SeeDs

[Dias]

SeeDs​

Rain charged down from a haze of gray sky, welting and lashing loudly against the exterior of Balamb Garden. The cacophonous roar of thunder rumbled lowly and bounced off of the academy's walls. Every so often a streak of cracking lightning would suggest a flash of brilliance through slick windowpanes. The ground outside was overly saturated and the waters began to run down slopes, carrying mud and other terrestrial slop with them. It was dark and gloomy, like a scene out of the beginning of a horror movie.

A perfect day.

Ezekiel sauntered down an empty hallway, boots thudding on the linoleum floor, sound of it echoing down the hallway. There was a meander to his step and his direction was aimless and swaggered, as if inebriated. He was not drunk, however, but just merely expressing his free will to walk how he wished. The corridor which he traversed was the one nearest to the parking lot. He knew that no one would have any need to go there, so it would be the most free of any other life. That is the way he liked it. Many of the other students, he knew, were in their dorms or hanging out, extrovertly, in the quad. Not one for any sort of social gathering, Ezekiel had made aims to find his own place. He had his dormitory of course, and he had no roommate, but after being cooped up in there all day, he thought it agreeable to step out.

He stopped midway down the hallway and stared at a ceiling light which flickered every so often. He turned his back to the left wall and leaned up against it, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his knuckles. The man, whose dress was anything but conventional, spat a bit of saliva mixed with blood onto the floor, the latter result of him biting the interior of his cheek. He inhaled through his nose deeply, and then pondered.

SeeD exams were fast-approaching (in fact, this was the night before them) and he could not wait for them. He longed to start his perfect career - inflicting pain for a living. The exam itself he was anticipating, for it itself would be an actual SeeD mission. To his dismay, however, he would have to be put into a group of other people. He knew he was in Squad C, but he did not know who else would be in his party. He didn't really care, either. As far as he concerned, thy were just going to be in the background of his consciousness, and hopefully they wouldn't annoy him too much.

Ezekiel pulled out the deck of cards he always carried with him, and began to shuffle through them with his gloved hands. He swiftly moved the top card around to the back of the deck, and kept doing this for a bit. The cards were a bit old, splattered in blood, and a bit scuffed. He took them into battle, after all, and they displayed the wear and tear. He stopped momentarily when he came to the joker in the deck. His favorite card. He licked the edge of it and tucked it back into the center of the deck, shuffled it, and tucked it away.

After standing around and doing nothing more than enjoying being alone for a while, Ezekiel decided to return to his room and get some sleep. The next day would be one of great revelry. He began to head back to the direction of the dormitories, meandering with boots clunking once more.

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Right, so.. Basically this is the night before the SeeD exam. There is a little party-type shindig going on in the quad to celebrate the night before the exam, though you can pretty much be anywhere in the Garden (see sign up thread for a brief description of the Garden's layout). Once everyone has posted, I'll set the next day into motion where the exam will start. If you hadn't guessed, all of us will be assigned to Squad C, so if you interact with NPCs/other PCs, you can use that knowledge.

 

[Skrusti]

The current weather did nothing to curb Jeff's mood. He was already angry at a group of kids who thought they could be cool and challenge him to a game of Triple Triad. Well, needless to say, they cried when he performed such a combo that he won all of the cards they had played.

"Tough luck, kids. Live and learn." He told them. They ran off, trying to find a parent who could make the mean man give their cards back. Jeff laughed when he heard the kid say "Man." He had just turned 17 two months earlier, which was partly why he had come to the Garden so soon.

Leaning against a pillar, Jeff watched the festivities take place, and thankfully nobody asked him to dance. There were just some things he couldn't do. Dance and sing were one of them. He decided he wasn't much use here at this party, so he decided to head upstairs to one of the empty classrooms, where he could study for the test tomorrow. But first, he had to make sure his Gunblade were safe.

Gunblades were a rare weapon nowadays, and Jeff figured he was the only student who would have one. Most students prefered long-range combat, because guns were becoming more and more common. But if one knew how, they could get up-close-and-personal with the Gunblade even in the middle of a firefight. Which he would face plenty of, he was sure.

The dormitory was silent at this time, because mostly everyone was at the party. Except for the couples...but they were easily ignored. Jeff wasn't very interested in sex. Unlocking his dormitory door, which was a punishable offense since more than one person shared them, he walked to his room and peeked in. Sure enough, his Gunblade Raxis was sitting in its sheath, ready to be called upon at a moment's notice.

The blade slid easily from its case, and Jeff gave it a few expiramental swings. He hoped he would be able to pass the SeeD exam tomorrow. He had been placed into Squad C for tomorrow's field exam. The written had been taken earlier today, but that hadn't bothered him. Jeff had always been exceptional at written tests.

Battle is what he longed for though. He had yet to test his skill in battle, and he hoped he wouldn't fail at it. Not having participated in a real battle put a curb on his talents of course. Sighing, Jeff replaced Raxis into the sheath, and moved the case from his bed. Screw studying for a field exam. He was ready. Although, he wondered where the exam would take place...

He entered a deep sleep while still wondering this....

 

[RaZoR LeAf]

Sly glanced out the window, ignoring the rain that crashed down on it's pane. Thunder, lightning, roaring wind. It was unpleasant, and not to most people's tastes. He knew of a few people who relished this sort of weather. Personally, he didn't mind it. He didn't really mind any weather, just as long as it didn't hamper him when he was working. He flicked another chip of wood off a log with his knife, as he carved a figure out of the hard material.

The set the small horse shaped model down on the chequered board that lay beside his bed. Chess, was his guilty secret, or one of his guilty secrets anyway. He'd made most of the pieces, and only had another black knight and three white pawns to make. He slipped a second piece of metal out of it's sheath and re-sharpened the blade, ready for tomorrow. Sure of the blade's sharpness, he returned it to it's sheath, and checked the status of his other weapons. The handgun and rifle were in perfect condition, with not a mark or smudge on them.

The door to the dorm room opened and Sly's room mate walked in. Richmond was studying to be a magic user, but he wasn't very good. As it was, he'd failed to even arrive at two previous tests and so wasn't eligible for the SeeD examination tomorrow.

"How was the party?" Sly asked.

"Same old." Richmond yawned, stretched and slumped down on his bed.

"Maybe you'd be doing this exam if you didn't spend every night drinking."

"Hey, you know alcohol isn't permitted at the academy!"

"Oh please. I've seen what those Water Mages do, turning one liquid into another. You think you're fooling anyone? I've slept in the same room as you for long enough to recognise when your ******."

Sly looked over to see Richmond had fallen asleep, his pillow already saturated with drool. he shook his head and set out all his equipment ready for tomorrow. Stifling a yaw of his own, he lay back, dimmed the lights and watched the rain falling outside as he tried to get some sleep ready for the long day ahead.

 

[Hakerius]

Lightning crackled across the sky as a peal of thunder rumbled overhead, illuminating the sole figure in the darkened room. The rain splashing up against her window drowned out all other noise and made her feel at ease. Selena laid back on her bed to watch it all. The exam was all she could think about. No doubt her parents back home were expecting her to pass, expecting nothing less than success. It was the first break she'd had for a while, too stressed to continue her studies. She snorted when she thought of the party down in the quad - partying and generally having fun as though the exam was past.

Another brilliant streak of lightning flashed across the sky.

Selena rolled over and began to fish around underneath her bunk. She struck something hard and rough in texture. Grabbing the object, she began to pull it out, gradually exposing the long box. The box of unpolished pine presented it self to be nearly six and a half feet long and a little more than a foot wide. Carefully flipping the lid off, she took hold of the leather grip and gently removed the archaic weapon along with a rag and a small bottle of oil inside of the box.

Blinded as the room lights came on, she thrust one arm to block some of the light as she sat up. Selena blinked several times to accustom herself to the brightness, ignoring the newcomer. Grabbing her materials, she turned her back on her roommate and proceeded to screw off the cap of the oil bottle.

"Sel, why do you even bother? That thing is so...old. I mean, you should get something newer," the other young woman said, closing the door behind her. "You should be down in the quad, mad party going on down there y'know."

"My weapon suits me fine Cathy," she grumbled. "I'm not going to be caught down there with a bunch of procrastinators. Also, I thought I told you I don't like being called Sel." Ignoring the complaints directed back at her and the sound of her roommate shuffling about, she dabbled a bit of polishing oil onto the rag.

Her bow would need to be in top form for the next day and having it appear soiled wouldn't do. She set to work meticulously rubbing the oil on the ebony stained yew wood. The ivy leaf knotwork inlaid into the wood surfaced, intricate enough to elude the prying eyes of the casual observer. Taking the dry outer edges of the rag, she finished up the polishing job, giving the longbow a brighter sheen. Only to get dimmed by tomorrow, but at least it looks presentable, she thought bitterly to herself. The terra-cotta haired girl set the weapon back into its box, noting the rolling eyes of her roommate before she left the dorm room.

After putt the weapon away and a quick glance at her ammunition, she reclined back on her bed though the veil of dreams did not come. She was too wound up in anticipation. I sincerely hope a pass tomorrow, then maybe my parents will let up on me and realize they're pushing to hard, she mused. If I don't, I'll probably never hear the end of it from them. She grimaced at the thought.

Crossing her ankles and putting her hands under her head, she noticed the lights were still on of all things. She sighed and swung her feet off the bed and ambled off to the light switch. "Idiot White Mage wannabe, turning off the light when you leave wouldn't kill you," Selena hissed under her breath before flicking off the light.

 

[Ytnim]

Thunder, rain and lightning raged outside, howling winds ravaged the buildings but to no avail. Not that Praxis knew this, the music from the party deafened all noise from outside, plus he had a throbbing headache like you'd never believe. Praxis wished he could say some random person must have spiked his drink or laced his cup but this wasn't the case. No, Praxis knew he was drinking alcohol, he just wasn't sure exactly what kind of alcohol it was. But that didn't matter, he had his pride on stake, and that was something he had to defend, no matter what else. This was a weakness of his, and truth be told, someone just exploited this and was rolling on the floor laughing when he took the bait and the dare. He just had a skulling race with another SeeD hopeful. Too bad his opponent was downing fizzy cordial while he was throwing straight vodka down his gullet. He won nonetheless, and the money was in his pocket, but now he had a splitting headache, everything was beginning to spin, and the music wasn't helping. It was a good thing he hadn't suffered from hangovers in the past, but he'd never been this smashed before and if there was ever a time for him to get one, it would be now.

Praxis wasn't a complete idiot though, and decided enough was enough and left the Quad and its inhabitants to their own devices and headed for his dorm. He clutched his head the entire way and staggered the whole time. Praxis bumped into no less than three students, but he didn't remember any of them. Finally reaching his room, the young man basically fell through the door and tripped over his roommate who seemed to be meditating on the floor in the dark room.

"For ****'s sake Praxis, watch where you're going!" a voice yelled, the light being flicked on. Praxis instinctually shielded his eyes from the bright light with his arm not holding his head.

"Geeze man, cool down. I'm sorry, that ok Mick?" Praxis slurred, his voice showing how hammered he was.

"How many freaking times have I told you, its not Mick, its Michael!" Michael yelled again, a vein in his head looking like it was going to explode.

Praxis eyed his vein and crawled quietly into his bed. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry about that too."

Michael muttered something under his breath about people always coming home drunk and flicked off the light and got back onto the floor in his meditating stance.

Praxis thought that Michael took things too seriously and obsessed over the tiniest of details and was way too high strung. Michael thought that Praxis didn't pay enough attention to anything and was way to laid back to be anything in life. Perfect roommates don't you think?

Praxis looked to his shelf and saw his weapon cases and the servicing kit on top of them. Luckily he cleaned and serviced them before going to the party, he couldn't even see straight at the moment. Letting unconsiousness take hold, Praxis fell into a deep, deep sleep, which would be his last before his SeeD examination.

OOC: Everyone else was being quiet and stayed in their rooms. I thought I'd think outside the square and get my character hammered. Oh, I wasn't sure if you were allowing profanity, so I kept it censored, and at a minimal.

 

[Yami Ryu]

Lightning flared, flashed and just about illiminated the sky. Thunder boomed and wind howled, and in her room Angel hated every damn minute, moment, second of this hell as she glared out of the window, while the thunder still startled her a bit every now and then as much she was loath to admit it. She was going to beat this fear of the dark-

Angel's eyes snapped to the corner, but it was only a shadow caused by a flash of lightning that met her vision, and her gaze slid to the bed on the other side of the room. It's occupant the reason why she was without lights in this storm, to keep back the darkness she hated so. It was bad enough that the exams were tomorrow, but to add this ontop of that.

Angel was not pleased. She was down right ready to grab her room mate, (whom she wasn't even on good grounds with as the person was one of those 'I can do it better than you' types and so the useless banter was tuned out by Angel), and chuck .. Angel had to search a moment for the room mate's name, ah, Samantha. She was almost ready to chuck Samantha out into the storm, lock the window, lock the door, and turn on all the lights.

Flinching, Angel clenched her eyes shut and waited for another peal of thunder to fade away. Amongst the things she hated, darkness and pain were the top two, and while fire could atleast keep the former away right now, she wasn't able to go and set the person sleeping soundly, and probably also sleeping off a hangover, aflame. Though Angel mused morbidly it might work with how much acohol could have been consumed by Samantha.

Glaring back out the window in the room, Angel didn't see the storm as something to be in awe of, or wonder, or even mock, or anything. All she saw was something to fear and hate. And she hated every moment of fear as she clutched her glaive in her hands, as if something was about to leap out and attack her.

Grumbling a bit when it seemed the storm hit a moment of peace, or atleast the thunder and lightning downed some, Angel managed to get the glaive out of her hands, and leaned it against the wall by her bed, freeing her hands for the moment. Standing up for a few minutes, Angel messed around with the blanket on her bed and the pillow, before settling down again, half sitting up now, and grabbed her glaive once more. Turning it a little, to where the claw like part of the blade faced away from her, Angel settled into a light slumber, or tried too when the thunder didn't startle her awake.

[ooc: I know my post sucks, but atleast I got over the writers block that attacked me ._.; and I didn't wanna hold up the RP anylonger.]

 

[Dias]

OOC: Sorry this took so long, people. Class and work have been ****ing me over lately. So this is about a week late.. but, better late than never, I suppose.

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Ezekiel woke up at five in the morning to the persistent din of rolling thunder, beating rain, and crackling lightning. He had time to kill, seeing as he was supposed to meet with his squad at the main gates at eight o'clock. Once assembled there, an instructor would take them to wherever they were going and give them mission briefing and objectives. But that was three hours away, and it took Ezekiel no time to get ready. He readied his blades and cards and placed them on his person in their respective locations, and put on his overcoat and boots. Then he was out the door.

The corridor leading to the bulk of the Garden was rather quiet and lifeless. He could hear the bullets of rain riveting into the building's exterior and it was somewhat soothing. As he walked, meandering in that strange fashion, he pulled out one of his knives and drew a crimson line on his forearm. A ping of relaxing pleasure shot through him as a seeping trickle of blood ebbed from the wound. As a bead of the liquid slithered around the curve of his arm and to the bottom, he held the limb above him and opened his mouth, allowing the droplet to descend onto his tongue.

He continued on, pondering going to the training center for a bit, but ultimately decoded against it for reasons unknown. He instead kept walking until he came to the commons, and then went down the hall to the main doors. Through the fiberglass he could see the downpour and the deep, charcoal clouds which loomed like ominous demons over the lands. Every so often they were illuminated by a flare of lightning. A menacing smirk twitched onto Ezekiel's lips as he thought of what was to come. He stepped to the wall and leaned up against it, and waited.


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OOC: More or less just have your character come to the main gates.. after everyone posts I'll continue, and after this post things won't be as structures; meaning you won't have to follow my example or wait until everyone else has posted before we continue. This is just the preparation.

 

[Skrusti]

Jeff awoke to the pounding of wind and rain on glass. Outside, it seemed the storm had intensified during the night, and that would not make the field exam fun. Less fun, in fact, unless they were going to be in buildings the entire time.

Yawning and stretching, he glanced at the clock sitting on his bedside table. The digital clock flashed silently at him. 5:30 AM. Great. Almost three hours before the test, and he couldn't fall back asleep for an hour or so. His body just wouldn't let him. Finally, at 5:55, Jeff rose quickly and quietly, being as silent as possible so as not to disturb his room mate.

Grabbing his gunblade from its case, he slipped on his clothing followed by his sheath. Raxis fit perfectly into the sheath, which was strung across Jeff's back for easy access. He pulled his shoes on, and left the room.

The hallway was quiet, which was expected this time of the morning. Outside, the rain and thunder slammed down as ferociously as before, beating the windows and shaking the sky. Shivering, Jeff started a slow walk towards the training center. It was still early, and he needed a warm-up.

The training center was, understandably, empty, and cries from various creatures emanated from inside. Opening the door, a blast of humid air met with Jeff's face, blowing his hair back. Despite the growing storm, inside the training center was hot.

Jeff had not taken but five steps into the center when a Grat challenged him with its whiplike appendages. Raxis was out of its sheath and in a defensive position before the creature was able to hit him. For over half an hour, he parried with the flat of his blade, not wishing to strike a killing blow.

Just when he thought he could take no more, Jeff leapt forward in a sudden barrage of slashes. The Grat, unprepared for this, fell beneath his blade as Jeff scored hit after hit. The tendrils fell to the ground, severed from the Grat's body, and twitched.

Panting, Jeff kneeled, resting the blade in the dirt, slumping forward slightly. Fighting against a Grat tired me out He thought disgustedly. How are you going to handle human opponents, along with all the screams and cries of a real wound? He silently berated himself. That's when the shivers began.

Uncontrollable, it shook him from head to toe. He had heard of this before. Those who were new to battle experienced this, when they killed or saw battlefield death for the first time. But Jeff wasn't new. He had even taken down a T-Rexuar with a group of others. Finally, he was able to calm himself, and stand up again.

He left the training area, the tattered body of the Grat, and that feeling of fear behind.

...Hopefully...

Raxis was carefully placed back into its sheath before he arrived at the gate. The time now was after 6, but what time exactly, he didn't know. A few students were already gathered. A small, pale one who probably excelled in magic, a sniper, who was polishing her rifle almost lovingly, and a man who looked to be in his early twenties leaned up against a wall. Tobias wondered if any of them were from his squad, but didn't feel like talking. It was too early.

A line of benches sat along one wall, and Jeff took one near the gate. The headmaster would probably speak to them before they left, and Jeff wanted to be one of the first ones out. Today was going to be just grand. Removing the sheath so it wouldn't interfere with his sitting, Jeff kept Raxis close at hand just in case. Now, to play the waiting game...

 

[Ytnim]

Praxis slept soundly through the night, even while the storm outside grew stronger with each passing minute. He almost slept too long, finally being woken by his roommate at 7:30. They didn't see eye to eye, but Michael just couldn't bear to leave Praxis without waking him up. Lucky he wasn't the one sleeping in, Praxis wouldn't show the same courtesy. Anyhow, Praxis rushed out of bed and got changed quickly. He opened up a polished wooden box that had its interior covered in black foam.

It contained three Flashbangs, a type of grenade that had no explosion as such but produces a blinding flash equalling 1 million Candela* and a deafening 170-180 decibel* blast. These are used to incapacitate foes for up to one minute in extreme close range encounters; three Smoke Grenades, that emit harmless smoke that could be used as a signal marker or for masking his movements, one containing red smoke, another green and the last holding violet smoke; and three High-Explosive Grenades, more commonly known as HE Grenades. Unlike a usual 'frag' grenade, that explodes to send shrapnel flying, these grenades do their damage on their explosive might alone. They do more damage than a frag grenade but in a smaller area.

After carefully placing the explosives in his jacket pockets, he moved on to a large black case next to the one housing the grenades. It's interior was also covered in black foam and it held a large assault rifle, namely Praxis' M4A1 Carbine and a smaller pistol, AKA a USP .45ACP Tactical along with each weapons respective silencer. Praxis removed the pistol from its home and put it in its holster by his left leg and did the same for its silencer, placing it in its apartment alongside the gun. He pulled out his main weapon's silencer and put it in the bag by his right leg. Now grabbing his carbine, he cradled it gently as he made sure it was in perfect condition.

Checking his watch, Praxis had 10 minutes till he needed to be at the main gates. Just enough time to get down there without being late. The young man left without delay and got to his destination with about 2 minutes to spare. Taking a seat on one of the benches, Praxis waited for whatever was to happen next.

OOC: *These are real statistics, not made up, so unless you want to be crawling around on the ground like a baby, I wouldn't want a flashbang in my face.