Mcmolly

RWBY AU;Heroes of a Different Story (Mission terminated. Wishing you all well.)

RUSS

With mention of NOR and RUFUS

Russ awoke with a start, eyes searching wildly around the ballroom, her whole body wound up and tense. A moment passed and her pulse began to settle, she let her head fall back down against the makeshift pillow that was her armor and exhaled what felt like a lifetime's worth of air. Right, she'd fallen asleep in here, it had been her own two feet that had brought her to the ballroom, no one here held a whip. Alright well, chances were that one of these students had some kind of whip-like weapon, but still, at least it wouldn't be aimed for her.

She got to her feet and dressed, strapping the round sheath to her back and giving her joints a good roll. Lastly, she slung the bag over her shoulder and pulled it so that it clung close to her. Everything seemed in order, and most of the students were starting to shuffle out towards where she could only assume would be the initiation area. In truth, she had no idea what to expect, would they be sparring each other? If that was the case, she wouldn't mind going a round or two with Tiger, see if his bark was worse than his bite. And speaking of bites, duking it out with Jaws might have been fun as well, what with his big ass weapon and bigger-asser teeth. How would they decide the teams? Could people be disqualified? Sure there would probably be a handful that quit, and worst-case others might die, but Russ couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the ones that just weren't good enough. Was it Beacon's policy to turn them away, or teach them? Sure it was an academy, but there had to be some threshold, didn't there? Getting turned away had to be the worst, at least being dead spared you the shame of having to walk away and wait for a shuttle to ship you back where you came from.

A chill shot through her spine and she bristled at the thought. "Yeah, fuck that," she muttered. There was no way in hell she was getting sent away. There was nothing for her outside of Beacon, not anymore, in fact worse than that there was one angry hunter looking for her weapons. Alright, his weapons, technically, but it wasn't like they had his name on them or anything. Thankfully. Just some scribbling about a son and a daughter. Probably a family man, which made her feel a bit better actually. Without his weapons, the man might not pursue such a dangerous life, might keep him alive and his children unorphaned. Yeah, in some roundabout way, Russ was sure she had done a good thing by lying to her dying mentor and running away with the expensive swords. Definitely.

Before she could delve any further down that trail of thought, Russ pushed it from her mind and fell in line with the rest of the students. No tricks today, Russ was confident the food from the previous evening would be enough to hold her over for a good while, and besides there was no rush. Everyone would go, everyone would be tried in whatever ceremony the Beacon uppers decided, and there would be no getting out of it. Whether she got there first or last, today she would be tested and her future decided. And it was a good thing, it was what she wanted, a life of meaning fighting against the Grimm for the good of Remnant, however short that life might end up being. Out there she had nothing, in here at least she could be something, so of course this was where she wanted to be. It had to be.

When at last she arrived at the cliffs with the other students, Russ was ready. No more joking around, it was time to take things seriously. Prim and proper, if only for a little bit, the Grimm were unlikely to appreciate her sense of humor anyway. Their loss. No, bad Russ, be serious. Serious face, serious posture, serious mind, seriously. Just long enough to get through this.

(Round 3)

RWBY AU;Heroes of a Different Story (Mission terminated. Wishing you all well.)

Does this mean round three has started?

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

Hype traaaaaain!

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

Wait, we're starting today? I thought we still didn't have a concrete starting date.

RWBY AU;Heroes of a Different Story (Mission terminated. Wishing you all well.)

RUSS

The ballroom had not been nearly as hard to find as Russ had feared it would be. As it turned out, a crowd of students all jammed into one room contained a fair amount of noise that even the long, elaborate halls of Beacon couldn't stifle for long. Much like the cafeteria, the place was fairly packed when she arrived, and many of the students were either laying down or sitting in groups conversing with one another. She liked it, Russ always had a fondness for busy places. With everyone doing their own thing, it was easy to just relax and get lost in the noise.

She found an open area and shed the casual leathers she wore. Beneath that were a pair of modest knee-length briefs and an undershirt that ran to her neck and forearms. Years spent living in the sweltering heat of a forge had her accustomed to sleeping light, and even though Beacon wasn't quite as hot, a day spent wrapped up in her armor had been enough to warrant dressing down to her. She didn't embarrass easily, but she wasn't exactly itching to show her scars to a room full of strangers either.

As the night began to wear Russ found herself laying back and reading from the little dictionary. Hat, cat, bat, rat, love, hate, bait, rate, yada yada yada. She didn't need to run through the three and four lettered words anymore but it never hurt to keep herself sharp. It was the larger words, the ones like "Subscriptions" and "repugnance" and "ostentatious" that tripped her up. On good days she could get them without much of a stutter, but on bad days she'd find herself hung up on things like "detect" and "sheathe". Tonight was apparently one of those times.

"Eff...ever...effer? Effer...vesck...effervescant? Oh, effervescent. Fuck, should have known that one." She kept her voice low and the book tilted away from others. Russ had removed the sleeve long ago, leaving the cover blank, but still if anyone caught her gawking at a dictionary they might get the wrong idea. Or worse, they'd get the right idea, and she'd likely never hear the end of it. "Alright, that's enough of this shit for the night," she said, and shoved the book back into her bag.

By then the room had quieted a bit, and she decided it might be best to try and get a good night's rest before...whatever it was they'd be encountering tomorrow. Russ gathered up her folded gear and laid her head on it, curling up and shutting her eyes. If something happened, she'd be awake in a moment, but luck willing she'd rise up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready. She'd need it, that was for sure.

(Round 2)

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

Sorry for vanishing and all, long week kinda took a sudden toll <D Mcmolly should do alright for a nickname, I tend not to say too much about myself out of habit and haven't been enough other places to have an easier handle. But hey cool to see another English major in the mix! \o/

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

Never did the neopets forums stuff, but I did start out with old IM rp's and yeah, definitely was a culture shock to switch to forum-style. You end up with longer and well-thought out posts for sure, but dammit the instant reply stuff was always really nice XD

RWBY AU;Heroes of a Different Story (Mission terminated. Wishing you all well.)

RUSS

Despite her best efforts, Russ had fallen in behind the massive crowd that had exited and made their way to the cafeteria. It was a veritable sea of large weapons, animal ears, and bright hair, and she was stuck wading through it at a slug's pace. Each time she managed to slip past one person, two more would come together in front of her and she'd have to find a whole new way around. She never thought she'd miss crawling under the shacks back home. 'No, not home," she thought, inwardly annoyed. 'That grungy old shithole was not home.'

Her stomach growled and she looked down at it as if an angry gaze would shut it up. "You're not helping," she mumbled, doing her best to ignore the intermittent rumbles. But her body was right, she hadn't eaten any real food since she'd left for Beacon, and here she was about to miss a more than decent, free meal. It growled again and she grimaced. "Alright alright, let me think."

Russ's eyes darted around the students in front of her, trying to figure out a way to get past them quickly. With each passing protest from her stomach though, her ideas slowly became more sinister. She contemplated tripping someone, but at best that would effect maybe three people, and at worst they'd turn around and beat her to a pulp. No, she needed something bigger, something that could create a gap for her to close. Her eyes caught the sight of a student not too far ahead of her with his weapon sitting in a horizontal sheath on his back. It was a rod that he'd probably made himself, seeing as the mechanics were blatant and obvious. There was a large button at its middle and segments at either end to indicate that its purpose was to extend out. No blades that she could see, so the guy probably had a rad semblance to make up for it, not that it mattered. Plan set, Russ made her move and stumbled forward as if she'd caught her feet. It knocked her past a couple aggravated people, but most importantly it brought her right behind stick-boy. She eyed where the button was then stood up and turned towards the people she'd stumbled through.

"Clumsy me, sorry about that," she said, and at the same moment behind her back, she pressed the staff's button.

It all happened in a matter of moments. The staff extended out about two feet from either side of the center piece and was thin enough that it didn't strike anyone so much as shuffle them out of its way. Someone gasped in surprise, and it caught stick-boy off guard, he whirled around to see what all the fuss was about and in the blink of an eye toppled nearly a dozen students, who toppled at least half a dozen more. Russ ducked beneath it and moved so that she was on the other side of the fallen students, before melding into the crowd of those who had not been knocked over. There were a few angry shouts, but most were directed at the boy and were quickly drowned out by the laughs of those with lighter hearts.

She kept her grin on the inside and continued onward through the loose remaining students, and before long entered the cafeteria. Things were pretty full but Russ managed to snag a seat at the end of a busy table and chow down. As expected the food was leagues beyond anything she'd had before, and though she didn't have a big stomach she ate what she'd taken on her plate. When the rest of the crowd began to filter in no one took notice of her, but she'd been confident enough in her subtlety anyway.

"Happy now?" she muttered, patting her stomach once she'd finished. With that done, she tried to remember back to the speech. What had the woman said? Ballroom? Great, now she could get lost looking for the ballroom. Russ got up and left the cafeteria. Oh well, she figured at least she wouldn't be lost and hungry.

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

Sounds good, enjoy the rave!

The Guardian Angel Project {Revival}

I apologize in advance for the headaches Tavi may cause other team members.

@GeliophobHyena And huh, I dunno I never thought of that. I suppose that would be up to the GM and what he defines as too far ^^