Here she is now! She smiles winningly at them and walks up to their bed. "Today's the day, observation has ended, and I've come to spring you from your imprisonment."

Violet sits up in bed and favors Sable with a smile. "I've been waiting for this for... it feels like forever." She stretches her arms above her head. "I feel so much better. I still can't thank you enough."

"You deserve it, Vi." She admires the stretch, then catches Violet's hand when her arms come back down, squeezing it encouragingly. "All three of you deserve this chance to be yourselves, and figure out who that is."

Violet smiles, and squeezes Sable's hand. "Lily won't stop grousing about going to combat school, but she's outvoted, so we're just going to have to do our best together." 

She looks deep into Sable's eyes. "I just want you to know that I really appreciate you coming here every day like this. I've never had... I guess a real friend like you before." 

Her posture shifts, just slightly. "It's really true that we all appreciate it," she continues, her voice a little rougher and less lilting. "The staff told us about how much you risked for the procedure, and... That's going above and beyond, honestly."

Then, suddenly, there's a moment of disorientation - 

A star burns and falls, flame wreathing it in some distant place, a world far, far away from her - 

And then abruptly gutters out as her connection to it vanishes.

She grabs after it instinctively, and instead - 

Something goes click in her brain.

SUPERHUMAN DESIRE (Medaka Box Abnormal) 100

You always wanted to be special and that want was itself so strong that you really did become so. Whenever you are subjected to a procedure that will improve or beneficially alter you with a chance of injury to you, death or even just the procedure failing outright, it will instead have a guaranteed chance of success. Risky operations will always go off without a hitch, shoving an energy source into your own body will have it combine with you successfully if there was even the smallest chance of you not dying.

Okay, what the fuck. 

"What the fuck was that?"

You don't need to say it aloud, December, everyone in the room was already thinking it.

She grins warmly, starts to respond, and then her eyes widen at the sudden event in the girls' souls.

"Wha—"

She trails off, following the connections as best she can.

She shakes her head a bit to clear it, when the event ends. "That... was two different things, I think. One was a star like the one you girls grabbed during the procedure, but you couldn't catch it. And then, when you tried harder, you connected more clearly with the one from the procedure? I think it felt like it was giving you some kind of information about itself, but I couldn't tell what."

"Let me try that mental motion again."

It pipes up again quite cheerfully.

SUPERHUMAN DESIRE (Medaka Box Abnormal) 100

You always wanted to be special and that want was itself so strong that you really did become so. Whenever you are subjected to a procedure that will improve or beneficially alter you with a chance of injury to you, death or even just the procedure failing outright, it will instead have a guaranteed chance of success. Risky operations will always go off without a hitch, shoving an energy source into your own body will have it combine with you successfully if there was even the smallest chance of you not dying.

"It's giving me like an information sheet. It says that... my want to be special was so strong that I really did become special, and that any procedure that could improve or beneficially alter me with some chance of injury, death or failure will instead... always succeed, so long as there's even the tiniest chance of my not dying."

"Huh." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "I guess that could explain the good luck in getting enough nurses and trainees in for me to drain and keep filling up your Auras, despite that being more than were supposed to even be on-call."

"Yeah. There's some parts I don't understand - it says 'Medaka Box Abnormal, one hundred' - but it seems clear that it's a description of what's happened to me. A power that comes with its own manual?" She raises an eyebrow.

She shrugs. "Not something I've ever seen before, but we can figure it out together."

She shakes her head. "What was I going to say before that happened? Oh! Right, I was gonna say that you kind of have to stay at Beacon for now. That or find some kind of Aura-requiring work. It's hard to feed an awakened Aura on a civilian budget."

"Tell me about it," Lily replies, thinking back to all her hospital meals. "I'll say one thing for this place, the food's better than I expected."

"I can't wait to see all the facilities at Beacon though! Your team sounds really cool and I want to catch up as fast as I can."

"Let's get you out of here, then. I'll show you to your room."

"I won't miss it at all."

Violet gets the body up out of bed, then takes Sable's hand again. 

"Lead on, noble Huntress."

She smiles widely and leads the way out of the medical wing. On the way to the building where the first-year dorms are, in between pointing out various things on campus, she adds, "Professor Ozpin gave me temporary access to your guest room while you were in medical, just until you tag the door with your own scroll and it rekeys, so my girlfriends and the rest of our friends took the opportunity to get you some housewarming gifts."

"Aaaaaawwwww, that's so sweet of them! I really appreciate the gesture. I guess I'll have to find something to do in return."

Girlfriends plural? Well, she'll set that aside for the moment...

Lilian distractedly fishes her own scroll out of her pocket. It's an older model, but loaded with a slate of custom apps December's pulled off CCTS. 

"You said it'll lock to our scroll?"

She nods. "Just tap your scroll to it once I clear the existing settings. Oh! You'll need an Aura reader app."

She pulls out her scroll. "Here, I'll send you a link to the one I use. Team JSMN has been using it since before we came to Vale, and it's a bit more flexible than the basic one. It can keep track of the significant shifts in my Aura pool when I drain or refill people, and I think it should be able to adapt to tracking your Auras individually."

Tap tap flick tap flick, and then the scroll in Lillian's hand pings with a new message.

December confirms the download and smiles. 

"All your help and you're technical too? Some people might say you're too good to be true."

She shrugs. "Despite everything that's happened, I find it easy to care about people. I wouldn't go that far, though."

She smiles slyly. "Although it certainly is even easier when the people in question are beautiful and fascinating."

Oh, are they being flirted with? 

Well, if she thinks it's okay then Violet can give as good as she gets. 

"Says the girl who saved all three of us before she even knew us. Maybe you should give some of that credit to yourself."

She giggles. "Oh, you'll fit right in with the others. Maya especially is on my case to accept more credit for things."

She lets them into the dorm building and up they go.

Violet follows along, looking around at the sleek modern facilities. It's certainly different from what she's used to. 

"If they have good taste enough to like you, I bet they're cool people as well."

"Well, I certainly think they're amazing. We've been a team, practically a family, for years. Dating for most of those. Somehow they put up with how easily I fall for people, too." She grins, laughs, and opens the door.

"Tada!", she exclaims, gesturing at the guest suite.

It features a desk, a chair, a closet, a bathroom, a few cabinets, and a bed. And that's all before getting into the gifts. There's a plate of cookies from Ruby, a small vase with flowers in their Aura colors from Weiss, a few books on basic Aura use from Blake, a set of hair care products from Yang. Jaune gave them a drive with some music on it, while Pyrrha contributed a roll of athletic tape for training. Nora gave a box of chocolates with a note that she'd have gotten Ren to make pancakes but didn't know when they'd be released from medical. Ren gave incense and a book on meditation to connect with one's Aura more deeply. Jade gave a book with an overview of different fighting styles and very basic advice on developing one's own. From Maya, they find a cozy blanket in a dark grey. Neopolitan gave a book of photos of different Huntresses and their unique outfits, along with a certificate for time sketching and brainstorming outfit ideas.

And finally there's two joint gifts. The first is from Pyrrha, Maya, and Jade, and offers time experimenting with different base weapons to see where their fighting styles are naturally drawn. the second is from Sable and Ruby, and promises to design a custom Huntress weapon based on the results of the practice session.

Between the psychosis and the bizarre events with the stars and all the rest of it, this is still pretty much the most surprising thing that's ever happened to her. 

She goes over to the bed, sits down heavily, and takes a moment to take in the whole tableful of gifts. 

"Wow," she says softly. "This is... probably more gifts than I've ever gotten in my entire life up till now." 

Sable blinks for a moment. "Then your fosters were terrible and the teams are your family now. I mean, we didn't have a lot of gifts when it was just the four of us on our own in Mantle, but we still managed to do little things for each other."

"I can't say that anything of the kind's ever happened to me. It's a little overwhelming." 

She walks over to the table, picks up the blanket, and carefully wraps it around herself. 

"... A custom weapon? Style training? Chocolates and cookies? There's so much..." 

"Well, we like our sweets, across these three teams, so that explains that. As for the training, having an outfit that suits you improves Aura resonance and performance, and there's no way to know what kind of weapons you'll favor until you get to try different ones. As for the custom weapon, every Huntress needs a weapon that suits her personal fighting style, with both melee and ranged options available. I made team JSMN's myself, with Maya's help. Ruby made her weapon. We're probably the best weapon engineers across our three teams, so you're in good hands with us. We're not going to leave you without a weapon if we're planning to train you."

"I'm touched. I've never received anything handmade before, much less anything customized to what I want. That's..." She pauses. "It's personal in a way I've never been seen."

"We've never been seen," Lillian absently corrects.

Yeah, didn't mean to leave you out. I'm still getting used to this whole "three souls" thing. 

It's alright. We're all still learning.

She picks up one of the cookies and takes a bite out of it, half-expecting it to be spiked with something. 

It tastes great, though. It's not warm from the oven but it's clearly handmade, and by someone with a passion for the craft. 

She chews and swallows. 

"I think we're going to really like it here," she announces.

"Oh good," she replies with a grin. "Everyone deserves to feel seen, and to have someplace they can feel at home. Especially you three."

She takes a look at the incense, gives a sniff, then her eyebrows shoot up a bit. "Oh, Ren gave you a pack of the good stuff. This never fails to improve a meditation."

She looks back over at them. "Any early guesses where you think your fighting style or weapon will wind up? It'll be a challenge to make something that complements all three of you, but that's what mechashift's for."

Lily comes forward. 

"I think we would do best with a ranged weapon primarily, though Violet is saying she'd prefer a close-range one. We don't have specific preferences about what form - we never expected to get this far in the first place, to be quite frank. Something easy to learn, perhaps." 

Sable hums thoughtfully, nodding. "Depending on what they are, we may be able to get three forms in. That should leave room for both a ranged and a close melee option, and one more besides."

"I think we'll all have to think about it seriously. It's not a decision to be made lightly, by any stretch."

December takes another bite of the cookie, walks over to the bed and gently lays the blanket down on it. "For now I think settling in is most important. Getting the basics that any style would need down, exploring our Semblances... Theoretically we'd get three, right? That must be a unique advantage somehow." 

She walks back to the table and picks up the music player with her free hand. "I wonder what's on this," she asks. "Would you like to listen together?"

She nods. "I agree, it's something to take your time on. As for the Semblance question, yes, the three souls and three Auras with individual colors would tend to imply three Semblances. Discovering them will take time, but it'll be worth it."

And then she grins wider. "Oh, I'd love to!" She sits down next to December, curious what Jaune picked out.

December taps the player to her scroll, and lets it download. 

"Looks like this will take a little bit," she says. "I really wonder what's on it..." 

"So Sable," Violet starts. "How did you end up in combat school, anyway? It sounds like there's a whole story there."

She tilts her head and smiles bittersweetly. "Yeah, it really is." She sighs softly, her tail swishing a bit.

"Short version? For a variety of reasons, at age eleven we were all Lost Girls on the streets of Mantle. We claimed an abandoned warehouse, robbed a few places to buy food and bedding, acquired a scoundrel as an adoptive older brother, took jobs defending the Dust miners from Grimm and SDC strikebreakers, made a bunch of friends in low places, and eventually got convinced to come to Vale. A job we took after moving here convinced us that we needed better training, so we threw in for the Beacon entrance exams, and here we are."

"I was right, that is quite the story! Defending strikers, huh? That's pretty worthy work. And I bet it pays less well than being a Huntress."

Violet, please do not imply that you think Sable is a sellout.

What? I completely missed that. You overthink too much.

"Yeah, but to a gang of thirteen-year-olds living in a warehouse, it was a king's ransom, even giving the miners a discount. We're still in touch with some of the friends we made, doing those jobs, and new friends they introduced us to."

She runs a hand through her hair, and scratches one of her violet-furred ears for a moment. "Some things stick with you, no matter how far you come afterward."

"Is that why you're so kind?"

A soft smile crosses her face as she nods. "Kindness to each other is what brought our little family together in that Mantle warehouse. Kindness to the miners gave the people of Mantle hope — especially fellow Faunus — and introduced us to some... different opportunities. I try to bring kindness wherever I go."

December ducks her head and nods. "That makes a lot of sense. I'm glad your life has... given you such a strong heart. I don't feel like it really did the same for me. Sometimes suffering is just suffering."

"Not to be too much of a downer, of course. Today should be a joyful day, no matter how skeptical I am of this whole 'training' thing."

She finishes off her cookie, and smiles. "I guess I'll have to go through all the basics with you all. Train from the ground up. I'm pretty excited to try."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. The suffering is just suffering. I just found ways to fit goodness in around the edges once we were all away from our shitty beginnings. I got lucky, and I was clever, but the suffering is not remotely what did it."

She shakes her head and smiles. "Yeah, training from the ground up will be fun. It's hard, but it's worthwhile, and you can find your own best path forward."

"The more I think about it, the more I feel like getting knocked around by you could be a real fun time." She winks, and picks up another cookie. "Want one of these? Sorry about the music taking forever to load, our scroll is kind of old."

"I will never turn down one of Ruby's cookies. Anyone who does has no taste." She accepts a cookie and grins. "And I am increasingly thinking that training you three is going to be particularly fun."

Violet picks up another cookie for herself. "Yeah, these aren't going to last long. And I'm definitely looking forward to that sparring session."

She checks the music player. "Ah, there, looks like it's downloaded." She scrolls through the list, looking at the new tracks.

She leans close to Violet and looks as well, curious to see. It seems to consist of a mix of pop-punk and indie rock with female vocalists.¹ "Oh, Jaune picked out some good tracks here!"

¹ The Remnant equivalents of Paramore and Florence and the Machine.

"Huh, yeah. He has surprisingly good taste." December smiles and turns up the volume on her scroll a little. 

Sable scoots closer, smiling warmly. No, she is not going to put her head on December's shoulder. No, do not put her head on the cute plural system's shoulder. Do not. But maybe? No.

Sable is kind of looking at her in an odd way but she has no idea what to make of it.

The scoot closer is nice, though. 

She's not going to talk over the music. They can just listen together for a little while.

They can. It's great.

...okay what if she lets herself try holding their hand, would that be okay?

No, they just got out of medical. They have had far too much traumatic crap recently, they do not need relationship pressure. What if they feel obligated or something, because she saved their souls? She didn't do it to get a date, she has three girlfriends already.

She does not hold their hand. Her hand is maybe resting on her own thigh, right next to them, but she does not actually hold their hand.

A few songs pass. 

Violet gets up again and turns the music down a little, then sits back down next to Sable.

"... So," she says. "What's this you said about having... girlfriends. Plural?"

Violet.

Even after it all I don't regret kissing Jason. Or the dresses. 

There's a lesson in that, you know? 

... not that her heart isn't going a mile a minute or anything.

"Oooh," she grins, "Vi jumping in with the fun questions. So yes. I'm polyamorous. My whole team is polyamorous, and we're all dating each other. I don't know that I even know how to be monogamous. I'm pretty sure I've never actually experienced jealousy, and can't really comprehend what it feels like. I just... love people, and want to see them happy."

She makes a point to lock eyes with Violet and her headmates when she says "love people".

She flushes, and winks back. 

"I, ah... Polyamorous? I can guess at that from the roots... Many loves? Gosh, you have three girlfriends? How does that even work?"

"Lots of communication," she replies seriously. "The whole thing depends on talking to each other, making sure everyone gets time with everyone else, nobody feels left out, et cetera. Everyone knows when each other's date nights are, tries not to get in each other's way, makes a point to talk frankly if they think they're developing serious crushes on people, discuss whether the polycule is even hypothetically open to expansion. Things like that."

"Sounds complicated. But then, I guess we're no strangers to that." She smiles. "Are you this giving with all of them?"

She tilts her head for a moment, recalling using her Aura to heal injuries, building custom weapons, stealing the parasol that would later become Hush, building an archery range in an empty lot near the warehouse for Jade...

She grins and nods. "Yep!'

"You must be absolutely run off your feet between the three of them, then. When's the last time you took some time for yourself?"

Violet, the implication, 

Shut up, I asked the question because I care, not because I want to imply that she should pick me up as a side piece. Seriously.

She blinks. "Yesterday evening I ready a book? Once or twice a week we just have a cuddlepile? But honestly, there are a lot of ways that doing nice things with people I love is restorative time for me. Guess I'm just an extravert?" She shrugs.

"I guess that makes sense if you're that kind of person. I... don't really know what dating people seriously is like, you know? I did some stupid things about the soulstrain but that's hardly, uh, experience."

"I've never had a serious relationship, but it feels like what you four have going on is pretty deep. What with being together for years and all."

A gentle nod. "Yeah, it is. A deep lake still has a shallow shore, though. Are you interested to see how the water feels?"

She flushes. "I... is that an invitation?"

Lilian splutters in mindspace. 

That wasn't supposed to actually work! Isn't she taken?

You just don't have the touch, Violet thinks back.

She grins daringly and quirks an eyebrow. "Do you want it to be?"

They flush. 

"Um," she says.

"I think so? Lillian is a little uncertain about it but she's... just a little bit like that..."

She looks away. "You're sure you're not taken?"

"'Taken versus available' isn't really how I work so much as 'can we fit you into the polycule as a whole'. It's... if I show up at dinner holding your hand, one of the other three will probably plan a get-to-know-you activity with you by the end of the day, and the whole team will just be actively Considering It for a while. And then, if my read on everyone is accurate, a few dates in one of them kisses one of you and unless things unexpectedly don't work out between you and one of them you find yourself basically adopted by the end of the month."

"Oh..." 

Lilian looks away, still a bit flushed.

"Oh okay. Okay. I, um. I accept? I'm sorry, I'm still no good at this..."

Well how about she celebrates that by kissing Violet softly on the lips and then holding her hand?

"Dunno, something about getting a look at your souls made it easy to fall for you pretty fast. Oops?"

Oh gosh, her second kiss ever...

It's different than with Jason. Better, somehow. 

She finds herself blushing a deep pink and looking down at the floor. 

She squeezes Sable's hand a little.

"... something about getting saved and deluged with presents by a girl I hardly know... also makes it easy to care." She flashes a smile, then lools away again.

She grins and squeezes Violet's hand in return. "I can't really take credit for the presents. I just told our three teams about your situation and then it would've been harder to prevent a pile of suitewarming gifts at that point."

"Well, either way they're really appreciated..."

She squeezes Sable's hand again, as if reassuring herself it's solid. 

And distantly, another star flares and falls...

Only this time, it crashes down through the atmosphere and envelops Violet, December and Lillian entirely as it etches something onto their souls -

And then it locks into place, part of them forever now.

-'The Eye' AR Windows (Eclipse Phase) 100

These AR display windows match things in your field of vision to data from Firewall's databases, wikis, chat channels and forum posts - so if you happen to walk past a known trafficker of TITAN artifacts on the streets of Noctis, an AR window will flag them and display what The Eye knows about them. Unfortunately, The Eye is only good for things that Firewall knows about - new threats won't raise flags or have any data. In future worlds, The Eye AR windows tend to flag things in the databases or general awareness of groups with similar objectives to Firewall, but are fairly light on hard data - mostly something like "This individual is wanted for questioning by SHIELD and is considered armed and dangerous" or "This carving is a sign used by Thayan spies to mark meeting spots". You can dismiss the AR windows or keep them from appearing at any time. * Masking software can serve as a memetic filter with decent programming. * Windows can provide access to the information of any secretive organisation.

When she returns to herself she's slumped awkwardly against Sable and is staring down into her lap. 

She coughs and straightens herself, then gives Sable an awkward smile. "Sorry," she says quietly. Her gaze darts up towards her again, and - 

Sable is blinking herself clear of the star connecting as well. "Nothing to apologize for, Vi." And she has a little AR box overlaid in the air next to her head.

Sable Orchid

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Violet

Associations

Mantle's Marauders: Founding Member

A group of four amateur Huntresses dedicated to protecting disadvantaged citizens of Mantle from Grimm and societal oppression alike. Founded when the girls were barely thirteen, the group has since become closely associated with the Atlesian White Fang, as well as the Harmony faction of Vale's branch of the Fang since moving to Vale. This closeness is especially impressive, given that half the group's membership is Human. Became team JSMN of Beacon after joining the academy.

White Fang (Atlesian Branch): Associate, Honorary Member

The founding branch of the White Fang, this group frequently organizes defenses of striking SDC miners, in addition to their political activism and their less-than-legal activities. The group regularly raids SDC holdings, but tries to avoid bloodshed when feasible. They are known for taking more care to have solid justification for their assassinations than any other group — a task simplified by the corruption endemic in the Atlesian elite.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Harmony Faction):  Associate

Formed in reaction to the increasing violence of Adam Taurus's Radical faction, the Harmony faction prefers to work within the system wherever possible, though they will not hold back from violence if their hand is forced. The faction has been known to meet at Tukson's Book Trade, and was initially formed by Carnelian Tukson and Blake Belladonna, among other early leaders, with the notable assistance of the Marauders.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Radical Faction): Enemy

Formed around the increasingly genocidal beliefs of Adam Taurus, the group operates under the policy that the murder of Humans by Faunus is always justified. Can be counted upon to resort to violence first.

Semblance

Give and Take

Sable's Semblance allows nothing less than the bidirectional sharing of Aura through physical contact, or at one degree of remove through Heartstring. The sensation of sharing has an intensity that scales with the amount given or taken, and the valence of the feeling matches the valence of the subject's feelings toward Sable, modified somewhat by her feelings toward the subject. It is suspected that Sable is capable of direct manipulation of souls. Give and Take has been confirmed to be capable of direct soul manipulation, based on Sable's performance healing the three Misses Morning-Glory. This ability must be cultivated further, if opportunities present themselves.

Weapons

Heartstring

A dual-mode whip/saber with a cylindrical handle when stored, deploying the sword from one end and the whip from the other, with the grip reshaping to support either form. Contains a Dustcasting chamber in the handle, capable of Dustcasting through either form.

Sonder

An extremely high caliber revolver, using moon clips for quick reload, frequently loaded with Dust rounds, and capable of punching directly through lower-level Grimm.

"It's not like you chose for these things to knock you for a loop," she finishes with a grin. "What's this one do?"

"Uhhhhh..." Her gaze flicks through the air next to Sable's head. "Gives me an information overlay about you, apparently. There's like a half-dozen collapsibles, a whole file. I think that - it's kind of privacy-invadey, honestly? There's stuff in here about your time in Atlas and so on, I stopped reading after skimming the first dropdown."

Her face stills. "Ah. I... Anything accurate in that file I would have told you sooner or later anyway, though some of it is not first date material by sane people's standards, if it's sufficiently in-depth. I'd have to tell you all of it eventually, if I wanted to have any hope of us working out."

She takes a breath, then nods. "You can read it, and ask me questions, though there may be things in there I would quite appreciate your discretion about."

"I... okay. I won't read it if you don't want me to, you know? I... You saved our lives."

She already said we could read it.

Look, just because she says it doesn't mean she means it. 

I don't think she's the type to do that really.

Are you girls really turning down the chance to read a TOP SECRET FILE about our POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND? That's just fucking cool. I want to share it all with her.

Heh, guess December's the deciding vote. 

"I think you meant that, though," she says. "I'll read it. It can be our secret, okay?"

Her eyes flick over as she starts reading.

She smiles softly and nods.

"... Honestly there's nothing so bad in here, except that you were associated with a gang, which I already kind of knew. The White Fang, huh? I guess that just makes sense if you're a faunus who's striking. Did you know they assassinate people?"

She nods.

She winces slightly. 

"Oof. The file does say they take time to justify that, but..." She shakes her head. "I hope you're able to find better friends here in Vale."

"I wouldn't say I'm disappointed in the friends I've had, but I get what you mean. There's a deeper story it sounds like the file doesn't cover, though."

"Yeah. For all its text, it actually seems pretty superficial."

"Well, if you want to hear more, just ask."

"I... well. I'd appreciate that."

She hums. "So I guess the first question is how much you know about the conditions in and around SDC mines."

"Not a lot. Not a lot of news about working conditions and the realities of it gets out of Atlas. I can guess it's bad, but I don't know how bad."

"Yeah," she replies with a bit of disgusted frown at the SDC's practices, "they cover it up pretty hard. Atlas is basically owned by the corrupt corporations there, and the SDC is the worst of them. The conditions in the mines are blatantly unsafe, with frequent injuries among the mostly-Faunus miners. The one concession they make to safety concerns is hiring Huntsmen to keep the Grimm away from the mines. The second the miners strike, though, they pull those Hunstmen out and let the Grimm swarm the miners, drawn to the negativity. If the miners survive that, the SDC hires street gangs to break legs until the strike ends."

Violet winces. 

"That's... if that's really true, then I can see why some people would resort to violence..." 

She swallows. "It's all rhetoric about... Dust being vital to holding back the Grimm, and strikes depriving the nation of a vital strategic good on the network. I knew it was bullshit but that's a new low."

She nods. "Maya's parents died in those mines. We've personally fought to defend strikes. The thugs they sent were trying to kill us, so I try not to beat myself up that some of them died in the attempt." She sighs harshly, shaking her head.

"And that's not even the worst thing happening in Atlas. There are 'scientists' working in black divisions of some of the corporations that abduct homeless Faunus from the crater as test subjects in dangerous experiments." She scowls. "I can't fault the White Fang for shutting those divisions down, even if the process is a bit bloody sometimes."

Lillian winces. 

It's like something out of a bad movie. Do we really trust her that that's true? 

She saved our life, Lillian.

She could have done that for any number of reasons.

I am not going to look at the woman who saved all three of our lives and gave us a body that fits us at risk of her own life and treat her like a criminal. Full stop. Both of you quiet down, the discussion is over.

"We believe you," December says. "Why did you leave, then?"

She sighs. "Even though we loved what we were doing, the SDC was closing in on our base — our home in that warehouse. We'd put a lot of work into it, but they could've tracked us back there eventually, no matter how much the people of Mantle tried to misdirect them for us. Roman heard through his connections that the SDC was getting close, the local branch of the Fang confirmed it, and so he convinced us to leave Mantle. We came to Vale with him and set up here."

"I see..."

"Roman?"

"The scoundrel of an adoptive older brother I mentioned earlier. Thief with a heart of... silver, let's say. Sticks to only sufficiently corrupt targets."

Violet nots. "I know some people like that. Tangentially. I never considered getting into a gang - it's a good way to die - but there were some people I could respect who've done... less than legal things. I'm sure all those machines saw the results of my patchy hormone treatments."

She nods and smiles bittersweetly. "Good on you for getting those, but I'm sorry it was necessary. As for after we came here, we... may have caused a schism in the local branch of the Fang. There was an up and coming lieutenant who was too violent even for our taste, and we convinced some of the other local Faunus to push back against his bullshit, and well... one thing led to another. He took his die-hard radicals and split off, and everyone else — including his now-ex-girlfriend — formed the Harmony faction. Oops?"

She grins sheepishly and scratches at one of her ears.

So that would be Blake Belladonna then, and the ex-boyfriend would be Adam Taurus. 

Best to sit on that for now until she can verify it somehow else.

Well aren't you suspicious. 

It costs us nothing to just not elaborate, and it'll probably be more comfortable for Sable to not get into the gory details. Leave it, Vi. 

"Sounds really messy," December says. "I've heard of gangs that go through splits like that and it's rarely ever peaceful. Is everyone going to be okay?"

She nods. "She's got more and better of a support system than she did with Adam. There are still some hurts, I think, but all we can do is be there for her. The whole faction drew closer together in the aftermath, and I occasionally drop by to try to keep it that way."

Well, that confirms that. Freely offered, yet. Seems a little suspicious. 

Violet takes Sable's hand again, mostly to spite Lillian. 

"I'm glad. And I'm glad you got out okay and are still helping people as best you can. I..." 

She looks down at Sable's hand. "I can't say I wasn't surprised, but... I don't think this is a dealbreaker, not after all I've seen of you already in these few short days. I want to learn more about you, about... all the ways you're weird and complex and deep... And I think the way to do that is to stay by your side." 

She looks away. "I believe you're just trying your best to protect the people you care about."

"Um... This is kind of an insensitive question, sorry, but I've heard that in gangs there's kind of a... favors-for-favors thing that happens..." 

She looks over at the pile of gifts. "I don't owe anything in return for all of this, do I?"

Sable looks her firmly in the eye. "The only favor you owe is not dying. Live your best life and don't die."

... she can't help it, she smiles at that. Sable's just so charming. 

"Alright," she murmurs. "I'll do my best."

"Good girl," she replies with a grin.

She blushes hard at that one. She could really get used to that. 

"Says the good girl herself."

She blushes a bit too. "Heh. Fair point. So, you're still gonna try things out, even after hearing all the dark secrets, eh? Well, I'll have to make it worth your while. So, what's your favorite pastime?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't really... existed for all that long enough to have my own hobbies. December likes messing with technical things and so on... I guess I could say I'm more into fashion, I was the one who bought us our dresses."

"Ooh, maybe I should introduce you to Coco when CFVY¹ comes back from their latest field mission! Coco is the fashion expert, and absolutely loves it. But there's plenty of time to try things out, too. Maybe you'll like drawing, or who knows what else?"

¹ Pronounced "Coffee"

"Yeah, who knows!" 

She smiles. "Maybe you'll even get Lillian to try something. She's been doing nothing but grumping this whole time."

She giggles. "Valid to grump, but I bet we can find something she likes sooner or later. December will probably love time in the workshop with me and Ruby. But we'll definitely have to find something for Lillian."

"Thanks for thinking of me," Lilian says. "I... don't want to seem ungrateful, it's just a very big transition and also fighting Grimm is scary." 

She laughs harshly. "No shit fighting Grimm is scary. You're damned right about that. Something tells me you'll be better at it than you expect, though. But omnicidal monsters aside, what sorts of things do you want to try, Lilian?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'd like to... get organized, get working, get things sorted and stable, and then once I have an idea of what daily life is like here I'll be able to find something. Speaking with the teams would be helpful, I think."

"Well, our three teams tend to sit together in the cafeteria, so there's an easy opportunity to start meeting people coming up shortly."

"Gosh, everyone at once... That's a lot to take in. We'll do our best, I guess."

"I think maybe Lillian is a little scared of crowds. They've never been very good for her in the past."

"Understandable. And it's hard to make the cafeteria not a crowd situation. But there are other ways to ease into things. Little hangouts with one or two, tutoring sessions, practice spars, things like that."

"That's very kind of you..." 

Lilian looks down at Sable's hand and squeezes. "Alright. We'll do our best. Let's say that... for now, Violet can take the lead, we'll try and do some fashion things, she seems most comfortable with this whole thing overall... And with time we'll figure things out and get straightened out."

She smiles crookedly. "Let's just hope that this thing that's happening to us doesn't mess everything up."

She smiles and nods and squeezes Lilian's hand back. "Sounds like a plan. And if the thing with the stars interferes, we'll just adapt. So far everything it's given you seems to be an upgrade, at least."

"Yeah. It's so reassuring that you... can see it, and confirm it, and say it's real. I would be going completely out of my head otherwise - things popping up in my vision after all that?" She shakes her head. "The fits it gives me aren't exactly... good... either... But they're better than what I had before, so I guess I'm still grateful."

"Hopefully it gets easier." She gives her hand a comforting squeeze, then checks the time. "Oh, wow. Almost lunch. Time flies when you're hanging out with a trio of fascinating and beautiful women."

"Awwwww. Flatterer." Violet smiles. "Alright, let's go meet some people. You can introduce us to everyone."

She stands, takes Violet's hand with a faint blush and a grin, and leads the way toward the cafeteria. "Favorite kinds of food?", she asks along the way.

"Seafood," says Lilian. "Especially sushi. It's too pricey for us to get it often but I like it when I can afford it."

"I like spicy food," Violet says. "Hot sauce improves more or less everything."

"Or just fast food in general."

"Blake and Jade are the two biggest seafood lovers I know, though I can keep up with them. If they recommend a seafood place, I guarantee you it will be both delicious and not run by racists. As for spicy, you want to talk to Pyrrha, Ren, Maya, or Blake again. Jade and I enjoy it, but not as passionately as those four. The cafeteria can manage pretty good burgers and fries, and there are a few good places close to where the airships drop us for trips into Vale."

"Blake sounds really interesting, but I absolutely do not want to end up peppering her with questions about her asshole ex and I feel like I would be super in danger of that if I talked to her for long enough. Lots of hot food lovers, huh? I guess that'll be convenient."

"Perhaps we could talk with Jade about seafood."

She nods. "Blake definitely does not appreciate conversations about Adam. I don't think she's even told her team much about him yet. She's a quiet sort, at least until she gets really close to someone. Talking about seafood would probably brighten Jade's day, and Blake might join in too."

"I'll do my best to be cool. I'm just... I'm maybe not the best at being tactful." She rubs the back of her head. "Then again all my experience is from soulstress-induced emotional swings, so..."

"Something tells me it'll be easier going forward," she says with a smile.

"Here's hoping."

Violet looks down the hallway at the cafeteria doors. "After you," she says. "I'm still shy about getting to meet actual Huntress candidates."

Sable takes Violet's hand, steps up to the doors, and pushes them open. Inside the enormous cafeteria are three long rows of sturdy tables running the length of the room, with bench-style seats on each side. Dozens of colorful students in school uniforms sit at the tables, starting to eat their meals.

In the middle, three teams have claimed a section to themselves. There's this girl, with black hair that runs dark red at the tips.

Ruby Rose

Age: 15 | Gender: F | Aura: Red

Associations

Team RWBY: Leader

A rising star among first-year teams, RWBY notably took out a giant nevermore during initiation. Ruby is the primary strategist of the team, and is a prodigious combatant, especially for her age.

Semblance

Petal Burst

Ruby is capable of moving at speeds two to three times what most Huntresses can achieve through her semblance, which leaves behind a wake of rose petals drifting in the air. She's also rumored to be able to perform brief bursts of an almost-flight through straining her speed to its limits.

Weapon

Crescent Rose

An extremely high caliber sniper-scythe, Crescent Rose has allowed Ruby both incredible enhancement to her movement around the battlefield, along with impressive range and accuracy. Further, in close combat she can mow through low-level Grimm. There is only one other scythe-wielder of this skill level active: Qrow Branwen, Ruby's uncle.

Sitting next to her is this white-haired girl.

Weiss Schnee

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Light Blue

Associations

Team RWBY: Member

Weiss is the primary Dustcaster of team RWBY, capable of powerful area denial through her Semblance and her Dust skills — especially with ice Dust. Her skills are a large part of what put team RWBY on such a steep rise.

Schnee Dust Company: Heiress

The SDC is the leading producer of Dust and associated products in the world. They are one of the leading corporations in control of the Kingdom of Atlas, and carry immense political weight even in other kingdoms due to their economic contributions. Weiss has not been heavily involved in SDC operations thus far, and has expressed an interest in cleaning up the company's history of abuse.

Semblance

Glyphs

The hereditary Semblance of the Schnee family, Glyphs are a powerful and extremely versatile ability that takes extremely well to Dust enhancement. Can be used for everything from bombardment to restraint to movement to defense. There is one higher-level skill in the Semblance that Weiss has yet to master: summoning. If mastered, this ability would allow Weiss to summon specters of defeated foes to fight at her side.

Weapon

Myrtenaster

It is a multi-action dust rapier, featuring a four-chamber revolving cylinder for Dustcasting. The hilt possesses four prongs that encase the revolver-like chamber around the ricasso instead of a bow type hand-guard that is common among most rapiers, in a manner somewhat alike to a swept hilt. This mechanism can be controlled by the sword-hand, enabling her to seamlessly cycle the chamber in combat.

Across from them is this boisterous blonde, with long, luxuriously curly hair and lavender eyes.

Yang Xiao Long

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Yellow

Associations

Team RWBY: Member

Yang is the close combat brawler of first year standout team RWBY. She works impressively well under her sister's leadership, despite being the older sibling, and has been working to curb her impulsive streak.

Semblance

Burn

Burn allows Yang to "save up" the damage dealt to her Aura, storing it to be dealt back later in the fight. When her Semblance is activated, Yang's hair catches fire, her Aura flares dramatically around her, and her eyes turn red. In this state, Yang's strength is significantly enhanced, returning double the absorbed kinetic energy.

Weapons

Ember Celica

This pair of shot gauntlets provide Yang with a combination of mobility, ranged attacks, and melee enhancement. Their primary ammunition is an "explosive knockback" gravity/fire Dust blend, which can be triggered to burst on exiting the barrel or on contact with a target. The former is used for mobility, the latter for ranged and melee attacks. In close combat, Yang uses the kinetic force of the blast to increase the power of her strikes, triggering in the moment of impact.

She seems to be just finishing telling a story.

"—And so Port spins around and I just barely manage to get the bottle out of view in time, and he spends the rest of the the detention asking Cardin invasive questions about his hair and his family history to try to figure out why his hair turned blue."

The others snicker.

Next to her, a mix of giggling softly at the story and pleased at a bully's misfortune, is this black-haired Faunus girl, a pair of cat ears twitching atop her head.

Blake Belladonna

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Purple

Associations

Team RWBY: Member

Blake is the agility and mobility specialist of this prominent first-year team, one notable for excellent combination attacks.

White Fang (Kuo Kuana Branch): Founder's Daughter

For all that the Atlesian branch is the first, Kuo Kuana is the home office of this Faunus Rights movement. Founded by Ghira and Kali Belladonna and Sienna Khan in the aftermath of the Faunus Rights Revolution, the organization relocated its central branch to Kuo Kuana — on what many Humans call the continent of Menagerie. This branch has since functioned in a central and coordinating role, though the High Leader has been known to travel to other continents and participate in operations on occasion. In the past decade or so, Ghira stepped down as High Leader to become Chieftan of Kuo Kuana, with Sienna Khan taking his place. This decision seems to have been partly motivated by the White Fang as a whole moving in a somewhat more violent direction than Ghira was comfortable with. It is unclear whether the rumored Belladonna/Khan triad also broke up at that time.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Harmony Faction): Honorary Lieutenant

Blake helped found the more human-accepting of Vale's two White Fang factions. The split came about when Adam Taurus (leader of the opposing faction) faced substantial resistance to his goal of radicalizing the Valean White Fang toward increasing levels of violence and anti-Human sentiment. The Faction is currently led by a small council that includes Carnelian Tukson of Tukson's Book Trade, due in part to Blake's decision to enroll at Beacon, but they would likely follow her if she returned.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Radical Faction): Traitor

The degree of Adam Taurus's possessive antipathy toward Blake is unknown, but suspected to be extreme.

Semblance

Shadow

Shadow allows Blake to leave behind illusory clones, capable of taking a single hit before fading. She has developed mobility uses for this Semblance as well, kicking off clones in midair to change direction or ascend higher.

Weapons

Gambol Shroud

This is a mechashift sword/pistol and a reinforced and bladed sheath, with a long ribbon attached to the hilt of the sword (which also serves as the grip of the pistol). Blake uses Gambol Shroud as everything from a whip to a flail, on top of the base uses of its forms. Clever ties with the ribbon allow triggering the pistol while swinging it in a wide circle around herself, providing a degree of area offense.

Sitting next to Blake and facing the window is a dusky-skinned girl with bright copper eyes and wavy hair.

Maya Cupric

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Bronze

Associations

Mantle's Marauders (Team JSMN): Founding Member

Maya is the heart of the Marauders' impressive battlefield coordination and endurance, between her Semblance and her reasonably deep Aura reserves (though not as deep as Sable's). One of the Marauders' two Human members, Maya is nonetheless just as committed to their goals of rooting out oppression wherever they can, after losing her parents to an accident in the SDC's Dust mines.

White Fang (Atlesian Branch): Associate, Honorary Member

Maya is one of the few Humans allowed to see the inside of White Fang operational planning, and has significantly contributed to the success of raids she's participated in. She and the rest of the Marauders are known to insist on access to target justification records, however. The Atlesian branch is thankfully reliably able to provide this documentation, to the SDC's chagrin.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Harmony Faction): Associate

There was significant consternation within the Valean branch of the White Fang when the Marauders arrived and attempted to reestablish their affiliate status locally. The presence of two Humans among the members inspired strong reactions in the not-yet-schismed radicals, and this exacerbated the growing tensions between the two groups. The members of what became the Harmony faction believed that Humans who were willing to help the cause, especially if vouched for by the leadership of the Atlesian branch as the Marauders were, could be trusted.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Radical Faction): Enemy

It is unclear whether Adam Taurus views the Human or Faunus members of the Marauders as worse, considering the former as infiltrators into what he sees as his organization, and the other as traitors to the movement for splitting away from his leadership. Regardless, the enmity of the Radicals toward the Marauders cannot be overstated.

Semblance

Armory

Through Armory, Maya can tag combat equipment from the size of a moon clip with no hard upper bound, with a small cost to establish that increases dramatically above armor size. She can "reallocate" tagged objects within a kilometer or two, placing it in a position relative to herself or another tagged object, with a scaling price by mass. She can also remotely control and sense through (as well as the status of) tagged weapons. It is suspected that she may be able to repair tagged objects as well, but that has not been demonstrated conclusively yet.

Weapons

Promise

Promise is a mechashift fusion of a mace made from a lightning Dust infused alloy with a grenade launcher. Given any chance to prepare at all, Maya can be assumed to have an immense variety of Dust grenades available at all times, and with her Semblance there is no opportunity to observe which has been loaded into Promise.

Patience

Patience is a shield capable of alternating between heater and scutum forms, and in the latter form can use gravity Dust to lock in place in the current gravitational reference frame. Maya has been known to leap into the air, lock Patience in place as a midair step, and then use Armory to unlock it and reallocate it back to her arm after vaulting off of it.

She tilts her head and smiles wider. "Sable's here," she says without looking.

A short, black-haired Faunus with sharp green eyes and grey wings is sitting across from her.

Jade Hafner

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Green

Associations

Mantle's Marauders (Team JSMN): Founding Member

Leader of team JSMN, Jade is the tactician of the Marauders, As hoped, the leadership role is prompting growth from the girl, inspiring her to reach out and connect with more people. Jade's flight and magnetoreception also help her provide recon and scouting for the team, alongside her talents in navigation and stealth.

White Fang (Atlesian Branch): Associate, Honorary Member

Jade impressed local leadership in Mantle enough to be directly involved in operations planning from time to time, despite the Marauders only being an affiliate group. She is likely personally responsible for the operations she ran being cleaner, faster, and less bloody than they otherwise would have been.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Harmony Faction): Associate

As with the rest of the Marauders, Jade helped the Harmony faction significantly during the initial schism. She occasionally has tea with Tukson and keeps in the loop about local affairs.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Radical Faction): Enemy

Jade has personally led counter-raids to defend those targeted unjustly by Taurus's radicals, with the help of the other Marauders. She considers the Radicals' view extremely wasteful and counterproductive.

Semblance

Stellation

Jade's Semblance, Stellation, provides her with unparalleled photokinesis. She can bend, concentrate, distort, and lens the light in her vicinity. This ability has been used for lasers, invisibility, telescopic vision, and even personally-generated hardlight in recent years. She can generate hardlight without the aid of hardlight Dust, though the Aura cost is much cheaper for her with it.

Weapons

Verdant Thorns

A pair of high-caliber semi-automatic pistols, Verdant Thorns have a retractable dagger mounted on the barrel of each pistol, allowing for kerambit-like usage in melee. Touching the butts of the pistols together causes a mechashift transformation into Verdant Thorns' bow form, the pistols locking together and a length of spring-alloy extruding from near the hammer on each pistol. During the transformation, a hardlight string is formed (partially assisted through Stellation). Hardlight arrows are formed by the wielder using a crystal of hardlight Dust embedded in each pistol's grip.

"Looks like she's adopted the new girls already," she notes with a fond snicker.

Grinning, head resting on Jade's shoulder, is a particularly colorful girl. Her hair is half pink and half brown, with a white streak in the pink half. Her eyes are likewise pink and brown, but on opposite sides.

Neopolitan

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Pink

Associations

Mantle's Marauders (Team JSMN): Founding Member

The combination of Neopolitan and Jade are what make the Marauders one of the few teams with the potential to take an infiltration track in their time here at Beacon, and the only current first-year team with that option. Neopolitan is also notably mute from an event in her childhood, and as a result the entire team has learned Atlesian Sign Language.

White Fang (Atlesian Branch) Associate, Honorary Member

Neopolitan and Jade have performed exceptional infiltrations into corporate offices, and have significantly enhanced the reach of the White Fang's intelligence operations during their time in Mantle. The two sometimes took one-way infiltration routes, counting on Maya having tagged their outfits to extract them through reallocation, though person-sized movements take enough Aura that Sable has to reinforce Maya in that process.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Harmony Faction): Associate

Neopolitan has assisted the Harmony faction by infiltrating the Radicals on more than one occasion through use of her Semblance, extracting intel on their upcoming operations.

White Fang (Valean Branch, Radical Faction): Enemy

Adam Taurus holds a particular grudge against Neopolitan, because she has on more than one occasion stolen his mask, forcing him to wear an improvised substitute until a replacement could be procured.

Semblance

Overactive Imagination

Neopolitan's Semblance allows her to create tangible illusions. She can wrap them around her body as a disguise, or use them as decoys to escape or dodge an attack. A hard strike breaks one of her illusions with a sound of shattering glass, revealing whatever was concealed behind or underneath it.

Weapons

Hush

Hush is a highly reinforced parasol with a concealed rapier hidden inside. The hidden blade can be extended from the tip, or withdrawn to be used separately. Hush has gravity dust embedded within it to allow it to support Neo's weight during falls. She opens the canopy of the parasol to block attacks, deflects and parries strikes with it like a rapier, and hangs beneath it as a mobility aid.

Crash

This high-caliber revolver is quite similar to Sable's Sonder, capable of taking out lower-level Grimm with single shots when well-aimed. As with Sonder, it is frequently loaded with Dust ammunition and uses moon clips for quick reloading.

At the table across from the previous seven Huntresses, in the middle row, is another group of four. This blond boy has noticed Sable and Violet's arrival and is grinning cheerfully at them.

Jaune Arc

Age: 17 | Gender: M | Aura: Yellow

Associations

Team JNPR: Member, Leader

Despite coming to Beacon with forged transcripts, Jaune has proved to have strong tactical intuitions and a solid work ethic through the accelerated training course his team (especially Pyrrha, and to a lesser extent the other two teams as well) have been putting him through.

Semblance

Unknown

Jaune has not yet uncovered his Semblance.

Weapons

Crocea Mors

A classic sword and shield pair, Crocea Mors is an heirloom weapon used by Jaune's great-grandfather in the Great War. The shield collapses into a sheath for the sword using mechashift.

Sitting next to him (and giving him tiny sappy looks when he won't see) is this redhead.

Pyrrha Nikos

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Red

Associations

Team JNPR: Level

With her previous history as the champion of Mistral's national juniors tournament, it's no surprise that Pyrrha is such a successful Huntress trainee. She has taken on the bulk of the work of training Jaune up to par, and is a powerhouse of her team.

Semblance

Polarity

Pyrrha's Polarity grants control of magnetism, allowing her to manipulate most metallic objects in her vicinity. She has immense strength in her Semblance, able to move heavy weights at great speed and force, but also impressive fine control. Throughout her time on the tournament circuit, she used Polarity incredibly subtly, only ever nudging an opponent's weapons an inch or so out of alignment. This careful use and secrecy earned her the title of "Invincible Girl", though she does not seem to be very fond of the moniker.

Weapons

Miló

Miló is capable of mechashift transformations between three forms: a javelin, a variety of western Mistrali short sword, and a semi-automatic rifle. In javelin form, the rifle becomes part of the body and can be used to fire the javelin with enhanced speed, range, and power.

Akoúo̱

This dipylon shield is quite durable, and Pyrrha is fond of throwing it and then nudging its course with her Semblance to ensure its prompt return.

Across from those two, facing the window and the previous seven, is this boy with a pink streak in his black hair. He's patiently eating his lunch, despite his partner's antics.

Lie Ren

Age: 17 | Gender: M | Aura: Pink

Associations

Team JNPR: Member

Ren is a heavily agility-focused member of team JNPR, He rounds out the team nicely and complements the diverse abilities of the other three members well.

Semblance

Tranquility

Ren's Semblance allows him to mask negative emotions in anyone in physical contact with him, or whom he has indirect contact with through another person or object. Extending it beyond a few other people has a prohibitive Aura cost. While Tranquility is in use, people under its effects do not attract the Grimm, and also find themselves calmer.

Weapons

StormFlower

These are a pair of machine pistols equipped with collapsible sickle-like blades mounted underneath the barrels and extended magazines. The blades are sharp enough to pierce the bone armor of even alpha Grimm, but the shots have comparatively low stopping power. The damage from the shots does add up, however, and can weaken Grimm for later strikes with the blades.

Bouncing in her seat next to him is an orange-haired girl with blue eyes.

Nora Valkyrie

Age: 17 | Gender: F | Aura: Pink

Associations

Team JNPR: Member

Nora is JNPR's talented brawler and bombardment specialist. The teams opponents have been found to universally regret entering close combat with her.

Semblance

High Voltage

Nora's Semblance allows her to absorb and channel electricity into her muscles, enhancing her already impressive strength still further. All electrical currents up to a certain strength simply fail to damage her at all, instead being absorbed as fuel for her next strikes.

Weapon

Magnhild

This heavy maul has a mechashift transformation into a revolver grenade launcher. Her grenades are handmade, loaded with a custom Dust blend of fire and lightning, and can be triggered on impact, proximity, or remotely. The maul form keeps the grenade launcher available, and Nora can use this for mobility enhancement. Furthermore, the entire weapon is thoroughly hardened against electricity, allowing Nora to use it as a lightning rod for a boost to her strength, if a convenient storm is available.

As Violet and Sable watch, she uses a spoon to catapult a grape across the aisle at Neo.

Neo bounces up, head coming up off Jade's shoulder and catching the grape in her mouth. Nom.

Okay, whoa, that is way too much information, put some back. 

The overlays all blink out at once.

Whoa, no, don't just vanish on her - 

The overlays quite cheerfully pop back into existence. 

Okay, okay good, the little floating nametags can stay. But everything else can stay firmly collapsed for now.

She waves to Jade and Jaune, a slightly awkward smile on her face.

"Hey Jade, hey Jaune. There's... really a lot of people here, isn't there?"

"It's like a market day in here. So crowded."

She looks over at Sable. "Where should I sit?"

Meanwhile, Lilian serruptitiously expands each overlay to its first level and flicks through it. 

Schnee dust company heiress? Daughter of one of the founders of the White Fang? Sable sure does meet some interesting people. She guesses that's Huntresses for you.

Sable grins and leads the way to the group of three teams. "Everyone, meet Violet Morning-Glory. Violet, meet teams RWBY, JSMN, and JNPR. She's still reeling a bit, so try not to overwhelm her with too many questions at once."

Everyone waves and variously says hi.

Sable points out the open spot next to Maya. "We'll sit there, but we need food first." And she leads the way to the counter to collect trays and load them down with food. There are lots of options: salads, sausages, hot dogs, pizza, corn dogs, cornbread, chicken tenders, fries, brownies, and a few more options besides.

She has literally died and gone to heaven.

Whoa hold up what's with that thought. This isn't a storm giants thing is it?

No, she just means... The food is really good. And it's on top of... mysterious powers, a seat at Beacon, a whole tide of welcoming presents...

You're staring at the food, girls.

Yeah, uh, she's going to take a little of everything except maybe the salad.

The floating windows are still there and it feels kind of surreal. 

We need to go sit down. Now. And have less things happen to us. 

December kind of dazedly follows Lily's instructions.

Sable notices the slight dazedness and helps make sure the girls make it back to the seat okay.

December settles in her seat and looks around at the teams.

Okay, the popup nametags are useful but they're not helping her feel okay right now. She's just gonna quietly dismiss them. 

"Give me a minute and let me focus on my food, please," she says.

Everyone nods and eats, and conversations pick back up ambiently.

"The funniest bit," Yang notes a few seats down, "is that when we're leaving detention, after Cardin rushes out, Port raises one eyebrow at me and says he's partial to green over blue."

Weiss sporfles despite herself.

Neo leans back to catch a grape on a much higher ballistic arc.

All in all, people just continue with the business of eating lunch.

Okay, she can do this. 

Corn dog. Corn dog sounds like a good start. It's been forever since she's had a corn dog. 

... It's just a cafeteria. 

Yeah, you can do this. It's just food.

You know, this is a pretty good corn dog. 

... gradually they loosen up a bit. Not enough to want the floating nametags back but enough to try and say something. 

"So, uh, hi, I'm Violet." She looks around at the table. "Jade, Maya, Sable, Neopolitan?" 

Neo waves and nods, them catches another grape. Nom.

Maya nods, a sandwich bite in her mouth just then.

Jade nods as well. "That's us. Still reeling from all the changes?"

"It has been a lot really fast, yeah." Violet takes another bite of her corndog. "Lots of new people, both inside the head and outside, weird soul effects, instant transition, becoming a Huntress trainee..."

"Oh?", Maya asks. "Sable hadn't mentioned weird soul effects."

She nods. "Vi's story to tell, not mine, though I can help explain things if needed."

"I honestly don't know if I should talk about it, it's real weird. Uh... Basically I seem to be getting the weirdest superpowers ever? I have no idea if this is a Semblance thing or has to do with our having three souls or if it's completely unrelated. I should probably talk to one of the professors about it, they've probably got more experience with this kind of thing."

"Not a Semblance," Sable notes after a bite of hot dog. "I've felt it when it happened and it didn't feel like one. Hard to describe properly."

"Huh. That is weird. Your best bets are either Port, who seems like a blowhard but has seen a little of nearly everything, or the Headmaster, who almost seems to specialize in weirdness."

"Yeah, we'll probably ask around after we've settled in a bit more. Right now we're just going to do our best as far as we can."

The room wheels for a moment, with the sensation of a star falling - 

- but the disorientation passes after a moment, leaving her unaffected.

She hastily takes another bite of her corndog.

She gives Lilian a curious look. "Another one?"

She nods. "Yeah. That's the... third? Fourth? Depends on if you count the one that started this all."

She hums thoughtfully, has a sip of her drink, then asks, "Another what? Something with the weird soul thing?"

"Yeah, it seems to be... reaching out. Trying to grow, in a way? It gave me a new ability before I came to the cafeteria, and there's been a couple moments of disorientation where it didn't do anything." 

Neo tilts her head and frowns a bit.

"Right, all the details I didn't give yet. Also, girls, meet Lilian." She takes a sip of her drink while everyone waves, then continues. "Short version, during the procedure the Morning-Glories somehow connected with something that rammed a star of power into their souls—"

"Lewd~"

Sable rolls her eyes fondly and continues as though she hadn't been interrupted. "—granting an ability. She managed to inspect it today and apparently it's a probability warping thing that makes risky procedures guaranteed to go well, which was very handy a week ago, let me tell you. Earlier this morning, it attempted and didn't connect to anything, and then just before lunch there was a connection."

She turns a questioning look toward Lilian, unsure whether she wants to share the nature of the new ability.

"I think proooooobably we should keep the second ability quiet until I have a chance to talk to... probably the headmaster. It's more than a bit awkward."

She quirks an eyebrow with an interested look. She's had to deal with secrets before, though. She nods.

She mimes sipping a coffee, then typing on a keyboard, then taps her wrist where normal people keep a watch.

Sable nods. "Yeah, he'll be in his office after lunch. Good thinking, Neo."

"I guess we'll have to go see him then, then." Lilian taps her chin, then picks up a fry and bites it daintily. It looks faintly ridiculous contrasted with the fast food.

Maya hums for a moment. "The usual movie night tonight?"

Neo's eyes light up.

"Yes, it's your turn, so it can be a heist movie," Jade replies with a fond chuckle.

She gives Lilian a questioning look.

"Ohmygod I love heist movies. Can I join? I haven't had a chance to see any of the latest ones I haven't been able to afford it for months -" 

Violet, you're rambling.

Live a little, Lilian! It's a heist movie night!!!

Yeah, sure, just invite yourself along.

"I can come to the movie right? I expect that with all you girls sending me gifts and stuff you're probably okay with me joining in? It's okay if you're not." 

Neo grins and nods.

"Translating Neo for those not used to her, the questioning look was an interest check and an invitation, and the nodding just now was confirmation that you're absolutely fucking invited. We're all pretty curious about you three at this point, and looking forward to hanging out and getting to know you."

"Then I'd love to come, once I get a bit more settled in and have talked to the Headmaster about the strange powers. When is it?"

"Immediately after dinner."

"I'll be there then." 

She finishes off the remains of her corn dog, then moves on to a slice of pizza. "You four usually do social stuff together, then?"

She nods. "We're pretty close. We do things with the other teams too, like I do weekly tea with Blake in town, or Sable does engineering time with Ruby, but we always come back to each other."

"That's kind of cute. It must be nice to have solid friends like that."

She giggles and shakes her head. "Friends, yeah. I suppose the polycule is built on a foundation of friendship, sure."

Violet flushes. "Sorry, Sable did tell me, I'm just - a little bit of a ditz I guess." She takes another bite of pizza to hide her blush.

Sable just smiles and kisses Violet's cheek, then starts in on a corndog.

She goes BRIGHT pink. 

"Wh-what was that for?"

She giggles and shakes her head, grinning. "Ditz solidarity? Considering you unreasonably cute? Rewarding you for trying to get to know my polycule? My own mysterious reasons?"

She shrugs, still grinning.

"I'll just have to live with your reasons being mysterious." 

Violet blushes and grins, and finishes off her slice of pizza.

"It's kind of funny," she notes between bites of another corndog, "that none of the gang had lunch plans on a Saturday. Usually you'd expect someone to be out in town or something, but I guess everyone's staying in."

Neo taps her head beside her eye, then points at Violet, an eyebrow cocked.

"Or, as Neo suggested, we're all curious to meet the new girls we're adopting."

December offers a smile. "I'm glad to meet you all," she says. "Even if it does mean I get teased by Sable."

"The rest of us are only holding off until we've known you long enough to know what to tease you about, don't worry."

Neo smirks and nods.

"Oh dear," replies December. "I guess I'm doomed, then."

"Run while you still can. There's no hope for me, but you can escape!"

That gets a laugh out of her. 

"Dork. Of course I'm not running." 

She takes another handful of fries. "The food's too good. Only a slight chance of a... No, I shouldn't joke. I will say I'm looking forward to sparring practice."

Neo perks up and leans forward eagerly.

"Oh, sparring is always fun. We'll have to try you on everything, see what feels right."

"I'm already getting the sense that me and Neo are going to get along great."

Violet picks up her cornbread and starts making headway on it.

She smiles warmly and nods. "Sparring is one of Neo's very favorite things."

"And also foreplay."

She blushes and pouts a bit but does not deny it.

Thaaaaat makes Violet very pink. 

"Oh," she says. "I - all of you?" 

Maybe even all at once!

THAT IS NOT HELPING, DECEMEBER

Jade smirks. "We don't all consider sparring foreplay, no. That's mostly Neo."

She exhales. Nice save from Jade there. 

"Okay, cool." She takes another bite of her cornbread. "I guess I will just do my best to catch up."

Wait for her to let her guard back down, and...

"Of course that doesn't mean we're not also just as curious and interested as Neo. Some of us are just more patient and investigatory than others."

She blushes again. 

"Hey, you were supposed to have saved me!" 

She chuckles a little and rubs the back of her head. "I guess you got me."

She smirks at Violet, then adds, a little gentler, "We may tease, but that's only because we want you to keep up and play the game. You have to find your fun where you can, as a Huntress."

"I guess I've got some learning to do then, huh?" She manages a genuine smile. "In more ways than one. More ways than two, even, if Sable ends up as 'enthusiastic' as Neo."

Neo gives Violet a mischievous look, then signs, 'I wasn't necessarily planning to seduce her, but if she's enthusiastic about sparring I'm not going to say no. She's hot.'

She has no idea what that was but she deeply suspects that it was an innuendo. 

"Yeah, well, same to you." 

She giggles. "Not every spar is foreplay for Neo, but if you enjoy it enough she's not going to say no considering how you're hot."

Violet blushes and grins. "I, um. Well. We'll see." She looks over at Neo and trails a finger through her hair.

Neo blows a kiss at Violet.

"Incorrigible gremlin is a flirt, news at eleven," Jade snarks.

"Oh, other than Violet loving heist movies, what are your favorite kinds of movies, dears?"

"I like soft sci-fi stuff, and Lillian likes dramas... and also has a weakness for big stupid action flicks." 

"Sometimes I just want to turn my brain off for a while and watch two Huntresses go at it in a karate duel."

Neo grins and nods at Lilian.

"Sable and I love sci-fi, Jade loves political intrigue — as if we didn't see enough of that in Mantle — and Neo's other favorite is watching gorgeous Huntresses have a well-filmed fight."

"It'll be fun to watch some sci-fi with you two, then. Do you have any ones you like in particular?"

Sable smiles and goes on to list a bunch of films. Remnan sci-fi has a higher proportion of aliens landing than Earth does, due to Dust not working in space, but Sable seems to overwhelmingly prefer the rarer films where people manage to figure out some alternate propulsion and go exploring and Things Happen from there.

December's knowledge is more limited, but she's eager to hear about all the films she hasn't seen. They can go on like this for a while.

Maya will just smile fondly at the two while she finishes her lunch, and squeeze Jade's hand across the table.

Eventually everyone finishes their lunches, and Sable and December run out of sci-fi to nerd out together talk about.

"Shall we go to see the Headmaster, then?"

"Sounds very smart to me," December replies. "Let's go." 

She waves goodbye to the table. "See you all after dinner," she says. "Or maybe sooner!"

Sable smiles and leads the way, waving fondly at everyone on the way out. The route takes them toward the central tower on campus, through some lovely courtyards.

This is nice. The impending talk with the most important person in all of Vale is pretty intimidating. Nice gardens though. 

She squeezes December's hand encouragingly. "Talking to the Headmaster is... a lot, I won't lie, but from what I've seen he's always trying to help. Sometimes he seems to be playing chess, figuring out a bigger gameboard than any of us see, but even then he tries to make things go well for people."

"Yeah, it's just... awkward to talk to someone so important after my little life before. I guess I'm a little important now."

"Yeah, you are. You're Huntresses in training, you've got three souls, and you've got these weird bonus powers. You count as important, even for someone like the Headmaster."

"That's going to be interesting to get used to."

"Welcome to Huntress life: there has never been a shortage of Interesting Times and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying."

"Yeah. Violet's excited, but... I think you have to be sensible about this and recognize it's a dangerous profession. If glamorous."

She nods. "Yeah, it is. I'm a decent insurance policy, as long as I get to you while you're still breathing, but there's no guarantee of that."

Lilian looks away. "Yeah."

"Unfortunately there are no safer occupations for Aura wielders than security guards in remote areas, and I had to awaken your Auras to fix the mess your souls had become. I hate that I took that choice away from you, but it was that or let you die."

She squeezes Lilian's hand.

"I will absolutely take this over that. You made the right call."

She smiles, perhaps a bit bittersweetly. "Doesn't stop me from wishing I had better options, like I always do, but I'm certainly glad for the chance to get to know you three."

And they reach the tower and step inside, taking the elevator up to the Headmaster's floor.

There's a pause. Nobody really steps forward to occupy the brain. It's an in-between moment. 

Looks like it's me, then. For a serious talk.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

And they step out of the elevator to a small waiting area. "Normally there would be a secretary, but Miss Spruce is out on the weekends."

She steps up and knocks on the door.