<hr/><div class="floatleft">(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/EdgeH2oWonder/e6bcb3ec-f20c-4e87-ab7d-057ee5643056_zpszt7xebw2.jpg)</div><br/><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Kakariki Honu (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=286197.msg14082647#msg14082647)<br/><strong>Aura:</strong><strong>Green</strong>3/3<br/><strong>Charge:</strong>0/10<br/><strong>Time/Date:</strong>Day 1 Morning<br/><strong>Location:</strong>In the forest<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Noone, OPEN<strong>Mention:</strong>All<br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 9pt;"> <br/> </span><br/><hr/><br/><strong><em>'This is so close to where I was born,'</em></strong>Kakariki idly thought as another of her companions launched themselves into the sky. She had been lost in a fog of childhood memories since arrival - the remnants of her experiences were disjointed; a displaced image here, a misunderstood emotion there. She had simply been too young to create any concrete memories, but there was a sense of familiarity that made Kari smile fondly. The beginning of her world had started somewhere nearby. Her mother had walked the very forest Kari was now about to enter. It felt special and that was enough to drown out any nervousness she would have felt undergoing the initiation for Beacon Academy.<br/><br/>She ran her fingers over the bracer on her right arm as she waited for the next student to step forward. It was a brown leather that was rather plain compared to the metal adornment that covered the top of the bracer and extended from the knuckles of her hand to just past her elbow. It was an ornately designed green turtle that seemed like an excessively large accessory to carry around for a field test, but it was more than a pretty decoration. It was her shield in mobile form. Her Protector's Promise.<br/><br/>A stillness of polite hesitation held the students in line after the redhead launched himself. Kakariki took the first step forward to keep the pace and wondered how high the pad would vault her. Not only did she have her heavy shield, she wore a simple breastplate and leg armor. Her cuisses and greaves were full, offering protection from front to back. Kakariki was not just going to fall, she was going to<em>plummet</em>. Delicately, she stepped on to pad and without ceremony, was launched upwards in a gleam of silver and green. It was exhilarating and as she flew through the air, delighted laughter escaped her lips.<br/><br/>As expected, she did not fly particularly high or far. As she started her downward descent, her hair broke from her bun and flew behind her in a flurry of green. She looked like a shooting star as she curled into a ball and pressed the release of her shield. The mechanism caused the ornate turtle on her bracer to expand and unfold into a rather large bladed shield (https://pre00.deviantart.net/84cc/th/pre/i/2014/032/c/6/kolfel_blade_shield_by_jrcoffroniii-d73l3dd.jpg). She gripped the interior handle and used the shield to protect herself as she burst through the canopy of the forest. As soon as fell past the thick foliage of the upper branches of the trees, she targeted a nearby tree with few branches on its trunk. She clicked another release on the inside of her shield and the center blade of her shield rocketed forward upon a chain and embedded itself deep within the wood of the tree. Again, Kakariki clicked another mechanism inside her shield and the chain began to retract, pulling Karariki towards the trunk to save her from becoming a crater on the forest floor. Prepared for the change in momentum, she landed on the tree feet first and bent her knees to soften the impact. She pulled her blade out of the tree and let herself begin to fall again. The chained blade returned to its holster as the would-be Huntress dropped to a lower limb that she reached out with her hand to catch. She took a critical look at the ground below her. The distance was manageable. She let go of the limb and fell to the floor. She landed hard, but the impact did not hurt her.<br/><br/>A bestial growl, low and threatening, assaulted her ears. She was not alone. However, she was also at a considerable disadvantage - she had not been propelled as far as the other students had, and she doubted that the Headmaster expected them to backtrack to get the relics or find the temple. Instead of fighting, she made the decision to flee. She would have some catching up to do.