Anybody going this year?

The universe folded in on itself as white gave way to bursts of color, sounds of wind, the noise of reverberation at a high octave and starlight. It only seemed to last for an instant but Ururu could have sworn she saw something more even as she and Hikaru emerged from the gateway. Something entirely familiar to her old life…?

Was there a link or a loophole in there?

“Well I’m alive,” Hikaru breathed with white knuckles wrapped around her creator’s hand.

Both of them took a moment to ensure they hadn’t left anything behind. Dusters, tools, and everything else were still there. Even the cloth masks they hadn’t bothered to use were still there. Whatever it was, it didn’t affect matter in any noticeable manner.

“Could be a fluke, we may need to test it with more skin contact-“

Hikaru’s hand suddenly met the back Ururu’s head loudly in a smack that sent a bird or two from a nearby tree, “Let’s keep our focus shall we? I am not ‘banging’ you in the middle of the wilderness where anyone can walk up on us and kill us. Or watch.”

“I never said anything about banging, but if you want,” Ururu’s grin widened even as she had to dodge out of the way of an even stronger slap to the back of her head.

Hikaru let out a long suffering groan that seemed to be more than just the situation, but she couldn’t keep the bit of humor in it from showing through. How was it that she was the more mature one of the two when Ururu was technically older by a number of years? Everything she knew about people said that it should have been the exact opposite.

Ururu shrugged, “Maybe I’m special that way.”

“You know,” HIkaru blinked and paused as a thought crossed her mind, “Is it me or have we been plucking whole thoughts from each other without even trying?”

Another shrug accompanied her response, “Maybe it’s this body or whatever that’s balancing my power?”

Everything about the place was odd… well no not this place… Forest, a road, blue skies, birds, stone brick archway… all in all normal as far as Ururu was concerned. For that matter a lot of it matched up with a number of ruins she was used to exploring in her free time. All it needed now were some power lines hanging from stone or wood pillars and it’d be home.

“Yep maybe something underneath the underneath,” Ururu said with a cringe.

The side long glance Ururu received for her words said more than her own expression. Quoting, even partially, shinobi dogma wasn’t a good sign for their situation. Though as they had yet to be in a fight for their lives, having people hunting them for wanting to break from tradition, theft, misunderstandings involving corpses of clones, explosive gore well yeah, maybe for once their luck would hold out, or not.

Really this world was just too new to predict yet.

Research would solve that and gathering such intelligence could only be done where people congregated. So that meant mainly one of three things, a library, a market, or…

“First tavern on the right and straight on to hangover.”

Hikaru’s hands settled on Ururu’s shoulders in a rather restraining fashion, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Ururu murmured with a dangerous tone on her lips. She hadn’t had a drink in well a while, and more than anything

Said fingers tightened, “One you look like your nine, two that liver you have may as well be. You can skip hangover and go straight to alcohol poisoning.”

Logic, sometimes, Ururu hated it and she was stuck in this body until she could create a new one. Killing herself through imbibing would be… problematic. But that didn’t mean she’d have to abstain completely. Just take a little bit at a time. Right?

“I suppose,” Ururu acquiesced, “but first chance we get, were building up my tolerance.”

The Network let her know exactly what HIkaru was thinking on that subject but Ururu chose to ignore it. After all what was a new life without new aspirations? Dull boredom.

But unfortunately waiting here wasn’t helping either. Obviously the group who had seen them earlier was long gone and they couldn’t expect someone else to just show up. So like most research, they had to go out and make their own rather than wait for it to happen to them.

“Let’s get moving again.”

Hikaru nodded before taking Ururu’s hand and both were moving down the road at a more brisk pace than they had in the previous world of white.

Quote:Similarly to Miranda, November carries a journal of his own. Journal entries will be put here.

Character name: Black☆Star

Character source: Soul Eater

Character history:
[spoiler]Black Star comes from a long line of assassins known as the Star Clan. The clan was known as a group of assassins who did anything for money. They victimized people in many areas, killing many innocent people, which made them infamous in various places. Due to their actions, the entire clan was exterminated. Black Star, who was still an infant at the time, was taken in by the DWMA, where he was raised by Sid Barett. He showed skill and talent in his abilities from a very young age, but was still ostracized by many, blaming him for everything that the Star Clan had done in the past. Black Star bears no malice over the loss of his clan, because he understands that his parents led a wretched life and eventually paid the price for it. Due to his ego, many people ignored him, and he constantly failed to collect any souls of Evil humans. On the day of the DWMA entrance ceremony, he stood on top of the DWMA and declared his greatness to the new students below. At first, it seemed as if everyone ignored him and left, but then Black Star found Tsubaki applauding. Impressed that someone had noticed his greatness for the first time, the two introduced each other, and after finding out that Tsubaki was a Demon Weapon, they became partners.

Black Star was taken by Omni shortly after the events involving the Kishin, Asura.[/spoiler]

Physical Description:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Stats:
ATK: 3
DEF: 1
SPD: 3
TEC: 3

Starting Proficiencies: Physical Strength – (1000 OM), Burst Movement – (800 OM), Area Attack Proficiency – (600 OM), Master Acrobat – (400 OM) Area Shield Proficiency – (400 OM)

Starting Powers: Super Jumping Basic – (300 OM)

Starting Moves:

Tsubaki: Mode: Chain Scythe - (300 OM) Mode: Chain Scythe appears as a long metal chain with each end of the chain tipped with a yellow handle that has a small double-edged and double-pointed scythe blade attached. Three dark grooves appear below each blade. The weapon is also adorned with yellow dots on the handles, making them appear as if they have eyes. The chain on this Weapon form can alter, becoming long or shorter.

Shield☆Star - (300 OM) After a short set-up time, roughly 5-10 seconds depending on the cirumstances, Black Star can use Tsubaki to create a large shield, roughly three foot in diameter) in the shape of a star before him, to fend off powerful attacks. This requires a fair amount of concentration and Black Star must remain relatively still to maintain the shield. (At least to start with..)
[spoiler][/spoiler]

(4100 OM spent.. unless I failed to math)
I was referred to this site by Yu Kanda!
I confirm that I have read and agreed to the Rules of Conduct.

Kakashi and his chain-smoking companion strode silently into the Morikage’s office, closing the heavy door behind them. Tsunade sat before her desk, shuffling through the sea of reports and official documents. She looked up as the two entered, offering a weak smirk in reply.

“I’m sorry to call on you so soon, Kakashi,” the Morikage confessed, shuffling through the mound of papers atop her desk. “I’d like nothing more than to offer you some time to get your bearings, but it’s not looking like that will be possible.”

The silver-haired shinobi took a knee, bowing his head in respect. “Whatever you need, Lady First.”

“On your feet, Kakashi. I never really liked the whole curtsying tradition. Besides, we don’t have the time for it. Our scouts have noted a large attack force gathering just south of here.” She unfurled a large scroll with one hand, grabbing a handful of wooden pins with another. On the scroll there looked to be a rough map of the village and the surrounding area.

“Already?!” Sarutobi sputtered, putting out his cigarette on his sleeve. “But they were here just hours ago!”

“These aren’t the White Hand,” Tsunade muttered darkly, pinning the scroll to the desk.

“You can’t mean…” the olive-skinned jonin began, worry etched in his face.

“The scouts report that their banners display the Bonechewer emblem,” the blonde kunoichi responded wearily, placing a paper beside the map scroll. On it was a rough sketch of a set of jagged fangs clamping down on a bone.

“Bonechewers?” Kakashi inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“So-named for their brutal and cannibalistic nature,” Asuma muttered, his brow knitted. “This is not good. They call themselves orcs, but they’re nothing like what we just tangled with.”

“The odds of this village surviving an all-out attack from the Bonechewer clan are lower than I’d like to admit,” the Slug princess stated flatly, staring intently at the duo. “We need to put a stop to this before it starts. These monsters are smarter than the other orcs and goblins we’ve encountered, but just barely. They have a very loose chain of command, essentially relying on their chieftain for orders. I think this can be how we save ourselves.”

“We target their leader,” the scarecrow offered, nodding in agreement.

“Exactly. That’s why I need you, Kakashi. This is something of a specialty for you.” Tsunade met the captain’s gaze for a moment before returning to the map. “You are to assassinate Tagar Spinebreaker WITHOUT alerting his subordinates. Without his iron fist keeping them in line, they’ll dissolve into chaos and hopefully do more damage to each other than us. I will assign you two of the most competent warriors we can spare. Asuma, you’re to stay here and defend on the chance the assassination fails and they attack. Any questions?” Silence hung for a moment before the Morikage spoke once more. “Good. Move out.”

-     -

“Why couldn’t it just be goblins or something…”

Kakashi and his pair of escorts stood at the village gate, re-checking their respective supplies. As he counted his remaining shuriken, scrolls and various other tools he felt a feeling of deja vu, reminded for a moment of his last moments with the rest of Team Ro before entering the Omniverse. The two escorts he had been afforded did not quite inspire confidence in the silver-haired jonin, though they would have to do.

“The Morikage said they were to the south,” the first of the two, Sofia, began. She looked to be around Kakashi’s age, standing not quite six feet tall. She was dressed in rough leather armor pulled over the attire of what he expected was a smith of some variety. Her ivory skin contrasted the inky black hair she had pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes, a clear blue, squinted at a map she held extended between her hands. “Do we know where, exactly?”

“No,” the silver-haired captain responded. “Unfortunately the last time they were spotted was a few hours ago and even then they were on the move.”

“So, what, are we just going to wander around until we find them?” questioned Dack, their third member. He was somewhat younger than his comrades and nearly a foot shorter, approximately 16 if Kakashi had to guess. His strawberry blonde hair framed his youthful face, falling just short of his shoulders. He too looked to have just thrown simple armor over his day attire; the dirt on his elbows and knees told the captain that he was likely a farmer or something similar.

“Hopefully I can solve that problem for us,” the copy ninja replied.

The scarecrow retrieved a scroll from a pouch on his belt, unfurling it with a flick of his wrist and rested it on the ground before him. As he gazed upon the familiar sigil and signature he bit down hard on the inside of his lip, tasting the metallic tang of blood. After dabbing a small amount of this on his gloved thumb, he began rapidly weaving the appropriate hand seals. He paused as he finished, hoping silently that his technique would work. “Summoning Jutsu!” he asserted, pressing his hand to the scroll.

The scroll’s glyph glowed for a brief moment as Kakashi mentally called forth the image of his intended summon. Suddenly a plume of smoke poured from the point of contact, followed immediately by the familiar deep voice of his old friend. “How’s it going, Kakashi?”

The sharingan wielder smiled underneath his mask as the smoke cleared. “Well, it’s complicated.” He cast a gaze at his comrades, smiling wider at their confused looks. “This is Pakkun,” he replied, gesturing at the small brown pug at his feet. The canine wore forehead protector etched with the symbol of Konoha and a blue vest emblazoned with a henohenomoheji. “Pakkun, this is Sofia and Dack. Pakkun will be our nose.”

The pup chuckled. “Always calling on me to sniff for you. You owe me a belly rub.” He glanced up at the two forest villagers first, then back to Kakashi. “So, what are we looking for?”

“Orcs,” the Anbu captain responded. “Somewhere due south.”

The canine sniffed the air for a moment. “Well, I’m not sure what an ‘orc’ is but I can tell you that there is a strong scent of blood in that direction.”

Dack nodded. “That’ll be them. Those bastards can’t go longer than twenty minutes without gutting something.”

“Alright,” Pakkun responded, turning toward the scent. “Let’s go.”

So... any thoughts... suggestions questions? Post them here.

http://www.harkinstheatres.com/gaming.as...amerentals

-Deep in the forests of Vale, six months since Ruby’s diisappearance:


Weiss was a huntress, a woman pledged to hunting down the creatures of grimm, and fighting for Vale’s people. Even if she’d left Beacon, she still considered herself one, just with a different goal. So it was no surprise to her that it was starting to look like her life would end surrounded by a sea of white masks.

She hadn’t expected them to be worn by a group of humans, though, even though she guessed it made sense.

“You know, there are people, right now, in the schnee company, who are doing truly horrible things to faunus. Things I don’t condone. Things I might even understand you wanting to target..” Weiss said as calmly as she could, keeping her voice from breaking. She wouldn’t give these cretins even a slight raise of her voice. “It’s good to know the White Fang’s so much more focused on killing a lone huntress… That’s just looking for a teenaged girl. Just because of who her father is.”

A man stepped forward from the crowd of masks, every corner of his tanned skin covered in so many tattoos Weiss couldn’t even make out the details of his face. his braided hair danced slightly in the wind as he walked, and his grin could only be described as predatory. “Now, now, we jus’ wanna make your daddy hurt like we hurt, whenever we see a faunus child die cause o’ him. I’d say that’s a good start.”

Weiss’s eyebrow quirked at that. “Killing me won’t hurt him. It certainly won’t bring them back.”

The man’s body shook at that, and Weiss realized she’d probably hit a bad nerve. She was past the point of caring. She’d probably never really had a chance to reason with these guys. She’d had a target on her back from the day she was born, and today someone was going to hit bullseye.

“Maybe, but it’ll make me feel a lot better.” The man retorted, drawing an axe almost as big as he was from his back. A

Weiss glared, as she drew Myrtenaster, blade pointed forward, body shifted to the side,

“Winter… Blake, Yang….” A tear dripped down her face, and she couldn’t stop her voice from cracking “...Ruby....”

“I’m so sorry.”

Black.
Suddenly everything was black, except for the white, grinning figure in front of Weiss.

------The Nexus, six hours after meeting with Omni------


A solitary figure sat just next to the fountain. On first glance, the figure could have been mistaken for a statue. On second glance, despite the obvious warmth to her skin, and the occasional blink, the mistake would still have been understandable. Twin orbs of blue stared forward without emotion or life, and the woman curled into a ball against the fountain made no movement other than the tell-tale signs of breathing. She was no statue.
She just desperately wished she was.
They were all gone.
Blake, Ruby, Yang, even Winter… Her family was gone.
The thought hurt.
She’d just got to meet them.
So fine.
If Omni wanted to do this to her… She didn’t have to do a damn thing to entertain him.
She didn’t have to do anything at all, anymore.
“Weiss!”
Weiss’s eyes widened as she sprang to her feet. She couldn’t have heard… Weiss ran to the other side of the fountain, as quickly as her legs would take her, eyes darting in every direction.
She only saw the gates around the nexus, and the yawning white void, surrounding her.
“...nothing.”
Weiss’s cheek felt wet as she slumped back down, slowly, leaning against the fountain. And now she was going insane.
And she didn’t know if she even considered it a bad thing anymore.

------ The Nexus, some time later ------

“Weiss, you need food.”
Weiss just kept staring out to the horizon, wondering how long it’d be till Omni lost interest in her.
“I’m serious. Weiss… this isn’t healthy.”
The voice sounded like it belonged to someone on her left, but she knew if she glanced that way, she’d just start hearing it to her right. She couldn’t see her. Just hear her.
“As your leader, I’m telling you: it’s time to get up!”
Weiss tilted her head back, staring at the white ceiling above her.
“You’re not real.” she managed to mutter.
“Weiss… Please.”
“I don’t want to…”
“What happened to that Schnee stubbornness. When did Weiss Schnee start giving up?”
Weiss closed her eyes. “It vanished when you did.”

------ The Nexus, some time later ------

Weiss was cold. she didn’t know how long she’d sat in this place. It felt like a while.
“Weiss, just please get up. your body needs water. you’re dehydrating.”
“Then I’ll die. And that white guy’ll just bring me back. And I’ll keep on sitting here.”

“Weiss… You can’t…”
There was pain in that voice, and even if she knew it wasn’t real Weiss couldn’t pretend it didn’t make her want to do something to stop it.
“I can! Just like you can just up and disappear off the face of the planet! Or like how Omni can just separate me from everyone! I’m not perfect! I… I can’t do this, anymore.” Weiss realized she was standing up, now, as she yelled at thin air. What a mess.
“You still have the energy to yell at me, though.”
A tear managed to make it past Weiss’s left eyelid. “I’m never going to get to see anyone, again.”
“Come on, Weiss. You can figure it out. I mean, I did, and I’m not as smart as you are half the time. Although right now I kinda am you, since, you know, hallucination and all.”
“What are you rambling about?”
“I disappeared just right out of my bed, right? Real me, I mean. Maybe I ended up here. Just like you did.”
“Or you just got kidnapped late at night.” Weiss countered, putting a hand on the edge of the fountain to steady herself. “or you met a grimm on a walk outside and…”
“Weiss, you looked for me for six months straight. If you’re going to finally start subscribing to the “Ruby’s totes dead” theory, now’s a really weird time”
“I could wander this place forever and never see you. Or Blake. Or Yang.
“Or you could find me. And Blake. And Yang. It’s worth a shot.”
Weiss sighed.
“Come on. You know if Yang was here she’d already have knocked down like ten doors searching for everyone by now! Probably stolen someone’s vehicle, too.”
This stupid, persistent hallucination was probably right. But it didn’t make it any easier. “I’m in an impossibly huge new place I know nothing about. I don’t have any leads. it’s probably a million to one shot.” Weiss said weakly.
“But you’re Weiss Schnee! The elegant dust heiress! You’ve got years of training and heiresshood and stuff. You even got to be on team RWBY!”
Weiss found herself almost smiling for the first time in a very long time. “Oh, so that’s my greatest achievement?” Weiss asked.
She supposed it was the one that meant the most to her.

“Weiss, You can do it. Come on. Sure, I might be just hallucinating-because-you-went-a-little-bonkers Ruby, but you know what? You’re hallucinating me because you know real Ruby wouldn’t let you just sit here and pout either. You’re worth more than that.”
Weiss let a small smile reach her lips, finally bringing her eyes away from the floor.
“Why won’t you ever leave me alone?” She asked.

As she looked up, she saw a transparent but recognizable figure of a cocky, smiling girl with striking silver eyes extending a hand out to her. “ ‘Cause you can’t even manage to imagine winning an argument with me.” She said with a broad smile, before grabbing and pulling Weiss’s hand away from the nexus. “Come on, Weiss. You have adventures to do.

Welcome to another edition of the Community Accolades!

Simply put, the Accolades involve nominating (and later, voting for) those who have outdone themselves in a particular area each month. For variety's sake, the categories for each month may be different.

You have until the end of the month to nominate your choices. After that, we will proceed to the voting phase where members will vote among the two individuals with the most nominations for each category. The only exception is if someone manages to get 5+ more nominations than the runner-up, in which case that person becomes the winner by default.

If you wish to participate, think of who stood out the most in a particular category this month and post your choice, along with a 2-3 sentence long explanation, in this thread. You are not barred from nominating your own characters, nor do you have to fill out all the categories.

The winners will become this month's "Community Stars" and will receive a blue user title in recognition of their achievement.

So, without further ado, here are the categories:

‘Best’ Character – Which character has you engaged the most?

‘Best’ Writer – Which writer wowed you the most?

Most Helpful – A staffer or a member who gave you amazing feedback on a story or was simply there to help you sort out some of your problems.

Rising Star – Which up-and-coming member stands at the crème of the crop? (must have joined within the last month and a half OR have less than 8000 OM)

'Best' Storyline – What story has had you the most engaged and entertained? (Don't nominate the Secondary Saga, give someone else the spotlight)

Purple Ribbon - Consider this a bonus category for nominating someone who, while they may not be the best and have all the twitter followers, you believe deserves to be recognized for what they bring the the Omniverse. (The winner must be a DIFFERENT person than last month's winner)

Purchases and Deductions for Weiss Schnee go here!

Current post count: (your current post count, viewable below your avatar)
Current Earned OM: (your current Earned OM, viewable next to your posts)
Current Spent OM: (total, viewable on your roster)
Buying: (whatever it is you want to buy. If purchasing a move you MUST link to the approval). Cost: (the cost) OM
New Spent OM in category: (your new total spent on Moves, Powers or whatever it was you bought)
New Overall Spent OM: (your total Spent OM after the purchase)

All moves must be approved here before purchase.