[RWBY] Sanctum IC III: A Gun Is Fine Too

[KnightDisciple]

Merah just stands there, not even minding the draining feeling. He just ate, so he's basically overflowing with energy. Plus, he keeps a couple cases of granola and nutrient bars in the room specifically so this isn't a long-term issue.

Instead, he gently activates his Semblance, directing it solely at Clara until she seems to have relaxed at least somewhat. Then he dials it down and away.

"You know I'm all about beach parties. But do you and the others on the team want to go? I'd feel worse if I was out on the beach and my team was stuck here in the castle feeling terrible.

Seriously, is there anything I can do? Or Nadia, or Shen?"

[Lord_Gareth]

"Can you bring Amber back?" Clara asks bitterly. "Can you stop her from throwing herself in front of that Nevermore for me? I never asked to be here!" The pale girl's scream lets out another tide of frustration as she slumps against the wall. "I never went to a real school, Merah! They stuck me here so I wouldn't hurt anyone. That really worked, huh? I was the leader! I was responsible!"

The pale girl's hand grips her own arm in a white-knuckled lock.

"Ink went first. It was so stupid. She tripped, you know? She liked books, wanted to help people. Amazing skill with this razor-whip of hers. She shoulda gone further than any of us, but she tripped and that was the end of it. The bird landed on her and ripped her apart. Rosa tried to save her. The second Nevermore got her."

Clara's voice settles into a low, hard rhythm, and she won't make eye contact with Merah, looks anywhere but at his face.

"We ran. Amber and I ran. What else could we do? We were exhausted, harried, hurt. She was drained from...from me. Long exercise, you know? We get a hundred feet when a feather goes through my leg. Do you know how much that hurts? She stops running. Rips it out, you know?But I'm gushing blood and my Aura is only working so fast. And she - the idiot grabs me and throws me towards the school instead of running! Shot me off of her gun and got nailed by an entire volley. We had a date set for when we got back to school, y'know? It shoulda been yesterday. It would've been yesterday."

[Leliel]

While he would normally be in the thick of the action, it seems Amandus' foot seems to have robbed him of his tongue, and thus hamminess. It's hard to think on one effective leg, let alone speak.

He's obviously trying to listen in though.

[Lord Raziere]

Aurum walks in, not paying the assistant any sort of attention but turning his head slightly to glance at Doctor Wahnsinn poring over his plans. Good. It was always such a nice thing to know that the incredible amount of money poured into this division of Fronter was being used for something worthwhile. Aurum replies lazily and matter-of-factly, moving to look over Doctor Wahnsinn's shoulders to take a quick look at the plans as he speaks. Oh? It went satisfactory. I achieved what I had sought to do in the little time presented to me. I was hardly "bitten", Doctor Ruhig, and your blatantly disrespectful tone is unacceptable. Regardless of your personal opinion as to my work and how I get it done, I have completed my task. You have yet to complete yours. I have sown the seeds of treachery among them, as well as confirming that an incredible amount of the student body happens to be Faunus. It'll all fit together perfectly...

Now... explain to me how the completed virus ought to target the body of a victim. Obviously the virus is to be fatal, but it would be astute of me to be able to recognize and comprehend my own virus, Doctor. What are the side effects? Fatal bleeding? Internal Rupturing? Does it function like a sort of cancer? He'll now move to sit down on a nearby chair and gently tap twice at his glasses. This will have them record the conversation so he can listen to the side-effects and details about the plague later. Aurum always concentrated better when he was alone and listening to some proper music.

"Well viral genetic engineering is a bit of an uncertain process, Meester Morteemus, but I'd wageer it'd be a bit like a pox- ze canceer would be too slow, those takes years to truly get going, but zere probably be lots of spots and fatal bleeding yees, methinks ze spots vould appear, then grow and grow until zey burst, as more blood fills ze spots up, yees? At least thats what I'm aiming for."

Cafeteria

[Cafeteria]

Merah had thankfully wrapped up his story, at least mostly, before some underclassman in armor walked over, started talking over him, and told a story that was...much shorter, less exciting, and more confusing.

It was apparently the one who tried to be clever and say none of the girls at the school were into boys. Now she was trying to upstage his storytelling? It's not like he'd fought her or insulted her, and he'd mostly kept the volume down so if people didn't want to take part, they could move far enough away and not hear more than the same general background noise you always hear in cafeterias.

Good thing he was done with story time and eating anyways. He started getting up to leave, bidding the folks who'd been listening goodbye...

Kedra didn't even realize that she may have insulted him, and didn't even start her storytelling until he rapped it up. She thought she was just sharing the spirit of the moment. She just kept on eating her seconds.

[Calemyr]

Mr. Lacuna sat in a chair in a corner of the room, part of the discussion yet slightly apart from it as well. He was no stranger to these meetings, but he hadn't been to one in over a decade. Still, as the situation was explained, he stood up to volunteer.

"Headmaster," he said, his voice somewhat deep and definitely serious. "I may not technically be a teacher here anymore, but I do still work for the school. And, more importantly ... my daughter is here. If she ... if this school is in danger, then I would offer my services to do what I can to stop it."

"Forgive me, Master, but I'd prefer you stay here for several reasons, chief among them is that we do not know what our invader wants. We are not even sure it is who we suspect it is. We need to ask ourselves why he is here. Is he here after one of our faculty? Perhaps the faculty in general? The students, or one student in particular? Or is he just looking for a good challenge? Until we know, I would not want to commit all of our frontline fighters to a pursuit. It'd be too easy for this to be ploy to draw the defenses away from the school, leaving the students to defend themselves. We should not send many, in fact, not until we know why he's here."

"Another (admittedly selfish) reason is because I have an Advanced Weapons Theory class at 2 and was hoping you could fill in for me."

[KnightDisciple]

"Can you bring Amber back?" Clara asks bitterly. "Can you stop her from throwing herself in front of that Nevermore for me? I never asked to be here!" The pale girl's scream lets out another tide of frustration as she slumps against the wall. "I never went to a real school, Merah! They stuck me here so I wouldn't hurt anyone. That really worked, huh? I was the leader! I was responsible!"

The pale girl's hand grips her own arm in a white-knuckled lock.

"Ink went first. It was so stupid. She tripped, you know? She liked books, wanted to help people. Amazing skill with this razor-whip of hers. She shoulda gone further than any of us, but she tripped and that was the end of it. The bird landed on her and ripped her apart. Rosa tried to save her. The second Nevermore got her."

Clara's voice settles into a low, hard rhythm, and she won't make eye contact with Merah, looks anywhere but at his face.

"We ran. Amber and I ran. What else could we do? We were exhausted, harried, hurt. She was drained from...from me. Long exercise, you know? We get a hundred feet when a feather goes through my leg. Do you know how much that hurts? She stops running. Rips it out, you know?But I'm gushing blood and my Aura is only working so fast. And she - the idiot grabs me and throws me towards the school instead of running! Shot me off of her gun and got nailed by an entire volley. We had a date set for when we got back to school, y'know? It shoulda been yesterday. It would've been yesterday."

Merah simply stands there, letting Clara vent. It's clear she needs to get this off her chest. As she goes through the story, his face is a mix of sadness and empathy.

He had a teammate who had been injured. Heavily so, even. But said teammate would live, even if it wouldn't be a Hunter's life.

Clara was not so lucky.

He couldn't think of anything elaborate to say. Instead, he stepped forward and gently hugged her, speaking softly.

"I'm sorry."

[Lord_Gareth]

Clara tenses, at first, and then she gives in to the comforting gesture and hugs Merah back, her freezing skin pressed against his. Tears she hasn't shed come pouring out. Clara didn't cry on the battlefield, couldn't bring herself to cry at the memorial service, but here, with warmth pouring through her, the pain comes washing out in a tide of sorrow. When she finally pulls away she's left cold marks everywhere she's touched Merah - the cold of sapped energy, of her soft, sucking hunger. She wipes a tear from her eye, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose my head on you like that. At least...not out in the hallway and everything. I just...the freshmen girls didn't know, and it came up, and all of a sudden it was just too much. You know?" Everything was just too much."

[KnightDisciple]

Clara tenses, at first, and then she gives in to the comforting gesture and hugs Merah back, her freezing skin pressed against his. Tears she hasn't shed come pouring out. Clara didn't cry on the battlefield, couldn't bring herself to cry at the memorial service, but here, with warmth pouring through her, the pain comes washing out in a tide of sorrow. When she finally pulls away she's left cold marks everywhere she's touched Merah - the cold of sapped energy, of her soft, sucking hunger. She wipes a tear from her eye, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose my head on you like that. At least...not out in the hallway and everything. I just...the freshmen girls didn't know, and it came up, and all of a sudden it was just too much. You know?" Everything was just too much."

Merah doesn't even flinch at the cold, or the drain on his Aura. He just holds on gently to his teammate, giving her a couple of soothing pats on her back as she wept. When she pulled away and dried her eyes, he let her, giving her a smile, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's no problem. It's not the ideal place, but sometimes, you just need to stop and feel. Before you let yourself sink deeper into the mire.

And...I do and don't know. Don't fully know, anyway. I've had moments where something innocent just...surged up. It's fine."

He suddenly clapped his hands once, his tail curling around his waist.

"So! I need to swing by the room to finish writing the reports. "Correctly", or as I like to call it, boringly. You can come, or not, up to you! As for the beach party thing, let me know if you, Shen, and/or Nadia decide to go. I'll have to see what my schedule holds."

Likely he won't go if none of his team does.

[Arkhosia]

Merah doesn't even flinch at the cold, or the drain on his Aura. He just holds on gently to his teammate, giving her a couple of soothing pats on her back as she wept. When she pulled away and dried her eyes, he let her, giving her a smile, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's no problem. It's not the ideal place, but sometimes, you just need to stop and feel. Before you let yourself sink deeper into the mire.

And...I do and don't know. Don't fully know, anyway. I've had moments where something innocent just...surged up. It's fine."

He suddenly clapped his hands once, his tail curling around his waist.

"So! I need to swing by the room to finish writing the reports. "Correctly", or as I like to call it, boringly. You can come, or not, up to you! As for the beach party thing, let me know if you, Shen, and/or Nadia decide to go. I'll have to see what my schedule holds."

Likely he won't go if none of his team does.

Lunch=>Hallway
Hey guys, I should go get my stuff ready for next class. See ya later! she says to the rest of team RLCK as she gets up and goes to get ready for class.
---------------------------------
After he's done speaking, Caelynn walks out and into the hallway, draining another cup of coffee.
She seems slightly shaky due to said coffee.

[ImpSyndrome]

[Cafeteria]

Nadia looks up to respond when Merah starts his story. Now, she actually facepalms. Rubbing her temples, she fights it off long enough to look up to Rip, and, pointing her fist to her throat (which he could see by this distance is scarred), twists.

This is as far as Nadia needs to go before Rip realizes her meaning, and he facepalms at the recognition, utterly mortified. "I am...so sorry," he soon responds. "I didn't notice at all...I'll just, umm...I'll just leave you alone now." He turns back to the table, ashamed that he overlooked such an important detail. Nadia can engage him again if she chooses, but he assumes that she's frustrated now and would rather not deal with him any further. Odd that he understands her gesture, though...

[Elricaltovilla]

Cafeteria

Jack got up from the table and nodded at each of his teammates in turn.
"Ah'll see y'all at the next class, Kaden if'n ya still want ta see me fight, Ah'll meet ya at the gym fer a sparrin' match."

With that the newest team member of Kaiser walked away to his next class.

[Jadev]

Shen is still trying to compose herself after the incident that was storytime when she notices something-- she can still feel Merah. Even though he's left she feels a strong sense of worry emanating from him. This is certainly odd-- Shen has never gotten this far away from someone and still felt their aura. Not since her connection with her brother has anything like this ever happened, and they were connected by blood. Even then she could only feel him from about one block away in open air-- Merah is separated by several walls at this point. And he's worrying about something... that's certainly not a usual emotion for him.

Shen gets up and heads out of the cafeteria, walking quickly towards Merah (and, as she realizes later, Clara). When she catches up with them she notices the shattered light bulbs and everyone's somewhat somber appearance.

Is everything alright? You two felt a bit off when you left, so I figured I'd check up on you.

No need to let Merah know what's going on with her semblance-- Shen didn't really want any jokes about it right now.

[Hattish Thing]

"Well viral genetic engineering is a bit of an uncertain process, Meester Morteemus, but I'd wageer it'd be a bit like a pox- ze canceer would be too slow, those takes years to truly get going, but zere probably be lots of spots and fatal bleeding yees, methinks ze spots vould appear, then grow and grow until zey burst, as more blood fills ze spots up, yees? At least thats what I'm aiming for."

Aurum shudders just a tad. Poxes were incredibly nasty things... Aurum remembered having a particularly painful case of chicken pox when he was younger. Luckily, the bout hadn't left any scars on his face, though his shoulders were somewhat scarred from it. Mm, alright then. A pox that'd function around internal bleeding, blood loss, coughing, and possibly hemorrhaging? Good. A pox would spread incredibly easy due to being able to cross from person to person as quick as a pox can... That's good. Now, tell me, how does it spread? How can infect most of the population? the water supply?

Mr. Lacuna sat in a chair in a corner of the room, part of the discussion yet slightly apart from it as well. He was no stranger to these meetings, but he hadn't been to one in over a decade. Still, as the situation was explained, he stood up to volunteer.

"Headmaster," he said, his voice somewhat deep and definitely serious. "I may not technically be a teacher here anymore, but I do still work for the school. And, more importantly ... my daughter is here. If she ... if this school is in danger, then I would offer my services to do what I can to stop it."

The Headmaster smiles a bit at Mr. Lacuna, enjoying the ex-teacher's presence. It was always so nice to see a familiar face! Of course, Lacuna. You're a valuable asset to our school. We do need some members to join us, and you're a very capable man.

[Faculty Meeting]

Rokoran enters late. He looks awful.

"Sorry 'm late... fell 'sleep... bad memories."

He collapses into a chair and rubs his face.

"What's going on?"

Moloch speaks to Rokoran as the Headmaster replies to Mr. Lacuna. Quit yer reshting, there'sh shomeone dangeroush in the foresht. No more than twenty minutesh away. We're shending a shearch party.

Faculty Meeting

Reinhold rubbed his chin as the other teachers talked. A patrol would be nice for securing the immediate area but they had a slight disadvantage here. This person apparently had intimate enough knowledge of the school thanks to being her before. So the defenses were not going to be as effective as they normally were. He could try setting up some of his traps but there was the chance that a student could get caught in them. Oh well, maybe one of the other teachers had a way to make the idea work.

"Well I have a class coming up so I can't really help patrol at the moment. However, Headmaster as you are aware I had a extensive background with the military before I became a hunter. I have some old contacts I could try to get in touch with to find our target. Also I have extensive trapping skills. If there is a way to ensure that the students don't get caught in them I could set some of those up as well."

Headmaster raises an eyebrow slowly. Bring in contactsh? I don't think that'd be such a good idea. IT'd alert the students, and we don't want them to panic.

[Lord_Gareth]

Clara hadn't been certain what to say to Caelynn's arrival in the hall, which makes Shen's arrival a godsend. Clara smiles wanly at her teammate, though her expression falters when she parses out Shen's words.

"Felt?" Clara inquires, her voice scratchy at the edges.

[Jadev]

Shen is confused for a second, but then realizes something.

That's right. I don't think it's ever come up. You know how I can sense auras with my semblance? As a side-affect, I can also sense people's emotions. Sorry for not telling you earlier...

[GrandDM]

Moloch speaks to Rokoran as the Headmaster replies to Mr. Lacuna. Quit yer reshting, there'sh shomeone dangeroush in the foresht. No more than twenty minutesh away. We're shending a shearch party.

Rokoran gives him a look. It's not a good look. Anger, despair and loneliness all vie for dominance.

Resting? Is that what you think I've been doing? Tormented constantly by the memory... I haven't truly rested since then... go and be abrasive elsewhere, Moloch. I am not in the mood to deal with you.

[Hawkflight]

"Forgive me, Master, but I'd prefer you stay here for several reasons, chief among them is that we do not know what our invader wants. We are not even sure it is who we suspect it is. We need to ask ourselves why he is here. Is he here after one of our faculty? Perhaps the faculty in general? The students, or one student in particular? Or is he just looking for a good challenge? Until we know, I would not want to commit all of our frontline fighters to a pursuit. It'd be too easy for this to be ploy to draw the defenses away from the school, leaving the students to defend themselves. We should not send many, in fact, not until we know why he's here."

"Another (admittedly selfish) reason is because I have an Advanced Weapons Theory class at 2 and was hoping you could fill in for me."

"....You are right, of course," said Lex, rubbing his forehead. "Apologies, I fear being a father has made me somewhat more rash than I used to be. While you're out searching for him, I'll make sure the school is secure. I'll also make sure no student goes out alone, just to be safe. Professor Mogrym, what can you tell us about this man?"

As he spoke, Lex switched out the red dust canister on the sheath of his weapon, inserting a canister of white force dust in its place.

[KnightDisciple]

Shen gets up and heads out of the cafeteria, walking quickly towards Merah (and, as she realizes later, Clara). When she catches up with them she notices the shattered light bulbs and everyone's somewhat somber appearance.

Is everything alright? You two felt a bit off when you left, so I figured I'd check up on you.

No need to let Merah know what's going on with her semblance-- Shen didn't really want any jokes about it right now.

Clara hadn't been certain what to say to Caelynn's arrival in the hall, which makes Shen's arrival a godsend. Clara smiles wanly at her teammate, though her expression falters when she parses out Shen's words.

"Felt?" Clara inquires, her voice scratchy at the edges.

Shen is confused for a second, but then realizes something.

That's right. I don't think it's ever come up. You know how I can sense auras with my semblance? As a side-affect, I can also sense people's emotions. Sorry for not telling you earlier...

Merah lets Shen and Clara talk for a moment, one eye watching Caelynn as she walks by.

"Clara and I just had to talk something over. I was concerned for a bit, but we've got it sorted. Sometimes we just need to talk things over with a sympathetic ear.

Anyways, I'm gonna go write reports. Y'all can come or not, up to you. Either way, Clara mentioned a big beach party. You ladies ought to decide if you want to be going!"

He gave an exaggerated grin and wink at that, clearly back in true form, trying to provide a cheerful presence in his team's life.

Merah's such a giver.

[Arkhosia]

Merah lets Shen and Clara talk for a moment, one eye watching Caelynn as she walks by.

"Clara and I just had to talk something over. I was concerned for a bit, but we've got it sorted. Sometimes we just need to talk things over with a sympathetic ear.

Anyways, I'm gonna go write reports. Y'all can come or not, up to you. Either way, Clara mentioned a big beach party. You ladies ought to decide if you want to be going!"

He gave an exaggerated grin and wink at that, clearly back in true form, trying to provide a cheerful presence in his team's life.

Merah's such a giver.

Caelynn walks by, but a keen observer can tell from the movement of her feline ears that she's listening in.

[strawberryman]

(Cafeteria)

Odd indeed. Nadia looks at the freshman with muted curiosity. Experimentally, she makes more gestures.

It's fine. You can stay.

[Lord_Gareth]

"For what it's worth, I wanna go," Clara says with a small shrug. "It sounds like a lot of fun! Plus beach parties usually have fires lit, and I can actually get warm without spending my Aura like water to do it. Trust me, you people are not the only ones who notice that I'm cold all the time. The eight freakin' blankets on my bed are non-decorative."

[Hattish Thing]

"....You are right, of course," said Lex, rubbing his forehead. "Apologies, I fear being a father has made me somewhat more rash than I used to be. While you're out searching for him, I'll make sure the school is secure. I'll also make sure no student goes out alone, just to be safe. Professor Mogrym, what can you tell us about this man?"

As he spoke, Lex switched out the red dust canister on the sheath of his weapon, inserting a canister of white force dust in its place.

Mogrym sits and taps lightly at the table as he speaks. Connal'sh a big brute of a man, as tall as he is shtrong. Physically, he'sh a mountain of power and he'sh been knowing to rip entire treesh apart. In hish prime, he wash a rebel for an underground terrorisht Faunush group reshponsible for the bombing of sheveral locations. And anarchisht and a killer. He caresh not for human emotion but only for the advancement of hish goalsh. He'sh evil.

Rokoran gives him a look. It's not a good look. Anger, despair and loneliness all vie for dominance.

Resting? Is that what you think I've been doing? Tormented constantly by the memory... I haven't truly rested since then... go and be abrasive elsewhere, Moloch. I am not in the mood to deal with you.

Moloch raises a hand up to his side. I meant no offenshe, Professhor. But thish is a real threat we're dealing with right now and we need to concentrate.

A shearch party should be gathered and shent ash shoon ash posshible. Whos' with me?

Moloch stands up and puts his chair in.

[ImpSyndrome]

(Cafeteria)

Odd indeed. Nadia looks at the freshman with muted curiosity. Experimentally, she makes more gestures.

It's fine. You can stay.

((Dangit, why must we be online at totally different times?))

Unfortunately, Rip doesn't seem to understand all of Nadia's gestures, but there are a few things he recognizes, and the tone of her expression and of her body language helps to fill in the blanks. It takes a moment for him to decipher her meaning, but he eventually says, "Oh...OK, thanks...(I owe you one for teaching me, Hank.)" Should the girl catch on, he'll explain, "Hank is a friend of mine from back home. His hearing went bad when we were kids, so he taught me some sign so we could still understand each other. I didn't learn much more than the basics, though..."

Either way, he'll turn to face Nadia again and offer his name: "Oh, I'm Rip, by the way...Rip Vance. I'm with Team Kaiser."

[Jadev]

Shen ponders the idea of a beach party for a second.

I suppose I could go. I think I have a swimsuit...

Then she starts walking in the direction of their room.

But first, reports. We've delayed them for long enough.

[strawberryman]

(Cafeteria)

Nadia watches and listens to Rip, observing his every move, and examining his facial expressions. When he formally introduces himself, she looks down to consider, pulling out her chalk board. Writing for a few moments, she holds the small slate up.

Nadia
Team Sleipnir

Her writing is uniform and neat, nearly as muted as her general demeanor.

[ImpSyndrome]

(Cafeteria)

Nadia watches and listens to Rip, observing his every move, and examining his facial expressions. When he formally introduces himself, she looks down to consider, pulling out her chalk board. Writing for a few moments, she holds the small slate up.

Her writing is uniform and neat, nearly as muted as her general demeanor.

The chalkboard catches him off-guard; a digital tablet would be the norm these days, and even pen and paper would make more sense, but this is just...archaic, for lack of a better term. "Team Sleipnir," Rip reads from Nadia's slate once she's finished. "That's the same team as Merah, isn't it...? Explains the reaction. Well, sorry about the false start earlier, but it's nice to meet you, Nadia."

[strawberryman]

(Cafeteria)

Nadia gives the freshman a very slight nod, putting the chalkboard away, and finishing her meal. Gesturing quickly, she moves to leave the table.

See you around.

Before Rip can respond, she is already gone, like a silent shadow! Leaving the cafeteria, Nadia passes by Clara, Shen, and Pangeran.

For a moment, she looks like she's considering just slipping by. That moment is probably enough to get her caught, but such is life.

[Lord_Gareth]

"Nadia! Beach party tonight?" Clara's question has a hopeful edge to it as she waves to the mute girl. "We were about to go write reports but I can catch up in a minute. If you wanted to go I need to go tell the hostess that we're all coming."

[Arkhosia]

Caelynn turns to wave to Nadia as she walks away to her locker, a short distance away.

Spoiler

Show

When will get a sense of nervousness and hope to interact from Caelynn!

[strawberryman]

(Hallways)

Nadia looks... okay, she is pretty much always carrying that muted expression, it would be more out of the ordinary for her to display anything else. Calmly she shakes her head.

Then, something weird happens. She doubles down on the head-shaking by making a 'no' gesture. Several times.

Then, she departs, looking very slightly frazzled. Now that Clara thinks about it, she's never seen Nadia out of anything with long sleeves and leg covering...

Not to mention she's been rather paranoid with her bath habits. She almost never goes in the girl's shower room during busy time periods. Merah and Shen would of course have already known this, but even now they hadn't gotten a clear answer from her about these habits. Maybe she's self-conscious?

Spoiler: Shen

Show

If Shen is still nearby, she feels a tinge of embarrassment and shame from Nadia!