Fandom RWBY Red Desert Dawn

[Dest]

Laughter erupted from Flavian as the beast charged at him, a wild grin coming to the teen's face as he started to charge right back at the Alpha. With a moment's thought he spins the mechanism for the wires connected to his chakrams to the side, keeping them from getting tangled within his stride as they retract, and draws his pistols, the two smaller caliber weapons fitting nicely within his hands. He quickly began to fire at the beast's head, aiming to take out its eyes and confuse it as he got closer and closer to it. At the last moment, and feeling the claws of the beast skate along the edge of his aura, he returned the pistols to his holsters and yanked the wires once more, launching himself around the Alpha and releasing more and more wires as he started to wrap it up.

"Oy! Stand clear!" Flavian's grin grew even more wild and, as he began to run out of wire connected to his winches, he landed on the beast's back, one hand on either side of his head. With a practical cackle the excitable teen activated his semblance once more, pouring as much electricity as he could directly into the beasts head and around its body through his wires.

 

[IG42]

Mare Orcinus
Raising her hands placatingly Mare tried to calm the frantic survivors. "Easy there sailors we've got you." Finding the giant prospect distracted by something further in she leaned around his broad form and beheld the biomass that had filled the interior. "Sounds like a capital idea." She said in response to the giant telling them to get a move on, unable to get past him to fight effectively in the tight space Mare took it upon herself to lead the way back up to the deck.

Back out in the open she looked at the height difference between the decks of both ships then back at the interior and sighed, there wasn't time to ferry the survivors across herself and the big guy was too busy to help. "Well no time to be delicate I suppose." Most of the others on their own ship were still occupied with the Alpha Beowolves but she spotted another girl with a rifle watching over them. "Ho there you in the poncho! Apologies for springing this on you but...well catch!" Grabbing the nearest of the survivors she dialled down his weight and tossed him over towards the other girl, without waiting to see if he was caught properly she turned to the rest and ignoring their protests proceeded to throw them all over one after another, even if they did simply land on the opposite deck their reduced weight should prevent any real injuries.

While tossing the people around like sacks of potatoes Mare called out to her giant helper. "If you can keep the way clear a long enough for me to get to the engine room I should be able to scuttle the ship and have that monstrosity leave a fine crater."

ThatWhichShouldBe Nellancholy

 

[Dmitri Tolenka]

The crew do not need a large push to get moving, scrambling over themselves to get off the ship. The ship itself seems to groan as vines snake between the panels that form the hallway. They try to snag, snare and lash, but practically disintegrate in the presence of Mars. They don’t just look oily, they burn like it too. Thick black smoke starts to choke the air in the hold. The entire hallway start to bulge and distort - the female crewmember screams in fright as a vine sneaks out under the floorboards and grabs her ankle. There’s a distinct flash of aura as she unlocks hers right there and then. It buys her enough time for Mars to come to the rescue and she practically leaps to the forefront of the pack.

The rest follow Mare. One young man doesn’t even wait for her to toss him, and simply makes the leap of faith himself - albeit guided by a loose line dangling from the rigging. With a fluid swing that shows off years of practice he swings over to the mast of the student’s transport and manages to land on the narrow yard spar. Given his subsequent dramatic bow, he probably intended to do that. When he hears Mare’s suggestion, he actually yells back.

“Can ye not tell them ter just use solid shot?”

There is a crack and a large vine mass bursts out through the bottom of the Spirit. It rakes down the side of Morris’ vessel, slithers on board and forces off the crew of the broadside cannon.

“Ne’ermind. Hate it when they do that!” he yells again.

----

At the same time, down below, the sole surviving Alpha Wolf roars it’s last. Already injured, it cannot force itself out of the way of the inbound shots, especially with the shards of steel embedded in it’s flank that actively fight it’s mad movements. Blinded, it snaps and claws in a vain hope to hit something, anything. Flavian’s electrocution cause it to scatter into so much dark mist in an instant.

It then starts to rain men. Specifically two men and one woman. Lilly manages to catch them all. One man is content to literally hug the deck, and doesn’t seem to be doing much else. The other starts off towards the far side of the ship and seems to seriously consider his chances, eying one of the emergency shutes.

As for the female, she seems to just stare at Lilly a little starstruck.

“Whoa, this- is this what aura feels like all the time? Oh my god you’re all huntsmen aren’t you-” she breathes, and appears to want to go on a fangirl rant of some sort.

Before she can do so, Captain Morris intervenes.

“Cut us loose damnit! They be just latched on, gotta be weak fer now!” he roars. “I can swing ‘round fer yes mad dogs, but I cannea do much without the ‘bility ter steer!”

Helpfully, some crew clamber out from below deck with billhooks. They do not seem happy about the duty they got, highly twitchy at even the slightest movements of the vines.

 

[Megilagor]

"Don't know if I will be much help, but let's do it." Said Cedric in his sorry state, his semblance clearly didn't like him today enough to let him go off easy, causing harm to him each time he activated it. Cedric did not bother helping the escapes escape right now his priority was getting that weird thing to stop latching onto the ship.
So he moved quickly towards the side of the ship where the black vines latched onto the ship, with a little well-placed swing his rope with a carabiner on it attached itself to the railing, and with a swift motion he attached the other one to his belt and stepped onto the other side of the railing.
Only now remembering he used up the ammo already in the drum, he took his reserve drum out and exchanged them before opening fire with the combustion grenades and shotgun shells aimed towards the black tendrils a bit away from the ship to not damage it.
His only hope at the moment was that the rope wouldn't snap, under his weight or one of those tendrils wouldn't yank him off. But truthfully his only worry right now was how useless he is with his semblance since who saw a huntsman who can get hurt just by activating his semblance.

 

[November Witch]

Laipei smiled at her and Flavian’s handiwork, the mist being the product of their efforts. They’d protected the captain, thankfully. While she thought it was over, it seemed something was beginning to entangle the two ships together. Well, from what she was hearing from the commotion going on around them.

“Looks like an encore is in order!”

Laipei had thought it was over as she ran to the edge of the ship, but odd black vines were doing their best to intertwine the two ships together. The vines were clearly somewhat Grimm-like. This was certainly no good. Her blades lowered down the side of the ship and began to slice through many of the approaching and already connected vines. She devoted half of her blades to the deck where the crew had been forced off the cannon, doing her best to clear that area too.

“Can’t I go back to dancing with Grimm?”

Laipei asked no one in particular while she continued her pruning of the vines.

“Landscaping is hardly becoming of an idol you know!”

She left one blade near Cedric just in case. While they weren’t strong enough to stop a beowulf, they were strong enough to catch a human on the flat side. It was also there in case a vine tried to sever the rope holding the man to the side. She wasn’t going to let anyone else fall off this ship.

 

[Nellancholy]

Now here was a sight that she hadn't seen for a long time in her travels across the dry and dusty plain. Seems that the host of this little shindig was a plant...like Grimm entity that had somehow taken root on the ship. Did it manifest spontaneously as those beings tended to? Or was there...a seed?

There would be time to study such things (entirely in theory) later.

The finely dressed woman with the broadsword wasted no time in hurling the survivors over, with warning just enough for Lilly to react.

She rolled as she caught the first...with not quite as much weight and momentum as she might have expected. Presumably, this was some sort of function of the hunter's semblance.

The Mistrali might call her movements judo or something like that, though all it was to her was a good old-fashioned wrassle.

Her guardian took the next one, standing sturdy in the form of a mule and allowing the man to clamber onto it to steady his posture before lowering him down to the ground.

The next was a woman; as before, Lilly caught her, turning to reduce her momentum and set her down on her back.

Clearly...excited by this turn of events, the woman expressed her appreciation profusely.

"Ain't no thang, ma'am. Y'all prob'ly don't wanna make a habit of this. Now sit tight. We gotta...scuttle that thing." It might hurt to see the other ship go down in flames, but...

She glanced at the other hunters striking at the plant. The one with the broadsword seemed to be headed to the engine room, based on her movements below deck. As long as she could get there, do what she had to, and evacuate in time...

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Mars Pallator
Mars leaps after the survivors, landing back on the ship with a thump, as he turns about to face the ship. For a moment, he even considers themselves relatively safe, before the vines start lashing out at their ship as well. Well, sod that then. He looks to Mare incredulously as her suggestion, before shaking his head. He wasn't going to enable her running onto that accursed ship to get caught by the vines- Only for her to start doing that anyway.

Well. Fuck. He supposed he didn't have much of a choice now. And Mars had just gotten these swords too. The colossal warrior snarls, the air around him growing hotter and hotter as he eyes the lashing vines. He sheathes one of his blades, and begins to infuse the remaining sword with his aura. He closes his eyes to concentrate, pushing the empowerment of the sword to the very limit of what its metal could handle. The Guardian of a distant oasis takes a deep, groaning breath, like the bellows of a forge... And then Mars Pallator speaks words that are crisp with the taste of flame.

"I, who wield this Blade of Crimson Embers - Release."

He tosses his blade into the air before it flies forward, glowing a fierce red as it cuts a blazing path through the air. It moves at impossible speed along the side of the ship, snipping away vine after vine, whirling through the air before it shoots forward to clear Mare's way.

 

[Dest]

Flavian exhaled slowly and lowly, taking a moment to rest after exerting his semblance so much so quickly to finish the alpha off. With a flick of his wrists, he set the winches attached to them to work, reeling in the mass of wire that had been shot out in order to wrap the Alpha up. With a quick crack of his neck as the last of it was returned to its spool, and with his weapons in hand once more, the blond rushed to the side of the ship. Eyeing the vines, he stowed his chakrams and plucked a billhook from the hands of one of the sailors nearby, giving it a quick spin before he lashed down at the vines.

“Oye! You lot grab a billhook unless you have a big enough weapon, don’t make us do all the work!” Flavian called back at the other applicants who were still just standing around, a challenging grin on his face. Even as he spoke, he continued to strike more and more of the vines that were holding the ships together. “Or are you not brave enough to get into this fight properly!”​

 

[Chibistaryuu]

There was a Bullfrog heading towards the groups direction as Harlequinn was on board along with another student and accompanied by two other pilots as the only reason why was because Harlequinn was late and... Gotten into trouble for stealing something.... Again.


She was surprised to see a Plant-like Grimm which was holding the two ships together by vines which vaguely impressed her as she looked out at the window watching her fellow students at trying to get rid of the vines, she chuckled to herself.

" We can only get you close enough to the ships are you two sure about getting into this?" One of the pilots called out concerned.


"Yes! I am sure! Besides I didn't attend Shade for nothing!"

The pilots had a concerned look for the greenette but they waited for the other student's answer.

She curtly gave a nod before tipping her hat at the pilots as the Bullfrog's door open slowly as it neared the two ships.

"Iiiiiit's Shooooowtime!" Harlequinn called out cheerfully as the Bullhead door opened. Without waiting for any reaction or anything, Harlequinn runs and leaps off of the Bullfrog as with a flick of the switch, Via Encore transforms from it's staff form into it's rapier form as she slices a couple of vines away as she lands onto the ship next to her fellow students.

Mention: JonKenPon

 

[JonKenPon]

Alba Winterbourne
Mentions:
Chibistaryuu November Witch

Alba found herself running late and, as a result, had to catch a ride aboard a Bullhead instead of taking the originally planned airship. She used a family emergency as her excuse, although the truth was she had lost track of time while finalizing a design for her family's armory. The Bullhead had only two occupants: Alba and another individual, a cat Faunus, who wore rather formal attire and carried what appeared to be a staff, likely her weapon.

Seated on the floor of the Bullhead, Alba's tanned skin contrasted sharply with her white eyes and the long, loose white hair flowing down her back in twin ponytails. Throughout the journey, Alba had kept mostly to herself, dedicating her time to the meticulous maintenance of her rifle, Glacial Peaks, even though the weapon was already in pristine condition—something she always ensured.

The events occurring outside the Bullhead had escaped Alba's notice until her fellow passenger approached the pilots and requested the chance to assist. The sudden realization of the situation unfolding beneath her feet made Alba tense up. She prided herself on being vigilant in situations like this, but today she had let her guard down, mentally berating herself for the lapse she took to her feat.

"Well, it looks like this is happening, then," Alba remarked, giving the pilots a thumbs-up. She was secretly relieved to be able to lend a helping hand, although she didn't show it openly.

"I guess we should figure out a..." Alba began her sentence, but by the time she turned around, her companion had already exited the now-open Bullhead door, leaving with a quip.

"Or not. I don't suppose you would just circle while I provide fire support."

"No can do, we've got a schedule to keep."

"Understood, I'll be taking my leave then."

With those parting words, Alba loaded Glacial Peaks with burn rounds, taking into account that plants were notably susceptible to fire. She hoped the Grimm plant would prove to be no exception. Stepping out of the Bullhead, Alba initiated her free fall toward the other ship's deck. She skillfully controlled her descent, firing multiple shots downward with precision, aiming the burn rounds at various vines grappling the ships and continuously peppering each one along the way.

Alba executed a controlled landing on the deck, rolling smoothly to minimize the impact of the fall. She landed herself near the majority of the crowd that she could see, including one individual who looked just like what she imagined a ship captain would. She swiftly moved her way to the ship's side, her objective was to secure a vantage point allowing her to fire upon the vines constricting the ship. It seemed a familiar face had already started to get to work.

"Why is it that every time there's trouble, you happen to be involved, huh Laipei?" Alba quipped with a teasing tone. She wasn’t sure if Laipei could hear her, given the distance and gunfire, but she couldn’t help at least trying to saying something to her friend. Getting the ship free and moving seemed like the best option, so Alba set about thinning out the vines one fiery shot at a time. She ensured her body remained wedged against the ship's side, minimizing the risk of falling overboard as she leaned over the side of the ship firing round after round.​

 

[Dmitri Tolenka]

At Flavian’s Dest challenge, the remaining students rally and charge in. There’s attempts at some sort of battlecry, but what comes out is mostly just noise, like a loud crowd at a concert. A wonderous variety of bladed weapons descend on the plant monster. From Laipei’s November Witch hovertech wonder weapons to a chainsaw on a stick to a bunch of mundane billhooks, grabbed by students that follow Flavian’s lead.

At the same time, as Harlequin Chibistaryuu descends, she’s met, very briefly, by the sailor on a spar.

“Whaddafu-“

Is all he manages before she is past him, catches the sail, slides down to the deck and is just in time to join in the fun.

The storm of metal tears through the vines and broken rigging like a well-oiled chainsaw. In a matter of seconds, the ships lurch free from one another. Several vines snap out in a last-ditch attempt to regain grip and are met with the grenade fusillade from Cedric Megilagor . The severed strands spasm and curl in on themselves as they go up in Grimm smoke.

Captain Morris steers the ship away and slightly up from the derelict. “Oi crew! Onto the rigging, prepare to tack! We’ll swing ‘round ter pick yer lost lass up!” he yelled.

Meanwhile, up top the befuddled sailor just watches as Alba JonKenPon also drops in.

“I mean, thanks?” he tells the sky. “Erm, for my last wish can I also have a twinkie I lost-NO! I mean a million Lien to fall next! One million! Please?”

To his dismay, he just finds one of the sugary cakes in his backpocket. “Oh well. Least I have a twinkie.” He mutters to himself.

Down on deck, the woman Lilly Nellancholy caught now caught her meaning and went wide eyed. “Scuttle? Yes! Scuttle! We’d set up the charges but the detonator, that was in engineering and we couldn’t get to it anymore it grew too fast and then Drew went and he didn’t come back-“ she starts.

Unfortunately Mare IG42 cannot hear her, both due to distance and distractions. To clarify, Mare has got a bit of a problem.

On the one hand, Mars ThatWhichShouldBe did clear her path. On the other hand, the monster is now desperate, angry, and on fire. The flames do clearly eat away at it, whatever false matter it is made of burns with orange flames and thick oily smoke, more than usual for Grimm. The container wedged in the cargo hold door groans and starts to shift. Then, horribly, the entire ship starts to groan and creak. A piece of deck rears up as the plant uses the whole thing to try and crush her. Alba JonKenPon lands quick shots at the now exposed branches wielding the deck. The shots tear them up and the whole thing lurches to one side, a child’s play to dodge. Then multiple pieces of deck start to curl up with the ominous shriek and groan of metal pushed beyond it’s limits. Smaller vines try and lash out but burn too quickly to be a real threat.

 

[November Witch]

Laipei

Status: Uninjured, happy

Laipei cut any remaining foliage she could see, and moved to a more supportive role as the fight seemed to be coming to more of an end. Laipei didn’t have much in her arsenal as far as ranged damage goes. Well, more like it wasn’t the place for it. Normally, her blades could be thrown without much care in the world. But with no backboard to catch them if they were to miss their target, she would lose them all eventually if she tried that up here.

She’d already lost 2 of them.

Laipei would step back, and take a look at the situation as everyone focused on it. She knew this would only attract more grimm if they happened to be in the area. Upon looking around though, she’d instead find reinforcements… And Alba? She was certainly late to the party.

“Cause I knew my knight in shining armor would show up and save little ol’ me.”

Laipei replied in a matching tone of voice. Teasing and playful. The two were friends, and had known one another for a few years now.

“You didn’t show up for the airship and didn’t answer your calls. So how else would I get you to come to me?”

Laipei moved closer to Alba, and one blade pressed its flat end against Alba’s chest, just under her collarbone. The other one pressed against her back. A safety harness, so to say, letting Alba lean over the ship as far as she wanted without worry of falling over.

 

[Dest]

As the ship spins around Flavian takes a deep breath, finally allowing himself a moment to rest from the high energy actions he has been taking the entire time. A quick glance at his scroll made him grimace, his aura having dropped into the low yellow already just from the exertion of using his semblance repeatedly. Shaking it off the blond wandered over to the newcomer, standing next to her to peer at the other ship himself.

"Welp, this is either going to suck, or look really badass. I'm just gonna hope the second is what wins out." With quick movements he started wrapping one of his chakrams around a sturdy piece of the railing, securing it as if it were an anchor or grappling hook. "Oy! Laipei! Make sure if this kills me you delete it from your memory, I don't really want Atlas having it to make fun of me! Now then, time to save the big sword duo!"

His piece spoken, the teen launched himself over the railing and onto the side of the ship, using the razor wire that connected him to his weapon to keep himself held there as the ships grew closer.

 

[IG42]

Mare Orcinus
Satisfied that the survivors were at least somewhat safer for the moment in the hands of poncho girl and the others still on their own ship and even had reinforcements dropped in by a bullhead Mare turned her attention back to monstrosity before her and swung her blade cleaving through a pair of vines snaking towards her while rolling sideways to avoid being decked by the flying decking as it was half-thrown and half-dropped by the maimed vines holding it.

Coughing amid the foul smoke she looked up at the transport through stinging eyes to see an unfamiliar face adding to the covering fire. "Keep focusing on the vines everyone!" She called up to the others and was heartened to see several of the aspirants that had been hanging back in their improvised defensive line approach the railing and add their gunfire to the hail of bullets taking chunks out of the vines.

Charging arrow straight towards the beast Mare slashed away what chewed up vines managed to get close, if one were to somehow peek through the smoke and flailing tendrils they would be able to see a wide grin on her face.

Leaping into the hold with a yell she stabbed Argo almost halfway into the grimm's body, as the creature screeched and the outstretched vines desperately curled inward on themselves Mare triggered the split on her blade, the mechanism whined in protest then snapped into place forcing the wound wider allowing Mare to fire directly into the grimm's innards even as the flames licked at her aura hoping the monstrosity would finally give it up.

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Mars Pallator
Mare was... still on the ship!? There were charges aboard that thing, and the ship was aflame and ready to blow! Mars frowns, drawing his bow to lay several more flaming arrows into the the writhing vines- Not so much to damage, but so as to give himself better vision, lighting the way for him to spot Mare... And so he does, seeing her engaged with the very body of the beast. Fuck's sake, that idiot...! He growls, as he calls out to his flying sword. It was on the verge of shattering, at this point, but it flits between the vines to appear besides the furiously attacking, Mare, before it cuts a message into the ships' hull next to her.

THE SHIP IS EXPLODING

GET OUT

With a final flourish, the nearly destroyed sword slams into the Hangman's tree, dislodging Argo out of the wound, giving Mare one last chance to escape the hull.

 

[JonKenPon]

Alba Winterbourne
Mentions:
November Witch
Dest

Alba felt a sense of relief wash over her as Laipei playfully teased her with the banter they both knew so well. Her late arrival had put her on edge, but Laipei's presence had a way of grounding her. With a lighthearted tone and a hint of humor in her voice, Alba replied, "Well, you know me, always fashionably late. But I couldn't let you have all the fun without me, right?" As Laipei moved closer, Alba welcomed the support she offered. The flat end of a blade pressed gently against her chest, just under her collarbone, while the other blade secured her back. It was a safety harness of sorts. Alba leaned into the support, her trust in Laipei's skill was unwavering.

Their friendship had always been marked by this easy banter and unspoken understanding. Alba appreciated how Laipei had a knack for lightening the mood, even in the direst of situations. It was moments like these that reminded Alba of the bonds she had forged, bonds and the bonds yet to be forged. As they she surveyed the ongoing battle, Alba couldn't help but feel a surge of determination. The fight was nearly over but the threat of the monstrous Grimm still loomed. A

lba continued her attack on the vines. Simultaneously, she activated Frostfield, a shimmering, semi-transparent energy shield that materialized in front of her. It provided a protective barrier against a any attack that threatened to hurt her. She adjusted its size so that it fully covered her lower half, the right, and left of her upper half, but left a gap in the center so her Glacial Peaks could still be used. She rested Glacial Peaks on her arm and used it as a mount to steady her shots.

As the blond-haired man approached, Alba couldn't help but feel a mix of concern and admiration for her fellow student's audacious actions. The fact that there were some fellow students on the second ship alarmed her, as she hadn't even thought about it. But upon hearing that a big sword duo was onboard, Alba decided that supporting the blond-haired man was her course of action.

"I will provide covering fire, so you just focus on saving the two of them," Alba stated, her marksmanship skills coming into play as she targeted the vines and debris that could damage the blond-haired man.​

 

[Megilagor]

Cedric continued his barrage upon the weird plant-like Grimm but soon enough his ammo was gone so his weapon was rendered useless, so hung over the railing while being strapped there, and one of those weird floating blades floated around him as if it was supposed to catch him or stabilize him if necessary.
"Out of ammo! And I only can use my semblance twice before I won't be able to control it anymore."
Said Cedric to those on his side of the ship as he felt it was needed, then he carefully folded his weapon and strapped it on his side before shoving both of his hands forward while yelling to the people on board the other ship.
"Ready up people. go towards the railing and jump on 3 I will use my semblance to launch you my way."
And as he said he did, Cedric took in some gravity dust to enhance his semblances white hole function, then he began to pour as much Aura as he had into it, ignoring possible pain in his arms from overcharging his semblance. Soon enough white particles began to gather on the other ship but didn't generate their effect yet, it was a sign of Cedric holding off on releasing its power instead of concentrating it into a more powerful version making it visible when it hasn't been released yet.
Now he just simply awaited the other people's evacuation attempt to launch them toward the ship he was on.

 

[Dmitri Tolenka]

The monster plant wails keenly as it wildly thrashes about with eye firmly shut, it bursts into a final blast of oily flames. Briefly it's insides are visible, enough to tell Mare exactly what happened to the rest of the crew. The firey death in turn sparks off the scuttling charges. Rather than enough explosives to tear the ship apart, they just generate a brief surge of power. So when they go off, they feed one giant charge of power through all the normal flight systems at once. A pulse ripples through the entire ship as gravity dust infused in the hull is pushed far beyond it's safe inert state into an active one. The bow tears free with a horrible shriek of tearing metal as 'push up' turns in on itself to become 'push down'. The middle of the hull seems to react with crumples up in a sphere as if an invisible giant squashes it. The entire rear deck like the bow shears off and shoots straight up like a rocket for about three seconds. Then the lighter than air plating promptly reverts to perfectly normal naval grade construction steel. Which is currently about 3km in the air, supported by nothing but hopeful thinking and thin air. Mare does have, either during the ride up or the ride down, enough time to make the jump to Flavian's hands via Cedric's.

With that last spot of excitement, the fight concludes. Morris lets out a relieved breath.

The most exciting thing what happens next is just the female sailor accidentally snaps a hatch open so forcefully she's now holding the thing in her hands.

"Erm. Can anyone teach me how to use aura? ... also was that expensive?"

As you draw in range of the CCT network several scrolls start to ping with incoming messages. Aside from personal messages, you've all received an invite.

'Dear student,

Welcome to Shade! To get you situated, you will be given a brief tour of the facilities by yours truly, as well as a brief overview of our rules of conduct. Meet me in the marked room.

Have a fabulous day,

Headmaster Theodore Tuscan

Attached file: map.jpg'

UP NEXT:

Use this post to wrap things up here socially - next post will be up by Friday covering the Shade Approach.

 

[November Witch]

Laipei

Status: Uninjured, Happy

“Oh, record it and broadcast it throughout Atlas? On it!”

She replied to Flavian, giving a wink and a thumbs up to the other. She couldn’t help poking fun at this man who seemed to detest Atlas so vehemently. She wondered inwardly what reason he had to feel that way. And why he seemingly had to so openly broadcast it. It was a good way to make enemies. She turned to her BFF and puffed out her synthetic cheeks, feigning a pout.

“But that just means it ends sooner, ya know.”

She grumbled, only to switch gears, going back to her happy, go lucky self.

“You always seem to complain about me dragging you into dangerous situations. But you always look like you’re having so much fun! Is there something you aren’t telling me? Hmm?”

The robot would tease, before taking a moment to take in the whole situation once more. The ship that had dropped the two off was departing. The grimm stricken ship was about to be destroyed, and the last few people seemed to be returning to the ship. She peered over the side of the ship and made sure no lancers, griffins, or any other flying grimm were approaching due to all the panic. After that was confirmed, she would let out a sigh of relief and give everyone a thumbs up and a radiant smile.

“Good job everyone! Check yourself for injuries please! Adrenaline and tunnel vision can often block out those feelings of pain!”

 

[Dest]

As soon as Mare was aboard the ship, Flavian flopped onto the deck, breathing heavily as his scroll beeped at him. Sluggishly, he pulled it out and winced at the angry red of his aura meter, the razor wire that had dug into his arm as he hung not helping it to keep at a semi-safe level.

"Ugh, please don't, I just know that it would get picked up by RFV and broadcast throughout all four kingdoms," Flavian groaned at the girl's joke, still not moving form his position on the ground. "At least with Atlas scientists they would just break down how bad an idea that could have been. I'm just glad it worked, even if it did nearly break my aura."

As his scroll buzzed again Flavian glanced over his personal messages dispassionately, responding to one of them briefly, before opening up the one from Shade. Finally perking up, he quickly scrolled through it before opening up the map, finding and noting the room that had been marked.

"Right, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to try to get a nap in before we land. If anyone does need me, well I make no promises to be coherent," His words spoken, the blond closed his eyes and relaxed, not even bothering to move from his position on the deck.

 

[IG42]

Mare Orcinus
Weathering the grimm's death throes Mare dropped to the floor as her aura visibly wavered along with the skeletal remains of the missing members of the ship's crew and a heap of their effects. As the explosives began to detonate she snatched up a letter from the pile before bounding back up onto the deck. "Ah thanks for that I hadn't noticed." She remarked as she dashed past the scratched in warning and jumped to grab Flavian's outstretched hand leaving the stricken vessel to buck and contort it's way down to earth.

With a satisfied sigh Mare dropped down to sit next to Flavian on the deck. "My hero." She said patting him on the head. Shifting her attention to Argo she examined her weapon with concern, forcing it open while embedded inside the grimm had left one half of the blade unable to close together properly, pulling out a well worn multitool she fiddled with the mechanisms until the errant section shifted back into place.

Satisfied that Argo would hold together at least until she could check it over on a proper workbench she stood up and stretched trying to stave off the post-exertion stiffness, while checking the message on her scroll as it picked up signal her free hand strayed towards the letter stuffed in her pocket but she instead decided to leave it for the moment and rested against the ship's railing.

Dest

 

[Nellancholy]

Now, there was no longer much to worry about, as the assailed ship went up in flames, eradicating any trace of the Grimm that had infested it. Just like that, they always went away. No bodies to bury. And yet...they always came back. In her tenure at Shade, she expected to get much more familiar with that idea.

As for the crew, they were all far from fantastic shape, but the emotional wounds were probably far more severe than any of the physical ones. Lilly spun her rifle, splitting it apart. A few quiet clicks rang out as she cycled the lever, ejecting the ammunition she had left over.

With that, she nodded at the bold, fancy-dressed woman who had boarded the other ship, and the man who grabbed her to ensure her safe return. "Nice hustle." She remarked dryly. Dest IG42

There'd be more time to get to know them later. In the meantime...Lilly turned to address the easily-impressed girl she had caught earlier, and any of the other wounded among the crew and the aspirants. "Alright cowpokes, which one'a y'all needs patching up?"

 

[JonKenPon]

Alba Winterbourne
Mentions:
November Witch

Alba observed Laipei's playful pout and couldn't help but respond with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh, of course, because nothing screams fun like a good ol' Grimm brawl, right?" She couldn't resist teasing her friend in return.

But the banter didn't last long, and Alba soon found herself on the receiving end of her friend's teasing questions. She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "You know me, always up for a little adventure," she replied with a smirk, a touch of mischief in her eyes. Alba didn't always let her guard down, but with her closest friend, she felt comfortable enough to engage in such light-hearted exchanges.

As she looked around, Alba couldn't deny that the situation had been handled efficiently. The departing ship, the imminent destruction of the Grimm-infested vessel, and the returning survivors marked a successful resolution to the crisis. She joined in the moment of relief, taking a moment to survey their surroundings for any lingering threats.

Alba couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation as the CCT network signal grew stronger, and her scroll began to ping with incoming messages. Among several personal messages, she noticed an official invite from Shade Academy, her new school. She opened the message and read through it carefully but it was the second message that caught Alba's full attention, a message from her hospitalised brother Frost.

"Brother!?" Alba exclaimed in a surprised tone as she hastily found a seat on the floor, her fingers quickly moving across her scroll's screen as she typed a message back to Frost.​

 

[Dmitri Tolenka]

The rest of the trip is once more peaceful. Drawing in close you all can begin to make out details of Shade itself. The beautiful ancient stone palace basks in the sun, with it’s CCT tower built on top of it like a gaudy, modern hat. A pair of students are visibly blasting at each other in the arena, or are messing around with fireworks - given the riot of colour of the various explosions it’s a little difficult to tell. Vacuo city itself can be best described as hodgepodge. Modern buildings rub shoulders with ancient squat stone buildings. A line of carefully tended to parks wrap around the academy like a precious jade necklace. Off to one side you can spot a repair dock separate from the rest of the city with it's own fortress walls that is currently servicing an enormous but old zeppelin style air dreadnought. The market is busy, the street shimmers in a riot of colours as people go about their day in the typical bright cloaks.

There’s a palpable sense of excitement among the crew as Morris orders the crew to hoist a signal flag. A party of teachers patiently awaits the aspirants at the dock, already herding another batch of aspirants into the school. A hush descends over the crowd as the ship docks, many people staring at the obvious damage.

“ENOUGH STARING CHILDREN! GIT!” a teacher breaks the silence. It’s an impressive amount of volume coming from about just four feet of woman. Her sandy brown hair reaches to her ankles, braided together with a long golden cord. She wears a sleeveless dark brown long coat that glitters in the light over a dark green tunic and brown pants. Content that the aspirant herd before her is off to their proper destination, she hops on board in a single athletic leap.

“Welcome to Shade! My name is Professor Rumpole, but you may call me Professor Rumpole. I will also accept That Demon, the Holy Moon or God as per your preference.” she introduces herself with a smirk. “Grab your belongings, we have a busy day today to get you all settled. Chop chop!”

“Er, don’t you wanna wait fer us ter dock?” Morris raises. Professor Rumpole shakes her head.

“Lesson one, ship ramps are strictly optional!” she declares.

---

Professor Rumpole does lead you to your destination, though on the way there, one thing becomes readily obvious: You are being taken to your own separate room away from the other aspirants. It, at first blush, appears to be just a simple classroom with the teacher in the middle and the students arranged in a circle around them, the teacher's chair off to one side. While she's open to questions, she does make it a point to usher everyone inside but doesn't make any motion to enter the room herself.

"Right, I must be off but rest assured, the headmaster should see you... right about now actually." she tells you.

Before you can well and truly settle, a distinguished gentleman to whom gravity is apparently just an opinion sails in through the window.

“Tally ho!”

He slams into the teacher’s chair and rolls to a stop exactly in the middle of the room, a twinkle in his eyes and smile on his face.

“So! You’re the aspirants that decided to take on what by all accounts was a kaiju class Grimm by themselves. Tell me-” and he leans forward, the twinkle now a manic glint, “everything.”

He leans back and waves.

"To clarify, by that I mean to start from the beginning, do introduce yourselves. These will be your teammates. I make it a point to select teams based on aptitude and you all are some of the more exceptional aspirants I've seen. Exact team formations will be revealed after I get to know you all. It's one thing to read a file, I want to hear from you and form my own impressions. Who are you, where do you hail from, how did you learn to take on a foe that would give third years problems. I'd like to also know if anyone here noticed anything odd. We know these Grimm as Henkebaums, or Hangman's Trees. They're not very common around these parts to start with, and to have one take root in an airship - my, that's unheard of!"

 

[November Witch]

Laipei

Status: Uninjured, excited

Laipei headed over to the railing and looked out upon the environment as they approached the school. It was the exact same as the pictures she’d seen online. Things weren’t always as magnificent in person when she has seen every single picture existing on the internet of their destination. After a few moments, she would do what she could to help those injured or patch up damage on the ship. Might as well start making herself useful before any possible fans came up to her and started asking questions.

Again, she would make her way back to the railing of the ship as they approached and a tense silence settled over the prospective students… Well, tense for them. Laipei didn’t at all feel that way. The android was quite excited and ready to meet her direct peers and teachers.

“Yes ma’am!”

Laipei doesn’t wait, and leaps from the airship, her synthetic legs providing more distance then that of a normal huntsman, she landed with the elegance and grace of an idol. A performer. She’d wait for the ship to actually dock and everyone to start getting off before falling in step with her friend, Alba, and following the directions to their destination.

She’d sit next to her friend in the room, her eyes shifting over as a man seemingly flew in through the window… Quite an amazing semblance was being utilized, it seemed. That, or gravity dust.

Before anyone else could answer, Laipei spoke up.

“Please, allow me!”

The “ear” looking devices that seemingly floated atop Laipei’s head suddenly shone, and started to cast a video onto the classroom wall, providing a video from her perspective of the event.

“Uh, hehe..."

Laipei laughed nervously, realizing her video was preventing others from being heard clearly and introducing themselves.

"Maybe I'll just send that later. I'm Laipei, the one and only android idol!"

She made a sideways peace sign near her eye and gave a wink.

"I'm from Atlas, and I can say for certain that there were some irregularities. I won't get into specifics, or no one else would be introducing themselves for a while. I'll send you the recording right now so you can see what I saw. However, I didn't get as close as some of the others. I moreso made sure the captain and the others on our ship were safe and sound while they performed their part."

Laipei explained, switching from being quite cheerful and expressive, to explaining her logic and reasoning behind things like, well, a robot.