TEAM 5 - Crystal Falls

Curled up into a tight ball, Rebecca wished she owned a jacket as the wind cut through her tail to bite deep into her skin. It wasn't often that regretted her desire to not wear upper body clothing whenever possible, but this was one of those times. She wasn't an exhibitionist mind you, she just could never feel comfortable wearing a shirt. The cloth would itch and bite into her underarms and collars always felt like she was being strangled. Besides, she had her tail for those times when she got a tad chilly. Her long, beautiful, fluffy tail was usually more than enough to keep warm when she wrapped herself in it, but it fell far short of what was needed as she fell herself.

So caught up in her musings, Rebecca didn't even noticed she was about to land until she had crashed into a large snowbank. Burying herself in several inches of snow and ice. Extracting herself from the bank with a grunt, Rebecca shook the the flecks of frozen water loose before wrapping her tail around her chest. It would take some time for the fur to hold her body heat, but without the icy wind of free fall she would warm eventually. Now she just needed to find her teammates.

The time for introduction was over, ironic considering Kaiden had not spoken to anyone. Infact he had simply simmered in silence feeling uncomfortable near all these humans, but at least he had seen a few Faunus, ones that were stronger than him and didn’t hide it but times for pondering were over as the ground fast approached. He swept his arms in a circular motion, one facing down the other forwards towards the frozen cliff face. The Glyphs appeared on the ground and on the cliff, an invisible line intersecting Kaiden as he stopped in midair, the two glyphs cancelling out all the gravity. In another sweep on his arms the one on the cliff vanished and the one below him changed, the inner rings shifting in a pentagon and the moon in the centre changing to a crescent.

There was a small puff of snow as he landed on the ground, glancing around at his surroundings. The cold wind whipped against his face but his clothes and scarf kept him warm, he pulled it up to cover his mouth as he looked up at the cliff.

Several moments on end would pass as Haven began his freefall earthbound, his head pointed directly down and his body following during the decent. Though the fall was near from silent --- as the rushing of frosty winds basically bombarded the inner spacing of his ears, both human and Faunus alike --- the lad seemed to enjoy the feeling. Despite the abilities unlocked and given to him through aura, he greatly enjoyed chilled temperatures, which was why he hadn’t bothered to layer up so much. Plus, if worst came to worst, he could just use his semblance. Yeah, yeah…so far, he didn’t really have anything to complain about…

…Except for the numbness that grew within his face as the winds hit him like a smack across the face. That really bugged him.

Regardless of his likes and dislikes about this experience so far, however, the crossbreed would quickly begin to ready himself for landing. He kicked his legs forward a good amount, causing him to undergo a halfway airborne flip which would finally turn him right side up, rather than upside down. While doing so he would cross both of his arms into a temporary ‘X’ figure over his chest, his hands slipping within his coat and each grasping hold of a lighter. Once more he would turn himself after this action; this time making it so that his back faced the nearing terrain.

Immediately after doing this he would extend both arms to the side and directing the backs of his hands to face the incoming winds, in order to shield both fire sources of his as much as possible. As soon as he readied himself up to this point he would flick the cap off of both lighters, shifting them a tad and igniting the top of both. In a swift fashion he would manipulate both flickers into the palms of his hands and expand them, allowing his aura to take control of them and shroud both extremities. A second more would be taken afterwards, and the student would then turn both flame-ridden hands backwards, blasting the flames he held strongly against the wind. The action was performed in a rather rushed fashion, as he had to do so to prevent the passing air currents from extinguishing his fires before he could do anything at all.

The force of both flame-run ‘engines’ of his would increase, gradually slowing his decent bit by bit, and putting him into a fast-paced glide, of sorts, on his way down down. Eyes of a clear, frosty blue would be directed toward the icy grounds below, soon catching sight of the base of a snowy ‘hill.’ Seeing as he’d rather not create impact with a future ice spire or a hard section of ice, he lowered the strength of the flames surrounding his hands, eventually ridding them completely. He continued to fall backwards, though his landing was…”cushioned” by a good amount of snow as he came into contact with the snowy hill.

He would emerge from the pile after a few moments, a slightly bothered expression visible upon his facial features as he lifted a hand and began to rid the snow from his short-furred ears. …Not exactly the best landing, but it’ll have to do… he thought to himself, giving a low sigh. As soon as he was satisfied with the lack of snow within one of his ears, he would take a moment to fold his hood over his head before directing his attention to the other, embarking upon his journey on foot at the same time.

Thorn stood silently shivering on the cold slope of the mountain as she gazed at the treacherous landscape and icy formations. She finally seemed to notice what she was wearing and sighed. All she has on was a light windbreaker and a skirt. She said. I...hate...the cold...this is why I need to go shopping more..."She didn't own a hat wait her because her fluffy wolfie ears felt uncomfortable and itchy in hats. She took out Ambrosia and rested on it in trident form. She detached the small metal med lot from her side and opened it inspecting everything she brought this time. "Bandages,cream,MATCHES!"Hearing herself say matches caused her to freak and throw them off the cliff watching them land in the fluffy snow. Her breathing became tense and she put away the med kit trying to calm herself down. "This is why I hate fire..."

Now that she was a bit more comfortable, Rebecca began to take in her surroundings. The world had an altogether different fell to it than she was used to. The ice and snow, while providing a beautiful sense of peace to area, seemed to promise desolation and despair. As if all the warmth, all the...happy was being sucked away. She needed to find her teammates, and fast. They should have all fallen somewhere nearby, but without any way to communicate, they could all be within a few hundred yards from each other and never know it.

Spotting a tall fir tree, Rebecca scrambled up until she was about a 100 feet off the ground and slid out onto a branch. Placing two fingers in her mouth she whistled long and loud before calling out. "Heeeeyyy! Don't leave a girl out in the snow alone! It's cold!"

Kaiden had begun his slow trek through the snow, forgetting that he had teammates both from a lack of caring and a lack of searching.  He had just made it to a small patch of tree when a stick ended up falling on his head.

“Oww” He complained as he looked up at the tree to see what had caused the stick to land on him. Through the branches he saw a person, Faunus the tail was wrapped around her body as she moved quickly up the tree before moving onto one of the outer branches.

"Heeeeyyy! Don't leave a girl out in the snow alone! It's cold!"

In a circular movement of his hands the crescent and star along with the outer circle of the glyph appeared slowly rotating around underneath him as he began floating up to her level on the branches, placing a second glyph on the tree to lock him in place in front of her.

“No doubt you attracted at least a few grimm with that yell, we should probably move” Kaiden informed lingering for a moment “I guess we are partners”

At least his partner was a Faunus now, someone he is at least moderately willing to work with. Maybe this initiation wasn’t all bad after all.

It would be roughly a minute or so before Haven actually noticed himself scaling up one of several, dangerously frosted paths leading toward the primary destination --- as hard as it was to believe. At the realization the pyromaniac would bring himself to a slow stop. His hand finally fell back to his side, as it was also the sharing moment in which he felt a significant amount of frost relieved from his ear. He took in a deep, chilling breath, holding it heavily within his lungs before exhausting it out once again, emitting a large puff from his mouth while doing so.

Seconds of a continued silence would follow afterwards, though would soon be cut short as a distant call caught the lad’s attention. Chilled visionaries would be directed toward a more eastbound direction as a distant call caught his ears. A sudden spark of curiosity locked his mind, causing him to swerve both knicked, T-Devil ears of his to catch the particular words being said from afar. Though it was somewhat faint, he could make out the words:

"Heeeeyyy! Don't leave a girl out in the snow alone! It's cold!"

The same, emotionless expression would be kept upon the crossbreed’s face as he released one more heavy breath before beginning to set off in the direction the voice had come from. Eventually he would embark within a full-fledged sprint, being more careful than he normally was as he begun leaping on various ledges and whatnot, seeing as the majority of them were slippery with frost. As he continued climbing upwards he would come across a small, concaved space, giving way to the other side of the icy wall he was currently scaling. Yet another chain of words caught his attention, though a small amount seemed to stick within his intellect:

“No doubt you attracted at least a few grimm with that yell---“

The Faunus boy blinked narrowed eyes, silently recalling the call he had heard several minutes earlier. …Suppose he’s right… the student thought to himself. Rather than letting himself think further on that specific subject the ashen-haired hybrid would slowly bring himself closer to the gap, eventually securing himself and poking his head through it. At that moment he would see two of the other three people of his team-to-be, he assumed. He also couldn’t help but notice that one of them was a Faunus for sure, much like he was, but of different creature genetics. It seemed to be bluntly obvious by the female's fluffy tail, even at a short glance. As for the other boy...well, everything about him seemed human. Normal eyes. No abnormal amounts of body or facial hairs. A...unique clothing style which, though it was very blue, was actually something normal in his eyes, having seen others' choices of attires in the past. ...Another Faunus and a human, then. 'Least I already have something in common with one of them...

“…It would be a good idea to follow his suggestion since he proves a point,” the lad called out, finally making his arrival plainly obvious. He adjusted the position of his feet so that he assumed the position a skateboarder might --- one foot in front of the other --- except with his feet pointed diagonally or forward, rather than to the side. Once he had secured himself he pushed forward a bit, causing him to slide down to join the other two. He would reach the base of his arrival spot within a few moments. “Though whatever we decide to do in the end…”

The chap lifted his hand to lower his hood, revealing his slightly-furred ears. He would then reel it back within his coat, grasping one of the lighters that he had sealed away during the walk over and taking it back out. He flicked the cap off and shifted it on, igniting a small flame. It would gradually grow, and soon he would hold a medium flame within the palm of his hand with the help of his semblance and aura, a small, and somewhat abnormal, sharp, and toothy smile crossing his lips as he offered it for temporary warmth. “…Why don’t we take a few minutes to warm up?”

These people will be my teammates as soon as this is over...may as well make the first interaction a nice one... came the thought, cycling throughout the beast's intellect as he continued offering his abilities for the moment.

Thorn walking along a snowy and icy path not really knowing where she is heading takes out a flask of water and takes a sip. "Good thing I keep one of these on me at all times! I'm sort of parched even though there is snow all around me...Phh who knows where that stuff's been...Why am I talking to myself? Why am I asking myself about why I'm talking to myself...I should stop or I'll sound crazy..."

Thorn being occupied in a conversation with herself slams into what looks like a tree noticing what looks like a Faunus with a tail and some guy in a tree. She takes off her headband letting her wolf ears out for some air. She put her headband in her med kit and begins to scale the tree. "Hello? Are you people friendly?"

"Yes!" Rebecca replied with a wave as the blonde haired boy called up to her. Suddenly another young boy appeared in the tree shortly followed by a young girl. Both with distinctly canine looking ears. Two more Faunus, three, if the blonde's clawed arm was anything to go on. "We aren't partners though." She pointed out the two newest arrivals to the blonde. "We are a team! I'm Rebecca Meskenas, Huntress in training."

(OOC My character is hiding his Faunus parts Rebecca)

"We are a team! I'm Rebecca Meskenas, Huntress in training."

Kaiden glanced back down at the ground before looking back at the two in the tree “May be easier to have this conversation on the ground” He said lowing himself back onto the snow.
“Hate to tell you but I’m not the best at teamwork” Kaiden admitted “At anyrate we need to get moving…Now” He said as he began walking towards the path, heading up the mountain.

So his entire Team was Faunus’s, at least he could somewhat bear with that but he was never looking forward to working with people, he had always been a lone wolf and that would be hard to change.

A flicker of the ears would be seen as the other boy began to speak once more, causing Haven's attention to lock upon him for a brief period. He blinked, taking a moment to further enlarge his fire before giving himself a chance to speak, as well. "It's the same way for me, as sad as I am to say. I'm also not the...best...at speaking, so all of this is pretty much being forced out for the sake of our future team," he spoke in his normal, low-toned-voicing. His free hand lifted, scratching the back of his Faunus ears. "But anyways, the guy's right again. We should get moving, but...we could fit in some introductions in the process, right?"

With those words the pyromaniac would turn heel, eyes locking onto a path leading up. His feet would soon follow the invisible line that he created along it through vision, though he seemed to pace himself so that he wasn't ahead of the other lad, yet wasn't too far behind him. The hand that he had initially created the flame with was curled into a semi-tight fist and, as if reacting to this, the fire had stayed behind when Haven moved. It would follow the other two behind him rather than himself --- seeing as the one in front of him wanted to get through this experience as quickly as possible --- and would assist in the warming process until it was no longer needed. He decided to look over his shoulder, watching the duo now behind him as he tried to make a shaky attempt at conversation. "So, uh...m'name is Haven Kyoujii; first year at Beacon and currently a student trainee, much like you guys, I'd assuume," the chap said. The way he spoke hinted toward a slightly awkward feeling within him, because...well, as he had earlier stated, these words were currently being forced out. Ever since his younger years, he had turned into a person of a primarily silent --- and somewhat socially awkward --- stature. "Nice to, uh...nice to meet you, Rebecca."

A frosty gaze would be laid upon the remaining girl behind him before he directed his focus back to the path in front of him, taking a decent amount of caution to prevent himself from falling or slipping. He also looked toward the blonde before him as he continued scaling up. "Aaaand...nice to meet youuuu...?" The way he looked at the remaining two and spoke this last line gave a strong hint that introductions would be appreciated, though wouldn't have to be forced and could be saved for the time on flat ground, as the other boy had mentioned.

Aaaah...just keep this up until we get what we're looking for and get evacuated. I can stop myself once we get on an airship back to Beacon; for now, just keep it up, keep it up, keep it up...

Thorn tried to make her introduction quick as she seemed to hear something from below the tree. She said. "Thorn Stradaise at your service!"She stayed in the lower half of the tree and awaited what was to come from the ground below her. She stared up at the boy seemingly using fire and winced looking how close she was to him. She politely asked. "Umm...can you not use as much fire...I sort of....don't like it."With that said she almost slipped out of the tree staring up too long and realized she needed and anchor. She unfolded Ambrosia and stabbed it into a branch securing herself. She would wait there and attempt to surprise attack the approaching beast while the others were on the ground.

"Well, now that introductions are taken care of I guess we should take care of getting that artifact or whatever we need." Rebecca suggested leaping down from the tree. "Before that though, I'm going to recoonnoiter a little bit. Get an idea of where we need to go."

She could hardly keep the smile from her face as she ducked behind some bushes. They had a mission, it was true, but first Becca was going to have a little fun. Slipping on her eye-mask she wandered for a few moments before picking a comfortable spot. She would wait here a minute or two before heading back. Hopefully just long enough for her new friends to wonder what was taking her so long. Then they would meet the other half naked raccoon girl in the snow. It was always funny how many there were in the world.

“My Name is Kaiden, that is all you need to know for now” He said bluntly, he wasn’t willing to give too much info to these people regardless of whether they were Faunus until he knew them a lot more. That was how he had always been and how he had stayed out of trouble.

Kaiden had heard the footsteps aswell, his eyes narrowing but unseen due to his contacts. Slowly with the sound of scraping metal he pulled out Gemini Tempest the two clicking together as the spiked piece of string connected together and he pulled out a lightning dust arrow.

"Before that though, I'm going to recoonnoiter a little bit. Get an idea of where we need to go."

“Rebecca Wait” He called “Didn’t you hear it, thorn did, there is something out their”                                                  
Kaiden let out a frustrated groan as he chased after her moving into a clearing and looking around “Idiot” He said loudly before calling her name out. He flicked around as he noticed the masked girl, aiming his bow at her “Where is she!?” He snarled.

"Eh...?" came the sound, eyes shifting over to the remaining female as the other had departed. He blinked in a somewhat awkward fashion, shrugging soon afterwards. His fist unfolded slightly, both his index finger and middle finger now sticking out, and then swept it to the side. With that, the following pyre blew out and into the air, leaving a small poof of smoke in its midst.

Soon after he had processed this action Haven would bring himself into a slow stop, T-Devil ears straining as he himself had begun to hear the distant sound. Any polite expression located upon his face would then be replaced with a much more serious one. Chilled, navy voids would narrow as he began looking about, attempting to survey the area. They would flicker within the faintest flare --- not from seeing something suspicious --- but from taking notice of "Kaiden's" sudden outburst. By the time he looked toward his direction, Haven saw that the other boy had already taken off --- and in a somewhat enraged way, at that. A long, silent sigh escaped his lips, causing a small puff of frosty air to appear before his mouth. Dammit...

A foot would be brought forward as the student began to walk after the departed two, though he would be stopped dead in his tracks. His ears seemed to shoot up and flicker about at what appeared to be a roar in the distance. Scowling now, he straightened out his right arm, allowing both of his blades to slide down and into his hand. Once he held it firmly within his grasp he brought both jointed blades before him, separating them into the duo set they were. As soon as a blade could be held within both palms of his, Haven would shove point blade tips into the ground, pressing the third button laid across each handle. A bullet was fired through the gun-blade hybrid, though was muffled a good amount since he had covered it up with a decent deal of snow and dirt prior. He lifted his weapons up after the shot was fired, spinning both and grasping them so that the blades were pointed at a semi-diagonal figure earthbound, rather than pointing up. Such was the way that thieves held their blades, and it was also the way he liked to hold his own. By the time he had shifted his grip and secured it once more, both of his weapons had been shifted fully into the tertiary form. A small glance would be taken over the shoulder and at Thorn. "Yo, keep close, alright?"

With that, the lad would begin trekking through the snow --- senses heightened greatly --- as he began walking off and after Kaiden. He heard what seemed to be furious screaming in the distance, and it did seem like Kaiden's voice. "Agh...sweet Hell, now his screaming is gonna get us noticed by whatever's out here..." the swordsman groaned while stalking along.

Thorn jumps out of the tree following the others and trying to keep pace. Rushing she slips on a small icy patch and gets covered in snow. She gets up and brushes herself off now feeling colder than ever. She felt like she was in a freezer. She imagined the warm dorms back at Beacon and herself drinking a nice warm cup of tea sitting next to Kyri. "S-S-So cold..."Thorn brings her arms up around herself trying to get herself warm. She walks behind the others who seem to be looking for the one named Rebecca. "Find her yet?"Thorn said in a quieter tone considering the thing she heard moments ago in the tree.

It took every ounce of self-coontrol Rebecca possessed to remain outwardly calm and collected as she rejoined her team around the tree they had previously climbed, her eye-mask churning away. A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, threatening to release the torrent of laughter that bubbled in her chest. She couldn't let it out though. Not yet. It would spoil the joke before she got to the punchline. Good comedy was nothing if not well timed.

Strolling up to the group as casually as she manage, she tried to seem shy, yet curious. As if she was just another stranger wandering the woods. Alone... In the snow... Okay, so it wasn't the most coonvincing thing ever, but it should be believable. Probably.

"Hello?" She said to announce her arrival. "Are you guys lost?"

He lowered his weapons as he realized it was simply another person, or Faunus out for the initiation aswell. It was odd t say the least, Kaiden had not seen anyone else really launched but all the teams may be within a nearby area or something so it was likely just someone who had simply stumbled across them.

"Hello?" She said to announce her arrival. "Are you guys lost?"

Kaiden let out a small click as he looked over at the other girl “No, our dunce of a teammate ran off and now we need to find her” He explained uninterested in this other person, Faunus or not he didn’t have time right now to help or care about them and assumed she already had a team or would find one.

For now they needed to focus on finding Rebecca before whatever they heard found them. Kaiden began slowly trekking off in another direction mumbling to himself as he thought about if these Faunus had been treated as rough as him when he was younger and in school, it seemed likely it was after all what the white fang was fighting against.

Haven simply continued onward, keeping his crouched position as he walked along. During his trek forward, however, his ears would be given a flicker and he would bring himself to an agonizingly slow stop. A small, frosty sigh escaped his lips as he straightened his figure briefly, looking over his shoulder. "Not yet, much to my disappointment," he muttered, looking back at thorn as he temporarily set his weapons down. After this action he would shift his arms a tad, slipping his favored coat off.

"And, eh...if you're so against warming up with fire..." A small pause would be taken as the crossbreed stared at his article of clothing before tossing it over toward the chilly lass. "...Go ahead and take it. I know it has no sleeves, so just wrap it around yourself like a blanket or something. Just make sure not to lose it or anything." The way that the hybrid spoke may place a feeling of politeness and gentleness, though would oddly be matched with and cancelled out by a sort of uncertainty of those feelings.

The ashen-haired teen turned heel once more, walking back towards his chained swords. He would take a knee, grasping both by the handles before standing once more. By the time he had finished doing this he directed his attention forwards, noticing Kaiden's encounter with a...newcomer. Frosty voids would be given a blink before he slowly made his way forward, saying nothing more for the meantime.

The wind begins to pick up, filling the valley with noise as it whistles through the frozen waterfalls. It is almost loud enough to obscure the sound of beeping scrolls.

There is a message.

Quote :

"W%@NING TO ETYE#DENTS: Unexpected storm activity has changed the situation. Please find shelter immediatel25062----- Tempera2QUR@ropping rapid25--1=a. LARGE @#IMM SEEN DO NOT ENGAGE@^EFGE333335000 0 000000 0000-"

The temperature is dropping rapidly, and in the distance the echo of an inhuman scream can be heard...

Thorn is almost shivering to death wrapping her hands up sround her until something is thrown at her. She holds it outward taking a look at whatever it is eyeing it wih pleasure. She notices it has no sleeves and also notices that the one known as Haven said it to wrap it around her which she thought was a good enough idea. She wrapped the coat around her arms warming her quicker than she thought and she smiled as her wolf ears twitched with warmth. "T-thanks, I have a thing against fire...just don't ask."She hears a small tone in the background of the now howling winds and takes out her scroll to see a message saying to take cover immediately. She sighs then continues reading he message noticing rapidly dropping temperatures and apparently a large Grimm sighting which says 'do not engage'. She gulped and said. "Guys we really need to find Rebecca!"She looked at the traveller saying. "You should probably find shelter too, don't want to get caught up in this storm."

Rebecca sighed as the garbled announcement echoed through their scrolls. Once again nature spoils her fun. It was one thing for her team to search aimlessly for someone who wasn't lost. It was something altogether different for them to do it in a snowstorm with a dangerous grimm in the area. She was a comedienne, not an idiot. Well, maybe a bit of both, but she wasn't about to endanger her new friends for a laugh.

"Sorry guys." She apologized, as her mask faded. "It's me. I'll explain later, but we should get moving before we get caught out here."

It took every ounce of self-control for Kaiden not to retaliate the call with his own howl; he managed to keep the animalistic trait at bay by keeping his lips firmly sealed until the urge past, when it did he spoke again, glancing behind everyone before turning back and seeing Rebbeca there.
“How did yo- Semblance of some kind right?” He turned back the group addressing all of them “If I was by myself I would keep going but since we are a…Team” He trailed off before resuming again “We can’t risk anyone of us getting hurt so I say we find shelter, there should be some caves around here if we keep heading up a bit, we need to find something that has another exit though. We don't want to get cornered with that thing around” He suggested taking a backwards look at where the sound had come from.