who approached him, noting her gait, the level of confidence in her voice, and her stunning weapon. A decent candidate. "It's called a Macuahuitl. Dunno why or what it means, but that's what the designs said. Those obsidian blades are razor-sharp. An old technique, but it still works. A couple other tricks up its sleeve that I added myself." Gareth adjusted his posture to better accommodate someone sitting next to him. "Your weapon is beautiful, almost as beautiful as something else that just got on this ship." Gareth gave a coy wink to the girl as his other acquaintance from this batch of initiates approached. "Alto, right? You're the one with the itchy trigger finger." Gareth tried to recall the conversation they had the previous night, but it seemed like an eternity ago already. "Oh! I never caught your name, miss...?" Gareth said, extending his hand to the girl as best he could from his adjacent position.
 
Still working to calm herself down lest the water at the back of her eyes come out to say hello, then probably freeze shortly after, Tio bent to pick Yolmak back up off of the ground. Thankful that she hadn't dropped the bow somewhere less pleasant, such as on another student, or off the bridge, Tio took a look around at the handful of other students picking up their equipment as well. The airships sat, doors open, practically taunting the rhino faunus as she remembered the flight in, just the day before, with chin tucked down, and horn practically scraping against the ceiling the entire way.


With a defeated sigh, Tio made her way to the rearmost doors, and hefted Yolmak's pod up the stairs, barely able to tuck her head low enough to squeeze in the door with the enormous weapon held before her, and restraining harness keeping her from bending far. While Tio was sure that the heavy body-armour would be a godsend during the test, with thick kevlar over her jacket, and plates of metal over even that, it certainly made getting to the test much more difficult.


Once in her seat, Tio struggled with belting herself in, and didn't even bother with Yolmak as her harness blocked the straps from clicking home.


Nice one Tio, you stuffed yourself fat with breakfast and now you can't even fit in your seatbelt.


I'm not fat! The other voice pouted, I'm big boned, and besides, this harness isn't exactly slimming!


Wow, way to play the stereotype girl, you are so fat.





The internal debate had taken a somewhat comical turn as Tio realized that she had enough time to argue with herself about her weight, but didn't really find herself too worried about the test. Sure, going even further up into the mountains would make breathing even more of a chore, especially now, lugging all her body armour around, but there were twelve hours to the test, what were the odds that it would take the full twelve hours to make it back down to Pharos?


A gentle smile coming to her face, Tio thought back to the airship ride in, what with staring at the floor, it was difficult to think about much else. This time, with her goggles on, the faunus girl could actually see the floor, as exciting as that difference was, and smiled a little bit wider at the thought. The only way that this ride could be any better would be if she managed to talk to someone without making a complete fool of herself.
 
Rhea listened as he described his weapon noting how unique it was from the others she'd seen before, She caught his comment about her weapon and smiled. "Thank you, I make sure to take really good care of her." She looked over at the other guy who sat down vaugly remembering him from the day before. "Oh! I'm Rhea Blight" she introduced shaking the brunets hand "Nice to meet you" she smiled. Thr bit of small talk did ease her nerves a great deal. In the back of her head she knew she knew getting attached to people wasnt such a good idea until after the initial test but it would help kncase they met up on the field.
 
Gareth, if Alto remembered his name correctly- seemed to be discussing his weapon with the girl next to him. The boy didn't notice it the first time they had met, but then again, he was a little busy dealing with Rotta-Cidre. Instead of being stupid and trying to show off this time, Alto slung his weapon off his back, carefully turned it around and re-slung it. He was more prepared for battle now...


His friend finally took notice of him, making a joke of the slip-up, which caused further embarrassment in front of a rather pretty girl. The girl introduced herself as Rhea Blight and as she was talking, Alto took the chance to stare at her. She had rather stormy grey eyes and dull pink hair, the fact she was pretty made Alto's throat dry. It took some visible effort to swallow before he averted his eyes, "I'm Alto, if you care" he interjected. Although he was talking to the girl, he was looking up through the cockpit.
 
The suns rays began twinkling inside the hall from the snow outside, reflecting brilliantly into the massive room. Rasia was mid stretch, already waking from her routine, as the alarm sounded startling her. Having her weapon in hand before the second ring sounded, only to realize the pointlessness to her reaction.


Putting down her weapon, Rasia began folding up the bedding and packing what little she pulled out to sleep with. Having placed the bedding on a cart and picking up her bag on the way out the door towards the bridge, the announcements giving her direction to where she should be.


Arriving at the bridge many hours before the other, she notices a good spot to perch herself and pull out her breakfast. The last meal she'll have from home in a very long time, made with her father and everything. She smiles as she chomps into the sandwich, a tear sliding down her cheek and a smile cutting its path short.





“I'll make you proud father, I'll become a great huntress and kill the Grimm.”


A cool gaze in her eyes was set forth over the ledge beyond the bridge.


The students all began to gather, finally the test approaching. Rasia placed herself in the back simply to stay out of everyone's way. The speech was a quick as per usual for Cromwell, but the end was different as his eyes began to glow a terrifying colour. Almost as though-





-fire flared up next to her, eyes widening and heart jumping beyond her throat. She could only scream as loud as her lungs would let her, diving straight into the next burst of flames. A source, a source, a source must be somewhere, where, who, what, why, when is the next one. Before she could gather herself the entire city was set aflame, people screeched in pain and fear, corpses extending into the sky as stretched silhouettes.


Rasia screamed, coming to with a dark mist pulling back around the Headmaster. She lay backwards only propped up by her hands, and one leg mid movement to try and escape... somewhere.


Rasia wasn't alone in the panic, though most seemed silent and stiffened. Weapons had been drawn all over the bridge. Cromwell even having to actually intervene at one point. A student nearly killing a group many others, the explosion in the air the only indicator as to what was about to transpire.


Though it was quickly obvious that the student meant no harm, he seemed horrified at both, whatever he just saw as well as his realization of nearly killing some of his friends.


The students started filling the few airships, Rasia choosing a seat in the corner. Though seats were open around her, she didn't exactly want to sit near anyone.
 
Zewl noticed the girl he was tailing yesterday. He silently moved to her and sat down on the seat next to her. He looked at his things. 'Good thing that their nearby.' He thought as he fully leaned back to the seat. "So...hi." He said as he held out his hand hor a handshake. "I didn't get your name yesterday, my name is Zewl Jewelvon Bakunawa." He said. He growled a bit as a few students who overheard his introduction stared at him. He gave a low growl that immediatly scared off any onlookers. "So what's your name, and don't mind them, they like to stare because...wel nevermind." He said as his ears twitched in annoyance.
 
Rasia was looking out a window in the distance when she heard a bit of shuffling next to her. She looked over only to notice the boy from yesterday, who was properly introducing himself now as "Zewl Jewelvon Bakunawa". The name was quite familiar, in fact Rasia was sure her parents had suggested venturing out to meet the man one day, though plans had changed after the town....


"Baku... nawa... Right, Mr. Bakunawa, a famous Hunter. I didn't know he had a son, it is, however, very nice to meet you." A sincere smile crossed her cheeks. "Maybe I'll still be able to meet him one day if I know know you, get the training my parents wanted for me." she joked, obviously unaware of the dark events that had transpired in the boy's past.


Rasia clasped Zewl's hand and shook it "My name's Heavenfelt, Rasia. Rasia is my first name." a moments pause and a look of discomfort. Though her parents were famous as well, after the events of yesterday, she felt to be a shame to them and their name. "Yesterday was... unusual for me. My actions should only reflect on my skills not theirs." her smile fading to a weaker one. "And no problem, obviously they are just jealous." she spoke coolly and without even shifting her gaze to them.
 
Zewl smiled sadly. "I'm afraid that you won't be able to meet dad." He said sadly. He pulled out his pendant and displayed it. "This is all that's left of Lapu Bakunawa, a momento." He said. He tucked it away. "So...Heavenfelt, that name sounds familiar but, then again, I haven't been in contact with society for quite a while." He said before chuckling lightly. He relaxed and slowly fell asleep.
 
Rasia held her breath as sudden as the news of the boys father was given. Her right hand raised to her collar bone above her heart, “I'm sorry... I didn't know...” her gaze shifting to the pendant, “It is a beautiful momento.” she quieted and let him speak.





“That is fine, My parents were famous for their prowess in combat, even among other hunters. They quieted down and settled in a city, they trained in another country and their whole team had survived up until....” she paused, “There was an attack in my home town, countless Grimm.” watching as the clouds pass by, “I heard from my father his other partners were attacked and killed as well.”
 
After the students finished boarding the large aircraft,Cromwell sighed as he sheathed the half of his Klaivex that he drew to deflect the explosive blast that would've killed half of those assembled. "Fear is part of the job description. They need to learn how to deal with it,whenever it comes." He walked away from the airships as their engines roared to life,with Sterling following behind. "I don't expect everyone to pass. I can't." The craft flew over the bridge,towards the mountains overlooking Hiyas,delivering their passengers to the most difficult ordeal in their lives to date. "Let's hope this new batch is up to snuff." By now,Cromwell stepped into the city,and made his way to Pharos.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In the skies over the mountains around Hiyas,the airships were filled with the muffled hum of the engines outside,and infrequent chatter. Nerves,mostly. Anticipation. They flew for several minutes before the intercom came to life. The same announcement,obviously pre-recorded,played to everyone. It was Cromwell's voice. "Now is the time. You will fast rope down into the valleys below. From there,you are to make contact with another student,collect a device,and return to Hiyas before midnight." Doors on the port ans starboard sides of each airship opened upward,like gullwing doors on fancy cars,and they reeled down cables towards the ground automatically. The airships didn't even slow,and,unknown to the students,the ropes didn't even reach the ground,instead stopping about ten feet from the ground.


At the same time,everyone's restraints automatically released,and one student from one of the ships,Lance Wright,stood up immediately,and retrieved his swords from the storage unit under his seat before roping out first,with a cocky wink and wave to everyone else.
 
A tinny recording played through the airship's speakers, Cromwell's voice reminding them of the details to their test. As seemed to be his nature, the speech was short and to the point, and in this case, was followed immediately after by the opening of the airships' doors. As the doors opened, Tio's breath was sucked away by the sudden blast of cold compared to the cabin's heated interior, then as she tried to gasp, the thinness of the air almost made her see spots.


This is going to be so much fun... One of Tio's internal voices muttered sarcastically while she awkwardly shuffled her way to the open door behind the other two students at the back of their airship. Colin was the first of the trio out of the ship, followed immediately by a girl with an enormous axe strapped to her back, then came Tio, who had to plant her bottom on the floor, letting her legs dangle in the wind to fit herself through the door and get a hold on the rope swinging freely as the airship didn't so much as decelerate. Looking down, the faunus girl's hand clamped onto the rope as she began to descend, right hand gripping the rope like a vice while her left kept hold of Yolmak's pod with the bow slung over her shoulder.


As Tio continued to slide down the rope, she saw the other two students jump off, landing on opposite sides of a chasm before they began to move, tiny silhouettes from this height. While she watched their progress, Tio suddenly felt butterflies and realized that she was ascending again, and with a panicked glance in the direction the ship was still moving, she saw why before her legs slammed into the top of a ridge, flipping her sideways. A choked cry made its way past Tio's lips before she suddenly went tumbling down the other side of the ridge in an awkward, bouncing roll. While Yolmak's pod was what caused the bounce in her roll every time, on the third bounce, her feet coming down toward the ground, the rhino faunus pushed down on the switch in her harness, driving the pod's spikes over a foot into the solid stone she was rolling on. Suddenly, spikes driven into the stone, Tio came to a jerking stop, nearly launching the goggles from her face, and had she not thought about it ahead of time, they would have. Just the memory of that morning was more than enough to make Tio thankful she'd kept her goggles, and undamaged at that.


After a quick once-over, Tio released the spikes in Yolmak's pod, freeing her to move, and of course the moment she did so, she remembered she was still on a slope, and fell on her face immediately, then slid a meter or so before she came to a stop.


Wow.. That was just... Wow...


It's not my fault!


Of course it is you idiot, how could you not notice you were still on a steep slope, seriously!?





Moving past the internal debate, Tio picked herself up out of the snow, seeing quite clearly the large track she'd made, all the way down to the stone beneath, where she'd slid, and above that, where she'd tumbled down the hill. Shaking her head at her own inattentiveness and even clumsiness, Tio brushed some snow off of herself, then pulled Yolmak from her shoulder to check it as well; if it were broken, her test would be much more difficult, though thankfully it was just fine, a little scuffed, and some snow stuck in the wheels, but altogether unharmed.


Let's see, find a tower, inside there's a trinket, take the trinket back to Pharos. Next question, where's the tower?


Well, if we don't know where the tower is, maybe get to higher ground and take a look?


We're on a mountain you dolt, there isn't really any higher ground than this!


Sorry! Geeze... What about trail markers?


What are you talking about?


Trail markers, if there's a building up here, wouldn't it make sense for a trail to lead to it, so there'd be some sort of marker to lead people there?





So that was how it would be, well probably. After discussing the idea with herself, Tio really did imagine that it would be the only way she'd find the tower, some sort of marker on a path, then just follow the markers, and she'd find the tower. Of course there was no way to know for sure until the faunus girl found a marker of some sort, and while she assumed that she'd know it when she saw it, it could be anything, and it may not even be around anymore.
 
As the doors opened and the first student from his ship hopped out, Gareth called out to him "Break a leg!" as he gathered up his weapon and bandoleer spare ammunition. He then leapt out himself, catching the cable with one hand, adjusting his legs to go around it, and letting go. He let the air rush past his face and enjoyed the adrenaline rush for a moment, then caught the rope with both hands, his legs dangling alongside the end of the cable. He climbed down to the end of the rope, hand-under-hand, to avoid further rugburn, and swung off once he hit the bottom, transferring all his momentum into forward velocity. One tends to learn how to properly fall when they jump into a lake from trees their whole life, even more so when they tend to push the limits of their body's jumping capabilities. Practically bouncing to his feet, and leaving a minimal impact on the ground, Gareth picked a direction, and set off running. Being in a valley, he had a 50/50 shot of picking a good direction.


He remembered that he was supposed to meet up with a student, so he stopped, drew a large 'G' in the snow with his shoe, and an arrow pointing in the direction he was going. Looking to the sky, he was grateful that the weather would permit his message to be visible for at least an hour. The cold began to set in from standing still so long, so Gareth pumped his legs again and set off, keeping an eye out for other students, strange buildings, or Grimm. The fresh air and bitter cold did more than exhilarate Gareth, it cleared his head, too. His voices were no more than dull feelings telling him to lie in the snow and let it end or to slow down and stay quiet. As the cool air whipped his hair on his face, Gareth took a moment to think. This is a test, not a mission, so it is specifically designed to be difficult, but not impossible. There is a clue somewhere, it can't be left up to chance. Gareth slowed to a canter and found a relatively gradual slope to get to high ground.


Two minutes later, Gareth is gasping for breath at the top of one of the low peaks in the mountain range. Gotta learn to pace myself... From this height, he saw... well, not much, really. Snow-capped mountains and snow-filled valleys. No people, no mysterious buildings, even all the airships were gone. If nightfall hit, and he was still on his own, he could use his flare slug to call for assistance, but any Grimm in the area would come running. Never one to think too far ahead, he hadn't brought many tools beyond the flare. What to do, what to do...? Out of the corner of his eye, Gareth caught a glimpse of a streak of grey stone, contrasting dark against the stark-white snow. Just below the streak, there was a figure. Couldn't make out much from this distance, but it was humanoid, and that was good enough for Gareth. He angled his Macuahuitl in the sunlight to catch the rays on the obsidian, shining a light to the other person. Hoping they saw, he waved with one hand, the signal for 'I'm okay' not 'Help, I'm dying' and after a few seconds, began sliding down the mountain, and then climbing the last peak in between the two. Please be competent, please be competent, please be competent...





(@Heartsteal)
 
Rhea looked over as the other boy introduced him self in a fairly abrupt way but tossed the attitude up to nerves. "Nice to meet you as well." She greeted just as the plan started to take off. Rhea waited patiently as they flew to their destination trying to remember back to her training hopping just to get through the night alive. It would be heart breaking if she didn't passed the test but her goal was just to make it back in one piece. She paid attention as the speaker came on Giving them instruction on what they were to do. "Back before midnight... wonderful..." She muttered under her breath. The doors opened causing burst of wind Rhea struggled to breath for several minutes having forgotten how thin the air would be. She watched a few other students go off ahead of her anxiously. Bad enough they were high up to begin with but the plane didn't even slow down. She took a deep breath before getting up when no one else did figuring it was best just to get it over with, she got up and slung her sword across her back. Thankfully she at least had gloves on which would keep rope burn to a minimal.


The teen grabbed the cable and didn't hesitate to drop off the ledge keeping a loose hold on the cord so she could slide down but plummet to the ground blow. Being out in the open didn't make breathing much easier so she kept her chin tucked down as she made her way down the end of the rope. She cursed softly seeing there was still quite a drop but new the other person would be coming down line soon so let go of the rope letting her self fall. Just as her feet were touching the ground she leaned forward and rolled over her shoulder opposite to her sword several times dispersing the impact but also covering her in snow. Rhea stood up brushing off the snow before looking around "okay... got to find the device and get back... hopefully meet someone along the way." She muttered to her self picking a direction and started walking. With the air being so thin it was best to save energy for when she really needed it.
 
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