[System]
Nicknames/Aliases: Mae

 Age: 24

 Gender: Female

 Rune/Location Sowlio / right palm

Rune Powers: Fire
-Conjuration and projection of flames from her body, especially her hands
-Causing combustion reactions from a short distance away
-Raising the ambient temperature of any air/water/objects in contact with her body at will
-Heat/fire resistance

  Description: Maeve is a woman of medium height with a muscular build. She has unkempt red hair, muddy hazel eyes, and freckled skin. Her clothing tends to be more functional than anything, and usually consists of gym shorts or leggings, some form of tank top or racerback, and sneakers. When forced to pretend she's a civil human being (or perhaps at her own funeral,) she wears a suit. She has multiple tattoos, including a kestrel with spread wings that spans her chest and touches the tips of her collarbones.

 Personality: Crass and sharp-tongued, Maeve has no qualms about picking fights. A short temper and a strong sense of justice go a long way hand-in-hand, and she's been in enough brawls to serve as evidence.

She'll take up any challenge to prove someone wrong, but she has little personal drive to take on lofty tasks by herself. As a result, she has spent most of her ambition on drinking, smoking, and generally buying into any chance to yell, "fuck the man."

 Skills:
-Skilled practical hand-to-hand fighter, due to former work and hobbies
-Quick on her feet
-Not easily phased or shocked
-Good gut instinct for people, and good at reading body cues in combat
-The whole "fire rune" thing (see "rune abilities)

 Weaknesses:
-Fatally loyal to those who win her trust
-Impulsive, both socially and in combat
-Easily deceived by those close to her
-Cocky

 Brief History: Maeve was born to an Irish Catholic family, who she was estranged from later in life. Her mother and father are still alive, but contact is mostly awkward and minimal. She came to the United States for college, where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She was terminated from the Marion County police force at twenty-two, only three months after joining, for failing to follow protocol regarding a small drug possession case, and then, upon being chastised, proceeding to light a cigarette and tell her superior he could "eat arse and shove off."

In the long term, it likely would have been life ruining.

In the short term, however, she took up working security at local dive bars, nightclubs, and concert venues. Through bouncing, she came to work at Ringside Bar and Arena, where she first worked as security, and eventually ended up spending her weekend nights as a small-time prize fighter. The underground community around the city's cage fighters harbored less-than-savory supernatural characters in addition to human denizens, and Maeve often found herself as the underdog in scraps against draugr, trolls, and a smaller warg-shifter or four.

It was a tough life, but she made good money and free drinks off of it.

That is, until her Rune appeared. She won four grand betting on herself the night after it surfaced, but it was cut short as the Blessed picked her up in her apartment only twelve hours and one nasty hangover after her sensational victory.

Other: While drunk, she once got a tattoo from a friend while in a van that says, "Whiskey, Women, and Winning," across her lower back. It's still there, so, you know. Whatever that means about a person.

[User]
@Cloudburst

Volkir sighs as he grabs another muffin.@Cloudburst "Thank you muffin lady.." He says in a monotone voice, he then walks across the table and back to his chair, where he re-assumes his crouching position. He continues to eat the muffin, but is surprised at this one. He turns his head and looks inside the muffin. "How delightful..." He seemed like he really didn't care at all,in truth he did. "How did you know to bring cake?"

[Assistant]
Out of all the things that Dawn could have expected, a woman tumbling in from a third story window certainly wasn't one of them. Pale hair. Purple eyes. Claiming to be one of the newer runes picked up, although Isa, she noticed, seemed to have no idea who this person was, despite knowing the others gathered. Perhaps it was just a fluke, but Dawn would keep an eye on the woman regardless.

More and more people filed in as time passed. A gloomy looking man calling himself "Volkir". Jeddah, a young woman about her height bearing a box of muffins. Dawn studied the little lineup silently, in a sort of absent reverie- something that from time to time. She was snapped out of it, however, by the door to the room soaring from its hinges and into the wall opposite. Dawn turned, alarmed, to see a rather embarrassed looking redhead standing in the gap left behind.

Super strength. Alarming, but given the fact that all of them had developed powers almost overnight, it wasn't surprising in itself once the initial shock were off. Recomposing herself, Dawn glanced once more at the ruined splinters that once made up the door, then back to Amity. "I agree- I'm sure you'll be able to get it under control with enough practice." She smiled warmly, then stood, stepping over to where the muffins had been laid out and looking over them idly.

"Thank you, Jeddah. These look delicious." Dawn plucked one from the box- blueberry- and sank her teeth into it, relishing in the taste. She paused, swallowed, then spoke. "My name is Dawn, by the way. It's good to meet you."

Behind her, she could overhear Ira asking the stranger to draw out her rune, and Volkir immediately offering up his own in response. She listened in as she took bite after bite, but before Ira could get any far in her questioning, two more entered to interrupt her. Both were strangers, although one, the girl of the two, seemed to be struggling quite badly with her cargo.

Finishing off the rest of her muffin, Dawn pocketed the wrapper and stepped over to the girl. "Would you like some help with all that?" She asked. Ira seemed to know this girl, Helena, and seeing as she hadn't been referred to a rune, she could assume that the newcomer was the last remaining marked.

Nine runes, two others. One of which still hadn't been identified.

Even as she spoke to Helena, Dawn made a point to keep the wildcard of a woman in the corner of her eye.

@Cloudburst@Kuroakuma@xXSINXx@GoodLuckTuck

[User]
The next arrival breezed into the room wearing a slim fitting Italian suit and a smile like the sun, in that it was bright and that if one looked straight at it for too long, one might get a bit uncomfortable. He carried with him a rather sharp but not unpleasant scent, like he had perhaps just peeled a tangerine, after taking a bath in rubbing alcohol.

"Miss Helena, I suspect that the Uruz rune had something to do with it," said Clifton, deftly relieving her of the topmost precarious object and setting it on the table next to the muffins by way of example (since she looked a bit lost), and so that nobody would have to clean coffee and donuts off the floors. "Don't worry, Miss Amity. Such mishaps are only to be expected at this juncture. A technician will take care of that."

He dusted off his hands to make sure no stray bits of donut powder had found their way onto them. None had. But he dusted just in case.

"Hello, my friends. Good to see you up and about, Mr. Sydnous," he added specifically, feeling a mild sense of obligation to make sure the lad felt welcome...seeing as their other meeting had ended less than cordially. "I hope you're getting settled and aquain--"

He paused abruptly upon spotting the unfamiliar girl.
Clifton's smile remained perfectly cheerful, and to any outside watcher his posture seemed perfectly at ease.

"I don't believe we've met. Care to introduce yourself?"

He took an unthreatening step toward her, one hand in his suitcoat pocket, the other extended for a handshake, ready to learn something about the stranger. One could learn a lot about a person from a handshake. Of course, if Kana took his hand, she'd learn something about Clifton too: He had a perfect handshake. Just the right amount of strength in the clasp to be bracing but not uncomfortable, just the right amount of time held to be personal but not awkwardly intimate, just the right intensity of eye contact to be engaged but not creepy. It was a perfect damn handshake.

...Whatever that said about him.

Clifton's other hand, the hand in the pocket, lay on a concealed pistol.

...Whatever else that said about him.

[Assistant]
Silvarae watches the one whom had identified himself as Volkir as he spoke, He had correctly determined that she was on edge and that she had assigned him the highest possible threat level. His tone had done little to alleviate this, however his actions within the same token breath seemed to do more than his words possibly could have. He seemed to her at least to be somewhat airheaded if dead inside, a combination she could not fathom yet there he was switching from a serious topic to the decidedly less deadly desire for cake. The blank transition would once again almost make her smile, 'that's twice in one day.' She thought to herself berating herself mentally, 'the perfect soldier needs not laugh, smile, or do anything but do as she is told.' She would recite her fathers words mentally. She had done this thousands of times throughout her life, now it was something she did in response to reactions to anything that was deemed undesirable to her father.

When another woman arrived she seemed the homebody type, arriving with a tray of muffins, 'Muffins?' Silvarae thought somewhat confused, where they here to fight someone, or was this a giant waste of her expensive time or was there more going on here. This was almost a nonsensical vibe to all the people gathering in her opinion, the disparity that occurred between the different people that had the runes was at bet laughably pathetic, 'from a soldier to a common housewife?' she thought to herself.

When the girl who had floundered through the window began to mock her weapons she would almost unsheathe them this time with the ideal of vengeance however something told her to stay her hand, or more correctly her nature prevented her from doing so. She would love to have said that she's the perfect soldier, that she loved to kill but for her the opposite was true. Hearing the woman mocking the only presents she had ever received made her angry, made her want to yell or scream at the woman, the only thing she would do however is stare at her briefly her eyes narrowing. She would not even bother to respond though she would let her eyes linger that little bit longer.

When the door erupted off its hinges and journeyed forth across the room on it's destination to splinterville Silvarae would be completely startled dropping into a combat stance and both fangs of Fenrir being drawn immediately. The next words that followed did little to alleviate the tension she now felt, The woman was impossibly strong, Silvarae had thought herself strong, that is until this woman shattered the door without so much as a single bead of sweat appearing on her brow. 'no, no, no.' she thought to herself her eyes actually going wide in fear as she stumbled away from the woman whom had now identified herself as a rune.

She would fight to regain her composure, the others in the room now all but forgotten as her eyes remained on the woman whom she now assigned the largest threat level of them all, When Isa showed a little disregard for the womans obscene strength she would regain her composure. If at the very least she tried anything there would now be enough people here to subdue her, or so she deemed.

A couple of other people had joined since all of which passed well below the Rune Uruz for their threat assessment meaning that she was the target of scrutiny for Silvarae. She mostly ignored what they were talking about and the muffins held little interest to her having eaten before working out this morning already she wasn't exactly hungry.

[User]
Volkir remains silent, staring at the table. He takes out a brown sack and opens it, popping what seemed like a marshmallow in his mouth. He eyes Kana who seems to be entertained with picking at the others.@Kuroakuma "Friends huh?" he said, responding to her comment. " I don't have many....friends, after all, I'm not very sociable either..." He returns to gazing at the table as he crouches in his seat, hugging his knees.

 As another rune enters, Volkir turns to see a crimson haired girl come in. His facial expression only changed slightly at her presence. It was like he was lost, there was something about her, something that made him grow curious about her. He also grew curious about Kana as well. He probably would never speak to them unless they addressed him first. He lacked social skills, which makes him the way he is now, a silent, emotionless being who eats sweets to stay awake.

[Assistant]
Maeve noticed the muffins, but did not reach for one. "Thanks for the offer, 'Muffin Mistress,'" Maeve started, but promptly shut up as one Mr. Clifton entered the room with what seemed to be intentions of starting something.

The meeting, probably. Or a fight.

He looked like the kind of uppity prick she had reveled in throwing out of the club by the bands their boxers when they got too drunk.

All suit-pressed and self-important.

Maeve drifted back in the general direction of Isa, who seemed to at least know half of what the hell was going on here. "Helluva opening ceremony, eh?"


[System]
Hero Alias: Mindfreak

Age: 14

Superhero status: Student

Quirk name: imagination creation

Quirk ability:: She has the ability to create whatever she can imagine as long as he speaks it into reality. This ability also allows her to warp reality to what she pictures it to be for a short period of time. It was a trick she frequently used to get out of trouble as a child.
The drawbacks to her abilities is that her living creatures take a great deal of concentration to control properly and any damage they sustain chops away at her own stamina. Also, her ability to warp reality has a backlash that renders her unconscious for atleast 15 minutes to 2 hours long.

Appearance: (will add later)

Bio:Brief Bio: Selena grew up watching heros and villains battle quite frequently from a rather unique seat. Half of her family were labeled as villains, though to her, they were cousins who babysat her and kept her company when she was sick. The other half of her family aspired to be heros and often joined the rescue organizations that aided with fire fighting and police work. This left her straddling the fence for years as both families called for her to join their side. This year she finally had the courage to make a decision and chose to apply for UA. This was a result of a unique encounter she had as a child in the hospital, as she had grown very ill due to her quirk and not knowing how to release it properly. The constant drain on her stamina left her weak and bedridden. One day, she awoke to find stuffed animals in her room yet the staff and her family didn't know who left them. It wasn't until she awake one night to find Teddy leaving a stuffed rabbit on her bedside. She pretended to be asleep but caught him the next time. After much begging on her part, she convinced him to mentor her until her release from the hospital. Even after all of these years, she still leaves a bag of stuffed animals at their old training grounds for him to find, having cut off every tie but that one at his request. Her last gift before leaving the hospital were two panda bears that were dressed like mobsters.

Now, she tries to keep her abilities under wraps as even her family doesnt know the full extent yet. She comes off as a weird combo of shy yet oddly chatty as she hates awkward silences. She loves books and anime as well. She enjoys taking things apart to see how to put them back together again and she is surprisingly clumsy at times. A little goofy, she loves the arts in every form though her true passion is anything music related.

[User]
Yawwnnnnnnn.. that was a good nap i cant believe i was able to convince granddad to let me go to UA." i thought to myself as i'm looking around to see what time it was. i glanced over and wiped my face just to panic. " No No i overslept, now i wont have time to prepare for my grand entrance." i shouted with my hands clasped to my face and then pointed at my gear to put away. "hahahaha looks i still need to work on my range guess im just gonna take u with me...sooo soft and smooth to the touch but looks so fluffy i have to wrap u around my neck, my beautiful bloodrose scarf." as i wrapped it around my neck smiling uncontrollably. Well school is most not that far but I shouldn't been tinkering with my latest subject that long last night. ohhhh how I can't wait to get back to you but these sweet gems at UA will be great too. *heavy breathing while staring at his cpu*.

Later gramps I shouted as I sprinted out the house and down the mountain.
As I'm sprinting down the mountain I realize I forgot to disable the traps.
After evading the traps and working my way down the mountain, I finally arrive at UA. Looking through the directory I headed to my class and noticed I wasn't the only one running behind.

Entering the classroom I scanned around and found a seat next to a physically fit girl. As I take my seat next to her I tried to hide my excitement but couldn't *heavy breathing starts*

[Assistant]
Walking into the building he sees the class roster and looks at who his teacher and the students.

"Gang Orca huh? I heard a lot of good things about him from pops. Hopefully he'll help become a great hero so I can surpass my dad. Let me go get a seat before I have to seat in the front."

Andrew walks the class and scans the classroom for an empty seat and finds the perfect one in the back corner by the window. He goes and takes his seat.

Gang orca walks in and greets the class and tells them about the physical test.

"Well this test finna be a breeze."

[User]
A few more students entered the class in a hurried pace, causing Gang Orca to clear his throat in a loud manner. He then started up again. He did take into account the reaction to his booming voice the first time.

"I am Gang Orca. I will be your teacher for your duration at this school. It is good to meet you all. I don't need to explain how important your education here is. Take it seriously and you will go far." Gang Orca's voice was stern but actually on the quieter side.

For a moment he stopped, reached under his desk, and grabbed buckets. The massive man walked over to the door, placed the buckets outside the door, and closed it.

"Anyone who shows up to this class when the door is closed, does not come inside until after lunch. They will report to the restroom, fill the buckets with water, and proceed to hold them until I give them permission not to. These punishments will change over time. Please don't make me become creative."

He gave the class a steely glare.

Alexa shuddered at the thought of what other penalties he could come up with. That glare seemed to strike her at the core.

Gang Orca proceeded to explain what would be expected of the students. How they represented the school now and Wanted to express the impending danger that would come with the title of Hero.

"Alright, enough of me talking. I want you students to introduce yourselves in front of the class, discuss your power, show it if you can, and then the next student will do the same. Pretty easy." He said easily as he took a seat at his desk, then crossed his arms. Orca cocked his head to the side and looked over the student list. "Alexa Barnes, please come to the front of the class."

Hearing her name be called really ran through her system like an electrical current. Of course she would be picked first to introduce herself. Slowly, she got up and nervously walked over to the front of the class. She skittishly brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt and looked up to the class. It took her a moment to realize she was in front of Gale's desk. She gave him a small wave, then started to talk.

"H-Hi *she cleared her throat* My name is Alexa Barnes. I am a support class student. I like running, capybaras, and pastries. My quirk.... I can create a barrier around myself when I hold my breath and put my hands together. If I don't put my hands together, it becomes porous. It is also soundproof."

Alexa turned and took a couple steps toward the door. Next, she put her hands in a box shape. Lastly, she took a deep breath in and held it. A small barrier formed around her. It was a little opaque in color and it was pretty sturdy. She held it for a moment, then released her breath and hands.

"Very interesting. What features did you add to your suit for school? I mean your hero suit."

That was not a question she was expecting. She turned to her teacher.

"Um.. I included an air tank to increase the barrier or bubble time limit. Ultra grip boots because the bubble is slippery. And safety straps for the back of the suit for anyone else in the barrier in case we have to move."

"Interesting… You don't have armor for yourself? I mean any additional protection besides your bubble."

Alexa thought to herself for a moment. It was something that she never considered. Her quirk was all she ever needed. It never occurred to her.

"Judging from your face, you haven't. I would strongly suggest it. It may affect your speed, but it could help you in the future."

 "Thank you Mr. Orca. I'll try to add that to my form."

Gang Orca nodded and waved her to her desk. After the purple-haired girl sat, his voice boomed again.

"Next student, Selena Holland. Please come up front."

[Assistant]
It was a pretty shiny day Malkell walking down the street till he came up to a car.

"Hello Zion hope your flight over was cool."
"I could of flew myself but I guess it was cool."

Upfront was Night Howler and Night Terror.

"We can pull off now." says Malkell.
The car pulls off and starts it way to downtown.

They make it to a apartment building and start walking up to the top floor.
"This is home base for now your room is in the back Zion" Malkell points it out to him.
Malkell walks to his room and sees a box on his bed and starts smiling.

[User]
Sitting up as Gang Orca explained what they would be doing, as well as the expectations the school held for them as students, Selena silently glanced around the room. She listened intently to him as he explained how creative he could be with his punishments.

"Nice."

She whispered to herself as she watched her classmate explain her quirk and demonstrate it. She could see how it could be hard to maintain the shield given that it relied heavily on Alexa holding her breath. That would be difficult in the heat of battle, especially given how the fight or flight reaction could cause the body to burn up oxygen at a higher rate.

Deep in thought about meditation techniques that the other girl could use that might quell that response in order to prolong her quirk usage, Selena took a moment to react to her name being called.

"Yes?"

She called in response before realizing she was expected to go next.

"Crap."

A barely audible sound that was more of a sigh came out as she set her beanie on her desk. Standing up, she walked to the front of the classroom and clasped her hands behind her back.

"My name is Selena Holland. I'm a hero student and my quirk is I can bring whatever I imagine come to life as long as I say it in some way. Volume doesn't effect it. It also allows me to warp the reality of the space around me, but warping causes me to go unconscious for random lengths of time, so I rarely do that. As for what I can create, while I don't receive the same damage inflicted on them, it does chip away at my stamina."

She says as she tries to think of what she can create that won't cause mass destruction. Running a hand through her silvery locks, her blood red eyes went to the floor as her lips moved slightly. The air around her hip shimmered before a Siberian tiger formed beside her, sitting patiently and looking up to her for a command. She smiled and gently gave it a scritch under the chin as she spoke. Selena looked up as Gang Orca cleared his throat, likely waiting for her to tell them her suit request. Brushing one of her braids out of her face, she stood up once again, placing her hand on the tiger's head.

"As for my hero gear, I asked for it to be a hooded cloak, gloves with retractable claws in cases of having to fight close combat and two small rifles. The rifles don't use bullets, they shoot vials that contain anything from a glue solution that can make it very hard for my enemy to get away, knock out gas, and a dye that is fluorescent and visible in low light situations. I asked for those so in situations where my stamina runs low, I'm not completely defenseless. The buckle of my utility belt also projects a small force field in situations that call for one. I've got boots with a steady grip on the sole for rough terrain, and guards for my forearms and thighs, since those are points of injury for a lot of past heroes."

She kissed the tiger's nose before allowing it to fade away.

"Lastly, I asked for an abdominal guard. I requested my gear to be light weight yet durable."

Selena looked around the room before gesturing to the guy who came in last, sitting by the window in the back corner.

"Your turn pal."

She heads back to her seat, putting her beanie back on and propping her head up on her palms.


[System]
Age: 17
Race: Bugbear
Class: Barbarian
Level: 2
Background: Folk Hero
Personality: See persona section of the linked character sheet.

Backstory: In the middle of a grassy field stands a large rock. This rock is known to the locals as the Snoring Stone, a name it gained after people began to hear loud snoring with no discernible source when passing the rock sometimes. People were unsure of what to make of this weird phenomenon until someone made too much noise near the rock and the snoring turned to angry yelling. After that, people became convinced that a spirit had made its home in the rock and began leaving it offerings of food, drink, gold, and other kinds of gifts, hoping that this appeasement would calm the spirit and dissuade it from following through on the threats it had made to those who disturbed its slumber. These offerings pleased the spirit enough that it forgave the disturbance, on the condition that the offerings continued.

With the arrangement made, things returned to normal for a time. The Spirit Of The Snoring Stone rested peacefully in its rocky home and the locals regularly brought it offerings to keep it that way. Eventually, a brave and desperate carpenter decided to wake the Spirit again. Before the Spirit could begin angrily making threats though, the carpenter begged the Spirit's help with a problem no one else could help him with. Upon learning that the carpenter had brought a much grander offering that usual to convince it to help, the Spirit eagerly agreed. The very next morning, the carpenter awoke to find the solution to his problems awaiting him on his dining table. Overjoyed by the end of his woes, the carpenter told others of what had happened.

After that, many other locals came to petition the Spirit Of The Snoring Stone for its aid. A shepherd who had lost some of his sheep would find them tied to a post the morning after visiting the Stone. A fisherman whose usual spot had dried up found a map to a pond full of much tastier fish nailed to his door after asking the Spirit for help. And when an angry mob asked for help in tracking down a murderer, they found the murderer's corpse an hour later, clubbed to death and beheaded.

One day, a farmer arrived at the Snoring Stone out of breath and in a state of panic. His house had caught fire, no one could put it out, and his family was trapped inside. He offered everything he had in exchange for his family's safety. "Go 'ome an' wait." The Spirit said. "I'll do the rest." And so the farmer hurried home to where his wife, children, and elderly parents were still trapped and prayed to the Gods as he waited for the Spirit to come. Suddenly, the door burst open and the farmer's parents rushed from the house just before the fire blocked the way. Then, each window in the house smashed open, allowing one of the farmer's children to climb out of each one before the flames blocked those exits too. With no way out left, the farmer, his family, and the assembled crowd watched the burning house as they wondered how the spirit would rescue the farmer's wife. Their answer came when one of the house's walls gave way and the farmer's wife emerged from the hole... cradled in the arms of an enormous bugbear.

The bugbear, who went by the name of Brutrumukk, revealed himself to be the so called Spirit Of The Snoring Stone, having played along with their beliefs to sponge off the offerings the locals had brought to the Snoring Stone, which he explained had a hollow interior and a secret entrance. Remembering all that the 'Spirit' had done for them, the locals refrained from driving the hulking goblinoid away and decided to let their current arrangement stand due to how helpful Brutrumukk had proven himself, even if the black-hearted bugbear had only helped for personal gain.

A year after settling in the Snoring Stone, Brutrumukk was rudely awoken one day by the sound of a certain multiversal carnival being set up right next to his home.

Stat Generation: Point Buy

Day Count: 2 (349)
Kill Count: 1
Most Kills in a Dungeon: 1
Most Kills in an Encounter: 1
Most Kills in a Round: 1

[User]
"Description? What do you-" Before Miizel could finish his attention was brought to the people behind him when the goblin managing the ticket booth called for the people behind him. Two humans, an elf, and weird looking gno-ope not a gnome. He was a gnome and he knew what they looked like. Then again he was far from his home so it could be a different subrace.

The goblin then mentioned that someone had already paid for their tickets throwing Miizel into further confusion. Someone or something had been expecting him, no, them. He suddenly recalled visiting a carnival when he was younger but there's no way it was the same one right? After all he's was over 100 years old.

He cast a glance at the place he emerged from. Thankfully still nothing. Might as well accept this, I was planning on going in anyway.

"Thank you and to whoever paid for me." He said, taking the tickets and choosing the yellow butterfly wings. "You mentioned the tickets were only valid for 8 attractions. How many are there in total?"

[Assistant]
Brutrumukk

Brutrumukk watched as people lined up for tickets to the carnival. He was too far away to hear what as going on, but he could see the ticket goblin nodding towards him for some reason and the other goblin he paid to spy on the carnival looking back at him questioningly. Brutrumukk hoped that wasn't a sign that his spy had been discovered so soon. He didn't enjoy the thought of having spent four gold pieces on a spy who got caught right out of the gate. "What's goin' on over there?" Brutrumukk muttered to himself.

[User]
Welcome to the Witchlight Carnival!

The Ticket Booth

The goblin listened to everyone of you with an ear horn lifted to his ear. He sets down the horn before he answered Aurora first while shaking his head, "An anonymous benefactor paid for those tickets, Ma'am. Sorry,"

When Zavakri mentioned that she wanted to pay for her sister, he answered her, "Of course, Madame. You may have to describe your sister to me, so that I can give her her ticket. An adult ticket costs 8 silver pieces, while a child's ticket costs 3 silver pieces,"

After Miizel asked about the attractions, the goblin grinned and he answered, "I said they're worth eight ticket punches, young man. There are many attractions here, and one or two of them are free. Any food or drink you might want also cost a ticket punch,"

He then directs his attention, and he speaks to Jub, "Ah yes. You, young goblin, you were speaking with the bugbear earlier, yes?" He remains silent for a bit to let Jub answer his question.

After Jub answers his question here, he continues, "I can only give his ticket to him. Would you do this old goblin a favor and tell him to come to this booth? I would like to have a word with him,"

He then looks to the rest of the party, and speaks while handing them a rolled up map, "Here is the map of the carnival. Once I clear something up with the bugbear, you are all free to explore the Witchlight Carnival. He is in your party after all, and I fear there is a misunderstanding,"

[Assistant]
Jub's ears pricked up as he heard someone behind him speak, and he glanced over his shoulder to see a human woman. How long had she been standing there? This was the second time today Jub the Peculiar's legendary senses had failed him. He'd have to be more vigilant. More importantly, those words she had just said, about things not being for free... sounded really familiar, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Jub shook his head. Oh well. It would come back to him later. He pocketed the green pair of wings before the ticket goblin suddenly addressed him, mentioning his previous conversation with the bugbear. Beneath his hood, Jub started to sweat. "Ha... indeed, I, err, have spoken to the gentleman over there," he said with a feigned laugh. "Just a passing, err, friendly conversation if you will. I don't know the man personally, of course." Anyone who had spoken to Jub previously would immediately pick up on the strain in his voice. When the ticket goblin asked him to bring the bugbear over here, Jub gave another small laugh. "Ha... you got it, my eloquent friend, I'll, err..." He stepped out of the line. "I'll be right back." He hurriedly made his way over to the bugbear before anyone else could speak to him.

Once he reached Brutrumukk, Jub immediately dropped his grandiose demeanor. "So, err, there's a complication," he said to the bugbear.

[User]
Brutrumukk

Brutrumukk watched as his goblin spy broke away from the crowd at the ticket booth and hurried over to him. When he heard what his spy had to report, Brutrumukk let out an annoyed snarl. He considered just taking his money back and sending the goblin packing, but decided to hear his spy out before passing judgement. "A... comp-lee-cay-shun? As in somethin' went wrong over there?" He asked in goblin. "...Well? Spit it out, Mag damn it! What 'appened?"

[Assistant] Jub flinched slightly from the bugbear. "Apparently, my, err, good man..." he said. "You, erm, have a ticket." He motioned over to the carnival. "The charming fellow at the booth has said that someone had paid for a ticket for you, as well as for myself and a few others."

[User]
Brutrumukk

Brutrumukk looked over at the ticket goblin, then back at the goblin standing in front of him "Someone bought me a ticket?" Brutrumukk asked, quite clearly perplexed by this turn of events. "An' now them an' theirs is willin' to let me in...? You sure you 'eard that right? You best not be muckin' about with me 'ere."

[Assistant] Jub held up his hands. "I am just as in the dark here as you are, my friend," he said. "Regardless, the fellow at the ticket booth would like to have a word with you. Something about a misunderstanding, I believe he said?"

[User]
"Eight and three. Best make it two of each just to be on the safe side." She rummages into her gold pouch, muttering senselessly all the while;

"We were but gels when we came last, so that'd be two child's...but she'd be nearly a woman grown now, so best make it an adult's to be safe- and nothing's free, that much is true, so I'd better be safe and buy my own ticket too..."

She produces the required twenty-two silver in short order and exchanges it in swiftness for the tickets, which she delicately folds away; the free one into her pocket, the rest safely and securely into her bag. Seeming to lose her reverie for the time being, she studies the map and taps her chin a few times.

"...Gosh, this all sounds positively..."

She gulps.

"...Whimsical."

[Assistant]
Brutrumukk

"Right then." Brutrumukk said as he turned towards the ticket booth. "Let's go see what this miss-under-standin' 'e wants to 'ave a word about is." With that said, Brutrumukk made his way over to the ticket booth, arriving just as Zavakri finished paying. "Oi, old timer." Brutrumukk announced his presence in common as he closed to talking range. "That other goblin told me someone bought me a ticket an' that you think I'm thinkin' about stuff wrong."

[User]
Welcome to the Witchlight Carnival!

The Ticket Booth

The old goblin completes the transaction, and before he could say anything to Zavakri after she takes the tickets, Jub and Brutrumukk approach.

With the earhorn up to his ear, he listens to Brutrumukk as he speaks. He sets down the horn and he speaks to the bugbear after nodding, "Yes, I did want to speak to you regarding a misunderstanding. But I must clarify: The misunderstanding was on our part. Not yours,"

He then goes to explain, "Your benefactor has explained to us why you were acting the way you did for the past couple days. Of course anyone would be upset if their rest was being disturbed!"

He continues, "Your benefactor also told us that you did a lot of good for the denizens who live around here. So...we can't really deny their payment for your ticket,"

He then rummages below the booth and pulls out another ticket and a pair of fake orange butterfly wings, and hands them to Brutrumukk, "So, on behalf of your benefactor: Thank you for all of the good you've done. And on behalf of the Witchlight Carnival: We apologize for the disturbance, and we hope you enjoy your time here. This will be our last night here,"

[Assistant]
Aurora

The goblin's comment had left her more curious than before. Was it someone she knew? It was certainly possible. However she was not sure who she knew that also knew the others here in the line, and the bugbear that seemed rather displeased with the carnival's presence.

"I'll take an extra two adult tickets as well." Rory took out sixteen silver to pay for the extra tickets. Before she could set the silver down the bugbear had walked over to the booth and started loudly addressing the goblin ticket taker. She quietly waited for the two to finish hoping that there won't be too much of a scene cause by the disgruntled person.

Once the transaction was done, she stepped forward and set the silver on the the counter. Upon receiving the extra tickets, Aurora put all three in her coin pouch and stepped to the side to wait for Gabriel, and put the purple wings on for the time being.

[User] Brutrumukk listened to the ticket goblin speak and, all in all, liked what he heard. He especially liked that this would be the last night the carnival would be here. It came as quite the relief to the bugbear that the peace and quiet he so loved about the field and the Snoring Stone would be back the way it was by tomorrow. When the ticket goblin finished speaking, Brutrumukk gave a sharp nod and grunted his approval. "Y'know what? You lot ain't so bad." Brutrumukk said as he accepted his ticket and wings. "So who was it what paid fer our tickets anyway? An' what are these wings fer as well?"


[System]
Introducing the heavy muscle of the group...
Age: 30

Race: Human

Skills:
Exceptional Pilot
-Skilled vehicle Mechanic (starship mechanics, standard maintenance only)
-fearless
-combat expert
-weapon specialist
-Ladies man
-survivalist
Weaknesses:
-Space battles
-Security systems
-Women
-Wanted by major crime lord(Tyber Zann)
-Mandalorian Honor and Heritage
-Poor stealth skills

Equipment:
-Mandalorian Super Commando Armor
-Helmet with rangefinder, HUD with thermal, night, and echo location.
-Merr-Sonn JT-12 jetpack
-2x WESTAR-34 blaster pistols-1x Blaster Caribe
-BlasTech Dur-24 wrist laser
-Czerka ZX miniature flame projector
-Velocity-7 dart shooter
-MM9 mini concussion rocket
-Type-12A anti-personnel rockets/ Type-12B gas capsules
-Wrist blades, grappling hook, boot spikes, electromagnetic gloves, crush gauntlets

-Born son of Mandalorian clan.
-Trained from young age to be a warrior and survivalist.
-Wanted to become the greatest bounty hunter like that of Manda'lor Jango.
-Bounty Hunter for Tyber Zann
-Hired to take out a smuggler who had double crossed Tyber Zann.
-Find smuggler and has him on the run only for fate to turn the tables and smuggler saves his life.
-Becomes partner with the smuggler and travels the galaxy together doing jobs with a specific skill set.
-Gets the call to go to a remote station within the corporate sector.

[User]
It seemed everyone at the table had their own reputation about them, his was the best no doubt, because it was the most awesome out of everybody else's reps. "You can do the kessel run when you pick me up a liter of anoobas like you said you would. Given a few months we would have our very own highly skilled pack of trackers, killers, hunters, and lupine sled team for the annual sled race on Hoth. On the plus side, the ladies love an animal lover. Plus I promise you it will go a lot better than me strapping explosives to swamp rats and training them to run into power generators." Tor said going on with yet another one of his side rants as usual. The man was right, he was always looking for new ways to kill people, and Tor preferred to think himself a master artist in the field of killing.

"Making history is always a nice bonus to getting paid, but that all depends on the mission. I prefer making history and live to tell about it, and making it in a good way not a bad way. When I say bad too I mean I don't kill innocent people for the hell of it, transport slaves, or steal from those who have nothing." Tor said in a serious tone as they followed the stranger. Some Mandalorians didn't care about any of those things, to them a job was a job and it just sucked to be people on the other end of the stick, but Tor held himself to some moral standard. One would be surprised as to how many times people look to hire mercs to terrorize farmers, common folk just trying to make a living to show how powerful their leader is, or to collect taxes from people who are already starving from being over taxed. "Though I image as special a mission as this probably doesn't involve any of those."

[Assistant]
Cormminna looked at the man across the table from her and she smiled a coy smile. "How bout a drink here for my friend." She shouted across the catina and the bartender just nodded. She took in the man across from her some more and pulled the knives out of her sleeve and the pistol out of her boot setting her holstered blaster on the pistol. "No tricks, here mister. Only reason that man got what he deserved was I wasn't drunk enough, and he didn't buy me a drink." She said, her voice soft almost inviting, as she took another drink. She was going to say more but a sudden beeping from her datapad brought her back into reality. "Excuse me." She stated, looking at her datapad quickly the message telling her to head to Bay five. "I got to go." Her voice was hurried and she quickly gathered her things and paid her tab leaving the man behind.

As she made her way to hangar bay five she found it quite crowded, but she knew she was late the ship sat there the two strange aliens she saw in the Cantina standing there talking with each other and a group of others, the one in the robes stood out and her hand slowly went down to her blaster, Slowly she approached them. "Are you guys who I'm supposed to meet, what's the job?" She asked to nobody in particular.

[User]
The green eyed man turned to the newcomer. "You're late, at least you will be getting kept more punctual by the use of the Nightfury" He indicated to the ship sitting in the hanger bay. He then turned to Tor. "You will not be getting paid to raze a town full of citizens or anything like that. If I wanted something done easily I wouldn't be hiring you to do it. This will be a tough mission that requires all of you to use every skill you have and work together as a team in order to complete your objective." He took out a holoprojector and sat it down, a beam of light appeared as a planet was visible. "This is Belona. A small world on the outerrim, completely unimportant. Other than the fact its used as a prison." He brought up an older map.

"It used to be a thriving settlement with five industrial cities based around large mine shafts and now they are all connected with a vast expansive prison colony. It's shielded like coruscant which does not allow ships in or out without the proper authorisation, which I don't have. I do however know the shipping schedule so you can chose how you are going to get past the shield. Once there I need you to collect someone for me, he has valuable intel that I require. I need to know now, if you're in or out."

Tony shrugged. "If my co-wokers are in, I'm in."

[Assistant]
Sirka'ith gave a glance to the Human woman as she approached, though she did not really care how many teammates she ended up with as long as they were competent enough to be at least a distraction. What Sirka was more interested in was the mission itself. She had never heard of this planet, Belona, before, though it wasn't as if she had a particular reason to be familiar with remote prison colonies. Sirka had been on jobs in the past that involved protecting clients, and a few of those were rescues, but never from high security, heavily guarded facilities. Regardless, it didn't sound too easy, so she would probably be earning her paycheck.

Keeping her eyes on the hologram, Sirka gave a slight grunt as she tried to see if it had any actual important information. "Hmm, a prison colony. So is this a Remnant settlement, or something else? I haven't done a prison break before, but you know what I'm good at. If you want someone to make a lot of noise, I can do it. You want me to carve a path for some squishy prisoner to escape? I'll do that too. Basically, I'll do anything that ends in a firefight. As long as you keep me doing what I'm good at, I'll do this prison break." She answered.

[User]
Tor's heart skipped a beat when a female newcomer came up to the group, another teammate by the sound of it. "I thought I had good looks, but my oh my I've been outclassed once again by yet another gorgeous young lady. I am Tor Maximus ner (my) cyar'ika (sweetheart), bounty hunting extrodinaire, supreme survivalist, and even better lover..." Tor said sweet talking the young woman. Tor was sure that it could go either way, he had experienced both results, and the one led to awesomeness and the other led to him being tied up and left dangling over a vornskr pit. Both we're always a good time.

The green eyed man soon took Tor's attention at the mention of their mission and more importantly with the planet Belona. "What you described as Belona is an understatement. Breaking into there is a garunteed ticket to history, and besides worst case scenario you're already at prison! Won't have to wait for a long dreadful trip to a cold, damp, dark cell where no one will hear your woes for all eternity. Count Tor Maximus in, because breaking in and out of prisons is good for job resumes especially in this day and age." Tor said throwing the thumbs up he was down to do some breaking and entering.

[Assistant]
Corminna smiled at the Mando and gently tapped his side gently. "Be a good boy and go get my things from bay 3 please? It should be a big gray trunk inside the shuttle there." She asked smiling widely at him and throwing him her puppy dog eyes, at the mention of Belona she perked up and interjected. "If I may, my father served as a storm trooper on Belona before it was a prison colony. And he still serves on that rock as a prison guard. Perhaps it would be easier if we contacted him on the way and asked him for his clearance." She said, looking around at the others.

For a moment she studied the other human, he was pretty handsome and seemed more her type. For a moment she thought about flirting with him in the presence of his friend but thought against it. She frowned for a moment and thoughts about getting in and out of the prison began to flit through her head. "We can always just knock politely." She joked, and looked down at her feet.

[User]
The man with green eyes just shook his head, after raising an eyebrow at the exchange between Corminna and Tor. "The guards who volunteered to remain or even return to the surface of Belona have no control over the shield. Though they do have my respect for being stuck on a world full of convicts, and from the reports they have created some... semblence of order. Though for all we know that could mean anything from that prisoners aren't just instantly killed to a utopian society." He shrugged. "You can't rely on using him to get through the shield, however if you feel that he will help you obtain your objective or even escape... I won't dispute you using him." He then turned to Sirka.

"No-ones really sure who it belongs too, the Corporate Sector transfer funds out to dump prisoners on it and the Imperials do too. However the ships in orbit are old Separatist warships presumably to remove any chance of bribery being used. You can't exactly go ahead and bribe most droids. In terms of your package... getting to her is one problem. Getting her to come back is another problem. She may not be entirely willing, and I'd prefer it if you didn't beat her up. She'll probably be getting frail and fragile in her old age." He shrugged. "I'll send details to you when you arrive in orbit above Belona." A Wookie walked into the room, with one briefcase for everyone and handed them over. "Two million credits in advanced payment." He turned to walk out the room, turning around as he reached the door. "I hope to see you soon."

Tony just shrugged as the man left, and moved up the ramp and stood in the middle and raised his arms to stop anyone boarding. "House rules, you get the rooms you're given. You don't touch or go near engineering and leave my shit alone. If you can do that, we'll get along fine. As Tors going to go help our latest arrival move her stuff-" Tony nodded to Sirka and Dazan. "You two come with me, I'll get you settled."

[Assistant]
Sirka looked down at her case almost in disbelief as she cracked it open slightly to peer inside. She had known going into this what kind of credits these employers would be offering, but to actually have such a large sum in her hands brought it all into reality. The amount they were paying seemed too good to be true, but she could see for herself how true it really was. And this was only the advanced payment.

"Two million credits." Sirka began, giving a slight huff as she closed up her case. "I guess this really is happening. It's an awful bold move giving a buch of mercenaries a two million down payment on their services. Luckily for them, I realize that anyone who can give out ten million credits in advance payments is not someone you want to anger. "

As Sirka was stepping up onto the ramp, Tony started explaining his rules for his ship. While Sirka would do pretty much anything for the credits she was being paid, it was nice to hear that she wouldn't have to put up with anything ridiculous on the way. "Yeah, yeah, I'll follow your rules...or maybe just pay you a few hundred thousand credits to do whatever I want, depends on my mood." She said with a slight chuckle. "Anyway, just put me somewhere with enough space for me to lay down and I won't have a reason to complain. I'm from Nar Shaddaa, so it's not like I'm high-maintenance."

[User]
"I'm not one to be an errand boy, but for you miss I would punch my way through a stampede of reeks and trust me its a lot harder than it sounds." Tor said wit a smirk before running off to Bay 3. He was gone no more than 10 minutes before he was seen toting a large gray trunk over on his shoulder. The container was quite large and an impressive feat for one man to carry in such a manner, however Tor was a very strong individual. He was always boasting to people about his strength and the fact he beat a Wookiee in an arm wrestling contest. He headed up the Nightfury's ramp. "You can follow me ner (my) cyar'ika (sweetheart) I'll show you to your quarters." Tor said panting slightly.

Tor lead her to the cabins on board the ship near the bridge. Most of the rooms were vacant since only Tor and Tony used two of the many they had. He led her to a room that had a feminine aspect to it in décor, except it had weapon racks, armor statue, and a computer with hundreds of weapon, armor, and gadget designs on it. "This is my niece's room when she comes aboard when bounty hunting season is high. She is quite the little merciless little hunter, feel free to use her racks and computer and everything else really."


[System]
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Occupation: Mystic/Enchanter/Occasional Merc

Personality

That Tahira's is Intelligent is clear to anyone who speaks with her, she can bandy words with the best when she wants to and is surprisingly well-educated. However, as a result of being ostracized in her early childhood she is often Aloof and closed off. That doesn't mean she is hesitant to interact with others, it only means she doesn't have a lot of experience connecting with people emotionally. Anyone who works with her can tell you she is Hard Working, always willing to shoulder the burden herself if need be, and although few have had a chance to experience it she is extremely Loyal.

Interests

Tahira discovered a love for travel on her way to the Blue Moon Tavern, the world is a much bigger place than she thought it was growing up. She also loves to learn, whether it's history or how to make a dish her hunger for knowledge is insatiable. She also possesses a strong desire to protect the things that matter to her.

Appearance Details
Body build: Curvy, Athletic
Height: 5'9"
Hair: Short, Wavy
Hair color: Raven
Skin color: Pale
Eye/Iris color: Amber
Height/Weight: 145 lbs.
Notable Features: Will be noted.

Clothing Description
Robes, typically hooded, of varying lengths, colors and styles.

Equipment
Scale armor cuirass, and whatever she can create magically.

Weapon(s)
A long, curved blade dagger in a holster she keeps on her lower back.

Powers
None

Abilities
None

Talents
Reading, Writing, Runic Script, Magical Lore, Wilderness Survival, Herbalism/Alchemy, Poison Tolerance, Astrology, hand-to-hand combat and light weapons training.

Magic
Mysticism and Auramancy. She primarily draws on the power of the spirit to protect, detect and enchant, or make constructs out of spirit energy.

Tahira's Impressions
Sessamaru: "So virtuous, he has either seen too little of the world or too much."

Historia Saurvale:"It would not hurt others to be as courteous as she."

Saha Thulaja Era: "She is at home in the Blue Moon, something that is unexpected for one of her kind, but she is still dangerous."

Katelia:"I do not blame her for her reticence, it is clear that she has sufferred."

Julio: "I know little of that one's motives, but perhaps we share a common interest in nature's remedies."

Azzrix Grimmor: "Boasting does an assassin nothing, the best killers die unremarked."

Margaret von Eisenberg: "I know her type too well to trust her, but perhaps I could learn something from her."

Naida Marcoon: "I would be hard pressed to find a patron who doesn't like her."

Drubbins: "His yearning to learn is admirable, I hope it carries him far in life."

Mysaren: "She is quite...statuesque, and shows a surprising frugality which others could learn from."

Rimau Ekoy-Rimau Eng-Dasku: "Regardless of what is said about him, that lizard has seen things."

Claire Alexandria: "There could be more to that one than meets the eye, I wouldn't mind finding out."

Viggo Malmsteen: "I know little of music."

Rouen Fulgur: "If he were to rule, they would call him a tyrant."

Felan the Wolf: "A man of humble origins, he reminds me of shaman I once knew."

[User]
Claire allowed herself to remain a viewer, an outside party who is not involved, yet can look in. She watched as a lovely blue streak came in and began working. She was clearly in her element. She watched as she neared the party of three, regarded the two others, and went back to being a blur. Soon after a jingling sound and a loud voice drew her viewers eyes away. A free meal, how lovely. Claire bent over and drew her gold pouch from her travel bag. Untying the small knot she had previously made, she saw that she had very little coin left. She probably wouldn't have been able to stay the night. even if the man didn't pay for her meal. She sighed. "Is this all a common occurrence?" Claire asked over to Historia. She seemed to be the most experienced one of the bunch. Hysteria was reading her weapon...A bit jumpy perhaps.

A lumbering figure found it's way into the scene. Another player in the blurring fantastic play she found herself in. They bellowed about the boss, and finding some place to be. Interesting, blur, free meal, boss, jumpy...Poor, hungry. A wave of energy ruptured past her. Her heart clenched. She shuddered. Something shattered.

Claire sucked in air. She didn't know she had stopped. "I hope it's not.." she commented more to no one then to Historia. As if to console her, a plate of food appeared in front of her. She looked up to see the stoic face of Bernard. She nodded thankfully in return, but of course if he saw it, it was a mystery. She look to her conversation partners. Perhaps she should wait for them to be served too...

[Assistant]
Naida
Blue Moon Tavern
"Oooh, Sess, I'm really sorry!" Naida exclaims, reaching out to help him up. "I was just trying to have a little fun!" She smiles at him. "I haven't seen you in forever... Well, forever in being yesterday, but still..." Suddenly, the door bursts open and a man runs through yelling for drinks and how he is buying everyone in the bar a drink. Naida rolls her eyes and smiles at Sess. "I'm probably going to have to take care of that in a minute. Can you believe some of these thieves, man? I mean, I know that's Azzrix, but still, you don't need to barge into every place and flaunt your money." She rolls her eyes again and laughs, the light bell sound echoing through the tavern. Every time she talks, people can rarely understand her because she talks so speedily and she changes topics so fast that people often times do not follow her. "I really am sorry that I scared you, Sess," she states. "I'll make it up to you. I'll make you your favorite dish on the house. I'll even cook it myself if that helps at all." She grins at him, hoping that he'll accept her apology food... thing.

Right then, the ogre bursts through the door and she sighs. He begins demanding to know where the boss is. "Give me a minute." She flits over to Bernard with a blur and a sprinkle of glitter across the floor and apologizes. "Sorry about the damage to the bar. You can take it out of my paycheck for this month. I'll take care of the big guy if it's any consolation." Before he can answer yet again, she flits up to the ogre and she notices that she is not as tall as this humongous being is. In fact, she is down right puny in his presence. She smiles at Drubbins, fluttering directly in front of his face, and says, "Hello, sir! I am Naida Marcoon, part time bartender." She grabs his hand and shakes it rapidly, glitter and fairy dust from her wings and arms and legs falling to the ground. She then sets his hand back down by his side with another wide grin. Her hand began to coat with ice, a reflexive magic move that was defensive, just in case someone got out of hand in the bar. "May I ask who is asking for our boss? Actually, a better question would be what are you asking for? I mean, normally people just ask for the boss's name so that they can do business with him. Oh! Is that why you're here? Bernard has a lot of people who does business with him..." Naida's excitement gets ahead of her and she begins to randomly jump from tangent to tangent, probably confusing the poor fellow to no end with how rapidly she's talking and how quickly she changes subjects. A couple minutes later she realizes what she's doing. "I am so sorry sir. Faeries are known for having short attention spans though. Anyways, who is asking for our boss?" Right then, Bernard rings his bell and Naida looks back over at him. "Oh! There he is right there. You can go seem him if you would like. I take it by the bell ringing that he would like to talk to you as well. Not a very talkative fellow, but he's a good boss" She flits away back to Sessamaru and says, "Now, what were we talking about?"

[User]
It wasn't long before Kat saw the blue sparkles that signaled the sprite had made her appearance. She considered flagging her down and ordering food if only to annoy Naida, but decided against it. Kat was bored, but not that bored. Besides, that imp would probably just spit in her food anyway.

Kat raised an eyebrow when a walking, talking rat sauntered into the tavern, ordering a round for everyone present. Exchanging a glance with Hel (Is this guy for real?) she shrugged. If he was paying, she wasn't gonna turn down a meal. Not that the tavern actually ever made you pay. It was the principle of the thing. She motioned to a waitress skittering back and forth through the tables and ordered a drink and a healthy plate of food. She almost spat out said drink when an ogre of all things busted through the tavern door. Some dark newcomer to the tavern was already on her feet, blade drawn.

Well, she's a twitchy thing.

This would be entertaining sure, but Kat wasn't really in the mood to watch someone get slaughtered.

"Hey," she called out, still leaning casually at her table, "big guy." She gave a short whistle and raised her arm above her head, beconning the ogre towards her with two fingers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hel looking up at her, decidedly unimpressed. She winked back at him and he just rolled his eyes with a huff. Still, his tail flicked back and forth across the tavern floor, the only sign that he tensed in case any trouble came from Kat's… socialization.

"You looking for the boss?" she asked him. Gesturing with her chin at Azzrix, she continued, "That's him over there. They call him Sir Rat, the Inexterminable. He likes it when you bow and kiss his hand."

[Assistant]
Old parchment rustled soothingly as Tahira turned to the next page in A History of Elrikur, which she read with a complacent smile in the shadows of her hood. She sat cross-legged between two bookshelves on the floor of the tavern's library, absorbed in her reading as usual, with the gentle murmur of conversation and revelry drifting in from the rest of the tavern to provide a warm atmosphere. As she read, many new sounds mixed in with the conversation, adding flavor to that atmosphere. The harmonious melody undoubtedly played by Viggo, and the excited chatter that could only mean the arrival of Naida. These things were interesting, yes, but they didn't break her concentration on the book before her. At least until she felt the backlash. Expanding outwards from a single point beyond the door, a virulent wave of arcane energy washed over the tavern. Tahira had little time to prepare, so as it passed through the library it scalded her delicately attuned magical senses, much like walking from the darkness into bright sunlight would sting the eyes.

The book dropped from her hands, followed quickly by a foreign curse which would have revealed her coastal heritage were there any in earshot. Rubbing her temples, Tahira climbed to her feet cautiously. Whatever that had been, it was likely not intentional and she sensed no further spikes in magic coming from the next room. However, just to be safe she erected a spirit barrier around herself, invisible to normal eyes, which would protect her from the disorientation of another wave. Picking up the fallen book, she placed it back on itself and brushed off her knee-length robes. There would be no going back to reading now, she had a few herbal remedies which would soothe her headache, but a drink would do the same and it gave her an excuse to investigate what had just happened.

Naida was apologizing to Sessamaru profusely as Tahira stepped out of the library and into the tavern. It seemed that his potent magic was at the center of this issue, but they were not well-acquainted enough for Tahira to feel comfortable prying. Instead, her eye caught the Witch, Margaret, who was ensconced in the same bench she had been the night prior. It was a safe assumption that she had been similarly affected by the magic, so Tahira thought it would be a good opportunity to approach her. Of course, she didn't consider what the combined effect of alcohol and volatile magic might have felt like at so close a range. Stepping up the witch's table, she addressed her prone form.

"Was that as...uncomfortable...for you as it was for me?" she asked, her voice it's typical low-pitched murmur.


[System]
~Lady Victoria Moncourier-Crest~

---
Age: 20
Gender: Female

Bio:
The daughter of Lord Alexander and Lady Diana Crest, Victoria was born with a rare blood condition called Haemochromotosis, basically where you have more iron in your blood than normal. It's linked with early dementia, but people rarely lived past the age of 60 in Victorian era. This makes her blood smell much, much stronger. And a prime target for vampires.

Her upbringing was privileged being from a family of vast wealth, Victoria wanted for nothing. She had all the ponies and horses she could want, this created her affinity and love for all animals and nature through horse riding and caring for them. When she was twelve, she fell from a horse and grazed her elbows. Her strong blood caught the scent of a nearby vampire. This triggered an attack later that evening as it tracked her back home. As the vampire was about to savage her in her own bed, her father burst in armed with a sword, gun, a cross and a stake (whether stakes actually worked is still a myth) and killed the vampire, this is when she learned they did exist, but she was made to keep it secret. It turned out her father was a secret Vampire Hunter! He knew he himself was a target, having the rare blood condition himself, so did her mother, this was only passed down genetically from both parents. He had to become a vampire hunter to protect himself, his wife and his future children. He guarded her religiously until recently he was killed by a vampire due to his ageing body and weaker ability to dispatch them. They never caught his murderer.

6 months later, Victoria has reached that age where she was expected to have a husband. It was ever more precedent now that the Lord of the House had been killed, there needed to be a new head of the family, with Victoria being the only daughter and no male brothers or cousins to assume the role, it fell to Victoria's future husband. Lord Christopher Spencer was chosen as a suitable candidate for her. And this is where our story begins, at the ball held at the Crest manor estate where she would meet her selected betrothed. Only there was something strangely off about this Lord…

[User]
Lady Crest was still dealing with her anger from earlier at being told she had to go home by Lord Hygrace. Just because he had seen her actually manage to get out of bed didn't mean she wasn't any better. Her muscles were so weak from bed rest that she couldn't lift things or even bathe herself properly. She did suggest Vail could help bathe her but his father would have had a fit, so a female servant helped her to wash instead. Though it would have been nice to share a hot bath with Vail, a bonding experience. It was all down to what race she was though. She was a human and therefore looked down upon and not accepted by Vail's father.

If she had been a vampire, it wouldn't have been a problem to stay. She didn't want to leave Vail's side either. It had been nice just spending time with him and conversing about the world, their beliefs, what they enjoyed doing or not doing. She had expressed her love of the stars and stargazing, how she loved singing and dancing, of which the latter she had reaffirmed that he gave her the best dance she'd ever had when they met at her birthday ball. She wished to dance more with the graceful vampire but Peter would not allow that to happen again.

Victoria eyed Vail's movements over the chess board carefully, as he leaned forward to inspect the board closely she also leaned forward. She hoped he would not find the vulnerability in her defence. Yet somehow, he found it. She bit her lower lip as he moved his rook to capture her king. She almost cursed and had to stop herself, still riled from Peter's comments. "Again?! You're cheating…you must be." This was their third game and he had won every one thus far. She was getting fed up of losing. She could not see any legal moves left for her king to advance to that would put him out of checkmate. She sighed lightly and leaned back in her chair.

Luckily, Vail changed the subject to a more important matter, the tome he had been searching for and found in his father's archives. She gazed up toward him, his hazel eyes helped to soothe her mind and calm her down a little. Because they looked at her so tenderly, it was hard to feel anything negative when he regarded her like this. As he declared that once his family were all asleep, he would bring it up for them to read. She nodded eagerly, she wanted to know what was involved before she definitely made the decision to be turned. And more importantly who was going to turn her. "Will...you be the one to turn me?" She asked gingerly, as she'd only let him do it.

[Assistant]
"How can I when you've been watching me like a hawk?" Vail teased when Victoria accused him of cheating. Truthfully, he hadn't noticed that the move he'd played had put her in checkmate until after he'd done it. It had been a delaying tactic at the time, something to keep her distracted while he searched for a way to win the upper hand in the game. Apparently the half thought out trick had worked better than he'd expected, and he came off looking like he knew what he had been doing when his knowledge of chess strategies was actually quite limited. It had been little more than a fluke that he'd managed to best her three times in a row that night.

As her eyes met his, he exhaled quietly, reminded that it wouldn't be much longer before they would be forced to go back to their intermittent meetings. After spending the last few days in her constant company, he felt like he'd been spoiled. Having the privilege to be with her and talk to her without any time constraints had been exactly what he'd expected from a courtship, despite his father's insistence that he would only ever court another vampire. He had enjoyed their conversations, learning more about her and opening up to her about himself. It had felt comfortable—natural, even—to grow closer to the Crest heiress, and it was like nothing he had experienced with any member of his own race before. He would miss the ease that cohabitating had brought them while it lasted.

On top of that, he had some lingering worries about what would happen when she returned to her own home. He had been able to save her from her manic fiancé once, but what if Christopher went after her again? He had no way of knowing if she was in danger from a distance, and now that his father knew about their relationship, he was certain he couldn't get away from the Hygrace manor often enough to keep an eye on her. It was a stressful situation. He just hoped they would be able to turn her quickly enough that the other vampire wouldn't have another chance to take advantage of her.

At Victoria's question, Vail nodded without hesitation. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it," he replied honestly. What he kept to himself was that he still wasn't completely sure that he could turn her to begin with. From what he'd been told by Reginald, vampires had stopped turning humans long ago, so there was a chance that the ritual could no longer be done today. However, choosing to stay optimistic, he pushed his concerns aside and added, "Besides, I don't want to involve anyone else in this. I've heard enough from my father to know that he would disapprove, and I'm done letting him or anyone else make my decisions for me."

Feeling resolved, he rose from his chair and stepped around the table to where Victoria was seated. He leaned down to press a firm kiss to her lips, trailing one hand down her arm until he reached her fingers. Her feminine scent made his heart race with a mixture of desire and hunger, and he pulled back before the urge to feed on her tempting blood grew too overwhelming to resist. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he assured her breathily, giving her hand a squeeze as he righted his posture. Enough time had passed that he knew he could make the trip without running into any of his cousins. With that thought in mind, he headed for the door to retrieve the tome.

[User]
Victoria chuckled when Vail teased her about watching him like a hawk. She had to otherwise the vampire could easily sneak in a hasty manoeuvre or two without her even noticing. From their initial banter she couldn't put it past him to cheat just to win, the vampire was not only stubborn but had a rather cheeky side to him. However, it seemed he was merely naturally good at the game. To which she couldn't fault him. She made it her personal goal to beat him at least once before she was turfed out tomorrow.

She'd enjoyed their time together, just the two of them in each other's company, just as much as he had. True, they had to go back to momentary meetings few and far between at the disapproval of his father. Yet she was sure her mother would welcome him to the manor once she saw how well Vail had treated her. With nothing but respect and gentle loving tender touches even at their most passionate encounter. She could still feel the tenderness of his lips and how his kisses fell like delicate flowers all over her body. Even if she had to endure his initial bite.

It was clear he was beginning to desire her once more as he kissed her firmly, she even found it hard to break away herself as her hand gripped his wrist, showing her strength was returning. And she had not yet had the lust that a vampire had that Vail felt for her blood. She was going to miss being in his arms whenever she so pleased to be embraced within his protective cocoon. They had one last evening together, to research and plan while they still could before being forced apart in the morning.

She nodded at the Lord as he declared he would be back momentarily. She didn't mind him leaving her alone in the room when she was awake so she could keep her wits about her and remain alert to his cousins attempting a feast again. She had been given a loud bell to ring if even any of them sniffed too close to the door. Victoria eagerly awaited Vail's return with the book, impatiently wanting to know what secrets lay between the pages. Any hope was better than nothing at all. Even if they found out the ritual could no longer be done, at least they tried. She contemplated asking Vail to run away with her, far away from his family so they couldn't force them apart ever again. But that would render Vail lonely after her inevitable death. They may have ten or twenty years together depending on her health.

[Assistant]
Remembering exactly where he had left the book the last time he'd set it down, Vail made quick work of retrieving it the second time. He strode quietly down the stairs that led to the archive, keeping a halfhearted watch for his relatives even though he was sure that everyone had already retired to their rooms for the night. Those that were still awake would have gone out to hunt a while ago and wouldn't be back anytime soon either. The manor was silent apart from his careful footsteps, and the trip was pleasantly uneventful.

As expected, the tome was on the same shelf he had placed it on during his last visit, so he pulled it down and headed back to his own room to look through it with Victoria. There was no guarantee that it held the answers they were looking for, but it was the best chance they had. Peter had been firm in his decision to remove her from the Hygrace family's property as soon as she was ready to go tomorrow. As far as either of them knew, this was the last night that they could spend in search of a way to turn her into a vampire. He hoped transmutation, whatever it was, could be the ritual that his uncle had described to him in the past.

When he got back to his room, Vail closed the door behind him and made his way over to the bed. "This," he said to Lady Crest, holding up the leather-bound book. "Should be what we're looking for." Settling down on the mattress with his back propped against the headboard, he gestured for her to sit beside him and cracked the tome open on his lap. The pages inside were covered from top to bottom with fine print and hand drawn depictions of humans and vampires, differentiated by fangs that protruded from the mouths of the latter.

He studied the images with interest before focusing on the text. "It's written in Romanian," he noted, recognizing the characters right away. "It's been a few decades since I've last read this language, but I think I can still translate." His eyes flitted over the words as he skimmed the first few pages. The beginning of the book was a detailed record of family lineages, names of vampires who had turned humans, and the names of the humans whom they had turned. It was interesting content, and he would have spent more time poring over it if they had more than just one night to do so. However, for the sake of getting to the point, he flipped past the anecdotal accounts until he found a page with a promising title.

"Ritual de schimbare. Transformation ritual," he read aloud, heartbeat quickening with anticipation. It had to be the information they were after. The related drawing was somewhat confusing though. He knitted his brows, unsure what to make of it. From what he could tell, it just looked like a vampire feeding on a human. Fangs were buried in the neck, and the victim's mouth was agape is if he was in shock or pain. It was no different than what he did to satisfy his bloodlust on an average basis, but none of the people he fed on had ever turned into vampires. There had to be something else going on, so he turned back to the text in search of the answer.

[User]
It wasn't long before Vail returned to his room, at Victoria's relief. At his gesture to sit beside him, she rose from her seat and stepped toward him slowly, she was strong enough to walk on her legs now but not strong enough to fully use her muscles to jog or sprint. That would take a couple of days to recover her full strength with the right foods. She crawled onto the mattress to join Vail's side, sitting by him close enough to lay her head on his shoulder as he read from the book to her.

Romanian was a very strange language to Victoria. There was so much wealth of information in this one tome. Her father would have loved to have studied it and learned more about the race and heritage in general. He knew there existed good hearted vampires who minimised their terror on the human race. It was rare to find but they existed. The Hygraces had learned by past mistakes to keep their head down and keep to themselves but he had been sure there were half breeds in existence. Like Diana's first-born son that Victoria had no idea about.

"Even the pictures they drew are very detailed." She commented as they flicked through the pages. "Do you think this was written by a human scientist who got close to vampires for research or an actual old vampire?" This book could have been the first of its kind. The Order would value this book as priceless and would use it to learn every weakness there ever existed in the vampiric bloodlines. This book would indeed need time to study, time they did not have to spare. She would be venturing home tomorrow, there was no way Peter would let Vail take her home. It was arranged for Ray to collect her at the Hygrace mansion and escort her back to her mother. Where no doubt Gerald would also be in attendance.

"Transformation ritual?" She peered closer at the page. She didn't see any difference in being bitten normally by a vampire. Until she noticed one tiny detail. "There…the cheeks of this human…there is no colour in them. Their pupils are also dilated. That human is already dead by the looks of it?" She mused as she turned her gaze upward to Vail, catching the candlelight in them, like a flame flickering behind them to represent her fiery spirit within.


[System]
Age: 28
Height: 5'10
Weight: 210 Ibs
Path: Hikari

Position: Headmaster

Weapon:

(Double katanas)

Appearance:

Personality:
As headmaster of the Shaolin Academy and is within the bloodline of legendary Hikari master, Junichi, Sin'chi is a humble individual. It takes a lot to get him angry, unless he is up against a challenging opponent. Usually he is quite calm and can tolerate most of the students' bad behaviors. He is also quiet; a lot of the times keeps to himself in his office for unknown reasons and only really emerges if he has something important to say.

Biography:
The bloodline of legendary Hikari master, Junichi Saburo runs through his veins. Though he has never seen him in person he has heard a lot of stories about his ancestor. He attended the academy at the age of fourteen and graduated at eighteen. Before that, he was working at a local bakery while practicing martial arts on the side. People would describe him as quiet, but intimidating. He always had a look on his face that looked important; as if he was constantly bothered by something but never tried to express how he was feeling. After the bakery, his father pushed him to attend the Shaolin Academy full time. After he graduated, he was offered a position as a teaching assistant due to his remarkable skills with the katana and magic use. He refused and decided to go back home where he would spend most of his time until he reached the age of twenty-four. He made the decision to go back to the Shaolin Academy and apply for the headmaster position. Each candidate was put to battle with one another and none of them stood a chance. He became headmaster and received immediate respect from the instructors and other students who know of his blood ties and remarkable fighting ability. He is now twenty-eight years of age, making him the youngest headmaster there ever was at the academy.

Martial Art Style (Name and descriptions for each.)
1.) Double-sword Kenjutsu – A form of duel wielding sword fighting.
2.) Jeet Kune Do – A fighting style incorporating kung fu, fencing and boxing.

Magic Style (Name and descriptions for each.)
1.) Light Manipulation – The ability to create, shape and manipulate visible light.
2.) Energy Physiology – The ability transform into or have a physical body made up of pure energy.
3.) Transcendent Angel Physiology – The ability to transform into an angelic being of fierce power.

Character Rank: D
Missions Completed: 0

[User]
The previous afternoon had dealt mostly in pain after she'd left the spiced ramen for her roommates. Punches and kicks were thrown at trees, branches were snapped as she yanked too hard into a pull up, legs gave out when she ran too far too hard. Once, she fell from her perch when she had been hanging upside down doing some crunches. All in all, the day had not gone as well as it could have, but she got her pain's worth out of it. She crawled into her room in the wee hours of the night, at least an hour past midnight, covered in bruises with knuckles scraped and smelling of river water from where she'd washed off.

Which meant that she did not sleep well that night, and hardly at all, managing to toss and turn and crack her tired eyes open every couple of hours. When the dawn came, Kaori was a miserable wreck, and only got up because it wasn't possible for her to sleep in and ignore class. The Headmaster as made a mandatory class trip to clear out some bandits from a nearby village. While a noble cause, Kaori was not particularly eager to stick her neck out for strangers on a normal day, much less one where she was running on four hours of sleep.

Dressed extremely relaxed, Kaori showed up in a white button up shirt who's sleeves barely covered her upper arms, and a pair of white pants. Not the best bandit beating clothes, but her formal clothes for class were for class only, and she refused to sully the monk gi on such a task. And when she showed up, managing to be the first in, her eyes narrowed in great annoyance. Giving a curt greeting to the Headmaster, Kaori found herself a spot, nestled between the roots of a tree, leaned against the trunk, and let herself doze off expression managing to stay in one of irritation even as sleep took her again.

[Assistant]
Victorica

After about an hour of meditating Victorique went off on her own again without informing her roommate, to study on some of her other classmates when they were alone but it didn't give her much knowledge. At eight she went back to her room and noticed the food one of her roommates had made. She took a cup off the ramen but noticed it was to spicy for her taste. She still finished eating the cup but with much difficulties. After her food she took a shower, readed a little and soon went to sleep. Victorique didn't sleep in her own bed however, instead she had been sleeping in a carefully placed construction which was hiden in the room. Still, Victorique did not sleep comfortable. Her mind was constantly being awoken by the sleep terrors that occured during her sleep. She would wake with a cold sweat and her heartbeat highly risen. There was no way to help it, she just had to live with it. Victorique did find a good way to surpress it a little. Sleeping for longer periods of time, sleep whenever it is needed the most and don't let your own fears get to your head. She also mentally wrote down that Kaori wasn't sleeping till late in the evening. Victorique only noticed when Victorique awoke again somewhere after the girl had arrived.

The next morning Victorique woke up and immediatly noticed that Kaori had already left. Victorique thought of a good way to pay her back for the dinner by making breakfast but that wasn't possible for now. Victorique still went to make her food and prepared some food for her roomie too. It wasn't anything fancy but it sufficed, just toasted bread and some orange juice. She placed it next to Hikaru his bed and left for class. Class was not that special just like you could possible suspect, normal everyday class. Victorique had stayed in the same spot as yesterday during class and didn't give much of a presence away.

After classes were over, the whole class of sensei sin'chi were suppose to gather for a mission in the forest close by a river. Victorique headed out into the forest traveling over the branches in the trees. The spot wasn't easily missed and indeed, it wasn't hard to find. The only two who had arrived yet were sensei himself and her roomie Kaori. She carefully jumped down the tree and squated next to Kaori. This girl was truely helpless staying undefended like this, sleeping out in the open. She softly poked the girl her cheek to see if she was completly gone from this planet and raised a small smile onto her face. Victorique set up 3 traps around the girl. Whenever they got even got close to the sleeping girl they would get hung up into the tree with one of their legs. She then jumped up into the trees again and sat down comfortably on one of the branches waiting for the others to arrive before they got their orders.

[User]
Yoshito had started unpacking his things and looking inside the package he had received prior from class. Just at that moment, a slip of paper escaped his pocket. He stopped, and then looked to the ground to see what he had dropped. It was a picture of Yoshito at the age of ten and the rest of his family. This had been given to him by his father as part of a birthday gift. Since then, he had just carried it around. It's become second nature at this point. It wasn't that it necessarily made him feel warm or any sense of nostalgia, but it made him think. He wondered what they were up to right now. Perhaps the usual. In the middle of picking up this photograph, Yoshito had noticed his new roommate Hanzõ slip out of the room. Strange. Silent as could be, he whisked himself out of the doorway without a word spoken. He was neither worried nor surprised, it's not like he would tell someone when he was leaving either. Something about this one made the atmosphere very eerie. Nonetheless, he got up and turned towards a window sill with a clear glass pane that displayed the outside like the frame of a picture. Although it looked like a scene chopped directly out a perfect art piece, it wasn't quite worth the effort right now. At the moment, all the young one wanted to do was lay down. Yoshito turned around and just as he was about to fall into the bed, a stranger approached from within the room. This stranger was a lady, young, with a pale complexion and heavy makeup, slightly taller than Yoshito, but much older in comparison. Or so it seemed. As he turned with a forlorn expression ready to ask who she was, a violent burst of an armed man came rushing through the doorway next, and before the boy knew it, he had a sword being held against his throat. It was clear a threat was to ensue within Yoshito's dorm room. This was a lot more of an inconvenience than anything else. What a drag this was. What could be worse than this? More guards of course. And then they started to enter. More of them.

Time felt like it was moving slowly, despite Yohsito's heart which was beating at a rapid pace. He dug his heel into the ground convulsively and waited without a word being said. It would be stupid to fight back at this point, given the situation anyway. For the time being he would be obedient, and keep his mouth shut.

"Poor boy, you do not know who you truly are do you?" said the new dorm invader. It was hard to tell what emotion this odd ball was feeling. This was a woman Yoshito had never seen before. Just as she said this, there was a silent command given to the same guard before Yoshito. It was there he thought for sure he dead, but to his surprise, the guard lowered his weapon and proceeded back against the wall in a surrounding formation with the rest of her goons. The woman seemed paranoid.

"Okihika Hanzõ, though, I am sure you knew at least that much already." Hanzõ was standing in front of her. The conversing was casual, and Yoshito's heart sunk, but he couldn't help but feel the need to snicker. It's as if he could've seen this one coming.

"We are being followed." the lady stated, and almost instantly Yoshito's vision began to narrow. It was a smog clouding his brain and all he saw was the darkness. The boy had blacked out, and could not recall anything afterwards.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The following day...

Yoshito slept with one eye open that night. His third eye. Not at one point did he wake up that night, but the young one did learn to be aware of his surroundings. If he didn't enjoy sleep this much, he wouldn't have got any of it at all. Hanzõ never did return that night. It was an image he couldn't erase from his head. They were standing together and speaking amongst themselves. It was blatantly obvious she had come searching for him. Why else did Hanzõ feel the need to explain himself?

"I am Okihika Hanzõ, the student of Pain. You'll do well to remember that Lady Kazumi, for I am sure that we'll meet again. After all, you can't resist me." it was all a puzzle waiting to be solved. Yoshito did not know why this happened, nor why Hanzõ was a target, or rather a choice; the best kind that strange lady could have picked. It stuck with him, but did not scare him in the slightest. This would be interesting like a plot unfolding. Telling somebody what he saw would most likely end up in disbelief, besides, Yoshito decided it was not yet the right time to do so. He continued trying to piece this together as he made his way to the river in the nearby forest of the academy. The headmaster notified everyone after class that we would be participating in a mission of sorts. Some kind of field trip he supposed. Yoshito didn't exactly have the ambition to assist the civilians within a bandit infested village, but that's what the mission called for. He had to learn the ropes at some place or another. The boy arrived through a dense shrubbery that opened up into a clearing through the complex branches and twigs above to where the headmaster had everyone rendezvous in a comfortable manner, seeing he was the third one to make an appearance. Not much attention was given to the two other females who also happened to be his classmates. It seemed one was interacting, but the other didn't care as much to bat an eye. In fact, she looked asleep.

"Hello, Headmaster." the greeting was solemn and to the point. Yoshito bowed respectfully to the headmaster before turning to the river in front of him. He looked upon his reflection in the water and scuffed his sandals against the soil beneath his feet. It was nice to think the bandits in the village nearby could be made short work of, but at the moment, he wasn't so sure. Be confident, yet cautious. Yoshito was sure the group would be able to pull it off.

[Assistant]
It seems like some of them was able to make it after all. Hajime noticed that Kaori looked…miserable, which made him shake his head a little. He knew this mission was inappropriate for students who just started but a shinobi should not fear those who are not shinobi themselves.

"Kaori" he called out to her but received no answer. She was asleep…typical of Kaori-chan indeed.

How was one supposed to win battles while they were asleep? Then again there is a martial arts style known for its ability to fight when drunk…so perhaps Kaori know a way to fight while sleeping? Victorique came and sort of made fun of Kaori then placed traps around her. Did she mean to be Kaori in danger? Or did she do that to protect her? In any case, the traps put both the bandits and Kaori in harm's way. After Victorique sat on the branches he said…

"I don't think that the traps are safe, Victorique…Kaori is also in danger as well." Hajime said then thought about something.

"Hmm…Victorique, you practice Kenjutsu am I correct? Come and show me what you have learned."

Yoshito came in as well and when Sin'chi looked at him he seemed just as down as Kaori.

"Hello, Yoshito. It is good to see that you are doing well. You are just in time to see some action before we begin the mission." He turned back to Victorique. "We seem to have a bit of time left so come. This is to get you prepared to use that sword of yours. Without your warm-ups then you may be beaten. Perhaps Kaori and Yoshito should spar as well just until the others arrive. It is a good way to kill time, after all." He said and smiled.

After that he withdrew his katana and faced Victorique to see if she would participate.