Scene #7446: A Visit to Vale(And other stories)

Owner	Pose
Yang Xiao Long	The City of Vale. Also the Kingdom of Vale. It's a nice enough place. Rather metropolitan, high-rise buildings, ordered arrangement into blocks. Much like many major cities in modern day Earth. What differes here, is the large perimeter wall, reaching almost as tall as the high-rise buildings, and bristling with defensive emplacements. Large cannons can be seen from almost anywhere in the city, a reminder that this world is dangerous, but also there are places that actively resist that danger. Yang's message, an open invitation, reaches many sources, from T.V. broadcasts, to radio to even letters sent via regular mail... and many other esoteric and magical means of communication, she had a lot of help. It sets a meeting point at a place known as Beacon Academy, an imposing lighthouse-like structure on the coastal cliffs just outside of the city walls. This compound is equally fortified, and the students as well as the faculty are more than enough security for anything but a concerted, major assault. The blonde young huntress stands in the central courtyard, beneath the central statue, depicting two humans stood atop a rocky outcrop, with some wolf-like humanoids stalking beneath in the shadows.
Selene	A giant bear monster appears! Thankfully, it's not like the local bear monsters at all, and is in fact considerably rounder and fatter. There's also a person draped over its shoulder, pointing around at various things to look at as it glances in those directions, gives the person a pat on the head to reel in her energy from a 12 to a 9, then resumes stomping along while the cat on its head yawns and just keeps on napping through all the noise. They haven't even gotten inside yet. Selene's just excitable as she usually is, only somewhat controlled by the fact that she's not running around on foot just yet.It does, however, mean that it's even easier for her to project her voice when she finally sees a familiar face." Whoa... Over there, Slunch! It's Yank! Hey, Yank! Yank!" She takes a deep breath. The cat opens an eye, the bear holds a hand up to its ear, and Selene shouts "YAAAAANK" for as long as her lungs can hold out. It's a surprisingly long time.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki, having gotten a direct invite to the Beacon Academy gathering courtesy of Yang herself, might not have needed the wide-reaching message to swing around to Vale today...but she's pretty impressed by it when she hears it anyway. With what little she knows about Remnant already, it sure paints a heck of an image of the place in her mind and what it might be like. She's actually kind of nervous about it. She hasn't really gone outside of her own world for just social gatherings until now, to say the least. But /someone/ wouldn't be letting her be getting cold feet at this point, and the huntress will be able to see her entering the courtyard before too long. Hibiki's dressed differently than she's been seen up until now, with a yellow-and-black zipped jacket and belted shorts making her look more put together for the occasion than her gray hoodie. She's accompanied by a black-haired girl with her short hair tied off with a white bow, dressed in a cardigan and skirt with her hands clasped at her waist. "You didn't really need to come, Miku..." Hibiki mutters. "Of course I did! It's not that different from home, you know. I even saw some places we could do some shopping together before we go back!" With a slightly resigned sigh, Hibiki puts her hands in her pockets and makes her way over towards Yang, with a wince and a glance off in Selene's direction. "...Friend of yours, I see. I hope you don't mind if I brought one, too." She gives a small tilt of her head towards Miku at her side, who doesn't seem to mind the YAAAAAAAANK cry at all and is instead giving a smile and a polite bow.
Yang Xiao Long	"It's Yang." calls the Huntress with a goodnatured grin back to Selene. She does give a thumbs up to the bearmon and catmon. "Good t;see you're still a bundle of energy." When Hibiki appears with a friend, the huntress pushes off her leaning position and approaches. "Hey 'Biki. Don't mind any at all. More th'merrier in my book." she offers a hand to Miku. "Hey there. Name's Yang. Nice t'meetchya." "So, whaddya wanna do now? There's the market district in Vale, there's an arcade I go to now and then... could stay here at Beacon, talk to the staff if y'wanna know more about Remnant on an academic level." she says, spreading her arms to make a general 'up to you'.
S6	The invitation arrived in FANTOM's server, directed to I1 as the organization's commander. It summarily found itself in S6's inbox, as one of FANTOM's primary multiversal operators. Perhaps not entirely unusual, then, for an artificial human in fancy clothing to arrive in Vale. S6's arrival is via FANTOM Flight Unit, which descends in the usual place for personal vehicles. The vehicle hovers for just a moment, before twisting around and unfolding itself into a more humanoid shape. Like this, it touches down the torso plates folding back for the android pilot to disembark. A boxy drone with robot arms floats out beside her a moment later. Despite the blindfold-like visor, S6 glances up the face of Beacon with a thoughtful sound, then steps away from her craft. Her heels click, metal on concrete, and the hem of her dress doesn't move as much as it probably should. But beyond that, she fits in well enough with the humanoid population.
Selene	More unfamiliar faces! Not thatSelene can really tell who's who at first, but she figures out from context clues that those specifically approaching Yang are considerably more important than the rest of everyone else just going about their own business. "YAAAANG! Hey, what's happening? I heard a really loud bird on the way here!" Selene shouts in greeting as she finally slides off the Snorlax's back, the large bear letting out something of a relieved grunt once Selene's close enough to talk at a (relatively) reasonable volume instead of screaming next to it. "What to do, what to do... Well!" She looks towards Hibiki and Miku first, taking that moment to hurry over to look them both over and invading their personal space. "Whoa. You look like you might be around my age. Does this mean we're going to become fated rivals?!" She rambles in excitement, circling around them a few times before catching sight of S6('s visor), then the rest of her before tunring to Yang. "Is that a friend of yours, too? Maybe shopping would be good so we can get her some shades instead of that thing."
Hibiki Tachibana	Miku takes Yang's hand with her own, giving it a good and firm shake. "Miku Kohinata. Nice to meet you, too! Hibiki's told me about you, and any friend of hers is mine too. Thank you for looking out for her." Hibiki takes a hand out of her pocket to rub at the back of her neck a little awkwardly. "I didn't say /that/ much," she mutters, using the chance to give a tiny wave towards Selene, on top of taking passive note of S6's arrival. Huh. That robot companion is kind of cute. The trainer commences invasion of personal space way faster than she was expecting though, turning said wave into kind of holding both hands up at her own chest in 'hold up' fashion. "Uh..." Her eyes keep track of her while she circles. It gets a giggle out of Miku though, who shakes her head. "I don't think I'd be a good rival, but how about friends?" Hibiki adds on after, "What does being the same age have to do with it? ...And I guess to get introductions out of the way, you can call me Hibiki." She turns her head up in thought at Yang's question after, letting out a low 'hm'. "Since we were going to go shopping sooner or later anyway, that'd be okay. It'd probably be a better way to learn about Remnant than hearing some professors talk."
Warfarin	It takes a bit but the long, white haired, pale skinned, pointy eared girl with red, demon slitted eyes finally makes an appearance. Medical bag slung over one shoulder and outfit with the telltale signs of 'this is a medic' almost literally screaming at people. While it doesn't take too long for her to get situated in this new place, with the hustle and bustle.. and the grand building in front of her... she does recognize at least two figures in this menagerie of people. Yang and Hibiki. THere's a bit of a huffing motion before the medic wanders over, one hand lifted to show greetings, "Hi." she starts, "Medic Warfarin. A pleasure to see everyone." beat "Hello Yang, Hibiki, hopefully you are doing good?"
Yang Xiao Long	Yang spots S6, giving the android a wave, "Ooooi, Sixy!" Yes she just said that. "Y'wanna come shoppin' with us?" she asks. Then Warfarin turns up, and the Huntress chuckles at the vampire. "No need t'be so formal. I'm doin' fine. Same invitation goes to you, unless y'wanna go talk to Port and Oobleck." From somewhere in the building, a high pitched, rather shrill voice shouts. "DOCTOR OOBLECK!", making Yang wince a little. "Man he's got like, radar ears for that."
S6	Periodically, the POD floating beside S6 emits a clicking sound. There's no immediately visible source, but it keeps happening at seemingly random intervals. She does pause when Selene calls her out, though it's Yang who addresses her. S6's walk resumes, quick but measured steps clicking across the pavement. "Orders are reconaissance. I have no objections; such an endeavor will give me the lay of the land." -MAPPING MODE. COMMENCE LOG.- The POD extends its cylendrical antenna a few centimeters upwards, -DYNAMIC SCANNING ENABLED.- "Accumulating data from noted experts..." S6's gaze lifts up Beacon's facade when that voice screeches from on high, "...is more I4's mode of operation." Her gaze lowers, and she states in a simple tone, "Striker Six, Model 18A. Series 8 anti-Nullborn combat unit. S6 will suffice." -NICKNAMES ARE ACCEPTED.- "Pod." -THE STATEMENT IS CORRECT.-
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki gives a nod to Warfarin as she comes in. "Pretty okay. Probably be a lot more sore if you weren't helping out back then." Not that she's not still sore from getting into fights, but you know. There's probably a bandage or three under the sleeves of her jacket. She promptly raises an eyebrow towards S6 and her POD, taking a moment to process exactly what she's saying. She still kind of wants one of those things, though. "S6, then...you keep some pretty crazy company, Yang." Miku leans in from out of frame. "Sixy is a pretty cute name!" Hibiki is definitely not going to call her that. Wincing from a voice piercing into her ear a second time, she rubs at the side of her head. "...But the more the merrier. We passed by the market district on our way in. This place is really huge..."
Selene	"Because! If someone's too old or too young, the rivalry doesn't feel right, you know? Then it's just an old person beating a kid up, or a kid kicking their grandma down the stairs." Selene replies to Hibiki and Miku with enough confidence in her tone to sound like she actually knows what she's talking about. Does she? Nobody knows. "Buuut yeah, friends works, I guess. Name's Selene! Or, if you ever see me at work, then you can call me..." She turns her flower hat sideways, flicking the bobble things on it to make them stand up a bit more, then strikes a pose with her arms splayed out above her head and to the sides with one knee raised. "Muscle Chicken!" Somehow, the Snorlax has already adopted a similar stance, but with the other leg raised and one arm crossed under its neck. The Torracat continues to sleep through all of this. With the posing complete, Selene turns her attention to Warfarin next, staring at her inquisitively while approaching with that same no-fucks-given attitude about personal space. "A medic, huh? You look pretty gothy-emo, but.... Yeah, looks legit. If I start dying, make sure they get cool picture of me before you get to work." A beat, and then she reaches over to pat Warfarin's shoulder gently. "The look's too out there to really work for the rival thing, though. I'm sorry." Somehow, she says that last part with all the grim severity of someone telling a person bad news about a loved one. Once S6 approaches with the POD, Selene turns her invasion towards her next. A walk around, a squint, a brief squat to look at S6 from another angle, and then she hops right back to her feet. "Borderline! The blindfold thing and the way you talk definitely adds a couple of years, though. Definitely need to get ya some big shades to make your face look squashy and younger if you wanna get into the rival game." And then she turns back to Yang, looking between her and S6 a few times. "... Yeah, you could get some of those big shades, too. Couldn't hurt, and you could probably lie about a couple of years, too. Just not those ladder shades, because that'll really make you look like someone's mom or wine aunt."
Warfarin	Warfarin gives a bit of a smirk, and she starts to say something until Selene invades her personal space.. the vampire closing up a bit at this suddenness. "Gothy-emo?" she mutters in a mix of confusion and awkwardness... "I'm not interested in being someone's rival anyways, and if you're starting to die, then I failed my job." she straightens up once the pat on the shoulder is given... "Maybe you should consider rivals of your own nature." She goes to look back towards Yang... but once again, distraction ensues as she looks at the Snorlax and the Torracat.. "That's new..." and off Warfarin goes to kneel in front of the Torracat, "Looks like a cat, but something's different about this." her head tilts towards the Snorlax, "And that looks bear-like... but slow." beat "What are these two creatures?!" beat then FINALLY turning to Yang and Hibiki. "Ah, excuse me. Yes, I'd like to meet Doctor Oobleck. I'm sure we can come to some great theories and such together." she nods, "Though I won't pass up a shopping opportunity here soon, I want to see what this 'dust' is and what it can be used for." And towards Hibiki, "That's good. Glad everything is okay, should you need another patch up, you can contact me, unless you have your own medical team." S6's voice gets Warfarin to perk up, "Ah, so you're Essex in the flesh... or machine.." she hmms, "Good to meet you."
Yang Xiao Long	"Cool! C'mon, lets head to the market then" says Yang, before gesturing for one of the students. "Ooi, Glenn. Could ya take Doc up to see Doctor Oobleck?" she says, putting a young man with bright green hair on the spot. "U-Uh, sure! Follow me." Glenn beckons for Warfarin to follow him as he heads into the building proper. Yang, meanwhile, moves to lead the rest back down towards town. "I know a neat little clothes shop, and we can swing by From Dust Til Dawn afterward."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki is in awe at the might of MUSCLE CHICKEN and her Snorlax. She's actually surprised the big lug can even pose like that. How much did they practice this? "Muscle--" Could she even handle a 'rival' like this? She has to bring her sleeve up to her face to half-cover it, turning away slightly. It's impossible to tell if she's hiding a grin, a laugh, or some other expression. She likes Torracat, though. Very relatable. Kind of wants to pet it, but that'd be disturbing the little guy. Miku swoops in without any time to waste, leaning up against Hibiki and plucking a finger at at the two bobs of hair she has sticking out near the back. "--Chicken? Now that I look at it, your hair kind of makes you look like a little chick, Hibiki..." "Eh!? No way! ...Really?" After glancing up pushing up at her bangs briefly, Hibiki clears her throat. "...You have a point." Not to the hair thing. "But I think rivalry is kinda more nuanced than that. Not that I'd know. What would I even do with a rival?" Asking herself that more than anyone else, she turns to Warfarin after. "Second Division helps me out. And Miku triple-checks that I'm okay, and we live together, so I'm in good hands. But I won't forget that." She'll just have to also remember to brace herself for the queasiness of blood going around everywhere. But hey, if it works! After a wave to the vampire medic, H&M follow suit when Yang starts leading the way off, with the black-haired of the duo having a particular skip in her step at the mention of clothes. "Everyone we've seen in Vale has a really different idea of fashion compared to us! I might end up going overboard...is 'From Dust Til Dawn' the name of the arcade you mentioned, or somewhere else?"
Selene	"Really? Well... I mean, I could see it working, but not between us. It's not a you thing, it's a me thing." Selene reassures(?) Warfarin, then laughs when she takes a look at the cat and bear... Thing. The Torracat doesn't seem to acknowledge Warfarin's presence, but the Snorlax seems well trained enough to actually raise one giant paw in a slow wave. "Oobleck sure is a name. Is he someone important around here?" She asks Yang as she follows her towards town, the the thought of getting new clothes starting to get Selene hyped up already. "Yeah, the clothes here sure are flashy. So many belts and pockets and... Doesn't it get sweaty wearing all those layers?" She laughs again when Miku comments on Hibiki's hair, then strokes her chin at the followup questions. "A rival helps you get stronger. They help motivate you to kick their ass! Or get your ass kicekd, if you're into that kinda thing."
S6	Selene's appraisal catches S6 on the back foot, leaning her face away when the trainer assesses her 'rival potential'. When her personal space is once more her own, she corrects her posture, "Additional eyewear is unnecessary. My visor is sufficient." Her head tilts slightly, "As an android, I'm not sure if my age is comparable to that of a human. As I present the external appearance of an adult woman, though, it seems I am doing so correctly." She turns, bringing up the rear of the quintet with a graceful, if somewhat hesitant stride. Mostly to avoid overtaking the four humans in front of her. "I have taken an interest in nonstandard clothing options. It seems that my FANTOM uniform presents too formal or official for the comfort of others. It seems that more varied colors are much more popular here than in Indus, though."
Warfarin	Warfarin gives the Snorlax a wave on its own, then gives a wave towards the group. "I'll join you all eventually for shopping. I suppose I could .. get a new look." she states, a look towards Selene there, then to the rest of the group, turning towards Glenn and nodding, following along. "Can you give me a brief history of this place and what this school was founded for? Of course, I'll be more than willing to share what I can of Rhodes Island." she smiles, walking up towards Glenn's side. "Also this Doctor Oobleck, he sounds a bit.. quirky."
Selene	"Eh? It's not about fixing your eyes. It's about looking young and hip and not..." Selene pauses to stare at S6 again as she moves along, circling around her a few times once again. "An android? So all this stuff is..." She strokes her chin lightly, taking an even closer look at S6 than before. Eventually... She gives her a thumbs up. "Your creator had good taste, then."
Yang Xiao Long	"You'd be surprised how cold it can get out in the wilds between the city and the outer holds, or up in an Airship." replies Yang to the question about getting sweaty in so many layers. "The materials are light enough to not trap much heat when it's hot, but keep you warm in the cold too. We have Atlas to thank for a lot of that." Yang leads the shopping group out the gate, towards an open-topped bus of sorts. It's automated, and carries the group to the City from the Academy, "From Dust til Dawn is a 'bit of everything' shop, mostly sells Dust in powder and Crystal form, weapon parts, accessories, travel food, It's like a One-Stop-Shop for Huntsmen and Huntresses to restock their supplies between missions." Glenn blinks at his charge. "Uh, I only started here a couple of weeks ago, I don't really know all that much yet. I applied for Beacon from Refuge instead of going to Haven. Doctor Oobleck would be able to tell you much more than me, he's the History lecturer and one of the most famous Huntsmen to come from this academy." The young man leads Warfarin up stairs, to a lift and through corridors with loitering students. All of them young adults, some obviously freshmen, others in their second or third year. Each wear the academy uniform, apart from some groups of third-years who are armed and seem to be gearing up to go out on missions. Glenn leads Warfarin to the teachers faculty lounge, knocks and says. "Doctor Oobleck? You have an offworld visitor."
Warfarin	Warfarin gives a nod towards Glenn, "I see, well it's a start and I do appreciate it. It gives me more questions to ask the Doctor." she nods, looking around at all the students... "Reminds me of Rhodes Island here." she mutters, "All these students..." there's a brief nod and she reaches into her medical bag for a clipboard, convinently with paper and a pen. "Well, I wish you well in your schooling, do learn quite a bit." Once at the teachers lounge, Warfarin straightens up a bit, taking a small breath before heading in, once she gets the permission. "Doctor Oobleck, I presume? I'm Doctor Warfarin of Rhodes Island, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was hoping you had some time to chat, thanks to one of your students piquing my interest in a few things here." the vampire girl gives a nod of her head, "Of course, I'm more than willing to reciprocate any questions from you as well."
S6	"All of 'this stuff' is my current equipment," S6 completes Selene's sentence. That last comment gives her pause, though, tilting her head just slightly towards the trainer. Her Pod speaks up. -THIS IS THE FOURTH SUCH COMMENT.- -PROBABILITY SUBJECT IS AN ENGINEER NOW 83.4 PERCENT.- "Mm," Her gaze shifts to looking ahead, hands resting at her sides, "You have mentioned Dust before. From the various contexts; am I right in concluding it is a form of ammunition?"
Hibiki Tachibana	In an unintentional mirror of the other girl, Hibiki brings her hand to her chin while glancing to Selene. "...I don't think I am, thanks. Someone you don't want to lose to, huh...? I've never really had someone like that. At least, not the friendly kind." Her focus goes to Snorlax and Torracat as they hop onto the bus, with an intent stare at the latter for a second before she looks back to the trainer. "I could be wrong, but you don't look like much of a fighter yourself. Do they help you out?" She tilts her head. "Ah, I don't think I got their names either..." Miku, in the meantime, soaks up both the information about clothing and everything up to buy at From Dust Til Dawn like an attentive sponge. If she had thought of it, she'd probably be writing it down right now. "Crystals...? I wonder if a few would be good souvenirs to take home..." She closes her eyes, seemingly imagining what they might look like. "...Though maybe not, if that's what they're used for," she ends up commenting at S6's inquiry with a slight chuckle. Shehe does comment on the subject of clothes from a moment ago though, turning in her seat (that she's sharing with Hibiki) to do so. "Oh, for what it's worth--" Pause. She looks like she's appraising the android with an unexpectedly sharp eye, before her smile suddenly gets a bit wider. "...Mm. If it's about colors, I think you'd actually look great in blues!"
Yang Xiao Long	Yang addresses S6 first. "Dust is ammunition and power source all in one. Dust in powder form can be mixed to create specific elemental effects on bullets its used to fire. Crystals can act as expendable batteriest to fuel vehicles. Different Dust types also have different effects, and basic Dust mined from the ground can be mixed to create novel types. Like Energy and Earth dust create Gravity Dust. Energy, Fire and Wind create Hardlight Dust to name two of the most common." Yang leads the group through to a clothing mall. There's at least 6 different shops with clothes for all tastes here, not just the layers of belts and such. There's a rugged outdoors-y type place, guess where Yang likes to shop. One that has a more gothic look to its displays, an airy and flowy place with light colours and lighter-looking fabrics. Meanwhile "Ah! YespleasecomeinDoctor. Apleasuretomeetapeer, evenifyouarenotfromourworld. AskandIshallanswerasbestasIcan." The good Doctor is a tall, gangly man with opaque-looking glasses and messy dark green hair. His general temperament could be described as 'Fry on his 69th cup of coffee', at resting. He has a thermos to hand, with a mug of coffee in the other, refilling from the thermos after each sip.
Selene	After taking note of S6's apparently standard equipment, Selene nods as she gives each of her wildly differently sized Pokemon a pat each at Hibiki's question. "That's right! Pokemon help people do all sorts of stuff on my world. Working, powering stuff, fighting for whatever. Even torching really messed up people!" She says it in a way like she's seen and/or done it before. "The big one here is Slunch. He's been with me forever!" The Snorlax grunts in response. "And the litle one's TC. I still gotta figure out a cooler name for him." The Torracat opens an eye to stare at Hibiki judgmentally like some kind of cat. "And then there's a couple of others you might see sometime. These two have been doing a lot, though, so I figured they'd need a break to see and eat cool stuff. Oh! Like pants! And meat!" Selene jumps from topic to topic haphazardly, bobbing from side to side excitedly as the topic shifts to clothes. "Blue and yellow matches pretty good, yeah... Or something green and pink! Like a... Like a giant flower, but on a person instead of a stem."
S6	Further assessment gives S6 further pause, her head canting towards Miku with an inquisitive curl to her visible eyebrows. A color is offered, and she lets out a thoughtful sound as she considers the recommendation, "Monochromatic velvets comprise the bulk of style popular in Indus at this time. I have heard it referred to as 'Neo-Gothic' by outside observers." More and more color combinations being brought up gives her pause, which is only interrupted when her Pod chimes. -ALERT.- It offers no further detail, but it does get S6 to pay attention to her surroundings again. "I see," once she's composed, she responds to Yang, "Thank you for the summary. This material is far more versatile than I had expected."
Selene	As Yang leads them through the clothing shops, Selene seems to be torn between the outdoorsy place and the gothic place. She's actually rather frugal with her picks, though, selecting only two of the lighter pieces from the gothic place and a handful of belts from the more rugged place. It probably doesn't match at all.
Warfarin	Warfarin nods, moving right along in, "A pleasure to meet a peer as well." as if the vampire had no issues understanding him. "One of your students, Yang I believe, mentioned something about a Semblance and Aura and Dust, I was wondering... what does all this actually do, how does it come into play, what... are the conditions for someone to show this Semblance and Aura?" there's a grin upon the vampire's face, "Coffee, sir?"
Hibiki Tachibana	"So they're like super versatile partners...? Huh..." Hibiki seems extra thoughtful at Selene's vibrant description of Pokemon and her pals, looking to Slunch and TC in turn. The big guy gets a nod to his grunt. The little guy gets a stare back, the squinty kind until she raises an eyebrow a little bit. She seems intent to keep up the contest until the other girl continues, where her eyebrow goes higher at 'pants' and then she just keeps on going. Miku looks mildly worried at the Pod's alert, which turns into an amused grin to both S6 and Selene when the android has gotten herself back together. "Dust sounds amazing...yup, I think I'm definitely going to need to bring some home after all. It's a good thing I came prepared! Let's see here..." With the wide range of clothing shops available, Hibiki ends up looking between them all carefully. Her attention goes to the fanciful and light storefront for a while, but she ends up gravitating towards the more practical-oriented place that Yang frequents. No surprise there. Until Miku swoops in and carts her off (to some complaints but surprisingly little resistance) to get some choice teenage girl picks, girlier than an apparent tomboy-type like Hibiki would go for. There's probably at least one sundress in there. They'll be visiting the others right after.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang hangs back to continue answering questions if S6 has any, but largely lets the girls go wild for the time being. She does say as they split off. "Just so you guys don't get surprised, you might spot some people around here that have like, cat ears, or horns or a tail. They're Faunus." Oobleck sips his coffee, and nods. He then pulls another mug from... somewhere, pours out some coffee into it and offers it to the vampire. "Pleasejoinme! Ah, yes. Aura. Aura is the manifestation of a Huntsman's Soul, you see. It projects outwards as a force, intercepting fatal blows and dulling strikes against the body. Like a reactive layer of armour. A Semblance is poorly understood even after decades of study on the matter. There are two schools of thought however. The first is that the Semblance reflects the Inner Self, someone who does not fare well in social situations may develop an Invisibility Semblance, for example. Someone with a creative flare may be able to copy someone's fighting style just by watching them. Others may develop a way to absorb incoming attacks and redirect that damage into their own strikes. The list is as endless as there are different people in the world." He takes a sip of his coffee, then continues. "UNlocking ones Aura is done in a number of ways. Great stress can cause it to manifest on its own, though the most common method is for a parent, or another Huntsman or Huntress to 'seed' a little of their own Aura to draw out a child's when they are accepted to one of the preparation schools, like Signal, Refuge or Pedia. As for Dust, that is a catch-all term for a family of minerals with interesting properties. Dust is mined in a semi-solid form, and can either be compressed into Crystals, or ground into Powder. These have various uses, from powering vehicles and technology, to being woven into clothing to allow certain Aura-users access to Dust without a Weapon, most Ammunition used by firearms has Dust laced into the propellent. Miss Xiao Long uses pure Dust mixed into the shells of her Duel Range Shot Gauntlets to quite stunning effect."
S6	-DEFINE: FAUNUS.- S6 remains standing where she is, near Yang, as Hibiki and Miku wander into the shops. Her arms lift, folding loosely across her midsection, "A co-habitating humanoid race. I see. This explains a great deal." Mostly, the abnormal readings her scanner had been picking up. Accounting for a second species and subvariants, quite suddenly, her HUD ceases to be occupied by question marks and obtains the appropriate labeling. "You refer to Hunters." Her head tilts slightly towards Yang. Though her eyes are covered, it's clear her eyes are on the blonde directly, "What do you hunt?"
Yang Xiao Long	Yang folds her arms under her chest. "Creature of Grimm. They're inky black monsters with bony plates and red eyes. Come in all kinda shapes. Beowolves were depicted on the statue outside Beacon, the wolf-looking things. Then there's all the Ursa variants, Nevermore, Lancers, Behemoths, Creeps, Boarbatusks. They're all out to kill any human or faunus they come across, and normal people can't survive against them. Huntsmen and Huntresses' have Aura to blunt the impacts of Grimm strikes... a normal, unshielded human would get torn apart by claws that can cut through steel, or tusks that can pierce four feet of reinforced concrete... or be impaled by giant feathers more like ballista bolts than bird quills.
Hibiki Tachibana	And go wild they do, as Miku Kohinata shows off her expert abilities at thrift shopping and her eye for fashion at the same time...along with extra motivation from the chance to get Hibiki plenty of things they really wouldn't be able to find back at home. For Hibiki's part, she's giving off the appearance of struggling to keep up with Miku's energy, but offers her own suggestions for things to get for herself and actually looks pretty content as they dart between aisles and shops with a slowly growing number of bags. Faunus are a new thing for both of them, though having met people like Pramanix already, she's markedly less surprised. It ends up evening out though, since Miku accepts this pretty handily. There's a passing comment that if Hibiki would be a Faunus, she'd probably be a cat. Must be inspired from her staring contest with Torracat a minute ago. During a lull in the shop-fest while they're outside of the shops and her friend is doing some windowshopping to decide which of the six to visit next, Hibiki takes the chance to swing over and join in the conversation briefly. "...Yeah, I remember you mentioning those 'Grimm' before," she mentions with a frown. "It must get pretty bad sometimes; I saw those cannons on the city walls."
S6	The Pod chimes, drawing S6's attention. A hand lifts, cradling her chin as her gaze wanders downward, "Yes. There are a good many similarities to Nullborn. The enemy I was developed to fight. Although the particulars are likely different, it appears we have a good deal in common." Her head tilts towards Hibiki, and then she turns. Her gaze now casts out through one of the display windows, "...I, too, am familiar with cities surrounded by walls that reach for the sky."