Fandom Soul Eater: R.I.P.

[CelticHero37]

Grace Jean Taghan

Erica Grace Taghan​

​

As the scheduled class time crept closer, a distant chopping sound began to reverberate through death city as a personal helicopter approached. Grace Taghan was plastered to the side window of the helicopter with a wide smile on her face as she took in the sight of Death City. It had been a while since they'd been here and despite the issues that had happened, she still had fond memories and was excited about the new opportunity. After all, they hadn't been planning on coming back this year because they still felt they had to work through some of the struggles with madness at home. However, once they received an urgent letter from Lord Death asking them to join a new class, they realized it was time to get back to work. After all, they had every confidence that Lord Death knew what he was doing.

"Hey, seall! (Hey, look!)" Grace called out over the din as she pointed towards that particular section of a building that was their apartment. It was a rather generously sized apartment, although it was quite small compared to where they usually lived. Either way, to them it was like a home away from home, and they were finally back. Erica, on the other hand, didn't seem quite as excited. She sat next to a pet carrier that was the best way to keep Wallace, their cat, calm during these sorts of things.

Erica stared out the front of the helicopter, wringing her hands impatiently. She was nervous for several reasons. First of all, it was a new year. That meant new classes, new faces, and new situations to navigate. The first year had been rough enough with Grace catching the madness wavelength. Grace seemed way too enthusiastic about this whole situation. Erica wondered if Grace was really feeling okay. Despite all of that, the thing that had Erica on edge the most was just how close they were cutting the time.

Tha mi an dòchas gun ruig sinn ann an àm! (I hope we arrive there on time!) stated Erica. In their defense, the notice was rather short regarding the fact that they had to pretty much pack up, fly to America from Scotland, and hurry to catch this helicopter ride in hopes that they'd arrive on time. Most of their stuff wouldn't be arriving until later. Thankfully their butler had come along to help take care of Wallace that day and help move them in.

Finally, to Erica's relief, the famous stairs of the academy came into view. It was an odd feeling looking at the stairs from above. She was used to gazing at them from below as they towered over her. As they had requested, the helicopter descended and landed in an open area near the foot of the stairs. They weren't about to cheat the system and use the privileges of their status to cheat the system. The stairs were there for a reason, and they were well suited to taking them.

The pilot made sure the area was clear of people before safely touching down. As soon as the rotors of the helicopter had come to a reasonable settled speed, the side door of it swung back and Grace shot out of the helicopter. Erica stopped for just a moment to turn to the pilot and say, "Tapadh leat! (Thank you!)" Then she rushed out after her sister. They both had small matching book bags strapped securely to their backs and their dresses were slightly formal but tailored specifically so they could move in them without too much trouble. Despite being weapons, they took the stairs with impressive agility. After all, they often found themselves without a meister. So they had learned to manage with just each other. Of course, they couldn't resonate or do any special moves like this, but swinging an axe wasn't too hard.

The two sisters reached the top of the stairs together, creating a strange effect that might have made people feel like they were seeing a mirage. They were too similar. As usual, though, the twins' dresses were contrasting colors. Grace wore a mint color, while Erica donned a fuscia color. Everything else about them was exactly the same, otherwise. There were a few people that Grace thought she recognized, but it was more likely that they recognized her. After all, it was hard to miss twins. Of course, that wasn't always a good thing, though. People often had impressions made of them before they even met.

Erica attempted to quietly disappear to the back of the group. It seemed like they had made it on time, but she wasn't sure and she didn't want to make a scene. That wasn't quite on Grace's agenda, though. Instead, Grace threw up her hand in a wave and called out, "Madainn mhath agus deagh fhortan mo charaidean! (Good morning and good luck my friends!)" There was just one problem. Grace's brain hadn't quite registered that English wasn't coming out of her mouth yet.

 

[Nobody Special]

NOELLE ACCESSOIRE
Location: DWMA Courtyard
Interacting: Sion ( Prizzy Kriyze ), Dai (Me!)
Meister: Sion
________________________________________________________________________________

When Sion turned to face her, she smiled at him for a second before returning to her natural expression. She wasn't sure of whether she had somehow startled him, or if he was just late to notice her. Her hand remained extended, awaiting his touch so that it could return to her side, but she noticed a sort of reluctance on her new partner's behalf. Or... was it hesitation?

Noelle's eye twitched ever-so-slightly at the rise in volume that came from the white-haired boy. She had done a fairly good job at ignoring him thus far, so what were a few more minutes? She was sure his mouth would be forcefully closed once their instructor was ready to begin class. She was relieved that her partner was nothing like he was-- at least, Sion seemed to be much more tame than the brutish young boy was so far. Why the hell hadn't they shaken hands yet?

"Pleasure is all mine, Noelle." The orange-eyed boy replied, finally bringing his hand closer to hers. "Though, I must-"

His hand stopped again, in sync with that 'Dai's second outburst. Seconds later, Sion gave her a tense smile, an apology, and, to her surprise, suddenly walked away from her. She stared at the empty space he once stood in, blinking with a puzzled look on her face. What just happened? He must, what? She thought about what he could have possibly said if he hadn't randomly stormed off. Was he planning on warning her about something? She supposed she had something to warn him about herself, considering her... unorthodox weapon form.

While she mused to herself, an argument had ensued not too far from her. Sion was chewing Dai out-- apparently he had threatened someone while she was drowning him out. There was a heavy dose sincerity in her meister's words, it was obvious that he'd dealt with this kind of situation before. Before Noelle even made a decision, her feet had already lifted off the ground and carried her towards her partner. What kind of relationship would the two have if she couldn't support her meister during a simple display of right vs wrong, after all? She crossed her arms, glaring at Dai. "I'm compelled to agree. If anything, this should be a time for us to befriend each other, not argue."

​

DAI
Location: DWMA Courtyard
Interacting: Sion ( Prizzy Kriyze ), Noelle (Me!), Luka & Ezrah ( Lady Warlock ), Grace ( CelticHero37 ), Yuri ( Zedalith )
Weapon: Yuri
________________________________________________________________________________

Dai's glare slowly moved from Lucien to a new challenger. Yet another tall person, this one sporting a head of greyscale-ish hair and a gaze equally as vicious as his own. He listened as he was ridiculed in front of the rest of the class, but instead of his demeanor being further clouded by rage, he looked back at him with a confused scowl. Shortly after, a shorter girl with black hair followed suit.

"Haaah??" Some of the many scars on Dai's face lowered in unison with his furrowing eyebrows. "You two heroes deaf or somethin'?" He raised an irritated finger and pointed it in Lucien's direction, not turning his head to look at him. "He started it. If you got a problem with people's attitudes, then go take it up with him, first." He stepped forward, forcing his new partner's hand off of his head so that he could better face his taller classmate. "The only thing I'm insecure of is the fact that I ain't kicked 'yer ass yet."

There was a brief standoff between the two, until Dai broke eye contact due to a loud, reverberating shout. When his head jerked to face the source of the sound, he was slightly surprised to see that it had come from the same little girl whose apples he'd threatened moments earlier. Her demands seemed like that of an angry childs. What, are we in grade school? His cold gaze remained on her for a while longer, but his shoulders eventually relaxed and his grimace softened.

"Fine." He raised his arms over his head, stretching them with an exaggerated groan before resting them behind his head, keeping them in place by gripping his wrist with a free hand. "But I ain't sayin' sorry. I was just fightin' back, after all." Once the feud had been put to a stop, he took a few steps back, standing next to his partner again. Whether or not she were to ridicule him for his actions was completely up to her, but something deep down made him hope that she wouldn't. He listened as the girl who had just yelled at him-- now known to him as Luka, received her pairing. He felt his eyebrow twitch slightly. Why the hell should that runt get two? I can handle two just fine... I think.

The hologram of the Grim Reaper-slash-school headmaster didn't phase him. He'd seen Death before, and, with all of the shenanigans the harbinger of death was known for, he didn't respect him as much as a typical DWMA student should. At the mention of starting class, however, Dai slammed his fists into each other with an anxious grin. "Alright! About damn time. What're we doin', teach?! Lay it on us!"

Right after his own outburst, another one followed. One that he didn't understand a single word of. A blonde girl with green eyes, waving at them while spewing what Dai thought could only be gibberish at them. With a few confused blinks, he looked up at his taller partner. "Oi, Yuri. What the hell is she sayin'?"​

 

[Mineczka]

One-Star Weapon, partnered with Luka and Aiden.
Location: DWMA Staircase, Death City.
Interactions: Lady Warlock (Luka) Sir Les Paul (Aiden) Nobody Special (Dai, Mentioned), everyone (Mentioned)

It had been only a few moments present within the grouping that was the R.I.P. Class and already Rio was content with her passive personality. So much was shown so fast, starting, a boy with white hair which appeared as wild as a beast spoke, proclaiming he was going to be the strongest of the class, following his name, Dai. At such a boast, Rio sighed, as most of the people who act as such often did not fare too well once reality came swinging for their heads. His partner, was Yuri, whom Rio knew of after being a weapon to some of the meisters scorned by her temper. A high-powered duo, if they can click right, and something Rio was worried of if ever they went wild, and lashed out at everyone else.

Next came Noelle, Rio knew Noelle a bit, having shared a few classes with her, she had few ill comments of her, although heard of a few, as she was an umbrella of sorts as a weapon. In Rio's personal opinion, it was better than a plain sword if you asked her. How many swords were there in this school? Then her partner, Sion, a new face from what it appeared, though the feeling of his Soul Wavelength was oppressive. Let alone his appearance, while Rio was never scared of a person, she was certainly unnerved by him. However, her thoughts were brought aside from Dai again, whom replied to a small jab from Lucien with threats.

As Dai spoke of fighting Lucien, Rio was far too engrossed to gauge the other partners, as she took a tentative step towards the two, first, one step, then another few blurred along, approaching just a bit, maybe to get in the way should things get violent? Or to back up Lucien, she had some past experience with him in her three years at the school, though she knew him better than others thanks to their participation in the E.A.T. Classes. Furthermore, both were bladed weapons when transformed. However, her footsteps stopped as several voices chimed in their comments on Dai's actions. Keeping her distance, though, Rio wanted to keep an eye on the situation...

Then, another voice came in, from a young girl, Rio recognized the voice. Turning her head towards the source, it was Luka, whose hands covered her ears, and body twisted to protect the apples she cherished. Dai's words using her apples had invoked a response, a similar sound to Rio's words, though less antiquated than her own. Then, Ezrah locked eyes with Rio, waving her over to him and Luka. Introducing her to the younger girl, Ezrah mentioned the E.A.T. Classes. As her footfalls came closer, Rio took up her gentle smile, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Luka." With her words sharing the same warmth as her smile, she kept a steady gaze to her partner for but a moment, hearing of the other partner, Aiden.

Last Rio recalled of Aiden, he enrolled around the same time as she did, and took part in the E.A.T. Classes much like her, and several others in the grouping, while she couldn't recall ever working in tandem with Aiden, Rio had an idea of what he was, a shield. Comparatively, she was a simple arming sword, making the two's pairing almost iconic, as most know of a knight's sword and shield. After Aiden introduced himself, Rio felt the need, just to be sure, "It's nice to meet you again, Aiden. I'm Rio Monet, fifteenth generation weapon, I take the appearance of an arming sword, so, I think we'll work together well!" Though his secondary remark perplexed the young sword, what did he mean by not wanting to be the best, or be a Death Weapon? Though, his words of protecting her, the world, the DWMA took her off guard. Taking another beat in thought, though, she soon replied still ever warm, "That is fine with me. I just want to do my best, whether it means I become a Death Weapon like those before me isn't my concern." Though in the back of her mind, Rio wished to uphold the family honour of becoming a death weapon, she also didn't have it in her to constantly fight.

As those words lingered, they were soon drowned out, as the sound of a helicopter soon overtook the much quieter Rio, whom turned to the spectacle. A helicopter began to land in the courtyard, with two girls soon running out speaking... Gaelic from what Rio could guess. Having studied her family's history, there were a few words that seemed similar to what the two were speaking, though, Rio hadn't a clue as to what they were saying. With the arrival of two new faces, Ezrah seemed to be speaking to Yuan, likely of the twins that arrived. It seemed the teams were to wait a little longer, which prompted Rio to do at least some of her lung exercises since she had forgotten of them this morning. A light hum came over her, a little trick her doctor told her once, as it helps her take deep breaths and keep her breathing controlled without inflaming her lungs, now, all she could do was wait for Ezrah to begin the class...

 

[Zedalith]

Yuri Sado

Mentions :
Prizzy Kriyze (Sion)
QuirkyAngel (Lucien)

Interactions:
Nobody Special (Dai)
CelticHero37 (Twins)

Location :
DWMA

It was quite the noisy litter this time around. Yuri's head dipped towards the floor while her cheeks rose—she made no attempts at hiding her amusement. An inquisitive finger pecked the edge of her chin as she keenly observed her partner. As she followed, she began to realize that Lucien's words may have been too kind. At the least, the kid could handle himself; she saw no need to speak in his defense. Moreover, the opportunity waned before she could get a word in. The unpleasant screech of a child quelled the nerves of the duos quarrel.

Of the two participants, the pompous fellow with the gray-scale colored head of hair did rub her the wrong way—when did a little bit of competition hurt? "Of course, dear! No need to apologize for a humdrum little feud. Best we settle the score with action," Yuri prattled between her laughter—the whole scene was both trivial and humorous. Such a stir over the words of a rambunctious scarred child; she could only hope the other fellow's constitution wouldn't buckle so readily were the jeers to come from an actual combatant. "I am sure Lucien can handle himself," Yuri validated her words with a nod. She knew him well; the remarks of a child would not be a traumatic enough of an experience to warrant such a stout defense.

When the familiar dark and flowing visage of Lord Death took the stage, she was sure the argument concluded; not even she would show any uncouth displays while within the gaze of such authority. She gave the hologram a small courtesy in respects. At the least, it seemed some of the late arrivals had some reasoning behind their latency. Still, they should have made the appropriate accommodations per the fact that they were all given the schedule far in advance of the current date. She looked to Ezrah to see if he were ready to grant any further instruction. It would only be a few more moments before the class would kick-off, her intuition had foretold.

The arrival of the twins had her briefly seeing double. Both of the forms were bright and blond; the two stood out like a pack of highlighters. The shine was especially in contrast to the dourer looking among the class. A little bit of liveliness was decidedly needed to uplift their moods. But when their words left their tongues, Yuri could only scrunch her nose in turn. Glad that she did not such mishear, she turned to her partner. "I have nary a clue, pup," she chirped with a theatric shrug. From their tone, Yuri figured that the duo meant to be uplifting. "That sounds lovely, my dears, but perhaps you should speak so that rest of us can understand." She gestured with her hand for them to try a second time.

 

[RottenVale]

VOX


DWMA Courtyard | 7:15AM | @ everyone tbh ​

Vox smiled a little at Yuri's response. She, too, was a fair bit lighter in the pocket following the summer's activities. It had been extremely chaotic, as her time off often was, and it had ended far too soon - but, still, Vox found herself glad to be back in Death City. She noted Luka's movement up the stairs and into the group. She'd definitely seen that kid around before. Eyes travelling around the crowd, she raised her hand to Aiden in greeting. Her eyes avoided Lucian, skipping over him (guilty, perhaps), but her body language stayed consistent and measured. "We'll talk all about it over lunch, I'm sure."

As Ezrah began to read his list of names, Vox continued to bounce on her heels, revelling in the quiet nature of their conversation. "It's time I've met my meister. You and I better get someone who can keep up." She laughed, covered her mouth, shook her head with shaking shoulders. "I'm sure you'll get along great."

"Vox-" caught her attention, and she rolled up on her heels, getting a better look at Ezrah's face. "-and Lucian." Her heart dropped. Lucian would be a good partner, she thought, but I could have done without this today. She didn't bother listening to the rest of the names. Partners would be immediately obvious, and it was just as well get comfortable with the dynamic of the group as it was going to be, rather than the way it was right now. Weapons and meisters were looking for each other, she could hear Yuri's name being called, and she responded - back to her miester -

and Lucien was in front of her, and cross by the looks of it, head tilted to the side and hands on his hips. His hair hung down like a curtain beside his face, and she focused on that - taking a few steps from Yuri to address him more closely. "I'm really, really sorry. I just... forgot. It might happen again, if I'm honest," her hand came up in two beats of motion, to grasp the ankh around her throat, "but not for a while because I feel really bad. I will charge my phone more regularly in the future. I remembered last night, when I came back, and I wanted to apologize but I wasn't sure-"

Dai interrupted her concentration, something about fighting weapons and shoving cutlery into apples, and she looked over to him still openmouthed and halfway through her stumbled apology. The guy in the leather jacket - the guy she hadn't seen before, or at least one of several - stepped in to tell him off, which she appreciated, but as Noelle stepped up as well her cheeks flushed red. It was hardly necessary, she thought, for them to jump in - but they were only being nice, trying to deescalate things, or something like that. Luka called out her disapproval. It was all so much. Dai pushed them aside, stating retaliation, and seeming to change course entirely and divert his attention to the professor. Finally, she thought to speak, taking a deep breath as Yuri called for action.

"You don't need to say sorry, Dai, but if it's a challenge you are issuing than a challenge we will take. It would be an honour to spar with anyone wielding Yuri. Would you be willing to referee in a couple weeks after class, Professor? I think we should be used to working with our partners by then."

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Lucien Boulanger (Weapon)

Lucien was listening, half-annoyed and half-amused, to Sheena’s stumbled apology when Dai called him out, crudely picking a fight with Lucien in a manner that added a degree of validity to his insinuations. The blonde rolled his eyes. A kid that couldn’t say ‘utensils’ properly wasn’t likely to know much in the way of table manners. Probably didn’t use that word very often. His threat didn’t even make sense, since Lucien’s ability to transform circumvented it, and was—in Lucien’s opinion—an absolute waste of a good apple. There were many other things Lucien would rather do with an apple—apple pie, apple tart, apple dump cake, etc. Did he even know that DWMA rules wouldn’t let students fight each other without a teacher overseeing them? Did he even read the school rulebook?

As Lucien opened his mouth, ready to return Dai’s threats with his own scathing opinion of them, a set of wise words—aimed at Dai—interrupted them. But, of course, wisdom was only useful to those that had the brain to take it in. The speaker was Sion, if Lucien remembered correctly, followed by his new partner Noelle. Lucian caught the Parisian as the girl spoke and wondered why he’d never noticed before; Probably because he was too busy with his own endeavors to pay much attention others…unless they went out of their way to stand out.

Arms folded, he let his ‘Knights in Shining Armor’ do the talking, checking his nails and only really speaking when Dai responded defensively, accusing him of the attitude problem. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Monsieur. I was sincerely wishing my friend luck.”

Dai was a reckless meister, vulgar, picked more fights than he could probably take on, and likely didn’t have much table manners. Yuri didn’t seem to mind, but Lucien saw nothing wrong with stating his opinions and wishing her luck for the momentous hardships ahead—especially if they wanted to continue the fancy restaurant outings. The kid was already jumping to start another fight—this time with a new meister whose wavelength was enough to make even Lucien a little wary. Lucien couldn’t see souls the same way meisters could. However, he could still sense wavelengths, since he had experience trying to match his own with multiple partners in the past, and could tell that Sion’s gave a bit of a disturbing feeling—like it would devour any that got near it.

Lucien frowned. He’d heard of enchanted weapons that tried to devour/possess their meisters, but it was rare to see a meister with that quality and he wondered if Noelle could handle matching wavelengths with such a meister. Either way it probably wasn’t a good idea to pick a fight with them—which was exactly what Dai was doing…at least until the youngest meister present voiced their objections. Others soon followed. It was to be expected, really. Fortunately, the savage had enough sense not to attack a little kid. Then Yuri proprosed a solution to the problem in the form of action. It was a very Yuri-like response all things considering.

Sheena’s reply was the one that surprised him. He knew she wasn’t the sort to give up or back down from a challenge, but it wasn’t her fight. It was his. He was the one Dai had an issue with. His words, which he didn’t regret, were the cause. The fact that she was willing to take on his burden as his meister touched him and reminded him why they were friends in the first place.

“You’re forgiven,” Lucien said happily to his new partner. “I can’t say I expected that from you, Ma Chérie” given how she’d been stubbling through the apology. “but I’d like to show that petite sauvage what a smaller weapon can do as well…if that’s alright with you, Professor.”

He looked to Erzah as he finished since it was up to the professor in the end. Lucien wasn’t willing to risk getting kicked out of the RIP class, or possibly even expelled, over a small annoyance. Lord Death himself called ask if the students were getting along and insist on the start of the class. Why exactly the normally lackadaisical headmaster of DWMA would be paying special attention to the RIP class, Lucien didn’t know, but for now it didn’t really matter. They couldn't really afford to take too much time away from the start of the class.

RottenVale
Nobody Special
Lady Warlock
Prizzy Kriyze

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Sion Noguchi​

Everything from mild objections to affirmative looks seemed to pour in on the standoff, but Sion wasn't listening nor paying attention. He had his full attention on the white-haired wildling, curious as to how he'd react. To his surprise, Noelle had appeared next to him and backed up his words with her own. Only for a moment did he let his eyes slide from Dai and to his partner, just to catch another glimpse of that stern look she seemed to wear most of the time. For a second he felt less alone, and for that second a thought broke through; the two of them together most likely made out on of the most bitch-faced combos in DWMA history. The thought nearly made the corners of his mouth rise, but he had to hold back not to jeopardize the weight of the situation.

Then Dai spoke, and Sion immediately understood the miscalculation he'd done. His eyes widened as the mental image he'd formed of Dai's soul - a huge, powerful beast, trapped within city walls - slowly turned into that of an angry Pomeranian at an animal shelter. He was flabbergasted, wordless, as Dai came with the most unintentionally hilarious retort he'd ever heard in his entire life.

"The only thing I'm insecure of is the fact that I ain't kicked 'yer ass yet."

Sion's gut strained as he forced himself to meet Dai's gaze. The seconds felt like eternities, until finally, a distant shrieking plea for them to stop grabbed Dai's attention and Sion turned his head the other way and strained his face not to break out in laughter. He'd been impulsive, silly, in gauging Dai. He wasn't antagonistic, he was a kid. There wasn't a problem big enough to worry about.

Dai acquiesced to let it go, and stepped away with a stubborn refusal to apologize. The blonde man - Lucien, it seemed - offered a vaguely snide dismissal to Dai's accusation, but the situation had already calmed down. More to his surprise, Yuri, who seemed to be Dai's Demon Weapon, chose to condescend to the entire situation and suggest it be solved with action rather than apologies. Sion wasn't sure what he'd expected from the girl, but the imperiousness she now displayed wouldn't have been his first guess. It quickly prompted a response from Vox, the girl who sounded like the hottest place in town on a Friday night, who decided to take it into her own hands and immediately offered an official duel with utmost humility and respect. It was, frankly, impressive. An admirable quality that Sion couldn't say he'd had the pleasure of seeing a lot in person before. He needed to put her name to memory.

Without him ever really noticing, Sion's face had turned from a frown to a cocky smirk on the verge of chuckling. The tension and reprieve never stopped coming, but most of all he appreciated the kind of fire his classmates brought to the table.

He raised a hand. "I couldn't pass up a chance to see that go down. Count me in too."

Then he let his hand fall into his pocket once more. At this point he'd been stationary for a fair few seconds, simply observing the fallout and attempting not to double over laughing. He shifted his gaze over to Noelle again, out the corner of his eye. "Sorry, Noelle." He spoke, almost playfully, still with a subtle smirk on his lips. He turned to face her, and continued. "I'm not promising I won't pull this shit again, but I'd like to continue seeing you by my side like this if I do." His smirk broke out into a spirited grin, but only for a brief moment before he resumed his tired and serious expression again.

"Before we can do anything though, it's only fair for you to understand what it's like being having me as a meister." He pulled his right hand out of his jacket, and offered it for her to shake. There was a hint of apprehension in his tone of voice, but his hand remained steadily in place.

Interaction: Nobody Special Zedalith QuirkyAngel RottenVale Lady Warlock

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Yuan (Meister)

Yuan couldn’t say she expected to be called to speak to the headmaster on the first day of school. Nonetheless, she looked up from the cards laid out in front of her to the hologram that Professor Erzah held out in front of her. The Grim Reaper was as cheery as Yuan remembered him. They’d really only met once when Yuan was invited to the new RIP class and that was the impression she got…yet there was probably more to Death than outward appearances show. Yuan couldn’t see his soul. Therefore, it was impossible to guess what the leader of DWMA was thinking.

“I’ve been enjoying it very much,” Yuan answered pleasantly to Lord Death’s greeting. It wasn’t a lie. Even though her luxuries were less, she enjoyed her time in Death City more than she ever did when she’d been living in Shanghai.

Yuan listened, tilting her head curiously, as the Death god continued in a jovial, almost rushed, manner. It didn’t really matter to her who she got as partner. In order to achieve her goals and defeat Ranmao, she would make sure it worked. Yuan couldn’t say she was happy to hear that her weapon partner was still being deliberated on, but she trusted Death’s promises. Therefore, she nodded and smiled. “Thank you for your hard work, Lord Death.”

Despite the scene Dai, Lucien, Sion, as well as their respective partners were making, she could hear Cole and Callah talking to each other and added her input. “I’m really sorry for holding you guys up. It seems like the decision of my partner is what’s keeping this class from starting.”

That and the fight that nearly broke out of course. She knew it wasn’t likely to, but it wasn’t as if her predictions had never been wrong before. Fate was a fickle thing. One ripple from an outlier could entirely change its tune.

The card she drew was shuāng zǐ zuò. The twin constellations.

Then, as if on cue, the sound of helicopters arriving could be heard. A pair of cute twin girls dashed up the steps – one of them speaking in a language Yuan vaguely recognized as gaelic. More importantly, Yuan remembered the pair from her dreams. She remembered many others in the RIP class of course – including Lucien, Cole, Sion, Dai, etc—but she wasn’t oblivious to the signs.

Yuan looked to Erzah, an innocent and playful smile on her face. “What should I do if my partners aren’t here, Professor Erzah~?”

Sir Les Paul
Solarknight
Lady Warlock

(mentioned: CelticHero37 )

 

[Lady Warlock]

Luka Baines

Yes, Luka had essentially yelled at the entire class. She did it on impulse because she was getting overwhelmed and it was the fastest and most realistic manner of addressing those concerns. That was just how her brain put things together. What she hadn’t anticipated, though, was the aftermath of it, all the silly looks that she got, all the glares and all the annoyance from almost everyone except the professor. While Luka did enjoy receiving praise from her teachers, she had learned day one that being a teacher’s pet was a bad idea and now she felt she had strayed a bit far into that realm yet again.

Although Luka’s eyes went straight to her shoes the moment anyone looked at her - eye contact didn’t come easily after all - she did clench her fists tightly as she was accused of yelling at the wrong person. “I wasn’t yelling at anyone specific,” she muttered, more under her breath than for anyone to hear. “I was yelling at everyone. It was too loud.” Despite how the whole situation had soured her mood, it had been effective. The volume of their class in general had certainly gone down a few notches. It was a success even if Luka wasn’t capable of acknowledging it as such right away. Luckily for her, she didn’t have much time to be consumed by sorrow at her impulsive decisions before she was introduced to her partners and therefore given something to be cheerful about again.

Her eyes picked up, examining both Rio and Aiden in turn although she never quite looked into their eyes. It got close enough to a point where from a distance, it looked like eye contact, but both Rio and Aiden would realize that it wasn’t. She listened to what they each had to say, enjoying Rio’s more quiet tone, but also curious about how different Aiden seemed to be now that he was interacting with her than he had been when he’d jumped from the sky and greeted everybody. He seemed nice. Upon first impressions, Luka imagined this would work well. She wasn’t intimidated by wielding two weapons at once; she’d done it before, albeit in private lessons without any other sensual disturbances around, but her teachers had all told her she excelled at it. Small confidences went a long way with Luka. What did surprise her, though, was the declarations from both of her partners that neither one of them wanted to be death scythes. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

“But… I’m supposed to make death scythes. It’s kinda the point.” While she, again, wasn’t incorrect, there really was more to it. Meisters protected the world from the creation of a kishin, and that process tended to involve gathering souls which would ultimately create a death scythe. One who gathered kishin egg souls would typically result in a death scythe sooner or later. Nonetheless, Luka seemingly managed to shrug off that confusing thought for the time being because she put her toothpick back into her mouth and rolled it between her teeth with a soft sway upon her feet.

Adelle Stone

The blonde student’s offered handshake was firm, but brief. She did not maintain contact with the man who would be her meister longer than formality dictated and her hand was swiftly back at her side afterwards. Adelle’s discomfort wasn’t difficult to discern, but it was also apparent that she was trying not to let her previous experiences take over her actions too significantly.

“It is the job of the weapon to protect the meister. It isn’t the other way around. I’ve had people strike at me before and they’re…” briefly her eyes trailed off as she remembered the fate of her former meister with a small bit of glee. “Well, let’s just say they aren’t around anymore to sully my reputation. I can handle my own enemies quite well.”

Briefly, she chuckled at some of his more seemingly flattering comments because they totally felt inappropriate given what she was, what her weapon forms were. “I highly recommend that you learn what you’re working with before you start attempting to flatter me, though. Delicate is far from the description I or anyone who knows me would use despite what things may appear to be. I’m not a rapier, after all.” The smile on her face was entirely amused. She wasn’t trying to chastise him even if it came off that way. Rather, she was amused and now very curious as to how he would react to learning how brutal her weapon forms could be, the time they came from. “Although treasure may be true,” she acknowledged. Adelle didn’t explain why. He would have to figure that out on his own.

Finally, she had to nod at a few things, though. “As long as we keep things professional, though, I have to agree we have similar motivations and might just be able to get something done.”

In the midst of their conversation, Adelle had been moderately aware of a rising conflict among their peers. It was a conscious choice of hers to ignore it and focus instead on acquainting herself with her meister. While she liked leading and leaders tended to intervene in tense situations, she knew that as a weapon, she couldn’t lead unless her meister was also capable. Therefore, this assessment of Edgar was of paramount importance.

And so it begins…

Professor Ezrah watched things settle down in the most interesting of ways and he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to see what became of this unique collection of students. They could very easily destroy one another and leave nothing left at all. However, if they found it in themselves to work together… heck, he and his fellow professors might need to work on finding new occupations. For the first time, he truly understood how much of a risk Lord Death was taking by bringing them all together and he found himself truly curious as to what would inspire the grim reaper to take such a risk in the first place. Something big had to be going on, and it frustrated Ezrah because he was just as much in the dark about it as the students were. It wasn’t fair, but he knew better than to plead for fairness. For now, all he could do was teach and prepare them as best as he could.

“Speak of trouble and it shall appear,” he muttered more to himself than to anyone else when the twins appeared, making a grand entrance as usual.

He was about to leap straight into introducing them to their meister, Yuan, when another student asked a question. His gaze drifted to Vox who was asking about planning a future duel, something he was hesitant about. He didn’t want these students to simply be motivated by a future duel; they need to find ways to work together, not to build themselves up in impending opposition. “If a duel still feels necessary between the lot of you in a couple of weeks, then that would mean I’m not doing my job right,” he explained to her and to all the rest of them who seemed intrigued by the idea. “However, if that should be the case, then I will supervise a collection of partner battles.” Ezrah wasn’t happy about it, but he owed the students some fairness.

Finally, he was able to turn to Yuan. “Actually, your partners have just arrived,” he informed her as the girls walked in speaking their home language. “Grace! Erica!” he called out to them. “I’d like to introduce you to your meister. This is Yuan. She’s a new student, but you can trust that she is competent and will wield you well.” His hands motioned for the trio to familiarize themselves with one another and he gave that a minute to unfold.

Class had to start, though, and he knew if he delayed any longer he would risk another less pleasant interruption from Lord Death. “R.I.P. weapons and meisters!” he shouted, garnering the attention of his class. “If you will follow me, we are going to be heading to the site of our first lesson.” Without further delay, Ezrah turned and walked off of the cobblestone of the foyer straight towards the small forest upon the DWMA’s left hand side. Obviously, this first lesson wasn’t going to be one completed in a classroom. When their small journey finished, they’d arrived at a small clearing amongst the trees that would be familiar to the students who had gone through E.A.T. lessons because it was where most would learn and practice resonance.

“Gather round, everyone,” he announced. “Recently, Lord Death has granted me a budget to purchase new tools to use during my instruction time and I’m very much looking forward to putting it to good use. Today’s lesson is going to feature one of my new favorite purchases.” He held up his hand and revealed a small sized round ball. It wasn’t a bullet and it wasn’t a toy, either. Anyone familiar with it would recognize it as a paintball. Upon impact, it would splatter into paint that was no doubt going to stain anything and everything it came into contact with; it would also leave a sizable welt if it hit the right spot. “These are going to be fired from those,” he gestured to the rim of trees around them so that the students could see the various paintball turrets set up around them. “And they’re going to come pretty quickly, too. The turrets fire towards heat sources so they’ll adjust depending on where you all gather. Your task as a team is to disable them. There may be switches or buttons. I’m not quite sure and you’ll have to figure it out. You may not destroy the turrets. Anyone who damages them beyond repair will be on dispensary duty for a week. Anyone who leaves the clearing to go into the trees will be barred from returning and helping the team. Weapons into weapon form. Meisters, you’ll have to learn fast and this will be a lot easier if you all communicate.”

Briefly he examined everyone and verified some semblance of understanding. “Since we have such a large group, we’re going to break into two separate teams. Each team will go through the exercise once while the other team observes. Since the second team will be at an advantage since they’ll have seen it, there will be an extra challenge for them which I won’t spoil. Learn your teammates. Identify strengths and identify weaknesses. The only way we win is together in the end.” That was important and Ezrah needed to emphasize it.

“First team will be Dai, Yuri, Vox, Lucien, Edgar, Adelle and Yuan with Grace and Erica. Anyone not on that list will retreat to the trees and observe. Discuss and plan as you wish, but you cannot help those undergoing the challenge.” Ezrah withdrew himself to the trees along with the students who would be in the 2nd trial of the challenge. “Weapons transform!” he yelled to those participating. “And…” There was a long silent hold before he hit the button on his remote and paintballs started flying.

Nobody Special Zedalith Japanime Sir Les Paul Mineczka QuirkyAngel CelticHero37 Prizzy Kriyze RottenVale The Regal Rper

The first team is surrounded by a total of 10 paintball turrets firing at rapid rates and directing their shots towards heat sources (i.e. the bodies of the meisters). The team needs to disable all ten turrets without damaging them. Getting hit by a paintball stings like a bitch. Weapons can be used to block them in most cases, but the meister needs to be paying attention. This is a roleplay exercise that can be portrayed to be as hard or as easy as the group wants it to be, but given each meister is working with an unfamiliar weapon, it really shouldn’t be a walk in the park. Use that information as you wish.

 

[Nobody Special]

DAI
Location: DWMA, Forest
Interacting: Yuri ( Zedalith ), Luka & Ezrah ( Lady Warlock ), Vox ( RottenVale ), Lucien ( QuirkyAngel ), Sion ( Prizzy Kriyze )
Weapon: Yuri
________________________________________________________________________________

There it was again. 'Pup'. That damned word irked Dai to the core, and he huffed his chest out once again in hopes that appearing larger in size would put an end to the nickname before it stuck. He was happy that his partner was as willing to fight as he was, however.
"Hmph."

Luka seemed embarrassed by her outburst. Dai shrugged. Hell, if he weren't so used to it by now, he'd probably be embarrassed too if he yelled and a bunch of people he didn't know started staring at him. "Don't sweat it, runt. You got what you wanted, right? We ain't fightin' anymore."

Then, the taller woman-- around, if not the same height as Yuri-- who stood next to Lucien spoke up. Dai could only trust that he had paid well enough attention to Ezrah's list of pairings to be able to pin the woman as Vox. As she spoke, he felt his lips curl up into a wicked, energized smile, even bearing his teeth at the pair across from them. Her proposition was like music to his ears, a symphonic orchestral performance that was being performed solely for his enjoyment. A couple weeks?! Dai kept his true feelings to himself, this time, but his well of malice was so deep that it was almost visibly radiating off of him. Why the hell should we wait? Why don't we just go at it now?!

He shot a middle finger in the blonde weapon's direction. He personally had no idea what the gesture meant, but he knew that every time he did it, the receiver of it would look at him like he just punched their parents. His black-and-white haired classmate added himself to the proposal Vox made, and Dai laughed, clearly in a better mood than he was minutes earlier. "Sounds good to me! Don't cry when I leave you on your asses, though. That'd be weird."

----

Once they switched locations, Dai grew more focused and invested into the lesson. He leaned forward to get a closer look at the ball Ezrah held in his hand. "The hell is that...?" He continued to stare at it as his educator gave the instructions on their first lesson. The nature of the exercise excited him, until they were told that they couldn't destroy the strange machines that would supposedly be attacking them. He looked over at the turrets with an annoyed expression on his face. Why waste time shutting things off when they could just be destroyed?

When he heard his name called for the first team, he cracked his neck and his knuckles, before holding his hand out to Yuri. "Lets see what 'yer made of, partner!" The call for transformations came, and he felt a sudden weight in his palm. Without hesitation, he brought his hand into his field of view, marveling at Yuri's weapon form. "Haha! This is badass! You're awesome, Yuri!" Dai subjected his new partner to various twists and turns as he examined every edge, nook and cranny of the large weapon. "And you're not too heavy or burnin' my hands, either! That means we're doin' good, right?!" As he practiced swinging her around with a childish smile on his face, he felt a stinging, painful impact hit him on the right side of his body. "Ow-- FUCK! " He looked at the place he'd been hit, and noticed it was stained red. Did he get stabbed? Just what the hell did he sign himself up for when he agreed to join this class? Instead of focusing on his wound, his gaze was fixed on the turret that shot him. With Yuri raised over his head, he charged at it, ready to slam down with all his might. "YOU!!"

"You may not destroy the turrets."

Once the rule popped back into his head, he stopped in his tracks, and proceeded to get hit by an onslaught of the strange, painful balls.
​

NOELLE ACCESSOIRE
Location: DWMA, Forest
Interacting: Vox ( RottenVale ), Lucien ( QuirkyAngel ), Sion ( Prizzy Kriyze )
Meister: Sion
________________________________________________________________________________

Noelle couldn't help but smile as the situation died down and the air around them grew less tense. If everyone else was starting to relax, that meant she would be able to as well. Though, she had no plans of participating in these scheduled bouts Vox and Dai had planned. Why waste time fighting each other when they could all train together as a group? Childish.

"I couldn't pass up a chance to see that go down. Count me in too."

Noelle's neck could have snapped with the way she turned to look at Sion. What?! She felt her cheeks warm up ever so slightly, flustered by the sudden volunteer. A moment passed, and she let out a quiet, accepting sigh. "I suppose I have no choice but to participate as well, then. Although I will say that I hope that it doesn't come to that."

Once things were settled, partners were back to getting to know each other. She stood with her arms crossed, until Sion's familiar voice rang in her ears. An apology for his actions, one that Noelle felt wasn't needed. Her meister's smile was a sight she could get used to, however. It made him appear much more approachable than he originally did. But alas, his grin was gone in no time. "Of course. You don't have to apologize. You stood up for what you felt was right." A hand went to move her sole braid out of the way, and she smiled up at the taller boy. "Besides, it's my job as your weapon to stay by your side and support you, no?" When Sion offered her his hand, she was the one hesitant to take it this time. His words were ominous-- slightly nerve-wracking, in fact. What exactly did he mean by that? She stared at his hand for a second, mentally preparing herself before firmly gripping it.

Pulling. It felt like the strongest vacuum imaginable was forcefully taking all of the energy from her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. For a few seconds, there was nothing Noelle could do except for watch on as her energy was stolen from her. Fortunately, she was eventually able to realize what was going on, and retracted her hand with what was probably a bit more force than necessary. She could feel a single drop of sweat run down from her forehead. "So, this is your soul wavelength..." Noelle felt disheartened as she stared back up at Sion. Her eyes lowered, saddened by the empathy she began to feel. How did you live before... knowing that you were doing this to whoever you touched?

"I like it!"

She extended her hand once again to grab his, flinching at first from the pulling sensation, but holding on much longer this time. "This is a challenge for me. Simply another thing I will be able to overcome and get used to as time passes. If you need my energy, take it." She offered him a grin of her own. A comforting one, one that was beaming with sincerity. "What use will I have for it in my weapon form, after all?"

---

As they made their way into the forest, Noelle was fiercely still holding onto Sion. She figured it was a bit too early hand-holding (and didn't want to make things awkward), so she held his wrist instead. It made each step feel like she was running half a mile, but her determination kept her grip tight around his forearm. She figured it was time to finally let him know. "So, Sion." she cleared her throat to speak louder. "I believe that it is only fair for you to understand what it will be like having me as a weapon." She brought her free hand to her chest, almost as if she were trained to appear to be proud whenever she were to explain her unique family...circumstance. "I am a member of the Accessoire family. We are not a popular family, so I will explain further. To put it simply... I am not the most... desirable weapon imaginable." Self-consciousness began to set in, and she lowered her hand and began avoiding eye contact. "I am... an Umbrella."

Saying it out loud never felt right. She felt her fingers loosen their grip around Sion's wrist, and her hand fell to her side as she released him. "I am... still capable of being used as a weapon, however. The ferrule of my weapon form is extremely sharp, and I also have decent resonance forms. I think it would be best for you to see for yourself when our turn of the exercise begins. Hopefully it won't be too much for you to adapt to."

​

 

[CelticHero37]

Grace Jean Taghan

Erica Grace Taghan​

Mentioned: Zedalith QuirkyAngel Lady Warlock​

Erica blushed a bit at her sister's outburst. She recognized that Grace hadn't been speaking in English felt the anxiety rising at the comments that would be made. Even though she had not said anything, Erica felt like the comments that came were equally directed at her. She took a bit of a step forward, trying to gain their attention so that she could translate for them and hopefully rectify the situation. However, before she could do that, someone with practically snow-white hair addressed them directly. Despite the comment being fairly warranted, the comment came off a bit aloof and Erica knew right away that was gonna be trouble.

While Grace wasn't a hothead, she didn't much care for people with attitude. Not to mention the sensitivity on her end with how hard people were fighting to keep the language she was speaking alive. Had someone come off more polite, she probably wouldn't have had any issues. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As such, Grace responded with a similar attitude, "Ah, my apologies. Don't worry yourself, dear. They were all good things. Don't believe me? Perhaps you should learn to speak so we can understand each other." With that, Grace pulled out a Scottish to English dictionary. Then she walked up and handed it to Yuri, giving the girl pat on the shoulder for enthusiasm before moving on to see who else was in their group.

Although she was quite embarrassed by this, Erica let a little giggle escape. Her sister's response was oddly satisfying. She did find it interesting that Grace had been carrying around a Scottish to English dictionary, though. It wasn't like she needed one. She was going to walk over and apologize to the girl and compliment her on her hair, but their teacher interrupted her thoughts and let them know who their partner was going to be. Erica was caught a bit off guard. Normally they let people get to know each other and gave them a chance to propose their own partnerships. This was a special group, though. She was sure Lord Death knew what he was doing. She just wondered if things were going to work out this time. The twins had been with a few partners both separately and together. While they'd been able to resonate with some of them, none of the partnerships lasted very long. Especially after the whole madness incident. That was another concern for Erica, as she wasn't sure how a new student would handle that. She figured there had to be something special about them, though. After all, they did get invited into this special class as well.

Erica finally snapped out of her thoughts as Grace headed over to Yuan. Erica got an odd feeling and she tensed up a bit, she didn't like the presence her sister had suddenly taken on. A nervous glance came from Erica's eyes as she looked to Professor Ezrah as if silently asking for help. The twins had worked hard to manage the madness they had been dealing with, and they had thought it was under control. However, this was the first time they had been in uncontrolled conditions. Grace had approached Yuan and was glaring into her eyes. In reality, Grace was just sizing up her new partner. She wasn't aware how alarming it was who knew her condition. Eventually, she released the tension with a cool smile, not a crazy one. "Alright, nice to make your acquaintance. My name's Grace, and this is my sister Erica. She's pure dead brilliant!"

Erica relaxed and came up behind her sister, giving a nod and a small smile. Grace had introduced her sufficiently, saving her the trouble of trying to do so herself. The last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself first thing out of the gate, so she was thankful for her sister. They didn't have much time to get to know their partner, though. They were soon lead to a new training area and things got started quickly. For the twins, it wasn't much of a problem, but Erica felt like jumping in this fast might be a bit of a shock for Yuan. She extended a hand to Yuan and Grace did the same. Then Erica's quietness vanished as she stated, "If they target us by heat, their aim is going to be a little behind. We need to keep edgy of the crossfire, but in general, if we keep moving, we should be fine. Our foremost approach should be to get a closer look at the turrets to see if there's an easy target. As a secondary objective, we could focus on getting them to shoot each other. They might clog each other up and have an effect on their aim. Then, if all else fails, if we work together, we could cut the branches they're mounted to. From there we can control where they shoot and find a way to disable them. We'll all have to work together though... och..." Erica realized some people had already jumped into the fire. Now all bets were off.

 

[Zedalith]

Yuri Sado

Mentions :

Interactions:
Nobody Special (Dai)
CelticHero37 (Twins)

Location :
DWMA

"Without a doubt, Vox. I'm sure we'll keep each other on our—" Yuri's sentence was kept curt by a sudden weight that invaded her grasp. The blond girl had the nerve to fill her hands with a practically useless piece of hardware. "Why would I need a dictionary when phones exist, and why the hell were you carrying the thing around so casually?" She thought quietly. Yuri's nostrils flared wildly to unfurl an audible puff of air. "Don't you worry. I'll make good use of it," Yuri growled with baritone fluttering within her neck. In particular, Yuri resolved to learn three new words: go, fuck, and finally—yourself. The girl had a lot of nerve for someone who arrived so late. It would be troubling to know which highlighter to direct her malice when the appropriate time came, considering the pair's circumstances. "I hope I get the right one," her thoughts bellowed internally.

Thankfully, the start of Ezrah's lesson kept her from churning in agitation for too long. With the hand-sized dictionary carefully tucked away, Yuri followed the class as they changed location. A large expanse of trees awaited her gaze—carefully implanted among them were the described paintball launchers. When the professor defined the force of the projectiles, her brows became closely knit. Due to the nature of her wavelength, she would be especially vulnerable. Typically, it was a double-edged sword—with an enemy that can't feel pain, the blade fell solely on her. Even if they did, destroying the turrets was forbidden. These circumstances made the exercise that much more compelling. Furthermore, it would be her first time working with Dai. A lot of her trust would fall on the feral young man.

Yuri could not shake the feeling that the structure of the announced teams was very intentional. Dai and Lucien, fighting on the same side despite their dispute. DWMA certainly knew how to keep things interesting. "Let's crush this quickly," her form crumbled in tandem with Ezrah's broadcast. Her pale body shifted to that of hard and bright metal in a blaze of fury. The weight of which crashed downwards into the waiting hands of Yuri's meister. All they had to do was best a few machines.

The praise of her partner made her scoff internally. What else had he expected? A couple of trial swings made her feel as if she were in good hands, "not too sloppy. But keep in mind—" Dai took a hit hard, and his pain was immediately made evident. It became apparent then that all of the professor's theatrics with the paintball weren't just for show. Another volley crashed into the boy's side, a few pummeling into her form alongside. It was clear that she would have to be the head of the duo. Dai was like a confused mutt in the center of a winding road. "What the hell are you doing? Use my chain to block! Move your death-damned legs, mutt!" She dropped all amiable pretenses at the sight of his pathetic form getting smothered by toy pellets.

Yuri's range would allow her to acquire an easy line-of-sight of the turret, should Dai make use. "Try to swing me to rest at one of the turrets' rears. I'll see if anything on it looks like a switch," she advised, with the teacher's prior instruction lingering in her mind. Would he so openly give them a solution to this little riddle? It was worth the effort to check since it took very little from the pair. The others with her might have some trouble reaching it—best to know now before they expended the energy.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Yuan (Meister)

Yuan put away her cards, dusted her pants, and stood as the twin girls arrived, beckoned by the call of Professor Ezrah. Grace and Erica. Grace approached her first, sizing her up with a glare, to which Yuan simply smiled and let the protective sister do as she please. Probably the older one as it was common for older sisters safeguard the younger one…though that wasn’t always the case. Sometimes it was the younger ones who were more protective of the older ones. Every sibling dynamic was different, after all, and even if she had caught glimpses of them in her future it wasn’t enough to gauge anything substantial – like their personalities. The older twin arrived not long after.

“Nice to me you too, Grace. Erica.” Yuan nodded at each, committing their appearances to memory. The girls were identical, but for their color choices…physically anyway. “I look forward to working with you both.”

That was all she really got in before the professor kick-started the class, leading them to a forest clearing. Yuan gawked around as she walked as if admiring a new scenery. In truth, she was taking note of every little detail she could so as to make a mental map in her mind. Potential escape routes. Good hiding spots. Yuan wanted to know all there was about DWMA in the event that such information would ever be needed. She blinked when both girls offered her a hand, but found it adorable, and happily took both.

“Did anyone ever tell you how cute you girls are~?”

The physical contact also made it easier for Yuan to get a relative feel of their wavelengths before trying to wield them. Both souls produced a different rhythm, but there were similarities there as well. Finding and matching those similarities would be the key to wielding them both. There was also something…odd…in the mix, but Yuan couldn’t quite discern what it was just yet. By the time Erzah finished explaining the details of the first lesson, introducing the paintball turrets around them and withdrawing into the trees with the other half of the class, Erica seemed to switch gears. No longer the shy younger sister, Hunter Grace, seemed to be in her element. Yuan grinned and teased. “No wonder you’re the pure dead brilliant sister~”

She stepped back as a paint ball landed, leaving green splotch where her foot would’ve been, and pulled Grace closer to her as a paintball sailed past what would've been the girl’s head. “But let’s first get you girls in weapon form so that you’re safe from these nasty balls. Weapons don’t have body temperatures after all~”

Unless they wanted to stay in their human forms of course. It wasn't as if a weapon was needed to disable a turret.

Unfortunately for Dai, he’d been too busy swing Yuri around to notice that balls had already started firing and was struck by one…only to charge in, stop, and then get struck by more. Yuan giggled a bit. It wasn’t a very polite thing to do, and she hadn’t meant to, but she couldn’t help herself. The resident “wild child” was much more amusing than she’d expected. She coughed, drying her giggles. “Well…he almost made it at least.”

The boy was fast. Faster than when he ran up the steps, possibly because he was enraged. If he hadn’t suddenly stopped and focused solely on disabling the turret instead of smashing it, he might’ve succeeded. Yuan took note of that fact even as she ducked another paintball and added her thoughts to Erika's ideas. “Getting the turrets to fire on each other is a great idea under normal circumstances, but we can’t damage them too badly otherwise the second group won’t have any toys to play with and we’d end up on dispensary duty. I like how you think though~ If we could control where the turrets are fired, we’d certainly have an easier time with the task.”

As she spoke, Yuan maneuvered her way to the northernmost turret.

CelticHero37


Lucien Boulanger (Weapon)

Lucien was not happy.

The moment he heard paintballs were being used for the lesson, he could already see the mess that would be created. A clean kitchen was a healthy kitchen. That was the first thing his father taught him when first he started to cook and something that had been ingrained in him since young. To always wash his hands before touching food. To keep his cooking environment sanitary. While Lucien wasn’t entirely a neat-freak—unless it was in the kitchen—he didn’t like unconstrained messes either.

Art was lovely, but art without finesse was simply chaos.

There was also the fact that Dai was put his team. Did Erzah want them to fail? Was that the “impossible skill” he was known for? Lucien sighed. Aiden might have been a little too full of himself, but at least a shield was useful the current situation.

As soon as Erzah told weapons to transform, Lucien reached for Sheena’s dominant hand, his body glowing and morphing until a chef’s knife rested in his partner’s palm. He could hear the obnoxious beats of her soul, but he didn’t hate them. In fact, they set him in a nice working rhythm within the dark void of his weapon form. Lucien’s soul spoke. “Chop, chop. We’ve got 10 turrets to disable. Let’s get this done quickly so I can return to the kitchen and cook us a victory feast.”

Or rather, a successful first lesson completion feast. Either way, he wanted to cook something. Something with apples, since he was feeling inspired. He could also see Dai swinging Yuri around and rolled his eyes from within the empty void. Hopefully Yuri would be able to handle him. Lucien might dislike Dai, but he disliked failing even more.

“The paint balls are coming.” Lucien warned as the turrets around them started to fire at any and every available heat source. Erzah might’ve given them a bit of time to adjust to their new partners, but not much. He wasn’t that nice of teacher. “I’m not a good weapon for blocking so your best bet is to move, Ma Cherie. The sooner we disable one, the less paint balls we’ll have to deal with.”

Their team didn’t have any defenses, so the best defense was a good offense in Lucien’s mind. He could hear Yuan, Grace, and Erica making plans behind them, and took note of it, but otherwise didn't pay them much mind. He continued to talk. "In a kitchen, communication is important, but so is trusting others to do their work and assisting only as needed."

Lucien wasn’t surprised to see Dai charge in first. Or get pelted by paintballs. Tossing his hair, the soul within the weapon didn’t bother to filter his reaction “Quel imbécile!”

RottenVale

 

[Lady Warlock]

Adelle Stone

In the brief moments before they departed for the location of their first lesson, Adelle took a good hard look at the rest of their classmates. She wished she knew more about them; Adelle was the type of person who liked to know who she could trust and who she couldn’t. While there were plenty of women among them, which reassured her insecurities greatly, there wasn’t anything too significant she could surmise about any single individual there. Unlike a meister, she lacked soul perception and she didn’t have much experience with making first impressions so she couldn’t rely on that either so it wasn’t like she was comfortable simply making her best judgements based on appearances. Adelle did know that she didn’t like the sound of the white haired boy; he seemed like a hot mess of a person so she had to guess he made up for that with a pretty strong punch. Strong punches only brought teams so far, though, when it came to many of the situations she anticipated they would all be placed in. Oftentimes they caused more trouble than they solved. Beyond that, though, Adelle had nothing.

She walked alongside her partner as their teacher escorted them into the woods. Along the way, Adelle carefully observed the path that they followed so as to not feel lost and so she knew where to come back to should she ever need to return to this spot. It wasn’t like she really knew what this space was generally used for as the professor hadn’t provided that information. Well, he did, but it didn’t come until after they’d arrived.

Unlike some of her classmates, though, Adelle recognized the paintball for what it was. She recognized it, took a quick glance at the cleanliness of the shirt she was wearing, and she decided right then and there that it was going to stay that way. Before the professor had even finished his spiel, Adelle was wrapped in light as she transformed into a spiky stick - almost literally. She preferred to call it a club, but had experienced that argument one too many times to leap right into it at that precise moment. Her weapon form landed elegantly (can a stick be elegant?) in Edgar’s hands, but her soul remained mostly silent as she listened to the rest of the professor’s explanation.

They were in the first group.

With blabbermouth.

A few more explanations passed without catching Adelle’s attention and then it seemed like they were beginning right away. No time to make a plan. No time to get to know their teammates who may have been more capable than blabbermouth. ‘Great. Just perfect.’ It wasn’t an ideal situation, but Adelle was determined to make the best of it. They were going to get this done even if they had to do it all themselves.

“You might want to start moving, partner,” she suggested to Edgar. “The longer you’re in one spot, the more likely you are to become a target. I’m probably capable of being utilized to bash those pesky paintballs out of the way when needed, but that doesn’t help us get out of this mess any faster. Is there anyone on our team with a decent head on their shoulders, who might have a plan started? If not, then we should try to get up close to one and see what’s going on.” Adelle was simply guessing that Edgar might have more knowledge of some of the students than she did but the reality was that she had no idea.

Japanime

 

[The Regal Rper]

A guttural yell echoed off the distance, rousing the attention of the few up around 5 in the morning. For a moment they paused, if only to shrug their shoulders and continue preparations for the early morning day. Meanwhile a shirtless teenage boy in track pants continued to amble forwards on his hands on the rooftop.

"HUMULITY! Through humility, I am gróunded. Hup!" Lifting himself up once, twice, then a third time on his hands. Beads of sweat sliding off his chin from the warmth he could feel that was coming with the rising sun. "Without it," Tavares took a 'step' with one hand, steadily making distance, "I am lost to de waves of conceit and arrogancé." Stopping the meister angled himself so that he could lean backwards and flip to a standing position again. Once he was upright, he stretched. Using the heels of his palm to wipe off sweat then crouching he began leg stretches. Right leg, then left. His spine popped in a satisfying way as he fell into a routine demonstration of the splits then held that for several seconds before he rose on his hands in one smooth motion.

"RESPECT!" He shouted. It echoed as he pushed backwards, landed on his feet, did a backflip, then kicked out with his other leg.

Below someone yelled: "Ah shut up DAMIR, it's a quarter to 6! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Unflinching, he ignored it, but this time he did lower his voice considerably. "Without it," he whispered, another kick- "I am no better than a fool." A high-knee, roundhouse, and jab followed before he took a stance. Exhaling slowly, done for the morning routine he finished with: "Knowledge. It is tamed by experience and wisdom." And then he dove off the edge of the four story apartment, his mantra complete. Falling down till the moment was right, Tavares let the rush of air alleviate the heat of his actions, then turned the fall into a game of hop. Leaping from off a foundational pillar and a nearby wall till he shot out like an arrow towards the main entrance of the Sun Wu apartments. While most residents in here didn't fall under the category of Assassin or acrobatic of which this building was originally designed for, for him, it was like normal practice without the same intensity of the Deck. There were rails that acted like stairs or monkey bar swinging posts and with a right placement of footing he leaped off one and carried his fading momentum towards a higher bar.

In a few good loops and practiced ease, the Meister swung himself upwards with a triple flip and spin in the air towards the balcony of the fourth second, and with ease Tavares landed on the railing with perfect balance. Arms spread out, knees slightly bent then straightened out once certain.

"Louder than usual today, aren't you?" His attention turning to the voice. Dante, a floormate. Smiling at his clearly cheesed off floormate the Italian grinned apologetically. "Entschuldigen sie" he spoke in barely decent German apology. The smile fading partially at the errors he could hear. Hopping down and moving towards his own room adjacent to Dante's.

Dante's scowl didn't let up however as Tavares approached, looking down at the somewhat shorter German, Tavares wondered if this would turn into him getting chewed out again. "Vergeben. Ihre Aussprache ist jetzt besser; you are forgiven. Your pronunciation is getting better, been practicing?" The nod Dante received was almost not seen with his yawn and vision fogging over. "Well alright," the groggy reply, "just keep it down, got it?"

Finger guns and a wink, Tavy watched his floormate shake his head and head back to his room. Deciding he'd probably wasted enough time- he opened his own door, and rushed inside to get ready. Today was going to be a good day. He could feel it.

Training Grounds
Collabers: (Tavy: The Regal Rper) & Milo: Prizzy Kriyze​

It was almost ironic that he, a loyalist, feared being discovered by that which he saw as the Sun in this whole organization. Following Claudia McClaren, a fellow One Star and a friend, Tavares could not help but recognize the irony of his situation. So much rode on him keeping his mouth shut. Lying had been the necessity; to honour the Black Deck by giving himself up and ousting his own teammates that had been with him in the process was the ultimate sacrifice even if it had ended in him growing distant with not just them, but his own family as well. There were plenty of rumors of other Deck Members being uncovered in the past, and like them he had remained faithful. Yet doing so had cost him his connections.

It was times like these that made Tavares ponder just how bad it really could be if Lord Death knew the truth. That a band of retired DWMA agents and some even within his own system within the European Branch were working in an undercover agency to root out the sins that he sought to protect all from. How bad would it really be to let him know that all the Black Deck members, while miniscule compared to EAT- worked every night in more than a few countries? Would it really be so bad? To know that the shadows held its own form of protection that could be offered to the needy could be a comfort.

When it came down to it though, he knew the answer. For it had been explained to him many many times. Just as it had been explained to all members of the Deck. Lord Death could never know the truth of their existence. Rumors and misleading information certainly. But the truth, it would hurt them all.

And contrary to the truth that would hurt all, there was Milo. A simple man, with nothing but a dream, and of course the strength of ninety-nine souls. A dream to heal the sick, be respected and be seen as the wannabe Messiah his clan wanted him to be. Elder Josiah once said, “When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you,” of course, if Milo took that to heart he’d probably stop dressing in super expensive traditional clothing and live luxuriously off of the humble over-donations from the rest of his clan; and now, side-by-side with a meister carrying a secret he couldn’t even begin to guess at, his naïve, out-of-touch gait as he half-danced back and forth across the hall they were walking down, told of his childlike impatience to get somewhere.

“Well that certainly was unexpected.” Milo chimed, driving Tavares away from thoughts of inner rumination as they made their way through DWMA. “Five years in proud service finally pay off!” His words were bitter, but his smile and tone were genuine as he stretched his arms above his head. It was in fact surprising. Milo had had several issues with his education, ranging from his own sociability to becoming the target of witches and needing to hide away. Initially he’d refuse to be handled violently by Meisters, but that notion had quickly been suppressed when he realized that was most of his purpose here. Lately though, he’d had a string of bad luck with his Meisters taking injuries or simply giving up on DWMA.

This, on the other hand, was a unique opportunity. Perhaps they’d been a last minute choice, but Milo had still been chosen for the most prestigious classes there was! If only Tavares kept up with him, he’d be a Death Scythe in no time! He looked over and peered into the glimmering, shiny soul of the man walking besides him. “Are you not excited, Mr Castelo? I’ve heard good things about your abilities as a Meister, and the magnificence of your wavelength is not lost on me! Together we’ll become a masterful duo, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Mmmm", the response was rather short and lacking enthusiasm. Distracted almost. Milo shot him a bored glance and pouted with his lower lip. As if realizing how he was sounding, Tavares shook his head and ran a hand through his green hair and offered Milo an apology. "Sorry," the r's rolling. "I was a bit concerned that I had been called in for something I did a while ago."

“Patience is a virtue, you are free to mind your own business.” Milo nodded. The chuckle that followed from Tavares was filled with relief. "Anyway, let us start anew. I believe dis is our first time meeting. I am....curious, if what I recall is correct you are quite strong if my memory of the local vine is not wrong no?”

“I have the greatest, or perhaps largest soul you’d lay your eyes on in the entire DWMA my friend, but strength comes from so much more.” He reminisced to his first year at DWMA, and how every trip up and down the staircase had him chipping for air. Milo wasn’t physically weak anymore, not like how he was back then, but he wasn’t made out to use his strength as a weapon. “But I assure you, that should our wavelengths attune, then you’ll never have to worry about being worn out in a fight again.” With gloved hands Milo pushed the hood of his robes back to reveal a flow of long white hair. Then he held a hand out towards Tavares. “Perhaps, Mr Castelo, you’d like to try it out? I’m quite convinced you run quite a bit faster than I do.”

Adjusting his glasses, Tavares couldn't help but grin as they made their way towards the general meeting location of their peers. "I'd be honored to give it a try Sir Samael. So long as you have no problem with my kind of approach, I believe we should get along smashingly." Milo retracted his arm and gave Tavares a mildly annoyed look.

“My surname is ISMAEL, you cretin.”

That one word, made any friendliness that the Meister expressed vanish as his face shifted to mild surprise, and then instantly blank scrutiny as lips thinned into a minor frown. Yet despite the surprise at the sudden insult, Tavares continued his pace nonetheless. Staring at Milo in a new light, now eyeing him up and down. As if he was just now acknowledging the clothes he wore, how he walked, and even more- the annoyed look he was receiving. Milo wasn’t ignorant to his change in tone, as he continued eyeing him out of his periphery. Still, his clan was a touchy subject. Milo wasn’t about to compromise on that point.

For all intents and purposes, Tavares stayed silent for a moment. Clearing his throat as he adjusted his glasses, and offering a small smile as he turned his attention ahead. "My apologies, I misspoke. It shall not happen again Mr. Ismael." The 'mr.' in particular adding a touch of coldness compared to the receiving 'sir' that had been used before. Milo continued to quietly observe for a couple seconds longer, then broke back out into his wide smile, snapped his fingers and pointed to Tavares in an attempt at some form of comedy. “Appreciate it, Sir Castelo.” He added, with just enough implied understanding to try to keep his partner guessing. After all, if it was a true partnership, then only resonance would tell.

Not wanting to prompt conversation any further, Tavares remained silent. The small smile on his face stayed present for the rest of the walk out of the building and towards the meeting spot. As he and his new 'partner', a term he knew in this case he would have no choice but to get used to, reached the top they found a layer of ice being melted as the instructor...Erza? He could not recall exactly, but he did watch as their new instructor moved things along. Leading the group towards their first activity and then giving them the instructions of what would be done. Seeing that partnerships had already been made, and teams now split, without bothering to speak to Milo, Tavares simply followed Team 2 towards their safety point. Keeping an eye out on each position of the turrets as he intentionally walked through the firing range before he personally rejoined Team 2. Committing the spots as best he could to memory.

Milo, on the other hand, casually strolled right up to the second group that had gathered at the treeline, still with his arms nonchalantly resting behind his head. “Gooooood morning, friends!” He exclaimed as soon he felt he was appropriately close. “My illustrious self and Mr Castelo over there will be joining you all in the class as well, I’m happy to inform!”

He’d been here for a lot of years, and several of the people present were familiar to him. There was the child prodigy Luka, whose clever mind stood out enough that even Milo’d notice someone so young, and more importantly Aiden - and Milo’s eyes glimmered at the sight - with the most gorgeous soul that the young aristocrat had ever seen outside of his own.

“You doing alright Luka, you little sweetheart?” He laughed and promptly ruffled her hair, before immediately turning over to Aiden. “And Aiden, looking proper dashing as ever. I wonder if you’ll ever share the secrets of your luster with me. Mayhaps it’s just the kind of spice you need in your life, keeping me wondering.” Milo obviously jested, as he immediately laughed at his own comment. Then, a third soul caught his attention from within the trees. “Ooooh! Is that a Lucien I spy over there? He finally got himself a partner? Hey! Lucien! Break a leg! Put on a good show!” He shouted enthusiastically, before seeing a mildly familiar white haired kid get pelted with paintballs.

And his enthusiastic front fell through entirely. His pupils narrowed, and the frozen smile on his face looked more akin to someone attempting to laugh through tears. His threads, his wonderful, invaluable clothes! The tiniest, weakest whisper escaped his lips.

“T-that’s not for us, r-r-r-right?”


Mentioned: Nobody Special
Interacted: Lady Warlock Sir Les Paul QuirkyAngel

 

[Japanime]

Edgar Morgan

As the instructor was speaking, Edgar noticed a flash of dazzling light beside him and the next thing he knew his hands were clasped around a jagged stick. "Interesting." He muttered as he inspected her weapon form. Already he had began thinking up ways to utilize it and situations it would be best suited in. Edgar swung the spiky stick around in the air to get a feel for the weight and range. Within moments, the exercise had started.

Paintballs began firing and his teammates began acting. Edgar used the short time he had to think about the situation and a strategy. Things were quite hectic and the exercise proved to be somewhat difficult. "Stop the turrets..." Off to the side, he could already see the loud white-haired boy being sprayed by ruby-colored paintballs. "Without destroying them..." He directed his gaze to the mysterious forest where paintballs flew from.

"They fire towards heat sources..." A paintball flew towards Edgar but before it made impact, he had yanked off his longcoat and used it as a wall to block the paintball from hitting him. "Forgive me mother. I'll be sure to give it a good wash." He dropped the longcoat on the ground and flipped backwards as several more paintballs flew in his previous position. There was something his partner said that stuck out to him. "Actually that would be incorrect, Adelle." Edgar jerked off his suit jacket and hurled it over by his longcoat. "The longer I'm in one spot, the less likely I am to be a target. The body releases heat when moving and excessive movement only increases heat." Using Adelle, he bashed a couple of incoming paintballs, unfortunately he was struck in the back by one, a red splotch now visible on his black vest.

"Limiting movement would be ideal but since we're being fired at almost constantly, that would prove difficult." Edgar kicked off his shoes and pulled off his formal vest, also tossing them over to his longcoat. He spoke loud enough for everyone on his team to hear. "So, I would advise everybody strip down as much as they can and limit your movement as much as possible!!" Smacking away a few paintballs, he continued. "Maybe we can get a pile of clothing started that will accumulate heat and draw the turret's attention off us. Even a little bit." The black-haired boy pointed to the pile he had already started by his longcoat. He cartwheeled to the side and smashed another incoming paintball. "I'm not sure if it'll work but it's worth a try, no?" He pulled off his tie and flung it to the pile.

"If someone can somehow make a fire, that would be even better." Two paintballs hit Edgar in his side. "The way I see it we have no choice but to get close to them. But... Maybe we all don't have to...." He continued to think as he smashed more paintballs, trying to limit his overall movement as much as possible. "You've got an interesting wavelength, Adelle. You with me? If so, I remember you mentioning something about a plan earlier. I've sorta got one. It all depends on the cooperation of our team and what they can do." He crushed a couple more paintballs while also being struck.



Location: DWMA Training Grounds
Interaction: Lady Warlock QuirkyAngel Zedalith CelticHero37 Nobody Special
Mention: Lady Warlock QuirkyAngel Zedalith CelticHero37 Nobody Special​

 

[Nobody Special]

DAI
Location: DWMA, Forest
Interacting: Yuri ( Zedalith ), Vox ( RottenVale ), Lucien & Yuan ( QuirkyAngel ), Edgar ( Japanime ), Adelle ( Lady Warlock ), Grace & Erica ( CelticHero37 )
Weapon: Yuri
________________________________________________________________________________

It hurt. Every time he thought he had a chance to recover and retaliate, the cycle would be reset by the stinging pain of those damned balls. One in his chest, another in his side-- his legs, arms, face, hands... everything was getting hit, and all he could do was helplessly stand there and take them like some kind of weak rodent.

Annoying...

Dai was angry. As he stood there, he thought about many things: Ripping these machines apart one by one, how he must have looked, and so on. But the most important thing that came to mind was the faces of the members of the second team as they watched from the sidelines. Were they laughing? Watching him in embarrassment? Were they... looking down on him? The pain was enough, but his thoughts did nothing but add fuel to the fiery pit of wrath that burned deep inside of him. Deep in his thoughts, he found himself standing in the middle of this anger, the raging flames of fury burning brightly and surrounding him. I don't care anymore, he thought, I'm gonna break every fuckin' one of those things...

So fuckin' annoying!!!

Just as he raised his partner again, ready to bring the mighty weapon down and crush the turret that had fired the first shot, a voice rang through the flames of his rage. It was loud-- Much louder than the large conflagration he was surrounded by in his mind. And despite only hearing it a few times today, it was familiar.

"What the hell are you doing? Use my chain to block! Move your death-damned legs, mutt!"

Yuri's words weren't the kindest, but they were somehow enough to extinguish the blaze and snap him back to reality. He looked at her, hand now covered in a multitude of differently colored splatters of the thick, gooey substance. Before he could take the time to examine it, Yuri's words rang in his head again. Chain...? He gave the weapon a shake, and the large, spiked head popped off, attached to a long steel chain.

"...Huh?"

He stared blankly at the new discovery for a moment, even taking a hit to the abdomen with little to no reaction.

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?!!"

Immediately, he began swinging the handle of the weapon around at a high speed, using Yuri's chain as a sort of spinning fan capable of deflecting the projectiles being shot at them. "Haha! What the hell?! Yuri, I thought you were just some sort of big-ass stick or somethin'! This is fuckin' amazing! I really lucked out gettin' stuck with you, huh?!" He was back to his old self. Now that he knew he was capable of defending himself, he used his free hand to examine the substance he'd been getting hit with. Was this... paint? He'd been bitching and moaning over mere paint this whole entire time??

"PAINT?! Paint ain't nearly enough to hurt me! Sorry, team, I'm back!" He called out to the rest of team one, still spinning Yuri as he yelled. He was embarrassed, but his embarrassment was quickly overthrown by his pride. It was just paint! If he was the type of person to let paint get in his way, he'd never create a death scythe. When his partner's orders came, he nodded enthusiastically before reeling his arm back and shooting it forward, allowing the morning star-esque head of the flail to fly forward and land behind the turret closest to them. He was virtually defenseless now... or was he? As soon as another paintball came flying towards him, his free palm began to radiate with an electric-like current, and he swatted the ball with his soul menace, grinning as the capsule was reduced to a small explosion of red.

In terms of plans or ideas to bring the exercise to an end as quickly as possible, Dai's head was empty. Luckily, the others seemed to have that covered. The boy with the slicked back hair (was his name Edward?) shared his thoughts with the group, all while energetically deflecting and cartwheeling away from the incoming projectiles. Dai destroyed a few himself with his soul wavelength, sucking his teeth at the mention of stripping. "Fine, but you better not be some kinda freak! I'll end you if I see you starin' at anyone for too long." Although he said that, Dai personally had no problems with taking his clothes off. He set Yuri's handle on the ground and removed his thin shirts and his shoes-- opting to keep his pants on for the sake of everyone else, and tossed them into the pile. As soon as he did so, he was struck on the forehead, painting the top of his head blue and prompting a loud exclamation from him. He reached down to grab Yuri's handle again, breaking another paintball as he rose to his full height. "I can make a fire with some sticks, but I can't promise it'll be quick. Yuri, you seein' anything over there?"​

​

 

[Lady Warlock]

Luka Baines

The youngest meister among the newest class of DWMA students had followed along with the class’s movement into the forests surrounding the school that had long been her home and once they settled in a familiar clearing, Luka’s entire body seemed to become more comfortable. She’d been here before. She’d made some pretty significant breakthroughs here before.

FlashbackUpon attending her first DWMA lecture, Luka recalled finding herself entirely confused by the contents of the classes because it didn’t match up with her expectations at all. She expected to train herself with weapons, but all this nonsense about souls wasn’t that in the slightest and it didn’t make sense to her. Unsurprisingly, Luka had found herself trembling uncontrollably in the middle of class and then been quickly reduced to a mess of tears as the teacher had tried to deliver a lecture about “sound souls and sound minds.” None of it had made any sense to her and did not match up with anything she’d wanted to learn about while she was at this prestigious academy. Once they saw how bad it had become, the teacher had dismissed the lecture and helped her through the emotional distress of it all. And when she was calm and tried to explain her frustration - not very well because words were hard - he seemed to get it even though her language skills weren’t perfect.

That same teacher - not Professor Ezrah - had found a demon weapon student and had them take Luka here, to this very clearing. He’d made sure it was one with a flexible soul who would be able to work with Luka and he made sure it was a weapon she would know how to use. The only real instruction he had given her was to swing him around a bit and figure out what she could learn from the experience. She was guiding her own learning, in a sense. Though the weapon student had clearly been hesitant about putting his form in the hands of a then ten year old, he’d gone through with it and Luka found herself wielding a quarterstaff that was almost twice as long as she was tall. She nearly lost her balance the first time it landed in her hands.

Something shifted as she held the demon weapon in her hands, though. Unlike other weapons she had experience with, this one seemed to shift at her very whim in a manner she hadn’t dealt with before. Its weight shifted so that she could manage it without her even having to think about it, as though their souls knew the problem and worked together to fix it. Experimental swings turned into deadly slashes and as Luka had unleashed all her knowledge of what a quarterstaff could be upon the trees around them, leaving what looked like bruises in the bark, she could also feel an echoing sense of awe and admiration coming from within the weapon itself.

‘Luka,’ a voice had interrupted her mid-swing and it took her longer than it should have for her to realize that it was the voice of the weapon she was wielding. It had frozen her in place because in the midst of practicing, she’d completely forgotten that her weapon was also a person and she felt awful for that error because it seemed highly inappropriate. ‘Calm down, Luka. You’re amazing, you know that?’ Apparently this weapon had been briefed on some of her challenges in life. Of course. ‘Your soul makes everything so much clearer. Had you noticed? Vision, sound, touch, smell…’

She hadn’t noticed, but now that he pointed it out, Luka tried to study the area around them. The sounds of her beating on the trees had certainly been loud, louder than it should have been, and normally that would’ve been overwhelming for her, but in the moment, it hadn’t been. She could also see things more clearly. It was like everything she saw was now in an even higher definition. “That’s not normal?” she inquired. Even though she couldn’t see the weapon’s human face, she could sense that he was shaking his head. Apparently it wasn’t normal. “Huh.” She was pleasantly puzzled by the situation. “How is this possible?”

‘Souls. Everyone has one. Every soul has something unique about it. No two have ever been the same.’

All that stuff that had been so flustering in the lecture was starting to fall into place and Luka suddenly felt even smaller than she already knew she was. How much more was there in this suddenly supernatural world that she knew absolutely nothing about and was she capable of fitting into it with all that she was lacking in herself? Though Luka had plenty of confidence with wielding weapons, could that confidence ever continue to apply in a world that was suddenly so much more complex than she’d ever dared to imagine it could be? Although her weapon partner could sense all the hyper-critical questions floating through her mind, he didn’t disrupt them or question them. They seemed like natural things and they were also completely normal feelings for someone to have. Although she tended to feel things stronger, from what he could guess, than most people did, that didn’t mean she didn’t have a right to feel them. ‘There’s more to it than just that, though,’ he finally added in after he felt like he’d offered enough time to process. ‘If you close your eyes, you should be able to sense my soul. Everyone notices them a little bit differently, and in time, you may be able to see them for yourself too. Match your soul’s rhythm to mine and see what happens.’

The way he said it made it sound far too easy to be truthful, but Luka had been surprised by everything else she’d discovered during this little adventure so far, so she wasn’t about to outright object without giving it a shot. Her grip on the quarterstaff tightened as she closed her eyes to see what she could discern. What it appeared as was a soft, rhythmic thrumming that she almost felt more than she heard, but she could hear it, too. The young girl did what she could think to do; she let that sound, that feeling, immerse her very being and soon enough, unbeknownst to her, the weapon she held in her hands started glowing and growing. It’s reach extended to excess and she heard his words again. This time, though, they were clear as day. ‘Well, would you look at that?’ he mused in awe. He’d practiced with many a meister on this specific task and Luka was the first one ever to accomplish such a thing on her very first try. ‘Luka, open your eyes.’

Doing as was requested of her, Luka glanced at his weapon form and her own eyes widened in shock. She did the only thing she could think to do after that. She gave it a good, fierce swing. A tree fell down that day.

Kicking at the dirt and grass beneath her feet, Luka could very vividly recall where the tree had landed after that unintentional moment of destruction. There were no signs of it anymore - the school made sure of that - but her memory filled in the gaps. In her absentmindedness, she did miss some of the explanation as to what the exercise they would be doing was, but her attention returned fast enough for her to understand they would be doing it in two different runs. Fortunately for her, Luka did not hear her name in the mix with the first group which meant she was going to be going second. That meant that she could figure out what was going on in the interim.

Luka was briefly jolted out of whatever little world her mind had been existing in when someone familiar intentionally touched her without asking permission and without making sure she was prepared for it. Whoo-wee. If it was possible for smoke to come out of that little girl’s ears, then that was precisely what was happening. Unexpected sensations were not welcome as far as she was ever concerned. Just as quickly as he’d ruffled her hair, though, Milo’s attention had shifted elsewhere leaving it rather difficult for Luka to properly scold him. “He knows I don’t like that,” she grumbled rather unhappily. Her arms absently swung out to grab the hands of both of her partners, not really considering whether or not they would be ok with that because her mind was still meandering more than a little. She guided them into the trees where they could observe and then she released them and pulled out another apple to munch on. Luka had finished her first one while they’d been travelling.

Turning to face them, she decided now was a good chance to explain one thing in particular. “I know we’re partners and I know connections of all types are important, but if you need to touch me for something, ask first.” She shivered at the mere mention and thought of it and then just as quickly tried to direct her attention towards something else.

“So, you’re a sword and you’re a shield?” she asked of her partners. She thought she’d heard someone say it earlier, but Luka needed to verify. Her eyes fixated on the situation unfolding in the clearing and she ate more and more of her apple as her eyes analyzed. “The shield will come in handy so long as we know which way the paintballs are going to be coming from.” Luka knew that watching her back would be difficult though. “What do you guys think?” While her question was directed mostly to Rio and Aiden, it could have very easily been perceived as a question to everyone on their team.

Sir Les Paul Solarknight Mineczka Nobody Special The Regal Rper Prizzy Kriyze

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Sion Noguchi​

"Besides, it's my job as your weapon to stay by your side and support you, no?"

Sion felt a tinge of guilt at the words. She gave herself so freely to him, him who'd only had weapons forced to cooperate with him before. Him who'd only taken remorselessly, to leave burnt out allied behind, if not worse. Her words were positive and her voice sincere, but he felt the unease in her soul when she went to grab his hand. With her no-doubt refined awareness and understanding compared to his prior partners, she instinctively reacted to his wavelength like a bird to an unseen predator. Inside of his mind, for a moment, there was a whimpered sorry.

Then she grabbed his hand.

His fleeting guilt turned to shock and wonder. The cobbled street, the distant accordion, the rolling hills invaded his mind - not as sounds, nor as pictures on a reel; but as a direct feeling. He was relaxed, the need to worry about trivialities like the sins of his past fell apart and scattered in the mild breeze of her wavelength, pouring into his soul through their physical connection. Everything was going to be alright.

Then she broke the touch, and Sion realized the meager smile that had subconsciously spread across his lips as opposed to Noelle's expression. Concern replaced the joy he'd momentarily felt, and he slowly let his hand fall. "I-" He started, but didn't manage to get anything else out before her demeanour had flipped.

"I like it!" She said.

Sion was at a loss for words when she grabbed his hand once more. This girl, what kind of endless well of positivity was she? Her soul invaded his once more and laid his worries to rest, albeit slightly less with Sion straining not to take away from her. For a moment he wanted to say a plethora of things, ranging all the way from calling her an idiot to thanking her, but in the end he choose not to say anything at all; instead opting to close his now slightly ajar mouth and giving her a relieved nod. Wavelengths, as it seemed, were powerful things.

------------------------

Sion was doing his best trying to remain composed as they wandered towards the wooded area. Generally speaking, he wasn't the type of person to react very harshly to anything. Most of the time he was perfectly content to stay silent and mind his own business. Only, this time, Noelle refused to LET GO OF HIS ARM. Sure, the wavelength was nice and all, but he was painfully aware of what his wavelength did to people, and every time he tried to gently tug his arm away he was reminded of how steely her grip on his forearm was. Get a hint! He thought, Or stop trying to be a hero, whatever you're doing. but he couldn't bring himself from actually voicing his opinion, lest everyone around might get a better look at them - having only met minutes prior - essentially holding hands.

When they finally arrived she started to speak, and Sion's interest was piqued. She mirrored his own foreboding way of talking and proudly introduced her family, but then her confidence started to fade. Then came the reveal, the source of her current hint of anxiousness. Her weapon form was that of an umbrella.

As she lowered her eyes in something akin to shame, the corner of Sion's mouth slanted upwards; but he didn't laugh. She finally let go of his arm, and he patiently waited for her to finish her explanation. Only after he'd waited a couple of seconds to make sure she was completely finished, did he speak. "Huh. Dope." His sly smile was replaced with a more aloof one, and he gestured with his newly freed arm as he continued, "Sometimes when one of the tutors were away, me and the boys used to play around with weird martial arts. Bartitsu's this weird British 'gentleman-ly' one where you use canes and shit, so I'm at least a little familiar."

Sion shifted his stance and placed the hand on his hip. "I thought I was going to be bored, coming here and having to make do with only one or two weapons. Guess the egg's on my face." In an attempt to replace her confidence with his own, he raised his fist palm side up until it was at chest level, and returned to his sly smile. "We'll be fucking dope, Noelle." He kept his eyes fixed on her for a good few moments, making sure that his point had landed, before his smile dropped and he added, "But fuck, don't hold my arm and torture yourself like that unnecessarily. I'd rather you're in good health when the exercise actually starts."

Speaking of the exercise, Sion looked over to see how the other team was doing; and subsequently broke out laughing when he saw Dai get completely pelted by paintballs. At least his team mates seemed to be getting along better, even coming up with plans in the heat of the moment. Sion's attention was caught by the tall dark-haired one that'd kept to himself during the first meeting. By process of elimination, he figured that had to be Edgar. He was moving quickly and impressively, swinging his weapon like it was an afterthought while dodging the hail of paintballs. Still, a couple got through on him as well. For a moment, Sion wondered how he'd measure up. These people weren't a joke. Even Dai, after some trials and travails, manage to get his bearings and move forward.

As he was considering it, two new sounds appeared behind him, and he looked back to discern where they were from. A green-haired boy of average build approached the group, carefully eyeing the ongoing trail in the clearing. He sounded like a lone bird singing; a cardinal performing for an empty forest glade. It was a lonely sound, but Sion wasn't about to go into it. The other one, a taller, regal-looking pale boy, sounded like Tibetan singing bowls and windchimes. He immediately greeted the group and went to bother the young girl, then moved on. Sion's attention didn't linger on him, rather it stayed with Luka, who seemed to be making attempts at a plan.

With a flick of his head indicating for Noelle to come along, Sion approached the trio. "A shield? How big is it?" He looked back to Noelle. "I figure an umbrella can take a few paintballs, if we fight back to back we might be able to keep the paint off of us for a bit. It'll help if there's anyone who can disable the turrets from a distance." He looked over to the other team. "However we're supposed to disable them."

Mention: Japanime
Interaction: Nobody Special Lady Warlock The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul Mineczka

 

[Zedalith]

Yuri Sado

Mentions :
Everyone in team
Interactions:
Nobody Special (Dai)
Japanime (Edgar)

Location :
DWMA

Just short of converting into her human form, Dai gathered whatever sense he had in the interim. Yuri readied herself to give the wild child a firm smack on the back of his head. The act made unnecessary now; Yuri primed her backhand as a precaution—should the boy act out of line a second time. Yet, when Dai uncoiled her chain, she was left dumbfounded for the second time in a very brief period. He was dazed by basic machinery and left stunned about her form; what kind of life did this uncivilized child live to be confused by the most simple of things? Perhaps a more rudimentary education would better suit him.

At the least, the spikey-headed kid had enough awareness to sing her praises at his realization, "you're damn right. Though, I would love to feel the same. You will put on a good showing for now on . . . won't you?" Just before the conclusion of her sentence, her voice intensified to a threatening pitch.

"PAINT?! Paint ain't nearly enough to hurt me! Sorry, team, I'm back!"

What the hell did he think it was? At some level, she could excuse the ignorance of a child. In this instance, Ezrah explicitly stated that these devices were paintball turrets—was he not listening or just that dim? What other sort of ammunition was he expecting from a 'paint' ball turret? Every second she spent with the boy left her with more questions. Best not to dwell on them now, not until this exercise is out of the way.

As the tip of her weapon form soared, she looked back at her meister inquisitively. A few displays of force from Dai's wavelength elicited a gentle hum of approval from Yuri. He looked to be somewhat capable after all—Yuri only hoped it would stay that way. The bulb plummeted on the grassy terrain with a thump, flattening the land underneath. Close in proximity now, the loud strum of the turret's consecutive shots bounded through her mind. Her gaze immediately made sense of a back panel that sat at the rear of the turret. On the top half, a keyhole secured the contents from intruders. An operating panel, Yuri surmised—with a likely 'off switch' underneath. That could only mean that the key hid somewhere near. But would it be worth pursuing? It could be a trap to enthrall the less inventive. The 'off switch' looked to be a win-condition, albeit a time-consuming one. The suited fellow's plan was a touch more appealing due to its expediency. The question was whether their trial demanded that they stopped the turrets fire entirely. Would removing the turrets' ability to harm be adequate?

"There is a panel under lock and key. It would be an easy guess to gather that some variation of an off-switch lie underneath. However, it is best not to divide our focus. It will be a trying task to find a key while under fire." She peered towards her partner to see that he was already amid Edgar's idea. There was no shortage of wood in the great expanse of the forest. There were twigs aplenty scattered about loosely to aid in starting a flame. Overhead, the branches of the forests stretched enticingly. The feral boy's primal eccentrics would come in handy. "If you need wood, bring it to you. One good swing above should send plenty of the tree's branches to fall at your feet." However, There was an issue—the boy would be defenseless against the turrets' fire while he prepped the flame. Without a doubt, another volley from the turrets would greatly hinder his ability to focus. His last display proved as much.

"Form a line! If you're able to push back most of the turret shots, Dai can start a fire. It will give us all more room to think," she exclaimed to anyone close enough to hear. In particular, she looked at Edgar and his weapon, the progenitor of the plan. It was such a dainty little stick he held—could he defend himself with that, let alone others? Still, some level of trust would need to be allotted to her peers. It was a team exercise; working as a team would yield the highest chance of success.

 

[CelticHero37]

Grace Jean Taghan

Erica Grace Taghan​

Mentioned: QuirkyAngel​

When Yuan mentioned that the twins were cute, Grace commented, "Well, we don't get called Hallbirds for nothin'. Let's gang!"

Erica nodded, taking in Yuan's analysis. She overheard a few of the other students as well and added, "We should work off the others. Some of them seem to be missing the teamwork aspect of this exercise. So we might not be able to count on them. That just means they'll have to count on us."

Paintballs started to fly in their direction and Grace had to duck in order to keep from getting hit by one. Although they were holding hands, neither of the twins had transformed yet. Despite their attitudes, both of them were clearly tense. They already had some experience at the DWMA, so the challenge wasn't what had them on edge. They had not been prepared to immediately jump into weapon form. Let alone while resonating with a new meister. If it had just been them, they wouldn't have had to worry about subjecting anyone else to the madness. It was one of those things the twins preferred to talk with someone about first. With all the differences in their personalities, the twins stood united in anxiety over this issue.

Unfortunately, they had no time for such things now. Lord Death knew the issues they faced and had set this up for a reason. As such, Erica did the only thing she could. She turned to Yuan and said, "Yuan, I have to warn you... we're infected with madness. So for right now, focus on me. Okay?" With that, the twins reluctantly reached out with their souls and began to transform.

Water trickled past Yuan's feet as she was introduced for the first time to the Soul Space of the Taghan Twins. Black trees speared into the sky from the marsh below, curving inward at the tops with branches jutting out at misguided angles. Strange lights blinked through the trees as if they were a million eyes looking in. However, the centerpiece of it all was a blood-red waterfall towering as tall as the trees and flowing at such a speed that it threatened to drown the marsh, yet nothing seemed to change for the moment. The waterfall beckoned as if there was a cave with great treasure right behind it. As all this came into view, the rush of the waterfall morphed into an ear-piercing scream. It was as if the pits of hell itself had opened up, consuming what was once a place of natural beauty.

Before the draw got too strong, a hand rested on Yuan's shoulder. As soon as it had come, the scream was muted. In its place was the deep sound of a steady drum that resembled the beat of a living heart with a faint chant of some sort underneath it. The hand belonged to Erica, who then spoke again, "Stay away from the waterfall. Steady. Are you ready?"

 

[Mineczka]

One-Star Weapon, partnered with Luka and Aiden.
Location: DWMA Staircase, Death City → Forest behind DWMA
Interactions: Lady Warlock (Interacted) Sir Les Paul (Interact) Prizzy Kriyze (Mention) Nobody Special (Mention)

It seemed that a miscommunication came in, as Luka mentioned that it was kind-of the point they were here to make both Aiden and Rio into death scythes. Turning to her new meister, her words came through once more, her voice as gentle as ever, "I didn't mean it like that." A pause came, as Rio thought of her next sentence, "It's more an admission that I may not be strong enough to become a death scythe, but will be proud of myself anyway." Ever gentle in her words, Rio didn't want to seem like she was giving up, it was more attuned to her lack of will for combat. Rio hated to fight, hearing nothing but her heartbeat in her ears, feeling the impacts of her body against another, the fear that if she failed, that those she was supposed to protect will most certainly die, while she hid this feeling from the world around her, it ate at her deep down.

Though, with Aiden present, a small vow of confidence set in, Rio didn't have to think of both the attack and defensive portions of the fight, rather, she could hone her sights on those ahead of her, and towards those she had to. Drifting away from her thoughts, Rio followed her fellow classmates to a clearing in the forest that rest behind the school, at this point, she had come back from her thoughts, listening now to Ezrah's explanation of what was to happen.

Paintball guns of sorts were to fire at them, and each team was to disable the guns through any means other than destroying them. Which, on paper sounded easy, though, each gun had a heat sensor on it to direct the paintball gun to the location of those around. A bit of dread came from Rio, who, being a sword, lacked much of the range to even so much as challenge the range of the guns, and being a rather small sword, deflecting the paintballs would not be a viable option either. Knowing she'd be more to the backlines, Rio glanced at Aiden, being he was a shield, his weapon form would be nearly thousands of times more effective than what she could do.

Cutting off her thoughts, Rio felt a smaller hand take hers, looking over, she noticed Luka had taken her hand to guide her two partners to the trees. Gently curling her fingers around Luka's, Rio followed with a small smile to her meister, hopefully instilling confidence within the young girl that was chosen to wield her. In the brief contact, she felt both souls, with Aiden's wavelength, Rio felt weightless, as if gravity itself was no more than just an afterthought. Connecting with Luka, however, her senses sharpened, details were far more easily noted, and it took a moment for her mind to adjust to all the senses. Then came the notion of boundaries, asking before touching her, even though they were partners, which prompted a response from Rio, "I'll be sure to do that then!" As her words lingered in the air, Luka asked their weapon types to confirm what they were, while Rio wasn't quite the type to answer for others, she at least wanted to answer for herself, "Yes, in weapon form I take the appearance of an arming sword. And if I recall right, Aiden mentioned he was a shield." Her words lingered for a moment, as her gaze shifted away towards the clearing, she couldn't see everything, but, could at least see enough.

Then, Sion came over with Noelle, asking Luka of Aiden's size, and mentioning Noelle's umbrella form, it was nice to think, that someone actually appreciated the weapon form of Noelle. Though he spoke simply to Luka, rather than Aiden. It struck her as odd, though Rio brushed the thought aside, as her gaze turned to the team in the trial, watching them closely, seeing what solutions they come up with so that her team can do the same.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Tavares Castelo
~Training Ground~

Suffice to say, now that he was actually paying attention to his would-be teammates, Tavares was certain of it. He did not recognize a bunch of them. All it took was a passing glance to really tell and he was pretty sure that if it came down to it on the field, he'd be working blind with not only people he barely knew to work alongside with, but people he barely knew by name.

The price for skipping so many classes, so many times.

It was a mistake he'd have to rectify since they were all stuck in this class, especially since he had no intention of skipping these classes if this was the kind of difficulty he could expect to challenge him. While running it 'solo', so to speak, had worked in the past it was the mindset of camaraderie he needed here. Let go of the guard and just relax a bit more. At least enough to where he could perform Soul Resonance again like he used to. But y'know, longer than that.

Moving those thoughts out of his head, Tavares began by ticking off the names of those that were gathered here. While he and Milo may have been the last to arrive just before the trip to the field he still had a good look at everyone here. There was Cole, Rio, his own partner, Lucien, Dai, Vox, and Aiden. Then again these were just to list the people that he had attended class with on a few occasions, barely any real interaction that he could recall. The rest were a mystery but time would take care of that as long as he made sure to properly introduce himself. He did not want a repeat of what had happened on the way here.

And as for Ismael, he would allow the blatancy of his partner's insult to slide. Since he had never interacted deeply with Mr. Ismael till now, he would give him a free pass unless it happened again.

Eyes drawn to the field, the show had truly picked up. And what a way in how he had started. Coordination was appalling but then again they were all strangers to each other. Several years ago, in exercises conducted between each Suite group, he could not say he and his own team of that time would have done any better. He had to admit watching each division of Meister and Weapon or Weapons in a few cases handle themselves separately was somewhat interesting though. Dai in particular for all that pompous air seemed to have received a lesson in attention. Something that only made Tavares snicker in genuine amusement. Yet as the story continued, this flare of entertainment, she faded. The clear lack of communication, the disorganization, it made this whole scene almost comedically chaotic. Dai and Yuri's shift especially from what he saw was a pretty decent example- or rather textbook example of a new partnership while the others all seemed to handle their own in different ways. It brought back memories of how Mia and him used to get at each other's nerves all the time when they were first assigned to each other by Instructor Bubasa some six years ago. But that was the past, one his mind was better left not treading on if he and Milo were to join this team on the field after group one had completed their task.

Luka's voice, the youngest of them all, was the one to catch his attention. Listening to the light exchange between what Milo had done earlier and then the one between her newfound partners. Then listening to the one called Sion, if he was hearing the exchange between Noelle and her partner correctly when she pronounced his name. Hearing Sion's input Tavares made his pitch.

"Of the few I attended, Cole was a Gun type Meister. At least that's about az much as I remember." He stated in reply as he looked at Cole and Callah. "My apologies if I did not get that correct also Cole." His eyes shifting to look at Callah, whom he gave a small smile, "and to your partner as well. I'm afraid the statement of fashionably late has put me at a disadvantage here, unless Mr. Ismael can supply input, I missed mostly everyone's name here during introductions. If you don't mind filling me in later, I would appreciate it." With that said he turned his head towards the field and leaned back on a nearby tree.

Satisfied that mother nature had taken some of his weight off Tavares immediately launched into speaking. "To answer you Sir Sion." Statement made with a smile and a inclined head directed towards Aiden. "I have been in a few classes with Aiden before. His form is good enough to provide cover for at most, two meisters in our situation. I say two because well- new partners- plus we tower over the young fille- while our Weapons: Miss Elegante, Miss Rio, Mr. Ismael, and the mademoiselle there" his head nodding towards Callah, "will all be in their Weapon Forms I should hope given what we have seen thus far from Team 1. Consider the differences in our sizes, it will be somewhat of a disadvantage if all of us crowd behind the young Miss and Aiden in my opinion. Unless there are tricks up the sleeve dat I am not aware of, of course. In my opinion though it would be best if one of you provides Cole support in defense. No disrespect Cole towards your skill. This is all just" he rolled his hand, "hypothesis" once he found the word. Adjusting his glasses with a middle finger, the last thing Tavares said was: " I can take the ball of paint but if I am being honest that will simply slow me down. It would be much better if perhaps, Sir Sion and Miss Elegante were willing to accompany me to disarm one of the turrets. That way all members of our team have an offense and defense. These are my suggestions, but I am open to critique i miei compagni."

Observing Team 1: CelticHero37 (Twins), Japanime QuirkyAngel (Lucien) Zedalith (Vox) etc.

Speaking To: All of Team 2. Cole, & Aiden ; Sir Les Paul , Prizzy Kriyze (Sion & Milo) Nobody Special (Noelle/ Miss Elegante) Lady Warlock (Luka/Young Miss/Fille), Mineczka (Monet), Solarknight (Callah),

 

[Nobody Special]

NOELLE ACCESSOIRE
Location: DWMA, Forest
Interacting: Sion ( Prizzy Kriyze ), Tavares ( The Regal Rper ), Milo ( Prizzy Kriyze ), Cole ( Sir Les Paul ), Callah ( Solarknight ), Luka ( Lady Warlock ), Rio ( Mineczka ), Aiden ( Sir Les Paul )
Meister: Sion
________________________________________________________________________________

Intense feelings of regret invaded Noelle's thoughts as she waited for a response from her meister. How was he going to take the news? Would he react negatively, as others have, or would he reluctantly accept her? She found herself sweating yet again, slowly becoming overwhelmed by the suspense.

"Huh. Dope."

Her eyes widened for a moment, before she straightened her face in a forced attempt to regain her composure. Sion continued to speak, and she continued to listen, trying her best to hide any trace of excitement there was. She had to stay professional, so she didn't spook him off with any sudden bursts of joy. His reminiscing surprised her, and it forced her to take a second close look at her partner. Tutors? 'The boys'? She brought a hand to her chin. Perhaps you weren't as lonely as I had assumed you were... She did, however, perk up at the mention of Bartitsu. "Ah, so you're aware of Bartitsu!" She smiled as she spoke, like a child meeting someone who had the same favorite animal as them. "It is a rather... eccentric martial art, so I'm glad you know about it. It will surely come in handy at times." Considering she'd studied many of the martial arts suitable for an umbrella, she had many more suggestions for him. She'd have to quiz him to see just how much he knew later on.

Sion's proclamation of the pair being 'dope' brought a wave of warmth to Noelle's soul. She maintained eye contact with him for a few moments, and responded with an energetic nod. Shortly after they shared that moment with each other, she was (softly) ridiculed for overexposing herself to his... vacuum wavelength. She supposed this scolding was warranted. After all, if she had a wavelength like that, she'd have felt uncomfortable too if someone willingly submitted themselves to it. "Like I said," She replied, raising a finger like some sort of teacher in a lecturing hall. "It is a challenge that I must overcome. I am stronger than I look, Sion." She flexed her bicep-- which only had a natural amount of muscle on it, void of any obvious signs of strength training-- and held onto it like some kind of bodybuilder, before quietly giggling at her own gesture. At least she had some sense of humor. "...But yes, Sion. We will be 'dope'." She purposefully cut out the expletive, shooting a thumbs up at him.

Noelle was... content. Or, would 'pleased' or 'happy' be the better words to describe how she felt? Either way, her notorious RBF expression was taking a vacation, to be replaced by a gentle smile. Aside from Dai, the loud brute from earlier that Sion was laughing at, the rest of team one seemed to be doing well. Despite this, she was still concerned about one thing. Professor Ezrah had mentioned that there would be an 'extra challenge' for them once their turn came. What could that possibly be? As long as the turrets were still in play, Sion would have no problem defending himself from them. Still, the mystery surrounding this unknown challenge was unsettling. It seemed the rest of the second team was having similar thoughts to her, as they'd started planning while she was drowning in her own thoughts. She was slightly taken aback by the nickname she'd been given by the viridescent-haired boy, but she kept her feelings to herself as she listened to the multiple ideas being thrown out. Miss Elegante...

"With my size-- in my weapon form, that is, I should be more than capable of protecting at least one other person aside from Sion." She jumped in with a raised hand, still thinking of ways to get around defending against these paintballs. "Thankfully, the Professor did not make it a rule that we cannot get hit by these, but I would still rather protect as many people as I can to avoid injury." She rested her hands on her hips as she paused, back to the drawing board in her mind, before speaking up once again. "Considering we have two 'shields' on this team, I believe it would be optimal for the meisters of said shields to defend one other person from getting hit while they examine the turrets and figure out how to shut them off. Once the method for shutting the turrets off is revealed, we will repeat the process until they are all disabled. This should be a fairly easy task, no?" She voiced her opinion, but there was still one thing about the exercise that was clawing at her.

"I will admit that I am slightly worried about this 'extra challenge' that Professor Ezrah mentioned. I would like to stick to the plan I just gave-- assuming you all agree with it, but depending on what this 'challenge is', that plan may be thrown out of the window on the spot, leaving us clueless on what to do."

​

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Yuan (Meister)

Harmonizing soul wavelengths, if it was even necessary, was typically the meister’s responsibility as they were the ones trained to sense souls and practiced in wavelength techniques. To wield a weapon with a soul, both souls had to match – or at the very least, get along well enough that they weren’t accidentally shooting their wavelengths at each other. That was the very basics Yuan had been taught when she first held the demon weapon, Yuan, in her hands. He’d taught her everything she currently knew about being a demon weapon’s meister and it was his advice she clung to as Taghan twins transformed.

One or two? It made no difference. Find a balance in wavelength where they could all meet half way. It didn’t have to be perfect. Yuan wasn’t looking for a soul mate, nor was she trying to touch their souls. She just didn’t want her hands burning from soul rejection. The wavelengths of twins were already in sync, perhaps because they were sisters, or perhaps because they were used to working together. Regardless, she didn’t want to make a mess of that harmony so worked towards adjusting her wavelength so that it suited theirs. So that, at the very least, all their naturally produced rhythms didn’t clash horrendously.

What Yuan didn’t expect was to suddenly find herself in an entirely different landscape as her soul was pulled into Grace’s. Was that the effect of the madness Erica claimed both girls were infected with? Or was it her own attempts at reading their wavelengths? Had she accidentally pulled in too deep? Fascinating. Walking along the marsh that was Grace’s soul space, Yuan glanced around at all the tall trees that seemed to curve inward as if trapping her inside…as well as the many eyes that looked at her. It was frightful enough to drive any normal person to madness, but Yuan wasn’t particularly scared. She was used to people watching her. Used to seeing worse.

It was the waterfall of red that drew her eyes and Dongmei couldn’t look away. Red. Like Yuan’s blood. In it, Dongmei saw all blood of all her enemies. Ranmo. Her father. Her siblings. All those involved in killing Yuan. She wanted to bathe in it. Suddenly, she was struck with a vision of the future; She saw herself cutting off the head of a large Crimson Dragon with the twin demon axes. Blood rained from above and beneath her were bodies of her father and his witch wife Ranmao, and all the people belonging to the Crimson Dragon…but it didn’t stop there. Around her were the corpses of the all the victims, both innocent and otherwise, in her revenge-driven path. And, as she drowned herself in a lovely shade of crimson, Yuan laughed. She laughed and laughed and laughed—

A hand reached out to her.

‘Are you ready?’

Blinking, Yuan looked away from the waterfall as the ear-piercing scream died. Erica. Suddenly reminded of where she was, Yuan clapped her face to regain her senses. Madness was more dangerous than she’d thought. “Yeah, I am. Sorry about that.”

She adjusted her glasses and looked around. “So this is what Grace’s soul is like… ” Her eyes returned to the waterfall, but this time with a clearer mind. “And I’m guessing that’s the source of the infection you mentioned.”

Her gaze returned to Erica and she smiled to show she wasn’t too bothered by it. “You girls really are crazy~ Is your soul like this too? Do you come here often?”

Running her black-nailed fingers through her dyed locks, Yuan considered the blonde before her. Her soul had given her a sneak peak at what could happen if she were to wield the twins. If she wasn’t cautious, she could lose herself. Her morality. Her sense of fear. Everything that kept her human. It was a deadly game…but it was also the hand she drew. At the very least, she now knew what to look out for. The rest was up to her own sense of self.

“Honestly, I've got many more questions," Starting with how they got infected in the first place. "And I’d love to look around some more, but we’ve got a lesson to finish and I’d hate to leave our classmates hanging.” Yuan winked. “So I'll be back for the full tour another time.”

With that, Yuan forced a separation of her soul and vanished from the soul space.

***​

When she opened her eyes, she could feel minor aches from where pellets of paint had struck her while she’d been in a trance-like state. Her throat was also slightly raw, as if she’d been laughing aloud. Perhaps she had. Yuan wouldn’t know and it didn’t matter either way. She glanced down at the dual axes in her hands. “Wow! That was a doozy~”

She could see the souls of the two girls touching each other, as if holding hands. An effort to keep the madness contained, perhaps? Balance it out? She could join them, but Erica seemed to be doing a fine enough job on her own and it wasn’t particularly necessary for the current lesson. Yuan took risks only when she had to. Even without their souls connected, Yuan could still sense the rhythm of their respective wavelengths. Thanks to her experience within Grace's soul, she could hear the steady drum like a beating heart in her mind now as well. Identify the oddity she sensed in their wavelengths. That was all she needed. Madness was only one quality of the girls' souls, after all...and not a part she was willing to harmonize with. Not yet anyway.

Removing her glasses, which she couldn’t really see from anyway because of the stains, Yuan folded them into her back pocket and concentrated her wavelength to her eyes. “Soul Vision.”

With her technique activated, she would be able to see the things that were going to happen several steps before they did. Where the paint balls would come from. Where they would land. It gave her an edge when it came to reacting to them. Truthfully, she hadn’t intended to showcase her abilities so soon—and on such a simple task—but she didn’t want too bad a grade on her first lesson either.

Dodging and slashing where she knew the paintballs would be, Yuan flipped behind her target turret and tapped the ‘off’ button with the butt of Axel Grace. “Northern-most turret is off~! Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a key requirement for this one!”

It amused her that one of the faster and more arrogant of her classmates would be the first to be a team player and offer to create a decoy. The bigger the fire, the more likely the turrets were to assume that it was a gathering of students and target said location…but it wasn’t as if their body heat disappeared even if they did decide to take off all their clothes. Not unless they turned themselves into ice cubes. Still, diverting some of the turret fire with another heat source wasn’t a bad idea at all…something Yuan would’ve done if herself if Edgar hadn’t come up with the idea. She enjoyed manipulating things after all.

“We can switch defense duty if you guys want, but please don’t expect us shy girls to strip~!” Yuan called teasingly as she was once more forced to move from a barrage of paintballs. “I’ve only got a single paint-spattered layer on!”

She hacked at a couple of paintballs she knew to be headed to Dai's direction and drew the attention of others, blocking with Axel Grace and Hunter Grace as needed. There were only four active meisters on their team, so two on decoy duty and two on offense made the most sense to her, but it didn't really matter to her what role in the team she played. The future her soul saw didn't change all that much.

CelticHero37
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@ everyone really..