[System]
Gideon SoGideon was raised by FOB Korean parents, in a strict Christian household, but could never feel himself melding with his parents' ideas of what they wanted him to be. While he wasn't a terrible child, he minded them and did well in school, he never was quite on the same page as them. When he hit his teen years, the differences between he and his parents came to a head, and after a few stressful months or arguments over his future and career, Gideon finally left home 3 months before his eighteenth birthday.
You see, Gideon's parents had always hoped he'd be some predictable, boring doctor or lawyer or something of that measure, but Gideon always had more exciting prospects for himself. Perhaps he'd join the military to see the world, an idea his parents liked, but he figured the rules and restrictions would be too stifling. He wanted more fun.

Soon enough, Gideon figured out he didn't really know what he wanted to do at all, but as people usually do, he needed money. He found most jobs boring, but being a bike courier was a breath of fresh air for him. It was active, out in the bustling city, and most of all, it was fun. So, for a few years now, he's been couriering packages across the city, while trying to figure out what he really wants to do, but, he's not made much progress. At least he's having fun.

---

Physical Traits
Gideon is fairly short, standing at 5'6'' but after a few years of cycling, has developed prominent calves and legs. While not exactly shredded, his upper body is still fairly toned, and he has obviously tan lines from all his time in the sun. His hair is growing out, getting long all around. Soon enough, he'll have enough going to have a sweet man bun going.
When on his bike, Gideon is usually wearing a wide assortment of different clothes, sunglasses and helmets, usually a mismatched array of colors, mostly just to fit the weather. When off his bike, Gideon likes to just hang around in sweats and basketball shorts at home, but more fashionable, light techwear style clothing when out on the town.
Gender
Male

Ethnicity
Korean-American

Sexuality
Heterosexual

Age
22

Motives
Mostly, Gideon is just trying to get the most out of life. He's not quite sure where sees himself in the next twenty years or so, but he just wants to make sure the trip there is fun. Of course, he knows he needs to find something to really mete out a living further down the line, but he's not at all discontent with where he's at currently.

As much as he'd hate to admit it, Gideon would prefer to get rid of all the animosity between he and his parents. The fact that they're on such bad terms bothers him a lot, and it's something of a sensitive topic for him.

Occupation
Bike Courier

---

[User]
---

While waiting for Jackson to arrive, she'd turned on the TV to check and see what was on. It just happened to be on the news channel, and there was a documentary on what live was like in North Korea which caught her attention, as like many others, she had always wandered what life was really like in the Northern party of Korea. All of a sudden, a line of flashing words appeared on the screen followed by a robotic narration. "We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special report from Channel 5 News."

The flashing lights was then replaced by a scene of a rather familiar-looking home where a deadly shooting had occurred. As more footage of the home was revealed, Ruby realised why she found the house so familiar. It was a five minute walk from her home, and she usually passed by it on the way home each day. Two dead and two wounded. She wondered what had happened. They were in a relatively safe and peaceful neighbourhood that tended towards more of the upper middle to higher wealth class, and so crimes of these sort were definitely not common.

As soon as the news report ended, it was replaced with the same flashing words and robotic narration.

"We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming."

Her phone went off with a ping and she unlocked it to find a twitter notification from one of her followers. It showed the video of the shooting, and had everything the news report on the TV didn't, which was just about everything. The news only had the aftermath, while this was captured live, with the action and all that. It showed two officers fighting with a couple, and how despite all the beating that was done, the fighting did not stop. It was only after the couple was shot in the head, that all the fighting ended with the man and woman dead on the ground.

Checking Twitter, Ruby realised that she wasn't the only one who received the video, and it was not going viral, but it was trending on Twitter right now, gaining more retweets and comments by the minute. The sudden ring of the doorbell gave her a shock, still startled by the violence of the incident that had she'd just seen. Placing a hand over her heart to calm herself, she got up to check who was it at the door. Seeing Jackson's scruffy mug on the screen, she buzzed him open and opened the door for him.

"Jackson! Have you seen the video?!"

"Seen which video? I've been on my bike, not really a good time to be watching any video. Took me to get her longer than it should. Accident a couple of streets away, seems like something big happened."

"That's what I'm referring to! The video of that shooting! It's going viral on Twitter right now!"

Parking his bike. Jackson took out his phone and found the video on Twitter. It was virtually impossible to not find it at this point. It was simply everywhere! Ruby stared at him as he watched the video, wanting to see his reaction towards the shooting. He was just as mortified as she was. "I've never see anyone received such a beating and still continued on fighting like nothing happened. What's going on with our world?"

"Anyway, leave that aside. All the cycling made me really hungry. Let's go up and eat and get ready the stream!"

"Yeah, sure. It's all ready. Stream preparation's ready, although I might need to heat up the food first."

[Assistant]
---

---

It was a normal day for Donny, the poor guy going through the parking lot of Zemreaft Mall. He had found a half-eaten sandwich, promptly eliminating the 'half' before going to a water fountain for a few sips. When he went around with his coffee cup it seemed people were paying far less attention to him than usual and it seemed even the security guards were too busy to tell him to get the fuck out. Odd, really, because he hadn't washed himself in a while and was looking particularly like a hobo today.

Hours passed and his cup barely jingled as he shook it, much to the man's annoyance. It was enough for today but not tomorrow, it meant he'd have to repeat the routine unless some Saint went over to give a bunch of tens. What had people's attention so preoccupied? It was probably school today for the kids and still work time for other folk so naturally those at the mall would only be those with either something important, or nothing better to do. Yet, he had gotten used to that and had long since been accounting for it when choosing where he would make his living today.

Deciding that was enough for today he emptied his cup into a pocket and then went to figure out what the hell was going on, even his usually careless curiosity piqued. He saw a few kids on a bench all looking at one phone. He kept hearing something on the themes of "Wow!" and "Dayum!" and assumed that he had found his mark.

"Skipping school you little pricks?" The veteran demanded, getting behind them quite quietly as creepy old men like him could. They almost scattered until he placed a grimy hand on the shoulder of the two boys on the periphery.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't snitch even if I cared for your sorry little asses enough to do so. Now what the hell is everyone freaking out over?" He queried, motioning with his head to the phone. They were quiet for a little until one of them spoke up, probably the unofficial leader of the snot patrol. "Some guys got shot!" He announced excitedly, snatching the phone away and pressing play on the video. A normal little part of town that he had once even been in, so far as he could remember. Two... sickly looking people going at the cops and then they aimed and fired. The Old man shuddered with a look here and there as the sound of firearms came about, to the giggles of the teens. But the first shots didn't so much as stop the two people, which was odd. Donny survived quite a lot more shots back then but he was wearing a damn plate carrier. Ordinary people had no business walking on after eating so many bullets. He didn't really wince after they collapsed when taking a shot to the head, off the top of his head Don could only think of that girl in... Pakistan - if he remembered right - could survive something like that. Jesus.... Alright now scram, go, be the kids your parents want you to be or some shit." After the kids vacated the bench Don sat down on it for a moment, before sprawling across it comfortably. He put a hand under his shirt to feel the old bullet scars, muttering for a moment or two about what the world was coming to before drifting off to sleep.

[User]
~a meal to start the end
-1:32 PM, Downtown in Ramen Cafe

Famished and dehydrated, Gideon had finally made his way to his seat, after having been in the line for almost half an hour. Lunch hour was in full swing, as the restaurant was packed from wall to wall with patrons, but something felt off for today. Instead of seeing lively faces active in a litany of conversations, many faces were all huddled together, staring into their phone screens. Gideon pulled his out, thinking maybe there'd be an obvious reason, but scrolling through his normal Instagram feed gave him no such answers. All his focus on this topic, however, dissipated when the waitress came to his table, giving him a friendly smile, and sliding a menu in front of him.

Now, to eat…

After another 10 minutes, a group of Gideon's courier colleagues walked in, spotting him at his table and started coming over. They only glanced up at him once, though, making their way over slowly, all while staring into their phones, same as the rest of the patrons. Gulping down some water, Gideon spoke up as his friends closed the distance.

"Everyone's glued to their damn phones today, the hell is going on?"

"Oh, that's right! You don't use Twitter, huh?" David asked, finally making eye contact as he sat down in the booth with him, along with Carter and Jesus.

David, a 29 year old white man, with long brown hair in a smooth ponytail doing down his back and a scruffy beard, turned his phone towards Gideon. "This video is being posted all over the place, check it out."

Looking down at the screen, Gideon watched as two people, covered in blood and with crazed looks in their eyes, attacked and tried to bite or maul a pair of police officers, all the while, a man with a massive wound in his neck was bleeding to death behind them, all for an entire neighborhood to watch. The belligerent woman then turned her attention to a pair of police officers, who responded by pulling guns and shooting her multiple times, to seemingly no effect. Gideon watched on, horrified at how this madwoman had taken and simply ignored multiple rounds. He'd see some disturbing internet videos, witnessed how just one or two bullets could drop even the strongest man like a limp sack of potatoes, but this woman didn't care. She just kept coming.

Finally, as the police trained their aim on her head, she finally fell limp, the headshot draining her body of all life. Gideon sat back, taking a deep breath and a sip of water.

"Christ, that kinda fucked up my appetite."

"C'mon, G. We've shown you worse than that stuff." chuckled Carter. Carter, with his very short blonde hair, brown eyes, and red, slightly sunburned pale skin, stretched out in his seat, and began to sip the lemonade the waitress had just placed, as Jesus and David ordered their food.

"I dunno, dude, I've never seen someone take bullets like that. Plus, it looked like that one dude got bit or shot in the neck? What the fuck is going on in that clip, dude?!" Gideon chuckled nervously, as he took another sip of his water.

Jesus, an older, early thirties, man of Hispanic descent, with short salt and pepper hair and long, survivalist style beard, spoke up after handing his menu to the waitress." My wife sent me that video, she said she thinks they have rabies or something."

"Rabies? Rabies don't make you eat bullets like that, dude."

"Can people even get rabies? I thought that was just bats and dogs and shit."

"Yes, people can get rabies, dude. But usually, it just makes them hydrophobic and all shaky, I've never seen rabies do that to someone. That's freaky dude. Way too fuckin' freaky."

As Gideon's eyes began to wander, he noticed that some of the patrons had asked to change the channel on one of the cafe's TVs, and turned it to the news. On the channel, a Special Report was airing, covering the same video that Gideon had just watched. Apparently the scene was still hectic, and the police had cordoned off the neighborhood, and residents were on lockdown.

The table of four men had all craned their necks to watch the report, as did most of the patrons in the cafe. Suddenly, Jesus raised a pointed finger, and began speaking to the table,

"Oh, holy shit! I know why I recognize that place! That's where my sister-in-law lives!" He dropped his pointing hand, and pulled out his phone.

"You're telling me your wife didn't notice that the first time around?"

"I guess not, bro. But she just texted me the same thing, I guess she was watching the news too." He paused, with his eyes scanning over his phone for a second."She says her sister hasn't sent her anything yet, but she's about to call her. That's crazy shit dude, I wonder if she saw it all."

"Shiet, dude, you sure that wasn't the one taking all those shots in that video? David joked.

Jesus gave him a playful punch in the shoulder, which drew a laugh out of David. "That shit ain't funny, bro. But no, my wife's sister is even more Mexican than me, she's dark skinned. The lady in that video looked white or something. She didn't look like my sister-in-law."

Gideon chuckled to himself, but the table's conversation was cut short by the arrival of their steaming bowls of ramen, which they were more than ready to dig into.


[System]
Talent: improvisational engineer. Can make anything out of everything

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Appearance:

Eyes: Blue
Hair: Silver/ White
Skin: Slightly pale
Posture: Not thin but also not fat you could say that she has a rather normal body for girls her age
Height: 1m68
Weight: 56 kg

Some facts about her
(you may find some faults in my English and I'm sorry about that. Just let me know!)

-She loves to read books. Most of the time she reads books about how things are built in this world and about science. Besides those kinds of books, she reads the genres: Romance, mystery, fantasy and adventure books.

-She listens to classical music most off all piano and violin.

-Sometimes you could find her at night, outside. Just admiring the night sky and the moon. You could say she is a night owl

-You can mostly find her in places with a nice view.

-When she gets embarrassed, she would just play with the ends of her white hair and eventually, she would hide her face behind her hands(side note: she never dyed her hair it's natural). When you would sit next to her, she would just crawl up lightly not too much and then hide her face XD

-She loves sweets. Her favorite dishes are Curry rice, Shabu Shabu, Yakitori, Hayashi Raisu… You could say she loves meat and the Japanese kitchen!

Personality:

Because of her back story, she is rather shy and won't talk to you unless you talk to her first. Gets embarrassed fast when you compliment her. Once you get to know her she is a really sweet girl, she would try to make you happy and protect you but in her own way that is. Once you become her friend, she will make sure that you would stay by her side because she would fear that she will be all alone once again. But she won't do it in a forcible or bad way just with words.

Backstory:

When she was at the age of 6, starting in a new school for the first time. Not happy, not sad nor excited she went to her first day at school. Once all the kids were in class they introduced each other, Yukimori was shy and when it was her turn, she was rather quiet. And there it all started after a few months going to school Yukimori created this lifestyle of sitting alone and doing her own thing. Her classmates didn't hate her or disliked her, they didn't pay much attention to her because of how quiet she was, most of the time they forget her. Not with bad intentions, she didn't jump out enough to get noticed. Her parents were too busy with work and most of the time she was home alone. When her parents were at home, she got either ignored or they asked her to do things in the house, most likely the same as in school. One year passed, and she went to a higher class she noticed things she normally didn't. One day she sat in class and played with some pens and elastics she had in her pencil case, and without knowing she built a little paper plane that could fly for a long time driven with a small but simple motor she made of a pencil and elastic. And so she built more at home, read books about how things worked. Once she went to high school, she studied science. One day a big industry noticed her and asked her if she wanted to create a small door unlocker and an alarm disabler for police uses. After a week she created a machine build of old scrap and an old computer, they were surprised what this girl could do at the age of 15. When she was at the end of high school, she got a letter with a big logo on it that she saw somewhere before….Hope's peak Academy noticed her….

[User]
Momoe Mizuno

"Is that all?"

Momoe stepped out of the crowd after Monokuma's oh-so important message with a flick of her long, tangled locks. The smuggler stopped a short distance away from the stage, one hand on her hip as she lazily stared up at Monokuma. "Let me get this straight: you want us to murder each-other to get out of here, and the motive you give to make us want to do that, is to make it easy for us to get out, right?" she confirmed. Momoe looked back over her shoulder to the rest of the pack, paused, then turned her head back normally.

"Pff... aha... Ahaha!"

The girl burst into laughter, holding both her hands over her stomach to keep herself standing. "Oh, that's great, that's too great!" she mustered out between her fits. It took her a moment to regain her composure, but she did eventually stop to look back at Monokuma again, after wiping a tear from her eye. "C-come on, I've never heard something so pathetic... do you even know what you're doing? I can't believe I took you seriously for a moment!"

Momoe turned away from Monokuma, a bemused smile still on her face. She intended to walk away from the stage, but stopped herself when she saw Ayu staring at her from the crowd. Something must've been bothering the pipsqueak, she figured, considering the small one had already shown not to be afraid of the smuggler. Whatever though; Momoe was still far enough from the crowd that nobody else would've bother her. It didn't hurt to stick around a little longer.

[Assistant]
Aurel Fuchs

---

Location::Showers & Bathroom Area => Amphitheater
Interacting With:: Monokuma (@TheSeriousJoke)

---

A chill ran down his spine as he trudged to the amphitheater, hair still drenched from the lukewarm shower. While he still appeared with a cool, aloof mood, there was a seemingly dour glint hanging in his eyes. He could almost bet that if he stood out here any longer, he would catch a cold.

... and why might you ask had soured his mood?

He was semi-wet of course... also because someone stole his clothes... really, the only thing on him were his shoes and a towel, draped around his waist. It was impossible to comprehend why someone would just up and take his clothes. Even more troublesome was that he left his keys and tablet in the pockets... the thought of just not showing up crossed his mind but... ugh...

Aurel swore remembering something about imagining a crowd naked, but with that being the reverse, he found this situation to be ridiculous as he he willingly hid himself from any sorts of prying eyes. After a few minutes of miserably dragging his feet through the dirt, he arrived at the theater, noting that, outside of one or two people amongst the rabble, almost everyone was here.

He peered to the ground as he skittered to a seat, shivering as he forced his mouth shut to mute the incessant chattering of his teeth as he listened to the bear pop out, do his jig, and told them something he considered to be a huge waste of time...

... and looks like he wasn't the only one to find the bears showboating to be one vain attempt on its part.

"... sh-she does have a point... plus it... feels like you're d-desperate I might add," just as his voice rose up, he did too... and it didn't help that he was on the brink of sneezing as he trembled while stuttering just a tad.

And in one step he vanished, saying no words as he exasperatedly trudged down the step, pondering on myriads of topics ranging from hindsight with this motive to attempting to figure out loopholes with each of these rules.

However, one thing was set in his mind as the wind swept past his back, causing a chill to surge down the thief's spine. "... I need to find my clothes," he murmured to no one in particular as he reached the bottom of the stairs, departing in the direction he came from.

[User]
Ryuma Hitsugaya

More than anything, Ryuma just felt a little confused about what was going on. On a purely logical level, he understood the events happening in front of him and how they connected with one another; but there was something about this that seemed pretty off.

As Momoe began to laugh about the whole thing, though, he realized what it was: This whole motive thing didn't actually seem like a big deal.

Eh, that was fine by him. He wasn't happy about being holed up here or anything, and he'd like to be home, but it didn't seem like anybody would be dying anytime soon; escape hasn't been taken off the table yet, either. So, it seemed like this would be fine, at least for now.

"Yeah, this shit's stupid!" Ryuma suddenly flinched, turning to see the ever-hyperactive Chikako standing up and screaming. Jeez, what's with these people, He thought to himself, before getting up to leave.

---

Himura Chikako

"For once, Momoe and Aurel are right!" Himura yelled, continuing her frenzied speech. Admittedly, Himura was terrified about the idea of being provided an actual motive for murder; for a second, she was worried someone was gonna take the bait. But with some people lashing back against Monokuma, she was beginning to think it might be possible that no one would take the bear seriously—with her expert leadership, of course.

"Y'all, this bear obviously is just saying a bunch of stupid garbage to scare us. Obviously none of us are going to go and murder one another—we have principles. And, of course, I am on the case to finding out how to get out of here, and I am making great progress. Obviously."

She stood up on the spot she was sitting, "Come on, even Nervous Fucker Two over there looks like he's barely paying attention!" She said, pointing to Hiroki, who jumped when he realized he was being referred to, but ended up quickly tuning back out, "So nobody is gonna be scared of this kind of thing," Himura said, determined to now wrap up her speech, as she was unsure where she was going with it at this point.

"So, uh, in conclusion, Monoku-man, you aaaaare… failing! And we're winning!" Himura said, finishing with a smile.

[Assistant]
"I'm going to be late for the meeting in the amphitheater. Why did Monokuma need us anyway? We already know what we have to do to get out of here… We all agreed to stay strong and don't do anything. Did he got tired of waiting…?" Yukimori was in a hurry. She didn't hear Monokuma's voice that called out that all the students should arrive at the amphitheater. She immediately rushed outside of her cabin as soon as she saw the notification from Monokuma. Her blue ribbon was still a bit losing around her neck as she buttoned up her blouse. "Why does this always happen to me? I'm sure that I set my alarm at 8 Am." A small sigh escaped her mouth as the sight of the theatre came in her vision. Making her speed up a little when they all stood there yelling and discussing something. Rather confused she arrived in silence.

Yukimori tied her ribbon correctly as she moved closer to the others. Rather embarrassed of being late she looked up at all of them, hoping to get an answer out of their conversations to know what Monokuma said.

The first one she heard speaking up was Aurel. Searching his voice when all of a sudden she saw a half-naked, white-haired boy standing there with a towel around his waist. A blushed came on her cheeks, covering it up with one of her hands as she listened closely to what he was saying. Making her frown first, but then her eyes became slightly bigger at the surprise (Did Monokuma tell us to kill each other fast? Because he was bored?! That's just insane…). When Aurel left she noticed Ryuma who spoke next. 4 simple words were all he had to say, well she couldn't blame him. Others already spoke for all of them. ( Of course, we won't kill each other. Why would we? We are classmates after all.)

Yukimori wanted to talk with Ryuma about all this for a while now. He seemed like the person that would listen to people without judging too much. Making her way quickly to Ryuma after he spoke. She got surprised when somebody raised their voice, she turned around to find out it was Himura. Throwing bold but true facts at Monokuma, she was happy that Himura wanted to find a way out of her as fast as she could. Yukimori nodded in agreement, but deep inside she felt like Monokuma wouldn't even care about what we all said right now. (After all, he built this whole place to keep us all and to make us kill each other. Would he really stop when we said this to him…? I hope that we can all stay strong and move out of here quickly before somebody gets killed) Her thought lingered in her head. In a second she remembered what she was planning to do, and got back to asking Ryuma what he thought about all this.

Ryuma's back was already turned to her when she noticed him standing up to make his way out of this mess. Her feet felt like bricks that she couldn't move on her own, moving slowly towards Ryuma as she reached out for his wrist. Hesitating for a moment, she shook her head and gently pulling his sleeve for a moment. "Euhm … Excuse me, Ryuma? Could I ask you something, if you have the time of course? I don't want to bother you with this." Her grey/ blueish eyes looked up at the big guy standing in front of her. Regretting the fact that she pulled his sleeve immediately. What would he think of her touching him like that, she's still a stranger to him. "I wanted to speak with you about all this, you seemed to be the type who wouldn't judge others that fast. It would be nice to know what you think, maybe you might feel better about telling someone your opinion…"

Yukimori had a small blush on her cheeks, and her hands got a little sweaty from how nervous she was. Holding her own hands before her as she waited for a response, hoping he wouldn't think bad about her approaching him so out of the blue.


[System]
Age: 18
Talent: Spell casting.
Birthmark: Mind Symbol
Power: Telekinesis. She can move almost anything with her mind, but the bigger and/or heavier the item is the more energy it takes.
History:
Lali is the only child of a dressmaker and the treasurer for the temple of Lazuli. Her mother had a hard pregnancy, and there were a few times that the family was afraid that they were going to lose the baby. Luckily, she survived, and as soon as her parents saw her birthmark they knew that Lazuli had kept her alive. The couple truly believed that Lazuli had great plans for their daughter, and they named her Lali in honor of the deity. Unfortunately her mother barely lived long enough to see her daughter christened in the temple, and her father has had to raise his little girl by himself.

The couple named their daughter Lali in honor of Lazuli, and, as soon as she was old enough, her father put her to work helping clean the temple. He saw it as a great way for her to thank the Deity and practice using her telekinesis. When Lala saw the announcement her father believed that this journey was why she had survived.

Tier (T-air) is a wildcat she found as a cub. He was orphaned by hunters, so Lala took him in and raised him.

[User]
DAY 1
Morning, sunny, warm
Everyone is to meet at the temple of Lazuli in Lapis

[Assistant]
Jacque stumbled towards the temple in a less than graceful manner. A hangover from one to many pints of ale coupled with much less sleep than he would have liked left the man in poor shape as he held up his hand to shield his eyes from the rays of the sun. With the hand not being used to protect his eyes, Jacque began to slowly pat himself to make sure that he'd remembered to bring all op his belongings from the inn that he'd spent the night in. Herb pouch: Check. Short sword: Check. Dagger: Check. Bow: Check. Quiver and the twenty arrows that came with it? Jacque reached back awkwardly to count each arrow by giving them all a light tap. Yup. All arrows accounted for. Everything seemed to be accounted for, everything but... "Gods be damned, where did I leave my coin pouch. I could've sworn-". Jacque was cut off by a scratching on his right pants leg. The hunter looked down to find his partner Titan holding a small leather bag between his jaws. "Titan you really are my angel somedays." Jacque murmured before he removed his coin pouch from the lizard's jaws and gave it a scratch on the head.

After sparring a moment to tie the bag to his belt -easier said than done since he had to close one eye to keep the sunlight out-, Jacque entered the temple with Titan in tow, eager to find out how he'd play a role in recovering the missing pieces of the statue of Lazuli.

[User]
Feon was already in the temple. Due to her being a paladin she was regularly often doing some kind of important work. Feon had her hammer with her like always. Though it was sitting at the entrance, most people thought it was just a statue or something due to it being immovable, they couldn't even push it due to it's weight. Feon was excited to meet the others she was almost hopping up and down.

Greg was on Feon's head at the moment, atleast he was untill he saw the lizard come in with the man. Greg quickly flew towards it and then oddly enough started to dance around the lizard as a sort of Mating Dance his kind commonly did. Others may have seen it very strange for a pigeon to being trying to get the attention of a lizard like this. Though Feon found it hilariouse. As this dance continued to started to laugh at the two, she laughed to the point of tears. "Oh that is great Greg! Try your mating dance on the lizard see what happens!" Feon said wiping a tear from her face.

Feon walked up to the man who had just entered still giggling a bit from all the laughing she was doing. "I guess I should introduce myself since Greg is already introducing himself, I'm Feon!" Feon said to the man. Feon didn't actually know if this man was one of the people called or just a bystander or tourist.

[Assistant]
As Jacque and Titan entered the temple, the duo were met with a sight that was interesting to say the least. There was a young and rather excitable looking woman already inside with a pigeon resting on her head. Jacque thought nothing of the sight at first, however this quickly changed when the bird chose to fly over to Titan and begin to...was it preforming a mating ritual!? "Oh my gods...", Jacque watched the bird hop around Titan -whom was currently trying to get a bead on the bird to snap at it- and found himself clasping a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh as the little bird enthusiastically danced around Titan. Hangover or not, watching a creature attempt to woo what would normally be its natural predator was not something that could be easily watched in silence.

Titan, believing himself to have gotten a good idea of the pattern of the dance, looked up to Jacque and flicked his tongue several times as he awaited permission to go after Greg. Jacque responded to this with a wagging of his finger -as shaking it his would have caused more pain- and a soft chuckle, "Sorry bud, but you can't eat it. Don't want to go ruffling feathers.". If lizards could understand human speech Titan would have probably shaken his head in disgust at the poorly made pun, however as this was not the case, the lizard simply let out an aggravated hiss and flopped onto the floor.

No sooner than after Jacque had taken his eyes of Titan was he face to face with the bubbly looking girl who seemed to be the owner of the peculiar pigeon. The hunter was a bit startled a first, but he recovered quickly and offered his hand to shake "A pleasure to meet you Feon. I'm Jacque.".

[User]
Aliaah entered the temple, her face partially covered by her mask. A sword hung at her hip. it was black with a leather handle that seemed to absorb light around it. She looked around, seeing a gruff man, a large lizard, a paladin, and.... a pigeon? Why was it dancing. Aliaah uncovered her face and was almost knocked over when Nyra came loping in from outside. She circled around her master, then spotted the other animals. Nyra yipped playfully and ran over to the lizard and the bird. She put her paw on the lizard's head.
"Nyra!" Aliaah shouted at the fuzzball. She facepalmed. "First impressions, Nyra..."

[Assistant]
Lali walked into the temple with her father and Tier shortly after the woman with the wolf. She had been hoping that she would be the first one so that she could do at least a little cleaning, but her father had delayed them long enough that she was now the last to show up.

The first thing the group noticed was the pigeon dancing around a monitor lizard, and the wolf with it's paw on the lizard's head. Lala and her father couldn't help but laugh at the sight, but Tier just wanted to join in on the fun. So, the wildcat started playfully stalking the pigeons.

Lala said goodbye to her father, and walked over to where the others were standing. She recognized the paladin as having been at the temple on business a few times, but she didn't know any of the others. She smiled to the woman that had come in with the wolf. "You have a beautiful wolf, and I love her name."

[User]
Greg soon finished his dance after realizing that he would not be able to woo this beautiful lizard. Greg then turned his attention to the rather pretty looking wild cat that had come in. He started to promptly dance around the Wildcat now trying to woo it with his lovely grey feathers and beautiful dance.

Feon smiled at Jacque after shaking his hand. She had noticed the person with the wolf but Feon decided to try and keep her distance. Feon had a strong dislike of wolves due to them constantly going after her families sheep and cows and such. "I think that's enough for today Greg, you should stop before you actually succeed in wooing something." Feon said with a smile as she picked up Greg by a wing and threw him towards her hammer. Greg quickly recovered and landed on the hilt of the hammer that was facing towards the sky. He then promptly started to clean his wings. "I guess this is everyone, so what was it we were here for again?" Feon asked the others. Feon didn't have the greatest memory. Feon had recognized the girl who had worked in the temple often, though she didn't know her name.

[Assistant]
As with all coastal monitors Titan was known for three things: Intelligence, a thick hide, and a fiery disposition, the last of which he began to display somewhere between the time he was pawed on the head and the arrival of two more newcomers. The monitor squirmed out from under the wolf's paw and opened his mouth to let out a throaty hiss of warning. Following this Titan began to suck in air to make himself look bigger and stand as tall as he could whilst arching his back to complete his threat display.

Jacque, after releasing Feon's hand, looked at his partner out of the corner of his eye and growled to catch Titan's attention, "Stand down.". Titan continued to huff and puff for a few seconds, but eventually the reptile reluctantly shut his mouth and blew out the excess air he was holding in. Jacque debated greeting Lali and Aliaah as he'd done Feon, however Feon's question was something he believed to take precedence. The hunter sparred a moment to rub his temples to speed along his dissipating hangover headache and cleared his throat "Well, unless that announcement I heard prior to the competition was wrong, we're here to help...rebuild a god I guess...".

[User] Aliaah smiled at the girl's comment. "Thank you. Nyra!" She quickly grabbed Nyra's leather collar and pulled her pack to her side. She tapped the wolf on the nose, making her sit. Aliaah brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Sorry, she is still a pup." After the statement, she crossed her arms, nodding. "And yes, that is what we are here to do I believe."

[Assistant]
The head priest came into the room as the group was discussing why they were there, and he nodded smiling. "that is correct my children. You were all chosen to help find the missing pieces of our Deity's statue." he said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his robe sleeve. He offered the paper to Feon as he continued. "On this map, I have marked the four towns you need to visit. The order you visit them in is completely up to you, but in each town you will need to visit the temple where the priest will make sure that you are the seekers. Once he is satisfied he will take you to the path or road that leads to one of the pieces." he pauses for a moment, thinking. "I must warn you. Malo knows about our search, and is sending someone to try and keep us from waking Lazuli."

The priest turns to Lali, and reaches into his robe sleeve again. This time he pulls out an amulet on a chain. The amulet is a moderately sized piece of sliver with Latin writing along the edge and a lapis Lazuli triangle in the middle. He handed the amulet to Lala. "My dear, I know that you are almost done with your spell training. This ambulance has been known to respond to prayers and spell. So, I am giving it to you for safe keeping, but this amulet is required for waking up our deity."

Lala nodded, proud that head priest trusted her with such an important item. "I promise to protect it with my life."

"Any questions?"


[System]
Colour: Sapphire

Age: 17

Gender: Female
Race: Cyborg

Weapon/s: Unlike most in Beacon who have transformable weapons, Shirako uses two different weapons. Well, three, technically.

Chain-guns - Literally metal clamps connected to chains that've been attached to Shirako's wrists which are in turn connected to two pistols. Although while many consider these impractical and a tactical disadvantage, Shirako has managed to turn them into deadly CQC and ranged weapons. The chains can be manipulated almost at will in terms of length, with the ability to extend and shorten to Shirako's liking anytime. The chains also act as an ammo belt for the pistols, allowing for complex shooting maneuvers, for example her "Gatling Gun" when she spins the chains on each of her hands around in circles whilst firing in the direction of the enemy. This allows for a near-constant rate of fire that is far more effective at dispatching enemies, however makes her magazines drier than the wasteland. The pistols can also convert into small, durable blocks that she uses when she needs to hit, trip or tie up an enemy.

Katana - As seen in the above image, Shirako has access to a long, thin katana. This blade isn't her primary weapon, however she's learned to use it well enough. Its only quality feature is that a small canister of dust (namely that of ice) can be inserted in the handle, allowing a thin coat of the stuff to be applied to the cutting edge of the blade, amplifying it's effectiveness. Shirako doesn't seem to like using it often, though, both the dust ability and the katana in general.

Weapon Type: Dust compatible - Ice, Fire, Lightning. (This applies to both weapons)
Weapon Range: Short (Katana); Short-Medium (Chain-guns)

Semblance/Special Ability: For a limited time, Shirako can gain dead-shot accuracy and overload her processors for increased perception and calculations; basically an overdrive. It can be triggered at will, however has an incredibly long cool down period, resulting in sparse use...

Personality: Shirako is a smart and calculative individual who acts more robot than human. Although she's capable of registering human emotion perfectly fine, she oftentimes speaks in a monotone and, what one would consider, "robot speak". She's quite judgmental and perhaps a little cold or blunt, however it's as much as you should expect from a cyborg. She strives to learn more about human emotions and behavior in order to better understand them and herself.

Bio: When a human life is lost, often times the remains are buried or cremated and the lost one grieved. However, Shirako was another story. With a brain that no longer functioned due to the cessation of her life, a rogue scientist father aimed to bring back his dead daughter through the power of technology. Inspired by what was being created in other areas of his field, the scientist set out to do something similar to what others had done, yet different. Instead of giving a robot the ability to live and emote, the scientist planned to give his dead daughter new life by scanning her brain and creating an artificial one to put in her body, built to live like any other human being. State-of-the-art stolen technology combined with her preserved internal organs eventually combined and created something new: an AI in the body of a living, breathing human being. Not to mention, the shackles on her wrists that were welded to pistols - restraints that not even Shirako knows why exist, yet she doesn't wish to remove them.

Of course, the damage to Shirako's brain was extensive, to the point she had no recollection of her former 'life'. Her father wished to revisit those memories with her, in hopes of her remembering who she was, however it turns out being a former leading scientist in robotics who suddenly stole equipment and disappeared puts a bounty on your head. Well not quite a bounty, however he was wanted. In order to save his new daughter's life, he told her to go to a place called Beacon, where she could discover herself, her past and her purpose, and that her name was Shirako Grey. Confused by the man who claimed to be her father's words, Shirako managed to escape and made haste for Beacon. Although she wasn't an official student, she still hoped she could get in. It was her father's wish, after all. Supposedly.

Equipment: Aside from her black coat and the various dust magazine clips at her belt (two for each element: fire, ice, electricity and wind; 8 clips in all) Shirako doesn't really have anything.

[User]
@Delta44@DiZL ReloadeD@rechonq@Princeofhearts@Polaris North@OneWayOut@Thundercrash@PatrickDrummer@Shadolord

Humanity, such a fickle species. No matter what obstacles come their way, they find a way around it. Whether they use their knowledge, weapons, or their unwillingness to give up. So they thrive on the knowledge that they can overcome anything. However, all their victories were preplanned. You see, life is like a game of chess. You send your weak pawns to be sacrificed so your opponent thinks they have the upper hand. All the while you build your army to strike them in their state of bliss. All your victories, all your accomplishments mean nothing when you lay on the ground gasping your last breath.

You now walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but you do not yet know it. For you see: I've sown the seeds of your destruction. I'll destroy the sin that corrupts this world either by death or by other means. And once you see what's knocking on your door, you'll not have the means to deal with it. This is the end of the corruption and the beginning of the cure. Humanity will see what lies ahead of it and wish for mercy, wish to be spared, and I'll look down from the mountain of corpses and whisper, "No"

So bring your hunters, your huntresses and your technology with you, for they will not help you. My plan has already been planted and once you realize it: you'll be on the ground gasping your very last breath. My plan has been in root ever since you crawled from the dust and it will end when you return to dust.

Ozpin stood on the stage of the auditorium looking out at all the students that had either entered Beacon for the first time or where returning for their next year of training. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat that echoed around the large room.

"Welcome to Beacon new students," Ozpin said before he continued, "and welcome back to any of you who have returned." Ozpin adjusted his glasses and placed his right hand over his left hand that was resting on his cane.

"You all are the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses. Your contribution to the future starts here at Beacon. Each and every one of you comes from all facts of life: Human, Faunus, rich, poor. However, you all have one goal in mind: to protect this world from the looming darkness that threatens it. Weather it's the White Fang or the Grimm," Ozpin said before he began to walk around the large stage and continue, "Your road to become a Hunter or Huntress will be hard and trivial, but know you're not alone." He stopped in the middle of the stage.

"The person next to you, in front of you, behind you. Will be on the same path and even though you may be separated in teams of four, know that everyone in this room is family. So use their strength when yours diminishes, use their power when yours has been taken, and use their courage when yours runs out. You all are the future of this world and as such it is your duty to protect it," Ozpin said before raising a hand to stop anyone from clapping.

"However, you will not simply be going in blind. Beacon has a team of instructors to help you on your journey and I'd like to introduce them. rRemember, they were once in your shoes and are now successful Hunters and Huntresses," Ozpin said before the first instructor walked out onto the stage.

"First I'd like to introduce your battle strategy instructor: Jaune Arc," Ozpin said. Jaune stood on the stage and looked a little uncomfortable, but he forced a smile and waved at the students.

"Next I'd like to introduce your Semblance instructor: Glynda Goodwitch," Ozpin said while Glynda walked on to stage and stood next to Jaune who seemed even more uncomfortable then he was when he walked out.

"Next we have you're your instructor on Grimm: Drake Darko," Ozpin said. A man in his late 30's walked out on stage wearing a black suit with a red. Atop his head was a top hat and as he walked out, his cane tapped on the hard wood floor of the stage. The way he walked, it seemed he didn't need the cane. He smiled at Glynda before he turned to the students, took off his top hat, and bowed.

"Your instructor on Dust: Weiss Schnee," Ozpin said as Weiss walked out and stood next to Drake. She seemed a little uneasy next to him while Drake seemed to not notice her.

"And finally, your Instructor for the history of Remnant," Ozpin said before he walked over to Weiss and stood next to her and added, "You all are dismissed. Tonight you'll all sleep in the ball room; however, there will be a welcoming party in the cafeteria in an hour. I do hope to see you all there." The auditorium was filled with the sounds of clapping before it died down and everyone flied out of the auditorium.

Seth yawned and stretched as he popped some joints in his right hand, "Geez, the old man knows how to make a speech boring." Seth looked around and was able to escape the crowd that now stood outside the auditorium. I've got an hour before the party; I think that should be enough time for a nap. Seth thought as he searched around for a place to sleep. he spotted a tree near the water fountain and headed towards it. the tree's shadow loomed over the grass as Seth sat against the trunk.

"A little nap should do me good before the party," Seth said before he settled in and added, "If I go that is, too many people might trigger my Semblance and that wouldn't be good."

[Assistant]
At the back of the auditorium, Cyra hugged her arms as she leaned against the wall. Her eyes flicked from person to person as they moved past her, embedding their faces into her memory. These were the people that she would be surrounded by for at least the next four years. At the very top of her mind was a single question: Can I trust them?

When the crowd had thinned out more, she grabbed the handle of the large crate that stood next to her and made her way out into the courtyard, tugging her scarf up over her mouth. That question was never far from her mind, and the fact that everyone towered over her did little to ease her nervousness. Nor did the idea of a party appeal to her, conjuring up images of rooms packed with people, bumping into each other and closing off the air. No, that did not appeal to her in the slightest.

She made her way into the garden area, wondering just what to do with herself. She could go to the ballroom, maybe figure out a safe place for her to sleep, but she didn't know the way. Not knowing anyone here at all made things even more uncomfortable. What am I supposed to do, Mom?

[User]
"Information formerly recognized. I will now engage in a recreational activity, in order to refresh my mind."

Shirako spoke to herself as she exited the auditorium, headed for the nearest fountain of water in which she could acquire, well, water from. When she spoke, she was being completely literal - both her main and backup processors had been working a little too hard lately, what with all these new experiences, and her head was starting to hurt. So, she took a nice, long drink of water - a process which took five minutes in order for her to fully recuperate, leaving a very strange impression on the other students regarding her. At least, those who needed a drink, or oversaw how long she was actually there drinking for.

With her water cooling systems restored, what Shirako now sought was some quiet. Of course, socializing was as important to Shirako as it was to any other being, however she knew now wasn't the time. First of all, she had to cool down a little more in the wind and avoid further processes to relax herself. Second was because she knew people would ask things that she would be more than happy to answering, unfortunately. Her father indicated that on first arrival, many would ask about her and who she was, how she got accepted, and so on. Now for some of these, her father said to answer with amnesia, however with some questions this was simply non-applicable. Shirako had already knocked off a large number of these questions, however many still remained. After all, how can you explain to someone you didn't come to Beacon in a ship, but rather riding underneath it?

Exiting from the main entrance that lead to the lobby, Shirako turns around and stares up at the building. "I believe I'll go rest up there for now." She says to nobody in particular, before loosening the chains within the clamps so they dropped to the ground, alongside her pistols, which were currently in box form. If anybody saw, the clamps looked very much like prison cuffs of the old days, however before any questions could be asked in regards to their origin, Shirako had already lassoed one of the poles atop the roof, and suddenly accelerated up the building at intense speeds by retracting the chain into the stationary confines of the clamps. With a little excess force, Shirako hopped up onto the roof, and repeated this process until she arrived at the highest point available that wasn't visible from any high place. She didn't mind people from below looking at her, after all, just the higher ups.

"This breeze is nice." She says to herself quietly, feeling herself cool down as she limits her rendered sight and other senses to speed up the process of recovery. "An East-North-Easterly wind of 27 kilometers an hour at approximately 21 degrees Celsius. Optimal conditions for recovery."


[System]
Appearance: Emerald is a light-green-skinned Gem that is only about 4 feet tall. He wears a plain dark green tunic that doesn't have any decorations or faction-identifiers (Like the star for the Gems or the Diamonds for the Homeworld Gems so far revealed in the series.) This is because his development was cut off and he was awoken without aesthetic completion. Has glowing circular light green eyes that emit beams of light similar to a very bright green flashlight beam.

Gem: Emerald

Gem Location: Right below where the neck meets the torso.

Emotional Strength: Rather determined.
Emotional Weakness: Sadness/Depression.

Power: Can turn into a statue made out of grayish rock with green shiny speckles. It looks like however he does the second before he became a statue. Is incredibly durable and might make for a decent weapon in Amber's case. The statue CAN be broken, but it is many times tougher than rock. It is similar to retreating into a gem in the case that it can be used for healing, but it is likely to exhaust Emerald if used frequently. When Emerald comes out of the statue, gradual chunks fall off of the statue until it reveals him.

Advanced Armor: See the above, but moldable into armor shapes and, instead of having to dismantle it, he has to keep it into it's formed shape. Emerald currently can't do this.

Terrakinesis: Can control his special rock that is statue is made of. This is set aside from the others because he can make things out of it. VERY VERY LIMITED. Not practical in any battle situation whatsoever, better for making long-term structures or just very tiny things.

Weapon: Curved saber with a pommel that can switch between a full hand-guard or just a handle. It is the color of healthy grass, the handle/guard being the same color.

Weapon Power: None

Other: Uses male pronouns. Was grown in Earth's Kindergarten (the big one) but not influenced by anything, due to the site being abandoned before he was "finished". Also, likes repairing or tuning/tinkering with things as a frequent hobby.

Can't handle being insulted, even as a joke, and tends to start crying. A lot. The reason could be potentially blamed on the possible side effects of making a gem that isn't finished. Also, he doesn't really know what anything is. This isn't a deformity, he just hasn't been outside of his hole in the Kindergarten.

Door:

Normal Emerald^

Warning: teh falwining b much very importnents
On the states: Normally, these are triggered by these emotions being present, and these states hold onto them as well as reflecting the emotion. More than one is possible at a time, in which case the personality and appearance are a mix of both, but ones that directly conflict are not possible.

Happy: Appears to have lighter clothing, with a faint glow. This state is one of perpetual optimism.

Holding a Grudge (For lack of a better word): Has a yellow stripe on his left arm for each person he is holding a grudge against. This often combines with:

Paranoia: Emerald's eyes emit a blinding yellow beam of light, which at it's dimmest is still very bright. Very jumpy, scared of things that aren't there, very suspicious of anyone he doesn't trust.

Sadness/fear:Emerald turns a dark turquoise, with his clothing turning dark green. A bit depressed. Easily frightened.

Anger:Emerald turns dark green, and his teeth are sharpened. Highly unstable and vicious, even towards friends. Thankfully, this state is also extremely unlikely to occur, and if it does appear it usually doesn't last.

[User]
Johnny didn't really know how long he played, time blending together with the song and wind. It was nice to just relax after a day of work, the people here were nice enough but work was work nonetheless and for someone used to being on the road Johnny found it key to maintaining his stress. And so he sat, drinking a root beer while munching on potato chips between playing little songs. People would walk by and usually flash a smile his way before moving on to whatever they had doing, a lazy buzz of activity much unlike the high energy of Star city. Johnny was always more of a country boy, preferring the quiet of the out cities and roads. So far, everything was looking to be a gre-

"Hello Johnny.", The small voice nearly caused Johnny to jump out of his own skin, Eve being the last person he would have expected to see. After taking about a second to compose himself, Johnny put his guitar aside and listened to what the little Gem had to say. It left him puzzled... and conflicted. On one hand he'd like to think of Eve as a friend, but on the other all he knew of this Bloodstone guy was that he was bad news and she was on his side of this whole deal. "I'm...not entirely comfortable with revealing that. It's nothing personal Eve but I mean, see this from my perspective. Your on the "bad guys" team, it's not like I can just hand that information out. Plus, I'd prefer staying out of Gem business. Nearly died the last time I was involved." Johnny scratched at the back of his neck, insecurity and a couple shades of guilt all over his face. "Sorry."

[Assistant] Amber was still numb to this whole thing, having watched one possibly two of his friends die before his eyes had left the giant Gem feeling hallow on the inside. After the group was warped back to the Temple Amber took a seat in a large metal chair that had a few pillows placed on it for cushioning, he had found it a few weeks ago in the wreckage of the town and decided he wanted it so he brought it back to the temple. He sat there, his expression as depressed and glum as it has ever been, and replayed what he had just watched over and over in his head. He may have sat there like that for hours if the Warp pad didn't light up and Bloodstone came strolling in. Amber didn't know what to do, if it was any other day he may have jumped at the Gem but now... Amber listened to Bloodstone's speech, it sounded fairly similar to what he had said a month ago, save for the part that they were made of shards of other broken Gems. Then Bloodstone said something about training them. "No..." Amber said simply as he stood from his seat and looked to the older Gem. "That history you have just spoke of, this story of other Gems dying and your woe... it isn't my history. The orange Gem continued in a tone fair too serious than his usual one. "Yo' speak of these Gems we use to be, yer friends that yo' 'ave lost because of them turning against yo', but we aren't them. Where we come from... who we come from doesn't and shouldn't decided who we are. So as sad as yer story is, no matter how much I pity yo', it does not give yo' the right to come into our 'ome and speak as if you have earned our trust... At least not mine" He said as he started to walk towards the exit of the Temple. "Those 'umans that yo' 'urt down in that town 'ave earned more of my trust than yo'... As far as I am worried about it they are my people, not yo' and the Gems yo' speak of." Amber said as he left the Temple and began to head down into the town.

[User]
Spinel

Spinel stood inside of what appeared to be a very large, misty cave. She walked for a minute, well into the cavern that was her room until she would have barely been able to see without a light of some kind if it weren't for her ability to glow. She knew the exact spot she was looking for, it was a space in the wall that opened up to form a cubby-hole of sorts where she could keep her things. She had little use for it, but it opened to reveal her one possession: a plastic skeleton mask she'd gotten from a local dollar store. She placed Aquamarine and Howlite inside and prepared to seal it shut on the off chance that Bllodstone should come looking for them, but realized how that might turn out bad if Aqua were to come back while she was inside of it. Spinel would just have to hope that Bloodstone wouldn't try to get into her room or, if he did, that he wouldn't succeed. Spinel left her room and got back into the living area just in time to catch Bloodstone saying something about training. "I don't know if I'm interested in that, but I'd like to know if you have any jobs you need done that don't involve hurting the humans or my friends." she said.

 Chromite

 "I doubt my word is worth much to you, but I can guarantee that we have no intention of starting anything violent." Chromite said. She turned to Evenkite and Reggie and said If this human isn't interesting in helping us, perhaps some other one will. Do either of you know of anyone else who might know where this temple is? If that doesn't work, we might try looking for it ourselves, or asking the commander."

[Assistant]
So there's one of your fears confirmed. You're not welcome there, Eve. If a human is reacting this way, there's no way the gems are going to be any different.

The little gem's ears flattened down as she heard Johnny's words. She held herself back before speaking, acknowledging her emotional responses (most of which were unwarranted), rationalising them, and then letting them go before she spoke, though there was definitely a small hint of disappointment and hurt in her voice. Nearly undetectable, but it was there.

"I understand why you do not want to be involved with gem business, Johnny, and I respect your wish to not tell us anything. But before I leave you be, I just want to clear up that I never joined Bloodstone. I'm Eve. I'm just Eve. And I will always remain as Eve unless I do decide that I am a 'Crystal Gem' or a 'Homeworld Gem'. Thank you nonetheless, and it was nice seeing you again. Please continue with your playing, we'll be going now."

She turned away from Johnny and rose into the air once more, looking to Chromite.

"I have no idea where the temple is, Chromite, ma'am, but..." she trailed off, grinning as she recognised a familiar orange giant of a gem making his way through town, "...I think I might know someone who does." With that, she rushed off without even waiting for Chromite or Reggie, though her grin melted away into a frown of uncertainty.

Remember, Eve, in all likelihood, he won't be as happy to see you as you are to see him.

Upon closer inspection, he didn't look happy at all, regardless of whether he saw her or not. His old goofy demeanour was gone entirely, which alone was enough to cause alarm, but he looked so...Serious. Troubled. She alighted down onto the floor, her heels planted firmly to the ground. She stood there, unmoving, looking up in disbelief as to how much the younger gem had changed. By the time Amber has passed by her -had he even noticed she was there?- she still hadn't moved, aside from a small blink of her eyes.

Tussle-involved or not, it was clear that something had happened while she was gone. Shaking her head, she followed after him without her usual tip-toeing, hesitant to speak. He might've been furious with her for all she knew, he might see her as the enemy, and for all she knew he'd pound her into the ground right then and there. Approaching with caution would be the best route, and she know she should be taking that route, but seeing him like this...It was too much. She would abandon caution, and most likely regret it later. When she finally did, it sounded much higher than usual, on the verge of cracking.

"...Amber?"

Her ears fell flat once more, her left hand clutching the wrist of her right.

"...Are you okay?" What happened...What happened while I was gone?"

[User] Amber didn't know where he was going, the temple was the only home he had ever known and he doubted that he could find a place to clear his head in town. Maybe he would just keep walking, it wasn't like he needed food or sleep, he could just keep walking and walking and walking until there wasn't anywhere else to walk anymore. He didn't know what he would do and honestly he didn't care at the moment, all he wanted to do was leave the temple before he snapped. So many things were racing through his mind, he was enraged, depressed, and terrified all at the same time and he felt like it was tearing him apart. "Yo' should of done something..." He mumbled over and over and over again as he stomped his way to town, he was already almost there. He may of walked straight through town and onward if he hadn't heard the faint sound that resembled his name. He stopped cold in his track and looked around to spot something he could hardly believe, Eve. The giant of a Gem was shocked to see the yellow Gem standing after all this time. "Yo'..." Was all Amber could muster before something in him finally gave, the thing that had carried him this far. He fell to his knees with a slightly ground shaking thud and kept his eyes pinned to the ground. He stayed like that for what felt like lifetimes before a low sob escaped him. "She's gone... She's gone!" Amber said between his sobs. "Howlite is gone!" He nearly wailed as he brought his gaze back up to Eve, tears streaming down his orange shaded cheeks.

[Assistant] Bloodstone watched as Amber stormed out. He didn't expect anybody to trust him but he still wanted to try and comfort them. "Man I stuck at this. I didn't want what I said to be empty and meaningless so I explained why it applied to me. You can make your own history, that's what I wanted when I created you. The only reason I brought up history at all was to try and explain myself and what I've been through. You're not my old allies, you're your own gems. I just don't know what to say to make people feel better. I give up." Blood fell backwards, slamming himself into the ground and cracking it.

[User] Emerald had known what was coming, and what he did was more of a mixture of anticipation, fear, sadness, and self-hate. He ran down the stairs, sobbing while verbally blaming himself as he ran out the door and away from everyone else, running into the nearby forest and slumping against a tree. "Useless! I can't do anything! This was supposed to be a fun trip, and now Aquamarine is possibly broken forever and Howlite is dead! Gone forever! And I just watched! Useless!"


[System]
Nick: "Ben" or "Gigger"
Gender: Male
Age: 33

Appearance: Ben is not handsome. He stands 5' 9" tall and weighs 170 Lbs. His muscles are taut from years of working a farm or pounding spikes on the railroad. He has steel gray eyes and short brown hair which is usually dirty. His fingernails are normally black and/or filled with grease. Gigger normally wears blue dickies, solid colored T-shirts and Red Wing steel toed boots. He chews tobacco frequently and you might find traces of partially chewed tobacco in his chin stubble or drippings on his T-shirt.

Bio: Ben Giguere was born and raised in Bellows Falls, Vermont, not far from the Connecticut River. His father was an avid Red Sox fan and would take young Benjamin to the country store in North Walpole, New Hampshire just to get a glimpse of "Pudge", Carlton Fisk after his retirement from the White Sox in 1993.

Ben's father, Paul owned a farm in the hills south of Bellows Falls not far from the Railroad tracks and the river. Farming in Vermont is difficult; you go to work before the sun comes up and you finish long after the sun goes down. Paul Giguere was disciplined about the farm and kept at it all day long. When Ben was not in school, doing homework or sleeping, he was helping his old man on the farm.

Often times while out harrowing a field, bailing hay or harvesting field corn, Paul would tell his son that he should look into working for the Central Vermont Railroad which ran along the eastern edge of their property. Ben rarely took his father's suggestions seriously, but tended to his work regardless. When Ben graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School, he never looked back. He did play Defensive Back for The Terriers and outfield on the baseball team, but never good enough to go to College. Nor were his grades all that impressive; lucky to have all Cs.

He went to work for his father full time after school, but found being around dad all day to be irritating; cramping his style. He quietly drove down to the railroad office for the Green Mountain Railway located in North Walpole to inquire about employment. He was told they were not hiring, but that he should check with the New England Central in St. Albans, VT. He was given a phone number to call.

Following a two-week process, Ben hired onto the New England Central Railroad, formerly the Central Vermont in 2002. He took a job working as a Track Maintenance Technician. This meant he would have to inspect portions of the rail that ran from the Canadian border north of St. Albans, south to the Massachusetts border at Vernon, VT. He learned the job working with an experienced trackman. He and three other rode in the same "High railer" inspecting track and replacing 100-pound and 130-pound rail where it was needed. Every year they also engaged in replacing the large wooden ties, soaked in creosote. It was usually, the hottest day of the summer when they were working the tie job.

Paul Giguere and his sons Benjamin and Preston who was two years younger than Ben always looked forward to Deer hunting season in late November and early December. The nice thing about Vermont is they have a Rifle Season. Unfortunately, their Massachusetts neighbors to the south only have shotgun season. This tends to send a flock of clueless flatlanders north into the hills of Vermont to get lost. There were more than a few times when Ben and his father and brother would run across a flatlander winded somewhere west of Windsor Mountain searching for the way out of the woods. They would offer their assistance and help the godforsaken clueless bastards out, and then laugh at them behind their backs later on. It made for some funny stories.

His favorite hunting rifle was a Marlin .30-.30 lever action rifle. His dad used a Marlin 336C in .35 cal. Both rifles had 7x50 scopes mounted on them. His brother, Preston used a Remington .30-06 which also had a 7x50 scope mounted on it.

After the Russians invaded, things did not go well for Ben. His parents, Paul Giguere and wife Lauren were killed from an automobile accident on Interstate 91. The death of his parents devastated Ben. He viewed the Russian invasion with hatred. Although, the invasion did not directly cause his parent's death, it did facilitate it. With the presence of Russians in Bellows Falls, Ben took to the hills in search of a group he heard about one day at work. He put together his standard hunting kit along with a few extra supplies. He also took his 31 year old brother, Preston with him.

Psychological Profile: Ben never cared for politics, as was his attitude toward school in general. He focused on his work and his hobbies. He enjoyed working, whether it be farming or track maintenance and he loved hunting. Ben's father, Paul was firm while raising his two sons, but fair. He was never too hard on them, but didn't let them slide by either. He made them work for everything they achieved and this has shown through in their personalities. Both boys are quiet and polite. They are hard to rattle.

Ben really doesn't have an opinion of the current situation other than he knows the Soviet invasion is bad. He would like to help return Vermont and the US back to the way it used to be. He is willing to fight to bring back the USA.

Skillset/Occupation:
- experienced at farming
- tractor & automotive maintenance
- hunting; skilled with a hunting rifle
"I can put a round through a flea's ass at five hundred yards."
- Railroad infrastructure; rail cars, ties, switches, rail head and bridges.
- welding
- canning (fruits and vegetables)
- cooking (on a stove or outdoors)
- Winter survival skills
- stripping a recently killed animal, smoking and drying the meat.
- tracking prey
- knowledge of the topography and geography of central & southern Vermont.
- snowshoeing

Equipment: Hunting pack, sleeping bag, Mess kit, fork, knife, spoon, spare socks, spare T-shirts, candles, box of 500 matches, two bic lighters, two cans of WD-40, roll of duct tape, two spare pair of dickies, four spare T-shirts, olive drab green field jacket used for hunting, olive drab green field pants with cargo pockets also used for hunting, two sets of long underwear with extra heavy wool socks, wet weather poncho, a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, brown towel, razor, shave cream, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss, cross tip screw driver, flat head screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench, wire cutters, 2-quart bladder canteen, quart bottle of Jim Beam Whiskey, roll of Copenhagen chewing tobacco, flashlight with spare batteries, 150 feet of half inch rope and a Boston Red Sox Baseball cap with a rolled, rounded bill, filthy & worn at the brim.

Weapons:
- Marlin .30-.30 lever action rifle
- Ruger Redhawk .44 Caliber Revolver
- 9" hunting knife
- Survival knife
- Swiss Army pocket knife

Relationships and Acquaintances:
Daniel Martin

Calla Shepard

Joe Sullivan

[User]
Joe looked at the two soliders with just a hint of amusement playing on his lips. Plenty of guys he grew up with went into the service. Hell, in Southie it seemed like you either enlisted in Uncle Sam's army or Billy Boyle's. Billy's organization was all paramilitary anyway with crews that kicked up to bigger bosses who kicked up to Billy. Joe always wondered how well he would have done if he had enlisted. He could follow orders and had no qualms about pulling a trigger. Maybe if he'd joined, he'd be on the other side of the table with the soldier boys and their too new clothes laying out a plan of action.

"Are they still doing NFL games?" Joe asked Morse and Park. "Or did the goddamn reds take that away? No TV up here, and what little radio we get they ain't talking about sports."

Joe shrugged when he saw all the curious looks that were aimed his way.

"What? I laid off ten grand to a bookie that the Pats would win it all this year. I wanna be able to check on my investment."

[Assistant]
"We have plastic explosives too. Different kinds of detonators. Might come in handy, were gonna make 'em into IED AP devices," Dan explained. Everyone knew what this particular cell had going on by way of business. They were willing to deal with criminals and risk double cross securing the drugs for what medical units they had and they'd also already pulled the trigger. Reliable unit. In a lot of cases, they might trade the C4 for something, but here it was being offered up freely.

Joe's inquiry about football brought on a chuckle and he added, "We oughta make some "Go Cowboys" signs in Russian. That'll drive recruitment for the guerrillas. But you two don't have to step out. We signed on for this." The two sergeants mentioned the LeBeau killing, so he didn't give them the details -- they didn't need to know and the job was done. If they did know, then they weren't mentioning it for a reason.

He didn't even want to know what the Soviets were doing to hockey.

"But if we can grab a homebrew kit, we'd be mighty appreciative." The guys wanted TV, internet and the rest, but Dan figured if they were brewing the best beer on the Mountain, they could trade for everything else.

[User]
"The NFL is still in business, but I'm afraid you lost your money," Sergeant Morse responded. "They are playing with abbreviated league this year. The AFC consists of the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans while the NFC consists of the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and New Orleans Saints. The rest of the NFL has been taken over by the bad guys. Your beloved New England Patriots are in the hands of the Russians. Last, I heard they were pushing for the Major League Soccer to take over Gillette Stadium. In fact, both the New England Revolution and the Boston Bruins have been filled with Russian and Eastern European players loyal to the Soviet Union. The Russians stated they didn't give a shit about American football and were not going to support such rubbish. In fact, the Major League Soccer is now called the American Premier Football League." Tyus Morse was pretty disgusted by this. You could read it in his face it was one of those things that upset him. "I hate to say it, I have become a Dallas Cowboys fan just for this season. Dak Prescott looks pretty good. Roger Goodell even saw fit to suspend Ezekiel Elliot's suspension. Elliot hired an attorney. There is no evidence to support Goodell's claims. I hear Tom Brady is hiding out somewhere in the Italian Tyrol or Switzerland with his wife. The Russians have really fucked American sports hard. They have tried to make it European."

"Wait a minute," Ben Giguere stopped him. "What about the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Rams and all those west coast teams? You didn't mention them."

"Ah, you guys have been out of touch for quite some time haven't you." Brian Park quipped in. "Sure the Soviet Union made the opening moves on the East Coast, and two weeks later, the People's Republic of China landed three PLA Army Groups along the west coast, one north of Los Angeles, one south of San Francisco and the third along the Oregon Washington border. They also crossed the Bering Strait. Yes, the Russians allowed a Chinese Army to cross in Siberia. I hear the Army Group that landed in Oregon contains a North Korean Army as well. But most of the North Korean forces were used to invade South Korea. Hawaii is also under control of the Chinese."

"What about the Japanese?" Ben asked.

"They're sitting this one out." Brian listened to Danny's comment about the Cowboys and the homebrew kit. "Yes sir, I can get you a homebrew kit. That sounds like a fantastic idea." Brian Park laughed about the Cowboys sign in Russian. "That has already happened! I shit you not! Front line troops fighting along the western fringes of the Appalachian Mountains created fucking billboards that read such epithets as Go Cowboys! and the Patriots will Never Die! in Russian along several freeways in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Several teams were used in this purpose including the Eagles, Giants, Bills, Jaguars and Falcons. But most of these Russian written billboards simply have swears on them like Fuck You! or How many Russians does it take to screw in a light bulb? None, the East Germans do it for them. There isn't a GI out there that isn't outraged about the new American Premier Football League. APFL? It has no ring."

"Well it appears at least the four of you are coming to the meeting," Tyus Morse cut in. "That is wonderful. I look forward to seeing you there. We need to get going before it gets too dark. See you then." With those parting words, the two Special Forces NCOs departed the hunting cabin.


[System]
Age: 8 months since prime activation

Gender: None, goes by the male pronoun

Race: Machina model based on Mura

Appearance: Built to appear friendlier and to avoid damage through physical abuse, Cecil was built to appear as close to a Mura youngster under the assumption people would be less inclined to hurt a child. Standing at 4'8" he has a surprising weight in his arms and legs while the rest of his body is lightweight and durable. His arms and legs can be removed to change his clothing while the strap across his chest can be unbuckled from the front.

Element Affinity: N/A

Magic: Self-technopathy – Cecil can attach machinery onto his body and control it.

Gear: Power gauntlets used by construction and repair Machina upgraded to the highest spec. Comes with a self-service kit. Cecil's boots allow him to run vertically on surfaces and walk upside-down through the release of magnetic currents. He can't run or walk like this on wood and vibrations can cause him to fall.

Brief history: Part of an experimental range of Machina that are designed to be able to blend in with normal people. Designed to limit Helpers from being damaged, Cecil was due to be released and established as a builder who would help with construction; however, Cecil held little interest in being one of these and seemingly escaped. The exact circumstances of his escape are unknown, even to him as the last memory he has was being out in the great wild world. The programming within him probably knew what he was doing here so the surprise to be had was not massively overwhelming.

Cecil felt he had a purpose if he was being sent to this side of the realm and immediately he was off looking for it, searching for what he was programmed to fulfil. Completely unaware of the troubles and even the Church of the land, his outlook was naïve at best. He was a hard working Machina, he knew that much, and to find what he needed to do was his top priority. He knew how to read but couldn't write, if questioned about his looks he felt he knew the answer, telling people they were for construction work. Those travelling would rarely question him and would either be curious about the maker of his Machina to which would only confuse him.

Cecil didn't know much about this world but learning it from travellers proved fruitful. He learned that people used machinery quite commonly and people didn't appear to know he was just the same as that machinery. Learning from these people was proving to be educational, but he still had some questions that needed answering. Any other Machina he came across and tried to talk to didn't have any sort of leverage for conversation, as if they didn't have a mind like him and was simply 'following the program'. Whether he was following his program or his own curiosity he couldn't quite tell, but he had to find some answers somewhere in his own time. To explore the world and find what he needed to do was his first objective.

Additional info: Despite being a machine, there appears to be something off about this new model of Machina. If the personality he had didn't give enough suspicion, it was almost as if he was more than simply a new design, almost as if he was assimilating a sentient being without internal programming needed.

[User]
Amuné shrieked as Cecil fell to the ground, hit by some sort of bad magic. Ethan reined in their horse, the gelding prancing in agitation. It didn't like being in the middle of what was turning into a battlezone. Then the Muran pulled her off Jorvind, and she clung to him, shaking. It was the bad Magi, the one with the poison blobby half-dead things, and she was frightened. She didn't want to let go, but she knew she had to. Ethan needed to go help the others. "Don't let them get you," she begged, giving his cheek a quick kiss before he set her down behind the cart. Wyth immediately moved between her and their attacker, his fur fluffed up so he looked even bigger than he already was. He might not be able to help much to fight off the rotting beasts, but he would protect his girl, even with one paw still badly injured and his healing hip sore.

The girl didn't want to watch the fighting. Images of the bandits on the ship and the slavers in the warehouse filled her head and she was shaking. Why did this keep happening? Pressing close against the moorcat she clasped her hands tightly and did the only thing she could: prayed to the Saints to watch over her friends and the new lady and the Dimuran princess. She tried to reach with her magic, to find something that might help them get the bad Varuna to go away again. But it wouldn't work like she wanted, instead subjecting her to a dozen flickered images of everyone dying, of Wyth trying to stop a blob that came for her and being badly injured in the process, with a knowledge that he was severely poisoned too. Choking back a sob, she pushed the visions away, ignoring the push of it against her head now that she'd invited it, and the sudden weight that she felt come to settle on her shoulders from using her power.

She ventured a peek out from behind the cart. Nymira was doing okay, lighting the dripping blob beasts on fire even though it created nasty smog, and Amuné pulled the top of her shirt up to cover her nose. Cecil was up again, and the creatures couldn't really hurt him that much since they didn't make him sick. She'd lost track of the new lady, but Ethan wasn't doing so well, having to dodge and looking like he was running out of energy. She wanted to help, but her hands were far too unsteady to use her sling, and she'd never be able to do anything with her knife, not against a real fighter. "I wish I could do something helpful," she whispered, ducking down again as Wyth caught her shirt in his teeth and tried to tug her back out of sight. "All I do is get in trouble and in the way...I don't even know how to use my gift properly." Please, Saint Edos, Saint Oranoak, protect them and keep them safe.

[Assistant]
Asta sucked her cheek and shrugged, "It turned into 'we' when I got here... I could be wrong but... isn't that how pronouns work?" She asked a bit sarcastically, "And you're close enough on the phrasing - I get what you're trying to say. Don't worry, I'm not here to set you back," She explained, absently petting Myria.

The group prepared for a rest as night fell over them and Asta was thankful for the upcoming rest. They'd been awfully quiet for most of the ride and the wooden cart was hardly comfortable. Honestly, if she had the energy, she would have spent the time walking over riding. However, her recovery made walking a serious problem. Hell, if anything happened before her arm healed, she'd be stuck with only one-handed maneuvers with her blade. She helped set up camp as best she could, arranging some kindling in the midst of their small campsite. Myria ran out into the woods to find more sticks and brambles which could be set aside to better fuel it later. After a bit of time and a little help, she finally started the fire.

Asta chose a spot just a little bit set apart from the others, but still under the heat of the campfire. She rested against a tree and Myria did not hesitate to climb onto her lap and stretch out, almost covering Asta's entire body. The Ydra stroked her fur as the pair gradually fell asleep. The next morning was better than the previous day, though the woman could more clearly feel the aches of her bones and muscles as a result of their battle. She rubbed the back of her neck sorely before finally waking up her cobra fox and climbing onto her feet. It wasn't long before the whole crew was loaded back up and on the move, but even then Cecil seemed weary, like he had something on his mind. Asta thought to ask, but then decided it certainly wasn't her place - she'd only seen this boy fall from a roof and hadn't had a single conversation with him. It might only make his situation worse.

However, she realized that she had been wrong when he dove from the cart and delivered a blow to protect all of them. It wasn't long before Asta and Myria followed Ethan and Nymira from the cart and her eyes fell on a Varuna. She pulled her bow from its sheath on her back and moved after Ethan, only to be absolutely amazed as the Dimuran girl released a vortex of flame from her hand. She took a step back and looked around, "You're... you're magi?" She asked in shock, looking over to Ethan. "Do you have any idea what kind of danger that brings?"

The woman scowled, she'd been hiding her own magic since the Church began seeking her kind out - using it only as a subtle ploy to walk away from people she didn't want to associate with or leave an impression on. But here was this Dimuran girl just... blasting her way through an enemy. Was Amune one of them? What about Cecil or Ethan? It was then that Nymira was confronted with a disgusting creature made of slime. It seemed to disintegrate and burn anything it touched. Was it acidic or temperature? She wondered before shaking her head. For now, she was at a loss that such an aggressively strong magic user was part of this band... even if she was royalty. The blaze, even as it reached unbearable temperatures, seemed to do little to deter the oncoming monsters and Asta noticed that nobody else had much ability to help either.

She stepped forward and drove her falcata into the dirt, reaching over to grab a few pins from their holding location on her belt. "Keep it up, Nymira!" She shouted as the girl dodged through the slimes before throwing her pins out, each finding a place near the slimes. With a flourish of her hand, Asta let out a slow breath and from the ground began to rise three separate clouds of velvety purple and black smoke. However, the smoke did not rise into the sky, it began to wrap around itself and take form as three low growls filled the air and from the summoning points rose a trio of vazra. Each of them were about the size of a wolf and they seemed to leak shadow as the smoke dissipated and left only the summoned creatures standing in its wake. They all snapped their teeth at the slimes, including the one that had attempted to follow Nymira, threateningly before pouncing on them viciously.

"Ethan, help Nymira, I'll handle these three as best I can, but I can only hold onto three - five is harder to control," She told him, her hand remaining outstretched as she focused on maintaining her summons. "Find some way to handle the other two." She tensed her jaw, furrowing her brow in concentration as she focused her magic into the beasts. They were certainly smaller than the slimes, but slightly smarter, so they could hold their own. Thankfully, the Varuna didn't try to summon anything too heavy, as he had to maintain them and use his own magic to fight off the rest of the group.

[User]
Cecil didn't know where he was for just a moment, everything had crashed for him and he was just lying on the ground for a brief moment before coming back online, his eyes looking to Ethan as he helped him back up. He didn't really know what got over him, he just had to block the shot and managed to do so even if it ended with him on the ground and briefly malfunctioning. Looking to Ethan he frowned and turned towards the noise that was occurring now, all of it coming from that strange creature that attacked them before. Looking down at himself for a moment, his eyes wandering to Ethan who was quick to leave his side. This was not looking like it was going to be as simple as last time, but maybe with numbers on their side they might be able to dispatch this guy quickly before more trouble showed up.

Looking to the cart momentarily he rushed after the others himself, not knowing really what he was supposed to do when all his attacks were generally deadly. Ethan was probably still mad at him for what he did before, but if they didn't get rid of this guy they would just meet him again. He was an evil thing, surely Ethan would be alright with him going all out this time. There was some of those creatures again, Ethan already managing to take one out and Nymira going in with her fire. He was surprised that she was able to handle using her fire so often, managing to make short work of the beasts before moving in after the enemy. He didn't know what she was doing at all, she was just running at him as if she couldn't see what was around him. Was she unable to see the magic surrounding him? It was the same magic that he saw coming straight for the cart too, unless they weren't able to see it.

This was certainly getting complicated and he still didn't know what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to be able to fight but he was too afraid of disappointing others. Looking to Asta quickly he noticed her going in to support Ethan, so maybe he should try and be Nymira's support. That was a good idea, it would give him a purpose and be able to protect someone instead of becoming a weapon. Running for her as their enemy became more aggressive he moved to get in front of her as she backed off, watching as the attacks came flying as he raised his fists. He was going to be able to combat this thing if he was able to withstand the attack before, he would just need to use his body as a shield. "Are you alright? I-I'm sorry for being slow, I had to reboot my systems…" If he helped Nymira maybe he could get into her good books a little more other than being seen as a useful force. Charging up his electricity he quickly ran forward, ready to beat away attacks like he had done before. Raising his gauntlet an electrified chain shot out of his palm before he quickly swung his chain down again, trying to shatter the Varuna's defences so that they might be able to force this guy to back off.