RWBY: Welcome to Lodestar (A Fate Core System RP) - Game Thread

[Drummodino]

As the rest of their classmates gathered around them Elva began pawing through the rubble, looking for anything that could be salvaged. Sadly that appeared to be futile task, even their clothes were torn and covered in dust. After heaving a large wooden beam to the side she came across her Huntress figurine, or half of it at least. The model's upper body had been crushed and shattered into a dozen tiny pieces.

Anger bubbling up within her, Elva carefully placed the remains of her treasure in her pouch and looked over to the others. Surprise surprise, Team RFUS was here mocking them. Matt was restraining Amber instead of her for once and Jet was wearing a murderous expression on his face. With Umbra and Rufus' attention focused on them, Elva crept around behind the laughing Umbra and carefully tip-toed over to her. Getting right up next to her, she pulled her fist back and threw a punch at the girl's head...

...only to have her spin around and catch Elva's fist in her hand.

'Oh shit' Elva thought as Umbra smiled venomously at her.

 

[Arcanist]

As Amber struggled against his grapple, Matt stood firm, tightening his grip as she tried to slip free. He had to be careful - while Aura made a person more resilient, he doubted Amber's arms or body would fare well if he gripped as tightly as he could. Eventually, after she struggled for a brief moment, she appeared to calm down. On top of that, she was soaking wet, her clothes clinging... to...

His face quickly shoots upwards, flushing a shade of crimson. Those thoughts were threatening to take his mind somewhere very dangerous if he insisted on pursuing them.

"Alright, fine. I won't beat him up. Yet. So you can put me down now, Matt." He breathed a sigh of relief and set her back on her feet, releasing his hold. "O-okay, good."

"Hey, Mr. Boss-Man, I'm going to go let the faculty know what happened. See if they've got any other housing open. Or maybe at least some sleeping bags. ...Actually, yeah, a camp-out might be fun. Build a fire, roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories..."

Matt paused for a moment as he considered Claire's proposal. He doubted Lodestar had any other rooming for lowly freshmen, and in that case it was unlikely their current predicament would be solved before nightfall. Getting started on a temporary solution would have to be one of his top priorities.

And who knew? Maybe this could be a good thing. Team MJSC wasn't all that much of a team, and maybe a little group problem-solving was just the thing they needed to start off on better footing. "You know what, Claire? I think that sounds like a good idea, too." He turned to take a quick look at what remained of his dorm room - most of the blankets and sheets had been torn up by the rubble in the collapse, but some of it would likely still be serviceable. "Maybe you could ask if we could borrow some of the survival gear? Lodestar's bound to have some, if they send us on training missions into the Wastes."

He turns around, stretching his arms. He walks over to the pile of rubble burying the remains of his dorm room and effortlessly hefts up a the shattered remains of a support beam, before tossing it aside. "I'll get to work clearing all this out, in the meantime. Is there anything you want me to be to be careful about?"

 

[hiei82]

"...if I find you responsible for this or anything else, I'll make sure your team won't have a reason to be called RFUS anymore."

Rufus scoffed and smiled in contempt. "My team hasn't done anything to your rooms though I can see why your puny animal brain might think that. As for your "warning"; I'd like to see you try; there's a reason humans are at the top of the food chain."

From there, her pivoted on his feet and made his way toward the stairs. "Oh, and if you need any help with your campfire, I know just the guy to help." he said, pointing over his shoulder at Flammel. In turn, the flame user snapped his fingers and made a little flame. A moment later it extinguished as the flame user flicked his wrist, extinguished the flame, and waved slightly as he followed Rufus.

Umbra heard as someone approached her, even as she was laughing up a storm. Once Elva closed in and threw the punch, Umbra shifted slightly and caught the punch. "Wow. Stupid AND violent. Is this something you and your brother picked up like a disease or is it more of a family trait?" she said. A moment later, she pulled Elva over and onto the floor. "I'm definitely going to enjoy Friday's class; I'll certainly be teaching you and your brother something." she offered with a cruel smile. "Until then; stay out of my way or next time I break your wrist so bad even Septia can't put you back together again."

Then she was gone; fading into the shadows without another word.

Meanwhile, back at the debris, Amber and Erik had pulled Jade free of the rubble. From there, Amber had evidently decided to "say a few words" to Team RFUS. Jade personally wanted to do the same - if they weren't responsible, she'd eat her cloak - but for the moment she was busy assessing the damages to herself and the room.

Shortly there after, she made her way over to Michelle and Matt; clearly they were having a "Team Leader Meeting" and she wasn't gonna let something structural failure stop them from including her. "Could this school just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" Jade asked rhetorically; clearly she already knew the answer.

 

[Arcanist]

"Could this school just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?"

Michelle sighed as team RFUS made their ignoble departure back to their own dorm rooms. "I was hoping people would put petty things like this behind them, if they were going to study here. The Grimm don't give two shits about who you are." She rubs the bridge of her nose, frustration evident. "Wishful thinking, I guess."

"Hey, it's not all bad. Nobody got hurt, for one-"

"That was luck, Steele. Rufus collapsed your team dorms knowing damn well people were still inside. Honestly? I'm shocked you aren't on the warpath - I know I would."

Matt hefts another pile of rubble over his shoulder, pointedly avoiding Michelle's gaze. "...I'm not a war-pathy person."

"Clearly." Michelle takes a moment to regard him again before continuing. "What I don't get is why he'd make such a bold move so quickly. I mean, sure, you have Faunus teammates, but so do I. This is... a little extreme."

"Well, um..." Matt rubs the back of his neck, his face starting to flush with embarrassment. "I might have... welded Umbra's feet to the floor during Professor Francis's class."

"What."

"And there was that time I threw Rufus across the airship dining hall..."

"What." Michelle releases an exasperated sigh. "Well, I guess that explains... wait. You did what to Umbra?"

Matt's face flushes further. "Oh, right, I, uh, still haven't told you." He awkwardly clears his throat, hoping it would help him throw off some of the embarrassment pressing down on him like a weight. "Well... I noticed Umbra was doing something weird to your Dust presentation."

Michelle gave him a skeptical glare, crossing her arms in a chiding gesture. "And you noticed this when we didn't because...?"

"Because I noticed she was gone. I think her Semblance lets her be ignored, or something like it. I still couldn't see her, but once I was looking for it I noticed weird things happening around your table."

Her glare sharpens, seeming to scrutinize Matt's face carefully. When she doesn't move to speak, Matt continues, assuming it to be his cue to finish his explanation. "So I used my Semblance to weld her feet to the floor, and drag her away from your table. That's what my demonstration was - nobody noticed that part, though, because of her Semblance." He laughs a little, more out of embarrassment than humor. "I guess it sounds a pretty outlandish when you put it into words..."

Michelle just continues to glare at him, and for a brief instant Matt fears she hadn't believed him. After a tense moment, however, her expression softens. "...Thank you."

"Huh?"

"You didn't have to do that, and it's brought you nothing but trouble-" She gestures vaguely to the huge pile of rubble behind him. "-but you did. So... thank you."

"I... don't worry about it. Henry did the same thing for us yesterday, right?" Matt turns back to his ruined dorm, scooping up yet more assorted detritus. He was joined soon afterwards by Erik, apparently at the behest of his leader, and after a couple of hours of labor the two of them managed to clear out the rubble that had once cluttered their dorm room.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

When Matt finally set her down, she scoffed at Ochre and the rest of Team RFUS as she straightened out her damp uniform so that it wasn't quite so clingy. As Team RFUS turned to leave with a few parting barbs, she took a step forward in what looked like the beginning of another charge, but she just glared in their direction behind her hair.

"Hey, Ochre-baby. Look forward to Friday, 'cause that's when I'm finally gonna make good on my promise to put you in your place. I'll be seeing you then, if you're man enough." she called out with a sneer.

The moment they were all out of sight, she waved a dismissive hand in their direction before joining the Team Leaders as they spoke. The Leader of Team MECH in particular was surprised about Matt's restraint.

"That was luck, Steele. Rufus collapsed your team dorms knowing damn well people were still inside. Honestly? I'm shocked you aren't on the warpath - I know I would."

Matt made a point to avoid her stare as he continued to clear some of the rubble.

"...I'm not a war-pathy person."

"Ha! I noticed. I am though, and while I wish you didn't hold me back from slugging Ochre in the face... Thanks." Amber said, her face softening into a small smile, "If you didn't, chances were I would be the one in trouble for the fight, and they'd be booting my sorry ass out of here. That insufferable little prick isn't worth it."

At that, she reached into the rubble and pulled out part of her still-packed luggage from the wreckage of their dorms and gave them a wave.

"I'm going to get clean and changed, then I'll help finish this mess off. I don't want to catch a cold thanks to their 'pranks'." she told them.

[hr]

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Amber returned to the aftermath left in Team RFUS's wake, and started to dig alongside Matt and the biggest member of MECH, Erik if she remembered correctly. The rest of the cleanup took hours, and when they were finished she stretched with a groan.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Schwarz came upon the scene in the dorms after events had run their course, though appeared unfazed by the collapse of the teams' rooms. If anyone bothered to watch him, the only sign that he even made note of the damage was with a roll of the eyes, the frown on his face remaining solid as stone.

Wordlessly, Schwarz hopped down into the wreckage and went over to where his part of the room once was. Kicking away a few pieces of debris, Schwarz uncovered what appeared to be a small footlocker, but solid and without any notable separation between "lid" and "container". Schwarz didn't bother to open it, simply nodding as he confirmed its existence and its apparent lack of damage. With that, Schwarz departed, again not uttering a word or offer of helping to deal with the repairs.

He was preoccupied with hunting down the thief that dared to steal his beautiful creation.

However, as he reached an exit to the Hall, the door opened just before he could reach it. In the doorway, stood Claire, trying to enter the building.

For an instant, surprise crossed Schwarz' face, but he quickly realized his target was in front of him, and his face turned to anger. "You!" In almost a blink of an eye, Blooming Anemone was drawn, the blade pointed at Claire. "In better days, thieves lost a hand for such heinous crimes..." Schwarz's grimace contorted into an ugly frown, one of disgust. "...oh how your kind flourishes when given such leniency!"

 

[Drummodino]

Elva hit the ground hard with a loud thud, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. Umbra was stronger than she'd given her credit for, she'd made that look easy. She was faster too Elva thought ruefully, wincing at the pain from her shoulder. She was gonna have a nice bruise in a few hours or so.

Umbra left with some sneering words and a hateful expression. Glaring after her, Elva gingerly got to her feet and walked over to the rubble. So Umbra was going to come after her and Matt on Friday huh? Fine by her, she was looking forward to giving that ***** a taste of her axe. Rufus too if he came within striking range, although she had a feeling Amber was going to be chasing after him.

Sighing wih regret, Elva began assisting with clearing the wreckage. She may not be the strongest member of the team but she could pull her weight. As she heaved aside a particularly heavy beam Schwarz appeared, quickly poking through the rubble before leaving without a word.

"Yo Schwarz! Give us a hand would ya?" Elva called after him, but he was too far away to hear her. Cursing she hurried after him, catching up just in time to hear him blast Claire.

"...oh how your kind flourishes when given such leniency!"

"HEY! Back the hell off mister!" she yelled, angrily pushing Schwarz from the side before standing in front of Claire. "Put that poking stick away before someone gets hurt!"

Elva really should learn to stop rushing into confrontations without her weapon on hand...

 

[Redryhno]

"My team hasn't done anything to your rooms though I can see why your puny animal brain might think that. As for your "warning"; I'd like to see you try; there's a reason humans are at the top of the food chain."

"Certainly through no effort of your own, rich boy,"she replied, struggling to maintain her composure,"We saw you hiding behind your team in the Wastes." She snorted,"Guess we'll find out if you're actually worth anything later. Don't take what I say lightly, or you'll end up on your ass again."

Turning back, she gathered her study notes where she'd dropped them and held them close to her chest along with her pillow, still relieved that it had survived.

"...oh how your kind flourishes when given such leniency!"

"HEY! Back the hell off mister!"

Exhaling heavily, her temper about to break, she marched over to Schwarz and Elva and grabbed the back of his coat.

"You threaten a Faunus again Zaan, and I'll have to lump you in with the other rich boy. I'm getting very tired of dealing with it today." She gripped the coat tighter to emphasis her point. Then she let it go and continued on, clutching her notes and pillow to her chest as she made her way into the dilapidated Freshmen main hall to sit and study for a bit. She had a week to understand the basics of Dust, and she was starting years behind Elva's knowledge.

 

[Pappytech]

"Maybe you could ask if we could borrow some of the survival gear? Lodestar's bound to have some, if they send us on training missions into the Wastes."

"Right, can do," Claire replied. Now, the question was, who should she talk to? One of the faculty, certainly, but who'd really be in charge of this sort of thing? Professor Barca probably didn't deal with something this mundane, duPrince... probably wouldn't want to help that much, and Francis... Oooh! What about Professor van Wink? Even if he couldn't help her directly, Claire got the impression that he would at least know where she should go.

Her goal set, the Faunus prepared to set off towards the main buildings and - "You!"

"Hmm?" Claire glanced up, just in time to catch a familiar face. "Oh, hey Mr. Zaan! I was looking for you, actually."

But Schwarz apparently wasn't looking to make smalltalk, considering how swiftly he drew his sword. "In better days, thieves lost a hand for such heinous crimes... oh how your kind flourishes when given such leniency!"

"Um... I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding here," she said, smiling sheepishly as she glanced down the length of her teammate's sword. "You see, I-"

"HEY! Back the hell off mister!" And then Elva joined the conversation, angrily shoving Schwarz before interposing herself between him and Claire. "Uh, thank you again, Elva, but I was actually trying to talk to-"

Now Di was interrupting as well. Chuckling and shaking her head in resigned defeat, Claire gently pushed her way past Elva, and shot a pointed glance towards the other Faunus. "Look, thanks for the support, but I really do need to talk to Mr. Zaan here."

Giving Schwarz an apologetic grin, Claire started rustling in her bag, searching for the White crystal she'd found earlier. "Heh, sorry about that. I would say we should try to keep inter-team conflicts to our room, but all things considered... Well, I'm sure the situation will get resolved one way or the other. Anyway... Ah, here it is!"

Pulling the chunk of Dust out of her bag, the Faunus gave the stone a once over to confirm it hadn't been damaged, and then tossed it over to Schwarz. "Someone invisible put that into my bag while I was printing some stuff off at the computer stations. I think it was that one girl from RFUS, the one with black hair. Mr. Leader mentioned that she could turn invisible or something. You should probably keep a closer eye on your stuff with her around. It'd have been bad if I hadn't found the crystal; who knows where it would've turned up!"

Smiling, Claire resumed her walk, before turning back to face her teammate "Oh, and I read over that paper you were talking about, "The Properties of Violet Dust and its Effects on Other Dust Reactions". Neat topic; nice job recommending it. I know some of the more complex operations require two people, but I'm going to go ahead and get started on the more basic stuff, alright? I mean, probably not tonight, but there should be time after class tomorrow."

Having finally returned the crystal, Claire was now more than happy enough to resume her current mission: Tracking down Professor van Wink.

 

[hiei82]

Claire managed to track own Prof. van Wink without too much difficulty. The man was... odd, but given everything that had happened in the last half week or so that wasn't saying much. Regardless, she returned triumphant with all the supplies they needed for the evening. Several old sleeping bags and a pair of tents.

Setting everything up hadn't taken too long, but the night itself was uncomfortable to say the least. Still, for hunters-in-training, that wasn't much to deal with.

[hr]

The following morning came all too quickly for all of them. The only redeeming factor of Beowolf Hall was that the showers were separate from their rooms, giving them all the ability to take much desired showers before class.

Class today was Remnant History with Prof. van Wink in Deathstalker Hall. Deathstalker Hall was - by all appearances - a former barracks that had been hastily converted into a classroom. The building had old desks and chairs haphazardly located around the central room. The room was large, but cramped due to the countless bookcases that lined the walls. Each bookcase had nearly a hundred books of wildly varying topics, all with no sense of order to them at all. Despite all these books, the room looked more like a secondary library than a classroom however due to the complete lack of any board or podium or semblance of teaching equipment. However, true to expectations, Prof. van Wink stood in the center of the room with a wild smile on his face. AS students approached, he waved them in and to seats with a fervor one would expect more from a preacher than a teacher.

Once everyone was situated, he spoke. As he spoke however, something strange began to happen. At first, it seemed like nothing but an itch in the eye. However, as his pleasantries continued, the itch became a blurring, which became a bending, and finally pitch blackness. Then the lesson began.

"Salutations, my little scholars! Welcome to Remnant History. Some of you may already know me as Professor Rumple van Wink - unless you didn't, of course. In which case, hello! I am Professor Rumple van Wink!"

You can't see the source of the professor's voice, but you get a strong impression of someone fumbling through a stack of papers as his disembodied voice continues to mutter. "Now, when it comes to teaching history, I'm in a bit of a bind - we call our world Remnant for a good reason. I don't know what that reason is. but that's not important. Now, if it were up to me I'd teach you all sorts of fun things. Like fishing! Or how to carve a toboggan. But, alas! this class will focus less on dates and figures and all that boring rubbish and on a more... practical... curriculum."

The world around you swirls and shimmers until it coalesces into a scene that gives you an eerie sense of deja vu. You're standing on a huge ridge, with the Wastes at your back and a small collection of buildings in the valley below. Around you are a large platoon of soldiers, all of them appearing to be Faunus at a glance, armed for battle. Straining your eyes, you can see figures gathering in the settlement below. "Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see? Hear? Taste?"

Spoiler: OOC

Lore and Notice Checks can tell you more, in addition to questions posed to Arcanist or I in the skype chat

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

When Amber awoke the following morning, it was with a small groan and a pained stretch. The night before had seemed to drag on, even when Professor van Wick provided Teams MJSC and JADE with tents and sleeping bags, and still being angry didn't help her already troubled sleep. So she woke up with multiple kinks in her neck and back, feeling exhausted and generally beat-up.

The shower immediately after helped, along with a fresh uniform. Still, her mood was rather foul as she followed her friends to Deathstalker Hall, though it wasn't quite enough to keep her from giving Matt's rear a quick, admiring glance. So as she strode into the building at Professor van Wick's direction, she took a seat with the rest of her team and sighed.

"Salutations, my little scholars! Welcome to Remnant History. Some of you may already know me as Professor Rumple van Wink - unless you didn't, of course. In which case, hello! I am Professor Rumple van Wink!"

The Professor began to speak once everyone was seated, but as he did, Amber reached up to rub her forehead and shook her head a little. Her vision, admittedly not as good as it should've been, was getting blurry, until she was finally blind. It was enough to make her grimace and worry that it might have been something wrong with her. But when it started to finally swim back as the Professor continued, she relaxed.

"Now, when it comes to teaching history, I'm in a bit of a bind - we call our world Remnant for a good reason. I don't know what that reason is. but that's not important. Now, if it were up to me I'd teach you all sorts of fun things. Like fishing! Or how to carve a toboggan. But, alas! this class will focus less on dates and figures and all that boring rubbish and on a more... practical... curriculum."

When everything came back into focus, the class was standing on a ridge overlooking a valley, with the Ivory Wastes that they crossed during their Initiation just behind them. But they were all surrounded by armed Faunus, with all of them, including the entirety of the class, wearing old-fashioned armor and holding onto what looked like ancient weapons. Amber herself was holding a barbed whip in one hand, with a pronounced spiked-gauntlet covering the other.

But what she paid most attention to was the Y shaped sigil on each of their uniforms, and she recognized it from her cram studies at Lantern Community Combat School. It was actually from some of the history that she actually paid attention to.

"Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see? Hear? Taste?"

She raised her hand.

"We're dressed in the armor of Xuan Ba's forces, several centuries ago, if I recognize the symbol right. Xuan Ba, often called the Black Bull of the North, was a legendary figure in history for the Faunus, one of the few called a Beast King. While humans consider Beast Kings like Xuan Ba a menace, they're considered folk heroes to Faunus like myself." she called out, slowly smiling as she continued, "As the legend goes, he mastered an Aura technique that made him a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut in battle, both against the Grimm and human settlements."

Actually knowing something about the subject did wonders for her mood and her confidence.

 

[Pappytech]

Claire had been looking forward to Professor van Wink's history course since she'd met him after the initiation ceremony. And if the first few minutes of class were any indication, especially his emphasis on a "practical" curriculum, then she had certainly been right to so eagerly anticipate it.

"Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see? Hear? Taste?"

Shaking her head to help focus, the young woman took in her suddenly altered surroundings. Where once there had only been Professor van Wink's classroom, there was suddenly the vastness of the Wastes. On every side, Claire found herself enveloped by a company of Faunus soldiers... And apparently she and her classmates were supposed to be a part of that company, if their new clothes were anything to go by.

"We're dressed in the armor of Xuan Ba's forces, several centuries ago, if I recognize the symbol right."

From what she could see, Amber's answer was right on the money. Though many warriors had tried to make the Taurus crest their own in the centuries following Xuan Ba's reign, the symbol was still an inseparable part of the Black Bull's legacy. ...Though the history books had never mentioned just how tight and heavy ancient armor could be.

Shifting uncomfortably beneath the shockingly realistic weight of her new defenses, Claire took a moment to heft the spear that had replaced her swords. Giving it an experimental twirl, she noted the weapon's strange balance. The blade was significantly longer than it should be for a spear of this size, and judging by the strange mechanism that connected it to the spear's haft... Well, trick weaponry had existed long before the advent of firearms. It wasn't surprising that soldiers, especially those in a Beast King's army, would try to equip themselves for any situation.

Satisfied with her new gear, the girl took another look at the valley below. Blinking in surprise, she found herself staring down at the Lodestar campus. Or at least, the campus as it had stood five hundred years ago. "We're at Lodestar," Claire said aloud, her mind flashing back to the history books she'd studied at Sanctuary. "Then that means... This was after Vacuo discovered Dust, and began its expansion campaign. When his own territory came under attack, Xuan Ba fought back, even putting Lodestar under siege."

It went without saying that, ultimately, the Beast King's effort had proved futile. After all, Lodestar was still standing today. The same couldn't be said for Xuan Ba's principality. Still, getting to witness such a legendary battle firsthand, this was the opportunity of... Wait.

The professor had said they would be using a practical curriculum. And here she was, at the final clash of a war that ended five hundred years ago. Dressed and armed for battle.

"Oh, today is going to be fun," Claire excitedly exclaimed. So what if she was technically on the losing side? A military reenactment of this authenticity was bound to be a great experience!

 

[Redryhno]

Diamond awoke feeling somewhat groggy, but at her normal time, long before the rest of her team woke. It had been comforting to sleep on the ground again, with nothing but a blanket and her pillow clutched to her head. Just like the last few years of her life. Though to say she missed a real bed would be a massive understatement.

Going through her routine, she went over her memory of Dust Mechanics and tested herself as she ran around the busted building she had called home for two days on her Scroll. She was a bit annoyed that she still hadn't gotten everything, but it was to be expected, she couldn't possibly learn four years worth of basics in a week...

Arriving back at their "room", she took her change of clothes and showered in the Hall, at least that part of the building had been spared the accident. Afterwards she walked with her teammates and their brother team to class.

Di entered the classroom with her teammates and sat beside them. As she muttered to herself the basis of Dust Mechanics again from memory, she felt the itch begin and rubbed her eyes, opening them again to the somewhat blinding sun and her class, dressed in the armor of the Beast King Xuan Ba, one of the many necessary morons of Remnant's past when it came to Faunus. A great warrior and a Hunter of both Grimm and Humans alike, he was spoken of with respected mockery at Emerald Spring during her education.

In her hands she gripped dual dandpatta, very much like her Ivory Icarians. Around her were most of her classmates, all Faunus somehow...they smelled like Faunus, moved like Faunus, and more than a few looked bewildered when they found that they also sounded different, like Faunus.

"Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see? Hear? Taste?"

"What Amber said,Lodestar's past,some of the Halls are down there. Not all of us are up here, but we're all Faunus."She looked around again,"I'm sure of-"She continued scanning the force they were assembled against and noticed familiar faces that had not been changed,"-Scratch that, some of Team RFUS are not on the side of Xuan Ba with us, they're over there and most certainly not Faunus."

She pointed with one of her pata down to the walls where two of the members were and then shifted it slightly down for the other two.

 

[Arcanist]

"Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see?"

Matt took a good look at this immediate surroundings - perched atop a large ridge overlooking what appeared to be a small military installation. Around him were Faunus soldiers of all kinds, each in armor tailored to suit their individual traits. They appeared to be mobilizing for something, beginning to arrange themselves into rows and columns not unlike the combat units he'd once read about.

"We're dressed in the armor of Xuan Ba's forces, several centuries ago, if I recognize the symbol right."

'We are?' Matt quickly looked down to confirm he was, in fact, donning a full set of heavy armor in the same style of the soldiers around him. He was so used to wearing armor he hadn't even noticed, at first. Glancing to his side, he clutched at a heavy hand-and-a-half warhammer, its polished steel head glinting reassuringly. He wasn't wearing a helmet, so he could plainly see what appeared to be some warpaint covering the left side of his face - Xuan Ba's personal symbol, if Amber was to be believed. He instinctually reached up to touch it, his hand tracing up along this reflection... before coming to a dead stop.

Matt gawked at his reflection, shock painting his features. It was disorienting enough to suddenly be thrust... wherever they were, but this was a whole level beyond even that. Perched atop his head were a tidy pair of mouse ears, twitching slightly at the sound of the ruckus around him. He tentatively reached out instead towards his scalp, reaching to very gently touch his ears... only to recoil at a very clear sensation of tactile feedback, his ears fluttering in response.

"Bw... wha?"

 

[EmperorZuma]

Schwarz was quite put out from the start, with the dorms destroyed, he had to find his own means of sleeping away from the small comforts the school provided, since they forced a proximity to his Faunus teammates that was too much to bear.

So, when attending Prof. van Wink's class, Schwarz was in little mood to listen to the professor's lecture, even though the subject being covered was actually one of his favorites.

This of course made him even more unprepared when the scenery began to shift, making Schwarz believe at first that he was trying to fight the onset of sleep. However, when the new scene came back into focus, his piqued interest helped give him clarity.

The markings...the cliff....the appearance of Lodestar...it almost fit the picture Schwarz had in his mind, Xuan Ba's siege of Lodestar. The so-called "Beast King" faced off against a great figure, General Polyarnaya, who became a legend for both the common man and those of fairer birth. Schwarz felt a stirring of nostalgia as he recalled reading the stories of Polyarnaya's efforts, it was one of the reasons he committed himself to his studies.

However, the nostalgia soon faded, and Schwarz took in other details, their positioning put them right in the middle of the Faunus lines, which led to Schwarz finally recognizing that they were surrounded by Xuan Ba's horde! In fact, he could see the faces of his classmates, most disfigured to appear like Faunus!

Schwarz gasped as he looked down at himself, seeing that his hands had been deformed to resemble bear claws; and after reaching for his head, he found a second pair of furry ears perched on his crown...bear ears! Oh Dust, no!

Schwarz's breathing began to grow erratic as he reached for his sword, a katana sheathed were Blooming Anemone should be, and quickly tried to cut off his ears, without hesitation. However, before the blade could make contact, it faded into nothing. The sound of Prof. van Wink rang in his ears. "Now, now! If you're going to do something silly like that I'll just have to take it away!"

Schwarz didn't even compute the message, as soon as he lost his grip on the sword, he reached up with one clawed hand and started to try and rip one of his "new" ears off, digging the sharp claws into the flesh and giving it several sharp tugs. His other hand was near his mouth, one of his claws between his teeth as Schwarz tried to pull the nail straight out.

Prof Wink chimed in again. "Mr. Zaan! Self-mutilation is quite unbecoming of a trainee Huntsman!"

Schwarz didn't even hear the remark, he was screaming at himself in his mind. Disgusting! Disgusting! The most foul affliction! Disgusting!

"If you continue, I'm afraid I'll have to... DOCK YOUR GRADE."

The professor's warnings fell on deaf ears, even to the ones that weren't being ripped off Schwarz's scalp. Aberration! Scourge! Filth! Get! Off! Of! Me!

Eventually, Schwarz's perspective changed, no longer able to detect the presence of the Faunus deformity, though to everyone else his still appeared as one. This caused Schwarz to stop the mutilation, but not to relax. The pain of the attempt still coursed through his body, a mixture of dull burning and a sharp soreness near the appendages he tried to rip off kept Schwarz's heart beating like a drum. He could do little at this point but rest on his knees and try and moderate his breath, an attempt to regain control long after he lost his dignity.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

Amber was busy examining her armor and weapons to pay much attention to anything else. It seemed that her armor focused on her torso, with a heavy breastplate, pauldrons and gauntlets, with the one on her right being a little larger and noticeably spiked. Below the waist, however, she wore baggier trousers along with a pair of armored boots. She nodded in approval. It suited her just fine, since she was going to need mobility. But something Di said immediately caught her attention.

"Not all of us are up here, but we're all Faunus."

Blinking behind her bangs, she looked around and noticed that she was right: Everyone who was normally human suddenly had Faunus features, and she couldn't help a smile as she saw Matt reach up to feel if the pair of mouse ears atop his head were really there.

"Bw... wha?"

"Awwww, look! You're a mouse Faunus! That's cute." she said with a smile as she stepped up to him and looked up at his new ears.

Hooking the whip to the small hook on her hip, she made little grabby motions with her hands as she reached up.

"Can I feel 'em?" she asked, smiling.

But just past Matt, she could see the noble boy in Team MJSC attempt to rip off his new bear ears and tear out the claws in his fingers. She frowned, hands still poised to fondle Matt's mouse ears, and shook her head.

"Really? You dislike Faunus so much you're willing to mutilate yourself to get rid of any signs of being Faunus yourself?" she murmured.

 

[Deu Sex]

Jin had quite the troublesome sleep, which was a rarity for her. Back when she called a cave home, the thought of being attacked where she lived had never truly crossed her mind. Grimm who wandered close were scared off by the Dust and humans were scared off by her father. The actions of Team RFUS though gave her a morbid new understanding of her situation. This food for thought kept Jin awake for a long time as she lay in bed.

She woke up shortly after falling asleep. Normally she would've stayed in bed a while longer, as it was important to have enough energy to work to full efficiency throughout the day after all, but a school schedule denied her such luxuries. She wouldn't have wanted to miss her first history class anyways. Professor van Wink seemed an interesting person, and she'd never been taught history as a subject by anyone besides her father before.

When Jin arrived at the Deathstalker Hall, she was impressed by the array of bookcases. She was tempted to walk and examine the titles of each one, perhaps reading a few passages from those that caught her eye, but figured that the professor would have her and the other students reading them once class began anyways.

She was surprised by what happened instead. Jin's vision blurred as she heard a voice without a visible source.

"Salutations, my little scholars! Welcome to Remnant History. Some of you may already know me as Professor Rumple van Wink - unless you didn't, of course. In which case, hello! I am Professor Rumple van Wink!"

"Salutations Professor Rumple van Wink." Jin replied. She then noticed that nobody else replied similarly, and figured that she'd botched her mannerisms again.

"Now, when it comes to teaching history, I'm in a bit of a bind - we call our world Remnant for a good reason. I don't know what that reason is. but that's not important. Now, if it were up to me I'd teach you all sorts of fun things. Like fishing! Or how to carve a toboggan. But, alas! this class will focus less on dates and figures and all that boring rubbish and on a more... practical... curriculum."

After Jin's vision returned, she was greeted with the sight of the Wastes and warlike Faunus. "An illusion of some fashion? It is very realistic." she thought.

"Now, Hunters must always be aware of their surroundings, my little scholars. Tell me - what do you see? Hear? Taste?"

Jin looked over herself first. She noticed that she was wearing a suit of armor that, while heavy, was still more appealing than the Lodestar student uniform. She also noticed her gauntlets were...well, simply gauntlets. Nothing extraordinary about them besides some reinforcement around the knuckles.

"We're dressed in the armor of Xuan Ba's forces, several centuries ago, if I recognize the symbol right."

"Indeed?" Jin had read books about Xuan Ba, but failed to recognize the emblems and Faunus soldiers as belonging to such an age as Amber had.

"We're at Lodestar. Then that means... This was after Vacuo discovered Dust, and began its expansion campaign. When his own territory came under attack, Xuan Ba fought back, even putting Lodestar under siege."

"An esoteric time." Jin added. "They used simple weapons then. And infused Dust directly into the body, raw and volatile. Very inefficient methods."

Jin was amused to see that her human classmates and team-members had been given Faunus features. She couldn't help but break out a small smirk as she noticed Schwarz Zaan attempting to remove his new features via self-mutilation.

"Bear claws? Impressive. I would have figured a Zaan to bare the features of a swine, but being a bear bears more noble qualities." she said, then added. "That was a wordplay joke. Was it amusing?"

 

[Drummodino]

The night had been a rough one and Elva was still yawning as she joined her classmates trooping into the lecture hall. Her eye started to itch as the professor began speaking and rubbing it proved futile. Getting irritated, Elva was about to ask to go to the bathroom and rinse it before she realized her vision had changed completely.

'Woah' she thought as she looked around. They appeared to be part of an army of some sort, an old one judging by their weapons. Reaching around her back she drew the heavy battleaxe that was there, a large, double edged instrument. It wasn't as fancy as Labrys but it appeared to be very well crafted and sturdy.

After twirling the axe around a few times, Elva returned it to it's holster on her back. As she did her hand brushed something on her head that felt very unfamiliar. Hesitantly reaching up she gently touched the new, furry ears that adorned her head.

'What the hell? Where did these come from?' she thought. Now that she was thinking about it she also noticed the whiskers protruding from her face, and her canine teeth felt like they had grown longer than before.

'Oooohhh, I'm a Faunus! That's awesome!' Looking around Elva saw that she wasn't the only one who'd been affected this way, the other human members of their class had been similarly changed. She giggled as she saw Matt with his cute little mouse ears getting harassed by Amber, of course that would be the animal he would get. Schwarz appeared to be trying to cut his new bear features off and Jade had gained two long rabbit ears on her head. Taking a couple of steps Elva approached her team leader.

"Roar! I'm a tiger!" she said, baring her teeth in a playful manner. "We like to eat little rabbits like you!"

 

[hiei82]

As the illusion came to life, Jade was understandably confused. She recognized some of the geography around them and - when mentioned - she knew who Xuan Ba was. She hadn't recognized the symbols, but she'd never learned much about those early symbols. Looking around, she could see that this was to be some kind of war game; just with a historical twist. Speaking of, it felt strange to be in such bulky armor. It didn't really suit her. Her "new" weapon however...

The weapon was a recurve longbow of surprising strength. reaching over her shoulder, she found a number of arrows. The best feature of the bow was a pair of long blades - each as long and as curved as a scimitar - that followed the curve of the bow and were connected only at the handle of the bow so they wouldn't impede the bow's ability to fire. Honestly, she loved the design and quickly resolved to add something like it to her own later.

What she didn't notice until it was too late were her new sets of ears. Elva notified her. "Roar! I'm a tiger!" Elva said, baring her teeth in a playful manner. "We like to eat little rabbits like you!" The sudden approach of the Elva - who Jade didn't recognize at first - cause the archer to fall over backwards. Needless to say, she quickly found her new ears and wondered if they'd get in her way or not. "I'm... a Faunus?" Jade finally said before breaking out in a smile. Because ti was cool!

As cool as it was however, she decided against telling Elva or any of the others she could feel a puffy tail insider her armor.

 

[Arcanist]

"Awwww, look! You're a mouse Faunus! That's cute." Matt jumped at the sudden sound of Amber appearing behind him, her hands reaching out to touch his new ears. "Can I feel 'em?"

He gaped for a moment, a little lost for words. This was all very sudden and confusing - not a minute ago he was sitting in one of Lodestar's lecture halls, and now he was a Faunus in some ancient battlefield? Professor Wink had some very strange teaching methods, that much was certain. "I... um... sure?"

A great deal of hesitation was evident in his voice, but it was hard for Matt to pin down why, exactly. It wasn't like Faunus intimidated or confused him - he grew up near a Zaan Corporation Dust mine, after all - but such a sudden and dramatic change to his body... even if it was illusory, it certainly felt real enough. It felt strange to write it off so easily.

He was pulled from his introspection by a loud commotion a ways off. Schwarz was kneeling to his right, his breathing frantic and ragged and eyes wild as he clawed desperately at his new Faunus features. He managed to draw some blood as he bit hard into his finger in an attempt to pull out one of his claws, the shocking sight suddenly pulling Matt to full attention. "Schwarz?! What are you doing?!" He quickly rose to his feet - or as quickly as someone as large as himself could, at any rate - and lumbered over, confusion and concern painting his features. By the time he made his way over, Schwarz had appeared to calm down, his breathing still heavy and uneven.

Matt's ears - Dust, did these illusory appendages come with enhanced senses, too? - picked up some rising gossip, all of it pointed Schwarz's way.

"The hell was that?"

"What, the Zaan kid can't even handle lookin' like one of us?"

"Such undignified behavior... are we even certain he's a Zaan?"

Such the murmuring went. Matt swallowed nervously, looking down at his still-kneeling teammate. "Maybe we should get you somewhere-"

"Bear claws? Impressive. I would have figured a Zaan to bare the features of a swine, but being a bear bears more noble qualities." Matt froze, his gaze slowly hardening into a glare. "That was a wordplay joke. Was it amusing?"

"Jin." Matt surprised even himself with the venom and anger evident in his tone, but he continued anyway, the words falling unbidden from his mouth. "Not. Now."

Before he could speak further, Professor Wink's voice echoed in his mind, cutting him off. "Correct you all are! You're all seeing Xuan Ba's forces as they prepare to make their assault on the Lodestar Forward Outpost! But, you don't have to take my word for it." Prof. Wink said before he silenced himself. For a moment, the reason wasn't clear. Then, a booming voice rang out over the Xuan Ba army. The source of this was quickly apparent; a bull Faunus of incredible size, standing on the edge of the ridge overlooking the encampment. His horns, protruding out of his scalp, were both easily as thick as a man's wrists at the base, leading to wicked points curling over his head. His head and upper body were framed with a mane of thick, wild black hair, and a massive pair of arms were crossed against his broad chest, his hands ending in a set of massive, razor-sharp claws. He wore no armor, and indeed not even a shirt - opting instead for a set of black robe leggings, ending in a pair of calloused bare feet.

"MY BROTHERS AT ARMS! I WOULD HAVE YOUR EARS! WILL YOU LISTEN!?" A massive roar of approval ripped through the assembled warriors, the sudden noise nearly deafening in scope through Matt's newly-keened senses.

The figure - who Matt now assumed to be Xuan Ba - gave a great, booming laugh. "Good! The spirit of the Black Bull is strong in each and every one of you!" He opened his arms, gesturing outwards towards the crowd. Another cheer explodes outwards, and Xuan Ba waits a moment for the crowd to settle down, his expression growing serious. "I ask you, my brothers and sisters - why do we stand here, in the kingdom of the humans? To crush them? To drive them before us? To hear them scream and beg for mercy before our might?"

Another cheer starts to work its way up, but it is quickly silenced by Xuan Ba, who raises a hand to gesture for silence, shaking his head. "No, that is not why we are here. Let me ask you another question, my brothers and sisters - why are WE here?"

He tilts his head upwards, closing his eyes. "Why us? Why do WE stand before the gates of the human lands? Why not fierce Bai Hu, or clever Qing Long? Why do WE stand alone in this feat?" He exhales and opens his eyes, scanning the faces of the crowd, watching him with rapt attention. "It is because we have endured. When the humans came with their strange new weapons, Bai Hu struck out and Qing Long wove away... and yet, for all their strength and guile, one by one they fell."

"But not us. Never us. They crashed upon our borders like a wave, bringing the wrath of the earth and sky with them. And together, we stood - and we endured. And now, to reward our patience, our fortitude, our sacrifices... fate has brought us here." He turns and gestures towards the encampment below. "Let this strike serve as our first, last, and greatest warning - that we shall endure, regardless what this shattered world throws at us."

A loud hissing sound, and then a whistle, echoed over the valley. The crowd immediately tensed, turning their attention towards Lodestar... where streaks of brilliant light, red, blue and yellow alike, began to arc outwards, flying towards the Faunus encampment.

"LET THE BATTLE BE JOINED, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! TO ARMS!"