Corpus Rahkshi

IC: Garrotte - Library

"Oh, yes. You're in the Library of Corpus Rahkshi," she states simply.

IC: Canvas - Library

"We just need to gather more information. We can be discrete."

IC: Rider - Refectory

I feel my faceplate go a little warm out of embarassment.

"Y-yeah, sorry, this is pretty much all the food you can get over here...it doesn't look nice but it tastes okay."
 

Claws affectionately licked my leg.

"You want to sit down?" I smile, gesturing to an empty table.

IC: Crate - Still being annoying

Tournament?

I wasn't aware of this, not that I paid much attention to school events.

"Quiet's boring." I say, shifting closer.

"I'm guessing you're an rahkshi of electricity....am I correct?"

I know I'm right, but questions are irritating.

IC Diode:

"Chain Lightning," I replied evenly.

It was a lie, but unless he experienced the power first hand, there was no real way for him to tell the difference.

IC: Crate - Huh?

The rahkshi knows my game.

I say this because otherwise that would make me wrong.

And despite my other disadvantages....I'm never wrong.

My tone lowers, and I speak with a little bit of irritation.

"Oh?" I ask, a hint of venom in my voice. 

I won't let this scrawny bookworm play me. 

IC Diode:

"Yup." She stooped to pick up another fallen book, his jaw ring clinking softly.

GM IC Kaam:

From the edges of the forest, a shadow moved with no sound toward the few Rahkshi still gathered around the snuffed fire. It shimmered in and out of sight in the half-light, tall, and decidedly not Rahkshi shaped.

IC: Shield - On alert

Me, Snake and Jayar began to return back to the fire, where the rest had gathered.

Hold on.

Something didn't feel right.

Instinctively, I put my hand on my sword sheath. Something was moving among the trees.

What is that?

Who cares, kill it!

WAIT! D-Don't a-a-attack i-it!

I nudged Jayar, and pointed at what I thought was the creature.

"We have company, apparently." I whispered.

IC: Crate - The library

A sudden animalistic urge to kick the rahkshi of "chain lightning" in the face comes to my mind. 

I resist the... odd temptation. Violence without any sort of...foreplay is not fun.

Instead, I opt to slide the book away from the rahkshi with a blue foot.

My eyes brighten a bit. The reddish tinge is substituted with just a slightly more innocent orange.

IC: Dissent - Library

Dissent facepalmed. "I karzing knew it." Letting her hand fall back down, she looked at Garrotte again. "Guess I might as well introduce myself. I'm Dissent."

IC: Dormirahk - Library

"Where do you suggest we start then?"

IC: Rōzu - Refectory

Rōzu nodded and took a seat, a faint affectionate smile on her faceplates.

He's still watching the edges of the clearing, plasma ignited in his hand. All was still for now.

IC: Garrotte - Library

"You seem distressed, Dissent." Garrotte observed.

IC: Canvas - Library

"I... I don't know. I haven't seen most of these students lately."

IC: Rider - Refectory

I also sat down, I placed the two trays opposite to each other and began to dig in. I forgot how hungry I was.

Claws scuttled underneath the table, happily nestling between my legs.

IC: Dissent - Library
 
"I'm livid."
 
 
IC: Dormirahk - Library
 
"Let's start with the ones still around then. Who are they?"
 
 
IC: Rōzu - Refectory
 
Rōzu ate a small spoonful of slop, showing no real reaction as she swallowed it. "This is horrible." She said calmly and matter-of-factly.

IC: Garrotte - Library

"And why is that?" Her head tilted to one side curiously.

IC: Canvas - Library

After thinking for a moment, Canvas tapped two students she had roughly drawn on the page before her. One appeared to be a typical silver Rahkshi of Chain Lightning, though comparing him with the other, he was rather short. "This one's in the Fellowship. I think his name was.... ugh, something fishy. He might even be somewhere in this room last I checked."

The second was split evenly down the middle between white and black paint. "This one led a group in the fifth assignment. I just saw her serving slop in the Refectory before someone came in and told her to go to the Infirmary. I know she'll be there, and maybe she can tell us if anything happened out there that might have... you know."

IC: Dormirahk - Library

"Something fishy? Hmmm..." The rough sketch did seem a bit familiar... "Wait... was it Squid?"

IC: Dissent - Library

Dissent folded her arms. She didn't know if she should share this with a stranger, but she didn't have anyone else to vent to, so she decided what the karz. "My makuta didn't like my attitude. Last thing I remember, they had me subdued and knocked out. Then I woke up here, in one of those small bedrooms. They dropped me off here like I'm nothing more than some... piece of undesirable cargo." The last few words had a hint of anger and grief. 

IC Diode: he straightened, blowing out a sigh of annoyance, "Is there any particular reason you've decided to single me out to antagonize?"

IC: Fang - Forest of Kaam

At first, he thought it was just a trick of the light. But as his plasma dimmed, Fang clearly saw the silhouette of... something moving into their clearing. He immediately ran to Kat's side and tried shaking her awake. "Something's here!" He whispered harshly, keeping an eye on its approach.

IC: Canvas - Library

"Squid! That's it! You know him?"


IC: Garrotte - Library

"I can't imagine why." Garrotte's response was so cold and emotionless it was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or honestly couldn't see why anyone wouldn't get along with Dissent.

IC: Dormirahk - Library

"Well... kinda. About as well as I knew Rain, I ran into the two of them when they were painting some room."

IC: Dissent - Library

Dissent was silent for a moment. Then, she seemed to perk up. "Alright, good talk." She moved on from there, looking about the library for anything of interest.

OOC: Dissent open for interaction

IC: Canvas - Library

"We could start with him if you'd like. He can't be far."

IC: Dormirahk - Library

"I'm not sure. Let's first check out the one in the Infirmary, since we know for certain she'll be there. If nothing comes of that, we can try to find Squid."

IC: Rider - Refectory

I couldn't help but give a soft laugh at Rozu's blunt statement.

"You get used to it, don't worry. Once upon a time we had cake....though I never managed to taste it."

IC: Crate - Library

That question was one I ask myself all the time.

Why this?

How does it benefit me?

Do I enjoy it?
 

The answer to that last question is yes. Of course I do. 

The other two I'm still not so sure about. At this point, I don't really care. 

I kick the book upwards and catch it.

I take a moment to think about what to do with it. 

"I'll give you this book back.....if you can hit me." I grin with my jagged teeth.

IC: Canvas - Library

"Not if we don't get there soon. Come on!" Canvas starts off toward the Infirmary at a brisk pace.

IC: Dormirahk - Library
 
Dormirahk nodded, following Canvas at a brisk pace.
 
 
IC: Dissent - Library

It would be at that moment that Dissent would come into Canvas' view, striking a strangely familiar pose.

 
IC: Rōzu - Refectory
 
"That's very sad..." Rōzu said. Her tone was even and stoic, yet somehow she managed to convey genuine sympathy for Rider's plight of not having gotten to taste the cake.

IC Diode:

....

"You don't even have a reason, do you...?"

He rubbed his carapace, over the scarred remains of her spines.

"All the potential and you just waste it, like some Old Breed Rahk."

She shook her head and began to walk away.

IC: Vlad / Library

Another new guy, huh. Vlad didn't want to interrupt the conversation, though he might have had a couple things to say. Then, abruptly, Dissent departed. Well okay.

"So... are ve movink on..?" he offered. "Zer Courtyard ist this vay..." He motioned in the correct direction.

* * *

IC: Lucid / Helkyrie's Room

"I have indeed," Lucid replied, "and so has it finished with me." One's relationship with tea was reciprocal, after all.

* * *

IC: Jayar / Forest of Kaam

Jayar, too, had noticed the shimmering interloper - and the odd lack of sound around it. Some power must be nullifying it, some ability or mask of stealth: it hoped to go unnoticed. It hadn't accounted for perfect Rahkshi night vision, though...

Alternatively, could it be counting on them seeing it, and assuming that it meant not to be seen - was it distraction?

"It's bad at stealth - maybe on purpose," he whispered back to Shield. "I'll check for others." Rather than fixate on the shadowy figure (the others were paying it attention), Jayar stepped back to scan the woods for other alien motions or sounds...

IC: Uunrak - Arriving

Ocean... stretching as far as the eye could see. The silver ocean had been all Uunrak had seen for the majority of his trip to Corpus Rahkshi. A violent reception by the matoran villagers of Nynrah had been almost welcome compared to the monotonous flying over the vast sea. Just barely escaping intact, Uunrak had made a perilous journey through the wilderness of Nynrah until at last he'd arrived at the ruins of what had once obviously been a matoran village. Despite the rather bleak welcome, the signature spires of Chirox Causeway rising up from the ocean, leading up to the silhouette of the Corpus facility itself standing tall among the waves.

"Whoa." Uunrak muttered to himself, before taking off into a sprint before reclining into the familiar flight position and taking off across to the school. What ever happens, at least this aught to be interesting. He thought to himself as he landed at the gates of Corpus Rahkshi.

IC: Helkyrie - Her Room

"So... what now?"

IC: Canvas - Library

She slowed as she got to the door. Standing there, right in the doorway, was a face, or rather, a style, she hadn't seen for a long time. Some students tended to fall into obscurity or take really long naps, but Canvas could swear this one had been gone for a time. And there he... wait, she was.

"Huh." She stops abruptly, perhaps too abruptly for Dormirahk behind her.

IC: Garrotte - Library

"That was Distress," Garrotte explained. "Oh yes, let us continue." Without another word, she walked off in the indicated direction.

IC: Dormirahk - Library

Indeed, Dormirahk had almost bumped into Canvas, barely managing to arrest their momentum to avoid collision. Looking where Canvas was looking, they raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

GM IC Kaam:

The shadow froze. Both physically in place, and the air around it.

In what was sure to be an uncomfortably familiar experience, Ice began rapidly forming on Fang, starting at his feet and crawling up his legs, thick and cold.

Jayar had good instincts, but realized just too late as thick wooden vines snaked around him and Era, constricting the two Rahkshi, entangling their limbs, and lifting them into the trees as a tall figure descended between Snake and Shield, covered head to toe in greenery, a sight sure to give Shield pause.

Between the moss and shrubbery were glimpses of armor, in green and blue. A thick wooden club with thorns sat easily in it's hand, and the other arm seemed to be covered entirely in thick wood. And on the being's face sat a Kanohi Mask. A Mahiki.

It was clear now what the being and the shadow were.

Toa.

IC Kat:

I awake suddenly, but in a haze. "Wha... What's happening?!" I got to my feet, hands scrabbling to find purchase around the handle of my hammer.

IC: Era - Forest of Kaam.

Oh, I don't think so.

I tightened my hands around the vines, and sent a focused pulse of high-level sonics rippling into the unnatural plantlife. The last time I'd used my powers at this intensity, I'd accidentally made a venom flyer explode. 

Disintegrating these vines would be easy. 

IC: Fang - Forest of Kaam

Not this again...

He looks up at Kat desperately even as his ankles lost motion and quickly lost feeling. "We're under attack! Go!"

In the meantime, Fang was already igniting his plasma at his feet, trying to gain just enough wiggle room to break through the ice and get on the move.

IC: Canvas - Library

She subtly points out the Kurahk. "They don't look... familiar to you, do they?"

IC: Jayar / Forest of Kaam

Karzahni - too slow!

Unlike Era, Jayar was not brimming with destructive power. He could not obliterate his leafy bonds with a thought. The best he could do was position himself to maximize his chances to slip or push out if given the chance, and then wait neither relaxed nor struggling - conserving strength - for that crucial moment when the Toa's concentration lapsed or an ally weakened the vines.

* * *

IC: Vlad / To Courtyard

It took not too long to arrive. "So... here ve are," said Vlad as they stepped into the open air, gesturing to the... dark sky and... flower beds. Okay, it wasn't that impressive a place. Still, compared to the rest of the school, it was not bad. "Zer Courtyard."

* * *

IC: Lucid / Helkyrie's Room

"Now is, as always..." Lucid responded thoughtfully, "the present."

IC: Glass - Gym

This was it. Final round.

Exxan, huh? Funny we should be in the finals.

As Glass climbed the steps onto the arena, he allowed himself a brief moment of reminiscence. The first lesson in the academy, the original headmaster and his assignments, meeting/assassinating Xara, Naming Day raid, the death of Omega...

Omega. Exxan. The days of the young, well, younger, Exxan was long gone, dying on the same staff that took the murderous Omega's life.

Glass looked out over the cloud. In the corner, he saw a Rahk that looked awfully similar to Xara, but it couldn't be her, no, she was with the escapees, plotting a way to free the students from Miserix.

Xara. Their unlikely friendship, budding... romance? ... seemed so long ago, a life time and years ago, though it had been mere months since she'd left.

He turned back to his opponent, unslinging his staff.

Exxan. How have you been?

The question echoed in his mind, unsaid. What could he say? The fellow Rahk's life had been plagued with would-be killers for that one mistake that wasn't his to make. A greeting like that would be rude, to say the least. Glass settled for a simple, polite greeting. It was the least he could give.

After all, Glass grinned slightly. I'm soooo gonna kick his .

"Hey."

IC: Exxan - Gym.

I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be the centre of attention. There were so many new rahks in the school - proud, imperious, powerful, and outfitted with all manner of fancy weaponry, advantageous gadgets, and distinctive gimmicks - that barely anyone recognised me anymore, despite everything I'd done. The old guard was all but gone, and yet, here two of us stood, the last men standing in this tournament. 

"Hey yourself," I smirked back at Glass, "You remember the first time we were up on a stage in this room?"

We'd all come such a very long way since then.

IC: Glass

"Err, assignment, was it?"

IC: Exxan - Gym.

"The first assignment," I reminded him, "Feels like a lifetime ago."

IC: Uunrak - Hallways

Uunrak walked through the main gates of Corpus Rahkshi, looking around himself to find different hallways leading to destinations unknown to him. "Guess there's no reception... Oh well, I'll just have to find my way myself. Not like I haven't been doing such for the last few... months? Weeks?" I guess I've lost track. He thought to himself as he darted off down a hallway.

OOC: Uunrak open for interaction

IC: Helkyrie - Her Room

Helkyrie smiled at Lucid's words. "I meant what should we do now?"

IC: Dormirahk - Library

"Not really. Do they to you?" Dormirahk looked at Dissent with a quizzical expression.

IC: Garrotte - Courtyard

Garrotte took it all in with the same blank stare she had during the entire tour.

IC: Canvas - Library

"...it's probably nothing. Come on." As Canvas continued on through the doors and past Dissent, she took an occasional few glances to the Rahkshi, still trying to reason out who exactly it was.

IC: Tube - Gym

Tube found their seat again near their Master, but the sight that awaited them soon drove them to the edge. "Ooh, it's the last one, isn't it Master?"

IC: Dormirahk - Infirmary

After that, Dormirahk and Canvas moved on, making their way into the Infirmary to find Sliver looking through some files. "Well, there she is. Do you want to say hello?"

IC: Glass

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Glass smiled.

"Assassination, right? Forgot who won that one. I mean, I know I survived, but that's all."

IC: Vlad / Courtyard

"Vell, now you've seen zer entire school," Vlad said to Garrotte. "Vhat are you goink to do now?"

* * *

IC: Lucid / Helkyrie's Room

"That's a difficult question... there are a lot of things we could do. We could go fishing. We could build a scale model of Metru Nui. We could learn to play exotic instruments. We could invent tennis." Lucid shrugged. "Any number of typical things, really. But what do you normally do with people when they finish their tea?"

* * *

IC: Thurisaz / Gym

"It is indeed!" Thurisaz replied, hushed but almost as excited. The entire tournament had been the build-up to this duel, and this calm parley before the stormy final fight, the fact the fighters were old friends, made the tension all the better. "And I anticipate that it will be the best, as well..."

IC: Shield - Forest

Something fell next to me and Snake, and Jayar was slung up into the air, constricted by vines.

I swang around, and froze.

Everything about the Toa seem to scream at me, flashing images of the past at me, the past I thought I buried.

The greenery and plants around the Toa's body seemed to writhe and snake over to me, strangling me, wrapping around me and burrowing into my skin, my mind.

ROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOTROOT

I fell to my knees, wanting to scream but no words and noise would come out.

The ever so loud and surrounding personalities in my mind for once were silent as the plants seem to whisper to me.

IC: Crate - Library

You can imagine that insult's dont get to me.

Not anymore, at least.

But for whatever reason, that last one really got to me. 

In a quick burst of anger I charge at the electric rahk from behind, raising my baton and swinging it at their head.

IC: Rider - Refectory

I laughed a little bit harder.

"No, it's fine. School just needs to step up their food services."

I dug into another spoon.

"So, how are you liking school so far?"

IC: Canvas - Infirmary

"Okay... yeah, let me handle it." Canvas all but bounced up to Sliver's side with a grin that exuded excitement. "Whatcha lookin' at?"


IC: Garrotte - Courtyard

The same gaze fell on Vlad. "What is there to do in this place?"

IC: Tube - Gym

"Oh yes!" Tube replied in their own barely contained whisper, perhaps just as much to agree with their Master as for their own excitement.