After several moments of consideration, your gaze alternating between the awkwardly standing and creepily grinning Penny to the brooding pale-ass boy over to the other side of the ballroom, staring blankly at his coat. After some brief consideration, you decide to prioritize Roman's advice of making allies, rather than making sure your allies don't anything stupid. You're interested—if only mildly irritated—in the noble-boy, and you're pretty sure Penny can help herself if things go wrong.
Striding over to your destination, you note and dismiss the indiscreet glances directed to you. In the back of your mind, you reassure yourself that you'll have the chance to teach each and every one of them a lesson in that staring at you is generally a bad idea, soon. You won't kill them, of course. That'd come later if they haven't learned their lesson. While killing them would be inadvisable, you entertain the thought of killing one of them in their sleep as a warning. A harmless, if dark, musing.
Noble-boy doesn't even twitch or look at your arrival, although you do notice the subtle glance he sends you, and the slightest tilt of his head acknowledging you. Other than that, he resumes to do whatever it is he's doing to his coat. Staring at it blankly, that is.
"So…" you intone awkwardly, pausing for a moment, before you crouch several inches away at by his side. You look at the coat on his lap, remembering the low number of Lines it had. "That's a fancy coat, you have there."
He glances at you, gives you the barest of nod, and returns to his coat. "Unsetting Sun," he says after a moment. The slightest bit of pride apparent in his tone. "Family tradition."
You tilt your head to the side, "I see," no, you don't.
He hums; a short and cutting note. "You've noticed." He states quietly, giving you a subtle glance of the tiniest hints of surprise.
You smile, tapping your right temple. "Special eyes." You answer his unasked question. He seems to accept it as he returns to his coat, even if you don't know what the coat actually does. "So, do you have a name?"
Another long moment of silence, before he grunts softly. "Umbra. Umbra Laeve."
You hum. "I'm Ciane Skye. Call me Cyan." Another moment of silence. You've gotten everything you need by now, mainly his name, but there's a question bugging your mind. "So you're a noble?"
He closes his eyes, and for a moment, you think you've managed to accidentally fuck up. You're not Roman, after all. But then he opens his eyes, and there's still a possibility that you've hit a nerve. "Laeve Family. Not as famous, or infamous, as the Schnee. Good thing."
You blink. Wow. You think that's the longest sentence he has said to you. Longer than the one earlier this afternoon. Still, you definitely touched a nerve there. "I see. Well, I better get going," you rise up to your feet, not bothering to say goodbye as you return to your bed. You doubt he would reciprocate.
()_()_()
Sitting at a cafeteria table, you watch in morbid fascination as Eli proceeds to devour and exhale bacons and eggs with the ferocity of a starved pack of wolves in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Dust, she's even worse than Neo on her bad days. The only good thing is at least she's keeping her food in her plate. Starkly in contrast is Penny sitting across of you, not a plate on her table as she watches Eli with a large 'O'.
Looking back down to your plate, you gulp down your a piece of your syrup-slathered butter-smothered stacks of waffles. Good food is hard to come by back in Vale. Roman's not exactly a spectacular cook, and Neo only eats ice cream. You could eat out, of course, but it's too much of a waste when Roman could cook. Even if his food is mediocre at best.
"So," Eli's muffled voice catches your attention. She slurps down the piece of bacon stuck in her lips, before turning to you with a fanged grin."What do you think the Initiation is going to be about?"
You chew on your food slowly in thought, before shrugging as you swallow it down. "I would guess it's going to involve a battle or some kind," at this, you replicate Eli's fanged grin. "Which would explain the need for our weapons. It should also decide who's on what team,"
"Hah!" Eli smacks your back—much to your consternation—her fangs poking out a bit. "If I get anyone weaker than you as a teammate, I'll beat them into submission,"
You chuckle a bit, being careful to not choke and die. "Well, I pity whoever will be on your team, then." You look up to Penny. "And what do you think about the Initiation, Penny?"
She tilts her head in that twitching halting motion. "Well, according to one of my father's friends, her Atlas' Initiation involved militaristic discipline, survival, and teamwork. If my calculations and quick research prove to be correct, our Initiation shall test our survival ability, teamwork, and will proceed in the Emerald Forest. Said forest is inhabited by Grimm, so I predict we will encounter those as well."
Eli blinks. "Uh…"
You blink, scratching your chin. "I… see? I suppose that would make sense." You acquiesce, feeling part confused, and part excited that you're going to fight Grimm if Penny is correct. You're not fully buying her prediction, of course, but it's a nice thought to have."Your father must get around as well,"
Penny smiles in that uncanny way of hers, nodding in agreement. "Indeed, he does!"
"Yeah," Eli pulls her jaw back up, pointing at you. "What Cyan said. The first part, not the second. Welp," she turns to her plate. "Imma finish this." By the grin on her face, she seems to be excited as you are about the Initiation. Well, more excited, you would think.
()_()_()
Standing over the cliff watching over the Emerald Forest, an odd propeller contraption under your feet, and Eli on your left, you can't help but marvel the fact that Penny's prediction may be accurate. That sends a wave of shuddering thrills down into your spine, and a feral smile on your face. You never quite fought Grimm, not really. So this will be an entirely new experience, you can cut loose without worrying about overkill.
You bounce on the balls of your feet calmly.
"Now," Glynda's voice brings your and others' attention to her, a tablet scroll cradled on her hands. "I'm sure you have heard rumors about how we assign teams. Well," her eyes gaze around the soon-to-be students, stopping on Eli and you, before moving on "Allow me to put an end to the confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today." Looking satisfied, Glynda takes a step back.
Ozpin takes her place, a white mug of what is presumably coffee held in his hand. His gaze sweeps pass all of you, before he speaks. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time in Beacon. So it is in your best interest to pair up with someone with whom you could work well with." An enigmatic smile suddenly replaces his flat lips. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for four years."
You blink, momentarily put off-kilter by his declaration. Eye contact? After landing? What. You glance to Eli, who seems to have done the same. Looking past her, you catch Penny standing awkwardly. Past Penny, there's Umbra Laeve.
You're not going to one-hundred percent believe what the Headmaster said, but it does make you wonder. Who was the first person you meet eyes with after landing?
You miss what the Headmaster was saying, but you catch something along the line of 'don't hold back', which is something you're not going to do anyways. Holding back, that is. He then proceeds to give you the instructions on how to pass the test. Simple enough, really. Get thrown, land, find partner, find temple, take a relic, and come back here.
"Any question?"
Someone does, apparently, as a familiar mop of blonde raises his hand. "Yes, sir…?
Headmaster Ozpin seems content to ignore the boy as he nods in finality. "Good."
You take a stance.
What's your Landing Strategy?
[] ???
---
You've made a Neutral First Impression with Umbra Laeve
