Welcome to Death

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Sat near the front, a small girl glanced around nervously. Was everyone else as nervous as her? She'd been fine earlier today, but the more it sunk in that she was actually here and doing this, the more scared she got. She just wanted to pull her hat over her face and hide. That would do no good though. She came her to get stronger and she wasn't going to do that by being too scared to even meet her partner. Her hands gripped tightly onto the strap of the reasonably large bag she'd brought with her, that had been fun in itself trying to get up all those red stairs outside. She thought she was fairly fit, obviously she still had a long way to go. Inside the bag was a present of sorts for her new partner, one she hoped they wouldn't end up needing but wasn't confident enough to not bring. She hadn't actually met her new partner yet, she'd seen his name, "Chaol Arroway". She'd been up to the board several times already and traced his name with her finger, but as to which of the several boys in this room matched up to that name she did not know. If she was honest, she wasn't even sure how the name was meant to be pronounced. Around her, already people were starting to get out of their chairs and move, some obviously heading to the list of names, others heading towards each other.

She started to tentatively get up but honestly she didn't know where to go. She didn't need to go to look at the list of pairings, she knew her partner's name already. She wasn't going to try and call out a name that she didn't even know how to pronounce, that would be horrendous to get their name wrong. She also wasn't going to leave the room when the person she knew she needed to meet was here. This was a great start.

 

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Roderick got to his feet, smiling slightly as he looked around. He was pretty excited about the upcoming school year, and was also looking forward to meeting his new partner.

'Zephyr.' That was a pretty cool name. Better than 'Roderick.' Roderick was simultaneously boring and somewhat unusual, and he was used to a touch of teasing from classmates over it. But, on the whole, he was okay with his name...

Why was he thinking about his name now, when he was supposed to be finding his partner. He had no way of knowing what the guy looked like, only his name, so... Well, nothing for it.

Stepping into the center aisle, he took a deep breath, already feeling a touch awkward just from anticipation, and then called out:

"Zephyr? Zephyr Siegend?"

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Matthew blinked as one of the students stood and called out for his new partner. He would never be able to do such a thing himself. Not that he was particularly shy; he liked to think he was friendly, maybe even outgoing, but now lots of people were looking at the kid, and Matthew just didn't think he'd be able to stand being scrutinized like that... No, he'd have to find his partner a little differently.

Mikio Ticchi... Actually, Matthew couldn't tell from that whether or not his partner was a girl or a boy. He sighed and stood, looking around. This would be a lot easier if they had name tags with actual names on them, instead of just a label for 'Meister' and 'Weapon.'

At least that narrowed it down a little bit. He glanced at a few 'meisters' and stood up, walking down to the front of the room to get a more full view of the classroom, looking over all the students marked 'weapon,' wondering which was to be his partner.

 

*banner WIP but this is Dana's post and I couldn't think of anything witty to put here in its place*

Dana Knightfall blinked a couple of times, simply staring with a look of boredom on her face, as well as a slight amount of confusion. This Spirit guy was one of their teachers, but Doctor Stein seemed to be the one that would be more reliable. The way they spoke, she wasn't sure which one she wanted to have more classes with. Sure, Stein could teach her more, but just imagine all the naps she could get away with in Spirit's class, the possibilities were endless! Quickly, her attention snapped back to the situation at hand as people started attempting to meet their partners. While others, such as the brown haired kid at the front of the room, would simply call out, Dana had come up with a better solution and more importantly one that had taken significantly less energy.

Since she'd arrived in the classroom, Dana had been sitting on a large piece of cardboard with the name Zoey Pryor written on it. Naturally, she'd gotten someone else to write it for her, but the effect was the same. Others might think it was her own name, but her partner would certainly see it and know that she was the weapon for them. With a huff, she stood up and held up the huge sign, and waited for about thirty seconds. Surely that would be enough.

Apparently thirty seconds wasn't enough, made clear by the fact that her meister did not come to collect their weapon. What was she, blind? How did someone miss a sign of that size in the center of the room? She sighed. Stupid people and making her do more stuff. "Zoey Pryor, I don't know how the heck you missed this sign but your weapon is right here, ready and waiting" she called out. Whoever her meister was, Dana was willing to bet she hadn't seen that coming.​

 

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Zoey bit her lip to hold back a laugh when Professor Stein made the comment about this Spirit scaring the students. Spirit seemed rather joyful and optimistic (despite the getting killed out there comment), while Stein seemed more reserved and a bit... sad? That seemed like the right emotion. She could barely see the pair standing in the front of the room amongst the other things outlined by a silver shadow. Everything was in a darkened black and white with some blur for her, save for the souls she saw in the room. There were so many colors, and so many different faces on them to reflect that individual's temperament. Professor Stein's though was so unusual. It was bigger than the others she saw, and it even had a screw in its head. But he was strong, that much she could tell. 'Remind me not to get on his bad side...'

Professor Stein dismissed them to find their partners they were assigned too, which made Zoey ground back to reality. She took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly as her fingers flexed on a blind cane that was white at the top, and half way down turned red. This was only temporary, she told herself in the beginning. As soon as she figured out where her normal route was in the school and get used to the sounds and density of people, she wouldn't need it. For now, it was safely in her hand.

She couldn't help but to feel eyes bearing down on her, burning with judgment. She was wearing a blindfold after all, and holding a cane for the blind. She swallowed a lump in her throat and pulled her cane a little closer to her. 'Don't you dare lose your confidence now,' she thought to herself. 'Focus, and you'll do just fine. You are like every one else. You have strengths, and you have limitations. And so do they.'

Zoey pushed back her bangs behind her ears, listening to the murmur of new students talking with one another to try to figure out who was who. Luckily, Lord Death had given the name of her weapon before she was led back here. Written text and her did not get along.

A trained ear tilted to the sound of a boy calling out a name she wasn't familiar yet. She frowned, and turned to look at the souls around her. She would have to call out herself, but at least she wouldn't have to be the only one. The boy who said a name gave her the confidence boost she needed to-

"Zoey Pryor, I don't know how the heck you missed this sign but your weapon is right here, ready and waiting."

Her name.

Zoey turned quickly to the voice before they stopped talking, and her vision focused on the outline of moving lips.



Her eyes saw a blue soul that looked rather bored and sleepy almost. Her own lips twitched into a smile and she began to walk forward, keeping her cane in front of her to help her figure out how far the silver outlines of the other students were. She never touched anyone though, keeping her head held high as she moved with as much courage as possible.

"Right here!" Zoey called out as she approached the bored looking soul. "Dana Knighfall, right?" She tilted her head as a rectangle looking thing held in the female's hands came into a fuzzy focus. She reached out, missing the object the first time, but then reached out again. Her fingers landed softly on the thing, and she felt the texture of cardboard underneath it. She grinned, letting her fingers trace to the middle of it to feel the indent of where the marker made the outline of her name. "Sorry I missed your sign. It was a good idea, except..." Zoey moved her hand away from the sign and tapped her blindfold. "I can't see text at all, only if its in braille or have some kind of 3D-ness to it."

She let her hand fall to her side for a moment. "This isn't an accessory., if you were wondering. And no, I can't take it off. The lights are too bright for me." Zoey chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Guess I am your meister they paired you up with. I hope you don't mind. I promise I won't be a problem." Her hand reached out once more, but this time it was open and ready for a handshake. "I'm really glad to finally meet you, Dana."

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Mikio let out a breath as he glanced around the room. He pulled his hoodie a bit more over his head, and then grabbed for the cat ear sitting on top. He massaged it as he looked at all the students. There were so many people, he felt like he was drowning in energy from all the excitement and anticipation. The sooner he found his meister, the calmer he would be. His hand fell to his side and then both of them ended up in his sweater pocket.

It was then he noticed a blonde kid, much shorter, and probably younger than he, standing in front of the room. He read the label on the tag and breathed in deeply through his nose. "Well, here it goes..."

His feet dragged as he tried to hunch his shoulder. He wanted to be a bit shorter than the others, yet he felt like he was towering over everyone. Why did he have to get his mother's tall genes...?

When he made it up front to the blond guy, he cleared his throat. "You don't happen to be Matthew Loring, right? He's my meister... I-I'm Mikio." He gestured to himself and slightly cringed when he stuttered.

So much talking. Ugh. He couldn't wait to get out of here. And he sure hope he didn't look like an idiot if this wasn't Matthew
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Oh good, so this was Mikio! Matthew smiled, holding his hand out and looking up at the much taller boy and blinking at the cat ears on his jacket, distracted for a moment before turning his attention back to the boy's face.

"Hello, Mikio," he said. "My name's Matthew... Er, well you already knew that. Uh, it's very nice to meet you!"

 

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Relief washed over him. He was happy he found his partner on his first try. Mikio watched as the kid had to practically tilt his head up to have a look at him. And although he was annoyed cause of the crowd, he couldn't help but to smile at the irony of it all. The tallest kid and the shortest kid in the room were paired up together. He didn't seem that bad of a person. Strange enough, Mikio actually felt comfortable around this guy, which was odd for him to feel with someone he just met. It was as if they already made a silent connection. Mikio took Matthew's hand and gave it a firm shake."Likewise," he said with a tilt of his head and a smile on his face. "What brought you to the DWMA, Matthew? Can I call you Matt?"

Someone accidentally bumped into him, and his smile fell along with his temporary calmness as that person apologized and walked away. His attention was suddenly on the hoard of teenagers and he felt his mouth go dry. "I-I'm sorry, can we step outside the classroom, please? It's too crowded for my t-taste." Mikio blushed in embarrassment and ducked his head down to stare at his feet instead. ​

 

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"Oh, sure thing," Matthew said, looking around himself as he led the way from the classroom. He hadn't noticed how crowded it had become. But, he was used to dealing with small crowds; whenever his mother threw some dinner party for her friends, their house was always like this. "And yeah, you can call me Matt, if you'd like," He said, smiling up at the boy.

...It was still a little weird, being so much shorter than him. But he'd probably get used to it. "So, what kind of weapon are you?" He asked. "Do you live here in the city? And, why are there cat ears on your jacket? N-not that it isn't cool," He amended. "I'm just curious."

 

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He liked this kid already. Even though they just met, Matthew was willing to help Mikio feel comfortable as possible. His whole demeanor changed once they stepped outside the classroom. His shoulders relaxed and he could breathe much easier. "That's more like it," he muttered under his breath as he stretched his neck to look up.

Mikio closed his eyes to rid the rest of his negative feelings, and then blinked when the questions were sounded off to him. He smirked, and cracked his neck from side to side to loosen the tension in his shoulders before looking down at Matt with a sparkle in his red eyes. "I'm a triblade claw gauntlet, yes, I live in the city in the boy's dormitories, I'm not from around here, and I like cats. Cats are quiet, sneaky, yet playful and affectionate." He let out a breathless chuckle and looked around. "I guess you wanna see what my weapon form looks like, eh? And get a handle on our soul's wavelength."

He stepped away from the wall and rolled his shoulders. Mikio then clapped his hands together and rubbed them quickly, focusing on the form of his weapon. He stopped and then glanced up with a serious glint in his eye. "Here we go." A flash of white light, and Mikio's tall body was soon wrapped away into a metal, triblade claw gauntlet and it clattered on the ground.
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Mikio's eyes appeared in the middle blade, looking up at Matt. "Go ahead. Try to pick me up," he said, his voice sounding metallic. "I think I'll fit your hand just right. At least, I hope so."​

 

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"Woah!" Matthew breathed, reaching down quickly and picking up the gauntlet. "Oh my gosh, it worked!" He exclaimed as it lifted easily. After everything he'd heard about the difficulties of trying to work with incompatible wavelengths, he'd thought it would be harder to connect, even with pre-arranged 'compatible' partners. "I mean, I knew it would, since we were paired together, so the school knew our wavelengths were compatible, but this is so cool! Does it feel strange to turn into a weapon like that?! I think it would feel strange."

But, he was probably talking too much. He drew in a breath, frowning slightly in determination as he slipped the gauntlet onto his hand without another word.

It fit perfectly! Well, maybe it was just a touch on the large side, but he would grow into it, so it was close enough to perfect. And it felt so easy, so natural. He'd been terrified he'd have to learn how to swing around some huge sword or fire a gun or something, and had been certain he would do it wrong and make a fool of himself by being unable to wield his new partner right. But this felt like an extension of his arm, almost.

He raised it, smiling at the middle blade. "This is awesome!" He declared.

 

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Mikio smirked and then he chuckled at Matthew's enthusiasm. All the fears of not fitting in or getting along with his partner was dwindling away by the second. "What? You never seen a weapon transformation before up close?" He shifted his eyes and scratched his head, then shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, it feels kinda tingly I guess. Like when your foot goes to sleep, but warmer and nicer than that. It was weird at first, but you get used to it." Mikio felt his countenance relax as Matthew's and his soul matched each other and the kid was getting used to swinging a bladed glove around. He was worried they were going to hurt one another, but that wasn't so. And although Mikio's form was a little big on Matthew, he seemed to be moving easily. "Hope you don't mind close range combat."

The boy stayed in his form til Matt said it was alright to change back. He didn't wanna ruin their synchronization after all. "So, you didn't answer my question earlier. We got distracted. What brought you to the DWMA? And have you had any previous fighting training?"​

 

Chaol Arroway had thought ahead the day before the meeting. He'd only been at the DWMA for roughly 24 hours or so, but he'd wasted no time in getting as much information as he could. Knowledge was power, as taught to him from a relatively young age, and he intended on wielding that power as expertly as he would any weapon. After all, if he were going to become the #1 meister and create an absolutely awesome death scythe, he couldn't afford to be slacking. The name Hannah Swift was one of the many he'd come across the day before, but he couldn't remember actually meeting her. Well, he wouldn't be able to say that in a minute that was for sure.

He found her near the front of the class, with a fairly large bag that made Chaol curious as to what was actually inside of it. He almost wanted to ask, but that probably wouldn't be the best way to start off. Nope, best way was to be short and efficient. He came to a stop just a metre away from his weapon partner, and gave a slight smile as a friendly gesture, before deciding to speak.

"Hannah Swift? I'm Chaol Arroway, the meister to your weapon. It's a pleasure to meet you, I promise you won't be disappointed" the boy greeted. While he kept his composure cool, calm and collected, inside of him he only had one thought running through his mind. Great job Chaol, sounding like you're as stiff as a board, where's the fun in that?



Dana shook Zoey's hand wordlessly for a moment, having mixed feelings echoing within her soul. She was a little worried by the fact her meister was blind, but mostly she was actually feeling a little guilty. She'd just assumed her meister would be someone who had the ability to see, but she had clearly assumed wrong. Wow, she must look like a total asshat. A really pretty, charming total asshat, but an asshat regardless. She wondered a great many things about Zoey, but decided to get to only the most crucial things. To begin with, anyway. "Well sh*t, I guess you really were blind. That's a shocker, but wow that's so cool that you got made a meister anyway. How did you manage the application form? Wait you probably got someone else to fill it in right? Waaaait.....does this mean I'm going to be having to study for both of us? Aw man, I hate doing hard work" the girl whined, speaking almost as casually with Zoey as she would anyone she could call a friend. Subtlety was not her strong point, and she made that fairly clear.​

 

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When their hands connected, Zoey felt her energy open up to Dana's. She was trying to get a feel for their soul's wavelength to try to sync. It seemed as Dana was almost a little fearful of who she was paired up with, and what she looked like to the meister who was blind. She pressed her hand over her lips as she heard Dana go on and on about her not seeing, and how in the world she managed to fill out an application form. It was a question probably most were afraid to ask. Zoey could appreciate Dana's straightforwardness. "It's okay. Lord Death and Professor Stein helped me get copies of the textbooks in braille. And I'm allowed to transcribe my answers via sound recognition software that writes out what I say." She shrugged her shoulder. "So the only thing you need to do is help me read stuff that's not in braille out loud, like the Mission Board, names of places, so forth. I'll do my homework, and help you with yours if you want. I hope that won't be too hard for you." If Dana could see her eyes, she would wink. But since not, Zoey made a head gesture to her instead like a slight nod.

"Don't feel bad about the sign, please," Zoey said in a quieter voice. "I think it was funny. It'll be a good memory down the road." Her smile turned downward into a serious thin line and she chewed on her bottom lip. "If this isn't going to work, this whole me being blind thing, I'm sure they can find another partner that'll suite you better." She placed her hands behind her back and tapped her right foot nervously with her toes. "But I kinda like your soul." Her head moved up and her hand reached out again, poking Dana in the middle of her chest where she saw the orb. "It's blue," she laughed a bit, smiling once more "looks kind of sleepy like it's bored. I think it's even drooling a bit. But it's strong, and has a lot of potential... I think you'll keep me grounded. We could be a pretty awesome team." She grinned and nodded her head, and then pulled her hand back and let it rest on the blind cane. "What do you say? Think you can handle me? I won't be mad if not."

 

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"Oh, right," Matthew said, smiling sheepishly and feeling himself blush a touch. "I forgot you asked that. Um, I want to be a meister because my dad was a meister, too, and so... I don't know, I just, thought it would be nice if I was one. And, I haven't really had any training. But I've read a lot about the DWMA and different famous fights in history and stuff, and I know a lot about soul collecting and things like that. It's not really a substitute for fighting, though, so I don't know why I brought it up..." Oh gosh he was talking too much again, he'd got off topic. "So, I'll start working on that," he finished, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

 

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Mikio listened intently as he stayed in his dagger like form. He could feel both of their energies resonating and feeling at ease around one another. They were going to be just fine. "Well, I know a few things, so I'll try to help. I'm changing back."
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In a white flash, his body appeared once more and he stood on his feet, towering over Matt again. "We'll just learn as we go, how about it?" He smiled and tilted his head to the side. "First, I'm gonna show you how to stand." He stood, feet just barely past the width of his shoulders. "Stand like this to have a firm hold, and bend your knees a little to move quickly, just in case. You only have one hand to block with at a time. So make sure the side of the blade faces your enemy at all times..." he scratched his head and then pulled at his cat ear on his sweater. "This is harder to explain it than thinking about it."

 

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Matthew mirrored Mikio's stance, tilting his head a little as he tried to imagine doing so with the gauntlet in his hand, facing off against a Kishin or a witch. "Okay," he said. "That sounds easy enough. And I'll start training at home, too, to like, build up my stamina and stuff. Oh, maybe my dad would let me sign up for some martial arts lessons or something if I told him it was for school. Yeah, and then I'll be able to fight, and we'll go on missions and I'll turn you into a Death Scythe like that teacher!"

Ahh... He had a good feeling about this year.

 

For a moment, the girl said nothing. She merely listened and gave a minute to really let the words sink in. She'd been a little insensitive, and despite that this girl still wanted to be her partner? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Giving a nod, she quickly realised how pointless the motion was and actually laughed slightly. "Not a clue. I've never done anything like this before, but there's only one way to find out. I'm not sure how well all this is going to go, and I'm pretty lazy so you'll have to put up with that, buuuuut I'll be the best weapon I can be. Have you ever actually held a weapon before?" Dana asked. She was feeling fairly comfortable with this arrangement already, but she wanted to find out just what she was going to work with. It didn't really matter if Zoey had or hadn't wielded a weapon before, she wasn't worried too much, but hey it didn't hurt to find out. ​

 

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Hannah's gaze had dropped to the floor as she'd been trying to figure out what to do but she looked up instantly as she heard her name being said. So this was her meister? He certainly had a serious look about him, quite intimidating but at the same time he did seem to be trying to make an effort. She guessed that it was always better for everyone for weapon and meister to get on. Well at least now she knew how to pronounce his name since he'd said it aloud for her, that could have been very embarrassing.

"H-hi, that's me." She replied quite quietly, she smiled up at him (he did seem quite a bit taller than her) but at the same time her hand gripped her bag even tighter. "It's nice to meet you too, I hope you take good care of me." So this was the person that would be using her, she would be putting herself in his hands quite literally. That scared her a bit, to her trust was something that needed to be earned so allowing basically a stranger to use her was a bit of an off-putting thought. Still she should at least give this guy a chance, the school obviously thought they'd be a good fit and she'd never be able to get stronger if she didn't. She took a deep breath, she wasn't certain where to go from there. He'd probably want to see her weapon form. "Umm, I guess we should go outside?"

 

Despite having her pointed out to him the day before, Chaol hadn't quite expected Hannah to be so anxious, or at least that's the way she'd appeared to him. Then again, this was a pretty crucial time in a student of the DWMA's life, and a lot to take in, so it made sense. Not everyone was used to literal life and death situations, as he'd become almost used to. He could actually kind of understand the awkwardness now, but what could he do to fix it? Nodding, he gave another warm, friendly smile, and then simply responded with "Yeah, probably"

Following Hannah outside, he was lead to an area he could only assume was designed as a shooting range of sorts. Although it didn't seem like it was for firearms, for there seemed to be only straw targets. That told him immediately that his partner was not going to be a quarterstaff or really any kind of melee weapon, which made the majority of combat training he'd had very much useless. Maybe she turned into a crossbow? Could have even been a javelin, that would be pretty cool and he'd be able to utilise his close range proficiency. Hell for all he knew, she could even be a boomerang. Oh well, at least he'd be able to learn a new style, maybe it would even work out better. "This should be interesting. I've never used a ranged weapon of any sorts before , but I should be able to pick it up quickly. Unless you turn into throwing knives or something, I'll have to learn. You'd know your weapon form better than anyone, so I don't mind being taught. Just don't judge me too harshly, okay?" he asked, half joking at the end as he said it with a slight laugh.​

 

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Air escaped from the meister's lips as she rolled her head to mimic rolling of eyes. "They wouldn't let a blind meister into the academy if she couldn't handle a weapon." She giggled and tucked her bangs behind her ear, being careful not to bump the blindfold too much. "My dad was a meister at this academy before, so he taught me a few things after I became blind. I actually have a better advantage somewhat being this way." She looked around the room, and smirked. "Like I can see everyone's souls. Unless they mask it, then I'm in trouble. I can also see silver outlines of things. It's not clear, but it's better than being in complete darkness. And of course, my hearing is more akin and so is my sensitivity to vibrations. It's the plus side of losing one of your senses; your body adapts for what it doesn't have. Isn't that amazing?" She sighed out happily and moved to Dana's side, reaching for her arm. Her fingers glided over the the fabric and soon she wrapped one arm around the other's and pulled her close to her like a dear friend. "Well... no time to waste. Let's head to the mission board and see what we can do together." The girl was clearly excited to be here, and she wasn't going to waste another minute standing around for long.