Private/Closed RWBY: Legends of Humanity RP

[Generation Sect]

The City of Mantle - The Kingdom of Atlas
2 years ago

The two armoured Atlesian Guards chatted to themselves as they patrolled the darkened streets of the city. All activity, the bustling ‘nightlife’ in the city- (if one could describe such nefarious affairs as that) seemed to cease as they made their way along the dirty streets. Shady individuals outside bars ducked inside, urchins quickly moved into alleyways or up onto rooftops. Nobody wanted to start trouble with one of Marshal Adrast’s men- because everyone knew exactly what could come of you if you fell afoul of them. The guardsmen continued along the road, kicking a seemingly empty can across the floor as they made their way past one of many alleyways.
“So, how’s the Missus doin’?”
“Eh, whining and nagging like always. Don’t she know I gotta work a shift this late for hours already just ‘ta make a decent wage? Like hell we have money to spare on holidays-“
The second guardsman stopped in the entrance to the alleyway, turning around to his right, looking down to the end of the alleyway, his eyes quickly locking onto the glowing sparks.
“... whatcha stopping for? We got ground to cover-“
“... Look at this.”
The first guardsman turned, standing next to him as they both stared at the scene.
Two other, almost identical Atlesian Guards were strung up in a net, that was hung between the two rooftops on either side of the alley. Completely out cold, the spitting image of themselves. How they even got up there in the first place was a mystery... not so much as who was responsible.
Barely visible on the wall behind the robots at the dead end of the alley was a spray tag- a bright green, shield shaped insignia, with two yellow letters spray painted inside it-
L B
One of the guards pressed two fingers against the side of his helmet as he spoke into the communicator.
“D-District Marshal Adrast, sir? ... We really ought to do something about your son.”

Mistral City - The Kingdom of Mistral
Olivia Ulysses ducked through one of the darker nooks built into the mountain sides, her shoes tapping against the floor, a small echoing sound following her, narrowly avoiding a cloaked figure who didn’t seem particularly happy at nearly getting crashed into, waving a fist angrily. The girl only glanced back momentarily, casting her silver gaze back onto the shadowy figure as a rushed “S-sorry!” escaped her lips, before she realised this person was most likely dealing in something shady, and she had more important things to be focusing on than apologising to them. Luckily, she hadn’t stopped running, keeping her pace as she exited the mountainside on the other end of the nook, emerging into the sunlight. It was a particularly sunny morning, and good weather meant good luck and high energy, at least in her mind. Either way, it put her in high spirits for her first day at Haven Academy. Dashing out into what seemed to be one of multiple market place squares, dodging from side to side to avoid the masses of people. As usual, Mistral was bustling. She counted at least 3 different vendors that were specifically selling food as she ran past the traditional looking booths, only half tempted to stop and get something to eat. But she had had to travel a long way, and wasn’t sure if she’d be late. She finally reached what could be described as the parting between the sides of two mountains, as she skidded to a stop, looking upwards and taking it all in. She had to look a LONG way up. The giant, elevator-like platform that was located in the ‘middle’ of the city was the method of transport that allowed people to get from level to level of Mistral City- built around, on and between two mountains, the settlers here had certainly gotten creative, and it was honestly almost breathtaking (or maybe that was just all the running she had been doing). Usually she would have stuck to the lower levels when visiting Mistral City- but no sir, today she was going all the way to the top. Haven Academy was situated at what could be described as the peaks, built across the two mountains. The platform slowly ground to a stop before her eyes, Olive stepping onto it as she lowered her eyes to what she stood on.
It didn’t seem to be made out of anything overly expensive- how did they even keep something like this running so effectively? Either way, Olive was used to working with barebones materials, so she wasn’t too phased. She pressed a hand to her side, tapping a brown leather sheath that was attached to the left legs of her pants, feeling the weight of her two trusty daggers shaking inside, good old Equis & Troy. It was reassuring to know they were there, because soon enough they would be damn near vital.

 

[Fishykarp]

Josh Whitman strolled through the Mistral market square, pulling two large suitcases behind him. Normally, he hated having to travel through the lower levels of Mistral, full of criminals and unsavoury individuals, but the fact that he was going to Haven Academy offset all of them. Stopping briefly at a fruit stall, he decided to have a snack.
"Hello sir, how many I help you?" the vendor asked. A Faunus. Ew. That was another reason Josh never hung around in the lower levels of Haven.
He decided to buy an apple, and took a few coins from his wallet to pay. After handing the vendor the money, he saw the vendor reaching to give him an apple. Josh quickly swatted the vendor's hand away, and grabbed the apple himself.
"I'd prefer if my food isn't dirtied," he said, walking away.
"Dirtied?" the vendor asked, feeling sort of insulted, but Josh was already out of earshot.

Josh walked through the streets, trying to pull two suitcases while also holding an apple in one hand. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. No, he could do this. He'd planned to struggle like this, he wanted to show everyone how he could pull two suitcases with one hand like an extremely skilled huntsman could. Yes, that was the plan. 100%. Definitely. Absolutely.
So, gracefully and carefully, he stepped onto the elevator platform, and definitely did not trip over and land flat on his face.
Looking around, he only saw one other person on the platform. Likely another student.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

Topaz Stone sighed.
As the Bullhead flew across the skies of Mistral City among others, the young Huntsman-in-training slumped back in his seat. "I don't see why you couldn't send me to Shade Academy." Topaz said. "We were perfectly fine in Vacuo."
"Social skills, Topaz." Zinc Stone, professional Huntsman and father of Topaz, chuckled. "Plus, you need more experience and an official team."
"I had a team." Topaz looked at his father.
"Not an official one." Zinc replied. "Team TOP is strong, but you're hardly approved. Plus, it's only you, Olivia and Percival. There's not even any guarantee you would have been with each other in Shade."
"But why Mistral of all places?" Topaz asked. "This place is halfway across the world."
"Leo's an old friend of mine." Zinc said. "I would trust him more than any other Headmaster in the world to give you the best education possible."
"I hope you're right..."

The Bullhead soared above the city. As Topaz looked out the window, he noticed the disparity in the levels. "Below, it looks like Vacuo..." he observed.
"Keep to the higher levels." his father advised. "The people in Lower Mistral may seem similar to Vacuo, but they lack the common bond us Vacuans share."
Topaz nodded. As he glanced above, he noticed it seemed a lot more like Vale, but more... fancy.
And at the top, naturally, was Haven Academy. The Stones' Bullhead broke off from the crowd to fly out towards the school solo. Topaz's eyes widened before he pulled up the collar of his cloak, partially obscuring the lower half of his face.
"Why did you even bring that thing?" Zinc chuckled.
"I like it." Topaz responded simply.
Soon enough, the Bullhead landed on one of the many pre-made landing platforms for Haven Academy. As Zinc made sure everything was docked, Topaz grabbed the duffel bag containing everything he cared to bring. Oh, and his two swords, of course. He quickly put on his scabbards as the door to the Bullhead opened.
Grabbing the duffel bag, Topaz waited for Zinc to jump down before leaving the plane himself. Standing nearby was Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy. The lion faunus had an ornate shield on his arm, and seemed to have a calming, gentle aura about him.
"Leo! Great to see you!" Zinc waved over towards the Headmaster with a smile. "Thanks for lending us the Bullhead!"

 

[Red Gallade]

Within a drop ship that made it's way to one of the landing pads on Haven after it soared over the houses of Mistral, Sterling, a Wolf Faunas with Silver hair and wolf ears patiently waited among many other passengers for the drop ship to land and open. Once it did, the Wolf Faunas picked up his duffel bag and his weapon (which most would mistake for a fancy baseball bat), he put the latter on his back. Sterling stepped outside and was already taken by the new scenery.

"Heh, so this is what it looks like outside of Vacuo..." He said softly as he began to make his way to the entrance, his head turned to see many other people like him: Future huntsmen/huntresses eager to put their skills to the test. He looked at his right hand and noticed it shake lightly for a brief moment before he closed it into a fist. "Hopefully this place will help me with my... problem." He thought to himself, as he stepped inside, he noticed a couple of people talk to Leonardo Lionheart, who he heard was the headmaster of the academy.

 

[Generation Sect]

Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy, had been waiting at one of the many landing pads that had been set up. Upon noticing Zinc Stone, he raised a hand, waving back in a polite, cordial manner. He had to raise his voice a bit, to have it be heard over the transports that were still currently landing.
“It was the least I could do, Mr Stone.”
He approached towards them, hands behind his back, Shield still strapped to his arm, his eyes slowly drifting across to Topaz.
“I assure you, your son will be given the best education possible.”
He came to a stop not too far away from them, his tone momentarily becoming a little more empathetic.
“Adjusting to such a change of location may be difficult at first, but Mistral is famed for having something for everyone- that accounts for having a place for everyone, too.”
Before he could speak any further, he turned around, his attention caught by what seemed to be the landing of another bullhead, turning back to the Stone’s before nodding in respect, clearly having something else to deal with.

Meanwhile, Olive was still waiting on the elevator platform. She had been trying to lean up against the wall, like some edgy, cool person- but the stone was natural and a little too uncomfortable for her liking, so she had quickly shifted to just standing near the wall, rather than actually touching it. Definitely didn’t give off the same vibe. Noticing a boy with two suitcases trip over and fall onto the platform, she resisted the urge to laugh (something she wouldn’t have felt had it not been for how much energy she had, and how good her mood had been all day), instead rolling her eyes at such wackiness.

 

[Godjacob]

Well, here she was.
​

It had been a long and...interesting trip to Mistral to say the least for Aryle, as she waited on a drop ship while she admired the view of what she presumed to be Haven as they flew overheard towards one of the landing pods. Aryle had been taking in the views, not mindful much of the other passengers not even the guy with some animalistic characteristics next to her as her mind raced to soak in the view and drifted to other thoughts.

I wonder....is this what you saw when you first arrived?

She would not find an answer to that question as the drop ship landed, as Aryle simply placed the bag she brought with her person as well as a bow she had strapped around her shoulder as she walked off with the others there; aspiring hunters and huntresses like herself as some of them seemed to speak with Leonardo Lionheart.

Who if she heard right was the headmaster of Haven. Which caused her eyes to jump as she made a b-line over towards him.

"E-excuse me. Sorry just wanted to be clear you are the Leonard Lionheart correct?" Aryle said, as she desired some confirmation before she made a rash judgement; but if this guy had been the headmaster then certainly he'd have some record of what happened to Team CHMP and her brother Cole which was reflected in the slight urgency showed in her tone.

 

[Stormursa]

Dia grinned under her hood. The Vacuo native confidentially walking up towards the platform with her shoulders straight and hands in her hips. The bag hung loosely on her shoulders looked stuffed fool of seemingly random odds and ends though clothing seemed to also make a good portion of it up. When she stepped further off the transport she let her hood fall, eyes flashing with wild thoughts, “not bad.. not bad.. can’t wait to climb that and that and that! Bucket list update here I come”.

 

[SailorInSpace]

Deep breath. Deeeeeeeeeep breath Chartreuse.
The Faunus let out a sigh. To her left, a loud laughter resonated throughout the dropship. She was hugging the corner of it, somewhat shaking. People thought she scared, but quite the opposite. Chartreuse was fueling with rage from having water dumped on her.
Don't be expelled on day 1. Don't be expelled on day 1.
She was used to this. She'll rage tomorrow. After the flight was over, Chartreuse walked down to the landing pad...soaked....

 

[Generation Sect]

The headmaster turned to Aryle, sensing the hesitation in her voice, but still having to deal with other things, speaking in a more firm tone of voice than prior. “Yes I am, young lady. Any questions you have, i’m sure I can answer once everyone is inside.”
He let out a sigh under his breath, one he hoped was quiet enough for nobody to hear, as he turned, making his way through the many others disembarking across the platform, stopping near another Bullhead that had just landed. He was no stranger to having to deal with famed Huntsmen and Huntresses, obviously, but some of them could be... demanding, and he wasn’t exactly sure if the plan he had made for the initiation challenge would work out with Miss Cissus involved.

As a few more people began to filter onto the Mistral Elevator, the density of people in the area quickly began to fill up, Olive now awkwardly eying those around her, having to hold herself back from jumping as the platform suddenly began to move upwards with a grinding sound. Weird... She hoped she wouldn’t have to use this thing too much.

 

[Fishykarp]

Josh stumbled as the elevator began to ride, but managed to keep his balance this time. He cursed and dropped his apple, which rolled down towards Olive. Josh pushed through the crowded elevator to try and get it back, but couldn't see exactly where the apple had landed. He accidentally kicked it while pushing through, and it flew into the stone wall of the elevator, before bouncing back and hitting him. This caused him to drop his heavy suitcases, and they fell onto it.

After picking his suitcases back up, he looked at his apple, which was now thoroughly crushed. He swung his leg, intending to kick it away, but instead the apple exploded, covering his shoe in chunks of apple.
"... I meant to do that."

 

[Stormursa]

Dia raised an eyebrow as she watched Josh from the corner of her eye. The young huntress shook her head but didn’t say anything, choosing to chuckle inwardly at the mess he had made. She flicked her hood up onto her head again and closed her eyes.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

Zinc nodded to Leo. "Of course. I don't take this opportunity lightly. Thank you, Leo."
That's when Leo was called over to look at the other students. Zinc casually decided to follow him, as did Topaz - reluctantly.
As the group exited, Topaz couldn't help but catch his eyes on the girl that asked if Lionheart was the Headmaster. As did the girl, mainly due to her attempts to look cool. Which failed.
The students all headed up on an elevator. With a court nod to his father, Topaz merged with the crowd, uniting himself with the cast. He seemed to be unnoticed at first.
Good. He didn't want his father's antics bringing unnecessary attention to him.
Suddenly, a piece of apple slammed into the side of his face. Topaz slowly turned towards the source.
Meanwhile, Zinc leaned against the wall next to Leo. "So... how have things been with... them?" he asked.

 

[Fishykarp]

Josh stared at Topaz for a few seconds, in which time he thought of a foolproof, brilliant response that would take all blame off of him.
"It uhhhhhhh. It wasn't me. It was-"
Josh glanced around him and pointed at Olive. "It was her!"
Yeah, foolproof.

 

[Generation Sect]

Olive had kept her position, the mighty Mistral Elevator having made a few stops on its way up, most of them not of any importance. This thing certainly seemed to put work in. However, a stop that was of far more importance to her was when the elevator stopped near the top- more specifically, at the point where those entering Haven Academy from the landing pads would have got on. Many more students seemed to file in, a rather colourful cast, to the point that it almost made Olive uncomfortable. Large crowds, to this day, were still something that surprised her a lot- and these were no ordinary people, but potential huntresses and huntsmen in the making. However, entering with that crowd was an older man, who she could only assume was the headmaster of Haven himself- Leonardo Lionheart. At first, the thought that he would be using the same method of transport as the students surprised her, but upon thinking about it more, it made a lot of sense, what with the importance of the Mistral Elevator platform and all. She doubted there was much else that could replace it. As a result, she wasn’t really paying attention to anything that had happened- until the same boy who had so comedically failed at getting on board proceeded to point at her and blame some exploding apple on her. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say, so instead of responding, expressed her disdain by simply face-palming, making sure to get the point across.

Leo stood against the wall, looking out upon the crowd, that didn’t seem to be the most social, as was to be expected of teenagers who hadn’t met each other at all and were all geared up for the fight of their lives, but were also not exactly quiet. He thought of the prospects of what was to come from this group- the Mistral council had been breathing down Haven’s neck. Two teams completely disappearing without so much as an official explanation, despite the nine year gap inbetween the incidents, just wasn’t good enough. That was when Zinc’s tone seemed to become more serious, and aware of the importance of the topic, as he asked about one of those specific... incidents, in question. Leo turned his head to Zinc, speaking rather low and thoughtfully.
“Still nothing... It would be realistic to say that ship has long sailed. Although... you may be aware of why the one remaining will be here. She’s definitely made enough noise about it.” Miss Cissus’ seemingly never-ending quest to feed the dogs of the media with more and more was something Leo had never understood. Some people were vain, and some people wanted attention, and some people were egocentric- but he wasn’t sure what she really stood to gain out of some of her shenanigans. He didn’t want to put the actions of an extremely accomplished huntress, one who had trained at Haven even, down to pure ignorance, but he wasn’t sure if any other explanation made sense.

 

[Godjacob]

Aryle could not mask her eagerness to know more about what happened, and had only a slight issue holding in her disappointment when he told her he'd answer her question later. However, it appeared he was willing to speak on the matter so she had to take that in stride as she gave an understanding nod and wandered over to the other students. One of who had an apple slam into his head which caused the girl to wince as somebody else tried to throw another student under the bus.

"You um.....alright there?" Aryle asked, as she walked over to the guy who got hit as she picked up the apple along the way. She took but a moment to wipe it against her shirt as it seemed to still be fresh all things considered. Aryle had her brother on the mind but she felt some socialization from future fellow first-years could not hurt and would help her not stress out so much.

 

[Fishykarp]

The influx of new people on the elevator was the perfect distraction, any ordinary person would take any opportunity to slip away into the crowd, and try to avoid any blame for the incident. However, Joshua Whitman always maintained that he was not ordinary, he was exceptional, and he was going to sell this lie.

He approached Aryle and Topaz.
"Y-yeah! Are you ok? I can't believe that SHE did that," he asked, pointing at Olive again, this time almost comically exaggerated.
Again, he could've left it there, but he'd seen Headmaster Lionheart out of the corner of his eye, and wanted to impress him.
He marched up to Olive and spoke. "How dare you, you should be ashamed of yourself."

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Ryan had been having around the lift from when it left up until the point when it arrived to its destination. He had been keeping to himself as he didn't feel the need to socialize as of yet and looked out at the sceneries as he passed by within the lift, As he was focusing on looking around, he of course saw Joshua's little apple mishap. He frowned a bit when he noticed the man trying to shift the blame of his mishap onto someone else, a girl. With the officials of the school they were about to enter watching over them, Ryan didn't feel right not to at least try to intervene. He walked up behind Joshua and looked at the man who's pointing fingers. "Yeah you're shifting the blame of your own mistake onto someone else, who's the one who should be ashamed of themselves here?"

 

[Fishykarp]

Josh glared at the person who'd intruded into his conversation. He didn't know how Ryan had seen through his entirely foolproof lie, and didn't know why he cared enough to step in.
"You must be mistaken," he said, trying to sound polite. "She threw the apple, I had nothing to do with it."
He glanced down at Ryan's tail, and his polite tone faded instantly. "You aren't involved here, so I'd suggest leaving me alone.

 

[Stormursa]

Dia pushed off the wall she was leaning over, making her way abit closer before she cocked a hip. Her eyes scanned over the incident unfolding and she waited to see if she would have to step in. She felt a sour taste curl her tongue when she heard his remarks about the tail and her lips turned downward soon after.

 

[Fishykarp]

Now someone ELSE was visibly judging him, but Josh Whitman was not to be deterred. He prepared to launch into a brilliant speech that would certainly pull everyone in the elevator to his side, when the elevator platform suddenly stopped and he fell over. Looking up, he saw the elevator doors open to reveal a grand campus atop the mountains. He'd arrived at Haven Academy.

 

[Stormursa]

Dia Mond smirked when the doors open, jogging through the crowd to get a better look. The orbs in her skull widened and she had to stop herself from running forward to or climb the biggest structure she could see. The soon to be huntress pulled her hood up. Her mind carrying her feet a bit faster than a leasurely stroll.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

Topaz wasn't taking any of Josh's bullshit. He walked up, looking the boy dead in the eye.
"Please, shut up. It's obvious who the guilty party is here, and you're only making yourself look worse."
Having said his piece, Topaz turned away, only to find himself facing Aryle again. The girl who had asked if he was okay, which he hadn't given a reply to.
"...I'm fine."
Topaz walked past Aryle, preferring to stay away from the noisy bunch so long as he could.

"Ah, I see." Zinc nodded. "I'm looking forward to working with her." That's when the whole apple debacle broke out, and he couldn't help but face-palm how Topaz said his piece and left. "My boy's never going to make friends..." he sighed.

 

[Red Gallade]

All Sterling merely did was loiter around for the time being, he was in no rush to properly introduce himself to the Lion Faunus who rant he academy nor was he the kind of guy who felt like he needed to arrive to places on time. He took a look at his scroll for any messages he received and smiled when he saw the wallpaper he used for it: Himself between two identical, younger and adorable Wolf Faunus who had two distinctive shades of green hair. He sighed lightly as his mind drifted to thoughts of his family, only to snap back into reality when his ears twitched at the faint sound on some kind of argument alongside the faint scent of an apple that came from the elevator... despite himself being a great distance from it. "Wonder what they're arguing about..." He said softly to himself.

 

[Generation Sect]

Throughout Josh’s approach, the only response Olive gave (the girl currently leaning against the wall) was complete nonchalant silence, before shrugging, showcasing a complete lack of care. As the elevator ground to a sudden halt, she struggled to keep her composure, nearly falling off her feet, but luckily, her back pressed against the wall behind her with a thud, giving her the time to steady herself before looking out across the campus. Despite her demeanour, it seemed as if the energy she had gathered on her way here was still intact- she couldn’t help but take a deep breath as she took it all in, her eyes scanning it.
“... Wow...”
The construction of the many traditional, ornate buildings was impressive, that she couldn’t deny. As more and more of the students began to rush out of the elevator, it occurred to Olive how much pointless staring she had been doing, so she quickly hurried forward, catching up to the back end of that pack, not wanting to get left behind. The assorted patches of greenery throughout the stone showcased something her brother had always rambled on about to her: the importance of living in harmony with nature to people in Mistral. She had always told him it made him sound like a hipster, or an eco-warrior, or something. She wasn’t exactly sure where Herk had picked that attitude up. Her parents had always been that kind of type: But maybe he’d got that way in Haven. Didn’t seem too far beyond the boundary of belief-
It was then that it occurred to her that the major crowd of students who had first made it out of the elevator had once again passed her, leaving her standing awkwardly at the side of the path, with her dark brown cloak still wrapped around her shoulders, staring at the scenery. Sighing and mentally cursing herself for getting off track thinking about Herk again, she turned back to face towards the notably larger building everyone else was heading towards, walking down the side of the path towards it alone, not really concerned about catching up to the group now.

Leo sighed, patting a hand on Zinc’s shoulder out of sympathy as he spoke.
“Oh no need to worry, I’m sure he’ll do just fine. We’ve had more... colourful personalities to deal with here than your son, I assure you. I’m sure he’ll find the right team.”
Lionheart withdrew his arm, turning to look behind him as he saw a major crowd leaving the elevator, leaving space for more people to get out, rather than the funnel that had occurred prior. Assuming that was order enough, he simply turned and began to walk out of the Elevator. He had a speech to make, and students to initiate, after all- and time wasn’t infinite.

 

[SailorInSpace]

Chartruese made her way inside one of the buildings to get to a bathroom. This was completely shameful. She was drenched in water and her temper was about to flare. She hadn't even said hello to the headmaster and she was about to blow a gasket.
"Idiots."
She looked at her yellow eyes in the mirror for a few minutes while thinking of her past. Stay calm. You can do this. Her long bright red hair was definitely distracting her right now. Wasn't really calming her. Focusing in on the dark green highlights made it somewhat easier to focus. Grab the tall. Dry off. Go outside. You can do it! Don't kill anyone. You can also do that!
After doing just about everything to dry off--dab herself with a towel, use the hand dryer, etc.--she returned to the where the Headmaster was. Remnant gods help the unlucky soul who makes her break today...

 

[Godjacob]

"Well okay then...." Aryle said, with a little frown as she held the apple and watched Topaz just walk off, the guy seemed to not be the most friendly sort around. Irregardless of that, Aryle turned her attention to the director as well as everyone else as they had come to a stop on the elevator which soon opened up, and as Aryle walked outside to get a better view her eyes widened as she was absolutely stunned by what she had seen.

The open environment, the beautiful lush green all around the tranquility in the air...it was magnificent. While Aryle had love for her own home, this had been far more lively and just offered the girl something she had never seen before. Something she'd cherish during her time here, and something that made her wonder how her brother reacted when he first arrived here.

Either way, she had to remember what she came here for. And quickly worked to catch up with the bulk of the students that already moved past her while she gazed around.

 

[Generation Sect]

Before the mass of students had reached the larger building, they stopped at a stone circle surrounded by the patches of greenery. The crowd milled around the edge of the circle, packed in tightly, some spilling out onto the grass behind, others attempting to crane their necks over others to see, or push closer to the centre. Olive stopped as she finally noticed that this was what she was heading toward, tilting her head. So this was probably it... weren't they going to go indoors for this or something? Nevertheless, after her brief stop she continued along the left side of the stone path. As she reached the back of the crowd at the Circle, unable and unwilling to push through, she stood up on her toes, attempting to look over the many students on the south side of the circle to see what was going on. In the centre of that circle, a wide distance between him and the many students packed in, stood a man she had seen briefly on the way, who could only have been the Headmaster of Haven Academy, Leonardo Lionheart. She had to admit, the shield he was carrying looked pretty sweet- that was when she noticed the woman who was standing behind him, just off to his right, and for a second, Olive's silver eyes widened. She shouldn't have been surprised, she had definitely heard the news beforehand, but... she couldn't help the small bit of childish glee and excitement that was building up inside her. She hadn't really seen Napier Cissus at all since her brother's team fell apart, and honestly, the Huntress had always been more of an inspiration to her than Herk had. Whenever her brother's team came to visit, Napier was the one who was most likely to give Olive the time of day, and put up with the girl's endless games and gossiping. Olive's eyes magnetised to her, despite not having the best view- her pink and white hair in ridiculous curls, extravagant (and probably not that helpful in a fight if you were to somehow catch them on something. She had never exactly been the most practical person). The dress she wore, flower-like in appearance, was another thing Olive had grown used to by now. Only now was the girl beginning to realise that she had been feeling out of her element all this time, but considering the change brought about by seeing something familiar, it had to have been true.

The grey haired Faunus let out a cough, before raising his voice to the crowd around him. Making the speech here was an act of practicality, but Leo also thought it was very much in the Mistral spirit, to be out with the world at this time. That was why he had not allowed Miss Cissus to complain about the lack of microphones. That factor would affect him too, but he was confident this would work.
"Welcome, to Haven Academy. I know some of you might be expecting a drawn out speech and explanation of the purpose of your time here, and how it is going to go. This will be short, as here in Mistral, we do things a little differently. I hope this location has already made that clear enough. You are all here, lights of talent and potential; to grow, train, learn, and become ever brighter- Sharpen what you already can do, and forge new skills, all for one thing: to protect that which you hold dear, and the rest of Remnant too. Now, with the skills required to be accepted to a Hunstman Academy, you may think you know what you're in for by now... and I will use this time to clarify that you have yet to experience the true difficulties you shall face walking that path. Over the course of your time here, we will be training you not to try and expect the unexpected, but to be able to handle it when you face it. But, this once, we'll be giving you the advantage of an early explanation."
Leo took a step back, bringing Napier more into focus, as the woman began to speak in a calculated, yet confident and energetic tone.
"You'll be starting your first day at Haven with something we like to call our Initiation. After that, the rest of the day will be settling in and getting to grips with your surroundings- if you make it through it, of course~. May seem redundant to say this, but you're all dismissed to go back to the Landing Pad now. We've been prepping the Bullheads for the second run. Before you board, better make sure you've got all your combat gear, you're gonna need it for the test." With that, she strode off back towards the south end of the circle after Leo, the crowd of students parting to make space, both Napier and Leonardo passing through and heading back down the stone path, leading the way back to the Elevator. Caught in the migration of students making space, Olive remained stood on her toes, quickly stepping back onto the left side of the stone path, Napier going past her. D-did she not notice her? Olive didn't really get the chance to see if Napier's eyes even looked near her, so maybe she hadn't. Oh well, she was sure she'd get a chance to talk to her some time soon... Quickly realising that most of the crowd around her had dispersed down the path after them, Olive loosened her posture, letting out a small, quiet sigh as her heels returned to the pavement, turning and walking back down the path the way she had came.

 

[Red Gallade]

As Sterling continued to loiter around where he stood, be began to see most of the huntsmen and huntresses walk over toward a certain area within the academy almost like sheep being herded. Naturally, Sterling decided to join said group as the amount going in said direction could only mean something important. Once somewhere deep within the crowd, his wolf ears easily gave himself away just like a few other Faunus within the group, he looked up lightly and saw a man with a lion's tail begin to give a potentially long and boring speech, he let out a sigh in relief when he heard it would be shorter than expected. Once the lady began to speak, his ears twitched at the different voice and a raised eyebrow at the word 'Initiation.'

After the speeches were done, the silver haired Wolf Faunus looked around to see most of the huntsmen and huntresses make their way to the landing pads. He quickly looked at his bag and his 'bat' to make sure he still had everything, after a nod to himself, he began to turn around and walk back to the landing pad toward one of the Bullheads.

If he wanted to get strong and protect his family, he had to survive the initiation no matter what.

 

[Stormursa]

Dia shifted her fear about, checking it over a final time in her way towards where they were told to go. Mentally she was checking off boxes about what she might have to do and if she had remembered to double check they were in working order. By the time she had reached her destination, the training huntress had already checked her weapons over thricely. Tucking then away, Dia looked up to watch the crowd as she tried to guess who might end up in her team, “Well. This certainly is going to be interesting”.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

With a quiet huff, Topaz strode out of the elevator, moving near the front of the group - but keeping the girl in view. She seemed interesting to him...
When Leonardo began to speak, he silenced himself, making sure to pay attention.
"Welcome, to Haven Academy. I know some of you might be expecting a drawn out speech and explanation of the purpose of your time here, and how it is going to go. This will be short, as here in Mistral, we do things a little differently. I hope this location has already made that clear enough." It was true. Mistral was quite different from Vacuo, as Topaz could already tell.
"You are all here, lights of talent and potential; to grow, train, learn, and become ever brighter- Sharpen what you already can do, and forge new skills, all for one thing: to protect that which you hold dear, and the rest of Remnant too." Topaz leaned against a tree now. That was the type of thing he had expected to hear.
"Now, with the skills required to be accepted to a Hunstman Academy, you may think you know what you're in for by now... and I will use this time to clarify that you have yet to experience the true difficulties you shall face walking that path." Topaz let out a quiet chuckle. I doubt anything Mistral can throw at me will be tougher than Vacuo...
"Over the course of your time here, we will be training you not to try and expect the unexpected, but to be able to handle it when you face it. But, this once, we'll be giving you the advantage of an early explanation." Topaz's eyes focused. Now was the time to pay attention. He moved his eyes to the woman, who would likely be explaining the situation. Good - he needed to know the schedule to make his plans."
"You'll be starting your first day at Haven with something we like to call our Initiation. After that, the rest of the day will be settling in and getting to grips with your surroundings- if you make it through it, of course~. May seem redundant to say this, but you're all dismissed to go back to the Landing Pad now. We've been prepping the Bullheads for the second run. Before you board, better make sure you've got all your combat gear, you're gonna need it for the test."
Topaz merely huffed. Initiation test already? Guess they're getting right to the point... It's a good thing I rested up. His hand moved to his side, and he felt Vim through his cloak. He had everything he needed.
But he did have a few questions...
"Zinc." Topaz walked over to his father. "What about team pairings, and objectives? Where will we be headed?"
"Inquisitive boy..." Zinc chuckled. Topaz glared at his father. He didn't like being called boy... "We're headed to a ravine." Zinc replied. "Grimm-infested. You'll know more when we get there. The objective will be explained by Leo there, as well. And as for the teams? First one you make eye contact with."
Topaz nodded. "Alright. Wish I knew more..."
Topaz had to wonder who he might end up in a team with, though. Maybe that girl...?
Noticing most of the people had already left, Topaz speed-walked after them. Zinc, meanwhile, walked over to where Napier and Leonardo were.

 

[SailorInSpace]

"What a nice speech," huffed Chartruese. "I wonder who I'll meet today and become friends for life with."
She wasn't really enthused. Since the water fiasco, her mood really turned. She was fine during the speech, but afterward she heard people making fun of how she had red hair and somehow didn't charge herself in a mirror. Idiots. She was walking along with the group for initiation now.
"Please let this go well," said Chartruese.

 

[Fishykarp]

Now that the ascent to Haven was done, and Josh was no longer stuck with those imbeciles, he was ready to shine like the star he truly was. Obviously, Headmaster Lionheart’s statement about the natural talent of the students was referring to all of them, but Josh liked to think that perhaps once he proved how amazing he was in the initiation, Lionheart would say the same things about him.

Of course, everyone knew that Leonardo Lionheart was a Faunus, and while Josh Whitman wouldn’t exactly say he was bigoted against the Faunus, literally everybody else would. Even so, he had to appreciate how quickly Lionheart got into everything, instead of starting some boring drawn out speech. Josh would show those jerks on the elevator just how wrong they were to mess with him. By the end of the initiation, they’d be begging to join his team.

With haste, he began to make his way back towards the Bullheads, walking to the front of the group and leading them. For about three seconds, at which point his legs began to become too tired from speedwalking, definitely not because he hadn’t trained at all in the months preceding arriving any Haven. (Ok maybe it was, but why would he, who was already perfect as he was, need to train???)
Trailing back, Josh walked around the middle of the group of students until they reached the bullheads

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Ryan has stayed quiet after the initial bout with Josh. He had seen the other man’s expression change when he saw his tail and determined he must have been one of those people. “Oh great, he’s one of those kind of people.” He thought, which was why he was glad when the elevator arrived at its destination and cut him off. After that point, Ryan had been mostly following along the rest of the crowd. After listening to headmaster Lionheart’s speech, the snake Faunus made his way to the bullheads along the rest of the new students.

 

[Generation Sect]

Olive boarded one of the Bullheads, and waited in confusion as they flew. They didn't seem to be going very far, but she couldn't see out of the window... as much as it sounded stupid, despite her entire current situation so far, she wasn't the biggest fan of heights. Not petrified, mind you, but she would rather avoid having to deal with stuff like that. Sadly, that was nowhere near how it was going to turn out. Her arms shook just a little, glued to her sides as it seemed to stop in mid-air...and the side door opened upwards, the girl's ears overtook by the sound of engines roaring and heavy wind. The teacher assigned to this particular Bullhead walked over to just near the side of the door, handily keeping far enough away as to not risk falling out of it. And would you know it, it just so happened to be Napier Cissus. Olive thought maybe this meant she'd get a chance to talk to her later- but no, not now, focus on the task ahead, she reminded herself.
"OKAY KIDS, LISTEN UP"
Napier had to yell, maybe trying a little too hard (something that was definitely not good for her voice) just to get heard over the engine sounds and the wind. It was like they were about to go skydiving.
"This is the initiation test! Just to the side below us is a canyon, and it and everything around it is crawlin' with Grimm! We've set these little flag lookin' dealies up all over, and those are the points you'll be measured on! First person you make eye contact with after you land is your partner, you're stuck with them for life!" She smirked before winking, somehow managing to convey playful cheeriness even when shouting at the top of her lungs for the words to get through. Olive wasn't sure if a twinkle appeared in the woman's eye either before or after she winked, or if it was just some cartoonishly over the top effect she had been imagining since she was a child, and had stuck with her. Hopefully not the second one or that'd be weird. Seeing things is weird.
"By life I mean the rest of yer' school life. Get down there and go get those flags! Grimm aren't gonna wait for you!"
And as she began to walk away from the door to make space for the students to just... jump down, she let out one last remark.
"Oh, try not to land in the canyon from this height. You'd probably break something. ... Might be some goodies in there for ya though."
A cold shudder nearly went through Olive's body as she remained still, trying not to let it visibly show. She knew Huntsman Academies in general, but especially Haven, were very 'hands off' in their teaching style and promoted independence, but THIS straight out the gates was not what she was expecting. She mentally praised herself for deciding to have a healthy, energy-building breakfast this morning. This was gonna get rough. Olive didn't want to be the first to have to jump, simply remaining still, only to momentarily look to her side, seeing Napier. The huntress looked to the students on board, before making a nodding gesture with her head towards the door, as if saying "Go on". Olive clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath... before she got a running start, jumping straight on out of the Bullhead, brown cloak trailing in the wind behind her as the wind rushed past her face. Goddamnit she should stop making impulse decisions- was she even the first to jump? Probably not, but she cursed rapidly under her breath anyway as she plummeted towards the ground. She was just a person with daggers, landing wasn't her sweet spot, how did they expect her to- got it. There was at least one thing she could do, and it ran in the family. She once again closed her eyes, blind faith in her own power as she reached down... hands wrapped around her knees as she brought them up to her chest... tucking herself together like a human cannonball, or a baby, her concentrated weight only making her fall faster. She could only hear the wind rushing past as her panting breaths sped up, beginning to panic- crap crap CRAP SHE WAS ABOUT TO HIT THE- that's when the rushing of wind reached a sudden stop, no dreadful crash to be found. She opened one eye, curiously blinking, the other covered by her hair as she took in the sight. Floating just above ground, not too far from the left edge of the canyon, having successfully avoided some thin trees... but the most curious part of the situation was that she was upside down. Her balled up body surrounded by purple energy, glowing and pulsing in a way not too dissimilar to Gravity Dust, she let out a deep sigh of relief she knew she had been holding back as she closed her eyes again and relaxed. This, in turn, caused her Semblance to turn off, as she hit the ground head first. Ouch. Although, despite her weird position, upside down curled up into a ball, she hadn't really taken any sort of damage from the landing, even if she had a bit of a headache.

 

[Mechanist Gamma]

"Get down there and go get those flags! Grimm aren't gonna wait for you!"
Topaz seemed to take those words to heart.
The second the speech was finished, the young boy launched himself out of the jet. His cloak fluttered in the wind behind him, turning him into practically a black bullet falling through the sky. Due to him being the first to leave, no one was behind him.
Which worked perfectly for him.
BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA
Dirt and sand were kicked about the open plain as shots fired from above. Topaz unloaded the clip of his machine guns, using the recoil to slow his fall. Eventually, he landed on the ground with a snarl.
Roaring surrounded him.
Right. Loud noises attracts Grimm.
Five Beowolves charged at him. Topaz quickly reloaded his guns before spinning quickly. Bullets rang through the Beowolves, causing them to fall down smoking. In the effort to not attract more to him, he clicked the switches, turning Vim and Vigor back into swords. He began making tracks, dashing out across the plain.
Seems he had just taken out the welcome mat. Topaz saw several more charging at him. His Semblance flared in, the world around going dark save the ground at his feet and the Grimm before him.
A leaping stab, and two were impaled. He fell to his knees as the Beowolves fell to dust, drawing Vim out of the ground and slamming a Beowolf in the chin with its hilt before decapitating it with Vigor. A kick knocked a Beowolf back as he stabbed a fifth, only then turning to finish off the fourth.
Four more stood before him- well, BEFORE was the wrong word. Topaz's eyes glanced from side to side as he rose to his feet, the four now circling him.
One leapt. Topaz stabbed it before slamming it into the ground.
Another attacked his back while he was distracted. Topaz rolled forwards before turning and slashing its head open.
Two left, and they were attacking from both sides now. One was closer. Topaz ran at that one, cutting off its arms before slashing its torso in half. He turned just in time to impale the last Beowolf. A flick of the switch, and the gun expanded, tearing the Grimm apart.
As the corpses around him turned to dust, Topaz held his gun out to the side as his Semblance faded, looking out to see-
...
That girl he had talked to on the elevator.

 

[Stormursa]

Dia charged out the door, flipping and spinning through the air as she hooted happily. As she came towards her impact ground her semblance manifested in her feet, thickening the bone and skin as she met the ground. The to be huntress slid to a stop and her mind reeled for a sudden vertigo as she calmed herself down to go hunting for the flags. Once her brain steadied, Dia started her log jog towards the flag site.

 

[Fishykarp]

"Nopenopenopenopenopenopenope," Josh stammered, as he stared downward. "You will land this bullhead out of the forest and I'll get out that way-"
Josh lost his balance standing by the exit of the bullhead, and began falling down. No, there was no way he'd just fall out of the bullhead and die, how embarrassing would that be? 'here lies Josh Whitman, who was going to be a hero huntsman until he fell out of a bullhead and died.'

Now, Josh was always a big fan of not feeling any pain at all, so he tended to keep his aura active even for the most mundane things. (He remembered one time he had to have a surgery, he kept activating his aura in fear before they even applied the sedative to his arm, so the needle couldn't go in. The doctors sure had fun convincing him to drop his aura that day.)
So he got pretty good at activating his aura super quickly, which was especially useful in this instance. He managed to cushion what’s probably be a few broken bones, into just mild pain. Lying there, he decided to maybe just stay there for a few minutes to breathe. He’d probably still get the best flags anyways, might as well give the others a head start

 

[Godjacob]

Gotta admit, didn't think the first thing I'd hunt here would be flags. But beggars can't be choosers as they say...

Aryle had that thought in her head as the instructions for this little entrance exam had been laid out, and no sooner had the bell departed than she had scaled the nearest tree she could see and began to scale along; moving from branch to branch as she already had her bow pulled back and Lunalight Whisper was primed and loaded as she scanned the field.

CAWWWWWWW!

Woosh!
​

It had not taken long for her to encounter the first Grimm. A pair of Nevermores that each met the same fate; an arrow each right between the eyes as each one free fell limp to the forest floor. Aryle would slide down one tree; hoping from branch to branch as she also managed to stab the head of a Taijitu Grimm that had tried to bite at her wrist on the way down. It too fell to join the bodies as Aryle grabbed each arrow from the corpses to clean and load back up as a method to conserve ammo. She ventured what to do next before she heard the sounds of roars and machine gun fire ahead of her. A ways away, and for most people beyond any line of sight.

But, as her eyes shifted and changed to bright orange, her Hunter's Gaze had been activated as she used her enhanced sight to scan the field clear as day as she saw what appeared to be a pack of Beowolf Grimm that had tried to make one of the students their meal.

Tried being the key word as they were being soundly bested, so while he not needed her help there was some more Grimm out of his sight that approached him and would further outnumber him.

She had little doubt she could handle himself, but part of this exam was all about making a big impression and she had no desire to pass up such a chance. With a tire in hand she bound it to her bow and fired as she scaled up a tall tree at rapid pace before she hopped over to the area; where another pack of Grimm Beowolves and aimed to try close in on whatever made that racket.

Woosh! Woosh woosh woosh woosh woosh!

Arrows rained down as with pin point accuracy as Aryle swung from one tree branch down to the forest floor on her wire while she rained rapid fire death upon the Beowolves as arrows struck dead between their eyes; most flopped to the floor dead, but Aryle also displayed her Dust-capacity with the arrow tips for a couple of them as one's head exploded from a flame-based explosive dust tip while the other froze its head solid which opened up a combo as Aryle folded her bow and produced a twin-bladded staff as she spun and struck it right in the head which caused it to shatter on impact as the Beowolf fell dead.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!​

Aryle's moment of triumph had been short lived however, as an Ursa Minor appeared as well and stood tall while it roared Aryle's way as it lunged out with its razor sharp claws. It sung again, and again and again as Aryle gracefully jumped or dodged each strike. Aryle was was by no means a melee fighter and had been pressure as she was pushed into the clearing where her fellow hunter had been while the bear Grimm tried to get that lethal slash in.

Slash!

And one would come, but from Aryle as she sliced at the Ursa Minor's leg as it cried out in pain & anger, it lunged forward to try and ram her only for Aryle to leap over and smack him with the body of the staff right in the jaw to stun it. Which gave her a moment to mount the beast before she drove the sharpened edge of the staff right through the skull as it collapsed dead on the field. Aryle took a moment to catch her breath as she got up off it before she glanced ahead to see the other hunter as she realized she was driven in his line of sight...and saw it happened to be that guy she spoke with in the elevator.

And quickly, she dawned a sheepish expression as it this seemed like an...awkward meeting.

Damn it, this is not what I had in mind. Come on you dolt say something don't single yourself out as the anti-social weirdo.

"Uh, s-sup. So how bout those Beowolves huh?"

Damn it you are useless!

 

[Red Gallade]

Sterling leaned on one of the walls of the Bullhead as it took off, while he was bored of having to stand around, he was secretly excited for the chance to go all out on the field and maybe make a new friend... preferably a fellow Faunus such as himself. When the doors began to open to replace the sound of chatter with a deafening gust of wind, he held his ears at first, due to his dog like hearing, the sound would have been earsplitting for him, but managed to hear what it was he had to do.

After hearing the rules... and how he had to jump out of the ship, Sterling began to show a wide, toothy grin and charged out of the Bullhead, he jumped out with arms open and did a front flip before he darted to the ground like a torpedo, he kept his weapon sheathed on his back and began to focus on the use of his aura, the knowledge that it can protect him from most life threatening situations made him think that possibly amplifying it would minimize the fall damage... a dumb thought to most people, but he learned at a young age that sometimes some things are worth the risk.

Sterling crashed to the ground almost as if a meteorite had just fallen to the face of the Earth, but luckily, he wasn't hurt that much, he was knelt on the ground and slowly looked up to let out a loud howl of excitement, the howl was convincing enough to make people think it was a proper wolf's howl... as well as draw in a few Grimm who noticed the crash if not the howl. The wolf Faunus slowly stood up and got out Da Huai Lang and lazily swung it a few times. "Well... that was fun!" Sterling said to himself before he heard growling and the sounds of many footsteps quickly close in on him, Sterling turned around to notice that three Ursas and a Beowulf aggressively ran toward him.

Sterling turned to the charging Grimm and held his Kanabo with two hands. "Go ahead Grimm..." Sterling said in a soft yet sinister tone as his weapon began to protrude many rows of spikes, each one glistened in the sun before each row began to rotate rapidly, every second row rotated in the opposite direction. "...MAKE MY DAY!" Sterling shouted as he charged toward the Grimm.

Sterling swung a massive upward swing on the Beofwulf which caused it to shoot upward into the air, before one of the Ursas could successfully land a hit on the wolf Faunus, Sterling quickly blocked the attack only to slide a few feet away from where he stood before he aggressively charged toward the attacker and swung back, the Kanabo hit the Ursa's head horizontally and caused the Grimm to go get launched to the side and flew into a rock, the Ursa turned to dust upon impact. "One..." Sterling counted before he turned to the other Ursa and made the rows of spikes rotate as he hit the Ursa in the stomach, each spike dug into the Grimm's jet black flesh and tear pieces of it off, each small piece disappeared into smoke before the second Ursa's body did the same. "Two..." Sterling muttered as he turned to the third Ursa.

Before the latter could charge at him, he was instantly hit by a Beowulf that fell from the sky, likely the one Sterling hit earlier. Sterling looked in his pockets only to find around nine or ten cartridges, then looked back at the Grimm pair before he put the mags back in his pocket. "I'll save these for a rainier day..." The wolf Faunus said before he charged toward the Grimm and jumped into the air and did a few front flips, he managed to hit both of the two Grimm at once and make their particles separate and ascend into the sky before they faded out.

"Four..." Sterling counted as he put his weapon over his shoulder and looked up at the drop ship to see any Huntsmen/Huntresses that had yet to jump out, then he looked around from his area to see if any other Huntsmen/Huntresses were nearby... not that he was in any rush for a friend...

 

[Generation Sect]

Olive reached her hands out, fingers brushing against the dirt as she worked on flipping herself back upright, looking around with a dizzy head and blurry vision as she tried to get her sense of direction back, now back on her feet. Gunfire rang out throughout the chaos. It seemed the initial... noisy impact of the trainees had already drawn out the main body of Grimm in the area.
“The small ones, at least...”
The lingering thought in the back of her mind reminded her.
She took a deep inhale, hopping up and down on the spot as she let her arms fall down by her side, the twin daggers Equis and Troy in her hands as she hyped herself up.
She could do this, she hadn’t heard or seen anything that seemed too big around and that was perfect. Smaller Grimm were far easier to take out with, well, glorified knives. And even if they could swing each other around like a whip and also make a pretty mean skipping rope, daggers were daggers at the end of the day. She finally got into more of a prepared combat stance, drawing back as she let out a deep breath.
And then, in an instant, she was off, running, drawing ever closer to the gaping maw of the canyon that divided the test area as she ran in search of flags. Don’t kill anything you don’t need to, stay on the objective- however, as her eyes flickered, passing through a shadowed passage between two trees, surrounded by bushes at the bottom, she saw the glowing red eyes watching her in the bush to her right, heard the low growl, and decided that even if she wanted to get her first flag, stopping to slay a random passing Beowolf was too tempting a warm-up to pass up.

Suddenly skidding to a halt, turning her body to face the creature, she wasted no time, pulling one arm back as she threw the first bronze-coloured dagger forwards, entering the darkness behind the leaves and eliciting a pained growl that quickly sounded more like rage. She held onto the other dagger with her free hand, yanking on the chain that connected it to its twin in an attempt to pull the creature from its hiding spot- only to feel far more weight than she had expected as it nearly pulled her over in return, barely holding herself up by the balls of her feet. The leaves of the shrub parted as through it emerged an Alpha Beowolf- the bony white armour that coated its head accompanied by similar bony spikes along its lanky body, the burning hatred in its eyes leaving a red trail as it advanced on all fours.
Olive quickly returned her feet wholly to the floor, looking to the creature as even on all fours, it stood just as tall as her, the dagger she had thrown sunken into the black fur of its neck, like a fishing hook cast out as bait.
“Ohhhhh boy, not sure if I’m lucky or unlucky here.”
She winced, before chuckling to herself.
“Ah well.”

She grunted with effort as she leaned back into a fighting stance, using the momentum to pull harder on the chain, ripping the knife from the Grimm with a sickening tearing sound as it was yanked through the air and back into her hand.
However, before she had time to think any further, the Alpha made its own move, charging forward, using its armoured head as a battering ram. Quick to react on instinct, Olive rolled to the side, a move she had quite often used against charging Grimm- this seemed to be a recurring thing for her. And, as planned, the Beowolf crashed its head into the tree that marked the left side of the bypass. As the canopy shook, Olive noticed something slipping loose of the mass of tangled branches and leaves above her- a small, blank, white flag, with a light green coloured pole and circular base at the bottom. Her eyes lit up as she got back to her feet, brushing dust from her jacket. A-a flag? Could they really be that small? Napier had said they’d be graded on them- so did a smaller one like that mean less points? More importantly, what the hell kind of hiding did they call that?! It was so small and camouflaged she barely would have noticed the thing if the tree hadn’t been shook to the point of it damn near falling out! She shook her head. Never mind. All she had to do was kill the Grimm and get the tiny flag. Easy. She had pockets for this sorta stuff.

Taking a deep sigh, she readied herself as the Grimm turned itself around to the left to face her, orange eyes leaving a burning trail in the air as this time, Olive ran forwards, swinging one knife around in the air by holding onto the chain, like a lasso. Just before she got too close to the Grimm she stopped, letting go of the chain, as the dagger and chain lashed forwards like a whip, the other knife still firmly in her right hand as it hit the Grimm square in the armoured head, only to bounce off. She was used to that. However, as the Alpha was distracted by the futile attack, she lunged forwards, dashing to the right side of the thing as she swung with the dagger in her right hand- plunging it into the shoulder of the wolf. The wolf Grimm howled, it’s other arm slashing towards her, claws soon to meet the aspiring huntress- but Olive quickly moved to the next stage of her plan, keeping her grip on the base where the chain met the knife, pressing a foot to the side of the Beowolf’s body, and using the knife in its shoulder as a kind of handhold to pull herself up on top of the creature, at the same time pulling the other knife that had clattered to the floor back to her hand by the chain. Now crouched atop it as the Alpha reeled around on all fours, she began to spin the knife she held around in a circle in the air- wrapping the chain around her wrist. With that, she kept a hard grip on the knife with her right hand, the chain itself wrapped around her left wrist, as she began to pull back, stretching the knife in its shoulder in a torturous way. This was her plan. Soon enough, either the knife would give way and come right back to her, or the Grimm would, and it would be over.

However, she had made a rather critical oversight- as the Alpha Beowolf lumbered to its feet, now standing upright. The sudden movement shift caused a dagger to once again rip from its skin, now falling from the shoulder, Olive quickly trying her best to roll the chain up around her left wrist further, pulling it up like an automatic mechanism. However, she faced a new problem as it stood upright, feeling herself slowly begin to slip from its back. Panicking, she quickly slammed the knife waiting in her right hand into its back, now hanging from its back, boots dug into its fur as she clung on by the knife. Trying her best to pull herself up onto its shoulders, she took a deep gulp, not wanting to look down as she tried to formulate a plan of what to do next now that her last one had failed. That was when she looked up- seeing the shine of sunlight through a break in the tree canopy, and the alluring sight of the green flag laying sideways, slotted between some branches. Realising that she was practically riding on its shoulders, if she stood up, she could probably reach it...
Overcome by a split second ambitious decision, she leapt herself up, one foot now resting on the knife in its back as she thrust her left hand upwards- so close- fingers outstretched as she reached past the branches to grab onto the flag pole- but she only made contact with air. Having just missed it, she blinked as she felt the cold air surround her, and before she knew it, she was pulled downwards, weighed down by the bands of bronze chain wrapped around her left wrist, the chain beginning to unravel as she fell from its shoulders, the chain having been stretched too far, finally reuniting with its companion, the knife stuck in its back, which too was pulled downwards and to the floor. Olive tumbled down and over, spinning all the way around in the air as the chain reeled itself back into the knives, wanting to pull back together. Her back crashed flat against the floor, kicking up some dust and dirt as her legs remained upwards in the air. Blinking as she looked up in confusion, only able to see the tree canopy, she grit her teeth as her silver eyes hardened with infuriation, first slamming her legs down flat to the dirt alongside the rest of her body, before using her hands to slowly push herself back up. Quickly darting upwards to check, she noticed the flag remained unshaken, still safely resting between two branches. Damnit. However, her desire to get the flag once again cost her as she glanced down, seeing that the Alpha Beowolf had fully turned around to face her, towering upright above her as its eyes flamed with red, murderous intent, a low growl snarling from its jaw. She snarked, panting for breath as she raised her hands, prepared to fight this time.
“O-okay, I admit it, maybe it was a bad idea in concept-“
It was then that she blinked, looking from hand to hand, as she realised...
She had dropped Equis & Troy.