Escape Route [Public]

[Kyo Morinaga]

One of the doors to Beacon's many rooftop vistas swung open with the kind of free-swinging carelessness that would have given away to any onlooker that the person on the other side of it wasn't really the cautious or meticulous type.

Which Kyo wasn't. She strolled out onto the roof with her eyes mostly-closed in a yawn; her dormmates were being rowdy tonight, and while rowdy was how Kyo normally liked it... right now she just wasn't feeling it. And she wasn't awake enough to work off her restless energy via an unsanctioned late-night Grimm hunt, either, so all she could think to do was find somewhere relatively quiet. As per the logic of every school she'd ever gone to, that meant the rooftops.

Her forked tail uncoiled from her waisted and she absent-mindedly shut the door with it. It didn't coil back in, instead delighting in lazily swaying side-to-side behind her. Keeping it out of sight was a good way to avoid being bothered over her Faunus heritage during her day-to-day, and it was the ideal way to sit at a desk in any case.

But she did appreciate the chance to just let all of the muscles in her tail relax and do whatever the heck they wanted for a little while. Plus, the breeze was nice.

The yawn winding down, Kyo wiped a few micro-tears from her eyes and glanced blearily around. There was a wide open space here... a solid location for some light combat practice or exercise if there was someone at the gym you'd rather avoid, she thought. Right now she just wanted to relax and take in the view, though.

Nimbly, she skipped over to the edge of the roof and hopped up onto the laughably-shallow border between her and a transformation into street-pizza; dimly, she wondered what passed for safety regulations in Vale. Tail and arms extended for balance, she looked down and took note of all the little ledges, pipes, windows, nearby tree-branches and other potential handholds she could utilize if she were to fall... or needed to scale the building in secret for some obscure future reason.

Skink lizards were good at climbing. And so was Kyo, being a skink-lizard Faunus.

"Lessee..." she said aloud to the deserted rooftop. "If the school were attacked by some crazy unnamed extremist faction, the, uh... lessay the Ivory Sweet Tooth, and I needed t' make a quick escape... if I were alone, I could just hop on down and scramble the wall. If I had someone with me that wasn't so good at climbin', though..."

She tilted her head left, then right, pondering the hypothetical. What sort of scary uniform would the diabolical Ivory Sweet Tooth revolutionaries wear to strike fear into the masses? What weapons would be standard-issue? Giant hammers with built-in rocket-launchers, maybe. A pancake with bull-horns for an emblem, yes... oooh, how about pink-and-white hooded jumpsuits and grinning, prismatic masks based upon the fabled Cheshire Cat.

"...My weapon's whip form with some Gravity Dust would be a good climbin' aid for whoever was with me..." she decided, with a nod.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest enjoyed the view on the rooftops, especially around this time of year. Flowers would bloom, trees would get their leaves back, and the wildlife flourished. Overall, he enjoyed the rejuvenation that spring brought with it. It was time to check on his plants on the roof. Forrest had gotten bored of reading his usual books, so taking care of his rooftop garden was a nice change of pace. Going up to the rooftop, Forrest noticed a peculiar sight when he finished getting up the stairs.

Balancing on the railing of the rooftop stood a small, yet lively Faunus. There was a strange visual contrast between her features and her outfit, soft features clashing with a rougher aesthetic. It was clear to see that she was visibly toned, something Forrest needed to work on himself. Regardless, a new face was always welcome to see. He approached a bit before speaking.

"Hey, good to see someone new. You seem to be... good at balancing on the railing." Forrest began, laughing a little bit as he hoped he didn't come across as horribly awkward.

Good at balancing on the railing? Really? That's the best you got? he mentally rebuked himself, feeling that he should be better at how to start conversations by now, yet his awkwardness still remained.

[Kyo Morinaga]

Faunus tended to have differing advantages and disadvantages depending on what animal they possessed a trait of. A faunus with wolf or cat ears might enjoy significantly-enhanced hearing and a certain augmentation to their sense of smell, for instance. Tailed Faunus tended to have exceptional balance and coordination as a general rule, and would be able to use their tail for whatever the animal itself might have—a scorpion Faunus might have a poisonous stinger, a monkey faunus could use it to aid in climbing...

Kyo's Faunus traits were, on the whole, pretty straightforward. She was agile, had good night vision, decent hearing and sense of smell, and a tail that would grow back if cut or torn.

It would also leave anyone who removed it with a bit of a surprise, but Kyo hadn't yet had occasion to utilize that particular quirk of her biology. It had given the doctors quite a scare when they'd tried to surgically remove it during her infancy, though, or so she'd been told.

She was just at the point of considering how to work that into her Ivory Sweet Tooth Invasion Preparedness Plan when she caught the sound of a door opening behind her, and someone stepping out. Awkward timing. She kept on keeping on, though, figuring that she could get a good read on whoever this was from their reaction to finding her in this position.

Kyo wasn't disappointed. Whoever this guy was, he seemed pretty friendly! And didn't seem to be flirting with her (yet), which earned him bonus points right off.

She grinned, and slipped her hands into her cargo-pants pockets. With a quick hop and twist, she spun to face the newcomer; still balancing on the low divider without so much as a wobble.

"Comes with the tail," she said, letting the scaly appendage wave lazily behind her as if in greeting. "One o' the perks o' bein' faunus is a sweet buff t' general agility. Well, unless you're part-somethin'-that-ain't-very-graceful, like an elephant."

She snickered a bit at the image of an elephant faunus with a trunk for a nose; there was probably somebody like that out there, somewhere.

"So," Kyo said, and hopped down from the edge. "If I'm 'someone new,' you must be 'someone old.' Upperclassman, or just a Vale native? I only flew in from Atlas a few weeks ago. Still gettin' my bearings, t'be honest."

Now that she wasn't concentrating so much on balance, Kyo had a bit more mental bandwidth to observe the newcomer, figure out what her impressions were... try to remember if she'd heard his name around the place at all. She hadn't, she didn't think, although he did look pretty yummy.

That by itself wasn't saying much, though. There were a lot of attractive guys at Beacon. Combat school tended to do that to one's physique. If anything, Kyo herself was a bit too far on the musclebound side of things to cut the mustard by conventional-feminine-attractiveness standards these days, though she also knew that "conventional" was kind of a load of hooey where that was concerned.

Guys didn't find muscles on a woman unattractive, in her experience; most of the ones that liked it just didn't know it yet.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Whether she didn't pick up on his awkwardness or just didn't bring it up made Forrest feel just a little better about himself. She seemed like a nice person herself, with definitely more self-confidence than Forrest. She also had agility and balance in spades from what he saw as she balanced on the lower divider before jumping off completely.

"Still a first year, and also a native Valean. I don't blame you for not knowing your way around yet, I'm still learning new things while I'm here. I'm Forrest Waldstein by the way." he replied, using this opportunity to introduce himself.

Forrest was rather slim compared to the average male student at Beacon. The rare meal with meat was basically a luxury back home, though now there was plenty of protein to go bulking himself up, something he planned to take advantage of while he was here. He had the definition, sure, though lacking mass was his current problem that he wanted to solve. Regardless, a svelte, lean physique seemed to suit him.

Maybe it was the brief look in her eyes that she had, but Forrest felt a little self-conscious about himself. Perhaps she was checking him out, but either that signal flew way over his head, or he was just very, very dense. Nonetheless, he remained friendly, if not just a little shy as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

[Kyo Morinaga]

Do I detect a hint of shyness? Kyo thought absently, though she didn't give it further attention—while social anxiety in a warrior was uncommon, it wasn't exactly rare. Didn't necessarily correlate with character or intention, either.

She was, at least, tactful enough not to follow his arm with her eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, gotcha. Then I guess we're not as far apart as I expected," Kyo said with a grin. "I'm Kyo Morinaga. Mistral-born, Atlas-raised. Goodta meetcha."

She scratched the side of her nose and turned to look back out over Vale; the friendly expression turned thoughtful.

"It's not that I dunno my way around, though," she said with good humor. "Knowin' my surroundings is somethin' I kinda specialize in, not t' brag, so I figured that out pretty quickish. I'm just not usedta things bein' this temperate an' green."

She tilted her head to the side, grin becoming a softer smile.

"I mean, like, Atlas is a pretty chilly place. Mountains and stuff, like. I got used to it, but I didn't realize how outta my element I was up north 'til I moved out here... guess that makes sense, though. Lizards're cold-blooded, and all..."

Kyo tilted her head the other way, her thoughtful grin becoming a frown.

"It's the kinda thing that makes ya think... but, eh, you're up here for whatever you're up here for, not for me ramblin' bout nothin'." She glanced sidelong at Forrest. "What are ya up here for, if y'don't mind me askin'?"

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Likewise." Forrest replied politely. He listened intently as Kyo rambled on, he may not have been good at speaking, but boy was he a good listener. Nodding at appropriate moments showed that he was actively listening. Though when asked about his reasons for attending, his eyes seemed to light up with interest.

"I'm following in the steps of my late father. He graduated from Beacon a long time ago and became a renowned Huntsman. He had an amazing reputation among the people in my hometown..." Forrest started before his expression turned a tad dour.

"That and I have a bit of a... complicated relationship with my great-grandfather. He was responsible for training me before I became a student here, though the training regimen was... intense to say the least. That and also we just didn't get along on certain things. But ultimately he knew it was best for me to train here at Beacon." he continued, his mind briefly wandering to thoughts about home.

[Kyo Morinaga]

Kyo blinked and it was her turn to rub the back of her neck. This wasn't the first time her speech patterns had led to her being misunderstood, though it might have been one of the more calamitous mishearings. She'd only meant to ask what he was doing up on the roof...

She half-opened her mouth to interrupt Forrest, when he mentioned having a complicated relationship with his great-grandfather. Kyo faltered then, her mind going to her own complicated relationships... with her mother, with her biological father who'd only gotten in touch a few years ago... the extended family on both sides...

That and also we just didn't get along on certain things.

Like how her mother had wanted a daughter and instead gotten more of a female son. Certain things like that.

"Yeah, it sucks when y'just can't get on the same wavelength as your family, whether y'want to or not..." Kyo muttered distractedly, eyes wandering the roof. "Well, it's nice that ya have a goal in mind and all. I was originally aimin' t' be an Atlas Specialist. Y'know, military and all. But only 'cause I'm good at fightin' and stuff, and I don't really see myself as the settlin'-down type. Same reason I'm aimin' t' be a Huntress now, just... with better scenery and distance from home, I guess."

Kyo shrugged and gave Forrest an uneasy grin.

"Still, it's goodta meet someone with better reasons than I have," she said, scratching her chin and looking at Forrest a little more closely. "Hm... intense trainin'... yeah, I can see it. You have a runner's build, looks like. Lean, quick. Stamina over strength, the kinda fighter who can go the distance, good for scoutin', support, all that good stuff. What kinda Semblance ya got goin' on? Uh, if you don't mind sharin', that is."

[Nero Zine]

*The door opened once again, letting enter a ginger-headed girl with a cig her mouth and a short staff in her hand, with two snakes coiled around a red gem. She tapped the cig with her staff, lighting it up before realizing the place was taken.*
"Oh... Hey. Here for a late-night date or something ? I'd advise the library for this, this spot is a bit too well-known."
*She breathed in before making a ring smoke.*

[Forrest Waldstein]

It was all too late when Forrest realized he misunderstood what Kyo had just said. By now, he was far too deep into the conversation to amend his error. He simply had to deal with it. However, asking about his Semblance made his eyes light up with excitement.

"Here, I can show you!" said Forrest as he held out his hand, his palm facing upward. As he did that, he conjured a small little bonsai tree which slowly grew into existence, seemingly from nothing.

"I can grow all sorts of plant life with my Semblance. Anything from trees to vines to flowers. It's really cool!" Forrest explained. Though after maintaining its existence for a brief moment, the bonsai tree disintegrated, fading into nothingness.

"The only issue being they're not permanent. I have to keep putting my Aura into the plants to keep them around, otherwise they do that..." he said as the plant disintegrated. Just then, another figure made themselves known, inquiring about why the two of them were up here.

"A date? No..." Forrest responded to the newcomer, slightly disgusted at the smell of tobacco.

[Kyo Morinaga]

Kyo hadn't expected Forrest to show her or tell her about his Semblance. Not that she'd expected him to refuse, either. She knew that some people liked to keep that card close to the vest; she might be one of them, depending on what her own turned out to be when she discovered it.

Considering she'd gone through that whole emotional turmoil surrounding her boyfriend's death-by-Nevermore and the subsequent reckless revenge-hunt for said Nevermore and still had no idea what her Semblance was, she suspected it was one of those tricky, situational sort of powers.

Pleasantly surprising, though, was Forrest's decision to show his power off. Also the enthusiasm he did so with. A grin tugged at Kyo's lips as she watched him conjure the mini-bonsai-tree and explain what his power did; even as she watched her brain went into overdrive, contriving ways in which such a power could be used in combat, for maneuverability, deception, camouflage... that he needed to maintain the plants with Aura was a drawback, but with proper control, maybe with something that could supplement or amplify his Aura...

Kyo barely looked up at the newcomer who arrived then, and when she made a crack about them being on a date, she waved the girl off without looking.

"Nah, we just met a couple minutes ago, actually," she said absently. "I'm not in the datin' headspace right now anyways. No offense."

Those last two words were directed, in a distracted way, at Forrest. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea from anything she said, after all. He was a nice guy. She might even see herself considering him in that light, some day. Just not today. Not so soon. Her heart still belonged to... well, she was still grieving.

Might be really good at hiding it, but she was!

"That Semblance sounds hella versatile," she said, eyes snapping back to focus as she grinned at him. "What're the limits? Can ya do more'n one plant at once? Can they grow outta things, or be enhanced with different Dust types? How much practice d'ya have controllin' it?"

She stopped abruptly, blinking, then shook her head.

"Sorry, too many questions. I just really like thinkin' about tactics n' stuff," she admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "Just hearin' your explanation gave me about six different ideas."

Kyo turned to look at the new arrival full on at last. She half-raised a hand in greeting, then caught the smell of smoke, and grimaced. She liked alcohol, but tobacco-smoke had never agreed with her. The one time she'd experimented, there had been a hacking, coughing fit and the cloying aftertaste of smoke in her throat which had lingered for several unpleasant hours.

To each their own, right? But it just wasn't for her, and oddly, the other smokables that people claimed smelled nicer... they were even worse. At first she'd thought it was her faunus senses that did it, but even other faunus didn't seem to have the same issue...

"Hey," she said, shoving down her dislike of the foul odor. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the familiar faunus, who she'd caught sight of before this but never spoken to. Her lizard tail swayed slightly in excitement.

"Oh, hey! Nero, right?" she said. She even pronounced it correctly. "Goodta finally meetcha! I'm Kyo, this's Forrest if ya don't know him. I was just askin' him about his Semblance, but I don't know mine yet, so now that I think about it that's not an even-ground sorta topic right now, is it..."

Kyo trailed off, tapping her chin with a scowl that was... really closer to a pout, given the roundish girly-face she had underneath all the tryhard punk-style. Unconsciously she drew her forked tail around her waist, where it became a bluish belt-like compliment to her outfit.

[Nero Zine]

*Hearing the 'not in the datin' headspace' line made her slightly raise her shoulders. Seeing how both of her underclassmen seemed to be disliking the smell, she tapped her cig once again as the gem on her staff turned green. A light breeze was created, blowing away both smell and smoke. Hearing the other faunus explain what was going on, she shot a look at Forest.*
"You told her about your Semblance ? Hey, you plannin' on going to the Tournament ? 'Cause if you are, I'd like to hear what it is too... ~"
*She giggled while extending her free hand.*
"Well, huh... Nice to meet you, but how'd you heard about me ? We've only been here for like, what, a month at most ?"
*Her expression became one of worry.*
"Oh god, did my brother do something again ? Or was it Grise ?"

[Lin Motley]

Blueprint, blueprints, blueprints and more blueprints, were the only things occupying Lin's mind right now, after a certain Lion Faunus had given her, her first ever commission.
And what a doozy it was, even she, the gun nut extraordinaire, had her limits when it came to her capacity to think about guns.

So, she needed some much-needed time off and time out of the stale and hot air of Beacon's forge.
While she had plenty of places to visit, Lin needed fresh air without too many people present. The rooftops came to mind first, so that was where Lin went. Sure, she could take the stairs like a normal person, but...she wanted fresh air, and there was no fresher air than the breeze against her face as she flew up to the top of Beacon.

Lin arrived with a gust of wind, as she abruptly stopped and then touched down, or, well, lowered her altitude to where she was just floating a few feet off the ground instead of 20. As she took off her pilot goggles, she noticed a few other people present, two of whom she didn't recognize but one she did: brown hair, cute, green coat and about as timid as a lost puppy. This was THE Forest her big sis had told her about, THE Forest who would also take her sister on an excursion for a while, leaving Lin mostly alone at Beacon considering Kailyn was coming along too.

Not that she minded the freedom, but it would be interesting to know the guy her sister would be spending so much time with.
Now, how should she begin her experiment?
Oh! Perfect!
Lin quickly hovered upwards, as she silently approached Forest, but flying a good enough distance above him.
With a flick of her wrist, a gust of wind tugged at Forest jacket, having him turn around, then she flew down, upside down, so she'd be right in his face when he turned back around.
Let's see how much this would spook him.