Soul Searching; Breaking The Ice

Krikor entered the room not long after Tifaret, taking in the sight of the room. "Why all the smoke?" he asked Tifaret, who was obviously enjoying it. The place seemed pretty dark, for a classroom, he thought. How would anyone see the teacher, let alone any sort of chalkboard the room may or may not have? What's more, he didn't notice any desks or anything. Perhaps it was less lecture hall and more practice studio.

Finally, coming in before the panda girl, was Yumiya, who had been trailing Krikor. Somehow, among the travel, it would seem that he had gotten ahead of the group. He was a pretty fast walker, despite his armor. Though, he took most of it off when they came down, so it was to be assumed that he could walk more freely and lightly than if he were still bogged down by the weighty mail.

"I finally made it..." he said, walking into the door. "Woah..." He was startled by how dark it was, and the smoke that filled the room. It seemed pretty soothing, actually... And kind of made him feel a bit lighter. "Huhh..." He walked in closer, sort of in a daze now, toward where he saw Tifaret and Krikor. He tripped over one of the chairs, not even being able to see it, but fell right into it naturally, regardless. It was large enough for his entire body to be cushioned from impact, it seemed. "... Wow... This is pretty nice..." he said, adjusting himself.

And, making her way in last was the brown-skinned beauty fit with her black and white panda scheme, hands in her sweater pockets and hood over her head. She made it in last, as if she'd been lagging behind, for whatever reason. Though she was still a little ticked, as she stepped in the room, her eyes were filled with a cute and innocent wonder. "... Wow... This is my kind of scene!" Dark and calm and filled with beautiful, yet really dim lights that changed colors. Yeah, she could get used to this. "This smoke is kinda weird..." she said, yet when she breathed it, she felt no congestion in her throat as if she were needing to cough. The smoke must have been benign if it were breathable. "Sooooo... Now what?"

Following Yumiya's and Tsubaki's lead, Krikor picked a seat and sat down, wondering what would happen next. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him -- he didn't know the panda-themed woman's name. He turned to her and, with a sheepish tone in his voice, said, "Excuse me, miss, but I didn't catch your name earlier."

"Smooth," Ashcroft muttered telepathically to Krikor, sarcasm in his voice.

"Hush," Krikor telepathically replied, not wanting to miss what she said.

Plopping down on her cushiony seat, which just so happened to be near Krikor, Tsubaki would turn her head and gaze at him with huge, innocent eyes, saying sweetly, "You mean me?" Her entire demeanor seemed to change now that she was being directly addressed, no longer as irked and frustrated as she had been previously. "... My name is Tsubaki..." she said softly, smiling at him cutely. "... What about you?"

"I'm Krikor," he replied, offering his hand for a handshake, "Krikor Hovsepian. Very nice to meet you, Tsubaki." She seemed like a nice enough person, and Krikor hoped that they would get along well, especially if they were in the same classes.

"Ohhh..." she said kinda ditzily, extending her hand as well. "Nice to meet you... Krikor?" His name sounded weird to her. Maybe he was foreign. Then again, maybe her name sounded weird to him. One could never really know, coming from two completely cultural backgrounds. It was best to simply keep that to herself to keep from offending him. It wasn't really important and she'd eventually get over it.

She sat there for a bit, wondering when this class was going to start. She wasn't really concerned with introducing herself to the other person since he didn't offer. She just kinda wanted to know what the hell was going on. "... Sooooo... What are we doing?"

Yumiya, of course,, after finally becoming situated in his comfy chair, would be the first to want to introduce himself, for some reason. He seemed quite enthuses about it, actually. "Um!" he cried, jumping up, "... My name is Yumiya! Pleased to meet you..." He already knew Krikor, but it didn't matter when making a formal introduction to a group of those that held a majority that were unknown, those of which were Tsubaki and Tifaret. He smiled and chuckled, "Let's all be friends, alright?" His mannerable nature was showing, since he was all for everyone being as friendly and chummy as they could be, just as he and Krikor were. When he was done, he sat down and waited for someone else.

After Yumiya had sat back down, Krikor got to his feet and began to introduce himself. "My name is Krikor Hovsepian. I'm glad to meet all of you, and I hope we all get along well," he said, genuinely meaning what he said. He didn't want to be in a class of people he couldn't stand, after all. Yumiya, he knew, was a good person, but he didn't know much of anything about Tsubaki outside of her name, and Tifaret was pretty terse from what little interaction he'd had with her. After he was done introducing himself, he sat back down and waited for the next person while hoping everyone could overcome their differences and get along.

"Yeah, me too..." she uttered, cutting a glare to the 'teacher' before standing up and clearing her throat. "Hi~! My name is Tsubaki~! Nice to meet you all!" Her sudden perky and chipper attitude far exceeded the energy of what her chill and quiet demeanor would have immediately presented about herself. She promptly sat back down, then returned to silence, trying to figure out just what this 'instructor' was trying to get across.

There were many dim lights fading in and out in the background, the smoke seeming to grow thicker, crackling and barely audible coughs proving that there was still smoke in production this class session. Yumiya didn't seem to mind more smoke suddenly easing into the room. In fact, he was feeling more lighthearted than ever, for some reason.

He smiled as he listened to Tifa's explanation, wondering whether or not he would be able to do such things himself. He might be able to figure out something more about his very Soul by doing what she said. He spoke up, just to make sure, "... Um. I just unlocked my soul. Will this be able to help me strengthen it and awaken its hidden powers?" He hoped so; it would save him a lot of trouble. Granted, it was the reason why he came, but he didn't know if this specific lesson was actually going to do for him what he came here for. He just had to be certain, just in case.

Krikor thought for a bit while Yumiya spoke. Inhaling the incense didn't make him feel any different. A bit light headed, maybe, but that was about it. Perhaps that's what was supposed to happen -- his soul WAS still locked, after all. He wondered if what Tifaret had said about making it be more alone with his thoughts was true or not. He hoped not...he didn't like a lot of the thoughts he had, mainly because they usually led back to things he'd rather not remember.

Tsubaki knew what this smell was. In fact, she was quite accustomed to this SPECIFIC incense, of which she partook of quite often at her own leisure. She was actually astonished to find that there was a school that actually ALLOWED this, let alone incorporated it as part of a class. A literal 'session' for the books. Already feeling some effects, she was in a good place right now and listened attentively to Yumiya, who seemed to have a question. Promptly after he was done, she would follow up.

"Uh, he said something about 'unlocking a soul?' Does this stuff work on anyone who hasn't unlocked it already?" She looked around, kind of realizing that she may have been only referring to herself, so she made that clear from the jump. "... Namely, me?" If she could get a head start, she was all for it. Whatever it took to get enrolled in THIS cool ass school, she was definitely getting it done. The lady didn't seem that bad... Just a little all over the place and kinda bitchy. But what she said was actually pretty useful, since Tsubaki had been feeling something similar to what was described recently... She just didn't know if it related or not.

"Hmm," Krikor muttered, deep in thought.  A meditation room?  Perhaps it would help if he cleared his mind and focused on his goals at present.  He thought about getting back in contact with the rest of his gear.  "It would be nice," he thought, "to hear all of their voices again."  He breathed in deeply, taking in as much of the incense as possible, to see if anything would happen.

"Oh, okay..." she said rather sheepishly as her question was answered. She wasn't sure how exactly to do that, but figured that at least trying to participate in this exercise would have helped her out some. Plus, she already had gotten the whole second-hand of the incense and was starting to feel it, which made her mellow out a bit more.

She leaned back, getting herself comfortable in the chair and lowering her lids a bit, starting to drift off into her own thoughts. Tsubaki remained a little unsure of herself and this situation, but eventually ended up forgetting all about it and getting lost in the ambiance of peacefulness and calmness. It was quiet, but not dead silent, which relaxed her. "Mmm... Unlock my soul myself, huh...?"She had no idea what that even felt like nor what it entailed, but if following the exercises did that, then it was worth a shot, since she was already sinking into her own personal thoughts and feelings.

Tsubaki eventually, after getting through the initial 'What do do?' and 'What to think of?' and 'What to feel?' segment of her solitary soul searching, found her thoughts naturally drifting back to the land in which she came from... The place where she'd been before the shift. She wasn't sure how many people even knew about it at all save for herself, and despite how knowledgeable this woman, Tifa, seemed, Tsubaki wasn't sure if she had any direct affinity with the whole 'family business' that she'd just gone through. She Thought of the arid air of the desert as well as her time of sleuthing for her family. She even remembered meeting this nice person named 'Matsuro' before all of this shifting mess. He was nice and all, but she wasn't really too fond of him because he seemed a little sketchy. To even remember those events made her feel... Sort of longing, but also filled with a fiery passion to be with her family in the village again. Back in action as part of the ninja unit... Yeah. It was a hard life, but fun and exciting, and kind of deep; just like she liked it. Her only wandering thoughts were if she would be able to have that experience again... and if she'd ever get back to the Desert...

Yumiya could tell that she seemed irritated by him asking her so many things, but he didn't let it bother him, for some reason. He was actually feeling pretty good about where he was right now, and the smoke might have been helping with that. He smiled warmly at Tifa and nodded his head, saying, "Thank you. That was really helpful!" and leaning back in his chair. "Nope... No more questions..." he said, turning to face Tsubaki, who was between he and Krikor, and then to Krikor, who was still close, definitely within earshot for idle conversation, starting up some, himself.

"... I like this place, Krikor..." he said sorta dreamily, as if in a daze, "... Everyone's pretty nice." He wasn't sure what the effects were on Krikor, nor what he was thinking about or meditating on or whatever, but it did pique Yumiya's curiosity. However, he didn't want to be impolite and not try to be kind to the panda girl, Tsubaki. "... Hey, Tsubaki," he started, a little shyly, at that, "... What are you thinking about...?"

(Okay, just as a side note, this is a place where you can develop your character's story and background if you want, as well, by yourself or with someone. Like how Tsubaki was just thinking about her past and her history, that's helping to develop her story and her character, which eventually, if you do so long enough, can with the whole 'shaping' and 'unlocking' of the souls. That was just to take note as an example.

Also, with how Yumiya is talking to her, that's another method of doing the same thing through interaction. Anything that goes on here should be geared toward those things. Granted, it doesn't have to be, but I'm explaining just for the sake of you knowing what to do and how to do it in case it's necessary for clarification, as well as for when it's going to be recorded later.)

Tifa huffed with relief, "Finally!" before plopping down, herself on one of the chairs. She would immediately pull out a blunt and whip it in her mouth, sparking it up and contributing to the smoke. "You guys have any questions, just let me know, or whatever." Now, THIS is what she called a class. She could teach this class all day and night... Hahaha.

Krikor only barely heard Yumiya's voice when he spoke.  It seemed like the memories from his past would come to him as long as he inhaled this smoke, no matter how hard he tried to force them to the back of his mind.  "Shit shit SHIT," he thought, a memory of Earth-1282 coming to him, "not now..."

Suddenly, Krikor was back on Earth-1282, in the time period after the demons had invaded.  "It's not real," he thought over and over again, trying to get back to the real world, but to no avail.  He looked around himself and saw the dead bodies of the human resistance movement scattered around him, some of them slashed to bits by demon claws, some of them burned alive.  Screams and the scent of blood and burning flesh filled the air from the ruined resistance base in the distance, and he realized that, save for some of the demons that thankfully hadn't noticed him yet, he was entirely alone.  He clenched his fists and started running in the dream world, or whatever it was, just wanting to get away from the fire and death that seemed to plague him for the past 12 years.

Back in the real world, anyone who could see Krikor could see that his fists were clenched and his body was tense.  His teeth were gritted, and his eyes were shut.

Tsubaki remained in her state of longing for a while, having totally zoned out, now and gone into her 'own little world,' so to speak. Something like a 'meditative trance' almost, yet as soon as she was about to be in that state of inner conflict, she heard the sound of a voice that broke her out of her concentration on her own inner reflection. "Huh? What?" She turned around and saw that guy, who was trying to be a little too friendly, messing up her thoughts.

"Well," she began, a bit irked, "I WAS thinking about my home and my family..." she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, "... But since I've been INTERRUPTED, I guess now that's not happening anymore." She could have sworn that Tifa told them that they should be quiet and keep to themselves about whatever they were doing, but apparently, this kid didn't get the memo. She sighed heavily, figuring she might as well be polite. She could come back and do this later after she formally enrolled. "... But since you APPARENTLY want to talk... What's up with you?" Though she wanted to continue on her own personal spiritual journey, which she somehow seemed really good at, she figured that idle banter was okay... Getting to know people and whatever, since she was going to have to be with them, anyway.

She got a weird feeling from the other guy, though. She wasn't sure why or how, but she just knew it felt kinda... Dismal. She barely paid it any mind and barely felt it, and kinda figured it came from the smoke.

"Well, I--" immediately, Yumiya was able to very acutely feel the tension and irritation not only coming from her voice, but also from inside of her, like some sort of wave that struck his soul. He recoiled rather quickly, somehow feeling rather offended and hurt, lowering his head, a smile no longer on his face. "... I just wanted to get to know you a little better..." he said in a crestfallen tone, "... I figured it was... the nice thing to do..." This is what he meant when he told Krikor before that people probably wouldn't like him all too much. After this, it would seem that he started to spiral down on this path of discontent, which he also seemed to be picking up from not only Tsubaki, but also from Krikor. He no longer wished to talk, but knew since he started the conversation, it made sense to continue.

"... Well right now..." he said a bit hesitantly, wondering how his good spirits had fallen so fast, "... I'm feeling really bad. Some sort of tension and troubling feeling in the air... and inside of me, too..." He turned away slightly as his voice started trailing off. "... Sorry I disturbed you..." He went back to his own quietness, quickly shut down and no longer chipper. He was secretly also worried about Krikor, since he felt some powerful disdainful feeling coming from him. Yumiya wasn't sure why this was, but for whatever reason, after how he interacted with Tsubaki, he figured that maybe he shouldn't talk to Krikor, at risk of disturbing him the same way. He sighed heavily.


In the darkness of the ambiguous blackness of the room, there was a voice from relatively nearby that said to them, "Hey, you're killing the vibes. Stop that." It was probably from one of the more adept Wavelength users in the room who was vastly perceptive and acute on the waves in an area and was picking up on the negativity and disharmony of all three of them suddenly after being peaceful and content in their own session before the newbies came. Another whispered, "They're probably just noobs, don't worry about them." There was slight clamor in the background, but eventually faded as the smoke continued to thicken.