[h2][center][color=00aeef]Marshall Narquis[/color][/center][/h2]

Trials Day. It was something every First Year had to go through, and one most of them would likely remember for at least the rest of their time at school, if not the rest of their lives. Marshall still remembered his, in any case; he'd tried to raise himself up on an ice pillar, and to his credit he had- before losing his footing trying to stand up, slipping back into the pit, and banged his head. Not his most fantastic moment, to say the least. Still, he was grateful for it happening; it was what caught Claudia's attention all those years ago, and here he was following her footsteps. 

He watched intently as a variety show of the elemental spectrum began. Some students had gone for the grand scale, eschewing finesse in favor of showing just how much earth they could move or fire they could conjure. Others had opted to try and stand out with their unique talents and spins on the idea. One in particular had chosen to show off a multicolored water fountain, done using a rifle no less. Still more instead chose to try a middle of the road approach, to show that they had a basic level of command over their gift and that they were willing to try. Those were the ones Marshall was always most interested in. They might not be able to show off the grandiose extents that the upper end chose, but they consistently showed a willingness to try, and from where he sat that was far more important than raw ability.

[@Ennui]

One in particular that caught his eye, as well as the Headmaster's it seemed, was Yelena. She'd chosen to go for a simple water bubble, which she maintained and grew for several seconds before it burst in her hand. Kano had taken a moment to offer her some tips and a bit of consolation before moving on to Thora, who had produced the multicolored fountain. Marshall sighed to himself. Sometimes the Headmaster could be so... insensitive. But then that wasn't really anything new, was it? Marshall shook his head as he made his way over.

He stepped down into the enclosure with the pink haired girl, crouched down on his heels, and gestured for her attention. [color=00aeef]"That was nicely done!"[/color] he told her reassuringly, [color=00aeef]"Making water hold a still shape like that is way harder than people give credit for, especially a sphere like that. Let's see..."[/color] 

He raised his own palm, focused for a bit, and formed a water bubble of his own, about the same size Yelena had started with and held it out toward her. [color=00aeef]"The key thing is to take it at your own pace. Start small, like this, and hold it as long as you can. Don't worry about size, once you have stability size will come easy as breathing. And if you ever want some exercises for this sort of thing I'd be happy to help you. So don't be so hard on yourself, alright?"[/color] 

(OOC: If Yelena would like to take the sphere from him and take over sustaining it, she absolutely can. I'll also carry a conversation if you want, we can just say it all resolved before he went over to Kris)

[@Spriggs27]

A short while later Marshall found his attention drawn to the exact opposite issue. Where Yelena had tried something small but determined and came down on herself for a perceived failure, another student was flaunting her abilities in a way that showed prior training and almost seemed full of herself. Kris Sterling-Silva, the princess from the north, he recalled, as he watched her conjure a dozen sculptures of ice, seat herself atop a frozen throne, and then shatter her constructs on a whim. It was impressive, to be sure, but the way she carried herself while doing it suggested she was bored, or even insulted by the whole scenario. 

[color=00aeef]"Well, you're not wrong,"[/color] he said in response to her comment on power, [color=00aeef]"But what sets people apart is what they do with the power they have, now isn't it?"[/color] He crouched again, this time on the edge of the pit looking down into it. 

[color=00aeef]"I do wonder why you'd shatter your creations so callously,"[/color] he noted with a tilt of his head, [color=00aeef]"Did they truly mean so little to you?"[/color]