In Memorial of the Fallen: a RWBY RP [IC Thread]

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

At 'terrible people', the newcomer's gaze darkens as he sits down beside the two, facing forwards; at 'criminal underworld' Lucius Aurelius' eyes close and his jaw clenches. He shudders slightly. "Even the darkest of shadows may be... purged by the light."

Lucius Aurelius looks up, turning back to the two and barely managing to force a smile. "Sorry; bad habits." He chuckles - again, forced. "In any case, I would argue that a vibrant culture and strong traditions are the most important traits that any nation can possess; they are the things that bind a people - us, in fact, considering that it appears we are both citizens of Mistral - together, after all! Wouldn't you agree - Zimt, is it?" he asks, leaning forward to look past Layla at Zimt and motioning for him to reply.

[Yekrenia]

Layla Ajanus

"As I said, Mistral's a nice place with terrible people. Sort-of ruins it a bit really. But perfection's an impossible thing really." She stopped herself before she started waxing philosophically. It was a bad habit of hers, but there wasn't much else to do at 2AM when you couldn't sleep. And then her chain of thought was interrupted once again.

"Culture's a pretty terrible thing to be known for considering most of the others. Although when it's between that and the criminal underworld, I suppose it's like choosing which foot to shoot yourself in." Layla shrugged, ignoring the offered hand. "Layla Ajanus, transfer from Haven."

At 'terrible people', the newcomer's gaze darkens and the hand is withdrawn as he sits down beside the two, facing forwards; at 'criminal underworld' Lucius Aurelius' eyes close and his jaw clenches. He shudders slightly. "Even the darkest of shadows may be... purged by the light."

Lucius Aurelius looks up, turning back to the two and barely managing to force a smile. "Sorry; bad habits." He chuckles - again, forced. "In any case, I would argue that a vibrant culture and strong traditions are the most important traits that any nation can possess; they are the things that bind a people - us, in fact, considering that it appears we are both citizens of Mistral - together, after all! Wouldn't you agree?" he asks, leaning forward to look past Layla at Zimt and motioning for him to reply. "I apologise; I don't think I know your name either."

Hannah Blikdase

If there was anything that Hannah wanted to do if she and Ashley were males, then it would be to go with a good old fashioned fist fight in a secluded area away from the ballroom. Of course, being that Hannah was not a well-rounded gentlemen, and was instead seen as an overgrown militarised girl scout (according to bullies and individuals whom are anti-Faunus and anti-militarist), Hannah could not exactly beat some literal sense into Ashley without creating quite a scene. So rather than figuratively exploding with anger, Hannah decided that it was best to let Ashley go and temporally let her off the hook with her mishaps from the last missions throughout the second year semester.

Even if the other people that were talking to Ashley and Hannah had been distracted for the moment, it was not a while later through such distractions that Ashley decided to walk away and leaving behind a stoically flustered Hannah. At the same time, Hannah had a similar idea as well, and it was best that she decided to walk in the opposite direction of where Ashley went somewhere throughout the ballroom. Although Hannah does not usually judge people like the front covers of a book, Hannah was especially irked by Ashley's carefree and lighthearted attitude with her mishaps, and it was nothing more than a figurative slap in the face for Hannah when Ashley decided to walk away like nothing bad happened.

An ordinary guy would absolutely be live it from their own girlfriend walking away from a problem that notably put themselves in the line of fire in what could have been a mission gone wrong; however, Hannah saw that would have to deal with her friend later on in the night or the next day to put some sense to her. But for the time being, as Hannah calmly yet slowly strolled about the ballroom listening to the music and the chatter amongst the other students all around her, she could not help but feel a little ashamed on the inside for partially eavesdropping upon the conversations of some students she walked by so casually. Unlike Ashley, Hannah was not exactly a woman comfortable with flirting towards the opposite gender, and even if flirting was not one of those things, some of her physical features (such as, her broad shoulders and short brown hair) can be a small turn-off for the average joe.

Of course, Hannah was looking for some tranquility to herself, and enjoying the music and chatter all around her was one way she was going to obtain such a peace for herself. As mentioned earlier, she was by no means in wanting to get involved upon other people's conversations; however, that seemed to only work for a moment, since Hannah felt her feline Faunus ears twitch every so often in all directions. The hairband that usually concealed Hannah's feline Faunus ears sometimes bumped upwards when her ears twitched, but given that the backside of her ears were just as brown like her hair, the average person would not bother to notice this detail from a distance, and she was not the only one with the concept of concealing her Faunus features.

Hannah heard of another fellow Faunus female by the name of, Blake Belladonna, whom used a black head bow to conceal her ears. To the average person, a head bow would make a certain female appear cute; however, this piece of attire can be a big giveaway if common sense and careful observation were considerable factors. Of course, Hannah was not opposed to such an unusual attire, having a head bow that can twitch from time to time can be obvious over a period of observation; however, this did not mean that Hannah was except from her own style of concealing her Faunus features as well.

Stopping behind a crowd of students (whom were mostly oblivious to her presence), Hannah used her left hand to casually massage the top of her head and securing her headband almost discretely. She was partly grateful that she did not have long hair, and for good reasons provided from her militaristic nature and attire, but it was merely a curse for her to be reminded of the horrific consequences of long hair when out on the battlefield. Aside from her humble and seemingly casual manner of adjusting her headband, it was upon the moment she put her headband back into place that she could not help but hear a notable piece of dialogue somewhere nearby:

"In any case, I would argue that a vibrant culture and strong traditions are the most important traits that any nation can possess; they are the things that bind a people - us, in fact, considering that it appears we are both citizens of Mistral - together, after all! Wouldn't you agree?"

For a Mistralian Faunus Vagabond turned Elite Militia Soldier, Hannah would have surprised her military superiors and comrades if she showed that she was unable to locate the source of the voice who spoke that particular dialogue from a relatively short distance. Though while everyone had to admit that there were so many people/students all around Hannah, whom either drowned out some parts of the dialogue and/or made some of the speech to be misinterpreted for the average person, the voice could not be too far away for the eyes to see. Unfortunately, with so many people standing or walking about either with or without chatter, Hannah could not rotate her head around like if she was a house cat on the hunt for a little finch, or she may end up having people think she may be lost and subsequently attract attention to herself.

But even if she could act casual and not make others think she is like someone on the hunt, the white and red colours upon her formal attire (which was actually one of her older sister's old private school uniforms) made her stand out like a blue jay perched on the bare branch of an oak tree on a bright summer day. Of course there were other females that wore white coloured clothing, Hannah was surprisingly hard to miss due to her white hairband and red-tipped ribbons, and as well as her rather distinctive broad shoulders, lean digits and limbs. As mentioned from earlier, Hannah was not looking for some company other than Ashley, but she can only hope that whoever spoke that dialogue did not go towards her direction, or she may be going up on the wrong foot of an unknown student or bully she may have not met just yet in the second year semester of being at Beacon Academy.

[Legatia]

Lucas Blixsen

Lucas' grin dropped as he listened to Savannah speak and he understood the urgency in her voice. This was urgent, at least it sounded like it, it was time to get serious.

"...the CCT, that sounds bad..." He said vaguely before looking down at her, "Alright, I'll be happy to help, but...she just wants us to take pictures of everyone?"

He froze for a moment in deep thought, the gears almost apparent as they spun in his head, then snapped his finger, accidentally making a little blue electric spark arc between his thumb and middle finger, at the thought. His eyes brightened up again, "Hey, you Scroll can process more than one person at once right?" Recalling the picture she had just briefly took as Lucas arrived, remembering the multiple squares which centered on people's faces.

"Why don't you go around like you're having loads of fun here and take group selfies with everyone...I don't know, less chance of getting caught like this..." Plus he added and putting a thumbs up, "It sounds like a whole bunch more fun than racing around taking pictures...like a person scavenger hunt!"

Don't ask why Lucas wanted to make a very serious and urgent problem into a fun little game, not even the writer entirely knows but it can be assumed if it was a game, aka, and competition, Lucas would try harder.

Savannah Montaigne

"We-well, I.." Savannah did not particularly like this idea. The girl liked taking photos- but not usually of people, so she had never taken a selfie, understandably. "I-I mean, I'm almost done.." She explains, shifting her visage. "I.. I just had a few more to do, until you came." She turned. "..Speaking of that, how did you see past my barrier..?"

[Kuhlfros]

Lucas Blixsen

Lucas noticed that Savannah wasn't to comfortable with the idea, so he calmed down a little bit as he listened to what she said, "Well, if there's only a few left, I can help finish those off, but you know...it's always fun to try new things if you're willing." He said thoughtfully

He whipped out his scroll but before trying to pick out a person he got caught up in her question
"Eh? Your barrier? Well nothing seemed weird to me except the fact that Mentari was with you a moment before when I glanced over, so I wanted to ask where she went and why you were just walking around...until I came right up behind and then I could see you had your scroll."

[Ormata]

Zimt Krasnyy

"Even the darkest of shadows may be... purged by the light."

Lucius Aurelius looks up, turning back to the two and barely managing to force a smile. "Sorry; bad habits." He chuckles - again, forced. "In any case, I would argue that a vibrant culture and strong traditions are the most important traits that any nation can possess; they are the things that bind a people - us, in fact, considering that it appears we are both citizens of Mistral - together, after all! Wouldn't you agree?" he asks, leaning forward to look past Layla at Zimt and motioning for him to reply. "I apologise; I don't think I know your name either."

Zimt regarded the young man carefully, noting his rather clean features. Traditions. Culture. Vibrant and strong, that’s how he regarded them as. Vibrant and strong. He looked to be one unduly concerned with culture, with his well-manicured looks. A slight snob, perhaps, but then again every individual had their interests. Every person found something they just had to love. It was what people did. They found things to love, to cherish, to hide away in the face of danger. Perhaps like crows. Perhaps crows were like people. He smiled at the thought, a warm little thing.

“Zimt,” he replied, with a slight accent, “Just Zimt.”

The man had curious habits, though, like that statement. Even the darkest of shadows may be purged by the light. It sounded so very idealistic, so very odd, so very out of place. It was a school, after all, and he looked to be a student. He couldn’t already be set so far into his ways, could he? No, most likely not, Zimt decided. Young minds were so moldable, though. It was likely his own was molded early-on. Quite likely. Interesting that it was so very not on purpose, though. Such a thing required a good amount of mental conditioning, of stating it in a rhythm and forming a habit. Odd he’d have that statement imprinted onto himself.

“Culture and tradition are things that can seem beautiful, much like how a statue may seem so. But they’re not necessary to bind people together, not at all, and sometimes may set people apart. Different cultures set boundaries people people, precedents that feuds long-dead should be continued simply due to tradition, things like that. It can divide, though many things can. You know how things are. I’d think the people of a nation should be regarded more than the culture. How well the people are. How strong they are. Those kinds of things.”

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

"But are both of those things not directly linked to a people's culture?" Lucius Aurelius presses the point, happy to be both stretching his mental legs and defending his values - fulfilling his purpose. "Culture gives one an identity, defining one's very outlook on life. Is that vitality of spirit not wellness? Culture binds a people together, giving them something to live for, fight for, die for! Is that collective will not strength? And if culture divides, then is it not every man's duty to spread and share their values, to make others understand them, so that we may finally have unity, order and peace?"

The other thought in his mind, that those who refuse to understand are not worth the effort of engagement and therefore simply do not count under Zimt's formula, goes unspoken.

[Stormwrath]

Balcony

The music began to pick up some more. It seemed that Avena was rather hesitant to want to dance with Jackson. Well, he knew very well why—Avena wasn't very much of a dancer as she was of a fighter—but it's all about moving your body to the beat, right? He then held her by the waist and grasped her hand. "Then let's make you better at it," he smiled. "Just look at me, let the music move you, follow my lead, and don't try to crush my toes."

And so Jackson began to move his feet to the music, taking Avena with him 'round the balcony as the vocals came in. Their dance wasn't a slow dance that would be associated with waltzes, no, it was one that was more lively—something that someone like Avena can get behind, certainly. For Avena, it would seem too fantastical to be true. There she was on the balcony on a starry night in the arms of the one she loves. Her dreams seemed to have come true at that very moment, unless it all was a dream. Thank goodness it wasn't.

Then all of a sudden, Jackson let go of her and let her do a twirl. Her dress flew, which made the whole scene look a bit more enchanting. She would be probably surprised why her partner would suddenly send her into a spin like that, but Jackson didn't care. He just drew closer and held onto her body again.


Ballroom

And so Yang arrived to the area around the stage, ready to keep things from turning sour, only to find out that the confrontation had just ended. Huh, she scratched the back of her hair. Apparently STAR and the Filipovs got along just fine. Another brawl was averted.

However, one of the technicians came up to Yang, looking incredibly nervous. Feeling the light tap on her shoulder, she turned around to see who it was, "What's up?"

The technician remained silent. He then gestured blondie to follow him, to which she shrugged and responded, "Alright, as long as it's important."

Yang was led to the back of the stage, its beating heart if you'd like to call it that. All the systems, wires, and consoles were placed here away from the view of the rest of the ballroom, and the technician was one of those in charge of keeping all the performances running smoothly. Because apparently Beacon had a lot of tech-savvy volunteers or they had enough money to hire professionals, who knows. As soon as the two of them entered backstage, the technician then moved towards one of the consoles. Flicking a few switches and turning a few knobs, he reported to her, "The lights and sound systems aren't working. I-it was fine when I last checked it a couple of minutes ago."

"Have you checked the wiring?" Yang asked as she began yanking on one of the cables. Yet as she pulled, it felt lighter than usual. A few seconds of pulling ensued, and by then she had her answer.

Twirling the severed cord in front of the technician—a couple of sparks flying off the filaments—the blonde quipped, "I guess you haven't."

Just as she was saying that, the music died out and the crowd didn't seem to—no—they didn't like it at all. This made the technician even more nervous. But as soon as Weiss joined in, he reached his hand and groped his own buttocks—the inclusion of the ice queen into this dilemma was about to push his bowels to the breaking point.

"What is going on here?" Weiss stamped towards the two, her heels clanking against the floor panels.

"Oh boy," Yang reacted to the sight. Things were about to escalate quickly. "Oh, Weiss!" she smiled, tossing the wire away. "You're just in time! Say, do you know where all the spare cables are? After all, you were the one doing the inventory."

"Spare cables?" glared Weiss at the technician. "Something happened to the wiring, didn't it?" The technician's face drained.

"Oh!" Yang pulled another wire and found it to be cut as well. And another. Aaaaaand another. "Looks like someone sabotaged the wiring."

Weiss let out a loud and definitely-not-feminine-at-all sigh. "You," she pointed at the technician. "Get the others to help out. We're gonna need them to restore the wiring by Team STAR's next performance. Identify all the cables that were sabotaged and replace them accordingly."

"Should we inform Team STAR about this?" the technician began pulling some cables.

"Yes, if possible," Weiss nodded. "I'm pretty sure they'll understand." The heiress then glanced at the bimbo and added, "Yang, distract the crowd with something. Anything. Even with your god-awful puns, just stall them."

"But my jokes aren't that bad..." Yang pouted.

"Just go!"

Yang then went up on stage to the sight of an agitated student body. She was relieved to find out that the microphone still works. "Ummm," she began, "We apologize it's gonna be of any inconvenience, but we maaaaay be having some technical difficulties at the moment."

"In the meantime," her arm suddenly shot up. "Who wants to hear some jokes?" And so the crowd groaned in unison. It was bad enough that the music's gone, now they have to endure Yang and her terrible stand-up comedy. This was gonna be a long night.

[Lunas Legion]

Layla had not come to the dance to philosophise. She could do that by herself well enough. She came to the dance because she was bored, and her team seemed to have decided to ignore her recently, and the dance seemed the best and easiest excuse to get out.

Unfortunately, it seemed life, the world and fate in general wanted to force her to actually think. But, well, at least it was something different.

So she sighed, breathed, and began to talk. Philosophy was, after all, just another form of rhetoric, and she could do rhetoric just fine.

"How cultured you are doesn't matter if someone else comes along and burns down all your nice houses. Art and sculpture doesn't do anything beyond occupy time that could be used for something practical with actual use. Besides, there's no way to universally ensure everyone fits into whatever culture or their expected role in society."

Like me she added mentally.

"So, yeah, I'd personally say that culture doesn't matter until a nation can survive, and even then, survival should be prioritised over this vague, invisible idea of 'culture'. But I'm really not in the mood to philosophise over this stuff, I avoided those classes for a very, very good reason, and this is it."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

At that last sentence, Lucius Aurelius appears to undergo a moment of mild shock. "I believe that your definition of 'culture' is narrower than mine but let us pause for a moment - you have been missing classes? How has this gone unnoticed to myself and our teammates?" His frown is heavy, to say the least. "And philosophy classes specifically? Do you forget your duty? As a Huntress, Layla, you will be constantly thrust into life and death situations, making decisions that can kill or save both your teammates and innocents - and you are actively seeking to be absent from the teaching of a subject of which ethical theory is a branch?" He shakes his head, his visage taking on an expression of outraged bewilderment.

[Ormata]

Zimt Krasnyy

"Philosophy classes specifically? Do you forget your duty? As a Huntress, you will be constantly thrust into life and death situations, making decisions that can kill or save both your teammates and innocents - and you are actively seeking to be absent from the teaching of a subject of which ethical theory is a branch?"

Zimt’s eyes shot-up in mild amusement at the Latin’s outburst. Apparently he did not understand the essential theory of what an ‘elective’ was, nor did he seem to understand that such classes were quite secondary in nature to most others, like actual hunting. Apparently. Curious that he would think that classes on cultural theory would specifically intertwine with those on ethics, or that since someone thought culture was useless they thought ethics, and by extension, people were useless as well.

“I do think you should keep yourself in check. Simply because someone thinks culture is secondary to survival is not tantamount to someone believing that saving lives is not important. Such an accusation is...very, very stupid.”

[Altito Asmoro]

Bleu Nostradamus

To wake up in a very morning time wasn't his idea. But the more he went into slumber, the more he realized he's going to suffered from the same, exact dreams...

...We're dead! And you're not saving us!...

And he's not going to let it destroys his mind and his current, almost stable, state. No, he's trying hard to control his psychology, what with the delusions. Just the delusions. The paranoia kept him sane all the time, though he mentioned to himself that he's quite unsure which one's real, and which one's not. Then again, it didn't mattered much, his status as a somewhat known resident insane and totally itchy person makes it a lot easier for him to slipped up in his free time to talk with his friends as usual.

Not those friends in the Beacon, of course, they are sort of unnaturally unlike him. His fellow friends, the orphanage children, on the other hand, was quite happy with him. Or is, depending on the time.

He looked outside, it seems whatever dancing period is currently active. Wait, morning? Oh, he looked it wrong. It was not morning by any means, of course. He looked to himself, already dressed in...dancing suit, he believed. What just happened earlier? Who knows.

Something that he should keeps to himself for now.

"Let's dance dance!"

He walked down from his dormitory and into the roads of the Academy, inside the Academy.

[Lunas Legion]

Layla Ajanus

"At Haven, at least, philosophy was an elective in the second year, mandatory in the first. I took politics instead to avoid having to do philosophy for another year. Simple enough." Layla shrugged. "Don't know why you jumped to me using the word avoid to imply I was missing class."

"I mean, I could miss class," Layla paused, trying to rememeber precisely how much Haven's curriculum had in common with Beacon's. "Well, quite a few classes, and I think I'd still have a fairly good shot at passing this year. Doesn't mean I will miss classes, just that I could if I wanted. As for ethics, well, after all the argumements, doesn't it just come down to because I think its this? And even then, you can't really judge situations until you're in them."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Lucius Aurelius blinks, calming down ever so slightly. "I... I do apologise. You are correct, that was something of a groundless assumption and a slight on your honour that you need not have received. Besides, we are - quite literally, in fact," he notes with a laugh - "on the same team; we should not be fighting amongst ourselves."

"Still, the study of ethical theory is crucially important for people in our position. Even if we approach this from a completely practical standpoint, having processed the theoretical reasoning behind moral decision-making before any decisions have to be made can save crucial seconds in the heat of the moment. You have heard, I assume, of the famous 'charging Boarbatusk problem'?"

[Ormata]

Zimt Krasnyy

"Still, the study of ethical theory is crucially important for people in our position. Even if we approach this from a completely practical standpoint, having processed the theoretical reasoning behind moral decision-making before any decisions have to be made can save crucial seconds in the heat of the moment. You have heard, I assume, of the famous 'charging Boarbatusk problem'?"

“Funny enough I do recall the young lady as saying she didn’t want to philosophise,” replied Zimt, somewhat annoying by the young man’s repeated, it seemed, attempts at bringing the conversation back to wherever he wanted it to be. Why the heck did the man want to philosophise so much? He shouldn’t have been a hunter, said a little voice in the back of Zimt’s mind, he should have been a philosopher. A speaker. A talker. A man with the bundle of sticks he called words. Zimt’s stance changed ever so slightly, to this, with a tenseness in the shoulders.

[Durmatagno]

Adan Lazuli

At this point, Adan, having kept quiet, decided to step in and offer his own insight into the conversation between Lucius and Layla.

"Personally, I believe that culture is important, but often to valued by those that have it, and not valued enough by those that don't. Culture isn't just art and sculptures, it's everything from the way you carry yourself, how you treat strangers, the way you see small things of body language. What's more, culture is actually vital to survival. Things like art, games, music, they stimulate us, relieve stress, and insure our minds don't break under the pressure of a unforgiving world. The harder things are, the more we need it, just to stay sane, to keep people from breaking down, and fighting each other. Culture, is in the end, the last line of defense we have from total isolation, chaos, and the darkness around us. I do not disagree that our first priority should be saving lives, insuring that the forces of time, and grimm alike are kept at bay, but to disregard culture as if it is not vital to our own survival is like saying we do not need to eat, drink, or breathe."

Adan scanned the people in front of him, waiting for a reaction, anything to tell him what they thought of his words before they stopped to speak.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Lucius Aurelius nods firmly, disguising something of a sense of relief due to his other teammate's interruption having saved him from trying to explain to Zimt that Layla had invited the debate by asking him whether ethics mattered without appearing presumptuous. "My view is in accord with yours, Adan! It is good to see you here - come, join us! Your ideas, I am sure, will thoroughly enrich this discussion."

[Legatia]

Lucas Blixsen

Lucas noticed that Savannah wasn't to comfortable with the idea, so he calmed down a little bit as he listened to what she said, "Well, if there's only a few left, I can help finish those off, but you know...it's always fun to try new things if you're willing." He said thoughtfully

He whipped out his scroll but before trying to pick out a person he got caught up in her question
"Eh? Your barrier? Well nothing seemed weird to me except the fact that Mentari was with you a moment before when I glanced over, so I wanted to ask where she went and why you were just walking around...until I came right up behind and then I could see you had your scroll."

Savannah Montaigne

"Right, right. I see." She shook her head, looking off. "I.. I had better hurry. If you'll excuse me.." Savannah took her leave with a nod, ascending up the stairs as Yang made a mention of stand-up comedy. It didn't take knowledge of Yang to know that it would be painful, and that just put a highlight on the need for expediency.

Taking her Scroll out again at the back of the room and re-activating her Semblance, she waited a few seconds before the phone could register faces, and took a shot of the entire room. Hopefully, the shot she took would help- and if it didn't, she would be taking a few more just for good measure.

[Altito Asmoro]

Bleu Nostradamus
Ballroom

"Where's the music?" Bleu asked to his friends, the children. They shook their head. They didn't hear it too. Hmm, must be some kind of problem. Oh well, nothing he could be done with. Technology is not his forte, and yet it seems that this kind of problem needs his...assistance. Backstage? Full of security, and not a wise decision, despite the insanity implication behind it.

Blue Nostradamus walked right behind some people, like dancing to himself. People generally didn't looked happy with him, but then again with all the very good jokes and puns on the stage, it makes him much easier to walked around. Humming to himself as he moved around. He's paranoid, but not that paranoid. Itchy, itchy to do something happy. It's not his usual. Then again, he probably forgot to take his usual medicines.

"You're good, girl! Nice jokes!" he proclaimed the sentence, words by words, to the girl on the stage with her good jokes and puns. He proclaimed it to himself, though. And probably to those who heard it around him.

[Sonitusia]

Virus and Firewall

If people had taken notice, there was someone on team RWBY who was now missing from the ballroom. It would be hard to know however, with all of the events taking place. Even if the room went silent from Yang's attempt at comedy, Ruby had long since been gone, instead finding herself at the doors of the CCTS tower, having seen a mysterious someone making her way towards the tall building.

Mentari was taking shots left and right, but no unknowns were found. She had been receiving Savannah's own photographs constantly, notifications coming in every few seconds. The girl greatly appreciated Savannah's help in this manner. They had only reunited tonight, and their first hour would be spent preventing an entire electronic takeover from taking place without notice. The clock was ticking, a little too fast for Mentari's taste. And every present second was as precious as the next. So when the notifications stopped coming in briefly, the girl's panicking increased. She began to wonder if Savannah had been compromised, if her Scroll had run low on battery. Positive thoughts also came, like meeting up with fellow members of her team, but the negative outweighed the positive until she received a few more messages from Savannah.

A triple ding caught her attention.

"Dissimilarity detected."

Mentari turned around, facing the building where the ball was being held. Standing outside in the dark, peering at the light that shone outside the room, she furrowed her brows in anger.

---

Looks like we're done here~

Purnama hummed to herself, making her way towards the exit. While it was moderately enjoyable, it seemed there was someone in the school paparazzi that was trying her best to take a picture of the crowd. It took some mild focus deviation to try and escape the girl's photo session, but nonetheless it was fun to play hide and seek. Something to do while her internal computers were at work, chipping away at the automated defense that blocked her from victory.

Here we are, hope you're prepared Cin-

She had finally broken through, but there was something odd about the program now. The coding that was now in her path was standard, and expected. However, a line that wasn't required was there. Something that brought Purnama's attention to full before she could finish her task.

I. SEE. YOU.

The moment she took her final step down the staircase, a metallic object whistled by her ear. There was barely any time to react, to give a counterattack. All that Purnama could do was fling herself to the side, avoiding further strikes that were bound to come. As soon as that was done, her eyes glowed bright green, giving her a clear vision of the night.

And there she was, standing in the middle of the courtyard.

The Heiress of the Nightwatch.

"Let's not do this here Ment~" Purnama purred unfazed, taking out her mechanical ball as the girl charged her. The sword she had thrown flew back towards Mentari's hand as she grasped the other. When she caught it, the scene was like from an entertainment show; four yellow streaks of light radiating from Eclipse's dust-infused metal, and a bright purple orb that glowed brighter as the yellow neared. The moment the four yellows swung upwards to strike, the area around the two different lights flashed in a bright purple, disappearing moments afterwards along with the two fighters.

They reappeared a short distance away in an empty square, far enough to keep the ballgoers from noticing, but close enough so the both of them knew they were nearby. Mentari's strike had no affect as she was transported meters away from Purnama, but it seemed that the now-AI didn't want to stop a fight she had dreamed of happening. They stood across from each other, duel stance at the ready. The mechanical ball in Purnama's hand began to shift, transforming into an odd looking blade, a fusion between a sword and an axe; a khopesh. She twirled it in her hand a few times, fully prepared to parry any strike that Mentari had to offer. There was a certain feel that one could sense from the way she handled the blade. It was comfort, and no actual intent to kill. But the will to fight until the end seemed to confuse those who could read body movements. It were as if she was prepared to hurt someone until their very edge, and leave them to wallop in their pain until help could arrive. The thought of that made Purnama lick her lips, a crooked smile on her face.

"What's with that look, Ment?" Purnama asked playfully, the two starting to circle as if vultures hunting prey, "You seem a bit tense. Don't worry, the CCTS is already under my client's control, no need to keep the defense up-" Her speech was cut off as Mentari tossed her blade with intense force, repeating the same attack she had done before they teleported. This time, Purnama was able to swat Eclipse's half aside, but the diversion proved just how fast Mentari could close the distance on her strength alone. It was nothing like her classmate Ruby, but it was fast enough to be dangerous to the average fighter.

And a fighter she was. There was nothing she had to say, thoughts now gone from her mind. The only thing she could focus on was the idea that Purnama needed to be defeated, right here and now. The betrayal, the lost trust. She had a personal vendetta to settle, and her chance was right before her. And so she struck at the android, who quickly blocked with the khopesh. But Mentari's first trick was then put into action. Eclipse began to glow as she put pressure on her attack, then 'exploding' into pure light, a sharp screech escaping Purnama's vocal cords. Her night vision was still active, and with that her vision was dazed for much longer than normal. Grabbing at her eyes, Purnama deactivated her vision, the pain subsiding considerably.

"That was fucking uncalled for!" Purnama growled, swiping her sword through the air to make Mentari back off. The android then pulled her glasses away from her head, taking a cloth out and tying it around her eyes.

The Blind One in the Night.

"You know, I could really use some new optics!" Purnama shouted, the khopesh returning to its original ball state, "You fucked up the hardware earlier!" With a quick jerk of the thumb, the orb transformed into a very mechanical looking rifle, landing in her hand and fired the moment her finger reached the trigger. Without her eyesight, one would think that Purnama couldn't accurately land her shots, however they'd be surprised to see Mentari duck for cover, finding a low wall and keeping herself out of Purnama's range.

"In any case I trained," the android continued, dashing through the darkness, the sound of metal shifting with each step echoing, "To make sure that I could fight even with my shitty visual hardware!" She jumped over the wall that Mentari hid behind, the weapon no longer a rifle, but now a giant gauntlet that hummed like an engine. Mentari's eyes widened, and she pushed herself away from the wall, just before she got smashed like a cockroach into the ground by a meteor. Purnama pulled her hand out of the ground, flexing its fingers a few times. It looked heavy on her arm, yet the girl was able to ball it, and lightly tap both her fists together. The steam pistons hissed softly, and it rattled every time she moved.

"Give it back," Mentari finally said, picking herself up, connecting her two blades together, "Black Hole was my father's creation, it's not meant for combat..." To this, Purnama only laughed, shrugging and flexing her shoulders as she drew closer.

"Like I care, it's not like I'm wasting anything," Purnama giggled, her fist glowing and then forming into a longsword, "In a world where weapons can transform into multiple forms, a single object that can transform into anything is king!" The two traded blows, Mentari using her double edged blade like a sharp staff that could cut her at any minute. Neither held back, but there was no real progress, with ground gained and lost every few seconds. It was like a violent dance, the sort that had been seen since the dawn of war between warriors. Then Mentari kicked Purnam back, throwing Eclipse into the air. As it turned to Sonnenring, Purnama laughed at the weapon, then beginning to slice at Mentari's body as the weapon spun above. Her aura was at its limit now, breaking to the point of shattering any moment. Mentari simply held on, but her Scroll then beeped frantically, warning her that depletion was eminent.

"Any last words, Ment?" Purnama asked, "Basking in the light of Sonnenring is quite a glorious way to die." But before she could move, Mentari had swept her hand downwards. A hail of blades followed suit. Purnama was struck, but only by a single hit. She'd never expected them to split, not something like this. These were too... Robotic. Not something she would have thought that Mentari would try to create.

"Die Goetlichen Strahlen," Mentari said, panting from extreme weariness, "The Divine Rays... You're not... The only one... Who's changed."

Without time to recover, Purnama was forced into Mentari's puppet play. Changing weapons? While she could gain the distance, Purnama was unable to fire at Mentari due to Strahlen's defensive capabilities as well, acting as a shield that could block the android's attempts. Using her semblance? What point did that have for Purnama at this point, as Mentari's reactions were adaptable on the fly by now. And while Purnama could indeed teleport behind her opponent, it put her at risk due to her momentary weakness and Mentari's physical strength. There was no doubt in Purnama's mind that Mentari was capable of knocking someone out if they were stupid enough to bargain their life with no protection. She should know, they'd lived in the same mind for the past 10 years.

"It seems I'm at loss," Purnama exclaimed regretfully, widening the distance between the two and pulling her blindfold off. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness once more, sight blurry until her glasses were on once more. "I simply cannot fight you one on one."

The physical fight ended now, but confrontation was still required. With Mentari unable to find a hole in Purnama's defense, and Purnama unable to strike back, all the two could do now was converse. And because of that, Purnama had the upper hand; she had nothing to talk about, but had the things that Mentari sought.

"P... Purnama..." Mentari called out, coughing, "Why are you doing this?" The robot looked at her expressionlessly for a moment, then pointing a finger at her own face.

"Watashi?" she questioned playfully, "I'm just doing someone a deed for compensation, that's all.~"

"But what you're doing... It would bring Vale to its knees," Mentari warned, Strahlen circling around her head, "Why would you want that?"

Purnama shrugged once more like earlier, tossing the orb in her hand up and down as she began walking away.

"Tales of a better world, all the things I could ever need to live a complete life-"

"But is that what you really want?"

"..."

"I thought you wanted to live a life with people you loved, to express emotions that wouldn't be complete if only through myself."

"..."

"Isn't that the world you wanted to live in?"

The night glowed once more in a purple hue, the swords above Mentari combining into one, large gun, and landing on her shoulder. As she charged up the gun, watching Purnama slowly disintegrate into the night, she had no sense of victory or anger rushing through her.

Only the sadness that someone she loved dearly would never find her true purpose in Remnant.

As the pulsing beam of dust shot forwards, its target disappeared from the area, no longer to be found in the night. So the laser flew, its short life only used to strike down a nearby tree. Her eyes began lose sight, vision flickering. Mentari was left sprawled on the ground, her mission failed, and questions left unanswered.

...

I should have never installed that firewall...

[Stormwrath]

Ballroom

"...I got a good one for you guys!" Yang continued to attempt at entertaining a disgruntled crowd. She began to think that maybe she should've brought her handy pocket book of funnies. Those were swell. But then again, she was having a good time coming up with jokes of her own. "What does the Boarbatusk do when it finds out it's pregnant?" She briefly paused in suspense. "It goes to have an a-boar-tion!"

Another rimshot sounded, and the room continued to fall silent. No one was amused, not even the most jittery of students. Well, except for Yang who was laughing at her own joke. A few of them had grown irritated and shouted, "Get off the stage!"

But she paid no mind to their disapproval. Weiss told her to distract them, to distract them she shall. "Why is the pianist bad at programming?" she asked the crowd, who remained unwilling to answer. "Because he can't memorize the keys!"

Groans reverberated back to her in waves, but she remained unfazed by them. But on the leadup to her next joke, she was starting to giggle to herself. "If-if you're a zombie—pf-pfft—A-and you're sharing a brain with another zombie—heehee—what do you call that?" Unable to suppress her snickers any longer, she was about to yell into the microphone. "G-giving head!"

As she was guffawing at her joke again and the crowd cringing at how inappropriate her pun was, one of the technicians had gone up on stage and tapped her on the shoulder. Yang felt a little annoyed that she had been interrupted right as she was about to deliver her last few jokes, but she figured it was something important. Once she had leaned in, he then whispered a few things in her ear while the audience was left confused as to what is going on. Yang nodded and turned to the microphone as the technician got off the stage. "Well," she shrugged, "I think that's enough fun for one night, even for me, huhuhu."

Jolting with a new burst of energy like the lights around her and the speaker feedback that pierced the air, she took the microphone off the stand and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, here for another stellar performance tonight, no pun intended, give another round of applause for Team STAR!" Everyone suddenly came to life and clapped their hands, the cheers reaching the band's ears. This was finally the moment they've waited for. To give some kind of nice gesture to those guys, Yang tossed the microphone in the air for Aka-inu to catch, winking as she glanced at him.

[Sindrya]

Aka-inu was pissed.

Not many things could make him pissed. He's confident enough in his physical appearance that he simply dismissed anyone insulting his looks. Insulting his musical choices and talents? Rarely works. Most of the time he will simply say "Fuck off" in a casual tone. He had too much ego that simple insults did not work against him.

But ruining his concert?

Ruining his concert would be enough to piss him off enough that he'd make a plan for vengeance against the perpetrator and their families for seven generations.

He swore to Dust that he'd find whoever cut the fucking cables and force them to play acapella.

But now's not the time for that. In a short while, his band has to be on stage. They'd have to perform for their audience. But how could they do so with their instruments not connected to the sound systems?

Simple. They use their own sound systems.

Ballroom

"...I got a good one for you guys!" Yang continued to attempt at entertaining a disgruntled crowd. She began to think that maybe she should've brought her handy pocket book of funnies. Those were swell. But then again, she was having a good time coming up with jokes of her own. "What does the Boarbatusk do when it finds out it's pregnant?" She briefly paused in suspense. "It goes to have an a-boar-tion!"

Another rimshot sounded, and the room continued to fall silent. No one was amused, not even the most jittery of students. Well, except for Yang who was laughing at her own joke. A few of them had grown irritated and shouted, "Get off the stage!"

But she paid no mind to their disapproval. Weiss told her to distract them, to distract them she shall. "Why is the pianist bad at programming?" she asked the crowd, who remained unwilling to answer. "Because he can't memorize the keys!"

Groans reverberated back to her in waves, but she remained unfazed by them. But on the leadup to her next joke, she was starting to giggle to herself. "If-if you're a zombie—pf-pfft—A-and you're sharing a brain with another zombie—heehee—what do you call that?" Unable to suppress her snickers any longer, she was about to yell into the microphone. "G-giving head!"

As she was guffawing at her joke again and the crowd cringing at how inappropriate her pun was, one of the technicians had gone up on stage and tapped her on the shoulder. Yang felt a little annoyed that she had been interrupted right as she was about to deliver her last few jokes, but she figured it was something important. Once she had leaned in, he then whispered a few things in her ear while the audience was left confused as to what is going on. Yang nodded and turned to the microphone as the technician got off the stage. "Well," she shrugged, "I think that's enough fun for one night, even for me, huhuhu."

Jolting with a new burst of energy like the lights around her and the speaker feedback that pierced the air, she took the microphone off the stand and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, here for another stellar performance tonight, no pun intended, give another round of applause for Team STAR!" Everyone suddenly came to life and clapped their hands, the cheers reaching the band's ears. This was finally the moment they've waited for. To give some kind of nice gesture to those guys, Yang tossed the microphone in the air for Aka-inu to catch, winking as she glanced at him.

Aka-Inu caught the microphone, showing off his confident grin in response to the blonde pun-isher's wink. With confident steps, he walked forward, towards the foremost microphone stand, the one that usually used by the lead vocalist of a band. Like him.

"Are you sure about this, Aka?", Shiro asked, obviously worried about Aka-Inu's plan.

"Of course.", he said. "Like the words of every great performers around the world, 'The show must go on'."

Kuro grunted. "Those shits who did this better ready themselves... Making him doing this kind of thing just to make sure his performance would go on uninterrupted.."

"Relax, Kuro.", the redhead said to calm down the ticked-off bassist. "This is what my Semblance was born out of, after all." He grinned. "The desire for my voice to be heard louder, to reach more people. That's how Echoes was born."

"Plus, if his Aura levels went too low, I still have some of the Aura-regeneration boosting pills in my doctor's bag.", Reinard chimed in. "I have improved the recipe by adding Green Valean Thyme leaves, so it can help his stamina, though not so much. He'd recover any fatigue and lost Aura in no time.", the young medic assured.

Aka-Inu smiled, feeling relieved. "I'll leave it to you, Doc."

Reinard gave him a thumbs-up. Behind his mask, he smiled, as well.

"All right, boys!", Aka-Inu barked. This was the cue for the member of STAR to assume their positions and prepare themselves. "Let's rock!"

The music started with Aka-inu's singing, along with Shiro plucking the strings on his guitar.

They're gonna clean up your looks,
With all the lies on the books,
To make a citizen out of you.

Thanks to Aka-Inu's Echoes, without the sound systems, they can still be heard even all the way to the end of the ballroom.

Because they sleep with their gun,
And keep an eye on you, son,
So they can watch all the things you do.

However, because of the circumstances, Aka-Inu had to exert full control over "increasing and decreasing the frequency of the soundwaves", like the a sound systems controller. And it was really tiring.

Despite this, Aka-Inu carried on, now singing with a higher tone, accompanied by Shiro's guitar play that also became louder. Reinard also joined in, beating his drums to the beat.

Because the drugs never work,
They're gonna give you a smirk,
Cause they've got methods of keeping you clean

They're gonna rip off your heads,
Your aspirations to shreds,
Another cog in the murder machine!

Now, the real part of the music began, with Aka-Inu now started his guitar play as well as Kuro with his bass.

They said the teenagers scare the living shit out of me,
They could care less, as long as someone would bleed!
So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose,
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me.

Then, they returned to the previous part's play, Aka-Inu singing with Shiro playing the guitar, Reinard's drum-beats accompanying them.

The boys and girls in the clique,
The awful names that they stick
You're never gonna fit in much kid

But if you're troubled and hurt,
What you got under your shirt
Will make them pay for the things that they did!

Again, they repeated the chorus, with Aka-Inu and Kuro playing their respective instruments as well.

They said the teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone will bleed!
So darken your clothes, or strike violent pose,
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me!

Oo~h yeah~!

Both Aka-Inu and Shiro stepped away from their mic. Showing off their gusto, they performed a guitar duet. Truth to be told, Shiro wasn't that full of gusto, since he was clearly worried that Aka would suddenly drop on-stage. However, when the white-haired guitarist checked the redheaded vice-leader's face, he found no trace of fatigue. Instead, Aka-Inu's expression was full of.. joy. Weird. As if he felt no fatigue at all. As if the enjoyment from performing on-stage was enough to replenish his stamina. Either that or Aka was a really damn good actor for hiding his physical needs. Which he doubt was the case.

Before Shiro could find out, Aka-Inu stepped away from him, and returned to his mic, to continue with the next part. They're just repeating the chorus, except this time no guitars, only Aka's voice with Reinard's drums.

They said the teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone will bleed!
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!

Raising both hands, Aka-Inu shouted towards the audience. "All together now!"

Cue the guitars back on playing.

Teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone will bleed!
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose,
Maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!

Kuro screamed. Cue for them that this was the last part of the song.

Teenager scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone will bleed!
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose,
Maybe they'll live you alone but not me!

Shiro did one short riff, along with Reinard drum-beats, before the lights dimmed, a sign that the song ended.

Suddenly, Aka-Inu's body went limp, and were Shiro at least a second slower, the redhead guitarist would've collapsed on the stage. Fortunately the white-haired leader of the team had an amazing reflex, so he managed to catch Aka-Inu, before Kuro quickly rushed up to them and helped his brother supporting the exhausted guitarist. Echoes was turned off right before he collapsed, so that no one could hear them fussing about a vocalist collapsing on-stage. Good thing that the currently dim lighting prevented anyone not on-stage from seeing this as well. Aka-Inu would feel like being seen like this wound his pride as a musician and performer.

Reinard approached them, and quickly urged them go to backstage, carrying the currently half-conscious Aka-Inu. The redhead barely had the strength to open his eyes. Feeling their hands supporting him, Aka-Inu tried to move his mouth to say thanks, but Reinard quickly shut him up.

"Save your stamina.", the medic instructed. "You'll need it to recover."

Thus, he can only offer them a weak smile, as a substitute.

As soon as they reached backstage, they - quickly but gently - placed him on a chair. Reinard quickly reached for his doctor's bag and opened it, rummaging through the contents for a certain teal-colored bottle filled with bluish pills. As soon as he found it, with the quickness and carefulness of a medic, he opened it and took one pill out, before feeding it to Aka's weak mouth. Shiro quickly offered an already-opened water bottle, urging Aka to drink it so that it could ease the pill's consumption. And Aka obeyed.

Now, they wait for the cheer from the audience, a sign that they performed good. That was the thing that could spur the recovery of someone like Aka-Inu. A suggestion that will boost his ego. Without it, he would feel like he did bad, and this could make him stressed out - yes, he does feel stressed when his performance is bad. Being stressed out would not help his recovery. So they waited.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Lucius Aurelius hears the distant noise of rock music manifest itself once again from inside the ballroom. He sighs. They would, wouldn't they? Saying, "Excuse me," to the gathered others, he stands almost mechanically, walks over to his lyre-like instrument, retrieves it, walks back, sits down again and begins to strum it melodiously. This doesn't seem to have impaired his ability to follow the conversation in any way, however.

[Stormwrath]

The next day...

Jackson's eyes felt tired and heavy—the red starting to appear in his whites. Sleep had eluded him last night, but it wasn't because he pulled out his Scroll and played video games up to sunrise. He had been thinking way too hard over the girl that he kept looking over his shoulder as he lay on his bed. He remembered that he couldn't stop casting his gaze at her cotton candy hair or her slender figure, which stood out from the darkness thanks to the soft light of the moon. Her kiss from hours before, soft and delicate like that of an angel's, had kept him awake 'till daybreak.

And yet, he felt like demons had tormented him.

He couldn't sort out his feelings for Avena last night, and he still couldn't even as he was walking with his teammates to the Amphitheater. No sound reached his ears, no touch had his hairs stand. Jackson just couldn't seem to accept the fact that it had happened. Even after they had danced the rest of the Dance away, he remained indifferent to her feelings. Yet he didn't seem to want to give it to her straight. For once he felt like he was at a loss.

"Jackson?"

Avena, Avena, the girl who knocked on the door to his life before kicking it wide open. Ever since they were paired up in the Emerald Forest by blind circumstance or fate, she had played the nuisance for much of his school life. The messy bed, the dirty boots, and the crazy shenanigans—those were the kind of annoyances that he had grown used to for the past semester. But now, he felt, she had irritated him in a worse way. And it wasn't that Avena had done anything mischievous, but it was because Jackson now knew how she felt when she was around him. Slowly the thought of distancing himself from her for a while was beginning to form in his head.

"Jackson?"

Finally snapping out of it, he looked to see who it was that lightly patted him on the face. "Oh, Carmina. Sorry if I seemed to black out there."

"Apparently you seem to forget we're not the only ones walkin' to school, too," the redhead quipped. Leaning in and staring at his darkened eyelids she asked, "Is there something wrong? You look like you didn't sleep well last night."

"That's because I haven't," Jackson retorted, shifting his eyes away from her. "But it's nothing really."

Jackson, Avena, Carmina, and Leif had made it to the amphitheater, and at the time it had been moderately filled with students gathering at the arena floor. Almost everyone here was a freshman who was called here in anticipation for their first field mission. And it wasn't just students from Beacon who were here—besides the black-with-gold-trim of the student body, there were those in the gray uniforms of Atlas, the black uniforms of Haven, and the lack of uniforms of Shade. These were exchange students that had arrived at Beacon over the past few weeks—a common sight in any Huntsman Academy whenever the Vytal Festival drew near.

Seeing a place for them to stand around, the team made their way across the crowd. So far there hasn't been any sign of the headmaster yet, so it meant that they and everyone else in the multitude were free to chat. "So where've you been last night?" Carmina was quick to ask Avena. "I haven't seen you since Fabi came onto the stage."

[Ormata]

Zimt Krasnyy

The day had gone rather well. Zimt had given-away his coat to someone else, talked philosophy, and tried to defend stuff. At least, that’s how it seemed. It was hazy, to state the least, in his mind; everything sort of blurred together, regardless of whether or not Zimt actually drank anything. He didn’t do alcohol, but they still seemed to blend together. Memories became too close to dreams and dreams seemed too real. Well. That dream definitely hadn’t been real; Layla had been rather aggressive in it. Well, not that he’d have minded. It was the good kind of aggressive.

Well. At the least it was the pleasurable kind of aggressive.

He got-up from the bed, disentangling himself from the mess that was one clean and pristine sheets before stepping into the shower. It felt good, hot water going over skin and stabbing in that hundred-cuts sort of way, little pinpricks that went into the skin. It definitely felt good. He leaned against the wall with one hand, relaxing until the thought came to Zimt’s mind that maybe he should start to actually shower. Yeah that’d be good.

Dressing casually, the young man made his way out, enjoying the sun before breakfast.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Lucius Aurelius wakes. He stretches his arms and legs from his lying position, then sits up in his bed and looks around the room. The other members of Team CLAL, judging by the fact that their forms are motionless and partially covered by duvets, seem to either be pretending to be or, far more likely, be actually asleep; careful not to wake them, the young man slips out of bed, retrieves the clothes and towel which he placed beside his bed the evening before as he normally does and stalks towards and through the bathroom door before closing it behind him.

It is typical that he is up this early in comparison to the rest of his teammates; were he back at home in the city, he would at this moment be performing the morning worship of the larum familiaris. As it was his brother Rufus, being the next oldest male of the household, would be in charge of the rites.

I ought to be back there, Lucius Aurelius thinks as he steps into the shower and begins to run his hands through his hair. I am pater familias, not Rufus; it is my duty to preserve the stability of my household.

He sighs, then closes his eyes and reforms his face into a determined, steely frown. No. My brother will do well; I fulfil another goal here. Remember your vow.

After washing himself thoroughly, lamenting all the while the lack of proper baths at Vale, Lucius Aurelius leaves the shower, dries himself, dresses and exits the bathroom, the next question in his mind being whether any of his teammates have woken yet.