Fandom Soul Eater: The Perfect Order

[LavenderRain]

Jessyka “Bullseye” Volontari and ”Smoky” Skyler Emerson

Skyler’s headache was getting on his nerves. Closing his eyes, he could still hear the voice that was still present in his mind. Fear installed itself in Skyler when he saw, with the help of the eye on the gun, what lay in front of them. “What th-” His voice soon gave out, as fear started to seemingly grip his throat. When he saw the creature leap out at Jessyka, Skyler did something foolish. Turning out of weapon form, he placed himself in front of Jessyka, his arm being in the place of the gun handle.


Skyler would not know fear as teeth ripped into his abdomen, tearing the shirt that he wore to shreds although that wasn’t the half of it. Piercing skin where pearly whites - still smiling at the joy of the taste of flowing scarlet - that sent a wave of pain throughout his entire body, tingling every nerve that the incisors so much as tickled. And the absence of fear wasn’t due to the madness that continued to tear at his mind; it was, instead, due to the pain of it all. The pain of such a thing was sure to override all other emotions, all other thoughts, all other contemplations of existence, as the dog’s teeth clamped down hard before they ripped themselves out of the muscle into which they had embedded themselves.


“No…” Jessyka couldn’t even bring herself to scream as she saw it happen because it was too fast for her to do anything about it. Her weapon had practically leapt from her grasp and though she had reached out to grab Smoky, to bring him out of the way, her hesitance had slowed her down, had caused her action to be too slow. The growl of the dog ceased to ring in her ears the moment it’s teeth sunk into her partner and she winced when she heard the teeth tear their way back out.


Skylar’s mouth was open wide, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. His back arched, his eyes closed shut, he only felt the teeth ripping apart his torso, as the fear was gone. He never felt such a pain his whole life, it was too great to be summed up in mere words. His feet giving in, he started to fall backwards, feeling his consciousness slipping away.


Jessyka reached up to catch her falling partner, one hand on his back to slow his fall and the other behind his head to make sure that didn’t suffer too much damage. “Why did you do that, Smoky?” she cried out. “We… I… we could’ve fought it together. You know that I know how to get out of the way…” She wanted to yell at him; she really really did. She wanted to curse at his stupidity and slap him over and over for making her feel so useless, so weak. Somehow, though, Jessyka just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t cause further harm to the weapon who was a part of her own soul.


Her head turned up to the dog that had decided to make a meal of her partner and the meister’s eyes turned to fury although there was nothing she could do. She could hit it, but Jessyka didn’t know how to throw a punch. Jessyka could barely bring herself to keep her arms wrapped around her bleeding partner; her own body was starting to react to the fear it brought into her own heart. All she could do was kick herself back, away from the dog as she tried to vanish into the back of the room, hoping that she could somehow keep her partner out of further harm - although more than enough harm had already been done.


“D-Don’t you dare touch her!” Skylar barely had the power to hold himself awake, but he still managed to spit something out. “I-I can still transform, a-” A loud cough was heard, as Skyler spit out blood, using his left arm to swipe some from his mouth. “-Kick your ass! Even if I die!”


“No, Smoky,” Jessyka muttered to her partner, still crying. “You-yo-you’re hurt.” She put her hand on his chest, saturating her own skin with his blood in the process. “Please stop this! Yo-you d-don’t need to protect me… not now, not ever. We’re a team!”


Jessyka’s head swiveled around as she looked for someone, anyone, who could do something… fight the dog, save Smoky, tell her what she was supposed to do… because she was at a loss for actions. The low growl of the dog still filled her ears and she wanted it to stop. She wanted it to stop so badly, but it wouldn’t and there was nothing she could do about it.


Or so the meister thought. The low growl repeated in her mind and then there was another sound… a sound so awful that mere memory of it was haunting. Skylar’s scream replayed in her mind, bloodcurdling, echoing, a lilting lullaby of pain that played over and over in the girl’s head in such a way that it seemed it would never come to an end. However, over the top of it there was a whisper… gentle and soft. Madness can give you the power you seek… the power to save your friends… the power to win… just give in. Spread the word.


Jessyka’s hands rose up to cover her ears. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide. She wanted to slice everything that had ever dared to scream into tiny little pieces to end the noise in her head. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” The meister screamed to the sky, her arms no longer holding the collapsed figure of her weapon partner because they were flailing in the torment of what she was continually enduring. Her eyes went livid and then for a single moment, her entire body froze.


Skylar fell backwards on the ground when his meister let him go. He could still hear his meister scream, although all sounds started to fade away slowly. Is it the same reason I was screaming? raced through Skylar’s mind, feeling his strength fading away.


Collab with: @AnnoDomini and @DaughterofAthena


Tags: @SummerWolf @Kyra @Stormborn Targaryen @The Succubi Queen @Refaulted @Ariettie

 

[Lady Warlock]

Outside the Cave...

Collaboration with Sunbather

​

Um… hello? I do apologize for the loudness of my students. They can get a bit...rambunctious. So, if you aren’t seeking a fight, then what brings you here? I can tell you my students are reacting because you’re a witch and witches don’t tend to be too friendly to them. I can’t expect them to be the kindest in return… Hiro Mitsaki

Are you going to answer or shall we attack once more!? You may have dealt with Ivy’s first attack, but all of us can pack a lot more of a punch than one attack may lead to believe! Xander Traynor

Asa’s neck had swayed to the side in a rather uncomfortable looking manner, as her piercing eyes flickered back and forth between a man who appeared - and then confirmed - to be the leader and that awfully confident student. A few squirmish steps followed, before Asa’s stranglehold onto her own wrists loosened and she directly stared at Xander with her eerily empty eyes. “You’re too loud.” Her lips barely moved, yet her words were said with great emphasis, appearing weirdly command-like. Xander’s words themselves seemed to be of no worry to the witch, as Asa did not give him a second look, instead towards Hiro.


“I…”


Asa fidgeted around, eventually gripping into her long, cloak like attire, as if she had to hold onto something so tight that her distress poured out of her clutch. The frowning grimace spoke a clear language - Asa wasn’t too happy with sharing her mission’s details. Instead, she focused on a string of words that stood out to her.


“You always attack us…” Her tone was sulking. “Yet I’m not doing anything to you. You’re kind of rude… Why would you do that?” Her accusing words mixed with the almost childlike pout gave her a comical appearance, making the ensuing silence all too awkward.


Hiro sighed and once more his eyes fell to the back of Ivy’s head as he regretted not having stopped her attack before it even happened. Turning his attention to the witch as she spoke, he couldn’t help but notice the oddities about which she carried herself. She didn’t seem to fear them and she didn’t seem to be unable to deal with them either; in fact, judging from the way she had dodged Ivy’s swing, Hiro was fairly certain that if she did want to fight, it wouldn’t be the easiest task in the world to keep everyone who was there safe.


Finally, Hiro reiterated, “My students have had enough experience with witches in the past to know better than to leave one free to attack them from behind without knowing their intentions. So, why are you here? Why just stand by and watch us approach?”


Asa began to mumble barely audible words over and over again. “Rude… so rude…” Almost like an impulsive chant, she upkept the mantra, and if she had spoken any quieter, one may have been inclined to believe she was trying to cast a spell. Nevertheless, against the odds of her own words and the absent-mindedness in her eyes, the witch seemed to have paid attention just fine. “Because I was… I was told to come here.” she replied in the tone of a murder confession. Her oddly elongated left arm wrapped around her upper-body, Asa stumbled back a bit, still dodging any and all direct eye contact. “What would I do instead of watch you approach?” Her question seemed genuine, as if she was requesting help in devising a gameplan. “Why would I do something else?”


Hiro shrugged, becoming very confused at the entirety of the situation that faced him. Glancing around at the other students, he wondered if any of them were just as confused as he was. None of his confusion showed through, it couldn’t because he was their leader and if he seemed out of control, the others would not be at all comfortable in their situation. However, just because none of it showed through didn’t mean it didn’t exist.


“Most witches seem to know to fear a group this large from the DWMA,” he sighed. “Although apparently you do not. You did not hide… your soul was left in the open for all to see and my students are not so fresh as to miss the wavelength of a witch.”


Hiro watched her for a moment as he slowly began to realize that she wasn’t a threat, at least not to their group. “I’d rather not fight you if we don’t have to, and it doesn’t seem like you want to fight either…?” he left the statement open, almost hoping for confirmation of it. “So what do you want? Do you seek the tome same as we do? There is nothing else of significance within Deanna’s cave, nothing that I am aware of.”


Asa’s posture had taken a hit once more, her back awfully hunched. “I…” She brought her almost arachnoid-like hand up to her face and bit down on her own finger’s knuckles, stressed out and unsure how to behave. Stuttering a few shreds of attempted communication, Asa eventually gripped into her pitch black hair and nodded reluctantly. “Y-yes… I am…” Her breathing hitched, then became short and fast in response to her confirmation.


Her panicked expression disappeared from view as she twisted three quarters of her body and turned around to look at the cave entrance. “I c-can’t get in…” There was a sense of despair and hopelessness in her speech now, one that was not present just moments ago. “What do I do?” Again, that childishly innocent sincerity sounded through her question, helplessly begging for aid from her - more or less - opposition.


Hiro raised an eyebrow and turned to glance at the cave, just barely seeing the figures of Roland and Warren disappear into its depths. Can’t get in…? It seems they are not having the same problem… His attention turned back to the witch as he analyzed her further. She seemed very uncertain of herself and almost… almost afraid. “It seems that we can,” he replied, making his voice loud enough that he hoped Warren and Roland would hear him. “Although we need the tome as well.”


Hiro watched her closely as he spoke, wondering what kind of reaction she would have although he added further explanation, “It contains information that Lord Death requires. That is why I’m going to send my students to retrieve it and bring it back to Death City.” Hiro’s eyes flickered to the students around him, hoping they would understand that although he was speaking to Asa, that statement was meant for them. He knew well enough that he could handle the witch if needed, now that he had spoken to her more in depth.


Asa had remained relatively still as Hiro spoke. Then, however, her head followed Hiro’s glance, causing her own eyes to widen a little. “No!” She screamed out in what seemed to be a mixture of panic and anger, and rushed towards the entrance of the cave. Her hurry didn’t suit her behavior nor body at all, making her appear goofy at best and flat out uncanny at worst. Her hand reached out to where Warren’s figure was a few yards ahead of her, only for her to sink to the ground out of thin air. “Ooou… Hmph…” Holding her hand against her covered up face, Asa seemed to be hurting. A few moments of silent suffering passed. Then, the witch’s head turned towards Hiro. “I have to get it back! If I don’t, they’ll…” She bit down on her lower lip and, though none of the weapons and meisters around her would be able to see it, caused herself to bleed just a little bit. “Please…” The totem seemed of utmost importance to the lanky witch, though she remained ominous in her intentions in its possession.


Hiro made a step towards the witch as she moved towards the cave, his eyes suddenly filled with a certain motivation although as soon as her inability to enter proved to be true, his body calmed slightly. “They’ll… they’ll what?” he asked. “Lord Death requires the book. If we do not have it, some of our students will die in the madness that plagues the city. The book is also of historical importance to our school,” Hiro explained although he was beginning to hesitate a bit. Although this witch did not appear to be a threat, it also seemed that there was someone else involved. And with no idea as to who that was, he was suddenly afraid that he had already said too much.


“If you were to return with us or to us later, I am sure some of the pages could be transcribed for you,” he decided such a thing was fair to say, “after we have looked through them and determined their true importance. Professor Deanna Jones hid it for a reason and we need to find out what that might be.”


Asa breathed heavily, constantly motioning back and forth between desperately staring at the cave’s entrance and Hiro’s face, his words washing over her and taking their sweet time to sink in. “I…” Her mind went to the orders she had received. Surely, if she arranged for the book’s content to be available her doing would be considered a success? Afterall, her order had never been to prevent the academy from getting it… right? The witch propped herself up and slowly staggered up from the ground.


Her mind went through the possibility of fighting them all, but she was sure such a task would be her end. And, even if it wasn’t, the stress of a battle was something she wanted to avoid under all circumstances anyways. Finally, after a what seemed like an eternity, her head moved and she slowly nodded. “I… Okay… I guess… If I get the pages after you, that’s… that’s fine…” The bit of her face that wasn’t hidden seemed to wrestle with the feelings of guilt and fear, but she continued to nod. “P-promise me…” she requested in her - once again - weirdly genuine tone.


Hiro nodded, thinking carefully about how to word his next statement. “So long as the information does not pose a threat to the DWMA or the general population at large, it shall be made available to you in full.” Hiro glanced around him, hoping that by this point, most of his students would have realized he knew what he was doing and proceeded to retrieve what they had originally came her for in the first place. “You can even follow us back if you’d like,” he offered to Asa in addition to his previous statement.


With a curiously tilted head, Asa looked around the group of students. “M-maybe… I, uhm…” Her eyes flickered over to her little demon that now slowly flew back, enchanting her for a moment or two. With a sudden motion, her hand reached out and snatched the pet out of mid-air. “We have to get back… Maybe I… I’ll come with you later… Please… please be careful with it, yes?” It seemed the safety of the totem was of utmost importance to her, for whatever reason. With these words, she slowly backed up, as if to prepare her exit, dropping any and all caution, which clearly hinted at a lack of intent to fight or - in this case - even a lack of interest to defend herself.


@Stamper @Violet Obsidian @Sergeant Sass @Pariah Stark @Orikanyo @sonicfreak101 @DeadgurlXD

 

[Athens]

Undine Isle


So... There was a witch.
​

Undine had weaseled out that fact way before anyone said it out loud thanks to her nifty soul perception; she still didn't understand fully how it works, though. Surprisingly, she wasn't as invested in this revelation as the others around her seemed to be. But after having a run in with madness, falling into a pool of blood, and then taking the corpse of whom the red bodily fluid belonged to, to a morgue with just minutes to spare before heading off on a field trip; all on an empty stomach and with the promise of ice cream

Code Name: Dine Isle


Rank: NEW/NOT Student


Location: The Lone Classroom


Weapon: Aoi/Ponytails


Status: Hugging the Ground

seeming very scarce after all that had happened.


Well, the thrill factor that everyone was caught up on was lost Undine.


At this point, all the purple haired girl wanted to do was go home, eat her pantry bare, and then, maybe, tomorrow she could flip her shit and bawl over everything that had happened on her very first day at the DWMA.


But that was tomorrow.


Undine would have to admit that the majority of what had happened (since the witch's arriving) she had tuned out, staring blankly into space as she attempted to think of anything but food. Food. Mmm, that sounds nice. She was of course failing. I could really go for a sandwich. Or... Like, five sandwiches. And an ice cream. I REALLY want ice cream. It wasn't until the witch began to speak once more that she actually decided to listen to whatever was going on between her and their professor. The witch seemed to be having a meltdown over not being able to get into the cave. Which made Undine curious about why that was, no to mention, it made her even more curious to see this totem inside the cave.


She grinned giggling lightly as she nudged her partner. "Hey, Aoi, she reminds me of you when someone sneezes near you." Her voice was just barely a whisper as she teased him; not wanting the witch to potentially hear and freak out even more.


A bit of discussing later and the nerve-filled witch was agreeing with whatever the professor said and Undine perked up now that the threat (she assumed) was neutralized. She hadn't missed the sight of Warren and Roland slipping into of the cave from the corner of her eye and was eager to follow; standing around had made her a bit anxious. "Well, this is fantastic! Not- Not that the witch not being able to reach the totem is a good thing," She quickly fixed her mistake. "For her... But more so that we've made a compromise and... You know what, I'm just going to follow those two, now!" Undine shot a grin at the others and darted after the two males.


She had only entered the cave and was catching up to Warren and Roland when she tripped on her toes and face-planted the cold ground. Welp, she had definitely held up longer than she'd originally expected... Undine made no signs of moving anytime soon as she laid with her cheek smushed pancake style on the hard cave floor.

"Nnngghh..."

​

@Violet Obsidian @T h e F o o l @Orikanyo

 

[Sergeant Sass]

Alexis “Lexie” Traynor and Alexander “Xander” Traynor

On the Move?

Location: The Cave

Weapon: Lexie Traynor

Meister: Xander Traynor

Overall Mood: Concealed

Tags: @Pariah Stark @DaughterofAthena
​

"First off, name's Aeryn. Kass here is my partner. Good to know names.” The beginning of Aeryn’s brief monologue set Lexie at ease in her brother’s hands; she had been nervous about what silly things Xander might decide to do and she had been unsure as to whether or not there was anyone who would have been able to stop him from his violent tendencies. And Aeryn’s words put that nervousness at ease.


‘It seems we do have a few smart students in our midst,’ Lexie commented to her brother. ‘He seems to have a decent handle on things. I’m surprised I don’t remember meeting him earlier… in classes and such.’


Xander continued to completely ignore his sister’s comments even as he considered his own response to Aeryn’s statements. “True, it is good to know names. I’m Xander and this,” he gestured to the bo staff he held, “is Alex. Actually, we together are Alex.”


Xander could feel Lexie wince internally as he used that name to describe their partnership. However, he also knew that she could feel his subtle silent threat to her, the wrath contained within his soul that would keep her from objecting, that would keep her quiet and keep her out of his own personal affairs. Slowly but surely, Lexie was coming to regret the fact that she had agreed to come with him. She wanted to talk to people, to be seen for who she was rather than to be seen as merely a weapon that Xander would use as he pleased, but such a thing was something he would never allow. Even when he wasn’t physically hurting her, Xander insisted upon control.


Nodding along with everything else Aeryn had said, Xander turned to watch as well and it actually happened that as he turned to face the witch, his eyes met her gaze as she spoke to him. “You’re too loud.”


‘I’m too loud!’ Xander kept his thoughts to himself seeing that Professor Mitsaki was trying to take control of the situation. That’s what Xander believed leaders did - asserted their control. Whether it be subtle or direct, it was all about control with Xander. And from what he could see, Professor Mitsaki was using his words for control, but Xander didn’t like it. “Isn’t he telling her too much?” his objection was quiet and likely unheard by their professor. “And… to let a witch come back with us…?” He very obviously didn’t like the idea.


“That is why I’m going to send my students to retrieve it and bring it back to Death City.” As their professor looked around, Xander could almost feel the teacher’s eyes dwelling on him for a moment and that was all the reason he needed to venture into the cave. He feared that if their teacher actually had a moment to talk to him, Xander would find himself to be in a lot of trouble for being there with his sister.


“Well, you said you were waiting for direction from our leader and that sounds like a direction to me,” Xander stated bluntly. “You coming?” The boy started walking into the darkness of the cave without looking over his shoulder.


As he turned around, the slightest whisper came from the weapon in his hand. “Please…” Although it could not be seen, Lexie received a stern glare from her brother in response although it was to a point where Lexie didn’t care. She didn’t want to go into a cave of strangeness alone with her brother.

 

[Pariah Stark]

Collab Post

DaughterofAthena & Pariah Stark


Kassana & Aeryn


Duo (Red Streak)


Cave Entrance

@Sunbather
​

In Kassana's focus on Professor Mitsaki, none of his conversation with the witch was lost to her. Actually, she was probably understanding where there professor was coming from with some of the things that he said better than some of the other students were given the fact that her focus was on his soul wavelength and his soul wavelength alone. Sure, her perception still needed work - a lot of work - but there were things that even a newbie could grasp with ease. And Kassana was quite surprised to realize that nothing their professor said was hostile; he was actually trying to sympathise with the witch standing in front of them, trying to work with her to produce the best possible situation.


Her memories flashed back to the few classes she had been in that were taught by Professor Mitsaki for a moment, confused as to whether or not she was seeing the same person. In classes, it had always seemed like he never wanted to be there. All of his lessons were poorly constructed at best, his teaching style was entirely bland and he had paid her almost no attention at all. And she knew the last part because she had never once been yelled at by him for reading completely unrelated material in the middle of the classroom. Now she was watching Professor Mitsaki and she felt like he was completely different. He was kind, and he was observant - somewhat - and he seemed to care about something.


Briefly, Kassana wondered what the other students saw now in their professor and she thought back to something Aeryn had said earlier. 'Take note that in the future, learning to keep focus of multiple targets is a must,' he had said. She wished she knew how to do that. She wished she felt confident enought to try to focus on both their teacher and some of the others, but she just didn't feel like it was possible. Sighing internally, she decided it would be best to maintain focus on their professor for the time being.


While he could feel that Kassana had a few mixed feelings - yearning to push her boundaries, some impression of the professor and an odd feeling of ease from the lack of hostility - Aeryn was becoming somewhat livid. If the field in front of them were a chessboard, then their professor would have just toppled over half his pieces just to make a move. Prior to his short speech, there was no knowing if the witch knew of the situation at the DWMA - but she did now. Obviously, the Witch wanted the book for the same reason and regardless of which pages of what informaton she wanted, giving it to her was dangerous. It was easy to read between the lines and understand she was working for a greater force. If she was part of something - anything bigger than her - than agreeing to give out information was nothing less than a liability.


"In one fell swoop, you explained the drastic situaiton at the DWMA to this Witch. What if she didn't know, professor? Listen to her; she's obviously answering to someone else. What if they didn't know? What if you let her go and she explains what she just heard to someone that then orchestrates another attack? She is a Witch, after all, and Witches work with other Witches," Aeryn began to rant. Not loudly, but definitely sternly enough to make himself known. In fact, it sounded like he was scolding the professor if nothing else. "You even want to give her information? Knowledge is power; anything from that book can do us no good in the hands of a Witch," Aeryn added. From a strategical standpoint, Aeryn felt his professor - their leader - just wasted so much leverage.


"What are you thinking?" Aeryn asked. Asked aggressively, even. Not the type of aggression Ivy had. This aggression was almost demeaning. Insulting, even. Aeryn hadn't been outside Lord Death's room long, nor did he know this professor, so his judgement of him right this second was immediately based off his actions, and objectively his judgement of his professor was quite poor.


In a single instant, Kassana's attention was torn away from their professor at an unfamiliar, yet easily identifiable feeling of distress, and surprisingly, it was coming from her own meister. At first, Kassana was completely and utterly confused because Aeryn had, up until this very moment, been extremely calm and collected, someone who she could draw comfort from, and now it seemed as though all of that was gone.


'Aeryn!' her voice cried out through their mental link. She didn't precisely understand what was wrong; she didn't even catch most of what her meister had said as she had been a bit distracted by trying to figure out what she was supposed to do and what could have suddenly turned his demeanor to something that was almost angry. Her mind ran through what their professor had said once again, searching for something - anything - that could have been wrong of their teacher to say because if there was something, she truly did not see it. She tried to remember what was supposed to be in the book in the first place even because that may have been of some importance in their situation.


'A cure to the madness...' she whispered, more to herself than for Aeryn to hear. Of course, she had no idea what else could have been within the pages of the tome, but she didn't see how that alone could be bad in anyone's hands.


Kassana decided that she wasn't going to get anywhere with her own thoughts so she returned her attention to her meister's soul, trying desperately to figure out what was going on and why he might be so distressed about anything. He had said he was going to watch their leader, watch and wait for Hiro to act or for him to tell them to act. From what Kassana remembered, Aeryn had seemed quite certain of that resolve - that it was the best way to go - and now everything she knew about him had changed. 'What happened, Aeryn? Why is everything suddenly so wrong? I know... I know Hiro told the witch what's going on at the DWMA and I get that that could be wrong, but - but...' Kassana didn't even know what she wanted to object to. She just knew that she didn't like the feeling that rushed through her own body as Aeryn became upset.


'Not every answer can be found in a book,' Aeryn told her. 'You have to look at reality to understand. First and foremost, Kass, recall what this Witch has mumbled; something about what "they" will do to her if she doesn't get it back. Who is this "they"? Why do they want the book? Witches work with Witches and this Witch seems submissive. Notice she dodged attacks with no counter attack and waited for us to arrive because she is clueless. She is an underling. A weakling. She answers to someone. Now, Hiro just told her that people at the DWMA are sick and hurt. Students aren't well. He needs a cure for Madness. What if this Witch reports to her superiors and they launch an assault? What if they intend to hit the DWMA while its weak? They now know it because Hiro wasn't watching what he said; he tried to compromise in a way that set us back. These aren't things you can learn on pages or in books; it's common sense you have to realize out on the field. So, yes, I'm a little irritated because through my eyes, someone who doesn't just see teachers as teachers, he just put the DWMA in even greater danger.'


At first, all Kassana felt was relief. Aeryn was explaining things to her again and that was certainly a start to getting back to "normal"... whatever that was. 'All I've ever known is books...' she answered simply at first, feeling tiny in a situation involving giants that couldn't even see her. She didn't like the fact that she felt like she knew so much yet none of it seemed to be of any use to her and once more, she really really wanted to help. 'So, the DWMA is in danger,' she repeated. 'What can we do about it? What Hiro said isn't wrong... if the book contains a cure to madness, then we need it.' She remembered the sight of the madness that had infected some of the school's own students and a shiver ran through her at how terrifying it had been. Her attention turned for a moment to the witch who was walking away. 'And she could lead to an assault from whoever she's working with...' Laying the problems out in front of herself, Kassana looked at the pieces they had.


'What can we do?' Aeryn repeated. 'What can we do?!' Aeryn let out an audible chuckle before raising the slingshot weapon he held in his hand. He pulled back on it, then poured his Wavelength into the leather pad designed to hold the ammunition. From his rage and irritation shone a bright, red light that glowed in his hand while he kept the slingshot drawn. 'Well, to make it simple, we kill a Witch. It's about time I showed you all the strength you have locked up inside yourself that you keep from showing, Kass. From hereon in, don't worry about Soul Perception. Don't worry about arguing. Focus on the energy that I pour into you, and make sure it shoots straight every time.' Aeryn then looked over to Hiro. "I think it's time we fixed your error," Aeryn said with a grin before he darted forward at the witch that walked away. He had her exact Wavelength pinned down with his Soul Perception. If she made a move under her cloak, even, he would make sure he saw it. And, unlike Ivy, he had no battlecry. He intended to get in range, fire, and keep firing until the Witch was no more.


At this point, there was one additional thought running through his mind. A thought kept to himself. A thought Kassana wasn't ready for. 'The Will of Saren must be complete...'


Kill a witch. The thought of it sounded exciting and for a moment, Kassana was more than happy to oblige her meister. She could feel the power that flooded her own being as Aeryn poured his soul wavelength into her weapon form and for a moment, it terrified her. She could feel the rage that filled it. Even moreso, she could feel everything he said - it was more than just hearing him say it. It amplified it. And through Aeryn, Kassana could see the witch almost as well as her meister could. Kassana was finally going to be helpful; she was finally going to be useful. And it excited her.


So many thoughts flooded through her and Kassana made no effort to contain them, no effort to restrain them. Flowing through her like adrenaline itself, she let them be. 'What will it be like to kill a witch? Will she fight back?' So many things existed that she didn't know, that could be answered in this very moment. And yet, an answer came to her right away, before the first shot was even fired, from a memory. '...it doesn't seem like you want to fight either.' It was something Hiro had said and it came back along with something else. 'She's an underling. A weakling.' Kassana thought about it for a moment, realizing that no, the witch would not fight back.


While Kassana had her reservations, Aeryn had absolutely none. Driven by the frustraiton caused by Hiro and even Saren, whom had his own motivation for wanting to fight this Witch, Aeryn was rearing to get this fight going. Even if Kassana was right, even if the Witch didn't fight back, Aeryn had no intention on letting her go. In fact, if he gave in to Saren, he had no choice. If she didn't fight back, then to Aeryn, the fight would be all the easier. Maybe more dull, but still easier. If Kass refused to fight with him, he would end this Witch alone. That was his resolve. Before it got to that point, Aeryn released his first explosive shot from the slingshot, letting the red streak of his Wavelength, amplified significantly by Kassana, fly directly at the Witch from behind. There was no honor in war.

 

[Sunbather]

| Asa Vesper

​

Asa had began to slouch away, off into the copse's covert, intent on, for now, disappearing and reporting her success - Or at least what she perceived as such. One would be inclined to believe that her head was swirling with thoughts, but, on the contrary, Asa's mind was a blank. As such, she was more than open to suggestions and notifications of her surrounding - One that quckly came in the form of her demon's alarmed squeak. There was no time to turn around, though her eyes buzzed with the sound of the particle being shot her way, impossible to evade.


Accordingly, her lanky and thin frame was pushed into the ground, the hit excerting force into her back - straight and perfectly landed, as Asa did not move whatsoever, not even so much as an attempt. Sure enough, many of those present most probably were surprised at the scene unfolding, and accordingly obscure was the picture of the witch, now laying on the flow, immobile. Surey a single hit wouldn't have sufficced? But Asa continued to lay like a corpse on the earthy ground, not moving so much as a finger. The chubby demon flailed midair, hastily rushing around the still body. Until it vanished.


Out of newhere, her body dissolved once again, remaining out of sight for more than a minute.


"Don't", it sounded out of nowhere, just a second before she materialized again, now standing right where she laid prior, strucken down by Aeryn's attack. Now fully upright, her appearance appeared considerably more hostile, more offensive. In the blink of an eye, she vanished several times, each fractional reappearance followed by a word. "Don't." - "Do." - "That." - "Why." - "Would you." - "Do."


Just as her sentence was about complete and she had morphed her body throughout the entirety of the present students, she appeared right in front of her attacker, towering over him with eyes so soaked in hatred that they appeared to darken. "That?" Her back hunched, so that her face was hovering right in front of Aeryn's, she stared at him with a piercing glare, twitching from the effort of holding herself back from eradicating the boy. After a few seconds of eye contact, Asa disappeared in thin air again, this time not appearing anywhere close.

 

[Solarknight]

Thalia “Aerodynamic” Travis

"Thalia, do you feel... er hear... that too?"

Location: Specter Lab

Classification: Weapon

Form: Boomerang

Partner: Kamryn Vessot

Mood: Grimacing​

Thalia wasn’t quite sure exactly what she heard. It was way too quiet, faint and weak. That didn’t mean that she didn’t hear it - she did. She just didn’t understand what it was well enough to quite respond with any more than a simple, “Yes?” If she had eyebrows at the time, they would’ve raised in confusion; however, boomerangs do not have eyebrows.


What happened next happened fast. It was almost too fast. Bright lights filled the room and as they faded, there was a dog. Granted, this already didn’t look like the kind of dog that Thalia would want to run up to and pet. The deep growl emanating from the back of its throat and the oddly creepy smile upon its face were enough of a warning to stay away. And if appearances alone were not enough of a reason to stay away, the sight of Skyler being attacked and the sound of the weapon’s bloodcurdling scream was more than enough.


‘Alright, Kamryn,’ Thalia now spoke directly to her meister through the link of their souls, through the bond that they innately shared because they were partners. ‘Time to do something about this. If no one else is going to take action, then we must.’


Thalia scanned around the room from the blinking eye on the tip of the boomerang as she figured out where everyone was. With Skyler and Jessyka out of the way, Thalia didn’t see any reason why they didn’t have a clear shot although that wasn’t exactly what she was looking for. Thalia searched for Professor Miyako, presuming that if anyone intended to do anything, it was their team leader. Failing to see her through the crowd though, Thalia only saw one option. ‘Throw me!’


@SummerWolf @Arkytior

 

[Pariah Stark]

Codename: Cardinal


Partner: Kassana Silverstream


Classification: One-Star Meister [EAT]


Location: Cave Outskirts


Tagged: No tags

Aeryn was sure that a single shot would not be enough despite seeing the Witch take it directly. More than Ivy accomplished, at the very least, but that thought was for another time. Aeryn was consumed by the moment. More accurately, Aeryn was consumed by the Will of Saren, and Saren wanted this witch dead. He wanted to prove a point. Aeryn was more than happy to oblige. In the brief few moments that the Witch laid on the ground, Aeryn had already prepared another shot, and had full intentions on firing in. However, the second red streak that flew through the air missed. The Witch had dissolved into the ground, and the red blast did naught but create a small crater where she once laid.


Aeryn did not just watch the Witch with his eyes as she used what he believed to be her magic to disappear and reappear in front of him. He felt her reappear, her felt her moved using whatever method she was by feeling her Soul each time she did. He felt not fear as he did this, either. Instead, he observed her Soul, how it vanished, how it reappeared, how she seemed to be dissolving from place to place. Given more time, Aeryn would have toyed with the idea of firing where he predicted her being. Given more training with Kassana, Aeryn would have tried a scattershot to at least hit her regardless. Unfortunately, Aeryn had neither of those things.


Aeryn was sure she would go on the offense, and he began to prepare himself for such. His entire body was tense and he was on edge to dodge whatever strike the Witch would throw from whatever angle he felt it coming from. That was it, too. Not what he saw, but what he felt. When the Witch appeared in front of him, finishing whatever mindless rant she seemed on about, Aeryn was already charging his Wavelength into his palm. Seeing the damage a blast from Kassana did at a range, he was sure it would do more harm than good up close. She was right in front of him, her eyes locked onto his, and Aeryn reacted quickly. A few brief seconds of their eyes had them locked, and Aeryn realized she wasn't attacking - so he did. He thrust his palm up into what would have been her midsection, but before he could connect, she was gone. Entirely.


He didn't feel her Soul. He searched the entire area as best he could, hoping for her to reform herself as she had done repeatedly in front of him, but she didn't. Aeryn knew that feeling already; he had it memorized. Anger and rage seethed throughout Aeryn once he hit the realization she was gone. Not only was Aeryn angry, somewhere down deep inside, so was Saren. Their combined anger caused his Wavelength to spike, and in a moment of heated frustration that might even impress Ivy, Aeryn thrust the hand he meant to thrust through the Witch into the ground. His Wavelength crackled through it, shooting up and causing cracks only a little smaller than the one his combined blast with Kass had created. Aeryn felt no fear, not once. What he felt was rage. Silent, unadulterated rage.

[/color]

The Dark Korner

​

Saren, Szar, Nariel

"I wanted that Witch..."

"She wasn't really worth it..."

​

"Maybe she was. Why did you even care, Saren?"

​

"It had nothing to do with her being a Witch, Nariel. No need to be defensive. It's just... Aeryn let us get paired with a slingshot. Admittedly, she has some force behind her, but Aeryn is more..."

"...melee?"

​

"I was a looking for a nicer word for dull, but that works. Needless to say, I wanted to prove something. Our idiot leader just let her get away, and I wanted to make a point of it."

"Do you believe it is our wisest decision to behave with such petulance right after Lord Death has allowed us outside of his room?"

​

"Besides, we just made headway with Kass. Why put that on the line?"

​

As if I would have let Aeryn get anyone hurt."

"Aside from himself, you mean."

​

"He'd get himself hurt anyway. Not the point. Do you think you acted wisely, Saren?"

​

"Are you questioning me, Nariel?"

I'm merely saying you may have acted rashly, not incorrectly.

​

"Even if so, what of it?"

"Now we're just another hot-headed kid trying to prove something. Aeryn was composed before then, but you wanted to make a point. We could have came out of this appearing to be the most capable instead of the last to react."

​

"We will meet that Witch again and her soul will be ours. Aside from that... this game is far from over."

 

[Sergeant Sass]

Ivy Landvik, Demetri Voclain, Xander Traynor, Lexie Traynor and Hiro Mitsaki

Collaboration with:

@DaughterofAthena and @sonicfreak101
​

You Dumb Ass

As Demetri figured, Ivy’s attack did jack shit. Not only did the witch avoid it but she temporarily blinded Ivy.


‘Now you know how I feel’ Demetri scoffed.


‘Shut up!’ Ivy scowled, but held firm, using her other senses to try and locate the witch.


‘Ivy! Cool it! Attacking this witch is getting us nowhere. We have to figure out why she’s here.’ Demetri continued talking anyway, pointing out the logical response.


‘Stop being so damn reasonable!’ Ivy huffed, but she didn’t antagonize the witch further.


“Ivy’s… always a feisty one. She… she should know now that attacking head on won’t - won’t work.”


“That’s what I was just saying.” Demetri commented, not pleasing Ivy one bit.


It was a brief twang that once again got Ivy’s attention once her sense of sight returned to her. Although she didn’t precisely see the attack, she could hear the electrifying sound of a soul attack - or, more accurately, a soul shot - and the meister turned just in time to see the witch fall flat on her face.


“Dammit! Stop stealing my fights!” Ivy yelled, advancing on the red-haired meister attacking rather than on the witch.


“Ivy! The witch is down! Now is the time to attack her.” Demetri complained.


Worse than Scum

Ivy was about to respond to Demetri’s criticism when the witch disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Son of a…” Ivy was caught short in her curse when she caught eye of someone who had joined their expedition team. ‘Xander? What is that peice of scum doing here?’ Demetri too tensed up when he finally noticed the presence of two more souls. Both Ivy and him had been there when they had arrested the fraternal twins’ father. They were currently not his fondest memories.


Ivy stomped up to the sibling pair and clocked Xander in the back of the head with Demetri, harder than she had hit Warren, but not hard enough to give him a concussion.


“What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You’re. Doing?” Ivy snarled. “I don’t recall Lord Death giving you permission to wield your sister you piece of scum. Now drop her right now before you have to fight someone who’ll actually hit back.”


Xander’s eyes flooded with rage as he looked up to the green haired berserker, holding the bo staff that was his sister in front of him defensively without taking so much as a single step backwards. “You think I’ve never been in a fight before!?” Xander’s voice was a lot louder than was probably appropriate. “I’m here because she wants to be. Not that it is any business of yours!”


“I don’t care if she wants to be here or at fucking Disney World. You are not going to wield her. So drop her before I snap your puny neck!” Ivy cracked her knuckles and stared at the boy half a foot shorter than her.


‘She’s not lying, Xander,’ Lexie’s voice came off softly into the link that she shared with her brother, very unsure of herself and very much concerned. She had no idea whether or not Xander would listen to Ivy; in fact, she very much doubted it, but she felt that warning him was the only thing she could really do about it.


“So… I drop her and THEN WHAT!?” Xander even went so far as to take a step closer to the berserker, his head leaning up so he could continue to look her in the eye, clearly unafraid. “I’d be about as much use as a knife in a gunfight and Lexie would be even worse off! What then, HUH!?”


“Well you can take a fucking hike as far as I’m concerned. If your sister wants to come though, I can look after her. I’d do a damn better job than an abusive asshole like you ever could. So drop her or you’ll get to find out why they call me ‘Phobos’.” Ivy answered, taking none of Xander’s shit.


You Had it Coming

Xander was done. His expression showed that now. Pushing his arms down hard, the boy flung Lexie into the ground, hard before taking a single step back. Never once did his eyes lose contact with Ivy’s and never once did the rage that could be seen there clear up from the green irises of his eyes. “THERE! Ya happy!?” Xander yelled out as he threw his arms out to the sides before falling silent for a moment - just a moment. “Oh wait… I forgot. It’s not my job to make a GIRL happy!”


Ivy didn’t even hesitate. As soon as the words left his mouth, Ivy punched him square in the fact, knocking Xander off his feet and onto his butt. “SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!” Ivy bellowed. “I’LL RIP YOUR FUCKING SEXIST HEAD OFF YOU SON OF A BITCH!”


“Please do.” Demetri commented. “It would be immensely satisfying.”


My Fault

“STOP!” Lexie’s voice rang loudly, flooded with anguish as tears flooded down her face. “This is all my fault…” her last words were a whisper as she started crying. All she had wanted to do was help. The DWMA had saved her life and the only way for her to return the favor had been for her to put up with Xander; if she had to go through that to pay back her impossible debt, it was something she was more than willing to do. “Please stop!” she repeated through crying eyes. “It’s not his fault.”


Xander pulled himself off the ground as he heard his sister talk, his eyes fixating on her in an almost terrifying glare as he ran his hand across his face. His nose was bleeding and he wouldn’t doubt that it was actually broken. Not that the boy really cared, either.


Ivy stared bewildered at the crying girl. Ivy didn’t know how to deal with crying people. Luckily, Demetri stepped in, as he transformed out of weapon form and approached the sobbing girl. “It’s not your fault.” He told her gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We won’t hurt you brother anymore. We’re just concerned about your safety.”


Incident Reports

It was Lexie’s cry that had first gotten Hiro’s attention. Prior to the current fiasco, his eyes had been fixated on the red-haired meister as he tried to figure out what to do about a student who had challenged his command. Even though Hiro knew that he wouldn’t likely do anything about it himself, the new boy perplexed him greatly since Hiro quite literally knew nothing about him. This was certainly an incident that would have to be brought up with Lord Death simply because it was as odd as it was. Hiro would not have given it a second thought if the boy had attacked the witch right away, but to only attack after Hiro had been about to let her go did strike him as curious.


Sure, Hiro had to admit the boy had a few good points, but Hiro was the one in charge and he had handled the situation the way he thought best. Now that the witch was gone, there was nothing he could do to fix it so the boy, whatever his name was, would just have to live with it.


It was almost at the exact moment that Hiro decided there was nothing he could do about the boy who had attacked the witch that Hiro’s attention was drawn to another situation. This one happened to involve Ivy which was more than enough to make Hiro sigh as he started walking over. “Ivy! Demetri! Why is it that whenever I find students fighting, you two are at the center of it?!” Hiro snapped.


“This asshole started it!” Ivy yelled, gesturing at Xander still on the ground.


“Professor, Xander was wielding Lexie even though he never received permission to do so.” Demetri informed Hiro, though he didn’t seem happy about it. Demetri didn’t like being a tattle tale but he drew the line here with someone’s safety at stake.


Lexie rolled up her sleeve, attempting to wipe some of the tears from her eyes although since she was still crying, it wasn’t much help. “It was my fault, sir,” Lexie tried to explain. “I just wanted to help…”


Hiro’s eyes flashed first from Xander to Lexie and then from Ivy to Demetri. Why do I always get stuck with the troublesome ones? he couldn’t help but wonder. “Xander and Lexie will remain outside where I can watch them,” Hiro finally decided after a moment of thought. “You two should head inside. Let’s get what we came for and get out of here before I have more incident reports to write up.” His eyes turned briefly to glance at Aeryn, still unsure of what he should do with that one. “Lord knows I’ve piled up enough paperwork as it is.”


“Fine.” Ivy huffed, glaring at Xander once more before stomping off towards the cave.


Demetri gave Lexie’s arm an encouraging squeeze. “It’s not your fault.” He told her softly, before following Ivy and transforming back into an axe in Ivy’s hand.


@Pariah Stark @Arkytior @Cephalo @Sophrosyne03 @T h e F o o l


(I believe everyone else is already inside the cave.)

 

[Lady Warlock]

Inside the Cave

The cave itself was mostly darkness. Only a dim light was shining from even further inside its depths, so far in in fact, that the actual source could not be seen by those who first stepped inside. However, as each person stepped inside, the light grew slightly brighter. It was quite an odd thing to contemplate although there was, without a doubt, magic involved in the cave’s very existence. That much had been made obvious by the witch’s inability to so much as enter it in the first place.


Walking further in, it wasn’t long before continuing became impossible. A giant chasm stretched its way across the path that would lead to the lights at the end, a giant chasm that was filled with darkness as far down as could be seen. Whatever was lying at the bottom was a mystery to anyone who dared to stumble upon it although anyone with a decent head would know that down was the only way to go. Jumping was simply impossible, such was its vastness.


There were few other things of interest inside the cave. The walls of stone were jagged and rough, suggesting that they had been worn down over a significant amount of time although there was one thing that stood out - a carving, driven into the stone wall itself. Simple enough, it was the outline of a soul… at least, the outline of a soul as a meister would see it. And anyone who glanced at it would be forced to second guess themselves, for the tip of its flame-like shape almost seemed to flicker, gesturing downward into the depths of the chasm.

 

[sonicfreak101]

Warren, Ivy and Demetri

"Warren, are you here? Where are you?"


Warren had actually been moving fairly quietly through the cave… shocker, right? It appeared that the boy wasn’t a complete idiot when it came to anything and everything; he knew to approach an unknown situation with caution, and for the time being, the cave was an unknown situation entirely. However, all of his attempts at silence stopped completely when he realized that others were now following him inside. “Aww… darn it!” Warren whined. “I wanted to be the one who found the book! Me! Not you… you…”


Just as Warren had stopped to search for a word to say, he witnessed Undine fall flat on her face and he couldn’t withhold a chuckle. “...you numskulls!”


Ivy stomped into the cave, still made over her fight with Xander, until she encountered a giant hole, with no bottom in sight.


“Huh, I wonder where the hell that goes?” Ivy mused, trying to peer down into the depths. “I can’t see shit.”


“Welcome to my life.” Demetri scoffed.


Ivy smirked. “Well maybe I should just drop you down? The noise you’ll make when you hit the bottom will tell me how deep it is.”


“Do it and I’ll make you regret the day you were born.” Demetri growled.


“You’re right, that would be boring.” Ivy commented. “You coming shit for brains?” Ivy questioned Warren, before jumping into the hole.


“I told you, I’M NOT SHIT FOR BRAINS!” Warren retorted as he charged at Ivy although he veered slightly just before impact, cannonballing into the chasm in what he believed to be spectacular fashion.


A resounding splash echoed up and Warren’s voice sounded out, “Ewww…”


“What? No one ever teach you how to swim?” Ivy quipped, as she swam further into the cave, ignoring how scummy the water was.


Legend:


Warren talking


Ivy talking


Demetri talking


Roland talking


@Pariah Stark @Arkytior @Sophrosyne03 @TheWeirdPhilosopher @T h e F o o l @Orikanyo @Violet Obsidian @DaughterofAthena @Cephalo

 

[Pariah Stark]

Collab Post

DaughterofAthena & Pariah Stark


Kassana & Aeryn


Duo (Red Streak)


Cave Entrance

@Sergeant Sass



​

A fit of adrenaline poured through Kassana as Aeryn fired and prepared another shot. Being in a fight wasn't anything like she had expected it to be; it didn't feel glorious and it didn't feel anywhere near heroic, but the excitement of it was not something she could readily ignore. Although she couldn't 'see' that their first shot hit, she could sense it through Aeryn and she poured her own soul wavelength into the one that would be unleashed next, combining it with Aeryn's to produce one even more powerful than the first. Unfortunately, that shot never hit. Well, it hit the ground, but that wasn't what they had been going for - not at all.


She heard the witch before she realized where the witch had reappeared to and word after word, adrenaline slowly faded from Kassana's being. Their first shots had been against someone who Kassana had been lead to believe was not a threat, and the words that she heard now were not in alignment with that belief. Now, suddenly Kassana was afraid and as she sensed the witch move throughout the crowd of students, appearing right in front of her meister lastly, any stability that she had gained, any confidence in herself, it all snapped just like that. This was a witch... and she had never fought anything less. Who was she to think she even stood the slightest chance even with a meister who knew what he was doing... if that was even the case.


Kassana could sense everything even though she didn't quite realize that that was what she was doing. She could feel power building up within Aeryn's own soul as he moved to strike at the witch. She could pinpoint the exact moment that the witch had completely vanished, leaving nothing behind to show that she had even been there in the first place. And she could feel the rage that rampaged through Aeryn after that, rage that seemed to come out of nowhere. Rage that didn't come anywhere close to something Kassana would have believed to have been caused by Hiro's mistake, it was flooding everywhere, clouding Kassana's own thoughts and she didn't understand it.


She didn't understand it and she was afraid. The witch was gone and still, she was afraid. Although she didn't quite realize it, her fear had gotten to a point where it was flooding her own soul, battling with the rage that fought inside Aeryn.


The rage that filled Aeryn came from a source that Kassana could not have understood even with more practice; the most elite of veteran with Soul Perception wouldn't be able to understand it, either. The rage came from within his soul, but it wasn't necessarily his own and that would throw anyone off. No, the rage wasn't his. At least, not all of it. The was shared between both Aeryn and Saren it fed off itself, creating the blinding force he had when he smashed the ground well beyond his normal ability. However, the conference in the Dark Korner and the realization that the Witch was gone was enough to bring Aeryn down from his wrathful high and ground him into the small, smoking crater his fist had created and the crumbled earth around him along with it.


Several moments passed. As Aeryn cooled down, he also stood up. He could feel his mind clearing and through it he could begin to feel Kassana and her fear. While he didn't have much cohesion, at least not yet, he managed to let out a mental mumble: 'everything is okay, Kass. Just wait.' He was also aware of the others. The group fighting amongst itself, but he had no idea what it was about nor could even begin to figure out who he thought was right. He was still coming to, shaking off the rage that was in all honesty a manifestation of the willpower Saren possessed. Aeryn breathed in and out, letting himself simply return to being himself. It was relaxing. Soothing. While before he was focused and on-edge, observing every little thing around him, he was now in near-solitude as he collected himself. This was a moment of mental serenity - potentially for both of them.


In the second that Aeryn spoke and tried to comfort her, Kassana's entire being perked up. It was not initially out of any feeling of comfort she had received from his attempt at reassurance, but rather, she was still driven by fear. Fear of something she didn't understand was something Kassana was all to susceptible to. 'It's not ok!' she adamantly objected, her own fear increasing as her emotions rose. 'Th-that was terrifying! Wh-what was... no... no, it is not ok!'


Her entire being was on edge although as Aeryn slowly began collecting himself although the calming process was beneficial to her as well. The feeling of calm, even though she didn't exactly want it, washed into her being as it took over her meister. Fear turned to despair although the distress itself remained, failing to dissipate into the cleansing wave that washed through her. 'If that is the power you wanted to show me, then I don't want it,' she finally whispered. 'I don't want it at all.'


'Hm? You wanted to be a hero,' Aeryn said as he looked down as Kassana, her slingshot form still in his hand. 'Some idol... I believe,' he added, breathing in deeply. 'This can go in one of two ways,' he explained. 'Direction one, I can tell you that most normal people would be scared after an encounter like that and you have a whole lot of time to become more comfortable with it. You were thrown into the water, and I will admit that while I do wait for prime opportunities, I sieze them without hesitance. Maybe at a pace you were prepared for.' Aeryn shrugged a little. Kassana couldn't see, but it was his body language nonetheless. He was clear-headed now, so this conversation had no reason not to proceed.


'Direction two, I can tell you to just settle for the NOT class, get through the DWMA, and then tell you to attend some big university afterwards. Lord Death told me all about transfer programs, and how affirmative action tries to keep weapon opportunities equal in the workforce. You're a smart girl, Kass. You could be a doctor or a lawyer, maybe. Anything you wanted. And, if you don't want this lifestyle, that might just be the place for you,' Aeryn offered her, explaining option two. He was blunt about it. She could give up or keep going, but the decision was hers. 'I'm not one to waste time. I think you could become a useful force as an EAT student; most of the others seem like idiots. On the other hand, I don't doubt you could benefit humanity serving one patient at a time in some hospital, either. Your call,' he said, finishing his rant.


Throughout it all, Kassana couldn't hold back a smile as she finally began to feel like herself again, always asking questions that seemed to have far longer answers than she ever expected to receive. She couldn't help but feel that he had misunderstood her, though. She was afraid of the witch - that much she couldn't deny, nor did she imagine it would be possible for her to hide it from him even if she had wanted to. Kassana really did believe that that fear would go away with time and experience. It was the rage that had flooded through Aeryn that she didn't like and it was because she didn't understand it that it scared her. It came from no where and it was too vast for her to feel she had any chance against it.


'I don't want some other life. I don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer or a... or anything of the sort. I want to be a hero, like the ones in books,' she itterated firmly. 'it's just... I didn't expect it to be so... so...' Even learning as quickly as she was, Kassana was still unable to pinpoint exactly what the anger she had felt within Aeryn had been. She couldn't find the right word because simply titling it anger didn't get even close to what she had felt. '...immensely uncontrollable. That's - that's not even right, though. I know I can get better, I know there is time, but I don't think that that... I don't think I could ever get used to that.'


Kassana paused for a moment, searching her mind for something to say, something to do, anything that would have been useful. 'You said you didn't know what success was... that you didn't know what failure was. That... what just happened... that is failure... Did you know that?' Finally, Kassana had found something that she did understand; she didn't know why, but she understood failure.


Aeryn let out an audible chuckle, albeit likely only to Kassana considering how far away the others were. They were yelling at each other anyway, and now their professor was involved. Chances of him being heard were slim. 'Failure... no, Kass, I don't think so,' he replied to her in a very matter-of-fact tone, 'think of it as delayed success.' He let his chuckling continue on and even closed his eyes. He was lost in the sheer humor of the thought he had failed, but more over, that she misterpreted what he meant so much. Failure was more than just a lack of success.


Aeryn had a clear goal set in mind, but the oddity of his goal is that it was really just a detour for whatever his actual goal was. He had no idea why he originally joined the DWMA or who he was beforehand. Lord Death refused to divulge any information for whatever reason, so Aeryn had to figure it out himself. When he said he didn't know failure, what he meant is that he was truly ignorant to every little thing about himself. Could an ignorant man truly fail? If you play chess with a chimp that doesn't understand the rules, does he truly lose if he is in checkmate? Then, Aeryn laughed at that thought. It would be quite the task to even teach a chimp to play chess long enough to get to the point of checkmate. Although that did raise the question of if a primape could lose a game they understood. Would it be defeat and failure to them? Is that a foreign concept to a lower intellect? The idea enterained Aeryn for only so long.


'You fear the unknown, Kass,' he continued on more serious than before. 'It's human nature. You will fear the unknown no matter what you do, how old you are or where you've made it in life. Simple as that. If you want to be a hero, get experience. Maybe you won't get used to fear, but you can learn not to be afraid. Do you know how I fight? I observe my opponents for a long time, sometimes even take a few hits. Know why? So that I can know more about them. Not only are they less scary, but I know their weak points. Everything has a weak point. Everything. Once you find it, you hit it and hit it hard. Knowledge is power; that's why I got so mad at Hiro. He gave our enemy knowledge that could give them power over us, and that's a real bad thing,' Aeryn went on to explain.


Aeryn then allowed his eyes to dart over to the group. It seemed they had calmed down, at least to some degree. Xander and... Alex? He didn't really give Aeryn a clear answer. Nevertheless, he and a female - likely the bo staff - stood beside Hiro while the other half of the group went into the cave. 'It appears our group has made a plan without us. We should catch up. But, I'll make you a real simple deal, Kass. You promise me no matter what, no matter how afraid you might get, that you will always try to be that hero and I will always make sure you're never alone, even when you're afraid. Being scared isn't so bad when you're not alone. And, maybe I'll explain to you the whole failure thing later on down the road. Deal?' he said, making her a proposition that likely cemented their partnership for the long-term.


Kassana contemplated everything Aeryn said as he said it, making sense of it as they went along. Fearing the unknown, getting experience, it was all fitting into the puzzle that Kassana could now see on the page of her mind. To be a hero, she had to learn. She had to eliminate the unknown and that was something she had never thought of before. Well, maybe she had, but not quite in that sense and not quite in that order.


And then came Aeryn's offer. The offer to never be alone. The offer to never be afraid and alone... not at once, and not alone ever. All she had to do was try, and that was really all she could do. 'I-I'll try to be the hero...' she muttered hesitantly at first. 'I've tried so far and I'm not planning to stop now... not now, not ever.' Of that much she was certain. 'And not being alone... that doesn't sound too bad. Would - would you stay with me? Would you be my partner... not just for now, but... until I'm not afraid?'


'Unless Lord Death himself takes me away,' Aeryn replied, 'I will be your partner. But, I want you to say it boldly. Do not stutter. Do not hesitate. Do not think twice or look back. I can feel it here better than I can hear it if you weren't a weapon. Tell me, Kass, that you will be a hero. Promise me. I will accept nothing less.' If Aeryn was going to make such a bold leap with her, he wanted her to be confident with it. He wanted to hear it for himself. Not really hear it. He wanted to feel it. He wanted to feel it so that forever from this point, he could remind her of this oath. She would be a hero just like he would remember.


'Aeryn, I promise you that I will be your weapon so long as you are my meister.' There was no stutter. No flicker, no faltering of her resolve and even though it was quiet at first, the more she spoke, the stronger her resolve grew. 'I will be a hero to everyone I can. I will get stronger and I will keep learning so that one day I will not be afraid.'


'You've already made your first step,' he told her, 'you have to say boldly. To want it. Every day. Not just now.' He chuckled again before he began walking toward the rest of the group. 'Even if no one else listens, I will hear you. So never stop telling yourself that,' he told her one final time. Not long after that, he was back in earshot of the rest of the group. While one hand rubbed his neck, the other held Kassana in his hand. 'But for now... wanna go back to your regular form?' he asked.


The question was certainly one that surprised her and finally she took a moment to look around them with her senses and to look around using what she could see through Aeryn. Most of the group was gone, presumably into the darkness of the cave because she didn't know where else they would go. Although she didn't know exactly why he had asked it of her, Kassana obliged him without asking about it at that moment. It was faster than it had been to transform the other way; it almost looked as though a rain of silver poured out of the slingshot and from that glow, Kassana's body took form although her hand was still brushed up against Aeryn's own.


'What do we do now?' she asked him, into the link that still existed although after having gotten used to being in weapon form, she could tell that it was weaker.


'Well, I know precisely what I intend on doing. And, likely, it'll explain why I wanted the quick split in the first place,' he told her before sliding his hand out from hers. He picked up the pace until he was back with the group, only a few more quick strides. First, he let his eyes fall on Hiro, "You know, I should probably be apologizing for the comment earlier." He then let his eyes sway over to Lexie, "but I believe I'd rather get to know this new beauty, first. I didn't see you a while ago... and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered a face like yours." He spoke to Lexie with a tone as bold as his smile was wide. Before, his hair just made him a crimson streak darting around. Now he intentionally flipped it to the side, revealing his bright green eyes. More so, revealing that he just didn't want Kassana to know what went through his mind while flirting.


Kassana was completely and utterly confused as Aeryn walked off to talk to the other girl, the girl who Kassana remembered seeing in some of their classes although she couldn't quite place the name right now. She didn't see how any of that explained why she was now in her human form as opposed to her weapon form and she still didn't know what she was supposed to do now. Having never been on a mission prior, she wasn't quite sure exactly what it was that one did when there was nothing else to do. Sighing, Kassana was about to sit down only to realize that the grass was just the slightest bit muddy and her shirt was white. It was only after a moment that her eyes turned to the cave, wondering what might be inside and if the others would come back anytime soon.

 

[Sergeant Sass]

Alexis “Lexie” Traynor and Alexander “Xander” Traynor

Weapon: Lexie Traynor

Meister: Xander Traynor

Status: In trouble

Xander’s Mood: Angry

Lexie’s Mood: Hopeful

Interacted With: Aeryn and maybe Kass…?

Tags: @Pariah Stark @DaughterofAthena
​

"You know, I should probably be apologizing for the comment earlier but I believe I'd rather get to know this new beauty, first. I didn't see you a while ago... and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered a face like yours."


Lexie looked up at the meister standing in front of her. It was the meister from before, the one who Xander had talked to to some extent, the one who she had decided was not an idiot. And as Lexie looked up at him, actually seeing him for the first time, she couldn’t prevent her cheeks from flushing a bit, smiling as well as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. He seemed to be a nice enough guy and she didn’t want to burden him with her own problems.


Her eyes flickered to her brother who was also still sitting on the ground, his face already beginning to turn black and blue after the brutality of Ivy’s punch, a punch that Lexie had no intention of arguing with. She wondered what he would do now; there was no way he was happy with being stuck outside, unable to venture into the cave, unable to be the triumphant one. She also briefly wondered what he thought of Aeryn… that was his name if she remembered right. Would he find it ok that Lexie went and told him what her name really was? Noting that Professor Hiro was still nearby, Lexie finally decided that there was nothing Xander would be able to do about it now anyway.


All that thought only took a moment and her eyes only glanced at her brother for a brief moment before they flickered back to Aeryn, her cheeks still reddened by his comment. “You saw me…” she replied, her grin becoming rather sheepish. “There wasn’t a face for you to see, but you saw me. I’m Alexis.”


The more she looked at him, the more surprised Lexie became that she couldn’t remember seeing him in any of her classes. Usually, she liked to think she was pretty good at remembering faces. His, however, either it was escaping her or it was one that she had never seen before. “Everyone calls me Lexie, though,” she added in, “well, almost everyone.”


Her eyes flickered once more to her brother, still sitting on the ground. This time, Xander’s eyes met hers and it was a deathly glare, a warning glare, a glare that nearly made Lexie take a step further away from him. He was not happy with her. He was not happy with the way she had tried to take the blame - to take the control. He was not happy with her conversation now. He was not happy with her eyes constantly on him, watching him with fear and also with a desire to protect him. He was just not happy, and although he said nothing, his glare made that one point very clear.


Lexie tore her gaze from Xander’s deciding she would not look again. To do so would destroy her. She instead tried to focus on Aeryn, to focus on her mask, to bring herself out of the despair she had only brought on herself. “You said your name was Aeryn, right?” she clarified as she stood up, hoping that the conversation would actually go somewhere because she deeply needed a distraction right about now.


Xander sighed grumpily when his sister’s eyes left his and he slammed his fist into the ground hard. His nose was still bleeding, his eye was blackened, he couldn’t go into the cave, and for now it seemed that he’d lost his hold on his sister as well. All in all, not a good day. His dad would’ve had his head on a spike if he could see him right now. The boy’s eyes scanned the area, searching for anything positive, anything amusing, anything.


For a moment, his eyes landed on the crater that Aeryn had left behind and his eyes flickered to the boy who was now talking to his sister. It was something that Xander knew required a certain amount of power and as he looked at the meister once again, Xander didn’t see it - where such power would come from. His eyes turned to the girl - Kass - as he scanned her up and down. “Pfft…” he muttered aloud. She certainly wasn’t much, if she was even anything at all. And to top it all off, she looked like a lost puppy now that she was fully out for everyone to see. “Y’all are pathetic!” the boy hissed as he got to his own feet, once more wiping off the blood that dripped from his nose.

 

[Ticci Toby Rogers]

Codename: King of Hearts


Classification: New Weapon


Mood: Protective


Location: Specter Lab

Arthur watched in horror as the vicious dog attacked the fallen student, he could hear the voice, but he had heard many disembodied voices in his life, that it no longer bothered him. He was not afraid, simply angry. He looked at the clueless onlookers, none of whom made a move to stop the vicious canine, and felt an irritated sigh escape his lips. These were NOT his subjects, and he had no obligation to them.


He was going to turn and walk away, but he heard the loud sound of at least 20 tinkling bells, the language of the fairies. They were there too, fluttering around his head. Arthur owed a lot to them. They were his people! He had to protect them! Arthur looked at the dog, who, from Arthur’s perspective, was growling and snarling at HIS fairies! Arthur was way beyond pissed at this point, he was furious! He began to growl back at the beast, and curled his body lower to the floor, mocking the canine’s stance. He bared his teeth, and snarled back at the vicious beast, with just as much desire to kill as the threat itself.


The beast had been looking around, scanning the meals in front of him as though they were simply scraps of meat to be chewed up and spit out later. The low growl emanating from the back of it’s throat gradually grew louder as it failed to see any challengers, failed to see anyone who might disrupt the smile that laid upon the beast’s own face, the smile that showed it’s teeth. Pearly whites now speckled with Skyler’s blood, blood that spattered the dog’s muzzle and only added to the terror that he created.


His gaze was drawn by Arthur as soon as the boy dared to make a sound. The dog’s own growl grew quieter, nearly creating a moment of eerie silence although that silence was not complete - not really. Without a second’s hesitation, the dog let out a bark that wasn’t so much a bark as it was a warning of attack, a roar of power, an audible madness. Lunging forward, the dog’s jaw once more opened as claws led the charge at the challenger.


Arthur had been well prepared for the charge, and waited for the last possible second, to jump to the side, and kick the beast in the side of it’s smiling mouth. A mildly insane bout of laughter, merged with the growls escaping Arthur’s lips. He launched himself at the creature, aiming for the dog’s eyes, hoping to blind the beast.


As the dog was kicked, there was a loud yelp as it landed on the ground, side lying and still growling although it quickly managed to regain its feet as its teeth flashed at Arthur right before the boy lunged. Nails hit fur as Arthur’s initial strike missed and soon the boy would feel the slobber of saliva, the roughness of a tongue and just before the dog bit down, Arthur would see the crimson irises of the dog as its gaze dwelled on Arthur’s face, seeming to contemplate the best possible demise.


Then came the pain, the snap, the blood that would only further stain the dog’s maddened smile. Then came the teeth that sank into bone without so much as a grimace or a hesitation, the piercing feel of sharp incisors that had found their first meal. Although it lacked the strength to actually tear the phalanges apart, there would still be the pain.


Arthur sucked in air through his teeth which only fueled the manic laughter that escaped his throat, as the dog bit into his hand. Arthur had felt much worse pain than that. He had been shocked too many time to even cry out at the sharp pain in his hand. He had felt so much worse. This was child's play compared to the pain he’d felt before. He laughed through the pain, like the madman he was accused of being so many times before.


The laughter merged with the growl that escaped his throat, as he used his good arm to throw the dog off of him and into the wall. He threw the dog with the force of a boy who had felt too much pain, and ripped his way out of too many straitjackets. He was used to being outnumbered, outmatched, and outwitted, but never had the strength and madness that had always protected him and his delusions been so powerful. He had never felt such strength, power and fierce determination to protect himself and his kingdom. He was ready for anything.


Once more, the dog yelped, although once more as well the dog was quick to get back to its feet. It seemed that the madness that now flooded Arthur’s mind, that was weakening the resolve of the students who dared to disturb it, that very same madness was flooding the creature itself. It knew no pain. It knew no fear. All it knew was it’s own desires and though it may not have seemed like a creepy dog could desire much, the whisper of the madness returned with a fury as the entirety of the lab was filled with its insanity. Spread the madness… SPREAD THE WORD!


Though the whisper would echo in everyone’s mind, the dog’s expression did not seem to match it and as it took one step towards the boy, intending to attack once more, the dog stumbled. It did not fall. It did not crash into the depths of death. But it did stumble, unable to bear blow after blow, slowly, it was losing its ability to bear its own weight. The smile didn't leave, though, and the low growl in the back of it’s throat rumbled on as the dog licked at its own bloodstained teeth.


Arthur let out a brief laugh of triumph, now convinced that the dog was too hurt to harm any of his subjects, as more of them had appeared during the fight. Nearly 50 fairies were there now, as well as a number of dryads, wisps, and a few mermaids had split their tails in favour of legs for their king.


Collaboration with @DaughterofAthena

 

[Pariah Stark]

Codename: Cardinal


Partner: Kassana Silverstream


Classification: One-Star Meister [EAT]


Location: Cave Entrance


Tagged: @DaughterofAthena @Sergeant Sass

Aeryn saw the tears, mostly gone from her eyes, but still there. It was obvious she had been upset somehow prior; likely in events that occurred while he was calming down from his fit of rage. Considering Xander had a broken nose, or at least a severely bloodied one, more than likely whatever happened involved them. The fact Hiro was setting outside also led Aeryn to believe he was basically babysitting them. He couldn't deduce much more. It didn't seem like this Alexis would have punched Xander, but there were plenty in the group that would have. Aeryn highly, highly doubted it was Hiro, although on the thought of Hiro, he was likely going to have to clear up that mishap from earlier. Nevertheless, his focus was now on Alexis.

“You said your name was Aeryn, right?”

​

Aeryn saw she was about to stand up, so he offered her his hand. He smiled to her as he did, and knelt down just enough to show that he was being polite in a very gentlemanly fashion. Or, more obviously, trying to flatter her. "I did. I'm Aeryn, no surname. It's a pleasure to meet you in person... your weapon form does you no justice," he told her. Aeryn could have stolen these lines from a typical romance novel. "About your name," he added, "I would ask which you prefer. I will call you whatever you like best. But, I do need to hold that thought."

“Y’all are pathetic!”

​

Aeryn turned his head to Xander as he seemingly insulted Kassana. Now, Xander could have ran his mouth about anyone, Aeryn included, but the redhead wasn't right about to let him insult Kassana for no good reason. Whether or not Alexis would have taken his hand, Aeryn would have most definitely withdrawn them as he focused his attention onto Xander. "It appears the wrong sibling was born a weapon. Not only is she far prettier than you, Xan-boy, but things might work out more in your favor if you couldn't speak," Aeryn told Xander directly. He then lifted his hand, having it curled into a half-fist. He allowed his Wavelength to flow through it, although this time it glowed a bright blue instead of the wrathful red it was earlier. "If you continue to treat these fine ladies like your are, I'm may be inclined to add to those bruises you seem to have earned. And, lemme tell ya, you're already ten steps behind your sister; you don't need set further back, bud," Aeryn said as he directly threatened Xander. Aeryn had the same resolve in his green eyes as he did when he wanted to hunt that Witch. Saren might not have cared much about Kassana or Alexis yet, but Aeryn already did, and even without the Will of Saren, Aeryn had a wickedly potent resolve.


Aeryn took a step forward to Xander, boldly eyeing him down. His nose was just barely snarled, his head was cocked back, and his eyes seemed to look down on Xander from their position. Aeryn was making himself the alpha, and if it didn't work verbally, he'd make it work physically barring the others stopping them. Aeryn, with his intense focus filling his emerald eyes, lastly added, "We clear?"

 

[Sergeant Sass]

Xander Traynor, Aeryn, Lexie Traynor, Kassana Silverstream and Professor Hiro Mitsaki

Apologies for Length...

​

Collaboration with:

@DaughterofAthena and @Pariah Stark​

"About your name," he added, "I would ask which you prefer. I will call you whatever you like best. But, I do need to hold that thought."


Lexie took his hand when it was offered, still smiling brightly for the moment. She was about to answer him, to tell him that she really didn’t have a preference between her two names, although she wondered why he would hold on such a thought. However, with her brother present, her so much as daring to hope for a decent conversation was a longshot at best. And, sure enough, Xander ruined it.


The girl had turned to glare at her brother for this time it was he who had upset her although even Lexie knew that any attempt she might make to control her brother was futile. It turned out, she didn’t even have a moment to think about it, though, as Aeryn’s hand was torn from her grip, the boy also now facing her brother. Lexie’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them, unsure of who would win, unsure of how to make them stop, unsure of why she had even dared to get herself into this mess in the first place by coming along.


“Xan-boy!? XAN-BOY!?” Boiling anger rose to the surface of Xander’s expression, bubbling over as his voice grew louder. Xander hadn’t backed down with Ivy; in fact, he had even gone so far as to stand toe to toe with the berserker so there was no way that Aeryn was going to intimidate him. There was no way that a single step forward or a gaze downward at him would work. “I don’t take orders from you, and you’ve got A LOT to learn before you step into my business, bud!”


Sparks began to leap off of Xander’s palm, his soul wavelength charging as he saw that Aeryn was doing the same. Each spark was like a flame on a fuse, gradually growing closer and closer to the bomb at the end. Each inch a tad brighter as it led its way to the dynamite at the end. And even from behind Aeryn, Lexie could hear it. Lexie could see the sparks as the lept off of Xander’s hand before they fizzled to nothing and Lexie wasn’t about to let it continue.


A hand touched Aeryn’s shoulder. It was gentle and it wasn’t intended to force anything, but it did make the slightest attempt to pull him back. “Please don’t,” Lexie muttered softly as she tried to keep her tears from returning. This time she wasn’t asking out of any amount of care for her brother; he had earned every ounce of anger Aeryn gave him, and Lexie knew that. She was asking because she didn’t want to see anyone get hurt.


Xander’s resolve didn’t seem to falter, though, even as Lexie became a part of the situation. Lexie turned to him, her hand still on Aeryn’s shoulder as she said, this time more loudly, “Xander, please stop!” Her eyes met his for a brief moment and Lexie took two steps, putting herself between Aeryn and Xander as she once again repeated to her brother, “Stop this! Please!”


Xander hesitated as he looked at his sister. His eyes flickered briefly to Hiro as he realized that for him to continue would involve hitting his sister in the process. Now, he didn’t stop out of any care for her - none at all. However, Xander also knew that for him to hit Lexie now, in front of a teacher, would be the same as signing up to join his father in a cell for the rest of his life. Xander’s soul filled palm fizzled down, moments before the fuse was completely burnt through.


Aeryn kept his emerald gaze intense. When he saw the crimson sparks fly off of Xander's hand, the blue flame radiating off of his own only grew more intense. A grin curled up across his left cheek as he saw Xander getting antsy. He wanted him to. He wanted Xander to throw that punch. He wanted Xander to start this so that he could stomp the little whelp into the ground. Aeryn didn't get to unleash his fury onto the witch and in all honesty some of it was still pent up. While he wasn't blinded like before, he was definitely focused enough to phase out Alexis, at least at the moment.


Once he saw Xander back down, actual rage began to flood through him. This reminded him so much of the witch; something he wanted, but that just barely escaped him. He wanted Xander to hit him. He wanted it and now he was backing off. Oh no... no. That wasn't going to happen gain. "That wasn't an order, Xander. That was a demand. Not only that... I'm not even a student. I may be part of the DWMA, but I'm not a student like you. There's no code of conduct between us," Aeryn taunted him, "swing at me, I'll even let you hit me. But I swear to Death himself, Xander, if you swing, I will bury you into the ground until Hiro pulls me off of you. You will regret ever touching anyone I stand up for... we clear?"


None of the rage in Xander's eyes had ever left the boy's expression and none of his desire to hit something had gone from him either. His eyes continued to glare at Aeryn although he still didn't move. Briefly, his eyes flickered to his sister, the one person standing in his way, the one person who he couldn't attack, the one person who he knew striking was not a good idea.


He couldn't back down. To do so would make him look pathetic, weak, not worthy of the title of a DWMA meister, even though that title alone wasn't even somethng he valued. The spark of fire on a fuse once again lit the palm of his hand, flickering on and off as he flittered between the decision he didn't want to make: the decision to attack and risk his freedom, or the decision to back down, to give up without a fight. The boy opened his mouth, to spit out some reply or another that likely would have only sparked his own rage further, but it was his sister who managed to move first.


Lexie's entire body turned, her back to her brother, it was the one thing she rarely ever did - leave her back to him of all people - but she didn't have much of a choice now. Lexie put her hand on Aeryn, grabbing a fist full of his shirt as she tugged, hard. Her other hand scrambled to grab at his, aiming to establish some form of contact - something, anything - that would make her presence known because for now, she felt unseen. That was something she was more than used to - being unheard, being ignored, being invisible. It wasn't anything new.


'That feeling,' Aeryn whispered, a barely audible voice inside of a shared mindscape between him and Lexie, 'That feeling is wrong. I know you're there, Lexie, but don't worry. No one will get hurt, not badly. I will make sure myself Xander is not held responsible for this. But... he insulted Kass. He will not get away with that. Aeryn then gave her hand a gentle squeeze, acknowledging her again before he looked back to Xander. 'Let go for now... but have a little faith. I wouldn't let a single tear slip from your eyes,' he added before gently releasing her hand. He hoped she would step away so that Xander would have no more hesitance.


Lexie was in a small amount of shock. Never before had she heard a voice so comforting inside her own mind. Never before had their been a voice other than her brother's anger filled rasp that terrified her to no end, always scolding her, always finding something that she had done wrong. Her hand remained wrapped around the fabric of his shirt for a moment longer, after he had let go of her hand, and for that moment, she honestly considered not letting go. Lexie didn't want to see the violence that she knew her brother deserved; she didn't want to see that it could come from this person when the feel of his mind and the sound of his voice were such a comfort to her.


At the same time, though, she had to get out of the way. She could hear it, the charging of Xander's soul force, the sparks that continued to leap from his hands as the faltering of his decisions slowly faded away while his anger at his sister only grew so much greater because she was in his way - quite literally, she was in his way. "You want me to swing!?" Xander's voice echoed his anger as he began his charge at Aeryn. There was no skill to his attack, no control, no strategy. He was flowing off of the sheer power of his own anger as he swung wildly, barely missing Lexie as she jumped out of the way and left Aeryn to deal with her brother's chaos.


Aeryn didn't move. In fact, he took the sparking punch directly to his cheek. He could feel burns settling into his skin from the sparks and even Xander's Wavelength pour straight into his head as the punch connected. Aeryn even allowed it to follow through, going with it, spitting out blood from his now busted lip. After a brief moment, he let out a chuckle, and with his neck still extented, he spit out what blood was left. His cheek was left with several burn marks, primarily from the sparks, while also being entirely bruised. This is exactly what he wanted. This connection, this damage, this pain. This is what he fueled himself off of.


It was enough to activate his Survivor's Wavelength. A new surge of adrenaline and ferocity poured through him. His Wavelength spiked even greater than it did before with Saren. Before, that was just a shared will, but this was his Wavelength. This was his soul cycling in the damage and pain he just felt and feeding off of it. This is what made Aeryn unique. The blue flame that once filled his hand now sparked into a larger flame. It was burning brightly. Coursing with the newfound power that Aeryn had just acquired. And, in all of a sudden, he clenched that fist, causing a quick, bright and even violent explosion in his hand. This wasn't an attack; it was a distraction.


In the quickest of moments that passed after, Aeryn ducked down to perform a leg sweep on Xander while Xander's own attention had snapped at the loudness of the sudden sound. The boy seemed to recover quickly, throwing another punch towards Aeryn's face although in his rage filled fury of attacks, he had failed to notice that Aeryn was also on the move. Shock flooded his face as his feet were knocked out from under him, sending him crashing into the dirt as his wavelength crackled when it hit the grass. Aeryn, meanwhile, felt his sweep connect. He didn't need to see Xander. He felt him. His wavelength. His body from head to two was in his sights, so he didn't need his eyes.


While Xander was still making a thump into the ground, Aeryn had already lept from his previously prone position on the ground into a pin on top of Xander. By the time the dust had settled from Xander's trickling wavelength, Aeryn already had his fully-charged hand sitting in front of Xander's face. All the while, his emerald eyes were still closed. "I could scar your face permanently before you'd get in another swing. We're about the same speed... or you could apologize to them. Or, if you're a real coward, you could make a bet on if Hiro is fast enough to save your face," Aeryn again threatened Xander. "Make a call... like I said: I'm no student," Aeryn added as a final ultimatum.


"Maybe you ought to find some people who can fight their own battles!" Xander spat back as his eyes looked straight at the blaze held in front of him, unafraid.


"Listen, bud, I let you have the first punch and look where you are now," Aeryn replied to Xander in a very matter-of-fact tone. At that very second, Aeryn pulled back his hand, clenching it into a fist, then threw it straight down into the ground beside Xander's head. The crater it made was no smaller than the one from before and the sound from it was defeaning - literally. It was right beside Xander's ear. Aeryn then slid his glowing hand right beside Xander's cheek, letting it sit there. It was close enough that the heat from it was just enough to begin burning his flesh, roasting it with his intense Wavelength. "I'll say one more time," Aeryn said, leaning over to the side of Xander that wasn't defeaened by the punch. "Apologize or every time you look into a mirror for the rest of your godforsaken life, you'll wish you did," he added, reinforcing his ultimatum.


Another sound like thunder rung through the air, this one more distant than the one Aeryn had created as it echoed through the openness. Hiro had finally caught on to what was going on and the look on his face was not pleased - not in the slightest. His arm remained in a partial transformation as he walked close to the two students who had gotten themselves into a brawl while he had been daydreaming. As his eyes fell upon the boy who had argued with him before, Hiro shook his head ever so slightly although he did manage to hear the redhaired boy's last words.


"How am I supposed to lead a mission when all of my students keep fighting each other," he wondered out loud, not speaking to anyone in particular quite yet. His eyes fell first on Xander, a scowl evident upon his face as he reinforced what Aeryn had said, adding his own authority behind it, because apparently he did have it, and he knew how to use it from time to time. "Alexander Traynor, I don't know what you did, but I can't imagine it was any good and you WILL apologize to whoever was involved!" Hiro's eyes turned to Aeryn briefly after that. "And while your defense is noble, I cannot permit fighting while we are out on official DWMA business," he explained, quite honestly unsure as to whether or not the boy was even aware of the rules. He had certainly challenged enough of them already.


Aeryn chuckled as he looked down to Xander. He didn't yet acknowledge what Hiro said, but he definitely heard it. "Looks like they're not the only ones who have someone else fight their battles, punk," Aeryn said as he got up. He quickly stood over Xander, then simply jumped back a bit beside Kassana and Lexie. As he felt himself returning back to normal, Aeryn allowed his eyes to dart over to Hiro. "Well then, I do apologize. I simply dislike my partner being insulted. Also, while I'm at it, I didn't exactly mean to undermine your authority before. As you may be able to tell, sir, I don't quite handle it well when things don't go as I would like them to. For instance, I felt that Witch was a liability because of what you told her. I may need to work on temperance," Aeryn told Hiro. It was as sincere of an apology as one could expect out of Aeryn, and it was also an explanation to him for why he acted before.


Xander stood up as soon as Aeryn was off of him, brushing the dust and dirt off of his clothing quickly although he looked up as soon as he heard Aeryn apologizing. "Looks like I'm not the ony one with apologies to make," he muttered under his breath while he waited for Aeryn to hurry it on up so he could get his brief apologies over with. It was definitely not his day. As soon as there was a moment of quiet, Xander looked first to Kassana as he stated, "Sorry, Kass." There was no emotion to his voice, no sincerety, not a care in the world. He was quite literally just saying it to get Professor Hiro off of his back. Then his gaze drifted to his sister as he noted that she still looked slightly terrified by what she had just witnessed. "Sorry, Lex." Again, his tone was the same.


Having said what he was mandated to say, Xander turned and walked away. As soon as his back was to them, a hand flew to his face, nursing the wounds that now laid there. Although he tried to look tough, even he coudn't deny the pain even as he skin began to swell.


Lexie let out a small sigh of relief as Xander finally walked away although she couldn't help but wonder if this whole episode would come back to bite them later, either her or Aeryn or even Kassana. As Lexie cast a simple glance towards the silver haired girl, she couldn't help but remember that it was Xander insulting her that had started the whole fiasco. She looked then to Aeryn, sure that he could handle it if Xander decided to turn this on him at a later time, although she didn't quite know if Aeryn would understand that Xander would not so easily forget what had just happened. "He will be back, you know," she said softly. "My brother is not the forgiving type."


Hiro, for his part, turned and watched as Xander walked away as he decided that it would be best for him to watch the meister closely for the remainder of things. He gave Aeryn a nod of acknowledgement as he apologized. Hiro quite honestly didn't feel the need to defend his actions, not to a student and certainly not to a boy who might never even actually be his student. His eyes glanced between the three that remained - Aeryn, Kassana and Alexis - as he raised his eyebrows to them. "No more problems here?" he tried to confirm, his eyes dwelling for a bit longer on Aeryn than they did on the two girls.


"No, Professor," Kassana shook her head quickly. "At least... at least I hope not." Her eyes turned to Aeryn at that, glancing up to the blood on his lip with a slight amount of concern. She hadn't expected him to be the kind of person to seek out a fight and she certainly hadn't enjoyed watching it either. And there had been nothing she could do about it. Even Lexie had been able to step in between them, to try and stop it, but Kassana; she had not been able to do anything. Just after she had promised to try and be a hero, she had fallen short.


Her eyes flickered back to Xander as he continued to walk away and she remembered what he had said at first. 'Y'all are pathetic.' His words hadn't even phased her at that time, but the more she remembered them, the more she began to realize that they were true; at least, they would be true until she learned how to get stronger. Watching Aeryn had done nothing but show her how vastly different the two of them were. Yet he was her partner. She had to try and help, but she didn't know how to even come close. Almost injecting himself into her thoughts, Aeryn stopped her train of thought entirely. 'You were instrumental in that fight, Kass,' Aeryn told her. While she was lost in thought for the briefest of moments, Aeryn had already confirmed that there would be no more trouble for Hiro out of him then put his arm on her shoulder.


'He insulted you, but now he won't without thinking twice about it. I'm your Meister and I will stick up for you. Each and every time. You are not pathetic, so don't let it get to you. All of this, even me taking that hit, was to show you that I won't let anything, even a jerk like him, stand in your way of becoming a hero. I knew those words would bother you if I let them... but now they won't. You have the power to motivate people; people like me. That's not pathetic,' he explained to her within their minds. For a moment outside their bond, it was silent. This conversation was exclusive to them.


Kassana didn't exactly know how to reply to him. Once again, his words in her mind took her by surprise; she was now certain it would be quite a while before she ever got used to it. 'But...' she hesitated, knowing that she trusted him, and that no matter how much she tried to argue, he would always have a reply. That was the way it had been so far; she didn't forsee it changing anytime soon, so instead, Kassana decided to settle for something else. 'Thank you,' she said softy. 'Are you alright?' She tried to convey to him her concern, the fact that she hadn't liked seeing him get hit because despite only knowing him for as short as she had, he was her partner and she cared.


'Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll let you in on a real neat secret: I have a Survivor's Wavelength. Not for sure if you've read up on it, but the more you hit, the stronger I get. This'll be healed up in a day, tops. That poor sucker is gonna have burn marks for a week' Aeryn replied to her. He then gave her a gentle hug and added, 'worry about yourself for now. You've went through a lot already, so keeping composed is important. I should be fine, too. I think I got it all out of my system.' Aeryn then let go of her and smiled. With a quick nod, he turned his way back to Alexis.


"I told you I wasn't going to hurt him," he said to her. He didn't get as close to her this time. He wasn't sure if she'd let him. Not after what he just did. Still, he offered her a gentle smile before saying, "If he comes back, it'll just go the same way unless Lord Death makes me a student. In which case, we'll both have to grow up some then, won't we?" It was simple rhetoric, but he was trying to reassure her. Aeryn so far had this issue with outbursts, and he was depserately trying to repair the damage he caused by them. "By the way," he added, "only one of us have a flawless face now."


Lexie chuckled at Aeryn's last comment briefly while she considered him for a moment before her eyes turned serious, if only for a moment. "If he comes back, he won't come back to you," she replied. "He's not about to lose the same fight twice... some might, but not him." Lexie shivered slightly, realizing that she didn't want to go to sleep any more. Her brother had much to be displeased about with her.


However, Lexie still didn't want to drag anyone else into her own problems. Xander was her brother, and she would not force the problem that he created on to anyone else. Smiling once again, Lexie said on a far more cheerful note, "You asked me, earlier, which name I preferred, if you remember," she paused for a moment, considering the question that she had at first been indifferent towards. "and I've decided. You can call me Lexie." She looked up at him, blinking once although the blue of her eyes shone brightly.


"Well, Lexie, I have an idea," he said, smiling down to her. The glimmer in his green eyes was slightly diminished by the fact one of his cheeks was swelling, pushing it up under his eye. Regardless, they met her eyes as she spoke to him. "If I don't get locked back up in some room once we get back to the DWMA..." he said, trailing off, somewhat hesitant, "...how about you and I go out some time? Not as a weapon and meister; I have a partner, y'know... just as a girl with eyes bluer than the Death City sky."


Lexie's smile grew even brighter as her cheeks flashed red once again. "Like a date?" she dared to ask, taking the smallest of steps closer to Aeryn as she said so. Her eyes flickered up to the sky, wandering back and forth making it seem as though she was seriously considering his offer, but as her eyes came back down from the clouds, her smile was still as bright as ever. "I think I'd like that," was her final answer.


"Exactly like a date," Aeryn replied. He offered her his hand like he did before, although this time it was merely to hold it. "I haven't actually seen most of the DWMA in a... real long time. You can show me any new place you want," he told her, offering her ideas. Of course, he was somewhat skewing the information; he meant hundreds of years, but it could easily be interpreted otherwise. Aeryn kept his eyes on Lexie as he said, "Kass, you won't mind being on your own while I go out with Lexie, will ya?" He was obviously being playful, although at the same time trying to cement in the idea of a real date. A real outing with Lexie.


Kassana was a bit startled to hear Aeryn bring her into their conversation. In fact, she quite literally jumped although she did manage to hear the question at hand. She looked at Aeryn and she smiled slightly, nodding while she was sure that there were other things she could be doing. Maybe Ivy would be willing to train her... Kassana knew she had a lot of catching up to do.


Lexie flashed a quick smile Kassana's way as she placed her hand in the one Aeryn had offered her. "I'll only borrow him for a little while..." she chuckled slightly, finding that she was becoming rather fond of the idea of a date with someone new. Swinging her arm playfully, dragging Aeryn's along with it, Lexie returned her attention him, the blush in her face still obvious as ever. "Hmm..." she contemplated. "Have you seen the gardens?"


Aeryn gave soft chuckle to Lexie as he replied to her, "No, no I don't think I have. He could let his smile grow wider as she swung their arms back and forth. He hadn't known her long, but she seemed happy for the first time since he met her earlier. When he first saw her, she had tears in her eyes. Now, her eyes were these brilliant, blue orbs that he just couldn't stop looking into. "If I get to stick around, I think the gardens is a great place to go. It's a date." Heh. It's a date. He thought it to himself repeatedly. This amazingly cute girl in front of him, not to mention Kass was completely confident in him. It had so far been a good day. Still, though. As he looked into the blush on her cheeks, he couldn't help but feel a bit of irony. He managed to leave both of the siblings red in the face by the end of this mission.

 

[Athens]

Undine Isle


Undine laid there for a moment longer contemplating her mental health and if maybe she gave herself just a tad too much credit than deserved when telling herself that she wasn't insane; just hungry. Maybe she was bipolar and the lack of sleep from the night before was triggering a fit of mania? That would explain a lot...


... No, that's a bit too extreme.
​

It was only when a lot of things began happening at once that she finally chose to peel herself from the ground. But instead of standing she chose to

Code Name: Dine Isle


Rank: NEW


Location: The Lone Classroom


Weapon: Aoi/Ponytails


Status: Finally Gaining Some Common Sense

sit; even after growing accustomed to the feeling of the ground rushing to meet her face in a passionate hug -they have a close relationship no matter where they are- it still hurts to have such force blasted into your face, so she needed a moment to catch her bearings and hope that she didn't have any head trauma. Undine was pretty certain that the dent in her bone at the tip of her nose was proof of the pain and damage of having lead feet. But you can't say that the scars don't give character or provide for the basis of some pretty interesting stories.


"You numskulls!" Undine glanced at Warren as he laughed at her, the tips of her ears tinging red when she realized he and Roland had both probably seen her kiss the dirt. "Hey, I prefer bunnyhead!" Okay, not helping Dine... She scolded herself looking away from the boy to finally inspect her environment. The cave was something that was for sure. And maybe Undine would be able to appreciate it more if there wasn't so much yelling going on in and outside the cave. It was quite old by the appearance but that wasn't why she decided to take note of it. As more students began to enter the cave a light deep inside it began to grow brighter which captivated the ditsy girl's interest. "So it's obviously magic by the whole light enchantment thingie and the witch's inability to enter, but kinda make you wonder if this is the doing of another witch who wanted to keep her sisters out or something else." Undine thought quietly out loud before standing up and following after everyone else.


The chasm made her head spin when she looked down into it -from a reasonably safe distance. No doubt, the unknown potentially dangerous pit was where they were supposed to go. Isn't it almost always? "Great..." Dine decided to turn away from the chasm before she got sick. She lightly traced the outline of what appeared to be a soul on the wall feeling a lot less enthusiastic about going in to the cave. "If I die I'm haunting every person that lives because that's so not fair." She grumbled turning around to observe what the others planned to do.


Well, it wasn't a plan and fairly stupid if Undine were to be honest; and she knows stupid pretty well from her own idiotic tendencies. Act unintentionally and regret it moments later... Her nose crinkled up in a moment of displeasure as she watched Ivy dive into the hole and Warren plummet in after while idiotically launching himself at her while she was standing in front of the chasm.





"And yet I'm the numskull." She mused with sarcasm and amusement laced in her voice. She could be reckless and unthinking, sure, but not when it came to potentially dangerous situations such as a big gaping chasm with no sign of end and no idea what's at the bottom. Unknown things are the most dangerous because you cannot be sure if they're a threat or not until proven otherwise. She was not only judging Ivy but herself for the idiotic choices she made so far. Her parents would die if they saw how senseless she was being. You're not thinking before you act, Undine, and that can get you killed. Maybe she was a bipolar because she shifted from 9-5 abnormally fast. She sighed lightly moving away from the wall and standing in front of the chasm. "Well, now we know what's at the bottom," She started adding mentally to herself (although we don't know what's in that water)

She glanced at the others. "So do we jump?"

​

@Pariah Stark @Arkytior @Sophrosyne03 @T h e F o o l @Orikanyo @Violet Obsidian @DaughterofAthena @Cephalo @sonicfreak101

 

[SummerWolf]

Kamryn 'JJ' Vessot


1-Star Meister


DWMA EAT Student
​

​

Partner: Thalia Travis


Mood: Grimacing, Startled, Determined


Start Location: Specter Labs


End location: Specter Labs


Tags: @Kyra @DaughterofAthena @Arkytior

Kamryn watched with wide eyes, taking in the scene in as it happened. The situtation had just escalated in the danger zone very quickly. A bright flash surged through the room, and as it cleared,the young meister had a clear view of the creepy as all hell dog. Smiling dog, to be more precise. It made Kamryn's skin crawl, and that crawling feeling grew as the voice lifted above the growling in her head. Do you feel that? Do you hear that? It’s the power of madness. The power to save the city. The power to end all and free all… The dog continued to growl beneath that, then, it attacked Skyler. The weapons blood curdling scream made Kamryn look directly at the smiling nut job and her determination stilled. She blocked the voice, voice of madness, fighting it mentally to her best ability.


‘Alright, Kamryn, Time to do something about this. If no one else is going to take action, then we must.’ Kamryn's teeth clenched as she listened to Thalia through their soul link. ‘Throw me!’ That was just what the meister was going to do, but as she moved to throw Thalia, another students jumped into action. Arthur, a new weapon, challenged the dog, laying blow after blow upon the beast. When he was done, the dog... stumbled. The beast stumbled, unable to stand that many blows at once. However, it was still creepy as all hell with it's smile. The dog growled lowly, and Aurthur laughed triumphantly, obviously suddenly assuming he had won. Kamryn had no idea what was knocking around in the weird students head, nor did she want to know.


'Alright. Here we go!' She spoke to Thalia through their link, and took aim, an angled shot that would take Thalia, hopefully, just past Aurthur, and around the room. It was a path that, if it worked, might just do some good and hit the dog in the process... She finished perfecting her aim quickly, then threw the large boomerang that was her weapon partner, setting the young female weapon off on her path, and hopefully to arrive back to Kamryn. Her gaze would follow Thalia, though she glanced away briefly to try to see their professor, before returning to Thalia.

Legend

Kamryn thinking


Thalia speaking


Kamryn speaking

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Nicole Heimholtz

and

Ryoma Takagi



Inside the cave


Nicole and Ryoma entered the cave on the heels of Warren and some other students that included . . . Ivy. Cloaked in the embrace of the cave they could barely hear the commotion of the squabbling with the Traynor twins outside


Ryoma switched to his weapon form as soon as they entered the cave, and Nicole started to use him to scrape a line in the left hand wall of the cave, occasionally making a mark like an arrow along the line she was making. The cave was very dark, Nicole could hardly see what was in front of her. It was also very cool, but that was to be expected from any cave. Ryoma was a two-handed weapon and it took some effort to make a visible line on the cave wall, so Nicole was unable to make use of the flashlight Ryoma had brought. "Try not to tire yourself too much. We don’t know what’s up ahead. It could be dangerous." Ryoma’s gentle voice in her head was as quiet as a whisper as though he were physically speaking to her. "I’ll be fine, we don’t know the layout of the cave, and we need a way to extricate ourselves from this labyrinth." As Nicole replied to Ryoma, she could hear the commotion of the other students ahead of her as well. She was surprised that none of them appeared to notice the loud noise of Ryoma’s spearhead scraping on the wall. Apparently Ivy and Warren were arguing as usual. Nicole continued to lag behind the group after entering the cave because she was ensuring that they would find their way back out.


Nicole then heard a splashing sound, and soon after she and Ryoma came to a chasm. At the lip of the chasm was one of the NEW students was there. Her name is Undine. . . . I think. Nicole appraised her then looked down the chasm. She couldn’t see the bottom, but she reasoned that Ivy, Demetri and Warren had jumped down and the splash she heard indicated that there was a pool of water at the bottom.


“So do you guys have a plan to get back after you get this tome Mitsaki was talking about, or did you just blindly jump in hoping for the best?” Nicole called down sarcastically. Ryoma briefly changed back to his human form just to recite one of his haiku’s down the casm.


“Down the deep dark chasm / What have you all found down there? / Have you a way out?”


While listening to the replies to her rhetorical question, Nicole took the time to examine the walls of the chasm. Most of the walls were smooth, but there seemed to be a series of well-worn footholds just below them, Nicole could only guess if they went to the bottom, the indentations in the wall just below them could just be part of the wall structure and not some deliberately carved out hand and foot holds.


Nicole paused to think about what she and Ryoma should do next.


@TheWeirdPhilosopher , @Violet Obsidian , @sonicfreak101

 

[Stormborn Targaryen]

Malacai “Grave” Dreston and Isaac “Lion” Perinnen

The appearance of the lab and the suspicion that the noises coming from inside had caused to most of the students did absolutely nothing to disturb either Isaac or Malacai as they had stood outside the lab, following the orders that Professor Miyako had given them. Of course, as soon as all of the other students became giddy and decided to run in against orders, Isaac decided that for him to continue waiting outside might cause him to miss something. Although he made to run inside, he quickly found his movement halted as Malacai grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. “Isaac, do you have any idea how crowded it is in there already? And now you want to run in too?” The meister raised an eyebrow to his partner.


Isaac sighed as he shrugged in reply, “Well, what if it’s exciting? What if there’s a fight?!” Isaac seemed really excited about that thought.


All Malacai did was roll his eyes as he released his partner, knowing that Isaac would not run in now anyway, knowing that Malacai did not think it was a good idea. That was how it generally worked with those two. If Malacai had an idea that made sense, no matter how unpleasant it might have been, Isaac listened to it and considered it reasonably. And it was because that was their way that the two of them waited outside twiddling their thumbs for a while longer.


It was only when they heard the piercing scream from Skyler that the weapon and meister pair sprung into action. Isaac took on his weapon form swiftly, landing right in Malacai’s grasp; it was something that the two of them had clearly practiced nearly a thousand times. Right away, their communication became quick and simple. They knew the ropes well enough. ‘Situation, Malacai?’


As Malacai stepped into the lab, he quickly noticed a few things. The scream had come from Skyler and he watched as the boy was dragged away from a dog in the center of the room by his meister, Jessyka. ‘Someone’s injured,’ he replied right away. ‘I don’t need you in weapon form yet. See if there’s anyone else who needs help.’ Leaving it at that, Malacai practically dropped his weapon partner although he knew that Isaac would be human before he hit the floor.


Meanwhile, the three star meister was already pulling off his sweatshirt and kneeling down next to Jessyka and Skyler, bundling up the garment and applying pressure to the giant gash Skyler had sustained. He gently nudged Skyler, trying to see if he was still awake although his attention was on Jessyka as the sound of the dog’s growling reached him. “I need you to keep pressure here,” he said to the girl sternly. “Can you do that?”


Isaac merely stood by watching. His eyes focused intently on the dog. That would be his target as soon as he was able although for now his only option was to wait on his meister. 'He’s right, of course. Anyone with a weapon could attack the dog. Not just anyone is willing to help out an injured student though…' It was as he watched that his eyes fell upon the still collapsed form of Alessa and although he didn’t remember her name, he recognized her as a new student. Isaac walked over and knelt down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you ok, miss?”


@AnnoDomini @Violet Obsidian @Refaulted @Ariettie @The Succubi Queen @Arkytior @DaughterofAthena

 

[LavenderRain]

Jessyka “Bullseye” Volontari

Classification: EAT 2 Star Meister

Partner: “Smoky” Skyler Emerson

Tags: @Stormborn Targaryen and @AnnoDomini

Location: Specter Lab​

As Jessyka pulled her partner back, she couldn’t help but stare at the blood that now covered her own hands. It was too much to have her partner collapse; and the fact that the source of her strife still growled in the back of her mind only made it worse - much worse. Her eyes were fogged with tears even as she looked up at Malacai. She knew him, vaguely, but she really hadn’t expected him to come and help.


“You’re… you’re helping?” she muttered as she did as she was told, placing a hand on top of Malacai’s jacket and putting what she felt was a significant amount of pressure on top of it. Jessyka watched his eyes as he looked at Skyler, noting that he was unconscious. “I think I can do that,” she finally answered Malacai’s original question.


Holding the jacket over the wound with one hand, Jessyka put her other hand on Skyler’s own as his skin began to go cold. Although she was no doctor, Jessyka could say for certain that he was losing too much blood. Closing her eyes, she tried to resonate her soul with Skyler’s, hoping that in their resonance, she could help him to hold on until they were able to get him back to the academy and back to a place where they could hopefully still save him. ‘Smoky,’ the clear sound of her voice would ring through his mind. ‘Hold on… PLEASE!’


Jessyka knew she couldn’t bear to lose him, not now and not ever.

 

[Hanarei]

Aiko Selmatu, Nurse Nadia, and Lord Death

​

Location: Back at the DMWA

​

Nadia browsed through her medical cart as the sound of opening and closing drawers would be heard throughout the dispensary while the nurse scrambled for her things. She didn’t glance back to Aiko at all; she liked to think that she could trust her students most of the time.


Aiko could hear Nadia rooting through the drawers. Her eyes darted around looking to the door and to the window. She nodded to herself, jumping up from where she sat. She walked nonchalant towards the window, slowly propping it open. She softly hummed to herself as if attempting to put on an innocent act, despite doing so behind the nurse’s back. She climbed up onto the window sill. The rather agile girl squeezing through the window as she slipped her way through, landing upon her feet on the ground.


“Step one complete. Now, time to hurry before I miss out on the fun part!” She spoke with a wide grin on her lips. The trouble making meister started to walk at a brisk pace. Hopefully I can catch up to them quick enough to actually do something. I can’t let them go on too long without my awesomeness!


Aiko found yet another window. The girl propped herself up, sliding in through the new window to get back into the building once again. She brushed herself off briefly, making sure she looked decent enough for someone with her wound on her arm cutting through her outfit. She hummed to herself attempting to feign innocent as she ventured through the academy attempting to work towards finding the group and joining them on their mission as quickly as possible.


Lost in the sound of whatever song she was humming, Aiko had completely missed the approaching Shinigami dressed in black. Lord Death seemed almost as surprised to be running into Aiko, though, because he took a step back as soon as the two of them collided. “Oh…” he remarked. “Aiko, are you feeling better?”


Aiko let out a gasp as she collided into Lord Death. She looked over seeming a bit startled by it. She looked back and forth looking at him. “Ah… um… Hi lord death! I… yes! Very much so, I was told I’m free to go out by the nurse! Mhm!” She spoke giving a nod in response in an attempt to overcompensate due to the fact she was attempting to ‘spin the truth’. She put on a bit smile, trying her best to hide the fact she snuck off.


If Lord Death had eyebrows, he would have raised them at the student standing in front of them. It didn’t exactly lead to the most pleasant expression. “Hmm… interesting,” he replied, nodding along as though everything she was saying made sense when in fact, it was quite questionable. “Where are you heading now? Not to the lab, I hope.” he asked, seeming legitimately curious.


Aiko looked to Lord Death, letting out a light laugh. Her eyes glanced over to the right in thought. She seemed to be fumbling for words. “Ah… well no I mean… uh… Ah! I was going to go working on that ice cream social deal! Yes! That's what I was going to do!” She nodded, throwing it out haphazardly. It wasn’t the best excuse she could make though it seemed like a good one to use at the moment to try and hide the fact she was attempting to sneak out on the mission.


“I figured you know… since I’m not fully up to par and all I could um… like help with the ice cream stuff! Yes. Very much so! It would be silly if I did anything dangerous or anything.” She spoke with another nod, waving her hand as if to dismiss it with her overenthusiastic play trying to hide what she was intending to do.


Lord Death nodded along once again. “Not a bad plan,” he seemed to be agreeing with her although when he hesitated, it would be clear that he had caught on to her schemes. “Except the ice cream social is that way,” he gestured to the area that Aiko had been walking from in the first place, once more giving her the expression that questioned whether or not she was telling the truth.


She blinked, looking at Lord Death. She let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head. “Oh! Oh yeah, it totally is! Haha… you know... guess heads a little fuzzy from the blood loss and all. Haha! Well… I’ll just turn and go the right way then!” She spoke putting on a bit fake smile waving her hand. “I’ll see you later! Gotta hurry and do that social thing!” She spoke with her back turned in an attempt to quickly scurry away.


Lord Death sighed as Aiko walked away, realizing that he was heading to the same place he had sent her to and so there was no reason for him to not follow her. However, around the corner, he sensed a familiar soul and he peered around to see Nadia, the nurse. All she did was look up to him and smile. “Thank you for that.”


“You can’t protect them forever, Nadia. They aren’t really your children and they have to grow up sooner or later.”


Nadia nodded and watched as Lord Death walked away. It was an action that left her waiting for the others to return, for surely among them someone would’ve been hurt. She couldn’t imagine all of them actually managing to stay out of trouble all at one time.

 

[LillianMuffin]

Akahan Shima


-Ice Cream Social Area


The masked girl giggled gently as she got her hands on some melting chocolate ice cream. She was quickly stuffing her mouth with the balls of melting chocolate, sort of getting the drippings on her clothes. Hey, free ice cream tasted the best! But free stolen ice cream was the dominant in flavor! Did they really have any difference in flavor, or was it just gauged by satisfaction? Whatever! It tasted great!


Well she did see that the city had gone to shit a while back, but she just shut the shutters and stayed inside.


"Well screw going out today.." She had said.


But today is a new day! She was one to live in the now, so to live in the now she did! An ice cream social sounded cool, even if she didn't really know what it was. She didn't know what to do when she arrived to people setting it up, so she just stole some ice cream and tucked herself into a corner where they wouldn't see her.


She looked up as she noticed someone about her age coming to the social area. Oooh, was she a student? She should make a good first impression! She pulled the mask properly down her face, though the bottom was caked with chocolate ice cream. Along with the drippings making her black coat seem pretty dirty.


"Helllooooo there!" She yelled as she suddenly leaped in front of the girl. She brought a hand out and grabbed her's, even though her hand was caked in choclate ice cream.


"I'm Akahana! Nice to meet you!"


- @Hanarei

 

[Cephalo]

Hotaru and Ren | Inside the Cave

​

Classification: Meister and Weapon


Nickname: Mirage Lazing Lotus


Partner: Ren Hotaru


Feeling: Asshole-y / Annoyed

”I do not care.” Ren stated blandly, staring in distaste at the witch before the group of students from the DWMA. He was standing in a slouched position beside his partner, and wished he could be anywhere else than here. Being forced to take part in one of Hotaru’s card tricks would be better than this.


The male sighed.


“How long is this going to take?” Hotaru muttered, agreeing with Ren. She blinked at that feeling. Damn it, she wanted to slap herself. Partners didn’t mean friends.


”No idea…” Ren muttered in response, sending a bored glare around the area. He blinked at the sight of the cave entrance. ”Huh…” he muttered under his breath before grabbing his partner’s arm and slipping behind the large group of students, dragging her with him. ”Come on, let’s go find this stupid book.” he said, giving a small nod towards the cave.


Hotaru glanced between her partner and... everyone else. Shrugging, she went along with him into the cave. ”Between you and a cave to them and that witch, I’ll take the cave any day.”


”Thanks, I prefer you too.” he muttered, sliding into the dark cave. Striding down the dark hall, Ren let go of Hotaru’s arm, wondering what exactly could be found here that could help ‘stop the madness’ or whatever. He yawned at the thought. ’That’s right...I don’t care…’ he thought, yawning again. He just wanted to go home and take a nap.


As she absentmindedly followed beside Ren, Hotaru took in the inside of the cave. Not much to take in to be honest. She wasn’t impressed. It was an ordinary cave, something she most definitely did not sign up for. Where was the erupting volcano or the bedazzled walls? Nowhere that was where. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker and grinned. Tugging Ren’s sleeve back, she said, ”Wait, I just saw something cool. I hope.”


”I doubt it, this place is boring as hell,” Ren stated, bluntly. ”But what is it?”


Craning her neck back, she took in the picture of a human soul like one she’d see drawn at school. Looked like it was carved in. Lame. ”Never mind. Just a lame drawing. It’s flickering to something downwards though, so I suppose that’s something.”


”Hn,” he shrugged, turning back to look ahead only to see a gap. Taking a small step forward, he blinked and looked down only to see a bunch of water. ”Hey look,” he called out. ”A hole.”


Glancing back up at Hotaru he raised a brow. ”Want me to give you a shove?”


”Shove off.” She sneered before laughing at her own wordplay. Looking between the flickering picture and the hole it glittered at, it was clearly telling her something. ”I think the twinkly’s telling us to go down.” Smiling, she gestured at the chasm. ”If you turn into a katana and I chuck you in, you probably won’t get hurt unlike myself.”


”How does that saying go?” he asked, pretending to think. ”Oh yeah, ladies first.”


”Gentlemen,” she drew the word out, “know when to-” The shouting of their teammates came from the entrance of the cave. ”Shit.” Without much ado, she shoved Ren down the hole.


”The fu-” he cursed, feeling Hotaru push him. Narrowing his eyes, he knew he wasn’t doing this alone. Using reflexes most don’t believe he has his hand shot out and grabbed his partner’s arm, dragging her down with him.


Hitting the water was rough, especially with Hotaru falling on top of him, leaving him to take the brunt of the fall, but what made it worse was that because of the extra force, Ren was sent flying back into a large grouping of rocks. Grunting at impact, he tightened his grip on Hotaru, not wanting to lose her in the water.


Opening his eyes into slits, he tried to look and see how deep they were but he could only see a few inches in front of him. Cursing loudly in his head, he tried to push up off of one of the rocks he hit only to slip and slide through a few of them. Dragging Hotaru with him, he was pulled under the water further for only a moment before reappearing inside a small cave.


Letting out a huge gasp, trying to bring in as much air as he could, he yanked his arm up, pulling his partner’s head above the water as well. Despite his lack of care and affection towards anything, he didn’t particularly want her to die.


”Ah shit,” she gasped, spitting water out of her mouth. ”I was gonna jump in after you, grabbing onto me wasn’t necessary.” She spat more water out.


”Look at this way princess.” he coughed. ”I took the brunt of your fall. You’re welcome.”


”Why thank you, my knight in shining armor,” she replied. ”Where even are we?” Looking around at the tiny cave Ren dragged them into, she waded her way in a random direction, dragging him along in search of dry land. ”God, that was disorienting. How about next time we just jump down into the chasm instead of pushing each other in?”


”That sounds like gold,” Ren responded, sarcasm heavy in his voice. ”Think you can remember that if something like this ever happens again?”


Hotaru didn’t bother answering him as she was too busy sighing in relief at stumbling onto dry land. Lightly shaking herself off (not that it did much good), she checked out the new cave they found themselves in as she wrung out her hair. Small to say the least, no way out other than the way they came as far as she could see. How did they always end up in these situations, honestly. She spotted something out of place against a far wall. Venturing closer, she saw that it was an old chest. Grinning, she called Ren over, ”Now this is what I was expecting! Come over here, I think I found it.”


Climbing out the water, the raven-haired male sighed, shrugging out of his jacket, seeing as it was completely soaked. Wringing it out a few times as he walked over to his partner, he draped it over his shoulder, wondering what got her so excited.


”What is it this time?” he asked, trying to get out some of the water in his shirt. Looking up from his shirt he spotted the cause of her excitement. ”Well if it’s in a locked chest…” he trailed off, sliding his gaze to Hotaru.


”Then it’s probably what we’re after,” she finished his sentence triumphantly. Kneeling down in front of it, she grabbed the lock. Groaning in exasperation, she got back up. ”Rusted shut, stupid old thing.” She turned her gaze to him expectantly.

Smirking slightly, the outline of Ren’s body began to fade to an electric blue light with a black hue. Spinning in the air a few times, he landed in Hotaru’s hand as a black and electric blue colored katana.


”Don’t you just love how in sync we are sometimes?” Sometimes being the keyword of course. She slashed the lock and it clattered on the ground in pieces. She tossed the blade to the side which just so happened to be back towards the water seeing as they were still in a tiny little cave. Whoops.


Twirling through the air, the same electric blue light surrounded him before he landed on the ground in a crouch just before hitting the water.


”You piece of shit.” he growled, slowly rising and walking back towards his partner.


She only offered him an semi-sincere apologetic smile before turning back to the chest. Opening it, she coughed at the dust before blinking at what was inside. Hotaru blinked and held a book that looked like it matched the age of the trunk it laid within in front of both of them. ”It would be a dusty old book, wouldn’t it?” she scoffed as she flipped through the pages, not taking any of it in. She handed it to Ren when she flipped to the last page and only got more dust for her effort.


Rolling his eyes, Ren took the book, wrapping it in his semi-wet jacket. ”That’s what you get for looking through this old thing.” he told her, getting a good grip on the book. ”Come on let’s go. This place is getting old.”


”Back into the water then.” She sighed at having to get back in again. Once was more than enough. Stomping her way back to the water, she swam back the way they came. Going through the rocks they had probably accidentally fell through when they fell down, her head popped out of the water. And just because he’d probably be bitchy later if she didn’t, she waited for Ren (and the book) to follow her up.


With a sigh, Ren followed his partner and dropped down into the water. Holding his breath he ducked out of the cave and slipped through the rocks before popping up beside Hotaru.


Nearby them was the hulk with an axe, and an idiot. Ignoring them, she splashed through the water in an irritated huff before ending up at the cliff wall. If she had to climb her way up… But no, that wasn’t necessary. She found a stair-like structure that led upwards thankfully. Running up, she passed by some more of their supposed teammates and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. She shouted, ”Okay fucktards, enough of this bullshit. Time to go!”


Following Hotaru up onto the stairs she found, he quickly unwrapped his jacket revealing the old looking book, which he waved slightly at the group in the water before walking up the rest of the way. Upon reaching the top, he ignored the others and dragged Hotaru out with him.


Exiting the cave he glanced around, narrowing his eyes as they adjusted to the change in light. Spotting Hiro, he walked over, draping his still soaked jacket over his shoulder once more. Holding out the book, he stared blankly at his professor.


”Here,” he said. ”Can we go now?”


@Sophrosyne03 @sonicfreak101 @Violet Obsidian @TheWeirdPhilosopher @DaughterofAthena @Sergeant Sass @Pariah Stark

 

[Lady Warlock]

Professor Hiro Mitsaki

Hiro had just barely managed to hear what Hotaru had called out to those who remained in the cave before both Ren and Hotaru reemerged from the cave itself and the look on his face was not pleasant. He wouldn’t go so far as to scold them, and they would likely be aware of that, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy with their actions.


”Here,” he said. ”Can we go now?”


Hiro took the book from Ren, quickly flipping through the pages although he didn’t really have any idea what was supposed to be inside of it; he knew little more than the students in that regard. It was more or less to confirm that the book did, in fact, have actual content to it. It wouldn’t have surprised him at all if Ren and Hotaru had come back with a piece of junk as opposed to the actual tome they were seeking. “Seems to be in order,” he replied, shrugging. “Since there is nothing further we need, yes, we can go now.”


Walking towards the entrance of the cave, Hiro peered inside to see if the other students were on their way out. He wanted to go back almost as much as Ren and Hotaru seemed to; he had done enough work for one day.


Flipping through his mind, Hiro tried to find something that could motivate them to get their butts back outside so they could all head back to the academy and he actually remembered something useful - something Lord Death had said at the beginning of his class.

And to the rest of the class, don’t forget there’s an ice cream social later today. You don’t wanna miss it! Lord Death

“Come on, let’s go!” He yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. “Lord Death’s still hosting an ice cream social, I do believe!” Although he knew it would not motivate all of his students, Hiro also knew that it would get the message across that he was ready to leave now, and that was all he needed to convey.

All students within Hiro’s task force team may return to the DWMA at this time. There is an ice cream social going on that all are invited to attend although you are also more than welcome to do something else. There’s just no guarantee anyone else will do that “something else” with you and writing on your own can get boring.

@Arkytior @Cephalo @Sergeant Sass @TheWeirdPhilosopher @Violet Obsidian @Pariah Stark @sonicfreak101 @Sophrosyne03