Scout

Kin of the 72nd Expansion Battalion - Shingeki no Kyojin

"Mhm," Ava acknowledged as he told his story. Alois under normal circumstances worried her, but it was simply because he was more erratic than the other members of their team. He was fearless and had a devoted conviction that she saw in very few other cadets. A willingness to face certain death if it meant his blood got pumping. Usually, she would still chew him out for what he did. It was absurd, after all, that he would threaten another trainee's life or sanity simply for talking shit. People at the top were always envied and hated, their squad most of all considering they didn't stand out much in the actual training drills - only on test days and in their study during their "free time." When most trainees were writing home or resting up, they did additional drilling, real work that might actually prepare them for the future. People died on day one of military service all the time. None of her soldiers would.

She hadn't done more than push her food around on the tray when he stole a piece of it. The girl's head turned up venomously and she shoved the tray forward across the narrow table to him. It damn near dumped into his lap before it stopped, just barely resting over the edge in front of him. "Take it. Not hungry," She muttered absently, resting her head in her cheek and staring off to the side, her other hand drumming on the table. She was fighting the nausea bubbling in her stomach with every ounce of willpower she had, but she was thankful that at least this was subsiding. Just push it back, she reminded herself, you're a graduate now, you're going to be seeing the real world soon... Not staring at these walls for the rest of your life... It certainly helped, but a nagging feeling still rested at the back of her mind.

That could be them... It sang, or you... They'd been circling since she saw the scout lying in a pool of his own blood, but she just had to move on from them. One comment floated through her mind. It was only for the briefest of moments, but it stuck and shook her to the core. He was lucky; he got to choose where, how, and when he got to go. Who else can say they were so blessed?

She pushed her hand behind her ear and straightened up, swallowing her discomfort and forcing a seemingly sincere smile to her face. "Hey, Kiryuu, hope you feel well-rested," She said with a nod as the mess hall door slammed shut. A few other cadets went running out after some sobbing girl and she shrugged, "Too late for them to turn back now, whoever it is that's just now cracking under pressure..." She muttered, "Absurd." Right, it is absurd, so don't let it happen again.

-----

Jonah gave Kiryuu a little thumbs-up for his confidence. Good, he was starting to see himself as a warrior. He'd have to, because this shit wasn't going to be fun and games or pride for much longer. It was going to be bloody, loud, and cold... All the time. None of them could really boast knowing a scout from the 72nd Battalion, but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that they'd be less than forgiving of any of them for having hurt feelings. Out there it would be life or death. If you didn't think you could have your brother's back in even the slightest of ways, then you weren't cut out for it. The last thing they needed was for any of them to feel like they weren't up to it. A prophecy like that was certain to fulfill itself.

The dark-haired boy grabbed a tray for himself from the line and sat down about a minute after Zero did, taking the seat directly next to Alois. He wasted no time in digging into his own, looking to Alois with a mouth half full, "'R yoo 'onna ea' 'at?" He asked, holding his hand in front of his mouth to keep from spewing them. The girl rolled her eyes in disgust, but Jonah didn't seem to notice, too focused on lunch now that he could finally eat.

Avatar: The Price of Freedom

Despite herself, Siku had to laugh once more at Katsu's flustered attitude when Asha blasted him. She shrugged, "I was going to bend it off of him, but I like the way you think, Asha." The girl took a sniff of the air, "At least you smell better now, Katsu," She teased, giving him a thumbs-up. This was taking forever, though... How far did they really have to go down here? What felt like ages later, Katsu was calling them up the ladder and Siku was the first one on it, fully aware of how nasty her clothes were growing by the second. "Finally, geeze..." She muttered, pulling herself onto the street and stretching out her back, "That was disgusting..."

Hiresh was the final one on his way up and he planted his feet before bending the manhole cover back into place. He looked around and wiped his hands off of each other to get the grime from the ladder off of them. They started on their way for Katsu's place, albeit moving more clandestinely than they had to in the sewers. With Katsu in the lead, Hiresh kept eyes on their rear again, making sure they still weren't being followed. No, chief, why in the world would he need a damned radio? He was only guarding an ambassador's daughter. Not only that, but Ambassador Tsukiko was the frontrunner for the North Pole's seat as councilman as soon as it opened. There would be no reason for him to have some way to contact HQ in a pinch. Of course, Siku would have had a fit had he brought one anyway. God dammit, why did he need them? He was more than qualified for this. He could get Katsu to Air Temple Island and then they'd have more than enough resources to figure what came next.

The quartet wove through the streets and into the Panther Lily district. Siku looked around... She tried not to walk through this part of the city often and now she was really regretting the clothing she'd picked for the evening now. Finally, they made it to what looked like a completely abandoned apartment complex. After Future Industries brought the automobile and power to Republic City, these things were thrown up everywhere. Avatar Korra's opening of the Spirit Portal made some areas of the city more difficult to traverse and some places lost all accommodation as living quarters. Property values in the Panther Lily District were very low and driving was difficult, to say the least, so a lot of the land was deemed unusable and many of the apartments abandoned. This structure was one that nobody paid to live in, so it seemed some had chosen to steal itself in.

The streets weren't so full of people, but it was apparent that they were there. Just most of them were inside at this hour and anybody who was outside was slightly more... undesirable. Siku made sure to keep the group close together. She couldn't let Asha wander off. "Katsu... Y-you live in there...?" She asked with a little bit of a dumbfounded tone. She didn't mean for it to sound rude, but it likely did sound a bit more pretentious than intended. Hiresh maintained a ready stance, but Katsu's aloofness made it hard to feel the necessity of staying alert as they approached the large structure. Was this really Katsu's own little hovel?

There was a small group of people out front. Each one was wearing some kind of worn or tattered clothing, but they didn't wear it like it was all they had, it was worn with a type of pride. The worst part was that most of them didn't seem more than a couple of years older or younger than Siku herself. If she thought that she attracted a lot of looks, Hiresh was being stared down like nobody's business. He didn't need a uniform to look like an officer, especially with his cables still equipped. No doubt there were more like these kids inside, too... But how many, Siku wondered?

A voice called from the small group, "Oi! Katsu, what's with bringin' the fuzz in here?"

Hiresh pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course he lives with a bunch of delinquents... This was going to be a real pain in the ass. Siku snickered at his clear irritation, "Wow, he called you out awfully quick there, Hiresh," She teased.

Far From Home [ Scout & Vena Sera ]

Yari frowned, looking closely at her reflection in the shop window. She felt bad... That Yuna girl really did seem nice, but she couldn't be around everybody right now, so she slipped out when she didn't think anybody would even notice. Thankfully nobody came after her so far. Guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders; why couldn't she remember any of them if they had been such a large portion of her life. She barely knew herself now as she stared at the blue-haired figure that was her reflection. There was no spear on her back, but she'd found a nice garment in her inventory which had long ribbons of beige accenting a red top and semi-modest skirt. She quite liked it, but that hair... dear god, why had she decided that looked good in the first place? She swiped her hand through the air and opened a map, looking for the nearest place to 'fix' her hair. There wasn't one far away - vanity alterations were made constantly in this world and it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to have it done, thankfully. When she left the 'shop,' as it were, she had altered it to a short, almost blonde, light brown. She thought it brought her eyes out, at least.

It didn't take long for the town to come alive with people and she was blissfully unaware of the drama happening on the other end until the music started playing and she simply had to find out from where it came. The band continued, but their singer seemed to be taking a break for herself. It allowed the music to become more ambient for a while and Yari, upon noticing that Nero and Suto were both at the center of the crowd, was quite glad for that as she darted into the nearest pub. That wasn't exactly a mistake, no, but it certainly might have been less than what one might call a 'good judgment call' as a man called out "One more on the house!" A drink was thrust into the girl's hand and she was slapped on the back jubilantly as she clutched the glass in her hand and tried her damnedest not to spill it everywhere. They wouldn't dare just hand some stranger alcohol, would they? ... She took a sip.

A wave of relief washed over her like she'd never known, every muscle in her body relaxing. Of course, she wasn't the slightest bit drunk, it was just this feeling of something new as she tasted a smidgen of alcohol. She turned eighteen forever ago, it seemed, had they even had any of this stuff? Why wouldn't they? It was amazing! And it took all of three more intensely burning gulps for her to come to such a realization.

The girl left the bar a little bit more light hearted and with a second drink in hand. She'd tried an ale, but when it didn't give her the same burn as the first one, she just found something new and delicious. Something English called a "Long Island Iced Tea" - it translated strangely, but it tasted like a normal drink. Dangerous, but good. She sipped at the straw absently, floating threw the crowd with a bit more aloofness than before.

-----

Titus gave Yato a casual salute. "Glad to see you here; seems that Cress here has started to enjoy the festivities quite fervently..." He teased, smirking. "Mind if I talk to you for a bit, Yato?" He asked, nodding his head toward a more secluded area, away from their group.

Nero introduced himself to Cress and Asari, but they both seemed to have short attention spans.

Minera gave a modest, little bow, "Thank you, Yato. I appreciate it." Those drinks might have to wait a minute, as it seemed they were now exposed to a bit more 'party.' She looked to Asari and couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth, "Aww, thanks, we love that people like to hear it at all, really. Party's not over, my guys'll keep playing, but I'm allowed to enjoy it too!"

Suddenly, Yari pushed between Suto and Nero, leaving the white-haired beast hunter a bit bewildered. Where the hell had she come from? To be fair, she didn't even realize it was them, she was more interested in the redhead as she stared at him, "Hey! You need to stop... Bumbling through this crowd or whatever... You're making a scene!" She pointed out, "And my god, what are you drinking?" She was not being nearly as sly or matronly as she thought when she reached for whatever drink Cress had in his hand at the moment, wanting a taste of it for herself.

Far From Home [ Scout & Vena Sera ]

weeeeeeeh weeeeh weeeeeeeh

Far From Home [ Scout & Vena Sera ]

Yup! You gave me my first quote for my signature :D

Far From Home [ Scout & Vena Sera ]

the guy over there is all weeeeeeh, weeeeeh weeeeeeh,"

@Vena Sera

So this was a thing that you put in your post that made me laugh... at work... out loud... XD

Avatar: The Price of Freedom

"Oh, you wanna talk about assumptions, Katsu?" She asked, interested once again in the argument. "How about 'princess?' Hmm? How about the fact that you still believe my life is so great, like I don't spend hours a day training, honing my craft, learning everything my father wants to teach me. Sure, I enjoy it, but that's because I'm not afraid to be pushed, to ask for help and learn something that I might not be an expert on from somebody else. I didn't realize that the Avatar could bend the secret fifth element of hypocrisy too," She sneered. Hiresh couldn't help but need to stifle his chuckle in the background, turning away. The argument was over, though, and Siku just stared at her feet, "Fine. I don't know you. My name's Siku," She said, wiping her entire attitude to a blank slate. "Alright, let's go."

Hiresh returned to a professional demeanour as well, "Few blocks is good anyway, if they can't keep following down here, then we'll be pretty safe popping up a good distance away."

Siku walked beside Asha with Hiresh taking up the rear, allowing Katsu to lead. His head was so freaking massive she could barely see around it... Okay, so it was normal sized, but it still felt like it was taking up the entire tunnel. Didn't he ever get a haircut either? That big mop of white was just so... loud! How did he live like that? It couldn't be that hard to get one of his amazing friends to just chop a bit off, could it? And ugh! That Fire Nation temper...

"Carrying? Oh, no, we're defense team Alpha," She taunted, looking to Asha with a small grin, gradually returning to her normal self. Siku never stayed angry for long with anybody, but her temper flared brighter than a dragon's breath. "First order by Commandant Tsukiko is..." The girl flicked her wrist, "Dry off the package!" Oh god, did I just say that? I sound like a damned idiot!

Avatar: The Price of Freedom

"Then don't call me a guard. I'm not losing you, whether you want this or not, until everything is straightened out, I have to be there for it," Hiresh said without budging even a little bit. Siku stared daggers at him.

"Hiresh. You're a private. Get off your fucking horse - you've been a cop for barely a couple of years and all you do is complain about how little they let you do. Well I'm your assignment. Katsu's free to do as he pleases unless "Being the Avatar" is against the law," She stated venomously, "So you're going to be watching me." Flicking her hair back, she watched his reaction with only half interest, "As I go with him." Her guns turned on Katsu once more, "God, could you be more thick?" She spat angrily, her fists visibly shaking at her sides, "Like I would let that happen - you could have been killed! But no, you're too high on your horse... You don't know you're better than everybody else, even if you think it, and you can't do everything alone. I know we're not exactly... close... to you, but..." She clammed up, holding her lips shut tightly as she looked away, her voice lowering to a near whisper, "I... don't really have many friends... So yeah, I'm going to be interested in the few that I can be, alright? And I'm going to be hurt when those few keep things from me because they think I'm going to tell my father, like I'm some amazing, perfect, star citizen."

Her mind couldn't help but wander again to where she was initially planning to spend her evening. There was a match at the arena tonight, between the Wolves and the Platypus Bears but her team found a new water bender, they didn't even tell her until a few days ago. So yeah, she wanted to have as many people at dinner tonight as possible, to keep her mind off of things, and here was Katsu: bringing it up again. Asha was the only one who 'had time' to go. So she dragged Hiresh and, from the moment she knew his schedule was available, Katsu. The back of her fist rubbed her eye slightly. She wasn't crying, an eyelash wouldn't get the hell out... That was all.

'... Lost all my autonomy when I ran into you.' She couldn't control herself as her hand wheeled back and met his cheek with a surprising amount of force, leaving a big, red mark on his face. "How dare you. Don't ever call me that... If my life is soooo great, then why did you run away? You could have had it, and then some. But you ran away... Except you didn't have the brains that Aang did, did you? You could have disappeared for a few years for real and people would have thought you were actually gone. You didn't. You stuck around, you wanted to be caught, because you want the attention," She accused, holding his gaze through eyes that fought tears through years of practice. "Don't accuse me of being spoiled, I didn't choose this life, and you didn't choose yours; the difference is that I'm not the coward who ran away from it. You wanna make the stupid decision to go back to your little hideout? That's fine, but until that's cleared as legitimately safe, I'm going with you. And you're not getting away. You may be faster than me, but I've got something you don't," She smirked, "An Airbender."

She glanced to Asha, her smirk turning to a slgiht smile, "I'm glad you're okay, Asha. You gonna be okay tagging along for a bit longer? I'll make sure you get back safely."

Far From Home [ Scout & Vena Sera ]

"That makes three of us then," The musician replied with a devilish grin, "Unless the all-too-famous beast hunter cares to weigh in..?" She asked cockily, looking to Nero.

He blushed very faintly and shook his head, "No, my lips are sealed. I've already got one of you," He stated, realizing a moment later how much better that sounded in his head.

Minerva was already on to the next topic, laughing faintly as Suto fumbled about himself, "Cool down, buddy; you look like you've had quite a day. You guys wanna grab a few drinks?" She suggested, stuffing her hands in her pockets, "Band doesn't need me for every song, I'm allowed to enjoy parties all I like. Especially if I'm not getting paid to do it anyway," The girl waved a hand dismissively, glancing to Titus, "Some people are just too cheap."

The ruckus in the midst of the crowd was all too noticeable as a bumbling redhead tore through the crowd in a statement of anti-sobriety. The musician rolled her eyes, "This guy is just everywhere, isn't he?"

Titus shrugged, finally chiming in, "He's a good guy. A bit of a dolt, but his heart's in a good place. From what I've seen, his little group has a real good outlook on things around here. They're not the strongest, but they've certainly got the mentality that'll take them straight to the Hundredth Floor," He observed, waving and stepping forward. "Yato, long time no see!" he called out to his acquaintance, grinning again - this was gonna be the best floor party yet.

Digital or Real?

He grinned as she wrapped her arms around him. The man wrapped his arms around her back, squeezing for a moment; she was right, it had been too long. Why didn't he try harder to see her more or talk to her? For a brief moment, he was fifteen again, a blissful grin meeting his lips. In fact, it was so second nature to him, he had to remind himself that they were friends and nothing more as the hug broke off and he took his seat.

"I guess a bit different, yeah," He chimed in, nursing his drink lightly as his other hand drummed nervously on the table. He hung onto every word she had, but still, it took all of his power not to shake as he drank. He just needed to loosen up a little bit. "Editing at Oxford too, eh?" He asked, genuinely impressed, "Don't feel nervous - you've always been an amazing writer. They clearly hired you for a reason, be proud of that. Hiding a broom cupboard'll get you fired," He pointed out teasingly, a small smirk on his face as he sipped his drink again. Oh boy, he was being awfully quiet... And when he was quiet, it meant he was drinking more than the people who were talking. Just slow down, James, he had to remind himself, setting the glass down again.

He shook his head, "Don't be sorry, Sashie. You can talk all you like," He reassured her, tipping his glass her way before taking another drink of it from the straw to control his intake. Inevitably, she asked about Matt and James had to wonder if he ever told her about Nathan and how that was going over... Probably not, it only happened in the last few weeks and the two of them hadn't discussed much in detail since Matt's death. James distanced himself quite a lot after that. Finally, he let out a breath and gave his ex-girlfriend a sombre smile, "It's okay. I'm well, really, I am," He told her calmly, leaning on the back two legs of his chair. He'd always done that in class too... More than once, it fell out from under him and caused the entire room to erupt into several minutes of uncontrollable laughter. Actually broke his tailbone in Junior year - what a god awful few weeks that had been... Old habits die hard, he supposed.

"We actually went to Germany when I was on break a couple of months ago... The accident site isn't there anymore, of course, but... it was good. It's a beautiful country, despite everything. I know my parents still have their days, and I miss him like hell, but I just keep myself busy. As cliché as it sounds, I take solace in the 'gone but not forgotten' mantra." The speakers died as a song faded out and James looked around as the sound of a guitar began to strum over them.

He looked at Sasha, realizing it at the same time as she did... He couldn't help but laugh as 'Riptide' filled the room. "Wow, this place really plays the oldies, eh? I'll drink to that," He said brightly, lifting his glass again. James had to wonder what exactly she was thinking about.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I live in Canterbury noworking in the same company as da. It's great - Boeing and the government both contract them a lot, it gives me a lot of experience... I like it. Word around is that we'll be getting a contract for parts on a discovery shuttle to Mars. Very delicate work. I know I won't be on the team, but it's a really big deal for everybody, it means we'll all be getting more dynamic jobs and better pay in the next few months, given that the guy with the project doesn't screw it up too bad," He explained with a wink, realizing that now it was his turn to ramble about something that Sasha likely wasn't too itnerested in, as he had done many times in the past.

The topic changed and he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Now that depends; any friends you want to introduce me to? When you're not hiding in the broom cupboard, I can go have a good snog," He teased, shaking his head as he took another sip, "No, nobody in my life right now like that. Had a few dates in uni, but I'm sure you knew a couple of engineers - our workload only grows over time. No matter how many hours you work, it's always growing," He sighed, "I'm glad to only be schooling part time now. Nothing teaches better than actually working hands-on, I'm sure you know that as well as I do. No curfew tonight, Miss Watson. What about you, still flying solo?"

Words could not describe how relieved he was that she asked if he was single. It meant that he didn't have to find some way to ask her for himself. James tapped his leg softly to the rhythm of the song... Wow did that take him back. All the way to the little clearing in the woods, before the neighbourhood was developed, when it still felt like their own little private place.