Round 5!

[utopiamods]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because...

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its waking passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere deeply tired. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

The tram pulls to a stop outside the academy station, and anyone onboard is ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. You can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. Stood around are any number of students in the uniform of the school. Some of them even look awake. There are several receptionists at the desk towards the back of the lobby, but for now they seem busy with paperwork.

Anyway, the many screens are far more interesting. Once a good number of students are gathered inside the building, they all activate at once to show a cheerful, almost cavity-inducing woman in the school uniform. She smiles, waves, and launches into her speech without further ado.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Make sure to listen carefully, and remember, you can find all of this and more in the Exaclan manual!"

She outlines the battle system for the newbies as she has every round previous, then claps her hands. The screen goes blank, and the following appears:

Players for Round 5

Saber
Huashi Sun
Gaara
Excalibur
Xingke Li
Edgar Roni Figaro
Russel Tringham
Vriska Serket
Mikoto Minagi

((OOC: Also we have out first ever activity check! Here it is!))

Comments

[shishi_sonson]

Zoro, clearly startled by Romeo's relieved exclamation, jumped in his seat and caused his near-empty tray to jump with him, about an inch or two off of the table he was comfortably seated at. With eyes wide and strained, he turned towards the source, reacting at first with a comically exaggerated sense of anger.

"OI, are you trying to kill me?" he blurted sharply, staring straight ahead at eye level...only to see nothing. It was only then that he looked down a little and saw Romeo grinning up at him; hopefully he was too happy to see his green-haired friend to be upset by Zoro's careless outburst.

Zoro sighed and attempted to catch his breath, his heart still racing. "Romeo-kun. Sorry, you scared the crap out of me..." he said, much more quietly. "But...I'm...fine. Why, what's the matter?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo jumped in fright at the shout but he was used to Zoro by now, thats not to say he wasn't still wary of the swordsman but he trusted him not to hurt him for no reason. After all when Romeo had been hurt Zoro had helped him and looked after him. "I'm sorry mister Zoro!"

He reached the table and rested his arms on it looking up at Zoro with sad eyes, "Miss Sora and Miss Utena are gone," he jangled the charm bracelet round his wrist. It held two charms, Rapunzel's and Sora's memories. "And Kotarou, a little kid, Huashi's friend is gone as well." He wasn't going to mention the tiger, because it was likely Zoro wouldn't believe him either, just like miss Theta.

[shishi_sonson]

Following Romeo's arm, Zoro glanced at the charms the boy wore so mournfully on his limb. Letting out a gentle sigh, his lips sank into a deeper frown than usual, and as he glanced back up to meet Romeo's gaze, he gave his little friend a pitying nod.

"I'm sorry, Romeo-kun," he said lightly. "I know how it feels to watch your friends disappear in front of you..."

His attention returned, then, to the memory charms, and began to wonder just how safe it was to wear another person's. The mind was a delicate thing - was it really such a good idea to allow the events of someone else's life to invade personal thoughts?

Leaning forward, Zoro's locked his open eye with Romeo's, piercing him with its gripping sense of intensity. "But you should probably be careful about wearing those, kid. If you're too busy looking back on the past, it's harder to watch where you're going in the future."

[myblueskies]

Romeo gave a small smile, he was trying very hard to be brave and keep his spirits up. He was glad that Zoro was still here. At his warning Romeo's eyes widened and he nodded. He unclipped the two charms leaving the small bracelet empty and slipped them into his pocket. He could keep them safe but be careful like mister Zoro said.

"Have you seen the list of players mister Zoro? Do you know any of them?"

[shishi_sonson]

Zoro nodded; from his cozy, windowed table overlooking the courtyard, he had a wonderful view of the day's proceedings, the main screen of the center gardens boldly beaming down on all students scampering about the campus grounds.

"I have. I only know one person there: Huashi. She was nice enough to help me on my first day when I got lo-..." he began, only to cut himself off in mid-sentence, wearing a strangely vulnerable look on his face for a brief moment. "...when I was getting my bearings."

Rather unconcerned, though, Zoro was in no hurry to find a Player, and his relaxed demeanor made this perfectly clear; while others were scrambling about to pair up, he was sitting comfortably, slouched in his seat while enjoying a nice, warm cup of green, murky tea.

"What about you, kid?" he asked, tilting his head back. "Got a plan for this Round?"

[myblueskies]

"I know Huashi too sir!" Romeo grinned, he had just come from talking to Huashi actually, she was upset because her friend had gone as well. It made Romeo sad to see other people upset. "She is very nice, maybe we could ask her..." Romeo really didn't know anyone else, apart from Russel, Fletcher's brother.

"There's Russell as well my friend Fletcher's brother but..." He frowned and fell silent because really it wasn't nice to say things about people, Mei and Lyra had reminded him of that.

[shishi_sonson]

Kicking back in his chair, Zoro seemed to be re-emphasizing his lack of effort to find a Player this round as he folded his arms behind his head in a perfectly relaxed fashion; sure, he'd miss out on dessert at the cafeteria, and he might not have immediate access to the gym, but he was absolutely determined to wait patiently and find a completely suitable match, rather than try to bargain with someone he might not get along with.

"I might just let someone find me this time around," he said softly, wearing a strangely contented smile on his lips. "It's a nice change of pace from last Round - none of the pressure of having to gather up a bunch of Weapons."

Reaching out, Zoro ruffled Romeo's hair a bit. "If you think Huashi will be a good Player, see what she has to say. If not...well, it might not hurt to give someone new a try."

exam period killed me a little, but they are over now, sorry for the delays!

[myblueskies]

Romeo grinned, "I'm sure someone will find you soon sir, You're a great swordsman." He grinned when Zoro ruffled his hair, he didn't squirm away like he would have a while ago. He trusted Zoro completely, he was a really nice person!

"I might ask her... or I'm sure I can try and find a new friend!" That would be exciting, even though Romeo knew a lot of people here there were still some he didn't recognise. "After all the more people who know each other the more we can work together!"