Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20160207063839/@comment-5999656-20160414214048

Sometime the next morning...

Platinum sat in the first row of the combat amphitheatre in Beacon. She had stepped up onto the empty stage out of curiosity, to see how the gymnasium looked from that angle. Seats arranged in a wide semicircle, lights directed towards the raised stage, as though a performance were about to begin. It made her feel uncomfortable. Platinum had never seen fighting with fully functional weapons as an entertainment sport, not when everyone's guns were loaded and their blades sharpened. Fighting a war and fighting in a ring were two very, very different scenarios, and it felt wrong to try and blend them together.

They had returned to Beacon late last night, and she had felt more than ready to crash and put the drama of the night behind her. but before the four girls could properly recover themselves, Respersio had dropped by with an odd suggestion.

''Would you guys be up for a private sparring session tomorrow? Team versus team, I think it'd be a good idea for us to get more acquainted with each other and for you guys to get a team dynamic going.''

She'd accepted without giving it further thought. There was nothing special about students practicing against each other; in fact, it was an excellent way for them to hone their fighting skills in a controlled environment. None of Platinum's teammates had raised any objections last night, so it seemed they were going along with the plan. Even so, after having calmed down and having time to process everything, Platinum felt that her doubts from before hadn't lessened at all. She glanced down at her bandaged right hand, and then at her sabre resting against the plush armchair next to her. What problems did she still have to figure out? She went through it one by one, methodically.

Fen had initially raised objections about being in a team for some unfathomable reason, but then quieted down once the threat brought on by Cyzarine took center stage. So although her friend still wasn't enthusiastic, she was much more complacent. And that allowed for Fen to maybe eventually warm up to the Huntress business over time, which was a step forward. Since her doubt stemmed from an innate devotion to something other than protecting humanity from grimm, Platinum could see where she was coming from. And it had been very responsible of Fen to bring her back when she'd gone off the end and lost control of her emotions.

Then there was Raizel. A hotheaded troublemaker who couldn't stand any minor digs at her self-esteem. But even she had chosen the right side when she realized that she'd made a huge mistake in bringing Cyz to the bar where she worked. Since that job seemed now to be temporarily out of commission, Platinum reminded herself to find some time to help the firestarter find employment at a safer, more honest occupation. Their respective personalities clashed horribly, but if some good was to have come out of the mess last night, it was that both of them had come to realize the danger of recklessness.

As for herself... she'd tried so damn hard to get everyone in line, and Platinum knew for a fact that if everyone else had just listened to her the first goddamn time, none of the rest of the night would have happened and there wouldn't be any dead people. Even if her outburst was justified, Platinum knew that it was wrong of her to sink to that level and exacerbate the situation. Or had her actions shown everyone else the grave stakes of the situation? At least now they weren't going to be actively pulling away from her control, she thought.

And lastly, the most definitely biggest threat to Team PRFC's wellbeing: Cyzarine Bluthardt. The girl obviously had suffered some major traauma in the recent past which hadn't been properly diagnosed and/or treated. What the girl needed was some intensive counseling and psychological help, but for some reason her family hadn't bothered to get her any. Why on Remnant would they neglect their daughter in such a painful way? Cyzarine was even more of a time bomb than Raizel, and Platinum was afraid that the girl's unstable mental condition would either hurt more people or disrupt the team's ability to perform as a cohesive alliance. She couldn't help but feel a genuine pity for Cyzarine, despite the girl's terrifying demeanor.

"Hey."

Platinum gave a start to see Fen standing in front of her. The blonde girl moved and sat next to Platinum.

"I guess you're still worried about yesterday, huh?"

Platinum sighed. "More about what's coming next. I can't lead this team by myself, and I'm definitely not qualified to play counselor to three teenage girls with angst issues and lack of emotional control. I know you guys are gonna try harder from now," Platinum said before Fen was about to interject, "but how am I supposed to prevent things like what happened last night from happening again?"

Fen paused. Platinum was most definitely the most reliable 17 year old she knew, as someone who clearly knew the difference between right and wrong and how to act when it came to high-risk people. She felt bad that her best friend was able to decide all this with certainty by herself, when she herself was gifted with all the assistance and guidance she would ever need, yet still ended up making plenty of mistakes. Still, if she could provide some help to Platinum, she'd do whatever she could.

"Take it day by day," Fen said resolutely. "it's not gonna be easy, but like I've said multiple times already, I'll be on your side from now on." When Platinum gave no reply but a sad smile, Fen continued.

"Like, this sparring session, for example. It'll be a great way for us to get to know each other. I realized that there are two way to really get to know someone: you either fight against them or you fight with them. Judge people by their actions, not their words, you know? Actually, you know what? How about we have a short little session within the team while we wait for RASB to show up?"

Platinum's interest was piqued. A little controlled sparring within the team sounded like a good idea.

"Alright, so who do you wanna go against?"

"Ah... good question. You can take Raizel. I bet you guys still need to get that vitriol out of your systems, yo." fen have a mock salute. "That would leave me with Cyzarine."

Platinum cocked an eyebrow. "You're okay with going up against chainsaws?"

"Well, hell, why not? I've got Aura. We can go one at a time, so the other two people who aren't fighting can intervene if it goes too far."

"Fair enough. Then I guess all we need is to wait for Raizel and Cyzarine to show up."