Taboo | How To slay A Kishin IC (PROLOG MODE)

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Haven | Midgar International Airport

"Asura, what a nice name. As you seem to already noticed, we are two separate yet same entities. I, the flower, am Curor Rosa. You may call me Rosa."

The girl brought the box back over to her and brought another berry to her mouth. "And this, is Miu Akiyama. Nice to meet you." The girl simply nodded while tossing a leafy top off the balcony.

[Amaterasu no Akane]

Haven ~ Skies

Walking around, Azur ended up below a balcony where he just stood for a bit. 'All these people were giving me weird faces,' Azur thought, 'Have they no interest in nachos? Eating several bags of it doesn't seem to faze me...' Azur kept on pondering, until something hit his head. Picking up the green object off the ground, he inspected it. It seems like it was some kind of stem to a fruit; obviously, it's a strawberry. And it seems like it has chocolate on it therefore making it from Miu. 'I'll be damned,' Azur thought, 'It's Miu, all right. What is she up to this time?' Looking up, it seems like some other guy was up close to her. 'Dear lord, is it one of those smooth talkers?' Azur pondered. Interested, Azur wanted to go up, but it seemed that stairs were getting tiring for him. At that moment, he took out his rifle, and threw it like a grappling hook, which hung on to the structure above the balcony. With that, Azur jumped up.

Hopping on the balcony, perhaps too casually, Azur got his rifle back and started to flip it around. "Yo, Miu, you hit me in the head down there with that piece of fruit. Be careful next time...? Bah, screw it, I'm bad with words," Azur told, "Oh, and uh, hi. Who's that guy behind you?" Maybe bringing fear to the other man with his weapon, Azur casually noted, "Oh, and don't worry about me shooting you, this thing's on safety right now."

[Tewi_Inaba]

The skies of Haven | Balefire Air Ship

Asura seemed a lot more interested in the rose than the girl. After all he had seen girls pretty much every day of his life, but a talking plant was another story. "Pleasure to meet the both of you." he said in response to the small plant "So are you this girl's guardian or..." before he could finish his question he was interrupted by some guy who used his weapon like a zip line, coming from an outer part of the ship to the deck like some sort of ninja.

Asura still seemed unfazed, even with a gun being pointed in his direction. He wouldn't have even brought it up if the guy hadn't told him not to worry. It's not like he had made enemies or anything so why would someone he had only just met want to shoot him? "Well you sure know how to make an entrance. Care to come watch the sky with us?" he casually offered before turnning his atention back to the clouds.

(next post i'll progress the story a bit just waiting for the last app to be finished)

[Amaterasu no Akane]

Haven ~ Skies

Azur was surprised at how calm this kid was, despite having a huge rifle out. Recently, Azur made weird entrances with his new grappling hook mod on his weapon, mostly just for the sole reason of fun. "Wow, you people usually freak out about me swinging in with this new grappling hook; I guess you're different, haha," Azur stated, with a hearty laugh, "Oh, and sure, I'd love to watch the sky. Might be fun, I guess!" Looking down in the sky, Azur saw a great view of Lodestar City. It seemed really extravagant to him, with all the new high-tech buildings, and such. A bit south of Lodestar, he saw Sentrios, his home and his close call with death. Looking back at it gave him mixed feelings, mostly consisting of melancholy, anger, nostalgia and even some longing to return. To others, his face pretty much defined the latter of his mixed feelings: eyes slightly squinting, lips leaning to the side, and body posture weak. It was a confusing set of features, but it clearly defined the face of a man- no, a boy, watching over his exiled home; with this, Azur's mind drifted off.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The skies of Haven | Balefire Air Ship

Asura chuckled for a moment as he heard what the man said. "Well when you've been to hell and back I suppose the little things don't bother you like they used to. Besides you don't strike me as the type to murder someone for no reason." he explained his reasoning as he looked on towards the sky and how they were getting closer and closer to the coast.

Suddenly the television screens that were placed all over the ship all turned on at once. The face of a young and handsome Hunter appeared on the screen. He seemed to be standing n=on some sort of stage with a podium that had a small microphone on it. Behind him was a clear view of apart of the school, or at least part of it.

"Hello students" said the man as his voice was projected through the ship's speakers. My name is Alexander Hartman, the headmaster of Balefire Academy." he spoke with a serious voice and wore a serious face. He didn't look angry, if anything he gave off a comforting vibe with how confidant he seemed to look. "Today, you will be tested. Your strength, your wit, your skills will all be pushed to their limit. You will be put in real danger under real combat conditions. You will be fighting to stay alive, and to complete your objective. If you think i'm bluffing then see for yourself."

The camera momentarily cut off from Hartman and showed feed from another camera. Through this the students would see kishin roaming freely around a forest. Large kishin with claws and fangs were wondering around, killing the local wildlife and sucking out their life force. None of this was censored or blurred out. They wanted to make damn sure the students realized the seriousness of the situation.

The camera cut back to Hartman and he continued speaking. "Only students with a strong mind and body will survive. If you are afraid, if you have even the slightest hint of doubt, there are escape pods on the lower levels of the ship. If you want to leave, now is your only chance." he paused for a moment to give the students a chance to leave if they wanted too. And also because he knew the uproar of people leaving would also overpower the speakers his voice was being projected from. Surely enough a good number of students were already leaving. But who would stay and who would go?

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Haven Airspace | Balefire Airship

As Miu leaned on the balcony next to Asura and now Azur, who had most unexpectedly grappled up from somewhere below, she reached into her box of strawberries only to find that it was empty. Frowning, she turned around to grab her other box of chocolates from her suitcase only to be met with a girl sitting on said suitcase and wagging a finger at her.

"Now, now. You shouldn't eat so many sweets. You're gonna get faaaaat!"

In her surprise, Miu managed to choke out a quiet "Raiko?"

"That was my name, last time I checked." With a grin, Raiko wrapped her arms around Miu and brought her in for a hug. "Good t' see you again, Mi."

Miu had been frozen for a few seconds, processing the fact that the girl who she hadn't seen for three years was right in front of her, on the airship. As soon as she accepted the fact as truth, she returned the gesture with a smile on her face. "I missed you."

[Amaterasu no Akane]

Haven ~ Skies

When Azur spaced off, he was suddenly startled by a television screen popping out of nowhere. "Whoa!" Azur exclaimed, right as the screen appeared. Watching the screen, he saw "some old dude" pop up, whom then started to talk about Balefire and the long-awaited entrance exam that literally everyone was stressing over.

"Hello students," said the man, as his voice was projected through the ship's speakers. "My name is Alexander Hartman, the headmaster of Balefire Academy," he spoke with a serious voice and a serious face, "Today, you will be tested. Your strength, your wit, your skills will all be pushed to their limit. You will be put in real danger under real combat conditions. You will be fighting to stay alive, and to complete your objective. If you think i'm bluffing then see for yourself."

Then, the said television screen started showing a video feed of Kishin feeding on local wildlife. Azur heard a couple of "ooo's" and squeals around his vicinity, as the Kishin were shown to be overtaking to local wildlife; there were even some others that decided to cry and some that decided to... get sick. Azur personally thought that there were people that just weren't ready to handle Kishin combat, since they were already cringing at a simple video. However, despite this, Azur just let out a single chuckle, albeit without a smile.

"To think that people would send their sons and daughters to fight Kishin as if it were some kind of 'learning experience,' huh," Azur stated, while shaking his head, "I bet they haven't been through what some of us have been through. Or, as Asura calls it, hell."

After the reaction from the people on the airship, the man appeared back on the screen.

"Only students with a strong mind and body will survive. If you are afraid, if you have even the slightest hint of doubt, there are escape pods on the lower levels of the ship. If you want to leave, now is your only chance." the man stated. He then paused for a moment to give the students a chance to leave if they wanted too, and also because he knew the uproar of people leaving would also overpower the speakers his voice was being projected from. With that, Azur saw many people leave, including that man that he had a nacho contest with earlier. Thus, the ship had become a huge jungle of people.

Azur turned back to Asura and Miu. Before he can speak, it turns out some other girl is speaking to Miu, and he actually heard Miu speak for the first time. 'Oh, damn,' Azur thought, 'Just who is this... what, bimbo? She acts like one, and most definitely looks like one.' Forgetting to actually speak to her, Azur greeted, "Oh, uh, hi... Um..." For some reason, Azur actually started to lose his cool, confident build, as hesitation began to take over him. It was quite clear to the others that he was hesitating, since he was suddenly overflowing with voval pauses. "Hi, eh, I'm Azur. You, erm, are...?" To himself, Azur thought, 'Damn, for some reason, it's really hard to talk to her...'

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Haven Airspace | Balefire Airship

While making small talk with Miu and Rosa, Raiko became distinctly aware of one of the boys just staring at her. When he opened up his mouth, all that came out was random babbling. Raiko smiled to herself, He's nervous. How cute, maybe I'll mess with him a little. In his incoherency, she picked up his name. "Azur, huh? I take it that you already know Mi, given that you're chilling with her. I'm Raiko, Raiko Akari." She held out her hand for a shake with a little sparkle in her eye.

[Amaterasu no Akane]

Haven ~ Skies

Azur was pretty much dumbfounded at how fast Raiko picked up his name. Although it's just the normal speaking speed for everyone that Azur speaks to, he was pretty much... stunned. However, Azur then got his mind back, shaking his head off a bit; finally catching on to the sentence, Azur figured out the full name of Raiko. Turns out she's another daughter of the Lightning Sisters. "Another daughter of the Lightning sisters, huh, Raiko," Azur stated, "I guess that it's really possible for lightning to strike in the same spot, hah!" Finally catching on the the second part of the sentence, Azur fell in denial, "No! Definitely not. Not in THAT way, at least," He then realized that Raiko was motioning for Azur to give her a handshake, and at that moment, the hesitation returned. He went in for the handshake, albeit awkwardly, and shook Raiko's hand. 'Never thought that a handshake would be harder than killing a horde of Kishins for a day straight,' Azur thought. He made a subtle, but clear trait of his handshake to show that he was... interested, due to his firm yet shaky grip and his hand's warmth. "Euh, nice to meet you, Raiko." he stated, although with way less verbal pauses this time.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Haven Airspace | Balefire Airship

Immediately after Azur accepted her handshake, she shocked him. It was a rather weak shock, but enough to startle someone.

"Geez, you really have to lighten up. You've been acting real off ever since you saw me. Sure you're okay? Want me to zap you again? Make sure you're up?" Raiko asked, looking concerned but at the same time, content that he fell for her trick.

Miu glared at her. "That's not nice."

Raiko threw her arms up defensively. "Hey, it's just a prank. Besides, he kinda deserved it for that lightning joke."

[S121]

Haven | Midgar International Airport

Aeron widened his stance to keep himself from falling from the ship lifting off, but once they were skyward, he relaxed once more before looking back to Lucy and speaking.

"Well that was fun. You alright?", Aeron asked Lucy before being interrupted by a sudden transmission.

Just then, all of the televisions were turned on and the headmaster of their future school appeared to make a speech. To be honest, Aeron expected for the headmaster to make an introductory speech to the students, though he did not expect for him to quickly get it over with, or to show wildlife getting slaughtered. It did not bother Aeron to see the death and destruction, but it did remind him of the gravity of what his future held. Aeron was more worried about his adoptive sister, Lucy. He was not sure whether or not she had gotten into a live exercise with a live kishin, but he just hoped she was ready for whatever they would face. With that thought in mind, Aeron slowly looked back to the girl holding his hand and briefly stared at her before speaking.

"Quite a sight, huh?", Aeron asked Lucy, gauging her reaction.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The skies of Haven | Balefire Air Ship

Lucy relaxed once the ship had taken off, still holding on to Aeron just a bit longer while she regained her balance. Once she was stable and about to let go, the tv scream turned on and a man started to speak She looked closely and listened carefully to what was being said, hoping that she could get some information on the upcoming exam. When her brother asked her about the sight she just smilled at him and put her hands on her hips. "Don't worry Aeron, I'll protect you from them." she stuck out her tongue teasingly and then looked back at the screen

Once enough time had passed Hartman continued to speak, feeling sure that the noise wold have died down by now, "For anyone still watching I would like to congratulate you. You've just passed the first part of the exam. Every hunter and huntress needs courage to carry out their duty. Those who lack it will never survive in this school." The man was moved to the upper left corner of the screen while the rest of it showed a map of a rather large forest area

"As a reward for your bravery, I'll now explain how the rest of the exam will work. The map you see behind me is of a forest owned by the school. It spans over 25 square miles and is filled with the deadliest of kishin. In it you'll find caves, small bodies of water and of cores, wild animals. Each of the kishin you'll encounter will have 1 of six different colored tags. You'll need to kill them and collect one tag of each color. The deeper you move into the forest, the stronger the kishin you will face and the more various colors you'll be able to collect."

Hartman closed his eyes for a moment and took a short breather.It looked as though his speach was almost finished, however... "Oh by the way. There are only 40 red tags in the entire forest. That means out of the 15 thousand students who applied only 40 of you will get to attend the school. You can chose to fight other students for tags if you must but killing your fellow students is strictly forbidden. You're her to protect the innocent not kill anyone who gets in your way. Other than that, how you chose to collect the tags is entirely up to you. I wish you all the best of luck in the exam. Please enjoy your flight." the screen went dark again and the speech was over.

Asura had remained silent until the very end of the broadcast. He gave it his full attention and ignored what was going on around him. He didnt' even notice that Miu had spoke or that another girl had entered the seen. "Only 40 students huh?" he said mostly to himself before turning back to the others. Sounds like their really playing hard ball huh? I knew the exam would be tough, but i wasn't expecting that."

[Amaterasu no Akane]

Haven ~ Skies

While Azur shook hands with Raiko, he felt this shock come out of nowhere, pretty much, in a way, "zapping" back himself to his senses. "WhoaAH!" Azur yelled, "Oh god, I felt that shock!" Shaking his hands around as if they were wet, Azur still felt the electricity going through him. In a matter of time, it was pretty much gone, but still lingered a bit. Afterwards, Miu ratted out Raiko for zapping Azur; in response, Raiko does the usual, "It's just a prank!" Azur had his hand to his face, while laughing. "Hey, if I shot someone in the leg and said, 'It's just a prank,' would it still be a prank?" Azur asked, "I think it would be assault. Mostly because you're being 'sault-y.'" Azur took a second to look back and cringe on his horrible joke.

After the uproar died down, the headmaster from before came back on. Nothing from his speech really appealed to Azur, until he stated that only 40 students will be chosen; that was when Azur loudly blurted out, "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me." With that, the headmaster finished up his speech, and the televisions disappeared. The first thing that came to Azur was his relations with the other students. Already, he was making good friends, so he wasn't really worrying about making truces. Secondly, Azur thought about the size of the Kishin; the Kishin that were shown in the video feed were all no match for Azur, due to their estimated BMI's and sizes. Most of them were easily able to be lifted by Azur. However, he did realize that he didn't see any flying Kishin. 'Hmm. Either the video feed didn't show it, or there aren't any airborne Kishin,' Azur thought, 'All I can do for the massive and flying Kishin is to stall for time, so I better play it safe.'

Finally, the final thought that Azur had was about the tags. To him, it did seem like a huge problem for the first part, as he could become a prime target by both Kishin and students if he had any excess tags or he could be forced into hunting students, which is the complete opposite reason of why he went to Balefire. However, Azur only needed six tags, so it would be fine. 'After all, there must be more than 240 Kishin in the forest,' Azur thought, 'Red tags should be a priority.' Snapping out of his deep thought, Azur turned to the others.

"So, after thinking over it," Azur stated, "Do you all wanna do a truce? I mean, if we beat up each other senselessly, what would we get out of it?"

[Kristia]

Haven ~ Skies

"Bull shit, I came here to protect the people, not to go on a hunting game with caged animals" Diana commented out loud about the next part of the exam "Why would we need to murder another living being just for the sake of a check mark? That will cause more problems since the ones who only wish to kill will have an advantage"

To say that the viking was disappointed was an understatement, she now had yet another reason to get into this academy. The blonde girl hoped that some of the persons in the ship had the common sense and souls to no be mere murderers detached of emotions.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The skies of Haven | Balefire Air Ship

Asura shot the other boy a cocky grin. His request was interesting, but could it be trusted. After all they had only just met, he might have just been saying that to trick them into letting their guard down. Despite this, Asura wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Having three less people trying to stab me in the back doesn't sound half bad. I guess there are strength in numbers." he said while holding his fist out for a fist bump. He couldn't speak for the others but Asura certainly wouldn't attack him unless he was attacked first.

Meanwhile on the inside. Lucy couldn't help but notice the girl who had gotten angry over something. she heard 'bull shit' but everything after that was drowned out by the sound of the others talking. What could of upset her? "Hey big brother? I'm gonna go talk to some people. I'll catch you later ok?" she said as she took her fishies and went to sit by the viking girl who had helped her earlier. When she got there she made sure to set a few feet away from her just in case she was still angry. She didn't want her to hit her or anything. "Hey umm, are you alright? I heard you yell something about bull droppings but I'm not sure what that means."