Beacon Prequels

Lacey had slipped into the bathroom to change into some pajamas but had kept her jacket on so it didn't really seem like she changed at all She then went over to the nearest mattress and fell onto it. Looking around it seemed like it was only the new arrivals that were staying here tonight. "Its like one giant slumber party.... there are games in slumber party's right..?" She said to no one in particular or so it seemed that way at least but as usual she was just talking to the voices.

Lorne walks out of the bathroom wearing a cloth shirt and a pair of trousers. He was a bit worried that they had to sleep in the ballroom and it seems his worries were founded as there were inflatable beds scattered across the school's ballroom. How can a school this large have no beds for new students? Still he sucked it up and settled in a spot among the other students. Hopefully they won't need to do this for long.

Cerise had immediately claimed an inflatable mattress close to the windows on the female side of the room. Being able to look out at the night stars would comfort her. She didn't want to rush into the bathrooms, seeing as how other girls did that as well, so instead she hung back and waited. When it had cleared up mostly, Cerise went into the female bathrooms to switch into some grey sweatpants and a black tank top. She would be comfy enough wearing that instead of PJs. Before she head out she quickly tied her hair back into a ponytail, and then brushed her teeth. When she was finished she went back to her mattress and sat down for now. She observed everybody around her and actually noticed quite a few more people from Signal. None who she would talk to however.

Briskly walking to one of the secluded corners near the entrance, Sinoy set down his bag and got out his pyjamas. Facing towards the line to the boy's changing room, he reasoned with himself that there weren't a lot of people on the last airship compared to the others, so it must be a bit less full now. With his clothes tucked under his arm, he headed towards the boy's changing room in an orderly fashion.

Looking inside, he noticed that the line wasn't as significantly long as he thought it would be. With his usual passive look, he stood in line and stood still, watching the people in line mess around or converse. Perhaps he could check on a fellow schoolmate from Signal, he wouldn't mind staying up late to quickly catch up on whatever he's missed.

As the students each settled in for the night, the buzz of excited chatter also began to die out. It would take a couple of hours, but eventually silence dominated the hall as the wannabe hunters all got the rest they knew they would need. It would remain that way until early morning, where students would wake to be greeted with the light of the sunrise.

Looking around, they would notice that whatever items they had brought with them that was not combat related had disappeared, to be held in storage and moved to their designated rooms during the test. For students who's weapons or equipment had been too large or volatile to be brought upon the Airship, they would wake up next to their equipment that had been layed out beside them during the night.

As the prospective students gathered their equipment and woke up, the large door that the students had first entered through opened and through it marched Ms. Mauvelle and a short woman with long blonde hair, blue eyes and was wearing what looked to be heavy leather armour. Standing next to the suited Ms. Mauvelle, the two contrasted rather well.

With a cough into her fist, Ms. Mauvelle gestured to the students. "It is the morning of your test! Today is the day you will meet your partner and the rest of your team! You have an hour and a half to get ready and be out on the field launch pads. There are signs detailing the way there, so I will accept no excuses. Now, I will give the floor to our principal to explain the ground rules." She finishes with a wave towards the shorter blonde woman.

With a large grin, the principal wave she her hand excitedly at the group. "Gooooood morning students! I hope you're excited for the big day! I know that I, your wonderful principal Fen Límíng, am!" She says cheerfully. "Now, I'm going to explain to you the rules. They will not be repeated when you get to the field so listen clooooosely!"

"First, no harming other students! We understand if some of you have differences, but there shouldn't be any damage not caused by the test!"
"Second, once the test has begun, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner! And don't bother lying about it, we'll know!"
"Third, the aim of the test is to get one of these!" She holds up a variety of sashes. "These are scattered all throughout the testing grounds, and it's your job to get them! But only get one, because you need to leave some for the others!" She finishes, waggling a finger as she hands the sashes off to a guard by the door that had previously gone unnoticed to most of the sleepy inhabitants of the room.

Clapping her hands once, Ms. Mauvelle and the principal leave the room, the doors open behind them as they turn a corner.

-----

Charles dried off his hair with the free towel they had left in the male stalls. He had gotten up somewhat late for most of the students there, and the massive teen had only managed to claim a shower by intimidating a his smaller counterparts (who he should really apologise to). Once he was clothed again, he exits the male bathrooms and make sure his way towards where he hadn been sleeping, easily able to pick out his pride and joy.

The armour was massive, and bulky even by his standards. Outside of it he was very tall, but inside he could top some of the smaller species of Grimm in size and strength. It took a while but, as Ms. Mauvelle had said, he had just under an hour remaining.

It took up most of his hour to equip Weight of the World, the helmet being locked in as it emitted steam and compressed air, forming a tight seal. For a moment his world was pitch black, the entirely smooth faceplate stopping anything resembling light, until the display inside lit up and gave him a view of the outside world as well as general information on his body and the armour.

Reaching out, he tested the armour. Nothing grated and the small pistons that helped him move in it seemed in perfect condition. Swiping both hands, he tests out a few rapid punches before stopping, satisfied. Grabbing his shield and Deliverer of Judgement the massive teen lumbered his way out of the room, steps audible as he hoists the massive hammer over one shoulder.

Sapphire mostly just waited for most of the hour, humming a few cheery sounding songs and doing her best to keep herself occupied with something. Her weapon had been with her since she arrived at Beacon, and she didn't bother trying to shower or anything. She would look around the room, trying to see who might make good partners. Forest seemed decent enough, and she would like to how he fought, but it might be better to meet new people first. Then there was Lacey, they often ended paired up at Signal, but she didn't really enjoy her company so far. She recognized many other people from Signal, but none she really knew. Hopefully the eye contact thing would turn out alright.

Once other people would start leaving she would leave as well, following the signs closely, and made sure that she didn't embarrass herself on the first day by going the wrong way. She had to constantly move her overcoat around to make sure no one stepped on it to the many people around her, but that turned out ok as well. She was rather nervous, not that it showed on her face.

Forest hadn't had the best night. While he was used to sleeping near or next to his friends back home, trying to fall asleep with a room packed full of strangers was about as similar as the night noises of a forest was to a city. Both were at night, nothing more. That and nightmares about being kicked out of Beacon before he started kept his sleep broken. He rose before most everyone, used a bit of his remaining toothpaste to brush his teeth, forgoed a shower in lieu of leaving the soap with his friends, and started his daily warm-up before the headmistress and Ms. Mauville arrived.

Well, she's certainly eccentric, Forest thought as the pair left the room. Figuring that there wasn't much point in waiting around and, deciding that there wasn't anything of real value to steal from the bag, he left soon after them and followed the signs to the launchpads. The thought of breakfast only crossed his mind for a brief instant before being drowned out by his nerves over the test. He was glad that partners was arbitrary, no chance of being cut out from anyone else. Although, Sapphire could be fun. Still, there were plenty of other students to get to know. He just hoped that whoever he was paired up with was willing to work with him.

Lacey had slept just fine over the night the amount of people did not bother her to much. When Lacey heard that they would be getting their partners and team today she wondered who exactly it would be maybe sapphire? They were often paired up at signal. When everyone started to leave Lacey quickly checked to see if she forgot anything important before heading off and following the others.

Lacey was nervous at the thought of Launch pads... it would me she would be high off the ground. Lacey decided she will forever hate whoever came up with this idea.... Hopefully they get parachutes or something.

The bed didn't provide Lorne much sleep. For one, he had a pretty hard time getting comfy, and two the fact that everyone had to sleep in the same room made him rather paranoid, making it hard for him to doze off. With morning, Lorne woke up in a rather groggy mood, but after some water and apples he was right as rain, or at least as much as he could be. After he was finally ready, he was given the notice that they were going to have a test. One where they will be determining their partner through eyecontact. That's a bit strange but who was he to argue.

When the actual test was happening he was reluctant to say the least. No one told him that they were going to fly a hundred feet in the air. Still this wasn't that big of a problem. Most of the people he were with seemed ok with the prospect so he might as well join in and readies himself to be launched.

Cerise woke up the morning of the test. She was used to sleeping in rougher conditions, especially since camping was a favorite of hers. Unlike many others, taking a shower wasn't priority for her. All she did was change into her normal day clothing and strap on her shin guards. The gauntlets Cerise carried with her to the testing site. She would place them on there instead so she wasn't accidentally bumping into things with them. When Ms. Mauville explained the partner and eye contact condition, she didn't really mind. But would they mind if they looked into Cerise's eyes? The question played on repeat in her mind because of the unnerving color of her eyes. It often scared many people away from talking to her. Shaking her head, Cerise made her way to the testing site, following the group that had begun that way.

Cerise was ready for this. She wasn't concerned because this is where she could prove her skill to the others. Despite her looking a bit odd, she was just as qualified to be there as they were. Smiling in excitement she tied her hair back into a ponytail and began to strap her gauntlets on. All she had to do was have confidence in herself and her skills as a martial artist.

When Janeway first woke up, the hall was still dark, illuminated only with minimal nightlight for those who might have gotten up during the night. The still silence of the air was peppered with the rhythmic breathing and occasional snore from her fellow students. Sitting up in her bed, she gave herself a few moments to acclimatise to the dark, before reaching for her makeup bag and a towel. She had intended to make her way to the bathroom and claim the mirrors for her own use, but it was only after about two minutes of fumbling that she realised that her makeup bag had been taken and stored. On second thought, putting on any makeup probably was not the greatest idea anyway. The test later had a very high likelihood of making her makeup run, and Janeway heaved a sigh as she came to this realisation. Well, she mused, it wouldn't hurt to take a quick shower and freshen up.

After Janeway finished showering, the rest of the students were already starting to wake up, and she watched as Ms. Mauvelle and the principal came in to address the students about the upcoming test. It was all standard fanfare, nothing to write home about, and Janeway was certain that she'd do decently. Feeling much more awake than she did before the shower, Janeway started making her way back to the spot that she'd claimed once the principal and Mauvelle had departed. Her armour was laid out neatly on the side, and Janeway took her time strapping herself in. She'd only gotten this set of armour newly fitted for her admission into Beacon, and the boots were still slightly stiff. Standing up to take a few experimental steps, Janeway deemed it comfortable enough and followed the string of students that had already started filing out of the hall towards the field.

Eyes opened as the sleep he had gotten last night proved to be beneficial to his health, optimism and overall well-being.

Sinoy got up.

Not a single peep was heard from anyone, there was a faint constant noise that played in the background but he payed no attention to it. His awakening was swift, similar to the movement of a bird catching it's prey by diving into water, he was on his feet in seconds. Unlike most, he felt no difficulty in waking up, no drowsiness when opening his eyes. His hands ran through his dark hair, checking to see if his movements whilst asleep had any effect on it. Examining the floor, he decided that he had enough space to get at least a light work out session done and enough time to shower and change. Eyes drifting over to the side of his makeshift bed, his heart jumped in happiness at the sight of Piper Whammy beside him.

The sun had not even begin to show itself when he got started on working out and the first signs of light were just starting to peek out of the clouds when he finished a much needed shower. The appearance of the principal surprised him, how could someone that seemed so carefree be in charge of a prestigious school such as Beacon? He had decided that she was not what she appeared to be and even if she was, putting someone who was optimistic and joyful in charge might be a good choice, so to not pressure and scare students. The knowledge of a test excited him, the opportunity to find someone to work with using a shared goal was an efficient way to pick teams. It would show those who were willing to work together and it provided the chance to study another person's skills during a situation as pressuring as a test.

Grabbing his weapon, the young male walked towards what he presumed to be the field where they would be taking their test. His head held up high and his movements confident.

After the hour was up, all new students found themselves outside the academy, on a cliff overlooking a large and expansive forest. After being sorted alphabetically onto small white platforms, the Ms. Mauvelle and the principal, Fen límíng, once again appeared. "Within five minutes, your examination shall begin." Begins Ms. Mauvelle, grabbing the principal by the lapels as she starts to wander off with a sigh.

"As our principal has already informed you, your mission here is to attain a sash either with your partner or alone, depending on whatever happens first. These sashes are all deep within Grimm territory. Should you fail to attain a sash, you will also fail this test and be removed from the grounds." She says, eyes glinting as she looks over the students. "This is your final trial to enter. Don't mess up." She finishes, the principal giving the students a thumbs up and a grin before turning to a uniformed worker a few metres to her left. "Send 'em flyin'" She says darkly before spinning on her heels before she and Ms. Mauvelle walk off.

And like that, the test began as students were launched from the cliff via the pads to meet their destiny.

--

Charles was not having a fun time. The moment the instructors in charge had seen him, he had been removed from the line and brought to the end where two platforms far larger and bulkier were. From there, he had had a hard time listening to whatever the teacher and principal said. He was, however, able to recognise the sight of a flying body as students began to be launched from said platforms.

Kind of explained his bigger one didn't it?

After the rest of the students were sent careening through the air (he could swear that he could hear screams, even if his armour couldn't pick them up) it was his turn. Despite the platform he was already on, it still took those in charge two tries to get him to launch. He was also pretty sure they just set it to maximum power the second time, as the velocity he found himself going at was far faster than that of the other students.

Watching his fellow first years pull off graceful maneuvers and daring acts to stop themselves from turning into a charming puddle of red made him feel slightly embarrassed as he places his shield to the forefront of his body and smashes his way through two trees with sharp cracks, before landing in a furrow of earth. Standing up, he cracks his neck as best he could before hefting his shield and hammer and setting off at a jog. Let's do this.

Janeway had never been afraid of heights. It would've been highly illogical, since Valkyrie granted her the power of flight, and it would be the joke of the century for her to be afraid of being in the air. She had spent a good portion of time at Signal above ground, freed from the limitations of land, learning how to utilise Valkyrie to be maximally effective, weaving in and out of battle with Valkyrie's swift wings. No, Janeway was not in the least afraid of being hundreds of feet above ground with nothing to anchor her. She was used to it, and might even go as far as to call it comforting.

As she was launched through the air, Janeway felt an odd sort of serenity. The wind that whipped past her face as she went deeper and deeper into Grimm territory was almost like the greeting of an old friend. She hadn't been able to be Valkyrie for quite some time, having been caught up with the admission into Beacon amongst other events. Even while the danger of the test loomed overhead, the unexpected freedom that came with participation pumped her veins full of exhilaration. Janeway loved to be free, and the freedom that she found currently found herself with was almost enough to eclipse the trepidation that she felt. Pre-battle nerves were normal, and it would go away the longer she was in the fray, but it was still unpleasant. Janeway shut her worries away from her mind's eye and prepared herself for landing.

Her trajectory was going to land her in the canopy of a dense patch of trees, and while sturdy Janeway doubted that they could with stand the force of her barrelling into the branches. Calling out to Valkyrie, Janeway briefly let her Semblance take over her body, breaking the fall onto the canopy with Valkyrie's flight abilities. Grabbing onto a thick branch, Janeway stopped her glide mid-air and recalled Valkyrie before climbing her way down the tree trunk. Her armour was already getting roughed up and scratched, but then was not the time to worry about that. Janeway felt the surge of adrenaline flow through her as she straightened up and dusted herself off. The hunt was finally on.

Sapphire really preferred the ground. She really didn't like the airship, but at least she had something to stand on, right now all there was was air around her and fast encroaching trees. She was stressed about the test before she knew she was getting launched. She got even more stressed when she found out she was getting launch. Now she wanted to just slam into the ground and get it over with. Well that's what she kept thinking anyway. What she really wanted to do was beat some Grimm up, or maybe another student, either one would work.

Before she did that, she had to get on the ground though. Sapphire brought out her flail, quickly converting it to its whip form. As she approached a large patch of trees, she swung it towards a large, high up branch, using its momentum to wrap around it. The spikes dug into the branch, giving her some form of stability. She gripped onto it firmly and managed to use it to swing and stop most of her downward momentum, she was still going fast but she managed to pull it off! Almost anyway. The spikes on the chain were serrated and as she swung past the branch the chain started to move along with her, acting as a saw. Sapphire had never done this before, and the fact she even managed to do the swinging maneuver was pure luck. She had a huge grin on her face as she swung away from the branch, and was ready to figure out how to get down from a dangling position when the chain suddenly went lax in her hands, the spikes coming loose from the branch and letting go of it.

Her grin quickly went from a grin to a face of terror as she suddenly found herself falling about 12 feet. She yelped and slammed into the ground. It hurt a lot. Enough so it didn't even feel that good to her. She had landed on her back and caused a large puff of dust to scatter around her. She groaned softly and turned over, wincing in pain. Well, at least she had managed to slow herself down a lot. Sapphire coughed and looked around, cracking her neck as she turned her head. She slowly picked herself back up and painfully brushed herself off. Her coat looked fine at least.

The launch had been thrilling. Forest lazily flipped through the air, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of hurtling through the air. It was like jumping off a building, except there was significantly more upward momentum. It didn't make him any less stressed about the test, however. The music handled that. A simple mix of a few "don't worry, be happy" tracks had calmed him down somewhat when he had exercised at the pads before launch. Now he was more than prepared to roll with the punches when they came. Hopefully there would be some interesting Grimm in the forest to fight, or some unique ruins to visit. At least, he hoped there was. The fantasy books that Onyx stole always seemed to have them at any rate and this forest seemed as grand as any in the books. Speaking of the forest, it had begun to approach.

Righting himself in the air, Forest directed his fall towards a tall pine. Plowing through the outer layer of branches with needles scratching lightly at his aura, he planted his feet upon the top of the tree causing it to bend. This canceled most of his momentum and, before the tree could snap back or break, Forest twisted and rolled slightly, allowing the branches to scrape by before dropping at a steep angle. This had been planned for, however, as he lightly continued to bend branches to continuously slow his decent until the final drop to the ground. Not to different than using clotheslines in the city, he surmised as he brushed himself off and started a light jog into the forest. It was an alien, but exciting, environment. Since he was alone and without social pressures, Forest was actually able to quite enjoy his namesake despite being a city kid. It was so much quieter, peaceful in some ways. But he could feel the life around him. That he was in some sort of breathing, living place and not the dead but noisy city. I could get used to this.

Forest didn't have much of a plan. Then again, he didn't really need much of one. His goal was to find one of the sashes outright. If he met someone along the way, so be it, but he felt that there wasn't any real point in looking for his to-be partner. He'd get one whether or not he tried and he didn't know anyone beyond Sapphire anyway. And who knows where she landed. Heck, he didn't even know where he landed as he was having too much fun in the sky. However, if he and his to-be partner didn't find a sash, they would fail outright, and that was unacceptable. So Forest continued his light jog forward, hoping to find a sash quickly, and then connect up with somebody.

When Lacey was launched into the air she was screaming the whole way the experience was terrifying at least in the airship there was something to stand on but now she was just falling through the sky it was like her worst nightmare come true. As Lacey started to plummet to the ground she focused her aura around her to hopefully soften the blow of the landing. Lacey crashes into branches bouncing from one to another before landing onto the ground with a thud.

Lacey was happy to finally be on the ground however the landing was quite painful so she decided to take a small break before trying to go and find a sash.

After a few minuets Lacey finally got up from off the ground and started to walk off into a random direction to look for a sash or maybe a partner first it didn't matter to her which came first. After a while Lacey heard a growl coming from her right it was a single beowolf. Lacey activated the triggers for her puppeteer strings but nothing happened she tried again yet nothing happened still Lacey quickly rolled up her sleeve to find the wires were broken due to the fall. Lacey quickly started to run away from the beowolf the grim chased after her as she desperately tried to fix her weapon.

Lorne watched as the students were launched, and as he was adjusting his helmet, he was launched forward into the air at high speeds. He didn't have time to even prepare a plan to land as he flew through the skies half flailing around. He could only watch and scream as he flies from around 20 seconds before descending down towards the earth. In an attempt to keep himself from slamming into the ground, he draws his Demi-Lance and tries to catch a tree-branch on the axblade, and catches a thin branch, causing the branch of snap due to the momentum of his fall. The attempt barely slowed him down as he lands on the ground with a loud crash. Thinking he was lucky to be alive, and that the school's staff might be a tad mental, Lorne picks himself up and began adjusting his armor, just as he hears the sound of several Grimm growling behind him. He quickly lowers his visor and gets in a defensive position as he slowly backs away from the growling. Another growl is heard, once again behind him and he circles around to see a pack of Beowolves and Ursa coming in towards him. It was just his luck as he was now out of the pan and into the fire.

Cerise took a low stance on the launch pad to prepare herself for her brief flight through the air. She saw the others students being launched as well, some screaming as they go, some saying nothing, and others laughing with glee. She found those people laughing were probably going to be more like her. After all, Cerise is a huge jokester and loves to make light of any situation. When Cerise felt the pad move underneath her, she didn't have time to gather her thoughts before she's was hurled through the air. It didn't take her very long to land, maybe only about 15-20 seconds. Some people got thrown much farther distances or shorter distances than her.

On her way down, through the trees, Cerise mainly smashed through the branches with her gauntlets. Some people would prefer a smoother transition from air to ground, but Cerise didn't care, she just smashed through whatever was in front of her. Although she did get slowed down considerably thanks to making impact with the branches. She would've used the fire dust, but she also didn't really feel like burning the forest down. She received several scratches along the length of her arms, legs, and face, but it was nothing major so she wasn't worried.

Cerise landed on her feet luckily, but she was fairly unsteady in her landing and upon standing. When she heard a yelp nearby Cerise got into a defensive position, gauntlets raised and legs ready to pounce. But when she scanned the area she saw nobody. Instead, Cerise decided to follow the sound of the yelp. Not too far from her, about maybe 30 meters, so 100 feet, stood Sapphire. She was surprised it was such a short distance from her, but the shrubbery and trees covered her entirely from where Cerise landed. Sapphire had to have been launched before her as well because she was pretty sure she landed first. Cerise called out to Sapphire as she approached her. "Sapphire! I guess if we make eye contact first we're partners. How about it? Lets get on of those sashes." She smiled and placed her hands on her hips, her gauntlets making it look funny due to the size of them. All the while though, Cerise kept a sharp ear out for signs of Grimm who may be lurking around their location.

Crouching on top of the platform, Sinoy held up his hammer using one knee and steadied it with his left hand. Positioned in front of him, his right hand was stretched out, fingertips touching the platform beneath him as he focused on the area before him. Dense foliage and never ending trees, any escape out of the forest seemed to be blocked by colossal mountains. Only a couple of students had gone by the time he was set up on a platform and he watched as they flailed carelessly in the air. Perhaps a few students shall be meeting the nurse as soon as this test was finished. Scanning the hectare of trees that extended further than his eyes could see, he silently located all the clearings that he could identify from his angle. There weren't a lot and by the sounds of the branches crackling in the distance, he could be certain that more than a few students had an unpleasant flight. He felt the metallic structure beneath him press down. Preparing himself, he took in a deep breath.

The boy exhaled.

He flexed his fingers, his hand curling into a ball before stretching back into its previous position.

The sound that surrounded him eventually died out as he held a steady focus of the estimated path in front of him.

His muscles relaxed.

The force from the platform was strong, pushing him forwards with a sudden rush of strength. Wind blew into his ear harshly as he set himself into a streamline, arms beside him, and aimed for the clearing that seemed to be closest. There wasn't much time to think whilst he set himself up to land on his feet as he neared the ground. The landing was soft, most of his aura building up to protect his legs and head just in case. Crouching, he rolled forwards and landed onto the grass safely, with his arms in front of his face to protect him from the ground as he pulled his stunt.

Perfect landing.

Standing up, he dusted himself off as he fixed his attire, his hair hasn't even shifted from its original shape. The objective was to find a sash in order to pass the test. He stood still, hand on chin as he began to think of where the sashes could possibly be placed. It wouldn't just be lying around. Perhaps, in a tree? He looked to the branches above him and thoughtfully gazed over at the healthy leaves sitting on the gathering of trees that circled him.