Rebirth of Eden

[Littlemankitten]

(collab with ronin and blah)

Cairi does her best to avoid any eye contact with anyone other than Aile, giving her a weak smile the few times she does so. The wait was almost unbearable, and she visibly swung side to side a little and passed around the lamp post often. Waiting in a crowded area like that was awful, though at least unlike back in high school she learned to calm herself down enough that she won't literally pass out during say an assembly like she has twice before. Finally though, the bus arrived, and a greasy old man came out, probably their bus driver. Cairi sighed a little in relief, not really caring how the driver looked, well, that was until he started changing into... Something else, a woman, a hot woman at that. Cairi stared at the transformation with a mix of surprise, awe, and fear. She slowly inched her way to Aile and whispered to her. "I can't do that, but it seems we were chosen because we aren't normal." Cairi stated the obvious, and began slowly walking with Aile to the bus.

Aile gapes as the bus driver transforms into a woman, remaining motionless until Cairi snaps her out of it by whispering to her "Me neither, but wouldn't it be nice? I could make myself so much prettier." she said, giving Cairi a wink, but thinking to herself that after seeing that, not much could surprise her anymore. After a moment, she also considers how much more useful her own ability would be in battle than the ability just change shape, much better for fisting things, that's for sure. She quickly grabs Cairi's hand, and they both boarded the bus. Despite getting in before the girl with the blond hair and headphones, wearing the black jacket, Aile decides they should both linger in the doorway until she takes her seat. The moment she does, Aile whispers to Cairi "I think we should sit in the back~"

Cairi nods. "Yea, it would be nice, I could do a lot more things with that amount of control." Cairi decided to ignore the statement about Aile getting prettier, feeling as though there really wasn't a good response to that that Cairi was comfortable with saying. Cairi does her best to keep up with Aile as they head to the bus, and once they were inside she waited for Aile to pick a spot, as Cairi could spend hours thinking of a good spot with a almost full bus. Thankfully, Aile was much more quick thinking. "Sounds good to me I guess." By sounds good she meant there weren't really any better spots as the bus was pretty heavily occupied. When they got to the back, Cairi would choose a window seat if there was one available and begin looking outside.

Aile gives Cairi a mischievous smile, then pulls her behind her, almost sprinting, to the very back, then tugs her into the occupied seat instead of the empty one, with a blond girl wearing headphones, Aile sitting between them. Aile wasn't even smooth about it, she bumps the girl's hip with her own as she slides in, then then pulls Cairi in next to her, occupying the last bit of space. As soon as they're both seated, Aile speaks directly to the complete stranger "Ay, blondie, wuzzup?" she asks, slapping her on the back hard, jarring her forward in her seat, obnoxiously, still grinning mischievously.

Cairi gives Aile a odd look in response to the mischievous smile. She lets out a small yelp as she is suddenly thrusted foreword, and groans a tiny bit when she sees she's going to be near someone she doesn't know. When their both seated, Cairi realizes Aile's intent and sighs a little, whispering into her ear. "C'mon Aile, don't start trouble already, we just got here." There was concern in her voice, even more so because of the fact this bus is presumably full of people with powers like theirs, making this a even more dangerous game.

Bristol was far from happy to have her solitary position so intruded, especially by not one, but TWO people. The sudden rough slap on the back only added oil to the building fire of seething anger she felt, and she shot a harsh glare at the obnoxious woman. "..." But she didn't explode yet. No, she knew now that everyone on the bus really did seem to have powers, as proven by the driver. She instead studied this person for a second. "Heaven. Didja want me to prove it?"

Aile snickers at the girl's reaction, she got pissed FAST, and assumedly was attempting to threaten her. Of course, this had to be an empty threat, nobody had been able to stand up to her so far, and she had spent her time around much more serious threats than this little blond chick. Aile slapped the girl on her back twice more, both harder than the first, then wrapped her arm around her shoulders and squeezes the one opposite of her roughly "You seem like a friendly girl, blondie, whatcha doing sitting back here by yourself~? Don't tell me you haven't made any friends yet~" she said in a mocking tone, holding her face close to the other girls, giving her a snobby and smug smile.

Cairi clearly starts getting uncomfortable in the situation. She scoots more towards the windows and makes it a point just to look out and ignore what was transpiring right next to her. Her arms were crossed and legs pressed tightly against the wall and together. Attempting to distance herself away from the two as much as possible. She would try making Aile stop, but she has long learned that more often than not it just encourages her, and it was best to just disassociate with what was happening so any anger doesn't get redirected to her.

Typically, Bristol had little to no control of herself when tempted to get violent. But she had to remind herself that 1, she was in a bus, 2, it was full of powered individuals like herself, and 3, it wouldn't be good to start a fight just yet. But that glare of hers only got worse with the repeated slaps to the back. "I don't wanna hear a damn thing about friends outta your mouth when your buddy over there looks like she wants to hop outta the window than deal with you, bitch." Bristol raised her hand to push her intruder's face away from her. "And don't get so close to me like we buddy buddy or some shit. I don't want people thinking I hang with your type."

Aile only snickered more as the girl glared and got angrier. It was highly unlikely anyone on this bus could truly threaten her, someone who was physically strong could only make her even stronger by trying to hurt her, so someone like this girl, regardless of what her power possibly was, would definitely be no threat either. When the girl moved to push her face away, she grabbed her wrist and squeezes it hard, her smug grin only widening "Now now, you're not going to make any friends talking like that, I just came over her to visit with you~" she said mockingly, moving her face even closer and poking the girl's nose with her own. "You should appreciate the company, really, in fact, you should thank me for sitting beside you, and bringing my Princess' illustrious, industrious presence~" she said, before snickering again.

Cariri did her best to shut out the world around here, staring at the trees. Eventually though, her body decided it had enough, with the rising tension happening next to her her anxiety was going skyhigh. She leaned to Aile and whispered to her again. " I'm starting to feel nauseous, can we go somewhere else?" She said in a semi-pleading tone, clearly not enjoying the situation at all.

Bristol did notice the pressure around her wrist, but she wouldn't dare wince. No, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction. "Listen to your friend. Take your goddamn face. Outta mine. And get the fuck outta here. Before we have a problem on this fuckin' bus." She raised her other hand to grab onto the one grabbing hers. Her touch was deceptively light as if she were grabbing fine china, unlike the other girl's. It didn't add much to her threat, but her nearly omnipresent cold glare did the trick of hinting to her loosening self control. She tried counting sheep in her head. That's what people do to calm down, right?

Aile stopped paying attention to the blond girl immediately when Cairi leaned over near her and whispered that she was feeling nauseous, she leaned back and looked at Cairi instead, nodding in understanding "Sorry, Princess, yeah, we can move." she said, ignoring the blond girl, despite her speaking and grabbing onto her wrist. Wordlessly, she shoves the girl back, then stands up with Cairi, walking with her to a nearby empty seat and sitting down with her, letting her lean against her if she wants to. Mentally, she concluded that there would be a chance to harass the girl again later, in a not-so-cramped location. Not that she has a problem with fighting on the bus.

Cairi smiled weakly and nodded at Aile. "Thank you." As she got up and passed by the girl Aile was harassing, she gave her a look that looked like she was apologizing without actually saying anything before moving on. When at the new seat she once again goes for the window seat, but this time doesn't really touch Aile at all, instead opting to continue pressing herself up against the wall of the bus and just watching the trees pass by.

Bristol almost flew off the handle with that last shove, but she reigned in her temper with the reminder that they were leaving and, again, it wouldn't do well to start fighting on the bus with their bus driver up there and all these superpowered people around. Instead, she kicked back into the freed spots, throwing her feet up on them to deter any other would-be invaders. Bristol ignored the other girl's smile as she instead looked away with a rude scoff.

Aile frowns when Cairi doesn't lean on her, but opts not to say anything, instead crossing one leg over the other, then resting one hand on Cairi's back, slowly and gently massaging it while resting back in her seat, only briefly glancing at all of the other people in the bus before resting her eyes, and tipping her hat over them with her free hand.

[Amaranis A'daragon]

The bus driver watches as the students situate themselves, keeping a close eye on the situation happening in the back. Their smile fades for a bit as the confrontation looks like it is about to boil over, but returns when the girls break it up. Aile can feel the bus driver's eyes on her as she moves, though nothing comes of it. Having questions to answer however, the bus driver jumps back on track.

"Oh, yes. The invitations. Well, we have a few of our staff who find people like us, and send out the invitations that way. We try to get to all of our students after they discover their powers, but before anything...tragic happens."

The bus driver pauses here, before looking at Bristol.

"Oh, me? I'm nothing special. I just wanted to be someone else, and now I want to be me! Well, the me I like the best anyways. Very helpful."

Next the bus driver looks over at Penny, looking thoughtful for a second before shrugging.

"Honestly, I don't know why you specifically. I'm not in charge of recruitment, just here to get you to the school. Anywho, time to get on the road! I'll be here if you all want to ask anything else."

The driver then gives a mock salute, then hops into the driver seat before firing the bus up and pulling out of the station, and taking a road out of town.

Lorielle

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You are sleeping in late, which is a normal thing for you, you are enjoying one of your favorite dreams. However, as the dream get closer to the climax, you hear a alarm clock going off. You know that this is different, and try to shut it out. However, as you get back to trying to focus on the dream, you just see a giant clock floating over you, and are startled awake.

As you rub the sleep out of your eyes, you hear a voice you are very familiar with invading you mind: "Eliza! Shame on you! You agreed to be the welcoming committee, and here you are, lazing about! Get up, and make sure you're at least decently dressed!"

Zoey, the class president, is nowhere to be seen as you look around your college dorm style room, deciding if you should skip out on going to the communal showers down the hall to freshen up, laze around until the last minute before throwing whatever you want on before heading out, or take her words to heart and getting your day started.

[Lorielle]

Eliza was rustling around in bed having an incredibly wonderful dream in which she sat atop a throne with her loyal subjects at her feet. Ah how wonderful it felt to be in charge. She thought to herself as she gazed over the land and admired the work she had done, though really what was going on was she was having a dream about one of her favorite games that just took forever to get really good at so she constantly had fun dreams where she was playing this fun little empire builder while also being a character in it. Just as she was about to make a royal decree she’s practically slapped in the face by this giant glowing alarm clock and she knew what was going on.

The student groggily awoke from her dream stretching her arms a bit when she hears Zoey’s voice. “God get out of my head Zoey.. I know you can hear these thoughts.. ‘lol I’ll be right down..” Eliza says in that tone that indicates that she’s just a smidge close to falling back asleep but fights through it but covering her hands in a layer of water and rubbing her face with her hands cleaning her face and freshening up at the same time. Running her hands through her hair also does wonders to make washing all of it so much easier than a standard shower. Though in her tiredness as she slips into a cute fluffy blouse and a shiny red velvet pencil skirt, she forgot her underwear. But she wasn’t about to be late and at this point she couldn’t be bothered as she walks from her room to where the rest of the committee was meant to meet.

[Firehead]

Ada grabbed a small sack out of her bag munching on the protein bar as she took in the answer to her question along with that of the others. She wasn't quite satisfied with it though. She'd been so careful to hide what she had been doing, but someone had found her anyway, and even worse they didn't they introduce themselves in person instead of sending her a letter. Still, she decided not to inquire any further as the bus driver got started starting the bus and driving them out of town.

It seemed a little strange that they weren't given directions to the school, so she found herself curiously staring out the window wondering where it was they were going settling in for another boring bus ride where there was little to do but watch the scenery go by.

[exalted]

Rey looked forlornly out the window at the Dad's car as the bus pulled out. 'Before anything tragic happens', she rolled the phrase around her head again and again, 'Before anything tragic happens'.

She wondered if perhaps her 'gift' had been discovered earlier would the accident still have happened, would her parents and sister still have been on the road at that same exact time and place...

She shook the thought from her head and focused on the road ahead, trying to memorize as much as she could for when she would come back for the car.

[mrblah]

Bristol glanced to the bus driver as they spoke, but after they answered her question, she looked away uncaringly. The rest of what she had to say had no importance to the former vigilante. Though, the phrase "before anything tragic happens" fixed the girl with a sardonic smirk. "Rich." If only such a caring and kind organization had been quick enough to deter a younger her from so stupidly trying to play the hero. Not that she'd have listened to them, probably. Bristol chuckled a bit and closed her eyes to enjoy the ride.

[Nobudi]

Penny's lips tightened to a straight line as she was given basically the verbal version of a shrug, along an actual shrug. She then sighed, trying to relax as much as she could now. After all, she had lived several years with her ability, she could make do with waiting for more discoveries down the road. And as the bus pulled away from the depot, she leaned her head against the glass and watched the environment change from the rural town to dense forest once more.

[Soru]

Rosa is soon given a verbal confirmation of her theories about this college and why she was given such an invitation to a place she had never even heard of before. It seems this is definitely going to be a school for people with powers like hers, though she didn't think the 'before something tragic' part applied to her. She never really had much trouble with her powers other than headaches after attempting more complicated shapes. However she can probably guess that some have powers that are more dangerous to some extent.

With nothing to ask Rosa settles into her seat as comfortably as she could as the bus is now moving and heading to the college. To pass the time she practices forming shapes in her hands, practicing with basic shapes to improve her focus and speed.

[Blue56]

From her seat, Jennifer had managed to catch some of the near conflict between the three girls in the back of the bus. While she avoided staring directly at them to avoid attention, her attention was certainly split between that and the bus driver addressing them. Those three seemed like they might be fun to mess with but.... A couple pieces of information Jennifer had gleaned from the driver's little Q and A session gave her pause. The first was that all the students on this bus had powers as well, which she had suspected but having confirmation made her extra cautious. Jen also wondered just how much this mystery recruiter new about her. She was a somewhat public figure so it wasn't too surprising that she had been discovered, but did the school know exactly what her ability was or just that she had some sort of power?

That was a question for another day though. The second thing she had learned was that the bus driver probably wasn't an illusionist like her. The wording seemed to imply shapeshifting to her, similar but still quite different. This also meant she had no idea what everyone here was capable of. Until she had a better idea of what she was in for, it would be difficult to construct a believable lie or play any good tricks without facing some serious consequences. So for now Jennifer would wait.... and observe her fellow students.... and keep shuffling her fake cards.

[Mark3000]

From everything the bus driver said, he seemed to be a simple driver. All be it with an interesting ability. Abigail let out a light yawn as the bus began to move on it's way towards their destination. She had been kept up by her constant migraines and was just buzzed enough to catch a nap. Then a thought wiggled its way into the back of her head. Standing up as the bus moved, Abigail stood up and moved towards the front of the bus. Sitting behind the bus driver, she tried to talk to him. "So can you tell me a bit more about this town? It got any noteworthy drinking holes?" Abigail said casually. She could make due with a flask. But she couldn't wait to get her hands on something bigger.

[Littlemankitten]

Cairi spent the rest of her time disassociating from the world around her. With that conflict now seemingly resolved she didn't have much to worry about except keeping her anxiety in check. She simply looked out the window, watching the various things go by, letting her mind wander to puppies or kittens occasionally. She didn't really want to have any contact with Aile right now, her belligerence annoying Cairi more than a little bit, even if she was pretty used to it at this point. So she sort of moved away from Aile touch, making it clear with body language she didn't want to be touched right now. Well, for now all she could really do was sit and wait until they arrived at their destination.

[RandomRoninKitten]

With Cairi showing that she doesn't want Aile to touch her right now, making her feel more hurt than before, she decides to go ahead and nap during the ride there, so she glances at Cairi momentarily and rests her hands in her own lap, briefly using one to tip her hat over her eyes, then, ignoring everyone else on the bus, she rests her eyes to try to drift off to sleep. Sleep doesn't come easy, however, as Aile's paranoia causes her to worry about Cairi's view of her.

[Amaranis A'daragon]

The bus driver glances at Abigail as she addresses them. She smiles, and turn her attention back to the road.

"Of course there is, this town used to be nothing more than a hunting and logging community. If you like the company of a bunch of plaid shirt wearing people, take a look at the Den. If you want something else, go to the Drinking Hole. I know, not very imaginative. What else can you expect from a bunch of laborers, though? At least everyone in town can point you there if you decide to take your chances."

The drive through the forest is scenic and beautiful, but most of you have seen enough trees passing by car windows at this point, that seeing any buildings turns out to be way more exciting. After a few minutes, many of you see something most of you have never seen before: an active sawmill. The noise of large, industrial saws and people shouting it a welcome break from the monotonous silence. Another 15 minutes of driving, the road becomes newer, and then you all see it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

While not the most impressive campus ever, the idea of a new life in something that isn't a bunch of log cabins or a prison looking camp in the middle of nowhere is promising. A new life where you wouldn't be the freak hiding a secret, you would be the normal ones. Another minute passes before the bus pulls in front of the main building, and stops. The driver stands up, opens the door, and turns to all of you.

"Well, we're finally here. Welcome to Eden University, where everyone is as freaky as you. Well, maybe not. Who knows? Anyways, get out and meet the welcoming committee. I'm sure some of you will enjoy it here."

As you all exit the bus, you all see three people waiting for you. One is a slightly red faced girl wearing a suit, another girl wearing a blouse and red skirt, and a guy who looks like his idea of fun is messing with the stuck up girl. The girl in the suit steps up, and clears her throat.

"Hello, and welcome to our school! My name is Zoey, and we are here to show you around your new home for the next few years."

Eliza

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You make it to the front of the school without issue, and you see two other people waiting there. The first you recognize as Zoey, and she looks like the stick up her ass is fully placed this morning. Wearing a suit and having her hair tied back, if she were older you wouldn't be surprised if people thought she was a strict teacher. Instead, they have a strict student council president. Next to her, slightly surprising to you, is the top student in the combat class: Andy. He has his headphones on and is listening to music that you can hear as you get closer, probably to keep his ear from being talked off by the president.
"Honestly, out of all students to get put in a committee with, it has to be Eliza and Andy. They will ruin the impression of our school..."
Zoey being lost in her rambling doesn't notice your approach, but Andy pulls out one of his earbuds and turns to look at you.
"Look who it is, and on time no less. What did Zoey wake you with this time? Anvil on the head like me, or some giant dildo monster?"
"Wh-WHAT?! How could you dare insinuate I would use my power for anything so untoward?!"
"Oh, right. I forgot, you hate using your power for fun."
Before, Zoey has time to retort, the bus pulls in front of you, and you get your first look at the new students.

[Characters being introduced]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Zoey


Andy

[Firehead]

Ada munched on her food while she watched the scenery pass them by. Despite her earlier enthusiasm seeing more of the same slowly drained away her excitement rather quickly. This place was sounding more exciting with every new thing she learned, but the delays seemed to just keep piling up. She knew she would reach it eventually, but it was hard to keep up her excitement as things kept dragging on. The noise of the sawmill was a distraction from the doldrums, but the noise was more a bother than anything.

Finally, she reached the place, and her excitement started to return to her. Getting out, she was presented with three other students announcing that they were there for a tour and orientation. "Oh, what can you do?" Everyone here was supposed to be like her, so it made sense to want to know what they could do.

[Blue56]

The rest of their trip to Eden University was disappointingly uneventful but it did give Jennifer time to decide what kind of person she wanted to portray herself as to her new classmates. A poor traveling entertainer perhaps? It should work as long as no one recognized her... And whoever recruited her would likely know the truth so she would need to figure out who that was and just what they knew about her. Still, there was little else for her to do besides stare out at the scenery so occupying her mind with thinking up a backstory and persona was as good a way to kill time as any.

The campus they arrive at isn't anything spectacular, though Jennifer didn't know what to expect really. It seemed like she wouldn't be living in the lap of luxury as she was used to, but that was just fine so long as she could entertain herself sufficiently. Jennifer files off the bus along with everyone else and is greeted by a trio of students. Zoey seemed the odd woman out in her rather nice looking suit. Feeling a little restless from the long journey here, Jennifer decided it was time to do something fun while also seeing just how people reacted to what she could do. "A pleasure to meet you Zoey, I'm Jennifer." She steps forward to introduce herself with a charming smile, giving a theatrical bow with a flourish of the magician's cloak she wore over her shoulders. As she did so, her hat "accidentally" fell off her head and a white rabbit (illusory of course) scurried out from underneath it and bolted off into the woods where Jennifer dispelled it once it was out of sight. She quickly picked up her hat and placed it carefully back on her head after dusting it off, giving her best impression of an embarrassed smile as she did so while carefully studying those around her for a reaction, if they gave any.

[Lorielle]

"Well sorry for sleeping in, but some of us have responsibilities beyond just this school. Not to mention the work load this place throws at its students is obscene, i've already graduated with a masters, im not here for a PHD." Eliza says with a huff, she was mostly joking with Zoey, she liked her firm attitude reminding her a bit of her eldest sister. "And no Andy, Zoey is the same as always a giant alarm clock barreling down at me as it rings incessantly." She doesnt say much more to Andy, she wasnt too familiar with him, but she was ready to receive the newest students wondering who they were going to meet.

[exalted]

Rey continued to sit quietly on the bus, not looking at the others as she memorized the road back to her car. She sighed briefly with relief as she noticed all the parking spots as the bus pulled in, wondering if she would need to get a permit... that was if she could get back to the car, it had been quite a bus ride, would she be able to walk all the way back to fetch it? Oh god, would she have to try and ask someone for a lift back?

Lost in her self imposed misery again, she slumped gloomily off the bus without a fuss... only to shriek and tumble backwards on her ass as she saw a white rabbit suddenly scurry out of one the girls hats and away from them.

[Soru]

The rest of the bus ride there is rather uneventful and practicing with her powers on the bus also got boring after a while. Rosa spends some time looking out the window to see the sights and other times she was on her phone. Eventually they get to the school and she looks at it through the window as the bus pulls up. It looked rather nice, not really what she was expecting but then again she didn't really know what to expect. Once the bus had stopped she got off with the rest of her future classmates and they are greeted by a trio of people, though Rosa couldn't tell if they were other students or school faculty. After the greeting one of the people that was on the bus steps forward to introduce herself, the girl looked like a magician and her hat fell off and she saw a rabbit come out and run off. Rosa couldn't tell if this was some simple magician's trick or the girl's power.

[mrblah]

Bristol tuned out the world for the rest of the ride. The unfamiliar terrain passing by was largely ignored by her, with the former vigilante merely noting the change on a logical level. They were in a new area. It was open and rural, something she wasn't accustomed to considering the city life she'd known. It reminded her how far from home she was, and everything that happened... maybe that was for the best.

When the bus parked and everyone was let off, Bristol stayed in the back as she departed the vehicle. The building they'd be staying in was unimpressive, but she never had any high expectations of some sort of grand Hogwarts wannabe, nor had she wanted such a place. Anywhere with a bed and food would be enough to sustain her, and she wouldn't have enjoyed the old-time gothic architecture or magical talk anyway. Bristol wasn't much of a fantasy fan...

Ah, but disregarding these thoughts, it seemed that there was some sort of welcome party there for them. Bristol rolled her eyes. This "Zoey" just came across as some tight-ass bitch who'd die if she broke one rule, the guy looked like your typical trouble-making douche who was more than likely full of himself, and the last of the trio, Bristol could tell, was some rich bastard's daughter. If these were the three who were supposed to introduce them to Eden, the blonde was not impressed... well, except for the rich girl's boobs. Those things were certainly leaving an impression on her. Really, they weren't the biggest she'd ever seen, but what the redhead was wearing definitely accentuated them. Her power better have been something ranged, because those would get in the way of her doing any REAL fighting.

... Off topic. Bristol glanced away and resumed her ignoring of literally everything happening, unfortunately missing an entertaining trick from the magician. She's pulling up that "delinquent" wall as high as she can.

[Mark3000]

Abigail made a mental note of the haunts the bus driver told her about. If she got the chance, she would have to sneak out and give them a look. While the scenery was nice, the campus itself wasn't much to write home about. Though it was nicer then the last few places Abigail had stayed.

Just as the bus was stopping, the young woman hid her flask in her backpack. The last thing she needed to do was make a poor first impression. Though it didn't hid the smell of booze on her breath. Grabbing the little bit of luggage she had, she decided to just let the welcoming committee guide them through the school.