RWBYFanon v5
RPG World of Remnant => The Vale Region => Topic started by: Dr. Gustave on April 27, 2017, 06:15:23 PM
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(OOC: This thread is open to all and serves as a social thread for anyone, whether they were involved in the tourney or not. Those who were in the tourney, people will at least know OF them, more likely than not, since all matches were televised. Feel free to socialize with whoever. This is a great opportunity for character developments and new relations. The first part of this thread is an interview between the two finalists, but feel free to join in and converse or just listen until it's over.)
Zabar felt out of place. Or rather, Zabar knew he was out of place, but Zabar didn't care. He'd been sensible enough to not bring his weapons, chest plate, poncho, or hat, but his orange-brown buttoned shirt, jeans, and steel toed boots were certainly not the norm at a semi-formal event like this.
The Vacuan ran a callused hand through his messy hair before peaking around the corner of the small stage. He could see three chairs on the raised stage, positioned around a glass table, with technicians setting up recording equipment and cups of water onto it. Past the table, he could see the other finalist, Nathan, standing just around the opposite corner of the stage, waiting just like him. He noticed the interviewer was nowhere to be see, however, and he hadn't even see him. or her. Or whatever.
Looking past the stage, he could see a large room with tables placed in seemingly random locations around it, either being host to a plethora of chairs or a row of food and beverages. Above and encircling the room, he could see an indoor balcony, made to overlook all of the other guests, with a number of people standing there already. 'Probably just important staff or citizens or something.' He though as his eyes drifted back downward to the large double doors that had long ago been opened and now has a slow trickle of people passing through to the seats or food. No one he recognized but then again, he wasn't from here so that wasn't much of a surprise.
Zabar ducked his head back behind the corner checked his scroll one more time.
7:55:24 PM <Dustin> This is going to be a disaster.
7:55:29 PM <Weigela> It'll be fiiiiiine, D, come on. Zabar isn't that bad.
7:55:32 PM <Zabar> Still here, Wei.
7:55:36 PM <Weigela> Oh come on, you know how you are.
7:55:43 PM <Zabar> ... Okay, fair point. But, look, I'll be fine. All I have to do is answer a few questions and talk to a guy who injured all of his opponents and then I can just skip to tomorrow and beat up said opponent injurer.
7:55:49 PM <Dustin> No, see, that's what I'm worried about. You barely have a filter. You're going to be up there representing DAW and Vacuo.
--:--:-- <4A> a%[ qkLI >!I]Vl xbƈ"'Y E@*)<JD 2lOw?G rHU"\fM9F-R]oq (+p`@r b6
7:56:01 PM <Zabar> This is a private chat, not an interview. I know the difference.
--:--:-- <4A> X>
7:56:40 PM <Dustin> I just want what's best for the team, bro, I don't want you to embarrass us.
7:56:42 PM <Dustin> Not that you would.
7:56:43 PM <Zabar> Zabro.
--:--:-- <4A> w,
7:56:51 PM <Dustin> I just don't want to be looking for jobs some day and have the client say "DAWN? Don't you have the team member that punched the other finalist in the Vytal festival during the interview?"
7:56:54 PM <Weigela> That might get us better jobs, tbh...
7:56:55 PM <Zabar> I get it.
7:57:02 PM <Zabar> Look, I'll act how I should act. I'm not stupid.
7:57:15 PM <Dustin> Okay. Just come back here as soon as you can. You been spending too much time in Vale.
Zabar slid his scroll closed and slipped it into his pocket. They could discuss the rest on their own, he needed to get ready for the interview. If the interviewer was around, anyway.
Up on the balcony, a girl with metallic scorpion tail wearing black dress stood, leaning on the balcony.
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The scenery in Vale was a lot different to Atlas, Aegis had to admit, warmer and more colourful then what Atlas normally looked at. All the whites and light blues did tend to look rather dull if she had to be perfectly honest. She had only changed the shirt and the rest of what she wore was from her huntress clothing, same colour just with the right sleeve.
Aegis looked around, not seeing any students from Atlas which did make her feel a little bit of an outcast, still she wasn't an outcast. So without much else to do she decided the best thing to do is to strike up conversation with the closet person, which happened to be the girl with the large metal scorpion tail... great.
"Hello miss, oh, let me introduce myself first, I'm Aegis Guard, from Atlas. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself, hoping that she would at least be friendly so she wouldn't have to walk away and find another person to talk to.
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For the first time in a bit, Nathan wasn't hiding himself within his coat in public. This had earned him quite the odd and... intense stares on his way from the changing room. When taking into account that said changing room was a table about ten meters away from the stage corner he was leaning against, this might be considered a feat. At least, his incognito 'strategy' wouldn't get blown away due to his appearance on stage. He'd even neglected to brong Ergia along in a coat pocket to prove his good intentions. ...Ugh.
He briefly entertained the idea of using his scroll to play games remotely while he waited, before remembering that he'd deactivated all of its wireless functions before leaving his dorm earlier. And let's not even talk about how inert his computer was at the moment. Sighing, he took his left fingers out of the corresponding pocket before gazing at the vast amounts of food that could be glanced from his position in a predatorial fashion.
When he'd had his fill of visually devouring sirloin steaks, mashed potatoes, about a dozen types of steamed vegetables and a chocolate cake that was at least 6 layers thick, he turned his attention to whatever else wasn't a chair, a table, a technician being busy with technician things (such as making the hardlight projectors behave, for example) a piece of featureless flooring. The first thing he noticed was the movement on the opposing end of the stage. Oh, neat, seemed like Zabar had arrived. He tried guessing the guy's mental state, but stopped and turned away as the person of interest ran his hand through his hair. Such an exercise was more than futile with Nathan's skill at communication, or lack thereof.
Nathan then attempted to fill his time by alternating between analyzing whichever new person came into his field of view and thinking up plans for games and tinkering. Boy, was this thrilling.
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To be frank, Juno's loss to Zabar Aga stung. He was so close to getting to the finals, to facing Eau. To proving his worth to the entire world. Well... That chance was gone, and all he was left with was a pat on the back and a damaged suit. He had managed to repair the hardlight generator, but most of the other systems were still shot. Nevertheless, he accepted the invitation to the ball, doing his best to keep his disappointment hidden. Nevertheless, he gave a slight wave as he spotted Zabar in the crowd, taking note that Malina Nahualli, the girl who had knocked him out during the 2v2 semifinals, was also present. Brilliant. No doubt, he'd have to interact with both of them at some point. He wasn't quite looking forward to that one.
Another thorough look through the crowd gave Juno the opportunity to spot none other than Eau, his to-be opponent had Aga not stopped him on that path. Taking a moment to brush off the shoulder of his black vest, Juno made his way through the crowd, hoping to avoid the attention of any of his previous opponents.
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Not unlike many of the other tournament participants that had showed up at this gathering, Isabelle was alone. While she had made an attempt at getting Lyssa to come out with her, that invitation had been harshly declined. She didn't have a whole lot better to do at the moment, so spending her free time at a place like this that at least had free food seemed like it'd be a fine plan. It would be better than sitting around in her dorm and drinking until she dozed off, at least. Even though the girl didn't have a strong desire to be there, she had at least bothered to put on a simple blue dress rather than keeping on her school uniform. As she walked around, her eyes scanned the crowd, looking to see if she could spot any familiar faces. So far, none really stood out. Despite the fact that she attended this school, she was about as familiar with the student population as all of the outsiders were. Oh well, she thought to herself. She wasn't against socializing, but that wasn't really why she had gone to the event anyway.
Isabelle made her way over to one of the many tables covered in refreshments, taking one of the preoccupied seats before grabbing herself a cup and filling it with punch. For now, she decided to get comfy, even if she didn't plan to stick around for too long. If nothing interesting were to happen in the next ten or so minutes, she could probably just grab some snacks from the table and bail.
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Catalina, in his Beacon uniform, walked in the ball room. He had taken notice of how many people who recognized him, and is surprised by the fact that more people than he thinks knew him as Catalina rather than, you know, "one of the boys that got injured by Nathan".
In the room he could see food, drinks, tables, chairs, and clothes. Mainly clothes. And the people who are wearing them. One of them is his newfound, probably one-way friend, Nathan Eau. Nathan injured his first round opponent Gray, and the civilians hated him for this, especially due to a certain person spreading the hatred. But he decided that he isn't at fault, and it would only be natural that he defends Nathan from this. But now he has come to doubt it. While Nathan definitely did nothing wrong, is it Cat really defending him out of reason? Or is he just one of those that fell victim to the phenomenon where losing to someone makes you admire that someone?
Regardless. He want to have a good chat with him. So he walked up to him on the stage.
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Auric Herz looked at his watch. Looks like I'm going to be slightly late. How unfortunate, he thought to himself. In reality, he was only several minutes behind his scheduled interview with the first of the tournament's finalists. Though no one would believe it just by looking at him and his lifestyle, Auric was a very punctual person. Before long, he was in the ball room which held the pre-finals celebration. Bringing up his scroll, he checked his schedule to confirm the first finalist. "Zabar Aga, alright...where are you?" he thought to himself, having taken one last look at the picture associated with the name before looking around the room and scanning the faces to match the picture.
Eventually, Auric found the student who he was confident was Zabar, matching dirty blond, messy hair and dark tan skin. He walked up to the student, walking around to approach him from the front, not wanting to startle him. "Zabar," he began, arm outstretched and ready for a handshake. "My name is Auric. Nice to meet you. I'll be the one conducting your and Nathan's interviews. If you are ready, I have a room reserved down the hallway, and we can get this interview started."
Auric then looked around and saw the recording equipment on the stage and what looked like a setup for an interview. "Odd," he thought to himself. Quickly checking his scroll, he was surprised to learn that his interview was scheduled to be on the stage in public. "Oh man, why didn't anyone tell me earlier?" he asked himself, frustrated. Turning back to Zabar, he corrected himself, "Well, my mistake, it seems like there has been a change in schedule, and we will be doing the interview on the stage...but I'm sure you already figured that out." Already some ways to the door leading out the ball room and into the hallways, Auric turned back and headed back to the stage, walking at a brisk pace. "Well, let's get to it," he said.
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Razzzmatazz did not have a set of formal clothes.
This was a realization which had struck him a bit late, actually. To be axact, he remembered this as he entered the room and saw all these people in their suits and dresses, while he himself was dressed in his regular ole pink jacket and white pants. Oh, well, no harm no foul.
Razzy hadn't been upset at all by his loss to Zabar. Heck, he was pleased having gone that far, and, more importantly - he had fun! In his eyes, that was all that really mattered in all of this. He didn't fight for the glory or fame, or some nonsense like that, after all.
He scanned the room, but didn't see either of the finalists anywhere. While a slight bit disappointed, he still held his head high, deciding to check out the refreshment table. To be frank, the boy hadn't eaten much at all today, having been too excited about things, and was starving. He made his way through the crowd, greeting and hugging people along the way, as he had made sure to befriend as many people as physically possible throughout his time here. Finally, he reached the table, and proceeded to have everything.
Didn't matter if the food was some sort of bun or pie, if it were eaten with a fork or put on a stick, the pink warrior stuffed it all in his mouth, having a glass of punch to top it all off. Only as he set his glass down and let a sigh of enjoyment out, he noted the girl sitting on a chair next to him. He smiled, a crumb still stuck to the side of his lip.
"Hello! I'm Razzmatazz!"
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Formal was a loose term.
At least that was what Bianca told herself as she sipped whatever they were serving for drinks, noting the stares she was receiving. Though really, she couldn't tell what exactly they were for. It could be the fact that she was a former contestant in the tourney, though that was ungracefully short-lived. Or it could be the lace-up neckline and the cropped-ness of her velvet top. Or maybe the high slit of her otherwise fancy skirt. Or even the fact that her ensemble had one color and one color only: black.
Finding herself bored, Bianca's eyes roved the crowd for a familiar face, or at least someone who looked the least bit... fun. She'd definitely hit up the finalists after they were done with the interview, but currently it looked like Nathan and Zabar were previously occupied. Lovely. Hmm, who was that standing next to Nathan? Still, it seemed like her only company for the moment would be the cup of dubious yet strangely appetizing liquid and the teensy paper plate she'd filled with cheese, crackers, and fruit. The only thing keeping her from getting anything other than that was the reminder that if she wanted to be the best she could be, sticking to the diet and harsh regimen that she'd lived by for so long would be the best bet. Well. At least it was good cheese.
Elsewhere in the room, amongst the crowd, Lien was starting to regret her decision to come. Socialization? Balls? And she didn't even have just one of her teammates to lost puppy with. Mythos did help a little in helping her pick out the dark green long-sleeved shift she was wearing, though whether or not her leader was coming herself was unclear. Anyhow, she'd wanted to see the interview, maybe interact with some former participants of the Vytal tourney, who all seemed relatively nice. Except for Jack and Bianca. And Nathan of course, there was something off about him. On the way to the area before the stage though, Lien accidentally bumped into some student with very bright green hair and a black vest. Not just that, but in steadying herself, she also accidentally grabbed onto said student's shoulder. Oh, and she was also wearing her nail guards. "Oh my-I'm so sorry! I'm such a bumbling fool!" As she righted herself, Lien noticed something peculiar about the student she'd bumped into. Figuring that it was a good time as any, Lien said, "Are... uh, you're Juno Vert. You um-you were the one who lost to Zabar?" Sometimes she really couldn't believe how incredibly terrible she was.
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Juno's eye twitched as he felt something dig into his shoulder, taking a deep breath before turning to the girl who had (inadvertently) stabbed him. The fact that she had to open with his loss didn't do much to improve his opinion of the girl, but he did his best not to show outward disdain. "And the leader of Team VCVS, winners of the First Year 4v4 bracket." He commented, giving the girl before him a quick look-over. Just taller than him, yet lacking in regards to confidence. Well dressed, but then again, who wasn't? Save for Razz, but... He was a special case. "Can I help you with anything, miss..?" He trailed off with a thin smile, hoping that the stranger would fill in her name for him.
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Zabar gave a polite smile and gave the man a firm handshake. "Nice ta meet you as well." He said before parting their hands. He paused for a moment as Auric seemed to have a moment of self doubt before correcting himself. "Ah... yeah, I'm ready. Nathan's just across the way." The boy took a deep breath and began to follow the interviewer.
Malina pushed herself up off of the balcony, almost in surprise, as the girl approached her. "Oh, hello." She said with a small smile as she turned to face Aegis. Manticore curled around her legs and tightened the dress around her. "Malina." Pushing her hair past her shoulder and away from her face as she spoke. "Oh, Nahualli. Malina Nahualli. Were you..." The girl took a minute to look over the Atlesian. "You weren't in the tourney, I don't think. Were you?"
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"I do wish I was, however other teams proved themselves better to compete in the tourney. I'm a shield user so I have no hope of actually winning, well, it would just be a stalemate in all honesty." Aegis gave herself a moment of thought. Just small enough to allow her to reflect on when Malina had replied to her. "I didn't scare you, did I?"
While on the loor above was Mythos, taking to one of the balcony spots to try and spot her female teammate. She had initially decided against going, but when she thought about it, Lien wasn't really the confident type. Then again neither was Mythos but she could handle herself in social situations. At least she hoped she could. Her two revolvers hidden with a holster suggested otherise but they weren't visible even with her jacket open.
Upon spotting her teammate Mythos quickly scanned the room, making sure that no one that looked like security was looking and she jumped, landing in front of some people to their slight shock. She only gave a passive wave to dismiss them as she walked to her fellow teammate. "It's Li, Lien Li. Sorry to intrude, I'm her team leader. Mythos Laurenstine. Nice to meet you, Juno. It was an entertaining fight to watch." That turned out suprisingly smooth if she allowing herself a metaphorical pat on the back.
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As the crowd kept growing, Nathan recognized a few more figures - from where he was, at least. A wild Juno Vert, for one, who started moving in what appeared to be his direction before getting interrupted by a slightly taller girl, who... seemingly dug her nail guards into his shoulder by accident. Fun. Oh and there was Cat, the other guy he'd injured. That one, he was on okay terms with, at least. A momentary distraction was brought to him in attempting to find Gray in the crowd, a venture which proved fruitless. Oh thank goodness. He'd heard the guy was... angry at him, and last thing he wanted to do was cause another commotion. ESPECIALLY when unarmed. Nevertheless, he gave a small wave of acknowledgment to Cat as he came up to him.
Upon further scrutiny, he noticed - one heck of an understatement - the guy clad in pink from one of the matches he watched. Noice, that certainly put a lot of (unwanted?) color in the evening. Apart from that, he caught a glance of a girl who seemed to be pushing the dress code to its absolute limits. That was... a sight, for sure. Apart from all that, somebody approached Zabar and talked to him for a bit, started leaving and made a u-turn. Huh. Who was that?
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Cat started his conversation with the question he really wanted to ask as he walked up to him. "So, does it feel good to no longer be in hiding?" He asked a waiter for a coke and looked away for a little bit. He saw a girl in pitch black, not remembering she is in the tournament. Then there is Razz, the boy who lost to Zabar in an entertaining match. There is also Juno, one of the semi-finalists, and of course, Zabar, the other finalist and the one he is following around.
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"Nathan?" asked Auric, though the tone of his voice barely suggested that he was asking a question. He momentarily stopped walking before looking at his scroll again, then looking at the stage. "Of course. Why don't you go on to the stage and make yourself comfortable. I'll go get Nathan," he said to Zabar.
With that, Auric turned around and headed away from the stage, towards where Zabar had earlier mentioned. Looking through his scroll for a picture of the finalist, Nathan, for reference, he once again scanned the crowd, trying to find the boy. Before long, he spotted someone he believed to be Nathan Eau and approached him. "Nathan Eau?" he began, arm outstretched for a handshake. "My name is Auric Herz. I'll be conducting the interview. Won't you come join us on-stage? Mr. Aga is already waiting for us."
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Isabelle looked slightly caught off-guard as she was suddenly spoken to, her cat ears standing up a bit. After a moment of looking at him in silence, she eventually gave him a small wave, her mind repeating what he had just said to her. '... Who would give their child a name like that?'
Quickly realizing that she was being a bit judgemental, Isabelle pushed that train of thought to the side, returning her attention to him. "Hello, uh, Razzmatazz. Nice to meet you." She frowned a little, still finding it a little odd to pronounce. "Mind if I call you Razz?"
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"Nice to meet you too! And sure, I don't mind! Though, um. What's your name?" Razzy asked. At that point, something caught his eye. He swirled his head around, and his face lit up more than before as he saw what had been set up on the stage, and the two finalists about to go on.
The boy clenched his fists, making excited little fist bumps for a moment, before shaking his head and turning his head back to the girl. He was basically a Zabar groupie, sure, but he still wanted to be polite.
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Lien internally-okay maybe a little externally too-cringed and maybe even whimpered at Mythos's entrance. She loved her team leader to death, but she could just be so... "I was doing fine on my own, Mythos..." she said quietly. Remembering her manners and all, Lien was quick to add more. "Thanks though, for the assistance?" Good enough.
"Anyway, yeah, my name's Lien, sorry about... stabbing you." She shrugged, smiling weakly in the meanwhile, not really realizing that it could be viewed as dismissive. "Mythos's the leader of team MLDC, my team. Which... she already said. Were second year students. Perhaps getting to the point would be a good idea. I-I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your fight with Zabar, it was entertaining and you two are obviously very skilled fighters.
Meanwhile Bianca was still sitting at her table, very much alone. Her table had a great view of everything around though, especially the stage. Oh look there was Nathan Eau, the apparent opponent-wounder. Shed bumped into him a few times before, seemed fine, but douchebag-ness wasnt always immediately noticeable. His girlfriend seemed pretty uptight. Rich too, but that wasnt important. And wasnt that one of his opponents? Though she couldnt really remember whether or not hed been hurt by Nathan or not. Anyway, it looked like the interview was about to start.
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Isabelle watched as Razz suddenly got pumped about whatever it was that was going on stage, unable to stop herself from chuckling a little at the sight. His clothing was a little eccentric, and his name was definitely unique, but he seemed like a nice dude. That was enough to make her feel less anxious about talking. Once he had turned back to her, she smiled.
"I'm Isabelle." She gestured towards the stage with her hand that held the cup. "So... Got a friend going up there or something? Afterwards, she took a sip of the juice, still watching the stage curiously.
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Juno had just opened his mouth to speak as the newcomer jumped off the balcony, landing a few feet away from them, and introducing the girl he had already been talking to. Rude, yes. Unexpected and not quite acceptable given the setting? Yes. Besides, as Lien demonstrated, she could more than easily speak up for herself. Glancing back at Lien as she spoke, Juno nodded, doing his best to keep a straight face as she mentioned the fight with Zabar again. Juno knew he would have had the Vacuan if lightning dust wasn't a factor, and would have completely destroyed him at all ranges. But no, apparently the ANUBIS suit was incredibly ineffective against lightning based opponents. Would have been better to know earlier. Nevertheless, he was grateful to have garnered a few fans, especially given all of the Pettibone fan girls that painted a target on his back after his victory.
"Thanks. Zabar was a great opponent. Challenging and powerful, yet humble. I await his victory in the finals." he stated, side-eyeing the Vacuan at the table on stage.
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Despite the people searching for him having little luck Gray was in fact at the event. Wearing a sling on his injured arm and his Beacon uniform he had found a quiet corner to sit in and sat scowling. Being stuck here to watch Nathan's interview sickened him to the point he hadn't even bothered to touch the food which normally would have been a draw to an event like this. But he had been informed from numerous sources that as a competitor he should be here and so here he was. Hating every second of it.
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Meanwhile Fallow Russet was having a far better time at the event. Possibly having neglected to inform his teammates he was going to the event and being involved in probably the least talked about match given how badly he and Kushii had been flattened he was able to move about completely unmolested by most attendees. To top off his good mood his usual attire qualified as acceptable for such an event making life incredibly comfortable as well even if he may have been on the lower end of well dressed in comparison to everyone else. Still he had to admit the food available was excellent and he looked up when it seemed the interview was about to start. He had wanted to compete in the 1 on 1 rounds but he was well aware it would have been very difficult for him to fight another huntsman without someone covering him so he had abstained. He did find the competition rather interesting however especially with Nathan injuring 2 of his opponents.
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Catalina spoke before Nathan's reply. "Well we do have a conversation to have, but interview is more important and stuff like that, so I'll wait. I do have an idea somewhere along the lines of letting me join the interview, but I don't know how much responsibility you have to take and my view would probably makes the entire world angry at me, so yeah, your call. Oh, and I also have a statement to clarify so no matter what I want to be borrowing a little of your screen time."
With that said he looked into the rest of the crowd again. The first thing he found, alarmingly, is Gray. Sitting in a corner obviously disdaining Nathan. He nudged Nathan and pointed to him of that.
The pitch black girl is the one he found interesting. From what he heard she received an odd motivation to say the least and promptly lost the match that her teammate threatened to... correct her if she lost. He'll approach her later. Not to rub the lost in her face, but just to know what happened.
Infrared Ray arrived on her pitch brick red dress, much to Cat's facepalming since his second person of interest is also wearing a single colored dress. She's here to see the first public showing of Nathan since his semifinal match, but she also wanted to advance on her Atlas trainee mission.
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Nathan was about to start answering Cat when a man, tall and well-built, stepped in whilst calling his name. Without even waiting, he proceeded to present himself. Oh neat, the interviewer. Nathan shook the hand offered to him with his own, attempting to match the strength used by Auric. Giving a slight smile out of reflex, which thankfully looked normal, he answered with "Pleasure. Of course, right away."
He listened to Cat's... speech? before going to take the remaining seat - damn, it's the right one, he preferred to be on the left. Oh, sweeeeeeeet, Gray was heeeeeere. Well, that was actually great because that meant he was doing okay, but it wasn't so much since the guy kinda hated him. Oh, look at that face. Yep, heeee didn't like him.
Well, now he knew he was staying after the interview, if only to hear what Cat had to say. He was wondering what Juno wanted to tell him, as well, but he hadn't been sure whether or not the guy would end up talking to him, so he had been trying to decide if he should've stayed or not. Regardless, if things were too intense, he was bailing. He didn't even have Ergia, for crying out loud.
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" Nice to meetcha, Isabelle!" He said, giving a thumbs up before looking at the stage briefly again. "Mhm! Zabar, the guy that beat me in the tourney! It was super awesome!"
Yes, Razzy was indeed that happy and excited to see Zabar up there. It wasn't that he didn't want Nathan to lose - in his own, perfect world, everyone was a winner and everyone was friends with each other, but that just wasn't the case. He was aware of the mess surrounding Nathan's Matches and the fact he's injured his opponents, but Razzy wouldn't pass judgment until he met the guy.
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Once Nathan was seated on-stage, Auric took his own seat. Towards the back of the room was a lighting and sound technical operator. Once sure that the operator was looking at him for his cue, Auric asked rhetorically, "Let's get this started, shall we?" He looked towards the operator in the back and gave a visible hand motion to signify him to start. The operator nodded in acknowledgment and poked away at the lighting and sound controls for the room. The music stopped and the lights dimmed. A hush fell upon the crowd in the room. Once sufficiently quiet, an announcing spoke through the sound system, not through a loud, booming voice, but a moderate, mild-mannered one, "the interview with tomorrow's finalists will now begin on stage."
With that, Auric began, first addressing the crowd from his chair. "Good evening, ladies and gentleman." began Auric, his voice somewhat quiet from being unaided by any microphone, yet carrying throughout the room. "Tomorrow is the final match in the biannual Vytal Festival. Many skilled fighters from across the Four Kingdoms have journeyed here to Vale in order to test their skills against one another, bringing glory and honor to themselves and they kingdoms they represent. These fighters represent the very best of the kingdoms, but from these, two have prevailed to stand above the rest. It is my honor to present the finalists, Nathan Eau of Beacon Academy in Vale, and Zabar Aga of Shade Academy in Vacuo." Auric paused to allow the crowd to applaud for the finalists. He soon continued, "In anticipation of tomorrow's match, we begin our interview with Mr. Eau and Mr. Aga. My name is Auric Herz, hosting and moderating the group interview. While I know many of you are eager to ask the two gentleman questions of your own, I request that you hold your questions to the very end. We will have time at the end for some questions from the audience."
With this, Auric turned to Zabar and Nathan, intending to start them off with a question that was not particularly specialized to either and could be answered by each one. "Why don't we start by tackling the question head on. How excited are you for tomorrow? Is there, if anything, that you are particularly looking forward to?"
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Nathan looked at the interviewer rather than the crowd or Zabar. There were several reasons for this behavior. 1) You never look directly at the camera when doing an interview, so he assumed the same went for the public. 2) Auric was actually in the process of talking. Common sense and, partially, what his mother had continuously told him as well as what Mauve was attempting to teach him, instructed that you should always look at whoever's talking, both as a sign of respect and to show you're listening. Which, incidentally, he was.
When Auric asked his first question to the interviewees, Nathan turned to Zabar, intending to let him speak first. Which he assumed would be the case. But... the guy was looking a bit strange, all of a sudden, pale even, so Nathan spoke before the silence stretched closer to its first entire second. "Well, I can't say that I'm excited per se, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's not every day you get to duke it out with somebody of a world-class calibre that's also your age." Yes, he added that because he was pretty sure he could've asked any teacher back at Beacon for a sparring session. And he would've probably been pounded into dust.
-
Aegis' eyes flicked away from the girl she was talking to as the lights dimmed around her and the interview began. She smiled for a moment but it was cut off by a strange ringing in her left ear. It wasn't the normal kind of ringing one hears, no, this was something more. It was loud, deafening even. She put her hand to her head and blinked and as she opened her eye once again the ringing was gone. She turned to her left to speak with the girl with the tail, ask her if she heard it too but, this wasn't that girl. Had she been imagining it? She must have, a metal scorpion tail? That's absurd.
Wait, why was she thinking about a metal scorpion tail? Aegis furrowed her brow before shaking her head and looking back toward the girl in front of her. Her shoulder-length, pinkish blonde hair and blue eyes went very well with the dark blue pencil dress she wore with what looked like pink petals "falling" from the top of it. What did she say her name was again? Why? Wee? Wei! Weigela, she said her name was Weigela.
Wei gave the girl a soft smile and shook her head only slightly. "No, no, you didn't scare me. But... " Her smile faded into a look of concern. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Zabar smiled hearing the question, an easy start with an obvious enough answer, but as we was about to open his mouth, his ears filled with a dull ringing and his eyes were drawn up and out toward the balcony. The ringing rose to a nearly deafening level and he went to clutch his eyes shut, but as soon as he closed his eyes, the ringing dispersed and as he opened them, his eyes fell on his teammate, Wei. For a moment, his mind rand wild with thoughts. 'What was she doing here? When did she get here? How long had she been here? Why wasn't she in Vacuo? Why hadn't she told him?'
Slowly, slowly but surely, those thoughts began to morph from "How"s into 'Of course she's here. She was here from the start. I wouldn't have come to Vale on my own.'
As Zabar heard Nathan finishing up his answer, he gave his to-be opponent a polite nod and a smile, as well as a slight raising of the eyebrow in hearing he wasn't excited, as the events of the past minute already fading from memory, and glanced toward Auric before speaking. "I would say I am excited. Win or lose, I mean, it's the championship match!" Zabar's smile intensified as he continued. "Not everyone makes it this far, ya know? As for anything I'm looking forward too, well..." He shifted his gaze to Nathan, looking him directly in the eyes. ".. I've tried to make it a point not ta spoil any oh my opponent's moves are anything like that. Now, you've been hard to avoid, but try not to spoil anything for me now, right?"
-
"no, I'm fine, I think at least." Aegis looked around for a moment, while pressing her left ear for a moment. She was confused, she was sure that she wasn't talking to her, but there was this girl here, Weigela, that's right.
"Did you happen to hear a ringing sound just before? It might just be in my head. But I just want to be sure." Aegis stood still for a moment, her smile dropping as she finished her sentence. She did want to sit down and think for a little bit, but she had already started talking to this girl. She looked normal enough. "May I ask where you got your name from? I would guess a sort of flower, but I would like to be sure."
"Did I do something wrong?" Mythos looked at Lien with a somewhat puzzled look, sure jumping from a balcony wasn't the most normal of thing to do, but surely she didn't stand out that much? 'was it because I interrupted? Maybe. I'll have to ask later.' While Mythos just stood next to Lien properly, almost like a personal bodyguard if she were to be compared to some equivalent.
-
Juno didn't see it as his responsibility to explain proper manners, time and place, and whatnot in a public setting, especially to someone higher on the food chain than he. However, he was annoyed by the newcomer, and despite his best attempts to hide his frustration, one couldn't help but make out a furrow of his brow. As he was about to speak up, however, his focus was shifted toward the stage. Nathan Eau and Zabar Aga. The two finalists. Both of them earned their place on that stage, and Juno should be proud of himself for getting as far as he did. Yet... He wasn't. As he watched the interview proceed, Juno's lips curled into a frown.
"I think I might have a good idea of how Xanh felt." Juno muttered under his breath, his eyes flicking toward a small blue form that was materializing on his shoulder.
"I mean... I guess." Phi started, taking a moment to think as Juno listened. "But you got farther than her. You put up a much better fight. People know who you are."
"True..."
"Besides, you learned more from this loss than any other fight in the tourney. You know more about the limits of ANUBIS, and you know what Zabar is capable of."
"I gue-"
"And maybe you'll add some goddamn insulation to the suit, like I told you to do in the first place."
A light chuckle escaped the young man's lips as the AI spoke. She wasn't wrong about any of what she had just said. He'd have another shot at some point. Who knew, hopefully things would be different next time.
"I'll get on that. Thanks."
-
"I see..." Isabelle looked up at the stage as Razz did, not continuing their conversation for the moment as she observed. Seeing as she wasn't particularly familiar with either of the people that were getting interviewed, perhaps paying attention to what was happening would be a good idea. Still, it was difficult for her to stop thinking about something that Razz had just said. He had supposedly lost, and yet, that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. To her, that was a little unusual. There was no way that she would ever be able to see a loss of her own as 'awesome'. Really, it was just almost always depressing. While she wanted to inquire him about it, she decided to wait, returning her focus to the stage again.
-
Lien opened her mouth to inform Mythos that yes, it was a little weird, and really, she was fine. But she thought better of it and just stayed silent and shook her head in response, looking down at her feet as she really had no idea what to say. Luckily, the announcer came to her rescue, starting up the interview with Zabar Aga and Nathan Eau. Interested, Lien focused her undivided attention on it.
At least she would've if a tiny blue figure hadn't materialized on Juno's shoulder.
Lien yelped and backed away-into the other people behind her. "Oh I'm so so so sorry," she whispered to them. "I-I didn't mean to, just, um, sorry." Shyly, she averted her gaze from their annoyed selves and focused back on what was happening onstage, every once in a while glancing at Juno's little... mini pixie blue thing. What was that anyway?
Bianca leaned back in her chair as the interview began. This was bound to be interesting. The Auric dude started off easy, made sense, just a little question to ease up the mood, didn't touch on any hard stuff or particularly grilling things. Yet the Eau dude still managed to screw it up. Bianca scoffed in annoyance, crossing her arms. Sure darling, please rub how great you are in our faces. "Guess the rest of us at Beacon aren't world-class like Nathan here!" she yelled. She wasn't even bitter about her loss, at least not that much, but this dude...
-
Catalina wanted to talk to her, this girl, but her response is not graceful at all. At once Cata returned "Well getting into the tournament means you're world-classed to some degree, but some of us are clearly more world-classed than others!" Cat almost wanted to add something about her lost at the preliminary round, but he isn't a jerkass.
Then Cat doubted. Why did he have such a big reaction? It's not even about Gray, why did he defaulted to defending Nathan? Is it some kind of code where the loser have to follow the will of the winner? Or did he defend just for the sake of being different? Cat cannot accept himself being the latter.
Infrared definitely do not have nearly as big of an reaction as Cat did. Actually, she thought Nathan responded just typically right. But now that he shortly became a focus of everyone, he can't easily talk to him without everyone knowing what she's up to.
-
Glancing at Isabelle briefly to make sure she wasn't expecting to continue the conversation with the interview starting, Razzy turned his full attention towards the stage.
'Man, Zabar's so cool!' Razzy thought as the Vacuan spoke to his opponent in his answer. He didn't hear the yell which had followed Nathan's response, having not found anything wrong with it. If anything, Razzy felt like this Nathan guy was being shy or something - of course he had to be excited!
Reginald hadn't wanted to come here. While, surely enough, the majority of the guests here were respectable, and their attire appropriate - with few glaring exceptions - young sir dickwaffle was far from a fan of the tournament. Matter of fact, he had made a point to not watch any of the fights. He considered them barbaric. Yes, that was the reason, and definitely not getting his ass kicked so hard not a soul would've considered him for one of the contestant slots.
The boy, dressed in royal purple costume with matching regalia wig. It appeared he had arrived just as the interview was starting, and he made his way through the crowd to find a seat. Yes, he didn't want to come here, but it was better than staying at Beacon. Not like he had any friends- That is, the wish to go out into the town, for example.
While he was only half-listening to the people on stage, what caught his attention was a girl in a somewhat risque outfit shouting at them. While certainly not indicative of class, it was interesting to see such a reaction nonetheless. He might just find some common ground with this girl, though she seemed to be quickly responded to by a boy who... Oh, lord, not this guy. Reginald took a nearby seat, ready to side with the girl for numerous reasons, but for now just willing to see how it plays out.
-
Upon hearing the two finalists' answers, Auric gave a slight nod. "So now that the tournament's advanced through so many matches, is there anything that either of you do to prepare for fights? Do you find yourself watching replay videos trying to study your opponents' techniques ahead of time or do you try to blank your mind out and really enter a fight with an as fresh and stress-free mind you can?" Leaning back in his chair, Auric restated, "I guess what I really want to know is: what have you done to prepare for tomorrow's final match?"
-
Oh for Remnant's why did he have to arrive so late. Shiroe wanted to make sure his teammate didn't look like a complete imbecile this time so he went through the trouble of picking out a suit for him, unfortunately Reginald thought different...or maybe didn't think at all and pranced about in a regal fashion before taking his seat. Wondering whether he should drag him back or ignore him he rubbed his brow with two fingers in a rather distraught manner while weighing out his choices.
"Excuse me"
Shiroe's self pitying ended for a second as he politely apologized for blocking the entrance to a girl, whom he recognized as one of his classmates, and moved aside. Oddly enough, unlike her usual half torn and assymetrical casual wear, she wore a somewhat still assymetrical dress but its design was flowing and elegant highly contrasting tonher rather crude jeans and tshirt. Ayaka Miyamoto was her name he believed though he wasn't really too familiar with the odd person who'd either be training or meditating every time he saw her. The dress seemed to be of silk, oriental in design with subtle floral paterns adorning the dress. The left sleeve was long and hid her left hand while the right was nonexisistant, cutting aburptly from the neck and bossom. A bright white ribbon adorned her hair with two pins keeping her ponytail together and another much wider one adorned her waist. Below the waistline the dress flowed continuously but had a cut in the side high above the thigh which showed a generous amount of skin. Wooden sandals rather than shoes were the prefered footwear and it made an audible noise as she walked by. She left without any more words foe Shiroe but was mumbling something about winningnthe tourney.
Looking down at his rather simple white cut gray tux and black flats, white vest and a white rose tucked into his pocket he realized how drab it was and maybe he should have used a more vibrant color...like yellow? No...bad choice. As he pondered once more on the manners of dress of the fellow party goers a rather vibrant amethyst cocktail dress stood out, not particularly because of design, but because the wearer was angrily walking his way.
Deciding to bolt Shiroe dashed through a crowd and blended in rather subtly in another crowd of suits. Good thing he wasn't wearing something vibrant like...yellow. ugh
___________________________________
Damn it, why did she have to go home for her stupid family ceremony? Because of it she lost her chance to win the tourney and her team didn't seem to be on the stage either. Frustrating to say the least and even worse she was wearing a dress! Having been ewcorted back her mother forced her to wear it but she quickly made some adjustments in her room; nothing a pair of scissors can't unfix. Now she was intent on finding her team leader and chewing her out for no othrer reason than not informing her of the results. She felt lingering stares and quickly glared at any she locked eyes with before approaching the cat faunus she called team leader. Luckily the annoying hipster girl wasn't within sight. She wasn't in the mood to exchange insults.
-
Zabar frowned slightly as he glanced toward the crowd as he heard someone yell out before slowly shifting to a smile while he leaned forward on the table, looking toward Auric. "Well, like I said, I've been tryin' to keep myself on my toes in this tournament. I've only been to a single match, actually. See, way back when the airships came to Vale at the beginnin' of the tourney, I'd met Juno Vert..." Zabar paused and looked out into the crowd, despite only being able to see darkness beyond the stage. "I'm sure he's out there now..." He said, turning back to Auric. "When Alban had given us all that speech, I'd met Juno and we were talking and found out that we were both contestants. Since there wasn't any guarantee we'd face off, I wanted to at least make sure I saw him in combat, so I went to his two-on-two match with the students from Haven." Zabar put his hand up and leaned back against his chair. "Now, that mighta given me a little bit of an advantage, but he did plenty enough damage to me even with that."
The Vacuan lay his hands down onto the table, the smile remaining on his face. "Other than that, though, I've only watched matches of my opponents after we'd already fought. In particular, I'd paid attention to Razz and Martin's match and Juno and Xhan's match." As he spoke, Zabar realized he liked this. He'd figure he would be less talkative or stumble over his words but this all felt right, felt natural, to him. "Other than that..." He paused for a moment, raising his hand to his chin. "Mostly just weapon maintenance, really."
Wei raised an eyebrow at the girl. "No, no ringing. Probably just that ringing in your ears you get sometimes." She paused, listening to her teammate begin to talk, a smile forming on her lips. As she came back to listen to Aegis'n question, she gave a quiet chuckle. "Yes, yes, very creative isn't it?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I was born in Mistral, and the story goes that when my mother was pregnant, she was given a bouquet of weigela flowers by the headmaster of Haven. Apparently he was an old boyfriend." The girl raised her hand to her lips, stifling giggle. "Personally, I think it's just one of those stories parents tell their kids. Knowing mom, she was probably just into flowers at the time." She paused once more to listen in to the interview, somewhat surprised her teammate was still talking. "Oh," she started, turning her head back to Aegis. "and what about your name? Aegis isn't exactly what I'd call a common name, no offense." She said, the smile still on her lips.
-
Nathan was looking at Zabar as the guy spoke. This was a good thing. He was also actually listening to him, which was an even better thing. He smiled when Zabar spoke about 'not spoiling it for him'. Oh, boy, that was he'd been doing right from the start of the tourney.
Right before Auric started talking again, somebody decided to scream something from the crowd. Oh, greeeaaat, try and distract the ADHD guy, why don't you. Thankfully, Nathan was able to restrain himself from looking into the crowd as well as understanding whatever was yelled. Probably somehow derogatory, anyway.
Instead, he looked as his appointed interviewer as he spoke, turning to Zabar as he answered the question(s) in earnest. Wow, he really was excited. Then Nathan's turn came to answer and he sincerely, whole-heartedly doubted he'd be capable of delivering something as good as the co-interviewee.
"Personally, I do a bit of both. While I went into the first few fights without a clue about the opponent, as the stakes grew, the amount of risk I was willing to take diminished. I've seen most matches from the stands, but it wasn't solely to get a tactical feel for any potential adversaries - the matches were genuinely fun and enthralling to bear witness to. Apart from that, I just go in with a calm, open mind."
He finished by adding "I'm planning to get a good night's rest to be able to give it my all tomorrow."
-
While listening to the two finalists' answers, Auric had been mostly silent, his gaze shifting from the contestants to the pen and notepad he had in his lap. On the topic of what the two were each doing to prepare for the fight, a thought came into Auric's head, leading to a possible question. It was a provocative question, to say the least; not one that he had submitted to the tournament organizers ahead of time. As the finalists spoke, he tuned out a bit, trying to decide whether or not she should go ahead and ask the question. Weighing the decision, he thought to himself that he was never one to back down from asking the tough questions, and the organizers knew that. He wasn't going to compromise his journalistic style for the sake of sterile propriety.
As Nathan finished up his answer, Auric nodded slightly and took a brief look at his notepad before turning very slightly to Zabar. "Hmm. I see. Zabar, I find it interesting that you are taking such a rather relaxed approach to this next fight. Nathan has gathered quite a following based on his past performances. But more than that, Nathan," Auric gestured toward Nathan, "you have left lasting injuries on your opponents, beyond that which is preventable by aura protection." Turning back to Zabar, Auric continued, "Zabar, aren't you even a little concerned about the outcome of tomorrow's fight?"
-
Leaning on the balcony, Aegis found her giggling a little bit funny. Even infectious if she were to continue it, a small smile forming on her lips. "None taken, well I don't have some fantastic tale of some cool person giving a gift. I was called Aegis because they thought I would help people when I was older. Lord and behold here I am, a huntress in training. Oh my full name is Aegis Guard. So it kind of matches."
Unlike Lien, Mythos' reaction to the little blue figure was completely average. She just looked at it with minimal curiosity, looking back at the people she had accidentally backed into. "Don't mind her, she didn't mean anything."
-
Isabelle's focus on the stage was lost as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, particularly those of someone wearing sandals. Part of her was able to guess who it was just by those sounds, but even with that inkling, she looked quite surprised when she turned around and spotted her teammate. "Ayaka!" she said in a hushed tone, trying not to disturb anyone around them. "Welcome back." Even though everyone around them was being pretty quiet, she hadn't seen her teammate since she had left to go to... whatever that thing was again. A little bit of quiet chatting wouldn't hurt anybody. The closest person to her was Razz, but he didn't seem like the type of person that would mind.
Attempting to think up something to talk about, she took a brief look at Ayaka's outfit, though her gaze returned to it again shortly after she looked away the first time. This was definitely the first time she had seen her wear something so graceful, as opposed to her usual chopped up shirt and pants. It almost made her seem like a different person, though she knew that she'd probably get the usual annoyed attitude from her. "That's a very nice dress."
While waiting for a response, the interviewer on stage had caught her ear again, the most recent question sounding a lot more intriguing than the other ones up to that point. Even if she was mostly listening to her teammate, she still was curious as to how this Zabar guy was going to answer.
-
Zabar smiled as Auric mentioned his relaxed nature, but as he continued his question the smile slowly dropped to a solemn half smile. As the interviewer finished, Zabar looked down at the table for a split second before glancing toward Nathan and then out toward the crowd, toward Wei. "Ya know, Dustin probably wouldn't like my answer." His smile grew for just a moment as he spoke to Wei more than Auric or the crowd before turning back to the interviewer. "Dustin is my team leader," He explained, the smile dropping back down. "and he would probably like somethin' more... more noncommittal, maybe."
Zabar's eyes moved back toward Nathan, staring directly in his opponent-to-be's eyes. "I'm not- well, Iwouldn't say I'm one to get cocky. Anythin' can happen on the field. That said," his eyes glanced back to Auric for just a moment. "No, I'm not worried." The Vacuan leaned back in his chair, exhaling as his back pressed against the chair. "I mean, I should be, by all rights, I should be. He made it to the finals, just like me." He said, gesturing to Nathan. "That puts him at very least the second best single fighter in a worldwide tournament. But," Zabar leaned back forward, putting one finger on the table as his eyes found their way back to Nathan, his voice and cheerful demeanor dropping. "One of three things is gonna happen. I'm gonna win, you'll win and injure me like the others, or you'll win fair and square. Now, either the first or the third thing happen, fine." Zabar lifts his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "I win, fine. You win, fine. But you..." He paused for a moment, seemingly catching himself. He quickly lifted his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat before looking back toward Auric, an apologetic smile growing on his lips. "I'm sorry, it's just a... controversial topic. The point I wanted to make was that he would be hurting himself much more than he would be hurting me if he injured me, or any other finalist." Zabar made a point to not looking back toward Nathan as he corrected himself, mentally chastising himself for the show of frustration.
Wei, meanwhile, listened silently as her teammate spoke, biting her lip worriedly as the frustration began to show. In her small purse that hung by her hip, she could hear the muffled vibration of her scroll. Dustin for sure, but she didn't want to walk into that mess. Not now.
-
Nathan listened to Auric as the man asked another question. Which rapidly went into some shady territory. Which revealed itself as not-so-shady since it pretty much was a blazing inferno. Well, then. That was... an unforeseen development, but also an unsurprising one.
He turned to Zabar - towards whom the question seemed to be mostly aimed - as he answered.
And he listened.
And listened.
Frankly, this had gone rather well. He thought about adding 'he makes a good point' after the guy had finished, but not knowing whether or not it'd grant him some flak, he merely nodded a bit to his future opponent, much in the same way as the aforementioned Vacuan had earlier.
-
Ah. So there is the question. As Cat expected. And Nathan didn't know what to answer. He want to cover him by saying something along the lines of him easily recovering but before he can fabricate something he was pulled aside by someone. Turning back, steadying himself and trying to bursh off the hand pulling him he was surprised to see Infrared, despite noticing her earlier.
"Did you bring that thing?"
"I didn't. Of course I didn't, this isn't some secret place, this is the tournament ball!" What he didn't say is that he wouldn't bring it because it's in his weapon.
"Implying you found it. Where is it, I'll take it myself."
"You can't take it out without my presence."Cat can only stall. He has a plan tho.
"Fine, we'll go tomorrow."
With that done, Cat and Infrared turned back to the stage, together.
-
To see the perspectives of both fighters was... interesting, to say the least. While Nathan's position as the second best fighter remained to be seen, Juno simply accepted the notion that he just wasn't as good. He could, no, he would get better, and then cement his worth as a huntsman. His attention on the stage, for the most part, he hadn't noticed when Phi turned around and waved at the two girls he had recently held a conversation with. Not that he minded when she did, it was expected that the AI would garner some degree of attention.
-
Ayaka's ears tinged red at the tips but her face didn't show any sort of gratitude for the compliment. Isabelle seemed to have been talking to another boy beforehand, probably one of their classmates, but he seemed preoccupied by the questioning on stage. Scoffing at the exchange she crossed her arms and said, "I can't believe I missed the chance to participate. I would've won for sure.
Shiroe, squished in between a couple of other suits staring at the stage, finally avoided a certain purple haired menace and started making his way towards Reggie. Maybe he could spare everyone an earful of self praise if he could.
-
Razz was entirely too enthralled by the people on stage to be distracted by any conversation nearby. And, even if he was, he wouldn't be upset about it - friends should be allowed to chat and catch up on things, whatever they were!
Reginald crossed his arms, pouting. It had appeared that nothing had come of the little argument he had observed, at least not yet. At this point, however, his attention was turned towards an approaching familiar face. One he had... Mixed feelings about, but a respectable person nonetheless. He gave Shiroe a nod, glancing towards the stage for a bit and covering up an overplayed yawn with his hand. He even made a point to make sure that those nearby would hear the yawn. What a tool.
-
Auric listened to Zabar's response, and frankly, he didn't understand what the finalist was saying, which came as a surprise to him because of Auric's general great capacity for empathy. However, while trying to understand, Auric noticed Nathan's peculiar lack of response, at least beyond a small nod. Deciding that with that question, he was already in for a penny, he decided to go in for a pound. After Zabar finished his answer, Auric waited a moment, giving time for Nathan to speak. When there was no retort, Auric began, "Nathan, I do not wish to press this unnecessarily, but the commonplace of injuries in your past matches is something that likely concerns at least some of the public, especially given the tournament staff's efforts to minimize lasting injury. Zabar said his piece, yet I notice you seem to have nothing in answer. Is there some kind of response...or justification...or maybe some contrition...that you would like to put out there for the viewing public, just so they can understand where you are coming from?"
-
Lien slumped a little at Mythos's assurance to the people that she meant no harm. She'd been ticked off at Mythos's interference earlier, but it seemed that she was hopeless anyway. Determined not to make any more of a fool of herself, Lien fixed her posture and payed more attention to what was happening onstage, just in time to catch the moments where everything got... interesting. Lien internally cringed at the conversation happening onstage, though Nathan seemed to be responded well to everything Zabar was saying, she absolutely hated tension. She desperately wanted Nathan to respond and defend himself a little at least.
Bianca was simply sitting back and, unlike Lien, enjoying the tension, and also unable to help herself from refilling her cup with whatever punch they got for the occasion. This was where it got interesting though, she made herself comfy as she awaited Nathan's response, trying to keep her mind off of the bitterness that'd been brought on by the earlier comment about not all of them being world class.
-
Aegis looked over to her companion, wondering if she should interrupt her, or at least help her take her mind off things. She seemed worried. "Are you alright? Anything I can do to help?"
Mythos only crossed her arms and looked onward towards the stage. Sighing at Zabar's less then suddel jabs at the finalist. "He does seem to be taking his status as a finalist to his head. Would you agree, Lien?"
-
Nathan was mildly taken aback when Auric pressed him for further comment, as he'd thought Zabar had been rather eloquent, if a bit confused at first. His face, unsurprisingly to some select people, failed to diplay this emotion. "Well, mister Herz, I can't say I'm any less concerned about my opponents' health than the public. To be honest, I almost felt like my heart stopped when I injured Gray, and I asked Catalina if he was okay when I learned I had injured him, too.
I won't deny that I injured them. That much is evident to anybody who can see. I did do so, and I am very sorry. I never had the intention of injuring anybody beyond their Aura. It was a series of unfortunate circumstances for which I am to blame, at least partially if not entirely. I wasn't adding anything, or saying anything, because I thought mister Aga had summed up the affair's logic quite accurately: to paraphrase, 'I would be hurting myself much more than I would be hurting him if I injured him, or any other finalist'. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have acted the same way. But I didn't know, and there's nothing I can do to change that."
There he went, one of those miraculously verbous bouts. He wasn't even sure of what he said, it just sort of oozed out on instinct.
-
As Nathan answered his question, Auric listened intently. He could more than readily twist the knife in the wound to draw more blood. "Talk is cheap," he thought to himself skeptically. However, perhaps it was not appropriate to be pushing too deeply in this setting. Auric thought for a moment. Nah, who was he kidding? Propriety was not something he abided by. "I understand that, and I am glad to hear it, Nathan. However, after the first incident, with Mr. Saggio, was the thought of injuring your opponent present in your mind as you fought Mr. Glenn, just before you injured him as well, or was the thought completely absent? It is one thing to feel remorse after the fact, as the thought of injuring your opponent weighs on you, but as another thing, what are you doing to avoid causing such injuries in the first place. After all, you know the old saying: 'Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern.'"
With this last question. Auric felt satisfied. He knew that whatever was Nathan's answer, in the interest of fairness, he would need to move on and turn his attention to the other contestant. His mind began thinking for questions already, even before Nathan started his answer.
-
Catalina finally started paying back attention just in time to hear the interviewer's somewhat subjectively biased question. Honestly, Cat didn't know what to expect from the general public. But he thought at least the interviewer is trying to be fair. He tried to come up with something. Something that could protect Nathan from their misjudgement. Something that redirects the question, something that helps.
"I trust him."
Infrared is disappointed at the interviewer's attempt to attack Nathan, especially when Nathan gave a satisfactory response. "Dude, where is Nathan's respect?"
-
Gray had been listening in on the interview and felt his teeth grinding in anger when the interview turned to him. He could feel the anger building with a twisting sensation in his gut. Then when Nathan gave his response his anger exploded and his uninjured arm was punching down on the corner of a nearby drinks table. The force crushing the table's leg and sending the contents spilling across the floor as Gray got to his feet. Fuck decency. I'm not sitting here and listening to this bullshit.
-
(tfw you're in the hot seat in-character and IRL)
Alright, so the interviewer was pushing it further. Fine, whatever. A ruckus briefly arose in the back of the hall, but Nathan paid it no mind, as he couldn't afford to do so. "Well, no. The thought of injuring my opponents was never present in my mind before, during or after the battle with Gray. Rather, after I injured him, the thought of not injuring my opponents was very well anchored."
-
"Only after injuring Mr. Gray?" commented Auric, raising an eyebrow. Nonetheless, he did not make an issue to press it further, though he did seem to be in some thought for a bit, looking both at Nathan and into the space behind him in a preoccupied gaze. After a brief second, he looked back at his notepad. "Nevermind that," he said. Looking at Zabar, Auric started, "Now how about you, Mr. Aga. You are the sole contestant representing Vacuo in this tournament. How has that affected you, if at all? Going through the rounds, have you felt any particular pressure to outperform your opponents because of your status as Vacuo's standard bearer?"
-
Zabar listened, quietly and patiently, as Auric spoke to Nathan. Though to be completely honest, he was only half paying attention, nodding only when Nathan reiterated his own statement. He was much more preoccupied with the situation around him. Sure, he wasn't new to the spotlight, his grandfather made sure of that when he was younger, but he was never the one to be able to speak his mind, always relegated to the back of the photo or in a seat behind his parents and grandfather. Even over the past year, going out and completing missions and talking with people, Narina was always the one to talk with the representatives. But now he was in the center stage, he could speak what he wanted. It was freeing, in a way. He could just act like he does everywhere else instead of how his family or teams wants or n-
The happy train of thought was cut as the sound of a table cracking and glass shattering broke him out of his trance. His eyes immediately shot out to the crowd, despite not being able to see anything except vague silhouettes, before darting back toward Auric and Nathan. Had neither of them noticed? They had to have, surely, but they just sat there like it was nothing...
Zabar slowly placed both his hand flat on the table and glanced at them for a moment, noting the lack of gauntlets. He left them there, on the table. If he needed to, he could quickly stand up, if not then no harm done. in the meantime...
The boy snapped back to paying attention to Auric just as he was saying "Mr. Aga," being careful to keep the edge of the interview area in his peripherals while he listened to the question. He furrowed his brow as he listened, thinking back to the matches he'd had up to this point. Countless qualifiers, his match against Zwei, against Razz, against Juno, and how it felt to be matched up against them, a Beacon student each and every time. "I'd say there was a need in the earlier rounds, sure. Durin' the qualifiers, well I don't think there was a single person out there that didn't feel some need to outperform. But I think from the beginnin' I had mixed feelin's. Yeah, course I wanted to prove Shade was just as good as the other academies, but at the same time I wanted to be able to learn from the people I faced, and ya can't really do that if you just beat them into the ground." He said, a smile creeping back onto his face.
"And yeah, I'm also the only Vacuan so that was... well, that was weighin' on there too, but to be honest I think my team leader's more set on me winning than I am, any Vacuan or Shade student for that matter." The boy chuckled slightly as he spoke, thinking back to the Dustin and Narina back in Shade. "One of my other teammates is here," he said as he turned his head toward the crowd once more, using the opportunity to catch a glance of any problems that might be out there. "but she's... aha..." He paused and turned his head back to Auric.
"I'm sorry, I'm completely off track... Ahm... Yes- yes, I think in the earlier rounds there was more of a weight on me to be better than the others, but once I got past the... first or second round maybe? Once I got past those, I mean, there weren't any other Haven or Atlas students in the bracket, so I was ahead of the pack, even though Atlas always likes to come in and try to show how much better they are with their fancy tech than the rest of us." He silently chastised himself for that remark, ohhh he'd catch hell for that one from Narina, but she wasn't here now. "Course I want to win, but second place as the only non-beacon student in the entire first year bracket? Hell yeah I'd take that."
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Juno's attention was turned to the stage as Zabar spoke, his brow furrowing slightly as he brought up Atlas. The sentiment was understandable, yeah. The pragmatism and manipulation shown by Mantle and Atlas throughout Remnant's history definitely painted them as selfish and obsessed with having a bigger weapon than everyone else. Nevertheless, it was his home. His mom and dad raised him there, and it was where he met Phi. However, he had also hit it off quite well with the Vacuan. The guy seemed nice, if a bit... Arrogant and biased. No need to trash a potential friendship because of disagreements based on heritage and history.
"To be fair, we didn't have to use our fancy tech to put up a good fight."
Gods dammit, Phi.
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Auric listened to Zabar's answer and waited for him to finish. "Yes, that's very interesting how the brackets seemed to be stacked with almost entirely Vale students. That would definitely give Vale an advantage in ensuring someone from Beacon made it to the finals. Curious, considering Vale is the host kingdom, though I'm sure the committee overseeing the tournament has been doing its best to ensure there have been no irregularities in any form." After a brief pause, he continued, "Now you touched on something earlier - that Atlas students often have access to superior technology, courtesy of Atlas academy's close relationship with the kingdom's military. Atlas students design their own weapons, just like most other students hunters and huntresses in this tournament and around the world. I think many people would say that superior technology does not make the superior or at least, more effective, hunter. But I believe there are many other people who would say the opposite. Where do you stand on that? Do you think it is fair for Atlas tournament contestants to maintain such technological advantage over their competitors?"
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Zabar thought for a moment, though he left his palms flat against the table, before responding. "I'd say there's an advantage there, sure. There's always ways to overcome that, though. An advantage doesn't make the fight and that's just a fact. Let's say someone in the tourney was at 50% and the other guy was at 16%. Once you start gettin' overconfident in that advantage you might as well give up. Same can be said about weapons, armor, or gear. You could have the most advanced stuff in the world and still lose to some guy just using his fists; no armor, no weapon, no nothin'." The boy leaned back slightly in his seat before continuing. "Obviously weapons help though. There's no denyin' that."
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Nathan's attention to the discussion almost observably increased, albeit it had in fact tripled, when technology was mentioned.
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"Oh I suppose anything's possible," responded Auric, "It seems to me that what you just said that speaks to the power of individual merit, tenacity, and drive, which is fitting considering that this tournament is held in honor of the conclusion of the Greyed War, a conflict that at its simplest, started as an ideological conflict between the power of the collective against the power of the individual, and by extension, a group of united individuals. However, as you also said indirectly, all else being equal, Atlesian students have a distinct advantage. Do you think this is right, with regards to keeping up with the spirit of the tournament, particularly in the sense that the tournament, abstractly speaking, is an event meant to honor human - and Faunus - achievement solely on each individual's own merits?"