1 ☣ arrival

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[Lunch is almost over, and cadets are just starting to filter (reluctantly or otherwise) back to their classes when a distinctive newcomer walks in from the front gate. Take your pick of what makes him so distinctive: the spiky black armor and huge sword slung across his back, the tense scowl, or the pointed ears. He moves slowly at first, with a tension-filled caution, but picks up speed as he makes his way into the lobby. In one hand he holds a course catalog--at a slight distance from his body, as if he finds it distasteful. He finally stops not far from the directory.]

Venhidis.

[The foreign word is spat out in a low and bitter voice like the swear it probably is. Then his hand tightens on the course catalog, the sharp claw-like fingers of his gauntlet puncturing it, and with a jerk of his arm he flings it off to the side. But none of the tension leaves his body, and when he strides forward to scan the directory, he continues to glower.]

They do not lie, I see. Their Garden even spreads out like a wheel, the better to crush the weak beneath it.

[Fenris is rarely in a good mood, but the past few days of acclimatizing to this new world, learning what goes on within it, and resigning himself to accompanying Balamb Garden in its travels have left him more bitter than ever. This is hell, and he is not out of it.]

Comments

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Sollux just kind of watches that production from his pointedly hidden away vantage point. He has this doubts about the place too, but he wonders if this guy actually knows more than him.]

[So thusly he just kind of appears out of the figurative shadows, speaking quietly.:]

Doesn't seem that bad.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[Fenris doesn't startle; people emerging from stealth is a normal enough thing to him. He glances to the side, taking in Sollux in all his peculiar alien glory, then looks away again.]

Another "cadet"? I wonder if I speak to a man, or the spirits he's invited to share his head.

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Sollux takes a long to contemplate what this guy just said, but no, he's still confused.]

Yeah, but...what?

[Spirits. What.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

These so-called guardian forces.

[The corner of his mouth twists; he looks about two seconds away from actually baring his teeth, but somehow he holds the urge in.]

You should appreciate the humor in the name while you still can. I know I will when this world falls to pieces.

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Okay he's pretty sure he read about that in one of the class pamphlets, but this is the first guy to sound so down on them. He wonders if he's right.]

Haven't used one. Is there something wrong with them?

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

[Rikku doesn't notice the ears, or the armor, or the tattoos, or the scowl, or anything.]

Did you lose your shoes?

[Yep. People going around barefoot in this place? Kind of weird.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[Pause.]

Should I have them? The ground is even and as safe as anything here can be.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

I was just wondering. You don't see a lot of shoeless people around here. Are you new?

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[The scowl lessens momentarily so he can look slightly confused.]

Shoes are a luxury. Are they so common here?

[brofessrstrider.livejournal.com]

[]

So you say you want a re-vo-lutionnnn, we-eeel, you bettah change your miiind~

Seriously, dude? "Better to crush the weak beneath it?" Fuckheads are tyrants, but jesus.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[It takes a moment for Fenris to even process that, between the singing, "dude," and the invocation of a god he knows nothing of. After a moment, he turns and paces a few steps in front of the other man.

His frown has a slightly puzzled note to it now, but he's trying to keep it down.]

Should I put it more gently? That will not change what they do.

[brofessrstrider.livejournal.com]

Nah, you gotta be tough with these assholes, but be less melodramaic about it. But seriously what's your beef with the place? I mean I got my issues with it myself but I wanna know what specifically's got you cheesed.

[]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

Melodramatic?

[Genuine confusion here. He knows the word, he's just never heard anyone apply it to him before. They probably have out of his earshot, though. To his face, the worst he's heard is "broody."

Anyway. He got asked what his problem is. Time to hold himself as civilly as possible, do a poor job of pretending he's not thrumming with hate the entire time, and explain.]

Everything this place stands for. They equip hundreds with their "guardian forces," these demons in poor disguise, so they may have magic at their behest.

[And yes, he does say the word magic like someone from a more familiar modern society might say pedophilia. Pretty much.]

Do I need more to hate them? I think not.

[ofherfate.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I didn't quite understand the meaning behind your words.

[Padmé comes gliding over with a book in hand, a brow lifted at what she had heard the pointy-eared cadet say. She wondered, though, what race he was of. There were many back on Coruscant that passed through on a day by day basis but his... hm. She doesn't remember seeing it before.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[He turns at the sound of someone addressing him--more formally than some others, which he's more used to--and schools the seething rage into a grimly neutral mask.]

You don't? What purpose do you think an academy that grants its forces the powers of mages would have?

[ofherfate.livejournal.com]

That would depend entirely on the experiences one has had with such things, don't you agree?

[And Padmé can tell his experience has been nothing but short of pleasant.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

Sadly correct.

[He half-turns away, bitterness marking his features despite his attempts at steely calm.]

Not all have had the misfortune of so closely seeing the devastation to which magic leads.

[He tips his head back, raises his gaze.]

But they will, if this Garden continues its work.

[waylights.livejournal.com]

Goodness, sir--whatever Garden has done to earn such scorn, I can only hope we find a way to rise in your esteem.

[ She's standing a ways behind him, holding a few books and looking either concerned or sympathetic, it's tough to tell. ]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[It's nice of her to look that way, but it's not actually going to help, because he just twists a little to give her a dark glance and shakes his head.]

Highly unlikely.

[waylights.livejournal.com]

[ She was expecting the resistance, so her expression doesn't really change. She figures he's a new arrival, in which case his anger is more than normal. "Crushing the weak" is, however, a comment she definitely hasn't heard before. ]

May I ask, then, what this institution has done that was so offensive? It is the only one to offer lodging and care for people from other worlds.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

Yes, lodging, care, and demons and magic for all.

[brightens]

[ And the flying book just barely misses Vanille, who squeaks and jumps back. ]

Ah... [ Walking over to the discarded book, she picks it up and puts the cover and pages back in order, dusting it off. ]

Won't you need this? You might not want to throw it away.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[ He flashes her an annoyed look, just short of a proper glower. Way to interrupt his fit of broody pique. ]

I don't intend to "enroll."

[brightens]

[ Gee sorry! ]

Really? Why not? [ She cants her head, looking between him and the book. He seems like he might be a little too old to be a cadet. ]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[ He is, though he hasn't told Garden as much--just in case he does end up needing to enroll in order to get closer to their center of power, as much as he hates the thought. ]

I've had enough of everything this place represents in my lifetime, and I will not by choice invite its demons to sit in my head.