The first test- Genshiki enters

Sitting above the testing area of the second floor Genshiki watched as countless regulars began popping up, being ported there by Harpie. He waited for all of them to show up before he said anything, he noticed a couple people had already broken out into fights and got slightly irritated but let the matter drift from his mind. Looking at his pocket he was able to discern how many regulars were now in the area and with a small smile he stood up and began speaking, his voice amplified to reach all ears within his testing area. Welcome chosen regulars! Its me Genshiki and it looks like everyone is here now so how about we get this party started! Genshiki said, letting his words drift to everyone's ears.

As you may know i am the Director of this test, but it seems like there is too many of you regulars so what say we lower the numbers? In five minutes the test will begin and all there is too it is make the current number of regulars drop.... By half. Genshiki smiled as he said this, imagining the faces of all the regulars who must now be looking around preparing for the worst outcome. Crossing his arms he sat back in his chair and prepared to say one final thing. Just remember, the means to not matter as long as the number of regulars who are capable of going to the next floor drops by half. Use whatever means necessary to achieve this goal. Genshiki laughed, the sounds traveling across the testing area for all to hear. Oh and before i forget, after the number of regulars has reached half of its current number you all will need to get into groups of 3 to pass this test, so do your best and have fun! Genshiki called out to the regulars and leaned back, getting ready for the show.

Aurora woke up leaning against a tree in a field to see a large blob like figure watching her from afar, before commenting "This must be a Da-an, and he appears to be peaceful" as she finished a male with dark blue hair, a white top, Baggie pants and sneakers on appears out of thin air to land a powerful kick to the side of his head before turning to face her, Aurora was starteled but quickly rose drawing her hook before the man ran towards her, he was faster than she assumed and he aimed a kick to her face, she was barely able to avoid the kick, getting a cut to her cheek, before using her Aurora Flash, avoiding him and gaining the advantage as she appeared behind him, her hook wrapped around his neck. "Why don't you join me? We can survive if we work together" the guy looked over his shoulder his eyes where a clear beautiful blue as he looked into he bright red eyes, he was defiantly attractive and she wouldn't mind working with him of a while. He nodded slowly and Aurora unhooked him and grabbed his arm "lets go then" she said joyfully.

As they moved across the field they came across a red haired girl with two Da-an besid her, she saw Aurora and grinned and wispered before the two large Da-an's charged towards her, the blue eyed man ran past her dealing a combo of kicks taking out the two Da-an's and clearing a path for Aurora. She took the chance using he Aurora flash to close the distance jumping above the girl before striking at her with her rainbow hook dealing many powerful blows and knocking her out. 

The blue eyed man was walking with her when a huge one eyed ogre ripped itself from the ground roaring, the blue eyed man grabbed Aurora's arm and thew her out the way as the ogre attacked "go, I have a personal grudge" Aurora blushed as she looked at him but left him to fight the ogre as he wished walking towards the mashed area where she hopped less people would gather.

Hibana watched as the man above them began to speak. As he began to explain the rules of the exam, Hibana looked down at her feet. "Violence..." she muttered to herself, reaching back and grabbing her reel. "I don't know why i'm surprised." she told herself. The Daseki family was taught to always try and get out of violence, whether it be through negotiation or just a simple compromise. However, the rule of this game were pretty specific. "Theres no way to get around this." she told herself, latching her hand to the handle of her reel. as she lifted her hand, causing a thrust to happen and the now sword like reel to pop out of place, she brought it in front of her.

Hibanas reel was special. She could turn it into a sword for close ranged battle, or, if needed, a whip/reel for mid-ranged. As the man, Genshiki Hindo, gave the signal, she closed her eyes, putting the reel in front of her as if she was blocking something. She then waited. All around her she could here the grunts and sounds of people hitting the ground and fighting, however, no one was at her yet, then she felt it. As she looked up, she was surrounded.   
 
3 men were around her, each one abour 2 or 3 meters away. Front, back, and side. Hibana looked at them as all they did was laugh. "Easy pickings." one of them called out. Hibana merely stood there, just watching the three men. they didn't seem like people that would be excepted into the tower. However, they didn't seem like irregulars either. They just seemed like thugs, very well dressed thugs. "Okay, lets get her!" one yelled. As all three charged forward, a pair of black, 3 foot long wing busted out from beneath her cape, causing her to fly into the sky about 3 or 4 meters. As the men all ran into each other, Hibana didn't give them time to realize what had just happened. 

"Whip Lash!" She shouted as her blade quickly turned into a whip. it then flew down, bashing into all three of the men. As they all stepped back, bruises and little cuts all over there bodies, Hibana flew down, turning it back into a whip, and slamming it into all three of there guts. they all flew back, hitting a near by wall. As she heard the loud and painful grunts and slams of their bodies hitting the floor, she turned around. All three of them were on the ground, knocked out. "I'm sorry..." she told the three bodies, leaping into the air and using her birds eye view to see what was going on around the battle field.

((From here on, all of Brizan's many many many thoughts will be in itallics. Also rogue, from your post, I assume that you are flying over the battlefield and scanning the area. However, my experience as an RPer tells me that I can misinterpret RPs from time to time. Let me know if what I wrote isn't possible, I can change it. I just figured that there would be no way that Briz wouldn't see you from his current position so I threw it in as a bonus))

Brizan's long, downward-pointed ears twitched irritably as the loud sound of speakers awoke the young Greyzong scientist from his sleep. Normal functions returned to the man at a slug-like rate. Brizan always liked slugs, but that was aside from the issue. The issue was what the voice was saying. Oh thats right, I got brought in that tower by that winged chick. Brizan chuckled at the double meanings that could be applied to the word 'chick' in that sentence. The scientist shook his head and rubbed his eyes. I have to focus, I am probably at a test site of some sort. And sure enough, he was, what was more was that he was thrown straight into a brutal survival match. Wow, I have serious ethical issues with that 'guardian' going out and picking a bunch of 'chosen' regulars only for half of them to be killed. And of course they will be killed, people have a tendancy to be simple-minded and violent in these situations. I, however, will only be 'killing' one person.

Brizan stood up and stretched out his arms only to immediately fall down from a wave of exhaustion and hunger. Damn, I forgot that only a few hours ago I was swimming across a giant moat of shinsoo to see the 'walls' of the tower. An extreme feeling of hopelessness kicked in next. That's right I am climbing this tower to give my existence meaning, to make a lasting impact on the tower. No that is meaningless, a tower is isolated, I am here to find a way to the world. No. The universe outside these walls and make it a better place. Brizan pushed himself back too his feet as the man added in the extra tid-bit about forming teams. Oh, it seems that there is more intelligence to this 'test' than I thought. Oh well, my plan remains unchanged 'that' person still dies.

The hunger and fatigue had subsided  a bit which gave the ecologist a moment to look around him. He was on the grassy dome of a hill where the grass reached up to his chest. The glare from the lights above, however, forced him to squint his eyes in discomfort so he slid his goggles over his eyes and switched them to the tinted settings. Now that Brizan could see better, he crouched down and crawled forward to what appeared to be a cliff. The scientist had his hook gripped in his right hand as he progressed. Now that I am awake and my brain is working again, I realize how awful of an idea it was to be standing when the test starts... oh well at least my plan still sounds plausible now that I am awake and rational.

Brizan crawled his way to the edge of the cliff as the world around him transformed into a chorus of screams, cries and explosions. Explosions? Brizan had to focus and examine the battlefield, he had no time to worry about the explosions for now. While still remaining concealed by the grass, Brizan scouted out the area past the cliff. The first thing he noticed was some punk girl with wings scanning the battlefield from above. Not my problem if she makes herself a target. Brizan continued search. Found it! A little stream carved its way across the rolling landscape with flat banks on either side. What made this even better was that the chances of a regular crossing him on his way to the stream if he went down the side of the cliff were fairly slim. However, the scientist would much rather take the side way down the hill so he wouldn't have to expose himself on the cliff so he crawled back into the tall grass and began to move parallel to the cliff.

This was not going to happen, as just moments later, Brizan felt ripples of disturbed shinsoo collide with his skin. Damn, a regular is here... wait, the shinsoo is frantic. There are at least two fighting within ten meters! Brizan closed his eyes and listened, sure enough he heard the sound of weapons clashing approaching his at a fast rate. Brizan rolled out of the way to narrowly avoid being stepped on and then rolled some more to readjust himself to see the battle unfolding before him.

Crawling through tall grass drastically reduced the scientist's vision, which was why it was much more preferable to rely on his natural gift to feel shinsoo disturbances in this situation. However, the two individuals in front of him were close enough for him to make out the lower features of without revealing himself. One appeared to be wearing boots with loose pants that had some sort of blue sash holding them up. This individual appeared to wielding a cutlass but was constantly being pushed back by the other person who was wielding a green needle. "You are a fool to be wielding such a weapon in the inner tower!" Taunted the man with the needle.

Brizan had no time to examine the man further, because the man with the cutlass had made a counter attack and pushed the needle-man towards Brizan. He quickly rolled out of the way and continued rolling for several meters. I should use this chance to advance towards the stream. Brizan began to craw foward, paying close attention to the disruptions in the shinsoo for any changes in the tide of the battle. Sure enough, the 26-year-old scientist  heard the sound of flesh being pierced followed by a pained scream that seemed to get further a way and then medium-volume thud. A victor had been decided. "How weak, maybe I will find a stronger opponent after moving down from this hill." The voice of the needle-wielder stated to himself. How brutal... well I guess I would be thinking the same thing regardless of who the victor was. This is just what happens when you make killing seem like the only option.

Brizan never had the chance chance to continue along the path he was moving for there was a sudden 'BOOM!' followed by a wave of intense heat. One of those explosions from earlier was here and had hit near where the needle wielder was at. "You psychotic bastard! Why would you have so much dynamite on you when you were chosen!?" the needle-man screamed but  on received psychotic laughter in front of him. "Damn, you blocked my path by letting your explosions light the grass on fire!" The needle-man with a tendency to state his thoughts out loud cursed.

Brizan could feel the needle-man running towards him i search of an escape, so he quickly began to roll towards the cliff as it was his only option. I can't be stupid, I need to remain patient. I may be weaker than all of these people, but I am much more level-headed.

"Oh no you don't!" came a voice that complemented the psychotic laughter followed by another explosion that caused the man with the needle to be blasted back. This explosion also completed a wall of fire from cliff face to cliff face that trapped the man(and Brizan) in. Damn, I need to keep hidden and roll towards the edge of the cliff. If I can remain unseen, I won't be targeted and will be able to climb down safely. Ash began to get in his face, forcing the scientist to breathe through his shirt. Another explosion, the needle wielder was probably near death now. He should just jump off the cliff at this point, he would still have a better chance at surviving a ten meter fall than another explosion. Brizan had reached the cliff face, and now that he thought about it, it was the exact same part of the cliff that he had looked out from earlier. He began to swivel his body over the edge when needle-man's voice began to plead.

"Oh come on, I need to get to the top!" The voice begged "why are  you going after me so aggressively when some coward who doesn't even have the guts to stand up is trying to sneak his way over the edge!"

Shit, I have been seen. What a jerk! Well, I guess it would be frustrating if I was stupid enough to run around stabbing people thinking that was the way to pass the test, only to find myself surrounded by a wall of flames while someone who chose to not expose himself sneaked away to safety. However, I am glad that I am not stupid like that. Brizan tapped his foot against the wall of the cliff and felt for the waves of the shinsoo to return to him in a quick moment. He smiled, what he needed was just one and a half meters to the right and four meters down. Brizan quickly began to roll to the right with his feet dangling off the edge.

"Oh... you are right." Came the chilling voice of the man with the dynamite. "I will be back to you momentarily. " Brizan caught a glimpse of his assailant as he shoved the nasty handle of his hook into his mouth and pushed himself over the edge. From this quick glance, the scientist could make out what looked like a welder's mask and a tall mohawk before it was replaced by a flash of rock as he plummeted through the shinsoo.

Brizan snatched the hook from his mouth as soon as he began to fall. He only had a split second to prepare before reaching his target destination. This destination was a small lip of rock about five to six meters from the ground that led into a tiny cave that went about two meters into the face of the cliff.

His feet hit the rock, only for him to immediately feel gravity pulling him back and nearly causing him to lose his balance. Instead, the scientist rolled forward into the cave and took a moment to breathe as an explosion that was likely meant for him sounded above. Brizan's eye's suddenly narrowed, he was not alone.

Hibana flew through out the sky, scanning the battle field as if she was looking for a target, or making her self more of one then any. However, making her self a target, or searching for an opponent, were not her intentions here. She was simply trying to stay out of the way of danger. "Hopefully no one else here can fly... Or maybe there is another Daseki here who flies but is peaceful like me." she said, smiling and giving herself hope. she quickly smiled as she looked down at the ground. 

As she continued flying, she began to hear something behind her. It sounded like the flapping of wings "Maybe there is another Daseki here." she told herself, turning around and seeing a large figure charging towards her. "ugh!" before she could even react, the figure bashed into her. As she fell to the ground, she managed to catch herself before she slammed into the ground, and caused her self to gently, and gracefully touch the ground. Her long red cape flowed behind her along with her scarlet red hair. "I'm sorry sir!" she yelled up at the figure as she stood firmly on the ground. "I do not wish to participate anymore in this violence. I would very much like it if you could find someone else to do harm or battle with." she shouted towards the figure. She couldn't see much detail, he was wearing a black cape which covered his entire body, with a good covering his head and face. All she knew, was that he had bird-like wings

The man looked at her for a few seconds, a bit confused at what Hibana had just said. The man spoke no words as he lifted his hand. "I that his way of saying okay?" she asked herself, but no, she was wrong. In less then seconds she saw Shinsoo gather around his hand. As he chucked it at her, it flew with incredible speeds. She leaped back, going into the cave, however, she felt it skim her shoulder. As she bit down on her lip, stopping her from all out screaming, she lifted her hand and held her hurt shoulder. What was that? she asked herself. "I guess here is no preventing it then, huh?" she asked both herself and the man, not noticing that there was another person in the cave along with her. As she reached behind her back, she grabbed onto her weapon. The man looked at her and she heard a laughter coming from inside the suit. as she squated down, she leaped up into the air, flying faster then ever as she slammed her sword down upon the man. As he attempted to block with the spear, the solid parts of her sword disconnected. As the sword cam in contact with the spear, it used its disjointedness to curve, smashing into the mans face. 

He yelled in pain as he crashed down into the ground. As he began to get up, Hibanas weapon was in full whip mode. "I'm sorry!" she shouted, getting closer to the opponent and slamming the whip/reel into his gut. As he flew back, he slammed into a rock, As Hibana flew closer, she went back to sword mode, and slammed the butt of her weapon into his gut. She could see through the darkness of the hood that his or her eyes opened wide as she slammed against the ground. Hibana quickly turned around as she looked at the cave. Her weapon quickly transformed back into a sword as she quickly flew into the cave, sitting down on a rock, she curled up into a little ball laid her head against the cave wall  behind her, gently placing her weapon onto the strap on her back.

Brizan clenched his hook and kept one foot back in case he needed to jump. Rubble began to fall around him. Must be from the blast. The trained scientist suddenly realized why he was unable to see into the hole in the cliff face that could barely be called a cave. He still had his goggles on the tinted setting, and what was more was that the lenses were covered with ash and soot. Brizan quickly, switched them to the default setting and wiped them off with his shirt before placing them back over his eyes. He could have always just taken the goggles off since he was risking being attacked, but nah his shinsoo reading ability would protect him or something like that.

Now that he could see, he could make out the source of the shinsoo disruption. A man was laying in back of the cave, struggling to get up. "Pocket, visible mode!" Brizan whispered, still pretty exhausted from his latest ordeal considering it happened less than a minute ago. "Light function, on!"

As the two meter cave was illuminated, he could simultaneously get a better look at the individual while also blinding them momentarily. The man's features could now be clearly seen. He wore a pair familiar loose and lightly colored pants along with a blue sash on his waist and boots on his feet. Wasn't one of the two people who was fighting up there wearing those exact things? Brizan looked up to see that the man's frilly white dress shirt was covered in blood and puncture wounds. Thats why it sounded like he was getting further, he fell off the cliff and must have rolled into this cave by sheer luck. Too bad, the luck wont seem to do him much good. He is unlikely to survive in this condition. Contrary to Brizan's cynical personality, this scene made him feel quite sad. A now unarmed man was just forced to bleed out alone in a cave halfway up a ten meter cliff.

"Well..." The man struggled to speak. "I... hardly.... exp-...expected to.....to see another.... man....in..my....final moments." The man wobbled a bit, even holding his slouched posture was a struggle. "Too...bad.... I won't get to die... by water..... I was a sailor.... ya know?"

Before Brizan could even respond, several more explosions occured, presumably killing off the man with the needle after he roasted a bit in the flames. However, what really troubled Brizan was the amount of rubble coming down. It looked like this whole portion of the cave was going to come off. Sometimes I don't understand my own actions. Oh well, at least I can benefit from this too. Brizan thought of how bad the fall was going to be this time. Probably... The scientist quickly pulls his shirt away from the skin and cut it with the pointed end of his hook several times as if it had been slashed an proceeded to do the same to his pants. "Don't say anything, you want to save your energy if you want to make it to water." Brizan said before throwing his shitty hook off the cliff and lifting the former sailor in a fireman's carry. Rocks began to hit his head as walked to the lip of the cave that was probably to sheer off as well. You know, I have never had to make a long fall while carrying a dying man over my shoulder before. These were Brizan's last thoughts before he realized the lip was break and that he had to jump to avoid being slammed back into the cliff. So he jumped.

Some people liked falling, it gave those people the rush they lived on. Brizan did not feel such rushes. He did not really feel much of anything, which is why he could never chase 'thrills', to him such things were straight up illogical. Brizan landed on the balls of his feet and immediately felt the extra weight causing intense strain on his skeletal structure. Good thing Brizan had already thought of which way to roll, the man was on his right shoulder, so he rolled to his right. He placed the man down gently as his right shoulder hit the ground, allowing the rest of Brizan's roll to occur on the other side of the man's body. "You still hanging on?" Brizan asked the man as he got back to his feet and searched for his hook, careful not to brush off all the ash, soot, dirt and blood(from the dying man) that was now all over him. If someone looked at Brizan, they would think he had several serious wounds with all that blood around the cuts in his clothes.

The man nodded as Brizan picked up his hook, there was no way that he would be able to leave such a crucial item behind like the 'Hook of Agonizing Frustration.' Brizan shoved the rather disgusting handle of his hook into his mouth and lifted the man over his shoulder before continuing again. It was good that he started moving when he did too, because the top 3 meters of the cliff that went over the cave(not the whole cliff) sheered off and fell to the ground.

Brizan remained alert as he remembered to switch his goggles back to tinted mode. Only two minutes ago, Brizan saw that the path he was taking had no one heading towards it. This was holding true. It only took two minutes for Brizan to reach the stream. The scientist kneeled down and allowed the dying man to do the same by support him with his shoulder as one soldier would help a wounded friend walk. The man reached down and touched the water before turning to Brizan. "...Thank you" The man died.

Though the deceased sailor's body had gone limp, Brizan did not let him fall. "No thank you, thanks to you, I can do a much better job at killing 'that man'." Brizan subtly slipped his hook into the other man's partially clenched hand as if he had stolen it from the scientist. Making sure to account for any angles that those onlooking from higher ground would be able to see, Brizan manipulated the dead man arm so that the hook penetrated Brizan's jacked and shit(Brizan of course adjusted his shoulder so the jacket would slide further up the hook to look like a fatal wound. The clever scientist the knelt there for a second as if he was in shock before weakly pushing the man away into the water(giving him his aqautic burial) and somewhat removing the hook from his back. Next, Brizan fell, making sure that the point/curve of the hook hit the water so that onlookers would assume the blood had washed away while simultaneously keeping the handle under shoulder an arm so that people would not wonder why the the current was not taking it away.

Brizan had successfully killed that man. That man, of course, being himself. No one would suspect that this man covered in blood, soot and ash with gashes all over his body, tinted goggles to hide his conscious and a pretty cool with scene was any less dead than all the other corpses lying around. But he was. Brizan was a lot less dead. Now all he had to do was wait for the exam to end so that he could find some teammates.

((I know it seems like a lot happened, but at this moment, no more than five minutes have passed in Brizan's survival round. Also, this is 500 words shorter XD))

Hibana sat there. Her head resting on the cave wall and her knees pulled up to her chest. Her long, scarlet red hair now covering her face. As she reached up, pushing her hair to the side, she began to mumble to herself. "I had to use violence..." she told herself. "That man was aiming to kill me..." she reassured herself. "I've hurt so many people... but... The household wouldn't abandon me..." her voice began to get a bit muffled as tears ran down her face. "No, they wouldn't... We can use violence if there is no other option." she said as tears dipped off her face, running over her cheeks and causing them to go red. 

As she lifted her hand, and began to whip away the tears, a girl walked in front of her from the other end of the cave. She was heading towards the opening of the cave, either ignoring Hibanas presents or just not realizing she was there. As the girl walked past, hibana stopped. She forgot all about her tears as the white haired women from the cave charged towards a seemingly harmless girl. From what Hibana could gather, it would appear as if the harmless girl had killed a friend of the white haired maiden. 

Hibana latched onto her weapon, which was in its typical sword mode, and she slowly got up. Looking out side, she saw the two women charging towards each other. She wasn't sure if the brunet was out to kill, but the white haired maiden was. Before the two even touched each other Hibanas sword quickly turned into a whip. "Wave." she mumbled, the whip quickly moving towards both of the girls ankles. The white haired maiden was swept off her feet, however, if the brunet had been hit, she didn't know. 

The white haired maiden got up and looked at her. "You little BI-" before she could finish insulting Hibana, the whip wrapped around her neck. The girl claws at the string around her neck but Hibana lifted the whip in the air, causing the girl to fly into the air, then slam against the ground as Hibana motioned for the whip to do so. The girl would have screamed but she was already choking. 

"I'm so sorry." Hibana told the white haired girl as she let go of her neck and her whip clenched tight together, causing it to go tight and turn into a sword. The white haired girl quickly got to her feet and charged, attempting to slice her weapon into Hibana. Hibana just looked away, tears running down her eyes as she swiftly moved her sword, cutting into the girls side, then nocking her against a rock, causing the force to split her into two. 

Hibana looked down at the white haired girl as more tears ran down her face. "I killed her." she said crying. "I killed someone." Hibana clenched her fist and then felt something, a hand grabbed her shoulder, and she quickly turned around. Thinking it was an attacket, she jammed her sword into his stomach. As she looked, she only got a glimps of the mans blue eyes as he hit the ground. 

"No..." she muttered. "I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to..." Hibana leaped into the air, and flew back towards the cave, going as far back inside as she possibly could, getting away form all of the blood that she had just spilt.

(@ Hannah: I made it vague. So if you want the blue eyes man to live, you could say i didn't hit anything major. or your could say that it was a completely different person with blue eyes. It is all up to you :) )

Brizan starred at the seemingly open but in reality quite fake 'sky'. It was so depressing to realize the blue color was caused by shinsoo and the light in the sky had similar origins. In reality, they were all just caged birds. Brizan sighed inside whilst being careful to not make any movement. Thankfully he was an extremely patient person so he just took this moment to reflect on existence and the origin of violence.

Brizan felt a sudden disturbance in the shinsoo, it looked like he would have a companion for the first time since faking his death. Not that he was looking forward to that or anything he 'hated' people. I wonder if this person will stick around enough for the test to end so that they could become my teammate. A mental image of grabbing a regular's ankles as soon as the test ended flashed through the man's head causing him to chuckle inside. I better stop being so damn funny if I want to pass of as a legitimate dead person. Oh well, I can't help that I am the perfect being that all men(and women) aspire to be. Brizan's feign arrogance had been used as a joke to such an extent at this point that even his thoughts jested in such tones.

"Whew, I barely made it out of that one alive!" A female voice resonated in Brizan's ears. There were sounds of steps and then someone's hands hitting the water. It would really suck if she got sniped right now.......................... Oh really, no one? There was a soft grunting sound as the female of unknown age obviously pushed herself back up to her feet. "Whew! Now that I am properly hydrated, I can dry my brain right up with some whiskey!" The sound of a flask being unscrewed could was audible. Really? Even I don't talk to myself that much and I have no friends. The female made the unmistakable refreshing sigh of someone who just drank from a flask of whiskey. "That dynamite bastard sure was crazy, how did he even manage to live so long with such reckless tactics?" There was a short pause. "Doesn't look like you were so lucky though." A young frowning woman's face appeared above Brizan's head at this moment. No shit? I had to jump off a fucking cliff!

The woman did not appear to much above twenty, but Brizan learned to not judge age on appearance or some bullshit like that. the woman had slightly messy deep blue hair that reached down to just above her shoulders as well as joyous orange eyes that rang of excitement. The woman also had an earring in her left ear that seemed to resemble two pyramids stacked on top of each other. "You seem to have much more than just ash on you... you must have gone through quite the ordeal. I doubt I would have survived long enough to get so many wounds." The woman noted solemnly. I swear I remember those features meaning something from something I read...

The woman's face disappeared and was quickly replaced by the gasp of a person stretching their arms behind their back. The woman reappeared in front of his feet with her back turned. Thankfully, Brizan's head was on a slight slope so he could see the purple cloak draped across the woman's shoulders. "I know you couldn't hear me, but it was nice talking to you corpse! I don't know if there is an afterlife of any sort, but if there is I hope the best for you!" The woman said, turning her head back to smile before running off. Freaking optimists...

Brizan thought for a moment about the cloak before remembering where he had seen the orange, compass-like crest from. That woman was from the famed Kharitis Family, the Great Hous of Adventure(and wild parties)! Meh... over it.

Hibana sat there. Her wings motionless as she was back, curled up into a ball. She was leaning against the wall furthest from the entrance, the cave wasn't that large, however, she was far enough back to be surrounded by darkness. She lifted up her hands, whipping away the tears from her eyes as she began to hear the voice of a women., or, more of a girl really. The 'person' began to te;; her that those people were trying to kill her. She explained how Hibana only saved her own life. It became obvious to her now that it was the brunet from before, however, this did not help Hibana.

"You don't understand." Hibana called back. "I can't... I can't just 'kill' people. I'm not even supposed to harm them unless necessary. I didn't even try and talk to them first... its my households policy to just attack people." she told the brunet. "I could have negotiated. She might have listened." she said clenching her fist. "Besides, it is my fault." she mentioned. "I could have just knocked her out. "She was already about to pass out from the choke. I didn't have to kill her..." she said, her voice drifting off into silence. It no longer sounded like she was crying, just talking with a monotone voice. 

Hibana stood up and slowly walked towards the cave exit. As she lifted up her hand, blocking the sun from practically attacking her eyes. She walked over to the brunet girl and practically fell ontop of her. She didn't push the girl down, nor did Hibana fall herself. She just hugged The brunet girl. Whether the girl would stab Hibanas back, she didn't care. 

"Thank you..."

Brizan Tivilian Greyzong Ka'azigar exhaled. Once again there was no one in the area. He didn't particularly care as he was confident that he would pass this test. It would however make finding teammates a bit more difficult though. Not a huge deal though, I am the protagonist after all. Things will  probably work out in the end. Brizan had the amazing ability to entertain himself with his own thoughts quite easily.

One of the scientists three last names that he came up with as a jab at his last name-less society, Ka'azigar, emphasized this fact. In the dead 88th floor language of the now extinct Darsen race Ka'azigar could be roughly translated as 'I am the protagonist, bitches!' Or was is 'Bitches?' The scientist pondered these thoughts for a while, carefully weighing the pros and cons of plurality.

Aroura was in shock the sudden change was surprising, but she had to find a team, the was sure the numbers will have fallen close to half by now "it's ok, us beauties need to stick together and we need to form a team to pass this test so what do you say, do you want to team up with me?" Aroura rose holding onto the girls shoulders "my names Aurora by the way what's yours?" She said with a warm smile on her face. 

Aurora turned and looked down towards the river "we should look that way, we can rehydrate as well" she turned and awaited the girls response.

As Hibana let go of the brunet, stopping the hug, the girl asked her if Hibana wanted to form a team with her. A smile grew upon Hibanas face as she gently shook her head. "Okay," she told her. "I would love to." As she finished answering, the girl revealed her name was Aurora. "It very nice to meet you Aurora." she said, bowing her head and smiling. "My name is Hibana. Its a pleasure to meet you." Hibana told her. 

As the girl mentioned something about going to the river, Hibana shook her head. "You walk there, Ill take a birds I view and tell you if it safe. If i land, it means you should be fine." She said with a smile. 

As Hibana leaped into the air, she looked down. She didn't see anyone, well, at least not anyone living. Hibana shook her head as she saw that it was more of a stream then a river, but that was okay. She turned her head to Aurora and landed on the ground. It was only a good 1 minute, maybe two minute walk. She knew for a fact, however, that no one alive was still there. As she looked down, she saw a man on the ground.

Hibana bent down, looking at him and tears filled her eyes. "You don't look like a fighter..." she said, sniffing as she whipped away the tears. "You look like you belong in a lab, or maybe a class room." she said, getting onto her knees. "Well, *sniff* You don't deserve to look like this, all beat up and covered in muck." she told the corps. She took of his goggled, paying no attention to its pointed ears, and walking over to the river with the goggles in her hand. "I'm just going to clean these off for you. The least you can do is die with some clean goggles *sniff*" she said giving a little chuckle, which was a bit muffled by her sniffing.

Another disturbance in the shinsoo, only this time Brizan did not even need his shinsoo reading abilities to know this. That girl he spotted earlier was flying over head. Oh dammit, not this girl again. Always flying around and attracting attention. Brizan slowed his breath, though his jacket would cover the movements of his chest nicely, there was no reason not to be careful. The girl landed and looked down upon him, speaking as she wiped away her tears. Saying I belong in a lab... you don't know me! I much prefer field research, also I hate kids and would never teach! Why was this random girl being so nice to him and why was yet another person talking to a corpse?

The girl got to her knees and reached for his head. Dammit, time to space out! I guess I will daydream about being a pirate... no, I'll be a bounty hunter of sky pirates. Brizan drifted away into his rather childish fantasy as his goggles were removed, giving the appearance that he was still dead due to his blank stare. 

Brizan took the opportunity to blink as she turned away to wash his goggles. How could someone that nice be here as a regular? Should I just go ahead and team with her? No, I should wait untill the test is over since it seems to be getting pretty close to done. If an enemy shows up she could just fly away anyways so my safest bet is to remain motionless until this test is over.

Aurora nodded at Hibana, it's a smart idea, but if it is ok to land, she could have drawn unwanted attention, a little bothersome but not to much of a problem. She followed the route until she saw Hibana land, *safe to speed up then* she thought before picking up the pace racing towards Hibana, she hopes nobody attacks, the don't realise how dangerous she is.

After just less than a minute later she was there and Hibana was putting somthing on a corpses *oh no, did she get attacked again?* "Hibana are you ok?" Aurora asked as she made her way closer to her, "who is this guy?" She was unsure what happend but as she scanned the area she saw another body in the water a little further down, probably moved by the stream. "Be carful if there was somebody here who took both of these guys out they might be dangerous" as she spoke she noticed the place was surprisingly quite, *what a peaceful place*.

As Hibana put the goggles back on the seemingly dead corps, Aurora ran down to her. She asked why she was messing with a corps, and Hibana looked up towards her, giving her a smile filled with sorrow. "He just... He just seemed so peaceful... You know?" she told the girl. As she attempted to stand back up, she noticed a hook. "Thats dirty too..." she muttered, lifting up the hook and beginning to wash it. "Those who fall in battle deserve the same respect as though who survive. If not more." she told Aurora as she washed off the hook. "Thats my households motto."

She then stood up, and walked over to the corps. She gently slid it underneath the corps body, making sure not to harm it, but still hide the hook under it. "That way no one takes it from you." she said with a smile, kissing the corps on the forehead and using her hand to close his eye lids. 

Hibana stood up and looked at Aurora. "I didn't see anyone else here..." she told Aurora. She then looked at the river besides them. "We should get some water..." she said, walking over and dipping her hand in, making it the shape of a cup and bringing the water to her lips. "If we are going to keep walking we are going to want to drink up, right?" she asked Aurora, drinking the water in her hands.

Brizan did a front roll into better cover and pressed the button in his hand. There was an explosion and the ship was sinking through the clouds. Brizan looked up to see his sloop and shot his grappling hook at it while holding onto the pirate captain with his other hand. He was going to get away, until someone stuck their fingers on his face and closed his eyes after kissing him on the forehead. Wait, that's not right, what the hell? 

Brizan had done a good job remaining limp and daydreaming through both the goggles ordeal and when the girl randomly decided to wash the hook, he had to remain limp. It really bothers me that someone kissed a corpse's forehead, but whatever makes you feel good about yourself. I personally prefer to make a difference for those still living even if they are just hanging on by a thread. Brizan thought for a moment It seems she already has a teammate and I don't think she is the type to be aggressive. However, there is no point in exposing myself until I absolutely have to or the game ends. I will wait until they are about to leave. 

Suddenly, as if seeing Brizan's predicament, a magnified voice cut through the shinsoo around them. "TO THOSE REGULARS STILL LIVING AND/OR CONGRATULATIONS, HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT TEST, YOU NEED TO FORM A TEAM OF THREE! I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE TEST ENDS!" Well this is surely convenient as hell. I better reveal myself since the test could end at any moment.


Brizan sat up and opened his eyes. "I would recommend drinking the water before I get in to wash all this blood and dirt off, it'll probably take a minute for it to all wash away." He said while awkwardly wiping his forehead from his seated position.

Aurora began to walk towards the stream to drink before the test administrator (she assumes) spoke out, notifying them of the situation of the test, she suddenly draw her hook and flashed between the corpse and Hibana. The man spoke to them, the corpse spoke.. 

Aurora calmed herself looking at the man, she put away her weapon and proceeded to the stream to drink "it's good to see you are alive, but what happened to him?, your weapon didn't create those wounds" she turned and proceeded to sit and listen to this mans story before realising they need him on there team. "My names Aurora by the way it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance" she said why gently smiling towards the pointy eared man.

As the person who Hibana had presumed as dead got up, a smile grew upon Hibanas face. "Your alive!" she exclaimed with a smile, her eyes one crying however her cheeks still stained red. "I'm so glad." she said helping the man to his feet. "I hope you didn't mind me cleaning you stuff." she said giving the man a little bow. "I hope you are alright." she said with a smile. "Well, My name is Hibana." she said right after Aurora introduced herself. "We have to form a team of three."

she then took a step back. "So, i'm sorry, Aurora, I am assuming that we are a team." she said sopped in herself. "So, would the two of you like to for a team with me" she said with a smile.

Too many questions at once. Brizan looked at Aurora pondering whether or not to respond to her question and explain how and why he carried the dying man down here. Upon second thoughts, Brizan opted to not bother with all the frivolous details unless they inquired further. 

The scientist grabbed Hibana's hand to be helped up. "I don't mind you cleaning my stuff, though it was a bit odd. Anyways, my name is Brizan Tivilian Greyzong Ka'azigar and I was just about to ask you two to form a team with me as well." Brizan gave a slight smile, but it wasn't very convincing. 

After a moment of pause, Brizan removed his jacket, socks and shoes before walking over to the water and taking a drink. Once, he was refreshed, he got in, attempting to rid himself of all the blood, ash and dirt that covered his body. "Anyways" He began while in the water "most people are going to be focusing on making teams so I would assume that we are relatively safe. However, based on some of the personalities that I encountered prior to faking my own death, I assume that some teams will be trying to eliminate others before the test ends to get rid of future competition. I am able to read movements within the shinsoo so long as they occur within ten meters, but that may not be enough of a warning." He turned to Hibana "I would ask you to fly up and keep watch, but I feel that might draw attention to our position. Do you think that you could help find a better hiding spot before the end of the test." Brizan realized that he might sound a bit obnoxious immediately asking for help from the others like that but his focus was on passing just like theirs should be.

Aurora realised how many questions she had asked by the mans face and blushed, how was she so foolish, She then looked towards Hibana "what are you on about I asked you before we came here, you didn't respond so I took that as a yes" she was confused and a little irritated about being ignored but just continued to smile after the man replied about wanting to make a team himself Aurora grinned "it's a pleasure to team with you then Brizan Tivilian Greyzong Ka'azigar" he then started to bath in the stream removing the grime he used to descise himself and explained that he faked his own death *hes defiantly intelegent* after he was trying to plan there next move he mentioned needing a place to hide "actually there's a cave back the way we came, I would say we could make It there in about a 90 seconds if we sprint, maybe 3 minutes if we walk" she stopped for a momentum look around before continuing "I would suggest looking around hear but teams might be drawn to the water supply so it's up to the both of you"

"Yay!" she cheered practically leaping towards Brizan. "Thank you so much!" she said with a smile. she then turned towards Aurora and her heart sank. "I'm sorry..." she said. "I... I didn't mean to ignore you... I just... i didn't hear you.." she said looking down.  She then began to fly towards the cave, her body only about 5 feet above the ground. "I'll see you in the cave..." she told them.

Brizan watched the girl fly away, making several rather harsh but true judgement about her character as she went. As the scientist and the other girl began to walk, Brizan lowered his tinted goggles over his eyes so that any far-away onlooker would not realize that he had his eyes closed. Sonar-like waves reverberated through the shinsoo with every step that he took. Anyone hiding behind a rock to set up an ambush would be detected. Brizan knew that his new teammate would probably want to talk to learn more about him since there is a huge difference between a team that doesn't understand each other and a cohesive one. However, Brizan did not have time to think, much less talk. The scientist just needed to focus on detecting anything within a 15 foot radius for now.