Finetales

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Triple A said
:OIs there room for any more players here?EDIT: I'm your biggest fan, Ninetales. where r uEDIT 2: i frikkin wuv your wiki, Ninetales

:D

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

PSA from Ninetales:

I'll be on the Pad less tomorrow/today. This whole get on at 10 am and get off at 4 am 18-hour Pad marathon thing is fun, but it's also really distracting and most of the time is spent watching an inactive screen. I need to focus on finally revising Carmen's CS (abilities, mostly) like I've planned for so long, as well as working on my second character. Yes, I'm working on a second character. I have some general ideas but I might scrap them all and start totally from scratch. The unfaltering desire to make the character literally Ninetales combined with the unbridled love I know for sure I'll have for NK's latest character idea provides a conflict of interest and my head sort of wants to explode. I want my character to be totally unique, a totally good addition to the current crop of students, and generally be as high quality as I can make it from the very beginning. It will require extensive myth modification, Superpower Wiki perusing, and innovative ideas (which I'm not good at).

I'll be on the Pad sometimes, and I do encourage you to yell at me violently via PM in here if I'm not on and you need me to get in to post or what have you.

Across Broken Skies [Ace Combat inspired RP]

Miyoshi responded to the Colonel's congratulations with a smile, a "thank you", and a traditional bow. No amount of Westernization could shake her Japanese upbringing. The squadron had performed well and the flight lead wasn't afraid to say so. Miyoshi had flown under some flight leads in the past that were never congratulatory or even complimentary to their pilots, and a communicative and positive flight lead was something Miyoshi valued more than most.

Soon, a man who identified himself as the carrier's executive officer arrived and began the guided tour, during which Miyoshi was silent yet curious. After a brief pause to let the pilots change out of their flight suits and a distribution of the carrier's tablet PCs, the squadron found themselves in their bunk room.

Growing up in space-cramped Japan and particularly the Japanese military, Miyoshi actually found the accommodations to be quite comfortable. The ability to siphon off your own bunk to be a soundproof privacy module, as well as both a tablet PC and an overhead screen with headphones, seemed generous at the very least. Placing her personal bag in the small storage compartment, she began to acclimate herself to her new maritime home. She turned on her tablet PC first, sifting through several pages much like Ariella had done, and set it aside to converse with her flight lead.

"Colonel, if I may, what do you think of this carrier so far? I haven't stopped being fascinated since I saw it from Massao...my plane, I mean," she asked, clarifying herself at the end. She had plenty of time to get to know her squadron, but she figured she wouldn't leave Ariella hanging after her call for questions. She hoped the flight lead wouldn't react negatively to her quick response.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Carmen

Love: "I should preface this by saying that I don't require food to survive, so I don't eat that often. It's so boring, you know, unless it's very good. I prefer the finest foods, which I understandably don't get a chance to eat that often. But...if we're talking drinks as well, my drink of choice is the Cosmopolitan. It's so...sophisticated. Like me!"
Hate: "Anything common or ordinary. Since I don't have to eat, when I do eat I want it to be an experience."
Mixed: "Anything that meets my standards but isn't at the very top. I always debate whether it's worth it. If it's free, it gets worth it much more quickly."

Across Broken Skies [Ace Combat inspired RP]

Agreed, to all of the above. I'm still in, of course. I'll hopefully be able to get a post in some time tonight.

EDIT: Got a short post in - leaving to go see the new X-Men movie. Hopefully this stirs up some character interacting.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Summary: The Three Musketeers (a name coined by Crash in this very post) join the ranged dojo group, which allows the conversing to increase at an exponential rate. This is something the scene desperately needed.

- Crash -
Crash had screwed his eyes shut as soon as he realized his mistake, his face practically flooding with color as he gripped the final creature in his arms, he was just about to make the situation twice as bad as it already was by desperately trying to escape when he heard Carmen speak to him. “N-no I mean its-n-not a bad-Not that I was-My eyes are closed!” Crash stuttered as Carmen indignantly stepped aside, he felt her dress slide over and off of his head, his face was undeniably the same color as his eye and his eyes were indeed screwed shut. Strike me down now...be quick and aim for the heart Talk about over-dramatic...He cracked one eye open to glance up at Carmen awaiting either a trumpet blow to the head or a harsh battering with words. He physically flinched as she reached down to yank the string from the final dummy gripped between his arms, he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat rather wishing he could melt into the ground at this moment. The dummy fluttered to the floor wriggling helplessly at her feet, if it was possible Crash shrunk back further from Carmen, he opened his mouth to say something when she stepped onto the last dummy adopting a Captain Morgan like pose. “I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t think” He murmured to Carmen, his hand seeking out the back of his neck as he sheepishly avoided Carmen’s eye he could hear Yutaka’s hysterical laughter. As if to make matters worse he heard a small cough behind him, becoming acutely aware Kathy would have seen that whole escapade. The young shapeshifter had really put his foot in it this time, he glanced over his shoulder at Kathy noting the slight blush to her cheeks and that she was focused on Yutaka, he shifted his gaze to the teacher as well. His face flushing a darker color as the man seemed to be one step away from rolling around the ground whilst laughing.

- Carmen -
Carmen could hardly remain what little upset she was for long with the spectacle of their teacher laughing uncontrollably and Crash beet red and clearly ashamed. Carmen stepped down from the stricken dummy and put her hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry about it," she said, with a hint of a smile. "I can always gain consolation that whatever you do, you are rewarded exactly in suitable embarrassment," she said, poking his red cheek. "Just...try to be a little more aware where you're sticking your head next time?" she opined. "At any rate, I will never tire of seeing your face being the same color as your hair," she finished playfully as she turned to see Kathy a little red herself. Stepping over, she had to ask. "Now why are you redlined?" she asked. "If you got embarrassed for Crash, then you know what I''ll say," she said with a playful smile, her eyes gleaming of mischief.

- Kathy -
"My hair's purple right now, so I'd hope my face isn't he same colour as my hair." Kathy smiled, replying back to Carmen as the blush began to fade off. Carmen seemed quite good at reassuring people so she was glad she decided to help Crash out instead of fueling his embarrassment but... 'No no no, definitely not going there Kathy. You promised not to think about those sort of things...' She thought to herself, trying to ignore the slight tinge of irritation she felt watching the two of them. She already considered Carmen to be a friend of hers, and there was no reason why she couldn't be friends with Crash either. 'A little skinship between friends is normal... Otherwise I'd be in trouble too.' Sighing, she shook her head and just looked back at their instructor, hoping he had more to say to them about the training beyond just hysterical laughter.

- Yutaka -
Taking a couple of deep breaths with the mask off, Yutaka decided it was probably time to act more his age and give the deeply embarrassed student (Crash) a break. He fixed the gas mask back onto its proper position on his face before he walked over to where they were. He gave them a small clap of his hands and told them, "First of all, I'd like to mention that the three of you did a lot better than I had expected for your first experience at facing a large number of opponents. Once again, great job."

"Now... A few things to note from what I saw." He took the time to study all of their faces to make sure they were all listening. "Carmen, though it was effective this time around, try not to make your swings too wide with multiple opponents. You risk getting your weapon grabbed or knocked out of your hands if any one of them are paying enough attention to know that seems to be the main focus of your attack and defense." Turning to Kathy he told her, "Kathy, you're not being aggressive enough. It's good to help your teammates and try to keep a broad view of things, but you could've taken out a lot more dummies if you just attacked more. Also, you may want to make sure you don't accidentally hinder your teammates during a real battle." He added, referring to how she had pulled the sheet from under the male student's (Crash) foot. Finally turning to the beet-red student (Crash) he commented, "I probably should've gotten your name too before we started. At any rate, you need to watch your endurance. From what I can tell, you're going at full power from the beginning so if I decided to just make the dummies back off every so often and extended the battle for another 10-15 minutes, you would have run out of energy. Watch for that, and... Your surroundings." He glanced briefly in Carmen's direction with his last couple of words, smiling under his mask. 'He's a good kid.' Yutaka thought to himself, noting that the student (Crash) hadn't even thought to blame the teacher for making the dummy go up Carmen's skirt in the first place.

Yutaka admitted to the three of them, "Now I don't really have anything else planned, so I'll be here to supervise if you want to train with something else. Otherwise, feel free to go to any of the other instructors here or in other dojos. Best of luck!"

- Darwin -
Darwin chuckled at Mercy, maybe it was better to leave the love birds alone...or maybe they were plotting something, that was actually highly likely...oh god, were they super-villains? Man, that would've been really cool if he had talked to a pair of loving super-villains.
When Mercy asked about the skittles he had to think. "Well all the writing on the packet was in Russian, so I'm not really sure.....I could taste some cyanide though I hope you're not allergic to it, I heard it was a good part of any healthy diet." He said all of this without another thought about what he was saying. "Oh yeah! We should probably do that......" He said confused for a second. "So um...what do you want to know Mercy? About them or my awesome archery skills?" With that he fired an arrow into the ceiling by accident.

- Crash -
Crash visibly relaxed as Carmen kindly reassured him that she wasn't upset...well she didn't look upset with him, he returned her smile relief apparent in his features. He touched the back of his neck again, luckily his face was so red already he physically could not blush any harder at her words, a grin spreading across his face as she poked his cheek. He adopted a sheepish expression and nodded in agreement "I will definitely work on that" He murmured, raising an eyebrow at her next comment chuckling despite himself. "I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not" He admitted to her, a grin still plastered on his face, He was beyond relieved by Carmen's reaction to his...intrusive accident, he wasn't particularly good at making friends so the last thing he wanted was to lose one. He glanced at Kathy as Carmen moved over to her, still grinning like an idiot as he watched their exchange shuffling in discomfort as the adrenaline left his system leaving him feeling rather worn out and reminding him of his previous training with Tora...which he had abandoned. He felt a slight twinge of guilt at this fact but what could he do about it now? Besides the teacher looked like he hadn't moved since he'd given Crash his instructions. He heard Kathy sigh and cast a glance at her frowning as she shook her head and focused on Yutaka, he felt shame creep into his expression. Mad at me perhaps? Is she wearing two shoes... He subtly glanced down at her feet, yup two shoes. Doesn't mean anything there are plenty of other things to use...apologize now before- He looked over at Yutaka as he approached them, clapping his hands before he kind of congratulated them.

He felt a glimmer of pride at being told they had done a better job than the mask wearing man had expected them to, though it slid away as he heard the words 'Now' and 'A few things to note' hopefully constructive criticism...He listened to what the teacher had to say about both of his female companions unable t
o stop himself jumping to Kathy's defence, even if it wasn't necessary. "It wasn't really her fault though, I'm just clumsy like that I'm pretty sure I should have been paying better attention to what I was standing on" He blurted out before he turned towards him. Luckily his face was slowly starting to return to a more human color as Yutaka glanced at him, he was a little bit nervous as to what was going to be said a part of him wanted to believe he'd been at least a little bit useful during that fight. "It's Crash" He smiled at Yutaka after listening to the teacher's analyse, his cheeks had instantly flushed again as he mentioned that he should 'watch his surroundings' whilst glancing in Carmen's direction. I wasn't expecting that...turn off full power? Damn, how do I do that...sedatives maybe? "I'll try and work on that..." He grinned at Yutaka, referring to all of what he had said. "Thank you" He added nodding his head at Yutaka , thanking him for the training he hadn't actually considered that his embarrassment was in part Yutaka's fault. He turned to Kathy and Carmen when Yutaka had finished talking, tilting his head to the side he still looked a little flushed but he was visibly calming down again now. "I personally can't take anymore hits today, did you two fancy heading over to another dojo or are you going back to sparring?" He asked them curiously, hoping he would still be invited along even after what had happened.

- Carmen -
Carmen took note of the suggestions the teacher made to her and the other two, thanking him for his time and his compliments. She couldn't help but audibly chuckle when Crash rushed to Kathy's defense. The two complimented each other quite nicely and humorously. Turning to Crash when he asked what she and Kathy had planned, she responded "I quite fancy going to another dojo," looking at Kathy to hear her opinion. "Either magic or firearms...though, there was another teacher that walked outside a while ago. I wonder what he teaches. I'd be happy going anywhere though. The three of us might as well stick together, right?" she finished, smiling at the two.

- Kathy -
Kathy smiled, looking gratefully at Crash when he jumped in to defend her. It really had been her own lack of attentiveness, but she didn't want to interrupt the instructor anymore and decided to keep silent until he finished giving out his last thoughts. "Thank you very much." She told Yutaka, then turned her attention back to her teammates. "I'm good to go to another dojo as well." Kathy nodded in agreement with them. "I was thinking of going to firearms practice next. Come with me please?" She added, smiling at the two of them invitingly. It seemed that Carmen had also considered it as well so she was quite confident that the trumpet player would join her, but she was a little worried that Crash might be a little apprehensive about going to a place full of dangerous equipment.

- Crash -
Crash grinned at Kathy giving her a quick wink in response to her grateful look. He looked from Carmen to Kathy and back again a few times as they spoke, he definitely liked the idea of moving to a new dojo, he wasn't even overly bothered which one they went to. He chewed his lip and lifted his hand to the back of his neck as Kathy suggested firearms practice next, he desperately wanted to go there but...Ah, desist from current train of thought. In for a penny, in for a pound He noticed both girls were smiling at him and each other in turn. "I'm feeling Musketeers stick together, so count me in." He grinned at the pair of them. He'd be fine...right? "What's the worst that could happen" He shrugged, before turning and beckoning them to come with him as he headed for the doors throwing a wave at Tora. He could apologize to the teacher later...maybe by then he'd have recovered enough. He jogged over to the door, demonstrating he still had some energy left, he pushed it open and held it so until both Carmen and Kathy had passed through it, whether that meant waiting for a while or not.

- Little Feather & Lion -
Little Feather listened to Ara's answers to her questions she smiled at the other woman. "Erm well hopefully by the time you do get to see the campus it'll be more presentable" She grinned. Lion was toying with the idea of saying something as well...unfortunately around this time a gun went off in the shooting range, the large cat literally hit the deck, folding his paws over his head. Little Feather jumped violently and a hand instantly fluttered to her chest, eyes wide in apprehension she was breathing pretty heavily and was slightly pale beneath her face paint as she looked at Ara. "F-firearms?" She queried just after Garden already had. Argh I think I just brought up my lunch Lion grumbled to the Lakota woman at his side, she grimaced and moved away from the beast taking a deep breath she had to make a decision, walk through that door and deal with this irrational fear or run for it. "Lets go and ask?" She suggested in answer to Ara's question, blinking as she realized Lion was crawling on his belly towards the building. She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked through the door and into the dojo ignoring Lion's mewl of protest.

- Mercy -
"Cyanide?!" Mercy squeaked, she had heard the rest of his explanation but that word surprisingly stood out. I feel like I'm about to lose at Russian Roulette... She had been wondering what that strange after taste had been. "Ok...moving on from that" She grinned at the unicorn. "Lets go with both...so would I be correct in thinking love is in the air?" She murmured to Darwin cocking her head to the side curiously before she glanced at Matt and Lily briefly, looking back at Darwin just in time to watch him fire an arrow into the ceiling by accident, She looked up at it, her mouth quivered with the effort not to laugh at the mishap, it would have been most unkind...but she felt herself smile at him. "Nice shot all the same" She complimented him, well the arrow had stuck up there and it was perfectly straight. "I expect a bullseye on the next one though" She challenged him with a devious smile and a wink to accompany it.

- Carmen -
Carmen was pleased to see the other two interested in going to another dojo as well. It seemed the firearms dojo was the pick of the bunch, and the three began to walk over to it. On her way out, Carmen collected her hat from the corner the teacher had set it in, thanking him as she did so and rejoining Crash and Kathy with the hat now back on her head. Smiling at Crash as thanks for his chivalrous door holding for her and Kathy, Carmen ended up leading the trio into the firearms dojo. Stopping once she walked through the entrance, she saw a number of people already there, some she recognized. Well, this'll be interesting, she thought. Surveying the crowd, she noticed Lily, the girl she had briefly met earlier and wanted to talk to more eventually, several others she recognized from the Academy, and a girl with them she didn't recognize [Ara B]. Soon she spotted the megaphone lady from earlier who had coordinated the Beach Olympics and glanced at her in the bar. It was about time she met her, so she decided to walk over to her first for instruction, with Crash and Kathy in tow. Walking up to her with a bright smile, she began. "Hello! My name is Carmen. This is Crash and Kathy...have you met before?" she asked, looking at all three of them. "Anyway, we're interested in firearms training...do you have any open slots for us?"

- Andromeda -
Andromeda felt bad, Zivon looked so flustered, she wondered if it was her fault or leroy's, or a mix of the 2. she blushed when Leroy called her name beautiful and stammered "th...thank y...you". she was surprised when he asked to touch her snakes, no one ever asked before, and the only people who had been brave enough to touch them was her parents "i ... well i ... um ... i suppose ... and uh ... they're snakes," she cleared her throat 'i'm doing alright, thank you"
there seemed to be something off between the interaction between Zivon and Leroy, like Zivon was scared, more like terrified of him, then he tripped "Oh! Zivon are you ok?"

- Leroy -
Leroy smiled, watching Andromeda's blush with a hint of amusement. Apparently she liked flattery, which was always a good sign for him. It was easier to get along with people that didn't mind hearing compliments after all. "Not poisonous are they?" He asked, showing the first sign of caution he had towards the reptiles on Andromeda's head as he reached a hand out towards them, though not touching them since he hadn't exactly gotten permission to do so. 'Woah, clumsy.' Leroy thought, watching Zivon suddenly face-plant onto the floor. Now he didn't have anything against Zivon, in fact he would've very much liked to see what other reaction he could elicit from the boy with his abilities, but he was also cautious to see if the guy had actually figured out what made him act so 'drunk' back at the auditorium. The less people knew about the actual nature abilities, the better. He held his hand out to Zivon to help him up. "You alright there?" He asked, putting on a friendly smile, seeming to just wave off Zivon's embarrassment.

- Andromeda -
Andromeda reached up and shook a few snakes to wake them up "not really, not unless they don't like you" she laughed a little awkwardly, she felt the few snakes turn towards Leroy with the slightest bit of hostility "you'll want to be careful, they can't really hurt you but it'll sting if the bite you" she drop her hand.
something in Leroy's voice when he spoke to Zivon bothered her a bit, but she wasn't sure why so she didn't say anything.

- Ara (B) -
"Firearms? Basically guns. Weapons that shoot out iron death by using gunpowder. And yes, firearms would be the source of those loud noises." There were several things wrong with Ara's description of firearms as she explained what they were to Garden and Little Feather, but she wasn't exactly one to be focused on details and accuracy of real definitions. Then, with a slightly delayed reaction, she stopped to think for a moment before asking, "Lady Ara?" Now that had been a first. "Hm, I like that." She finally said, smiling at Garden. 'A won't, but that's none of my concern.' She thought, chuckling to herself. Turning back to Little Feather she asked, "Presentable? What exactly happened at the academy anyway? I didn't get too many details about why everything was moved here." Nodding to Little Feather's suggestion to ask for the answer to her own question, she followed them onward inside the dojo. She couldn't help but laugh at Lion's interesting approach towards the building, but supposed even the king of beasts would be scared of gunfire.

Hearing the door to the dojo open behind them (during a short pause between the sound of guns firing), she turned around to see who else was coming in. To her mild surprise and great amusement, she recognized the faces this time around. 'Wonderful. Just wonderful.' Ara chuckled to herself, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. She would let Carmen know who she was right away, but she was still considering her approach for Crash and Kathy. 'Do I play it strategically and pretend to be someone else? Or do I go with the head-on approach and see how they take it? Decisions, decisions...' Looking at the group she had joined, she gave them a brief wave and told them, "I'll be right back. Just want to greet a few people."

Playing it safe while she mulled over her options, Ara approached Carmen with a big smile on her face. "Hey! Fancy seeing you again so soon." She immediately noticed that Carmen still had the gigantic hat on top of her head. "Still being fashionable I see."

- Crash & Mercy -
Crash followed Carmen as they made their way to the next dojo, he glanced sidelong at Kathy at one point. "I'm sorry by the way, don't be mad with me" He murmured to her before they entered the dojo. His eyes skimmed the crowd curiously, he caught sight of a few people he knew and a few he only knew of, the woman with Little Feather, Garden and Dani however was definitely new he hadn't met her before. He noticed Carmen was moving again and dutifully went to follow her, turning to look where she was headed, he instantly groaned upon seeing who she was heading for. Of all the people...why fate thou art a heartless bizzwidge He thought trying not to drag his feet as he followed the musician over to Mercy.

Koop shuffled on her shoulder looking around as more students entered the dojo, he reached over and tapped her cheek, pointing over at the other students. She looked in the direction he pointed studying the new arrivals, she was quite surprised she recognized near enough all of them...except for one woman who she was sure she hadn't seen before. "Wow looks like we're about to get busy in here...oh, well would you look at that" She grinned at Darwin as Carmen, Crash and Kathy entered the dojo. Coincidental? When she turned back to see where they were going she was met by Carmen's bright smile which instantly made her smile in return though she could see Crash grow nervous as they approached, he avoided her gaze and once they were standing still he kicked at the floor idly What has he done now? He's got that look about him...like a child waiting to be told off for something "A pleasure to meet you Carmen, I'm Mercy" She introduced herself inclining her head a little as she did. "We know each other as it stands, great to see you again Kathy" She grinned at Kathy, obviously enjoying Crash's reaction as he looked from one to the other nervously.C Isn't it just? Crash thought sarcastically. "Crash honey, are you ok you look a little...tense?" Mercy asked the red haired shapeshifter, he merely grumbled at her and refused to answer. Mercy grinned deviously at him before turning to Carmen a softer smile on her face. "Well you've certainly come to the right place, we're going to attempt archery over here if you're interested...otherwise I think Nikola is supervising firearms. I could probably get you set up though if you like, he looks a little swarmed over there" She offered.

- Darwin -
Darwin turned to Mercy with a grin, seemingly unleashed about his little 'mishap'. "oh yes, love is definitely in the air for those two, it actually used to be a love triangle but then Bael disappeared so now it's a love...line?" He chuckled and turned round to see a huge bunch if amazing people strolling over. "CRASH!" He shouted firing an arrow over their heads by 'accident' before proceeding to run up to Crash and squeeze him into a hug. "It's been a while!" He laughed as he let Crash out if his constricting hug and picked up his bow and quiver. "you guys want to see my amazing arrow skillz? I can like hit a bouncing tennis ball from a mike away, I'm that good. I'm like solo from One piece but not green hair, purple hair, amazing hair, btw red hair Crash? Its amazing!" he then noticed Kathy and pulled her into a hug too. "Whew, I must say Kathy, you and Crash make a great couple" Darwin always knew how to destroy awkwardness.

- Kathy -
"The Three Musketeers? I like the sound of that." Kathy laughed, following Crash and Carmen out towards their next destination. She tried not to think about the actual worst that could happen, though she already had an image of Crash (literally) shooting himself in the foot as soon as he made the rhetorical question. Thanking and saying goodbye to Yutaka, she smiled as she passed by Crash holding the door out for them. He did this quite often, and she was finding these small acts of courtesy of his quite sweet. On the way there though, she was caught off-guard by the sudden apology he made to her. "What?" Kathy asked, confused about what he was talking about. She would've had an inkling if she noticed Crash's intentions back when she sighed after watching Carmen and Crash's exchange, but she had been too focused on keeping her own thoughts in check and trying to look more interested in what Yutaka had to say. At any rate, she knew that he hadn't done anything deserving of an apology so she quickly continued, "Silly Crash, I'm not mad at you at all." She reached up to give him the usual ruffle on the head, but for some reason hesitated. "..." Having lost the timing, she just awkwardly retreated her hand and clasped them together behind her back as they walked to the ranged dojo.

Inside, she found that there were a lot of people she recognized over there. "Little Feather! Dani!" Smiling, she waved at the familiar faces. There were 2 she didn't recognize (Garden and Ara) and made a mental note to introduce herself to them if she got the chance. Continuing to follow Crash and Carmen though, her eyes opened wide with surprise as she noticed who the 'instructor' was. "Mercy?" Kathy had thought that Mercy was a fellow student, so she was surprised to see her there as an instructor. 'Why do I keep assuming people are younger than they are..?' She wondered, frowning a little. "It's great to see you again as well." Turning back to Crash and Carmen she told them, "I'm good with archery if you guys are."

Kathy let out a laugh as Darwin suddenly pulled her into a friendly hug. "And good to see you too Darwin!" Then hearing his oddly pronounced sentence, she immediately felt her face flush into a bright red, having (unfortunately) understood every word he said. 'Is this a spreading rumour? Or maybe the tropical scenery is making people see more couples than there are?' "N-No, um..." Stuttering, she thought of another topic they could talk about instead. "Uh, I'm enjoying my purple hair a lot more than when it was blue. Th-Thanks Darwin."

- Carmen -
Carmen was brightly greeted by a girl that caused a slight amount of confusion, of course beginning with the one eyebrow raise. The girl looked really familiar, but Carmen couldn't remember why. With a tilt of her head and narrowing of her eyes she responded "Pardon me, but I'm not sure how I know you? I feel like we've met but I can't place it in my head. I do apologize...remind me?"

Turning to the trainer, she smiled at the girl she know knew as Mercy's polite response. "The pleasure is mine," she said, with a small courteous bow. Noting Crash's...interesting...reaction to being led over to Mercy, she was curious of their past. She was fairly certain Mercy, Crash and Kathy had all been at the bar earlier, but had no idea what their previous relations were. At any rate, Kathy's reaction was a little more normal, and just then a very bright boy bounded over and made a hugging attack run. Carmen grinned a little when he dropped the awkward bomb, unashamedly saying to Kathy and Crash "Well look at this, somebody's doing my job for me!"

Finally, Carmen responded to Kathy. "Archery does indeed sound great. I've never tried it," she admitted, turning back to Mercy as she did so. "I haven't tried a lot of things, thanks to this trumpet," she finished.

- Zivon -
Zivon didn’t look back to the two he just stood by himself and continue to hide his face with the book. He wanted to hide but there was really no proper place to hide. He opened the book and just…read it on spot trying to avoid any interactions or maybe future embarrassment he would make in the future. “I-I-I a-a...o-oka-ka…y-y” He stuttered out, using the book to hide his embarrassed face. But sadly enough with fear raising in his body his powers…showed again. The book began to decompose, pages falling off quickly and rotting. Zivon looked at the book and panic even more causing it to age rapidly. He started to breath heavily and he felt really sick. He dropped the book again and looked at the mess he made. Zivon started to pick up the decomposed book and looked around to throw it but he forgot about one other ability or…power? Of his he might actually like. He touched the notebook, eyes turned purple and the book became back to normal, well fixed and not decomposed. He removed his hand from the book and eyes went back to his normal grey. There he stood quiet.

- Leroy -
"Hmm..." He made a thoughtful sound, retreating his hand completely. Leroy didn't bother to mention that if all they could do was make a few stings they probably wouldn't really affect him in any way. There was already one scared individual in the room feeling cautious towards him, so he decided to restrict the amount of 'suspicious activity' for now.

Leroy kept his friendly smile up, even as Zivon ignored his outstretched hand and got up on his own. He let his empty hand fall back down to his side and commented with a slight tilt of his head, "I didn't really think I did anything all that deserving to be ignored." He knew that Zivon wasn't actually ignoring him, but he wanted to see how far he could get with trying to guilt the boy into being a little more friendly. Watching another book crumble in his hands, Leroy laughed and asked, "Are you sure you like studying? You seem awfully eager to destroy those books." Then watching the book be restored back to normal, the smile on his face grew bigger. 'Interesting.' He thought, though he didn't make another comment out loud.

- Garden -
Garden listened again on what Lady Ara explained on…firearms, they sounded dangerous …iron death. She then walked with her friends inside the ranged dojo there she saw familiar faces. Sir Darwin, Lady Mercy, Lady Carmen and the two she meet earlier at the bar Sir Crash and Lady Kathy? That was their names probably as she remembered. She stood there watching them talk and didn’t feel like ruining the conversation but just waved at them and give a polite greeting. “Hello there Sir Darwin, Lady Mercy, Lady Carmen, and hello to you to Sir Crash and Lady Kathy was it? I am really sorry… I don’t properly remember if that is your true names.” She curtsied to all of them and then looked at Sunflower still quietly sleeping. “Such a lazy kitty…” Garden giggled lightly.

- Crash -
Crash couldn't hide his relief as she told him she wasn't mad with him, he could stop checking her feet now...that shoe had really hurt...he grinned at her as she made a motion to reach up and ruffle his hair, though it faded as she hesitated before retracting her hand and clasping them behind her back. He wasn't quite sure why she had hesitated...

He was caught completely off guard as Darwin shouted at him before firing an arrow over the top of them he was so distracted by it, he almost jumped out of his skin as Darwin ran over to him and squeezed him into a hug, he was very confused at the sudden show of affection and in a rather masculine manner looked awkward as hell rigidly stood with Darwin wrapped around him, he patted the unicorns back. "Hey...darwin" He managed to choke out, gasping for air once the purple haired boy had released him, he clutched his bruised stomach for a moment grinning at the other male. Damn that guy is stronger than he looks, I think he cracked a rib... He grinned at Darwin as he said 'red hair' and 'amazing in the same sentence. He blinked several times before his face flushed with color yet again, as he overheard Darwin's comment to Kathy his hand shot to rest on the back of his neck awkwardly. ...oh geeze, here we go again he mentally sighed, this time he didn't jump straight in to defense mode after all Darwin had directed that comment directly at Kathy. He flinched as she stuttered out her answer, ignoring the strange tingle of disappointment he felt at hearing her answer, it was an inappropriate reaction...and he'd been inappropriate enough for one day. "Archery Sounds good to me" He grinned at his fellow musketeers, figuring wooden arrows were safer then bullets to test him out on first. He raised his eyebrows at Carmen, rolling his eyes at her comment but grinned sheepishly at her all the same offering the girl stood next to her a friendly smile as well about to introduce himself when Garden joined into the conversation as well, he smiled as she curtsied at them. Sir Crash? Heh, bless her He felt himself want to respond in a similar fashion so he bowed to her before greeting her. "Lady Garden, pleasure to see you again" He smiled in a charming fashion. "Will you be joining us for archery?" He asked her.

- Mercy -
Mercy raised an eyebrow at Darwin listening to his answer to her question, she had apparently forgotten she was supposed to be a responsible teacher and really shouldn't be investing this much interest in the students personal affairs...yet again she was a counselor so this was fine right? She glanced at him as he shouted out at Crash, grimacing as he fired another arrow this one shooting over the heads of the group of students in front of them. Oh boy...this is going to get very interesting She rubbed her temple unable to stop herself from chuckling as she watched one of the T.A's that had offered to help out in here, hop past them with an arrow protruding from his right butt cheek, she grimaced a second time. At least it wasn't his knee, she thought to herself. "Yes...you look surprised?" Her tone was questioning as she spoke to Kathy. She placed a hand to her mouth to stop a giggle from passing her lips as Darwin in his way dropped an awkward line into his conversation with Kathy, she felt her smile grow at Carmen's comment. Interesting to say the least, seems I'm not needed to embarrass Crash She looked up as Garden also joined the small group. "Lady Garden!" She grinned happily at the other woman. "Glad you could join us" She winked at her happily before looking around at the other students. "Ok, anyone that is actually interested in giving archery a go, I suggest you grab yourself a bow, a quiver and a bracer from the display cabinets. You want to get a bow that you can draw the string back on and isn't to heavy for you to hold up in one hand...some of them are heavier than they look" She finished with a grin. "Once you've got your equipment come back over...any problems give me a shout I'm here to help after all" She told them.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Summary: STILL MORE CONVERSING. Crash, Kathy and Carmen successfully defeat the fabric army, but not before Crash has a run-in with the wrong side of the skirt of Carmen's dress.

- Kathy -
Kathy felt Crash's fingertips reach out to her but before they could discuss any plans or get ready for the attack, the dummies literally surrounded and rushed at them like a swarm. 'Thank goodness they're just fabric,' she thought, kicking one away as it tried to coil itself around her legs. Taking a deep breath, she ducked down and focused more on making contact with her feet rather than taking full swings at them. The minute her foot touched a dummy's head, she activated her ability, recoiling her foot back in the next split second as it was pushed back by her entire weight and the force of re-directed gravity. The same attack didn't do much for the fluttering bodies of fabric, unfortunately, but kicking at the head or soft arms seemed to force them back quite nicely. The real issue was the fact none of them were permanently put out of commission and they kept coming back at the three of them, consistently outnumbering their much smaller group.

Listening to Crash and Carmen's shouts she replied, "We need a way to decrease the numbers, even if by just a little bit!" Pushing another dummy away from her face, she located where the two of them were and re-grouped with them. The idea to burn them came to mind, but there had to be another solution. First, it was probably dangerous to start a fire in a wooden dojo while they were surrounded by flammable items. And also, this was the 'physical training' dojo. There had to be a way to defeat them without resorting to specialized magic abilities.

- Yutaka -
Yutaka watched with amusement as the students battled against his manipulated dummies. "Keep thinking!" He encouraged them, quickly moving to a different location so they couldn't locate him by voice. Now one way to defeat the dummies for certain would have been to defeat the manipulator but... In all honestly they would probably have better luck facing double the number of dummies he was sending out right now. He briefly glanced over at Tora, feeling a little bad for stealing someone that was training under him, but he couldn't help but feel amused as he watched them try to communicate together. 'Good. Seems like they don't need any lessons on getting along with each other.' He thought, 'But just playing friends won't count as teamwork itself. What will the 3 of you do?' He took one of the dummies by the soft head and hardened its body into the shape of an umbrella. For now he would let them try to do something about the fabric army, but soon he would be joining in on the fun as well.

- Crash -
Crash fox's ears twitched as he heard Carmen yell back to him, he ripped his head back tearing an arm off of one of the dummies before he reverted back to his human form in a billow of purple smoke, looping his fingers in the string around the creatures neck he swung it around and flung it away from him, just in time to see Carmen's spectacular aerial assault on a dummy headed straight towards him, his eyebrows hitched up in surprise as she smashed down on top of it. Lifting his eyes he noticed another come up behind her, diving forward into a roll he narrowly avoided the flailing limbs of one of the creatures, pinging back onto his feet next to Carmen he slammed his hand into the neck area of the creature, using his previous momentum he aimed to slam the creature into the ground he was aware that the move wouldn't hurt it, but it prevented it from wrapping around the musician. "Good plan" He flashed Carmen a grin, his eyes shifting past her to rest on Kathy as she fought her way towards them. "Finding a weakness?" He asked Kathy, jamming his foot into the creatures neck he stood back up ending up grappling with a second creature. "I can shapeshift into sharp things" He contributed in a rather unhelpful manner, lifting a foot and propelling the second creature away from him, he stumbled to Kathy's left side to block any creatures coming at her that way, watching Carmen's flank closely as well.

- Carmen -
Disappointed that her attack hadn't done so much as get the dummy's attention, Carmen whipped her head around to see Crash save her from being caught by a dummy coming up from behind. "Thanks," she said quickly, returning the grin as she stuck close to Crash watching his flank as he did hers. The duo was doing well to keep the fabric army off of them, but not much else. Carmen was using all manners of physical strikes, both with her trumpet and without, on all areas of the dummies, to no avail. "They don't seem to have any," she responded to Crash's question to Kathy. "Surely there has to be something we can do? He wouldn't send these at us if we couldn't defeat them with physical means...I think," she said, unsure of her reasoning. "Blunt physical attacks are about all I have," she pointed out, though she was sure there was more she could do. Hoping Crash or Kathy would have an idea more quickly than her, she continued to fight the onslaught.

- Kathy -
Kathy moved to cover Crash and Carmen's free side, which naturally just put the 3 of them into a rough triangle covering each other's backs. "Same here," She answered, referring to the fact she also only had blunt physical attacks. "I wouldn't really call it a weakness but..." Lifting a foot high above her head, she stepped down onto a dummy that tried to grab onto Carmen's arm. It wiggled around in a rather creepy manner with its head pinned against the floor, but didn't seem capable of much else. "They're light enough you can just keep them pinned to the floor with one foot." Now if they had about 10 more people on their side they could've just stepped on all of them to keep them from moving, but that wasn't possible with just their team of three. In the end, she had to release the dummy under her foot to attack other dummies that tried to grab hold of her other limbs.

- Yutaka -
"Hmm..." Yutaka began to wonder if maybe he should have let them start off with a smaller crowd. Well, it was too late to consider such matters now and if they succeeded defeating these then they were well on their way to gaining actual experience to be used in more serious battles to come in the future. Bending down, he placed one hand on the ground as he got into a runner's starting position with the other hand holding onto the 'hardened' dummy acting as a sort of shield in front of him. Using the surrounding dummies as a visual cover, he sprang into a full charge as he aimed to slam the shield into Carmen.

- Crash -
Crash found it easier to keep the dummies at bay when the 3 of them worked together in a triangle formation, he kept the annoying sheets from getting to either of the other students though he was beginning to get frustrated with this yo-yo like battle. "Agreed" He assured Carmen, he didn't know the teacher but this was physical training dojo...and he was teaching them that subject, so it made sense. "Its still something, perhaps there is a way to keep them down" He He growled in frustration jumping onto one of the sheets, he pinned its arms down with his knees and grabbed at the string around its neck, attempting to rip the material away from the sheet to see if it did anything, regardless of whether or not it worked Crash was forced to dodge off to the side to avoid another creature, placing himself back into the triangle he caught a glimmer of color amongst the white dummies, it probably took him half a second to realize it was Yutaka charging straight at Carmen. "Car-" With little consideration to any of the repercussions, he shot sideways aiming to slam his shoulder into the teacher just before he reached the fiery blonde as he hadn't the time to get in front of him, perhaps if he could knock him off of his current course it'd be enough and give Carmen just that little bit of extra time to react.

- Yutaka -
The dummy, having lost the string keeping the stuffing inside its head, limply flopped down onto the ground as a large white sheet with stuffed arms sewn into the surface. Though it continued to move around, it lost its central weight and could not actually keep anyone really tied down anymore. It could still cover them like a blanket, but that was probably just more annoying than anything else.

Meanwhile, Yutaka turned the 'hardened' dummy in his hand towards Crash instead of Carmen to meet his blow. He first let the shapeshifter make contact with the hardened surface, before he quickly released it (turning the fabric soft again) and jumped up and out of the way. "Excuse me ladies." Landing behind the girls, he pushed them in opposite directions into the crowd of dummies in an attempt to separate them.

Carmen
As Carmen was basically swatting one of the dummies away from Kathy's back, she didn't notice Yutaka charging for her, whipping her head around just in time to see something that wasn't like the others make contact with Crash, quickly deducing that it was Yutaka. Suddenly via an impressive leap he was behind her, and also suddenly he pushed her away from Kathy. She was quickly completely surrounded with dummies, so to give herself a little breathing room she took her trumpet and held it out, rapidly spinning around almost like a ballerina, hitting each dummy on the head as she went around. She stopped her spin and was given a few milliseconds to calculate her next move. She had seen Crash go for a dummy's string but hadn't seen the result, as she went to swat dummies away from Kathy, but she figured it was worth a shot. She just needed to isolate the dummies. As they recovered from her spin attack, she bunted one back with the leadpipe of her trumpet, chasing it down with another dramatic aerial assault, only to separate it further. As soon as it was separated enough, she rolled behind it and grabbed its string, forcefully yanking it off. Its effectiveness seemed to be significantly impaired, so she figured that would be her next plan to deal with the rest of them. "Kathy, go for the strings!" she yelled, assuming Crash would since he came up with the idea in the first place.

- Kathy -
"Carmen!" Kathy called out, noticing the teacher charging at them as Carmen took a dummy off of her back. Luckily, it seemed that Crash had noticed too and decided to take matters into his own hands. But Yutaka had nimbly evaded the shapeshifter and landed behind them, giving them a firm push into the crowd of dummies. "Woah!" Trying to retain her balance as she was forced to step forward, the dummies instantly swarmed around her. 'He managed to separate all of us with just a few steps.' She realized, kicking the dummies away again as they continued to try to tangle themselves around her limbs. Hearing Carmen calling out from the crowd Kathy nodded (out of reflex, not really taking into consideration that the trumpet player could not see her) and decided to try it out. Stepping on one of the fluttering bodies of the dummy, she pinned it in place as she yanked at the string on its neck, snapping it after some effort. "It's working! Let's keep tearing away the strings for now!"

- Crash -
Crash hadn't expected Yutaka to react quite as quickly as he had, though he knew he really should have done he thumped against the hard surface barely moving it as he did. He pulled back as it became soft and restrictive arms wrapped themselves around his torso, he stumbled backwards his eyes watching Yutaka as he struggled to loop his fingers into the string around the creatures neck, trying to move back towards the girls he felt his stomach sink as in one simple movement the teacher managed to separate the 3 of them again. In his logical brain he knew this was a training exercise but he wasn't able to suppress the panic he felt once both of his companions were out of his sight. the claws that slid out of the tips of his fingers cut through the string with ease, though as the creature lost its central weight and became a wriggly blanket it fell forward onto his head, obscuring everything from view which just made it worse as the creatures tried to entangle him in their plush arms. "Ah ya, nug munching noodle snatchers" He hissed, kicking out at the buggers as he waved his arms around wildly. To the outside viewer he looked as if his mother had decided to dress him up as a ghost for Halloween. Luckily enough his flailing limbs proved to be quite effective at battering the plush creatures away from him, his ears pricked as he heard Carmen's voice to his right he'd almost wriggled free of the blanket when he heard Kathy call back to his left, encouraging them to go for the strings. "Suggestion taken, feel free to move back over here if you can" He announced finally freeing himself from the blanket. "I can talk-" He continued on, launching forward to grab another creature. "-for England so-" after being batted over the head and seized by another he looped his claws into the string around its neck, tugging back hard enough it snapped with ease. "-that way you'll know where-" He shouted waving his claws at the creature currently twisting around his arm shredding it as he tried to claw the string from its neck. "-I am all the time" Success! but it was swiftly replaced by another. "How about-" He dodged out of the way of some of the creatures having to slam his foot into anothers torso to give himself some breathing room before he could think about going for their strings. "-I recite poetry or-" He continued on.

- Carmen -
Hearing the affirmative calls from Kathy and Crash was a good sign - the string theory (sorry...) was definitely proving itself. Carmen began moving over towards Crash in response to his quite polite and diplomatic request for help, focusing more on covering distance and clearing a path towards Crash than pulling every string. As she neared him with a group of dummies in tow (it was fortunate that they weren't particularly quick) and heard his amusing attempt to keep everyone informed of his location, she responded as she began brutally trumpet hammering the dummies closest to him (strings could come off later): "Oh relax, you're fine!", she said in a way more suited to casual conversation over fine wine than intense combat. "See, the cavalry is here to save you," she said as she clubbed another dummy. "The unwieldy, very un-graceful cavalry - OH!" she remarked and then exclaimed as the group of dummies following her caught up. Rolling to the side to avoid the solid line of them, she began knocking them back with her trumpet. At this point, lots of strings had been pulled (can't stop won't stop), and the number of dangerous (i.e. stringed) dummies was noticeably dwindling. It seemed that the trio would be able to pull out the fight after all - without Yutaka's "assistance", of course.

- Alistair -
Alistair nodded "thank you" he took a deep drink of the water bottle and set it down. he took a deep breath and his form changed slightly, it was a little bit painful but he shifted back into a ball of light. He settled down to the ground, with little noises coming from him.

- Andromeda -
Andromeda stood up and cleared her throat. she swatted at the snakes and said "leave him alone, you're scaring him" she looked at him "you're name's Zi..von? that's a nice name do you want a hand?" she put out a hand towards him "are you alright? i didn't hurt you did i?" then another boy approached, he appeared to know Zivon so she quietly cleared her throat, let him notice her if he wished but she wasn't going to push herself into the conversation.

- Kathy -
'How much stamina does he have?' Kathy wondered as she listened to Crash continue to talk as he battled the dummies. It did make it very easy to find him and re-group once more though. She was quite certain she would've felt tired and breathless by now if she talked that much while moving around, but perhaps there was a reason why Crash always seemed to energetic on a normal basis. Kick away a few, pull off the string from another. Kick away some more, and move closer to the other two. She repeated this process until the 3 of them were back together again. "May want to get these out of the way completely!" She told the other two, grabbing a handful of the wiggling dummies on the floor and tossing them aside completely. The last thing the needed was for one of them to slip on the fabric and injure themselves. "One... Three... Just seven left!" She happily announced, counting the number of dummies still able to move around.

- Yutaka -
Yutaka smiled. Though they had started off rather clueless, they made quick progress and would be able to complete the training with no problems at all at this rate. There was no point separating them any more since there weren't enough dummies to cover them from view and he couldn't make a sneak attack anymore either. He had planned on interfering a couple more times, but since they were so quick on the uptake he decided to let him finish and have their victory. Leaning against a wall a small distance away from them, he watched them go at the last handful of dummies still left.

- Crash -
Crash had just knocked back another creature when Carmen appeared in his peripheral vision, he turned his head blinking in awe as she practically charged into the group surrounding him. "Perfect timing fair knight" He commented as she clubbed another of the dummies with her trumpet. It presented him with the opportunity to lunge forward and grab the string of another, attempting to loop his claws up and through it. However Carmen's appearance had resettled him and they'd shrunk back, he fumbled for a moment before getting enough of a grip to yank it away. "Un-graceful? Not possible" Crash flashed Carmen a grin hearing her exclaim he glanced over his shoulder, instead of dodging he dropped his shoulder and rammed into central dummy knocking it back as the others turned to swarm, yet again Carmen jumped to his rescue trumpet in hand. Pulling the string of the dummy trapped beneath him he hopped back onto his feet, adrenaline was a beautiful thing as soon as it hit his system he was an unstoppable ball of energy...that would probably eventually expire in a dramatic fashion. For now he jumped to help Carmen out, crimson eyes falling on Kathy as she made it back to them. "Probably best before-" Crash agreed with her, aiming a front kick at a dummy coming up on her left just as she grabbed a fistful of the blankets, one of which was under his supporting foot. The dummy still flew backwards but Crash's balance was terrible so even though the fabric simply ripped beneath his foot the jolt threw his centre of balance, causing him to fall backwards onto his butt. "-I fall over" He finished pinging back to his feet before he could be bundled by sheets. "Alright then" He grinned at Kathy, "In that case we've got this, all for one and one for all" He encouraged turning his back to Kathy and Carmen lunging forward to grab another of dummies to wrestle the string from its neck.

- Ara -
“Ah, the first best hat belongs to a rather fashionable alien from outer space.” Ara chuckled, technically answering them but probably still confusing them. Nodding, she followed them all to the dojo, eager to get her first chance at dealing with firearms. Answering Little Feather’s question she nodded, “Yup, I’m a student here. I registered rather late so I haven’t even gotten a chance to look at the campus yet.” Smiling she added, “So it makes sense if you haven’t seen me around, since it’s my first day joining everyone.” Hearing the first rounds of gunfire coming from inside, she let out a low whistle. "Wow, I wonder if students are even allowed to keep their own personal firearms on campus?"

- Leroy -
Leroy smiled blissfully at Zivon's reaction. Even without receiving a proper reply, it was easy to see that he had been remembered. “Nice to see you again too.” He laughed. Then noticing the book decompose in the boy’s hand he commented, “That seemed like a waste. Guess you’re not a fan of studying either?”

Hearing the girl (Andromeda) clear her throat, he turned his attention to her as well. “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t mean to make you feel ignored miss.” Normally he greeted people by looking directly into their eyes, but in her case he felt rather distracted and watched the snakes on her head move this way and that. It was oddly fascinating to watch. “Not sure if you heard, but my name’s Leroy. Care to tell me your name as well?”

- Andromeda -
Andromeda blinked when the guy turned his attention to her "oh, uh Yes i heard" she tried flattening the snakes on her head but they were being unruly today and ignored her. she put out a hand to shake his "I'm Andromeda, it's nice to meet you" she saw his eyes were on her snakes and she blushed and tried flattening them again, when that didn't work she sent a sudden stern command to the snakes to settle and they reluctantly stopped moving "how do you do, Leroy?"

- Zivon -
Zivon kept quiet, even though he wanted to say something nothing came out of his mouth. He was scared, nervous, panicking…all those things he felt during the auditorium but worst. He dropped the decomposed book from his hands and covered his face. Zivon was so close to crying just looking at Leroy’s…smile. There was something wrong with that smile that made him cringe…something that isn’t right. He bit his bottom lip and stood up, he then picked another book and started to read it, trying to remove the fear and anxiety filling his whole body. Somehow he was able to mutter out something… “I-I …I l-li-li…k…e s-stud-d…..yi…n-ng” Zivon stuttered out while reading a book about…mythological places while trying to have eye contact with Leroy.

- Garden -
Garden looked at Lady Ara and was curious of…firearms…. “Excuse me for asking Lady Ara but what is…firearms? I never heard such a thing…is it the loud thingy that made that Bam sound?” Garden asked, where she lived…they had no guns or firearms of such. She looked again at the dojo and petted Sunflower who oddly enough was still a sleep.

- Leroy -
"It's a beautiful name." Leroy commented, smiling at Andromeda. He wondered if the snakes were just a part of her, or if they also had minds of their own. "Say, if you don't think it's rude, can I try touching your hair? Snakes? Whichever term you prefer." He asked, laughing slightly. "I'm doing good, what about you?"

Leroy's smile grew about another inch at Zivon's stuttered reply. "Really? Wouldn't have guessed with how you destroyed that book just now." Leaning against the bookshelf as he faced the two other students, he studied Zivon's reaction (having caught his name from Andromeda moments before). "Hey now, don't act so cold. You seemed to be really enjoying yourself last time." He chuckled, remembering how strongly his ability had worked on the boy.

- Zivon -
Zivon listened to what Leroy said and immediately shivered in fear and blush with embarrassment…he did not want to remember what happen at that auditorium and how pathetic he was… He used the book to cover his face a bit more but felt like his legs were about to give up, as he tried to move away he tripped… but there was nothing to trip on… He tipped and landed on his face. Zivon stood up and started to cry a bit more, believing that it was all a big mistake to be here and it was his choice to be there. He rubbed his face and started to breath heavily. He wanted his dad…. He then looked back at the two and tried to cover his embarrassed face. “S-S-..o-o..r-r-..y-y..” Zivon said without a reason, he felt like saying sorry for the pathetic show he just did.

- Carmen -
"I understood that reference," Carmen stated simply and proudly as she began to go for the strings of the remaining dummies within their reformed triangle formation. For her to understand a human reference was a big deal to her, since she had learned everything from books and other media. There were only seven functional dummies left, and soon to be zero as the trio aggressively went after the remaining strings. She began pulling off strings, stopping to bat eager dummies away with her trumpet briefly before grabbing for the strings again. Out of the corners of her eyes she could see Crash and Kathy doing the same on either side of her, and knew that victory was imminent.

- Kathy -
"Oops, sorry." Closing one eye in a slight wincing motion, Kathy apologized as she saw Crash fall down. It was ironic how she ended up being the exact cause of the very incident she had been trying to prevent. She grabbed one of the dummies Carmen batted away and pulled at the string again. With just 2 left, she immediately stepped on the fluttering hem of one of them and hooked her fingers to tug it away. She kept an eye out on the last one as it scurried low across the floor and... "Ah." Let out a small sound of surprise as it decided to run up into Carmen's dress, trying to wrap itself around her lower thighs. Not about to to try flip Carmen's skirt up in an attempt to catch that, she asked, "Er, you alright with the last one Carmen..?"

- Crash -
Crash grinned at Carmen’s statement, he was glad she had understood that. He dispatched the dummy he had been wrestling with noticing they were down to the last two, he watched Kathy slam her foot down on the hem of one of them pinning in place but the last one scurried low to the ground. “I got it!” He exclaimed pouncing towards it, he was paying no attention as to where it was going however, he landed short his fingers missing it by a hairs breadth as it continued its journey straight up Carmen’s dress.

Now, most people would have instantly realized that following the dummy was NOT a good idea...However this thought did not even cross Crash’s mind as he followed the sheet his head disappearing under her skirt, he gripped at the last creature yanking it backwards as it tried to wrap around Carmen’s thighs, he detangled it from her legs quickly. It was probably at this moment that Crash realized he was somewhere he really shouldn’t have been...

- Carmen -
Carmen had been too caught up in de-stringing the penultimate dummy to notice the last one going for her thighs. By the time she had finished relieving the other dummy of its string and turned around, not only was the dummy up her dress but so was Crash. As she didn't seem to be in immediate danger for the very reason she was surprised, she just turned her head to look at Kathy with her eyes like dinner plates.

Crash had, indeed, dealt with the dummy, but in a most undignified (for Carmen, at any rate) way. Being the bipolarly understated or overexaggerated person that she was, she merely looked down after she was quite finished expressing her view in the situation to Kathy and said, "Enjoying the view?" with her one eyebrow raised. Indignantly stepping out of the way of Crash's "view" to both save her dignity and Crash's embarrassing attempt to get out, she even more indignantly yanked the string off of the last dummy and stepped on it, holding almost a Captain Morgan pose while looking down at Crash. Her face was a mixture of confusion (one eyebrow raised), "disappointed-but-not-actually-disappointed-and-you-can-totally-tell...hopefully", and a light sprinkling of violation. However, she took the time to momentarily look up from Crash, who was still on the ground next to her, to look at Yutaka. "So, other than that," she said to him, "How did we do?"

- Kathy -
Catching Carmen's glance, Kathy tugged the string from the dummy she had pinned under her foot earlier as she helplessly watched the embarrassing scene close by. Her eyes seemed almost as wide as Carmen's as they exchanged looks, almost simultaneously looking down at the large lump formed under the musician's dress. She noted, with a hint of admiration, that Carmen took the situation far better than she would have. For some reason, a slight flush of colour came up on Kathy's cheeks, almost as though she felt embarrassed for Crash herself. Clearing her throat with a cough, she looked away and also turned her attention to the teacher watching them from the sidelines.

- Yutaka -
Yutaka was busy laughing to the point his haori (the article of clothing draped over his shoulders; think of it like a Japanese jacket) had fallen off onto the floor. Seeing that they had only 1 dummy left to deal with, he had purposely manipulated it a rather interesting manner to see how they react but... They had certainly put on a better show than he would have expected.

"G-Good job..!" He laughed, trying to speak through his incessant laughter. "That was... Hahahaha, that was a very good job well done. Haha. Uh, well done you three." Yutaka had to momentarily lift his gas mask from his face, the steam from his own laughter having fogged up the clear area he was supposed to look through.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Summary: Seven annoys Annie. Crash, Kathy and Carmen begin to try to survive against Yutaka's army of fabric nuisances.

- Annie -
Annie looked back to see a rather annoying boy shouting at her. Her eyes narrowed slightly and small smile formed on her face. "You want something to do?" She asked, standing up from her stone seat. "I can provide. Though... I would require some respect first, please. My name is not 'teacher lady.' It is Ms. Linedale, or Ms. Annie, Or Annie-sensei, if you fancy that. Next, you don't command me. You ask me." She told the boy sternly. "Ask me, and I might provide you with something." She told him before sitting back down to meditate.

- Seven -
Seven just looked at her with a bored face he then gave a loud yawn and licked his paw…. hand. “Okay…Ms. Annie… uuhhh… can you think of something I can do?” Seven said as he flipped to face in front of her and did a handstand. He gave a bored smile while balancing then did two back flips and ended up landing above Annie using his Cheshire cat ability. “Doing all these flips…I need something else to entertain my boredom.”

- Annie -
A smile formed on the young redhead's face. "Alright." She said, standing up once again. She jumped up and over the sand pit, walking swiftly toward one end of the backyard. She pulled out a bag from under the dojo and pulled something out of it. It looked like a long... metal stick. With a smile, she walked over to a relatively clear patch of land and threw the stick at the ground. The impact triggered the mechanism and the stick began to morph and grow until it was about 20 inches in diameter and about 12 feet tall.

She turned to look at the boy. "Alright. Climb that. without using your powers." She told him and then walked back to her seat in the sand pit. She did a small little flip and landed with her feet on the stone. With a smile still on her face, she slowly sat cross legged on the stone.

- Lily -
Lily rolled her eyes at Matt's response. "Guns aren't easy. Let me put one in your hand and you tell me how easy it is." She told him. With a smile on her face she walked up to the archery range. She blinked when she noticed Mercy was the teacher. What... luck. Lily chuckled to herself and waved at Mercy. "Hello ma'am! We're here for archery!" She yelled out, considering they were still a distance away.

- Matt -
"Well, both of you combined won't be able to stand up to the my rainbow bow!" Darwin giggled.
"I know I won't. You've had practice." Matt told him, then followed Lily to the Archery Court.
When they arrived, Lily waved at the teacher and called out to her. The teacher seemed to be the person who directed the beach olympics. Or at least, the same person as the one who advertised them.

- Seven -
Seven watched, as the weird stick thing that Annie threw on the ground grew very tall. He gave a yawn and just looked at the teacher who said to climb it…without using his powers… He shrugged and walked to the giant pole. Seven gave a loud mew which translate to “Hey sure whatever” and then started to climb it, it was sort of a piece of cake to him. Being a bakeneko and being trained in the circus it was not really his power of his flexibility and strength but more of his true potential…if he ever showed any of it. As he was half way he looked at the teacher and yawned. “I don’t know if this is consider my power!! I was raised in a circus plus I am a bakeneko!!” He shouted as he climbed up a bit more.

- Annie -
"Oh?" She asked, looking up at the boy. Her eyes narrowed, thinking a bit. What could she make this kid do? She looked around the dojo, looking for something, anything. "Then... How about sparring with me? Since you're so perfect and bored, eh? If you're already good with physical attacks, then why come to this dojo?" She asked, a it peeved at the kid. "If you are from a circus, I'm not sure there is much I can do for you other than mindless strength training that you may or may not want. The purpose of the metal, slick pole is to increase your strength. What would you like to work on?" She asked, finally realizing this was the question she should have asked him in the first place.

- Mercy -
Mercy reached up to scratch Koop behind his ears rolling her eyes at him as he purred contently at her his ears twitching happily. "Oh what to do Koop..." She sighed heavily, watching the creature for his response. His bobble drooped and he rubbed his paws together nervously, unable to reply to her question...after all he was a machine at the end of the day he couldn't understand the depth of her question. She blinked as she noticed a small trio of students moving towards the archery court, catching the woman with red/pink hair waving at her she lifted her hand and waved a greeting back grinning at what was yelled at her. She slid off of the fence brushing down her shorts she was pretty much wearing the clothes she'd started out without earlier in the day white tank top and khaki shorts although now she wore a leather bracer on her left arm and half a leather glove on her right, having grabbed her quiver and bow she made her way towards the small trio a grinn crossing her face as she noticed Darwin was one of them. "Hey! In that case you've come to the right place" She smiled at Lily. "Lets see have you guys done archery before or fired a bow?" She asked the trio. Koop looked up at all 3 of them with big eyes unwilling to move as of yet but unsure what else to do.

- Seven -
Seven dropped down from the pole thing and listened to the teacher; he then dozed off after hearing half of what Annie said. Seven woke back up as he heard the mindless strength thing. “Wah? Sorry… I dozed off…” He yawned again scratched his ears with his foot. “I don’t know…maybe I just…I just ran in here seeing all the people doing things…it fun to watch but gets boring afterwards…Sparring right? That what you said? Well I am not much of a fighter…well” He looked down and licked his hand. “If only I get provoked…” He said in a dark tone but then gave a bored smiled and continue to scratch his cat ears. “But ya I can fight…probably…maybe not…I don’t know…” Seven gave another yawn.

- Annie -
This boy was getting on Annie's nerves. She was more than ready to test his ability to fight. She stood up with a sour look on her face. "That is the last time you disrespect me." She boomed and shot off toward the boy. She stopped just short of him, her face towering above his. With a quick movement, she jabbed near his face. The boy would hear a loud bang next to his face and then wind as the air around her fist exploded slightly. She then bent down and picked up the kid, throwing him in the air in one swift movement. With that, she jumped up and kneed him the gut, letting them both fall.

She landed on her feet with a thud, her feet shifted just slightly, and her hand at her sides, in her ready attack stance. "Get up and come at me." She barked.

- Seven -
It was so fast, the kick, the jab to his face, the knee to his gut. He just let it happen…not even caring, he let her beat him and he just lay on the floor. The pain was of course unbearable for his nature yet..it excited him… it made him smile. He stood up and yawned, he clutched his stomach as he tried to walk closer to Annie. Seven collapsed then turned back to his original form, his clothes clung to his tiny body and his was still in pain…everywhere. “I guess you beat me up well… well I am not really giving effort…” He said as he came out of the pile of clothes on the floor and looked at the teacher, giving a loud meow.

- Annie -
"Then you don't deserve my effort." Annie replied simply, lowing her arms. With a somber expression, she walked back to her seat. "Leave." She commanded calmly.

- Lily -
Lily smiled at Mercy and nodded her head. "Once. I prefer fire arms, but I figure I'll try my hand at a bow and arrow again." She explained, still walking over.

- Seven -
Seven just waved off whatever Annie said and yet beside her as walked back to her seat. He curled up beside her and gave out another yawn. “I don’t think so… you caught my interest teach” Seven purred out and scratched his ear. “SO I will just stick around near you for now on.” He knew he was getting a death sentence…but does it really matter?

- Carmen -
Carmen accepted her trumpet from Crash and slowly got up, still sort of dazed from the encounter. "Well, that was...interesting..." she said. Addressing Kathy first, she had a small, soft smile despite the mishap. "It wasn't your fault. Don't worry about it," she said. Turning to Crash, she could clearly see that he was mortified at when he had just caused, and any inclination she had had to be upset went away. She hadn't been hurt, after all. "Relax...I'm not upset," she said to him with a warm smile, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Now Kathy on the other hand...I'm not so sure," she teased as she walked back over to Kathy. Attempting to diffuse any hard feelings, she spoke softly to Kathy, "Would you like to spar again? Or would you rather go to a different dojo? I saw a teacher walk outside earlier as well."

- Kathy -
“Thanks.” Kathy accepted Crash’s helping hand and got up with his help. Since he already asked if she and Carmen were alright, she turned to Crash and returned his question. “What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?” She glanced over between the two of them. They seemed fine from the way they moved, but she wanted to be sure of it.

Then hearing Carmen’s jest Kathy chimed in, “Ah yes, I can’t forgive you that easily.” Slipping her hand out of the one that helped her up, she ruffled his hair again. “Say… Can I take this as something you owe me for?” Oddly enough, she didn’t seem all that mischievous about the question even though she seemed to be continuing the joke. If anything, there was a slight sense of hesitation when she asked. Turning to Carmen, she lightly tapped her cheek with her finger as she thought for a moment. “I’m planning on going to the shooting range at some point but… I think I want to stay here for a bit longer. Do you mind?”

- Carmen -
Carmen smiled at Crash and Kathy's interaction. Yet again, Kathy giving Crash grief playfully...it was certainly amusing to watch. Listening to Kathy's response, Carmen had no change in her softly happy expression. "Oh, not at all," she replied. "Some sparring then, perhaps?"

- Crash -
Crash's face flushed in embarrassment as he helped Kathy to her feet and handed Carmen her trumpet back, he forgot to release Kathy's hand. He looked somewhat relieved when both of them appeared unharmed, it wasn't like him to get so worked up over accidents...yet again as far as he was aware this was the first one he'd had that had directly effected someone else, his reaction was completely different. He was pretty wound up stuck between shame and embarrassment however he visibly relaxed as Carmen kindly reassured him she wasn't upset and he was sure she wasn't injured. He tilted his head at Kathy giving her a quick once over check as well. "No I think I just about managed to avoid getting 'Crash hurt'" He jested weakly, hearing Carmen's words made him visibly flinch though adopting the look of a child awaiting scolding, he attempted to give Kathy his best puppy dog eyes deciding shifting was the next best option, a part of him didn't think she'd be too harsh on him anyway because nobody got hurt. He adopted a sheepish look as she slid her hand from his and reached up to ruffle his hair again, he closed one eye and grinned at her. He wasn't overly surprised at the question...well he was surprised that it was a question and not a demand actually. "I think we could safely say I owe both of you after that" He pointed out lifting a hand to the back of his neck, as he grinned he sensed the slight hesitation though he didn't understand it. "So yes, add it to the tally" He jested moving aside as Carmen suggested more sparring. "I'll get out of your way" He grinned, after that little episode he knew he was probably safer staying way out of their way besides from this distance he could subtly grimace at his agitated bruises and perhaps actually hear Yutaka's advice on the sparring match.

- Ryuu -
Ryuu scratched the back of his head as he saw Andromeda walk away. He honestly did not know whether to feel good that she left him out of the good of her heart or feel bad for being ditched by a girl. Either way, she probably had her reasons.

The otaku saw the girl talking with some other dude, who seemed to drop his glasses. Ryuu wondered if being a "four-eyes" was becoming a trend.

With that said, he moved deeper into the library-like training ground. There were quite a lot of books in certain shelves. As much as he hated reading, it sounded like the only plausible alternative from awkwardly learning things through teachers. He liked to interact with things that did not berate him too much. Maybe that was why he bought so many visual novels.

- Melanie -
Melanie chuckled and smiled shyly at Serena. What did she plan on teaching, well there was only one clear answer. "Well Madame Serena, I plan on teaching the students how to destroy undead, well that was why i was created, I presume...." She began to blush as she remembered destroying them. "So...what do you teach madame?"

- Kathy -
"Tally?" She repeated, confused for a moment. "Oh, right. That." Kathy had actually forgotten about that for the time being. Indeed, she had been keeping score of how much she owed Crash but... 'Ah... That wasn't really my intention.' Her shoulders slumped back in disappointment. 'Maybe at another time then.' Putting a light smile back on her face though, she told Crash, "Good job keeping yourself safe then." Besides, perhaps her plan hadn't been the best one anyway. He seemed really guilty about the whole mess, giving her a puppy-eyed look and all.

At Carmen's question, she nodded. "How about some light contact sparring then? Um... Will you be alright like that though?" Kathy asked, referring to Carmen's attire. She had never really tried to fight in a dress before but it didn't seem like the easiest thing to move around in. "Maybe we should at least ask if they have some protective equipment?" She didn't mind getting a few injuries here and there, but perhaps Carmen did.

- Carmen -
Carmen was amused by Kathy's concern for her attire. "But of course," she replied. "I'm quite used to it. I don't actually know what wearing something that isn't a dress feels like, funnily enough." At the mention of protective equipment, she continued. "I think we'll be fine unaided. So...yes, light contact sparring sounds good to me. Though...you haven't practiced being the attacker yet. Would you like to do that first?"

- Kathy -
Kathy gave Carmen a sheepish look. "To be honest I've learned a bit of offensive techniques from P.E. back in Athalia so learning defense was what I was more concerned about. Past that it's just practice I guess." Then wondering how seriously she could really take it she asked, "Have you sparred before? Against a real opponent?"

- Yutaka
Listening in on the girls' conversation, Yutaka smiled under the mask. He went up to the girls and even beckoned the red-haired student (Crash) over as well. "If you're done with the mock exchanges, want to try something that'll give you practice against multiple opponents?" He waited until all 3 students were around before continuing, "The good part about this one is that you won't need to hold back if you've been worried about hurting each other. What do you all say? It should also help with getting used to working as a team."

- Crash -
Crash watched Kathy's shoulders slump, he was unsure why she had reacted this way but he was sure it was his fault. His expression crinkled into a frown as he backtracked over what he had said trying to figure out what he had said wrong, he caught her smile offering her a somewhat strained smile in response before he moved out of the way, returning to his train of thought, folding his arms over his chest, he lifted his right hand towards his face resting his index finger against his lips as he watched Kathy and Carmen decide what to do next.

He was rather surprised when Yutaka beckoned him over as well, he lifted a hand to the back of his neck checking over his shoulder in case it was meant for someone else before he walked over to them curiously. "Me as well?" He asked grinning at Yutaka. "Because if you can fit me in I'd be up for this" He offered in answer, pushing any doubt to the back of his mind.

- Madame Serena -
Madame Serena smiled broadly at the other woman as she smiled shyly, she pulled the spoon from the cauldron which was probably about 4 feet in length...and turned away from the other woman and hopped down off of her stool near enough disappearing from view as she did. She tottered around the cauldron, now about the same size as the wooden spoon held tightly in her fist. She leant the implement against the table and wiped her hands on her apron before removing that as she listened to Melanie's answer. "How to destroy the undead..." Madame Serena mused, nodding her head and adopting an inquisitive expression. "That sounds interesting, I'd love to know how you deal with such creatures the evil variety of course, I find some of them to be rather pleasant to have around" Madame Serena chuckled, a mysterious twinkling entering her old smoky eyes. "That entirely depends on what they want to know" She answered, though the answer was vague it was true. The elderly woman hadn't planned anything out for the students, she wasn't aware of their powers or what exactly they were looking for...in her mind that would all become clear over time. "Now the question is shall we get their attention or shall we wait for them to come to us?" Serena asked Melanie with a devious smile.

- Melanie -
Melanie sat and listened to the old woman with fascination in her eyes. It was always good to learn new things, especially from wise old people.....well all old people in general actually. "of course...the evil kind." She answered shyly, she had never net a good undead before, they all creeped her out... "Well they all seem pretty pre occupied right now...." She shook her head out of frustration. "Yeah we should get their attention, they are year to learn.

- Darwin -
Darwin grinned as he heard a familiar voice, wait.....it was one if his super duper Besties! IT WAS MERCEH! Darwin started jumping up and down in joy when he saw Mercy approach them, making rivers if skittles pour out if his pockets in the process. This day was going great! He suddenly leapt forward with a packet of his Black Marjet skittles. "Hey mercy! Fancy a skittle? I got these from the black market!" He sounded amazingly happy as ore usual as he smiled at her. "Of course I have shot a bow before! I'll have you know I'm like a unicorn robin hood! Except I don't take anything....so I don't give anything to the poor! But still I an fabulous at it, these two think they can beat me though!" He grinned at her as if to motion the duo were into some lovey dovey stuff. He was great with facial expressions.

- Mercy -
Mercy smiled broadly at Lily. "Good to hear, help yourself to a bow if you haven't already got one, there is a selection over there" She told the other woman, pointing over to the wooden display sat next to the fence she had been perched on, it held a variety of different bows with a small selection of quivers hung on a similar display next to it. She switched her gaze to Darwin instantly feeling her bad mood ebb away as she watched him jump up and down like an excited child causing a rainbow of skittles to pour out of his pockets, her eyebrows rose as she felt a lugh escape her. Koop perked up wagging his butt as he watched the excited unicorn and his two companions. Mercy lifted her hand to accept a skittle as he leapt forward with a pack in hand, she took a green colored skittle another lighthearted laugh bubbling free of her throat. "Black Market?! What do they have in them?" She asked hesitating for a moment before popping the skittle into her mouth regardless of his answer, praying it didn't have anything in it. She felt herself smile back at him. "Oh! You really are a man of many talents" She grinned at Darwin, tilting her head to the side as he made a peculiar motion, towards Matt and Lily, she raised an eyebrow at the pair trying to figure out what Darwin was trying to indicate. After a few moments of studying she picked up on what he was trying to tell her, a little ashamed that she hadn't got it sooner. "Darwin would you mind coming with me quickly just to give me a demonstration?" She asked the colorful gentleman. "Lily and Matt if you could grab yourselves a bow and quiver each then make your way over to us we'll get started" Mercy smiled at the pair, lifting her hand and beckoning Darwin over as she headed for the central target, once they were out of earshot she turned to the unicorn raising a questioning eyebrow at him. "Ok cupid, what are we dealing with here?" She asked him, stepping aside so he could position himself in front of the target and demonstrate his amazingly fabulous marksmanship at his leisure.

- Carmen -
It was at this moment that Carmen looked the closest to embarrassed that she had ever come in her entire life, upon being asked by Kathy if she'd ever sparred before. "Well, I...I've never really had a need for physical attacks before, what with using my trumpet and all, so...I've actually never fought or sparred with anyone before. I learned basic hand to hand combat at one point, but that's all. I never had to apply it. So..this will be a first for me."

She perked up again at Yutaka's interjection and suggestion. "That sounds lovely," she said, using a definitely odd choice of words for talking about combat. She became even more interested when Crash offered to join.

- Kathy -
"Oh, really?" Kathy was surprised, but not really by Carmen's lack of experience. The musician's slightly meek response was what really surprised her. Even during the short time she had been acquainted with Carmen, she had the feeling that the trumpet player was pretty much always brimming with confidence. Putting on a reassuring smile she replied, "Don't worry, we all start somewhere right? And if you never needed physical attacks before, you must be pretty strong anyway."

She had been feeling a little troubled as to how much she should hold back during the sparring when Yutaka approached them with an alternative training menu. "I'm good with that too." She answered, glancing to look at Crash when he joined in with them.

- Yutaka -
The instructor nodded, pleased that they were all willing to try something new without hesitation. It was a good sign. "Good good, then let's get started immediately." Yutaka held his arms out towards the sides and flicked his wrists around a bit. On cue, white blurs of fabric suddenly rounded around the group, ghost-like figures surrounding them on all sides. Upon closer inspection, they would all be able to see that they were just looking at floating sheets of fabric with plush head and arms attacked to give them more human-like features.

"These fabric dummies are being manipulated under my control, so no need to hold back on them." He explained, placing his hand on one of them. Then he admitted, "They're not too strong, but that doesn't mean they'll be easy to fight against. There are plenty of ways to make opponents admit defeat without having to beat them up after all." Beginning to retreat into the crowd of fabric surrounding them he added, "Oh, and I won't be just observing this time. Every so often I'll be joining in the fray as well, so be on the look out for that."

As soon as his sentence ended, the dummies instantly began to rush in on them. Trying to twist themselves around the students' limbs and bring them down to the ground.

- Crash -
Crash flashed Kathy and Carmen a quick smile before turning his full attention to rest on Yutaka, he fell into a defensive stance as soon as the white blurs surrounded them, after his duel with Tora he was feeling rather cautious. He shifted so his back was turned towards Kathy and Carmen, he tilted his head as he examined the floating fabric his eyes widening in awe as he noticed their human-like appearance. His ears pricked as he heard Yutaka continue his explanation, he tried to retain all of the information given to him as he watched the gas mask wearing teacher retreat back through the dummies, as he admitted he wouldn't just be observing Crash reached out behind him his fingertips reaching to touch Kathy's side to check she was still there, whilst his other hand brushed Carmen's arm. "G-" He started but cut himself off as the dummies instantly began to rush towards them.

Before he could react a few of them had jumped at him trying to twist around his limbs restricting his movement, he fought against their grip especially as he felt them attempt to tug him down. He wriggled free from one only to have the other replace it. As he felt one of the dummies wrap around his knees he disappeared within a cloud of purple smoke, shapeshifting into a crimson pelted panther. He squirmed free of the dummies grip going along with his first reaction which was to try and shred the damn things with his talon like claws. His crimson eyes seeking out the other two instinctively as he tried to keep them within his sights ducking away from the persistant creatures as they popped up in his face obscuring his vision, he dove down between plush legs shifting a second time, an agile red fox emerged from the cloud of purple smoke. It slid through the dummies grip easier than before and wound its way round to stand between the two girls, unfortunately this form was good at squirming out of the dummies grip as they tried to wrap around him but not particularly good at attacking back. "Ideas?!" He barked before biting down onto a plush arm, growling and shaking his head vigorously.

- Carmen -
Carmen was expecting maybe a couple of opponents...not dozens. While they looked fairly harmless, they were being controlled by Yutaka, so they were certainly a threat. And, she had heard the bit about him "joining in the fray", so that was an additional obstacle. Immediately she had to duck and weave to get out of the reach of two of the dummies, noticing Crash transforming into various animals of the feline and canine variety to avoid them. In an emergency she could always transform into her bird form, but figured it best to only do so as a last resort, seeing as this was physical training and not "change into your gaseous form to safety" training. She spent most of her time running around trying to catch a space long enough to go on the offensive, and when she finally did she was unsuccessful. A few swings with her trumpet into the backs of some dummies revealed that they weren't weak, and probably impervious to anything but extreme force.

She was, at least, able to prevent herself from being caught in a vice. When one got a hold of her she clubbed it square in the chest with her trumpet and was able to break free, despite not doing any noticeable damage to the dummy. Yelling at Crash's callout, she attempted to get somewhat of a grip on the situation. "Let's try to fight them near each other? There's too many to face alone!" She decided to try brute force to try to bring one down, at least temporarily. Finding one that was heading for Crash, she ran up behind it and jumped in the air with her trumpet over her head, smashing it down on the top of the dummy.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Summary: Training and conversing continues. Kathy and Carmen recover from the wayward Crashball.

- Crash -
Crash hadn't expected her to grab his wrist, neither had he even thought she'd attempt to poke him back...he felt his cheeks flush at the comment and jolted away from her hand in a rather exaggerated motion not that he could escape as she had a hold of him . "Duly noted!" He squeaked upon being jabbed.

Upon his connection with the two other students the wayward Crashball ground to a halt, having knocked both Kathy and Carmen away from him he was now sprawled out on the ground where they had been stood a moment ago his gangly limbs out haphazardly around him. Why? Why did that just happen...? He lifted his head groggily hoping the circling tweety birds would fade away soon, as he pulled himself upright onto his knees, rubbing his nose which had been the first thing to connect with the ground. He was about to see whether the girls had managed to stay upright when he heard his name murmured, his head instantly shrunk down and his shoulders lifted as he adopted a very guilty expression. He was knelt next to both her and Carmen looking incredibly guilty, especially as he noticed Carmen had also been knocked to the ground. "I'm so sorry! Are you both ok?" He asked them, scrabbling to his feet he quickly offered both of them a hand up. "...I didn't mean to, just..." Crash murmured, quickly retrieving Carmen's trumpet and handing it to her with an apologetic smile, glancing at Kathy with the same sheepish apology.

- Lily -
Lily walked up to see Matt with another.. rather bright looking guy just in time to hear him bragging about his archery skills. "I've never understood the term, 'badass'. What's good about being an ass or being bad?" She mumbled, a brow raised.

- Darwin -
Darwin's head shot up as he sniffed the air. He could smell something...it smelled like....heaven. He'd been to heaven once, in a dream. According to his father he was born in heaven but was too awesome so they sent him down to earth to contain his rainbow...ness. He turned around to see a familiar face. IT WAS THE GIRL HE HAD MET IN THE BOOK SHOP! And then before anyone knew it he was running towards her and hugged her. "LILLEH!" He screamed. "Your alive! I thought you had died!" He laughed again and let her go. "Skittle? I got them from the black market!"

- Lily -
Her eyes shot open at Darwin's response to her presence. She honestly hadn't expected to be attacked by him like that. She lifted an awkward arm and pulled it around to touch his back. "It's... nice to see you too?" She responded, "No... I haven't died..." She let out a long sigh as he offered her a skittle. "No, thanks. I just... want to shoot." She explained, shaking her head slowly.

- Darwin -
He stepped back from her with a still amazing giant grin. "Aww really? No skittles? Pretty sure I got this of a Russian dictator, but oh well!" With that Darwin down the whole packet of the skittles with a satisfied gulp. "Man...those were good." He was pretty sure he tasted some extra flavouring, cyanide perhaps. "OH! Me and Matty were just about to do that, care to join us!" He chuckled razily and lifted a gaint rainbow coloured bow up. "LET US DESTROY ALL!"

- Matt -
"Really? I haven't had that much practice, but maybe you could give me some tips?" Matt asked. However, Darwin was distracted by something else.
"LILLEH!" he screamed, making Matt cover his ears. Darwin shot off and hugged a girl whom Matt recognized immediately. Sure, Darwin screamed her name at the top of his lungs, but still.
Matt walked over to them.
"Hey Lily, I haven't seen you much. Were've you been?" he asked curiously.

- Annie -
Annie turned to the students in the room and took in a deep breath. "For those of you that want to study under me, I'm heading outside. Just come find me." She yelled before walking outside. She found the small sand pit she'd made and sat down on the large smooth stone in the middle to meditate while she waited.

- Lily & Matt -
Lily turned to see Matt walking over. She honestly didn't know whether she was relieved or... something else. She didn't know. All she knew was that she'd finally found someone she knew would respond to her at the very least. Well, Darwin had as well but... if she had to be honest Darwin was a bit much for her.

"Hey Matt. Yeah. I've been... okay. What about you?" She told him, putting a smile on her face. If Matt knew her well enough, he'd be able to see how tired she really looked. She hadn't been sleeping lately.

Matt caught the hesitation in Lily's answer.
"You don't seem okay." Matt said worriedly. "You sound really tired. Are you sure you should be training?"

"I'll be fine. Thanks for worrying, Matt." She told him, a small smile appearing on her face. If she had to be honest, Matt was probably the only friend she had currently. Though... could she trust him? She didn't know...

"I'm serious though, you need rest. Do you want me to take you back to your little beach hut?" Matt asked, mentally adding that to his list of rarely said quotes.

His words made Lily chuckle a bit. "No Matt. I'm fine. I'd rather not be alone right now. Plus, I want to work on archery. It might make me feel better." She told him, trying to stop him from worrying.

"If you insist. We're going to do some archering as well, you want to join us?" Matt asked, motioning to Darwin and himself. "I've never actually done it, but it sounds really fun."

"I was planning on joining in." She said, her voice brighter than it was before. "I've only done it once. It is fun... Though, guns are more fun." She told him, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Probably 'cause they're easier! All you do is pull a trigger, and it does everything else for you. Bows are actually difficult." Matt replied, sticking his tongue back at her just as playfully.

- Darwin -
Darwin watched with a fixed smile as the two exchanged banter. It was actually very amusing fir Darwin, he didn't like getting involved in all this romantic love thing, but he loved to watch t. "Well, both of you combined won't be able to stand up to the my rainbow bow!" He giggled like a madman and did a little good luck jig.

- Madame Serena -
Madame Serena continued to hum to herself, as she stirred her concoction she glanced over at Melanie as she approached her offering the woman a warm smile, she laughed lightly as she hesitantly inquired as to why she was here. "I suppose you could call me that, I'm just here as a favour to help these students learn and explore magic" She explained honestly catching the look she received, she wasn't worried it had been many, many, many years since she had met someone capable of besting her, if Maria Cross walked in right now she may have had to restart the timer. She raised her eyebrows at the young lady as she pinched her nose, noticing Melanie's red eyes were beginning to water...what an odd reaction, the concoction was supposed to smell alluring. "You don't like Goulash? That's a shame...I thought I'd make some for old times sake" She grinned at the other teacher. "Melanie Slaughter pleasure to meet you" She smiled warmly. "I am Madame Serena dear, I see all, know all and tell all" She introduced herself giving the other teacher a wicked grin. "If we're to be working together might I ask what you specialize in? I don't want us to be teaching the same things" She asked.

- Mercy -
Mercy was perched atop a wooden face, one leg crossed elegantly over the other her foot tapping along to the tune she was singing along to. The archery area was set up just behind the range dojo for the moment it didn't look like much just a large field with a dirt track straight across one edge and several round targets at the other end. The targets stood on wooden tripods with round slabs of wood as the main face of the target which in turn had rope swirled around the front of them with bullseyes neatly painted onto them. Mercy lifted her honey eyes to inspect the field watching Koop fly across the ground looking for things to do to keep himself busy as they waited to see if anyone would throw them any interest. She had a traditional Mongolian recurve bow perched against the fence next to her, a light brown quiver full to the brim with arrows sat next to it. "A few more minutes, if no-one turns up then that's that" She grumbled, Koop instantly shot towards her. "Can't have to stay here until training is over, kupo-po!" Koop reminded her. "Tch" She tutted in annoyance she'd not been in the best of moods for the past hour, she was hoping she'd be able to shake it off if any students showed up she hated feeling negative...perhaps she should seek out her favourite unicorn? It was near on impossible to be sad around him. "You can't leave here until training is over, kupo-po" Koop repeated watching her scowl at him and turn away in a huff. Koop shook his head and flew over to her right shoulder wriggling through a few tendrils of her silvery white hair crawling up and resting his torso over her shoulder, tucking his wings in tightly and purring contently.

- Cyber -
Cyber looked at Alistair and gave a nod. “Go, if it only makes you heal faster then ya go…” Cyber said unintentionally only because he was to focus on the kiss he had received earlier. He then picked up his backpack and opened it; there was bottle water in there. He threw it to Alistair but enough so he could catch t. Cyber rubbed the back if his neck and looked away blushing. “You…did very well in our one-one fight, here have this.” He then touched his lips…still thinking about the kiss.

- Zivon -
Zivon was still shaking with fear as the girl with snakes introduces herself to him. As the snakes looked at him he moved back and grabbed a book hiding his face that defiantly showed fear. He felt dizzy, sick and out o f breath…all he can do is mutter out words. “M-M-y n-n….n-na-m-e i-i…i-i-…s Z-Z-Zi….i-i…v-vi-i-v-v….o-n…” Zivon stuttered, showing his courage…well…most of it. He then noticed another guy… when he saw his face…he wanted to cry… It was that guy who shouted him and something with the yellow pain… He just stood there frozen…ready to collapse from fear. The book he was holding quickly decomposed in a mess and Zivon moved back. “Y-y…o-u….” He muttered out as then went completely mute, he wanted to cry but it showed how he was pathetic and was not able to do anything right at the past.

- Garden -
Garden smiled as all of them came towards the dojo but when she heard a loud bang she screamed as it caught her off guard. “Ahh!!” She shouted, she didn’t know what was still in there but the bang sounded weird, she never heard of it before. Garden turned around to her friends and asked. “Um What is that sound?...I never heard of it before…”

- Seven -
Seven looked at a girl and yawned again.. “Hey teacher lady!! (Annie) I will do anything…just give me something to do!!!” Seven shouted as he fell on the ground, landing face first but very intentional. He then flipped and then followed her. His ears twitched just looking at the lady but he just continued to follow her. “Hey!! Give me something to do!!’” Seven shouted again, he boredom was killing him.

Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

Summary: Alistair and Cyber have a fight, which logically ends with a kiss. (wut?) Crash goes bowling with himself, knocking down the Kathy and Carmen pins.

- Alistair -
Alistair watched with a funny look on his face as Cyber started doing odd things. something dawned in the back of his brain but he ignored it as Cyber went and got changed. Her dress certainly made his inkling hard to believe but he filed it away for future thought. she got into a fighting stance and said she was ready. his grin turned a little scary as he also slid into a fighting position "throw a few practice hits so i can get a quick idea of your fighting style, i'll do the same for you if you like" he winked "try not to hurt me"

- Cyber -
Cyber smiled, he was really excited it has been a while since he may have...sort of train? in a way..."I will try... but no promises!" he said.
He felt like he was Chie Satanoka from Persona 4, which she was one of his idols. Cyber then did a weird movement then gave two light punches just close enough not to his Alistair then he step back enough and a Chie style awesome kick He then backed again once for one more move. Cyber slide down on the floor and did a side sweep kick at Alistair legs, making him fall. He didn't care if his underwear was showing he made sure he hid his gender properly. He gave a smirk and when back doing the weird movement thing but still smirking at him. “Your turn!”

- Little Feather & Lion -
Lion purred up at Garden as she petted his head blinking at her as she mentioned a 'cute pairing' he had no idea what she was on about. Little Feather blinked as Garden grabbed her free hand she was a little surprised by the sudden burst of energy from the other woman but grinned at her all the same feeling oddly comforted by the simple gesture maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought. "Ok if you say so" She agreed with Garden, turning her gaze to Dani as the princess addressed him and offered him her other hand. Lion raised the ridge above his eye. Now skip to the training stadium and I shall hum that endearing children's tune involving a yellow brick road Lion purred to Little Feather who eased her fingers out of his mane and brought her fist down lightly on his head in a 'bonk' motion, he ducked away from her hand grumbling at her. Lion tilted his head ever so slightly as Dani seemed to stumble over his words. "...Ok then" He decided on saying. "I suppose that's a good thing all round then" He offered the boy a lion-ish grin. "We're on our way to the ranged dojo actually, Garden figured it would be an interesting place to start" He explained to Dani, his tail flicking behind him.His ears flickered as he heard a new voice he turned his head, blinking at the newcomer when he didn't recognize them he turned and butted his nose against Little Feather's leg. "Hey, sure you can we're heading over to the ranged dojo. I'm Little Feather, this is Garden" She started indicating the woman beside her as she said Garden. "And that's Dani" She continued pointing towards the purple haired boy. "And this is Lion, with his new hat Sunflower" She finished with a small grin pointing at the Lion who purred a greeting to the girl. "Can I ask what your name is?" Little Feather queried instead of waiting.

- Ara -
"Nice to meet you all." Ara smiled again, greeting each of them with a nod of her head as Little Feather went around and introduced everyone. She laughed, looking at the 'hat' on top of Lion's head. "Well, that's the second best hat I've seen today. Excellent choice there Lion." No one here probably really knew what she was referring to but she just continued on without putting too much depth on her hat reference. "My name's Ara. And the ranged dojo sounds interesting, thanks for letting me join in."

- Garden -
Garden politely curtsied to Ara and gave a sweet smile. "Second best hat? I wonder what's the first... Nice to meet you Lady Ara too." She said in a calm tone, she then picked up Sunflower from Sir Lion head and petted him. "So everyone I think we should go in now, better late than ever" She said 'Was there a time schedule? uuhh....' she didn't think properly on what she said but she just shook her head and looked at the range dojo. Garden walked there and looking back at the others. she opened the doors slightly but still outside waiting for the others. She just petted the sleeping Sunflower while she waited.

- Alistair -
Alistair grinned when he saw the bouncing gait she had, something in the movement didn't seem to look quite right on 'her' but he ignored it, the punches he blocked easily, the first kicked was slightly harder but still blockable. the 3rd kick did knock him on his butt, which brought a smile to his face. he stood back up. he took his stance (this without the fire) and faced Cyber with a smile. in one quick motion he slid forward and kicked her legs out from under her. then went back to the original stance as Cyber stood up, he then began to bend backwards, putting his hands down and bringing both feet off the ground and kicking at cyber's shoulders (instead of her head as he normally would in a real fight) and bent backwards into a static (unmoving) version of Cyber own stance. "should i do more?" he asked with a wink and am i allowed to use my powers?" he chuckled.

- Cyber -
Cyber was really shock in how Alistair was able to knock him out quickly but he liked the challenge he then stood up biting his bottom lip from the small sting of pain at his shoulder. "No, only your true strength now!!" With that said he charged at him doing a a punch and a kick that was quick enough to hit Alistair with good force. Then he stepped back and gave a a very strong sucker punch at Alistair shoulder, then slid behind him doing another side sweep kick and a lightly punching his shoulder again. "This is fun!! But I think you are just holding back!!" Cyber taunted at him happily.

- Alistair -
Alistair was enjoying this, it had been a very long time since the swamp fights he and his brothers would have. He let most of cyber's hits land as they didn't so him much harm.
"if i'm holding back sweetheart, you don't want to see when me when i'm not" he winked playfully and did a backflip to land behind Cyber, did a handstand and a spin kick that would at the very least make Cyber stumble forward. then flipped in such a way that his feet caught Cyber's shoulders and pushed her backwards as he went passed her. he slid back into his original fighting stance, with a taunting smile.

- Cyber -
Cyber was getting wrecked, he never knew that Alistair could do those moves it was like he was a video game character himself. He fell on his butt and bit his bottom lip again cringing the pain on several parts of his body. "Come on... this is just child's play..." Cyber stood up and did the weird movement and gave a very strong kick but he lost his footing and slipped making him landing on his face. "Ah!" He hit his face hard but he rubbed his face with his hands and stood up again. "I-I just sl-lip!!" Cyber felt embarrassed... he never feels embarrassed like he never want to. Cyber then tried to punch Alistair but slipped again and landed on his elbow. "F--k!!' Cyber shouted as he felt like he was being destroyed... by himself!! "This f-king!! Gah!! Sh-t Christ!!" Cyber cursed loudly as he stood up slipping again, landing on his butt. "You got to be kidding me!!" Cyber shouted, he felt really angry and frustrated, his rage and anger was boiling really badly until he didn't realized that he was using Cyber click and turned back to Alistair, he had a pissed of face but oddly enough...have a red blush on his face. Binary codes floated around him and his eyes turned a light futuristic color blue and red. He then ran up to Alistair and did a flame kick (Pokemon). His angry was making him go crazy mad.

- Alistair -
Alistair was frankly surprised when Cyber fell, when it happened a second time he put out a hand "do you need assistance?" instead of answering she cursed and stood, but fell yet again. then her eyes began to glow and Alistair stepped back a few times. then she tried to kick him with a flaming foot, Alistair went immaterial a mere second too late and got a good scorch. as a wisp he floated away from cyber with sounds of distress, it was an automatic response, meant to call other wisps to his aide, as there were none to call his powers did it for him and a good dozen illusory wisps shuddered into existence around cyber, encircling her, all letting out the same distress signal. then the sounds morphed into what should be a calming tone.

- Cyber -
Cyber watched as turned into his wisp form he guessed, as what looks like more wisp circled around him and made some noise that annoyed him so much that he used Mazionga (lightning attack that attacks all foes from Persona). Zapping each one of the weird wisp making sure he hits Alistair then he did a flip then with all of his rage started to destroy some punching bags with Seal bomb (a multi attack on foes from persona) destroying each one of them, nothing was stopping his awful rage.

- Alistair -
Alistair let out a high-pitched wail when he was hit with the shock attacked and dropped, his light dimming. it occurred to him that normal calming methods wouldn't work on this kind of divine rage. as so he changed human, he had a scorch mark on his chest, just visible below his shirt, and across his shoulder. he stood up, weakly. and quietly approached. before Cyber could relax he grabbed her and (insert anti-gay argument here, done? ok) kissed her, fully expecting to get hit for it.

- Cyber -
Cyber didn't expect it... he never expect that to happen!! He was kissed by Alistair...kissed, his eyes turned back to normal and his rage was going away but the only thing he felt. Pure utter embarrassment. He couldn't believe that just happen, his face turned bright red and he lost all feelings of his legs. Cyber kissed a couple of guys before but only because it was his plan to get what he wants but this time... The first thing the pop up in his head was to..Cyber gave a very strong slap on Alistair face. "Aahh!!" He shouted, his face boiling with embarrassment but he just walked away a bit and started to think. He never felt so embarrassed in all of his life.

- Alistair -
Alistair took the slap like a man. he had expected it and deserved it. it still stung a little.
"are you feeling better now Cyber?" he coughed "i must apologize for my actions, i could think of nothing else to bring you to your senses, as i did not believe you would kiss me of your own volition" he clasped his hands behind his back "i will take whatever punishment you deem worthy, i just hope you are alright now"

- Cyber -
Cyber looked back at Alistair, face still burning with embarrassment but he then walked up to him and punched hard on his stomach. "Never do that again!!" He said, showing of his pissed of side yet it was only fueled by embarrassment. He then looked around and saw that he caused quite a mess, even at Alistair. Cyber touched the scorched mark on Alistair's chest. "I went crazy again...I should really calm down for once and not hurt anyone anymore..." He said a sort of moody tone. "Sorry... I should bring you to a doctor or someone can fix this.." He looked away, still feeling embarrassed of the kiss the he touched his lips.

- Alistair -
Alistair didn't quite expect the punch and as he was a bit unstable on his feet anyway he dropped to a knee, then fell backwards into a sitting position. he muttered "i deserved that"
then she leaned down and touched the scorch mark on his chest, the touch stung for sure but he tried not to show it "I went crazy again...I should really calm down for once and not hurt anyone anymore... Sorry... I should bring you to a doctor or someone can fix this.." Alistair waved off her concern "i'll be ok, i'm made of tougher stuff then you give me credit for, everyone goes crazy every now and then" when he saw the embarrassed look on her face he said "there's a phase in every wisps life, where we can't control ourselves, it's our parent's job to make sure we don't hurt anyone" he looked at her "i didn't actually go through that phase until i came here, and i was alone, with no one keep me from hurting people, it's ok to go crazy every now and then, just keep in mind that you haven't hurt as many people as i have" his voice was sad and he tried to catch her eyes as he said it.

- Andromeda -
Andromeda felt that Ryuu didn't really want to talk to her right now, mainly from the guilty look on his face "i'll talk to you later ok?" and she walked off into the library like complex and straight into someone else (Zivon), she dropped to the ground and her glasses slid off "Oh My God! I'm So Sorry! But Can You See My Glasses? I Need Them Badly"

- Cyber -
Cyber listened carefully to what Alistair said, he then patted Alistair head and help get up. "Okay...but still...it's not right to hurt someone even though you don't know them or care for them... it just not right when you think about it." Cyber said, he knew he was being hypocritical but he didn’t care, he looked around, trying to find someone who can help Alistair. “You there was this time I hurt someone, ya I know he was an ass but still…after what I have done to him…I can only blame myself. Anger is such a dreadful thing yet why am…” Cyber shook his head again and gave a fake smile like what…he usually does. “Never mind that but come on lets find you a doctor…It’s better if get better soon… we have to be ready for Alexandria…” Cyber said looking around for a medic of some kind. He wished he could use Cyber click again to help Alistair heal but he wanted to save it for the battle or when Alexandria shows up. He touched his lips again feeling quite….nervous oddly.

- Zivon -
Zivon was busy looking at the books until a person or a…gorgon? The person was looking for glasses but Zivon stood still, paralyzed with fear but he tried to pick up the glasses but drop them again, he was afraid that his powers will destroy it. “I-I-I….H-h-he- r-re…” He stuttered as he quickly grabbed the glasses and gave them quickly to the girl. He quickly brought his hands back and was shaking with fear. In his head he couldn’t stop believing he will cause trouble and destroying everything. …..” He whimpered like a kick puppy.

- Alistair -
Alistair nodded "it's not like i'm defending my actions, just wanted to give you something to think about" then she helped him up "thanks" he was wobbly on his feet but he tried not to show it. "i'll be fine Cyber, i don't know where a medic would be or if they could even help me as i'm not even human, but if you insist, let's try finding one" he took a step and nearly toppled "ok ... maybe i'm not as ok as i thought i was" he used Cyber to steady himself "Cyber i'm sorry to ask you but may i go into wisp form? i'll heal faster that way and i won't take up as much space, the only problem is i won't be able to fly, you'd have to either leave me on the floor or carry me, it's up to you"

- Andromeda -
Andromeda quickly took the glasses from the person's hand, it sounded like a boy and quickly slid them onto her nose, she opened her eyes and looked at him, it was a boy "umm, thank you," she went red when she realized she had knocked it him "Oh! I'm so sorry! I hit you didn't I, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, are you alright? I didn't hurt you did I?" she was sitting on the floor and the snakes were turning towards the boy "Oh! Um, I'm Andromeda, what's your name?"

- Leroy -
Noticing that other people were entering the dojo, Leroy glanced to see what they were like. Company number one looked like an incredibly intimidating-looking guy that looked like he walked straight out of a car-chase movie, and company number two looked like she walked right out of a Greek myth. Since the two seemed acquainted with one another, he decided to leave them be.

That was when he noticed a third student in the dojo, one that he had seen before. 'Oh, it's the guy that got drunk on my ability.' Recognizing the grey-haired boy (Zivon), he put on a friendly smile and approached the two of them. "Hey there, are you two here for magic training as well?" It was a fairly obvious question with an obvious answer, but he figured it was a good place to start. "Oh, I'm Leroy by the way. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Turning to the boy (Zivon) he asked, "Do you remember me by any chance?"

- Matt -
"The grains?" Matt asked with a smirk. "I don't think that's the proper name for it, but alright." Matt turned and made his way towards the ranged dojo.
As they entered the dojo, Matt looked around. There seemed to be a whole lot of gun shooting, but no archery.
"Um... There seems to be a strange lack of archery..." Matt said, then frowned. Thankfully, another student heard him.
"Oh, the archery is out back." he said.
"Cool, thanks!" Matt said, then turned to Darwin. "You want to do archery, or shoot some guns first?"

- Dani -
"Really?" Dani asked, then laughed.
Then a newcomer, a girl, walked up and asked if they could join them. Dani was about to answer, but Little Feather beat him to it.
When Little Feather introduced him Dani waved and said, "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're right! We should get going!" Dani said, realizing that they were going to be late. "I completely forgot!"

- Little Feather & Lion -
Lion grinned at Ara as she complimented his choice on hat purring at her affectionately though he was rather curious as to what first best hat was, he hadn't a clue what she was referring to neither did Little Feather. "Nice to meet you as well Ara and no need to thank us we're glad to have you along" She smiled warmly at Ara, glancing at Garden as she released her hand and scooped Sunflower off of Lion's head. Her skin paled beneath her face paint and she instantly wove her fingers into Lion's mane as a substitute as she watched Garden walk over to the dojo. "I don't think we'll be too late, don't worry" Little Feather attempted to assure Dani, before turning her attention back to Lion. "Well shall we?" She asked, indicating for Dani to move on ahead before offering Ara the same. Well this should be fun Lion grumbled to her raising an eye ridge at her before he moved off towards the dojo himself tugging Little Feather along with him pulling up next to their newest acquaintance. "So Ara are you a student here as well?" She asked, hoping for a distraction as they caught up with Garden. "I'm only asking because I don't think I've seen you before, not that I've seen everyone..." Little Feather rambled a little her cheeks tinting as she realized her nerves had gotten to her already. Lion's ears flickered as they approached the dojo, he was both eager and...not so eager to see what was inside, the first bang they heard was going to have him and perhaps Little Feather scrabbling across the floor.

- Madame Serena -
Madame Serena had been stood on a chair by her table mixing something in the cauldron atop it, so from the students point of view she looked like a pudgy but tall lady considering they could only see her from the bust up, she was humming quite happily to herself as she stirred the strange smoky concoction with a large wooden spoon (That was probably the same size as her). "Bring to a full rolling bubble, add two drops of oil to boil...mix blood of owl with a herb that's red, and pluck a hair from thy head" Serena hummed to herself adding another ingredient to the potion before she lifted her gaze looking around at the students walking around the magic dojo. She was rather looking forward to interacting with the lovely students, maybe they'd like to try a bit of what she was making? The 'potion' itself was chucking up a rather appealing smell, to each student it was different adopting an aroma that appealed to them as an individual though if anyone heard what Madame Serena had been saying why she was making it...they may have been rather hesitant to even investigate the scent. "Add a dash of pox, and a dead mans toe..." She grabbed another ingredient plopping it into the orange liquid, her eyes shifting to rest on the Anti-Vampire woman to her left Melanie Slaughter a teacher at the school unlike Serena who was only here to help out. She noticed the young woman was advertising brownies she wasn't sure why...but credit where it was due, brownies sounded like a fantastic ice breaker.

- Kathy -
Kathy caught his wrist this time before Crash poked her again. “Everyone’s a little ticklish there right? Though you seem even more sensitive than most.” She gave him a mischievous grin, then attempted a quick poke at his side as well. She already showed mercy once, and besides, his reaction was really interesting and she felt like seeing it again. “If you’d like, seems like learning with us will help your body last longer.” She laughed, replying back to him as she stayed with Carmen.

Back in front of her training partner, she was getting ready for another mock spar when another odd sound near the ring caught her attention. “Hm?” Turning to look, she saw a blur of clothes and red hair that suddenly knocked into them. Letting out a small cry of surprise, she reflexively reached out to grab onto anything nearby to try to regain her balance. Which, unfortunately, meant she tried to grab onto to Carmen who wasn't exactly in a very steady predicament herself.

- Annie -
Annie looked up to see Yutaka motioning for her to come over. In one swift movement, she was up and walking to the group. "What do you need, Yutaka?" She asked with a hand on her hip.

- Lily -
Lily walked into the physical training dojo and looked around. Other than a face that caught her eye, she saw no reason to stay. As much as she liked her wooden sword, something about guns made her feel safer. Call her a coward, but she liked providing support from behind and she wasn't too bad at it either. She turned her heel and went outside to look around for the archery range.

- Yutaka -
Smiling at Annie he replied, "This little one's looking for something to do but..." Yutaka shrugged and honestly admitted, "I have no idea what I can do for him to keep him from getting bored. In fact... I'm not too sure what the other students can do either after the first bit of sparring." He continued, referring to Kathy and Carmen. "Did you have anything planned for the students Annie?"

- Alex -
Alex sat in the corner of the room, silently watching the others spar. Maybe he should just go to the magic dojo. With a sigh, he stood up and walked out, headed for the magic dojo. When he arrived, his brow raised at a rather... plump looking old woman over a pot... Weird magic...

- Carmen -
Carmen was about ready to begin sparring again with Kathy, when she was suddenly surprised to find Kathy clutching her and a Crashball roll out onto the ground, and even more surprised to find herself then on the ground. While she might've had a chance to keep her footing if she had seen Crash coming, but nobody could have, and so with Kathy initiating a prolonged fall onto Carmen's arm they soon both found themselves on the ground. In fact, it was a bit awkward as when Carmen fell she brought Kathy with her and the two were now a pile on the ground. Uninjured, but on the ground. Carmen opened her eyes to see Kathy's eyes literally right above hers, and then her eyes opened a lot quicker to their full dinner plate-shaped size. She wasn't the type to shove someone off in a situation like this, especially since she had been caught so off guard with the Crashball, so she merely lie there and said, "Hey um...Kathy? Mind if I uh...get some breathing room?" in a clearly constrained voice. It was fortunate her trumpet had fallen next to them and not directly in between them, or there could have been actual injury. As it stood, there was only merely the risk of scuffing her dress...which was still not ideal. No sir.

- Annie -
Anything planned... She blinked, looking around at the students. She spotted familiar red/pink hair but decided to pursue her later. She closed her eyes slowing and when she opened them, she turned to Yutaka.

"If they want to learn, they are more than welcome to seek me out. I have things planned though, I'm not sure they would like it." She told her coworker with a somber expression.

- Melanie -
Melanie turned to her side slowly as she heard something very peculiar..... It sounded like a witch making a dangerous spell......at least the spell sounded quite dangerous. She was thinking to just forget it when she noticed no students had turned up for brownies, how disappointing. She sighed and approached Madame Serena. "New teacher here too?" She asked hesitantly. If it was a student she'd have to knock her out and maybe dissect her. "Nasty thing your brewing..." She said pinching her nose as her red eyes began to water at the smell. God, what on earth was this witch making. "Well, I'm Melanie Slaughter, a new teacher here. Pleasure to meet you miss....."

- Darwin -
Darwin grinned at Matt threw a very toothy mouth. Darwin was a pro master skill shot at archery, everyone knew it. He had his special move tucked up his sleeve, THE ULTRA MEGA RAINBOW ARROW ARC OF MAGNIFICENCE! It took three days for that name to be thought up, but god was it worth it. "Sure, let's do some archery, but beware, I'm a bit of a badass at it..."

- Kathy -
Kathy saw Alex leave from the corner of her eye, a little before the suddenly incident sent both her and Carmen down to the ground. She felt guilty, not having paid a lot of attention to the boy after the Beach Olympics. She would have to make up for it later.

"Ow..." Though she wasn't really hurt, she muttered the word like a sort of habit as she shook her head, trying to make sense of the sudden chaos. Catching Carmen's eyes below her, she visibly stiffened, Kathy's eyes also opening wide with surprise. "S-Sorry!" Lifting herself up, she pushed herself away from Carmen and sat up on the floor. "Crash..." She murmured, looking around for the instigator of the mess.

- Yutaka -
Yutaka let out a laugh, "After what Tora did, I get the feeling the students will be up for a lot more than you'd expect." Then shrugging he continued to say, "And between his brutal training methods and my lack of direction... You're probably the best option they've got."

- Annie -
"Maybe..." She said slowly, her mind elsewhere. Aimlessly, she walked toward the back of the dojo, where the slide glass doors were to the back area.