Barzalai Solos Is Going to School (Introduction post)

"Wow..."

One hand on the strap of his backpack, slung over one shoulder, the other cupped over his eyes to shield them from the morning sun, Barzilai slowly walked into the courtyard of Syne Academy's commons area. His head turned back and forth, taking in the sights: perfectly manicured lawns, cobblestone walkways... and a fountain! Fancy! So this is where he'd be training for the foreseeable future. Barz rolled his shoulders and stood in front of said fountain, looking around at the students going to and fro, some with their weapons on their person; he watched after those carefully, wide-eyed with excitement. So cool.

"Hmm... I wonder who I'll meet here..."

Gricelda was out doing one of her daily jobs around the academy. This time her run took her close to the campus fountain. As she was running, lost in thought as she runs along the concrete. She tends to do that whenever she was running but this time she nearly finds herself about to crash into some wide-eyed kid in front the fountain.

"Hey! Watch out you-" Gris yells at the human but... it was too late.

Gricelda crashed right the human, the impact causing her to bounce back and fall on her butt. As she sits there on the ground, she lets out disgruntled moan and back to the human leeringly.

"Would you mind being more OBSERVANT of your surroundings in the future? Ughh... you humans are so... obvious to everything." speaks the wolf faunus in disdainful tone.

"Oh, uh... sorry?"

Barzilai looked down at the faunus girl , scratching his head and dropping his bag before offering a hand to help her up. He noticed the tone in her voice but didn't make anything of it.

"I'll uh, pay more attention next time. Oh, and I'm new here; my name's Barzilai. Barzilai Solos."

The wolf girl narrows her eyes as the human offers her a hand. She doesn't take the hand, instead opting to use the ledge of the nearby fountain to pull herself upright.

"Right... you better." she grummbles as she gets up.

Once up, she looks over the human, appearing wary of the human for some reason.

"So are you lost then? You said you where new and have the fish out water look." states the wolf faunus as she rests her hands on her hips and her wolf-like faunus ears falling flattening themselves on the top of her head.

Barz awkwardly withdraws his hand, looking at it. Was it something he said...?

"Yeah, kinda, I mean... I've been mostly wandering up until this point.

He notices her flattened ears and glare. Okay, so he really had offended her... awesome... He reaches down and picks his bag up off the ground, adjusting his jacket.

"Would you mind helping me out, uhh... I don't believe I asked your name, sorry..."

Gris cocks an eyebrow to the human, then crosses her arms in front of her torso.

"Your right, you didn't ask my name. The name is Gricelda, Gricelda Mee. Anyway... I suppose I could assist you with your sense of direction at Syne Academy. Do you have anywhere you needed to get to in particular or would you like me to just give you tour so that you don't stand about lost like brain damaged pigeon." speaks Gricelda, smirking somewhat at the mention of pigeon comparison. She really didn't have much else to do this day so might as well help a fellow student.

Barz straightens up, smiling and laughing.

"Heh, brain damaged pigeon... Nice to meet you, Gricelda. And that'd be awesome, if it's not too much trouble; I'd love to see the rest of the school."

Gricelda give Baramus a ludicrous stare... as if in disbelief that he actually laughed at her mild insult. She was half expecting him to ignore it or make some attempt at witty retort. Heck, she was expecting an insult right back at her. This gave the wolf faunus some... pause.

"Huhh? Err..." Gricelda snaps out of, reverting back to her more serious demeanor.

"Yeah sure, tour it is then. Just tag along behind me now. Also... whatever you do... please refrain from pulling my tail. Yes its attached to my butt and no I do not amusing when someone pulls on it. Understood?" states Gricelda, place her hands on her hips and leans her forward, looking a bit... unfriendly as she stares him down with her predatory amber eyes.

"Will do." Barz gives a salute, grinning. It was looking like he may be making a friend... an unfamiliar concept, seeing as he never actually had one before. And a funny one at that, despite the slightly... antagonizing? Yeah, antagonizing, serious demeanor Gricelda had. Though she did look a bit taken aback at his laughing.

"Oh! I can treat you to lunch, if you'd like. I did some odd jobs on my way up the mountain, so I've got a bit of lien to spare, if you have the time.”

Barz rummaged around in his pockets, making sure he still actually had the money, and nodded, his silver eyes flashing at the thought of food. He hadn’t had anything good to eat in days, and he was looking forward to finally getting something.

Gricelda raises a eyebrow, then a smirks in a playful manner.  Not only did he reach an understanding with her, he was also offering her free food too.  Perfect she thought.

"As long as your the one playing for it then sure~" I'm always up for free food." she chimes, trailing off a bit before adding:

" ...except for fruits... and vegetable too.  Everything else is fair game though." states the wolf faunus, who then spins on heel, faceing away from Barzalai and moving forward.

"Alright well follow me now." beckons Gris as she motions her arm to invite him along.

As the two travel along the many winding paths around the Academy, she would point to the various structures and giving Barzalai short description about their purpose as they walk past them.

"Here we have the library over on your right.  Its kinda bigger on the inside than on the outside but has nearly ever book one could imagine.  Over ther is the gymnasium where all the exerercise equipment is located.  The building next to it is the training area where one goes to practive and hone their combat skill and to find parteners for mock fighting. There is also a running track, several fields, and swimming pool.  Up ahead is the administration offices.  Pretty impressive right?  I bet they build this one taller than the rest of them so that Administrators could look down upon like ants.  Not that I blame them.  Moving on~  Okey see those set of building far off on the edge of campus?  Those are the dormatories where all of the students live.  Your likely to get roommates so you better get to learn to like them or else the next 4 years for yourself are going to feel extra long.  That right there is the science center where all the eggheads collect themselves in.  Over there are the workshops where students get to work on various objects, mostly fixing up gear.  And those building over there that we are walking by?  Those are the lecture halls.  Most of your classes will take place in one of those classrooms.  Over here is the entertainment lounge.  They offer all sorts of amusments like board games, video games, and even billards.  That one building... no idea so not important.  And this is the garage where various vechicals are kept.  And... I think that is about it."

With the tour over, Gris looks back Barazalai, with that sly smirk on her face.

"So... how about lunch?" she inquires.

Barz laughes at that. "Well I happen to love meat, so we should be just fine on that." He didn't mind paying at all: it was the least he could do in exchange for a tour, and besides, he remembered reading somewhere that eating together was a great way to build friendships. "Though I hope you won't mind if I have some fruits and veggies myself; I love it all."

As they walk, Barzilai listening intently to Gricelda's descriptions of Syne's various locales and mentally cataloging them, he found it easy to picture himself going here. A gigantic library?! He couldn't wait to sign up and take out books on every topic he could think of, especially those on the myths and legends of Remnant's famous Hunters. The gym, training area and various facilities looked perfect: students were sparring and working out, and the sight got him raring to go and train himself... The administrator building did look unnecessarily large, and his arms and legs ached when they passed the dorms; He hadn't realized how tired he was until the sight of the buildings, undoubtedly housing rooms with beds exponentially softer than the mattress of leaves and downy branches he had back in his cave, started to weaken his resolve to keep going. As for the roommate aspect... he wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. But, luckily, they pass quickly along, past the science center (might be cool to see), the workshops (wonder what they're making in there...), the lecture halls (gotta keep awake in class), the entertainment lounge (VIDEO GAMES! miss those), the mysterious unimportant building and, finally, the garage (motorcycles? sweeeetttt).

Phew. He felt both excited for the years to come.... and much, much hungrier then when they first started. Barzilai returns Gris's smile eagerly. "Oh yeah. At this point I could eat a Boarbatusk."

Gricelda tilts her head to her left, giving the human... bewildered expression.  Then she could not help but break out in laughter at how stupid the comment sounded.  Sure she understood the intention of what her meant bout found his lack of understanding of Grimm hilarious.

"Bhaa haahaahaaha haa! Ahh HA HA HAA HA! AHhh... ha... haa ha.. whoaaa.. ha ha haa... what?  Boarbatusk!? Hee hee haa haaa haa!  Good luck trying to eat ONE of those!  Whaa haa ha haa ha hahaha... ohhh... ohh... oh it hurts to laugh... ohhh... okey... I'm fine... fine~."

Griscelda finally calms down just enough to speak coherently but now has a big stupid looking grin on her face.

"Ohh.... seriously... eat a boarbatusk?  You do KNOW those things disintegrate to into nothingness the moment it is killed much like any other Grimm right?  Ohhh I hope this isn't indicative of your knowledge of Grimm or else your going to have a lot to learn now.  Anyway, I'm famished as well so now would be a good time to head over to the City of Bellmuse itself and find a restaurants.  Of course the cafeteria is closer and all of the food is free for students to consume to their hearts." cheerfully states the wolf girl as she rest her hands on her hips and wears a great big smile on her face.  Then... a realization just occurred to her.

"Oh wait... did I... no I did not!  I don't think I showed you the cafeteria they have here at the Academy.  Tell you what, how about about I go show you the cafeteria and we can eat there together.  I'm still going to hold you to free lunch in Bellmuse though~" teases Gris at the very end

Barz face palms. Boarbatusk? Really? This wasn't the time to start bringing out the weird idioms.

"Oh, no, no, I know all about Grimm, I've killed my fair share in Finnek, hehe... just my weird sense of humor at work, my bad-"

He looks up to see Gricelda grinning at him. Wait... did she actually find that funny? He laughs along, just the tiniest bit confused but glad that he'd gotten through to her with that.

"Free food? I've heard recently that that's the best kind, so sure, the cafeteria would be great."

Barz runs his hand through his hair, his silver eyes scanning the area. Had they really missed the building? He was surprised he hadn't smelled any food cooking, he was so hungry, and was glad Syne had one for students. Did all colleges have cafeterias? He had a lot to learn: homeschooling and surviving on your own didn't really make for the best teachers on the ins and outs of society.

"And I'll buy you double if you're willing to give me a tour around Bellmuse as well," Barzilai says, winking.

Gris raises an eyebrow when he asked for a tour of Bellmuse as well him slyly winking at her.  At first that it was an attempt to flirt with her but shortly dismisses the gesture as him just being... friendly.  Either it unnerved her somewhat.  But that certainly wasn't going to stop her from taking advantage of his offer for free food as she was not ashamed of being a total mooch.

"Err... sure..." she mutters as she scratches the back of right faunus ear with one of her hands.

"The city is pretty big but I guess I can show you some of the more notable places in Bellmuse Central later." speaks the wolf faunus, regaining her confidence the long she speaks.

"For now, lets just  go food.  Follow me now." says Gricelda as as motions him to follow.  She walks a brisk pace until the cafeteria comes into view in the landscape.

"And there it is now.  Hmmm... is bit late but  they should still serving grub at this time." plainly states the wolf girl as opens the door and enters the cafeteria, not bothering to hold the door open for Baramus as she enters.

Once inside, Gricelda immediately picks herself a tray to place her plates and utensils on and begins to place globs of food onto her plates, almost entirely consisting of meat.

Barzilai nods, only slightly put off by Gris's raised eyebrow. The first time he'd seen the capital was only days ago, when he was about halfway to Syne, and late at night. Streetlights and storefronts were lit up like a cluster of stars, far below and in the distance, and the city looked so... big, and different from the little forest-side villages he was used to that it actually intimidated him. He was truly grateful for Gricelda's help.

"Awesome, thank you so much." Barz follows after the faunus, easily keeping up with her stride as they make their way to the cafeteria. He shoots his free hand out to catch the door before it closes and enters after her. His mouth waters at the large variety of food available, and he grabs a tray.

"This... this is all free?!" He can barely contain himself as he piles said tray with large portions of everything he can see, and makes a mental note to come back for what he couldn't fit on his already dangerously-filled plate.

"Yep!~" chimes the wolf faunus as she collects herself a glass of ice water and makes her way to an unoccupied seat, to which there where plenty of during this time.  She plops her bottom on one of the elongated benches of the equally elongated table.  The moment she sat down Gricelda was already digging into her meal consisting of slices of ham, fried chicken, beef brisket, crab legs, and slices of meatloaf... this girl can evidently work up an appetite.

As Gris waits for Barzalai to take a seat, she quickly scarfs down her brisket as if she had not eaten for days though athletic physique seems to indicate the has a healthy diet.  Once Barzalai sits down, she finishes shallowing the piece of meat in her mouth and looks up to Barzalai, point a fork at him in a causual manner as she asks him a question.

"So you mentioned that defeated Grimm in Finnek Forest?  Yet you are unfamiliar with Syne Academy and the City of Bellmuse?  How is that possible?  Did you grow up living in the forest or something?" askes the wolf faunus as she picks up a gravy laden fried chicken breasts and bites down into its crunchy, juicy, tender flesh.

Barzilai pours himself a glass as well, with plenty of ice cubes, and sits across from Gricelda. He gazes at the large, empty building, filled with benches and tables, and tries to imagine what the place would look and sound like during the day: filled with students of various backgrounds, years and specialties, all eating and talking at once... the thought both interests and worries him. He shakes his head, staring at Gricelda’s plate and nodding in approval at the pile of meat: all good looking stuff. He looks down at his own plate hungrily, which held all of her choices and more: broccoli, peppers, apples and oranges and everything in between… as well as a huge slice of chocolate cake. Perfect.

“Mhm,” He mumbles, his mouth full of steak, before swallowing. “That’s correct, right in the heart of Finnek…” He thinks back to the little log cabin, and his parents, and his brow furrows… Maybe he shouldn’t spill everything outright. Gris seemed nice, but he didn’t know her, and some things are better keep secret.

“Uh, yupp, Beo’s, Boarba’s, Creeps, you name it.” He chomps on a broccoli floret. “What about you?"

Gricelda holds off on answering Barzalai's question as she finishes her delicious peice of fried chicken.  After nothing but bones and grisly tough meat bits are all that remained, she toss it back on her plate.  She took the time to wipe off her fingers and dab her mouth with a napkin before finally answering Barzalai's question.

"Hmmm~  Well, I grew up Vale for most of my life, spent most of that time in the city itself.  I guess my family was rather well off considering that we are faunus.  Of course I was always picked because of my ears and tail all my life no matter what I did to try to get those humans to see past my... wolf-like features." says Gricelda, who lets out a moan before continuing on.

"Anyway... because of that constant bullying that I joined the White Fang back when it was more... peaceful organization.  Its... frustrating when no matter how many sit-in you take part of... no matter how many boycotts were arranged or how many bake sales established to promote awareness.  No matter what... we where always ignored.  So when the leadership changed and we have taken on a more violent approach... I went along it since our demands long since denied where being seriously considered.  Anyway, took many in variety of mission ranging from raids to sabotage to kidnappings.  Got caught in a police ambush when I went back to get a newbie who... I kid you not... literally tried over their own laces!  Ughhh... so my dad somehow arranged an ultimatum for me with cooperation with the authorities.  Either I come to Syne Academy to finish my training as a Huntress that I have been training for as I was also a White Fang operative or I can rot in prison.  Take a guess where choice I picked." speaks Gricelda in a mildly annoyed tone.

Barz bites into his own chicken, slowly chewing, processing what Gris had told him: a member of the White Fang? He’d heard a couple stories about the Faunus group, and none of them were exactly flattering… but from what he saw of Gricelda, she didn’t seem like how the average White Fang member – ex or no – was said to be. Maybe rough around the edges, but that was understandable. This was also the first time he’d heard of the groups origins.

“Wow… Vale, huh? What was that like?” He drinks from his cup. “I’m sorry to hear about your childhood… People can be cruel to those who look even slightly different, I can’t imagine what you went through…” He puts his drink down. “I also won’t judge you for what you’ve done: survival is survival; I can understand that. And besides, you’re past that.” Barz starts in on his cake, licking the fork and contemplating what to say next.

“So I grew up in a little log cabin, with my mom and dad… And one day something happened to them, something I can’t quite explain… and then I was alone. And I’ve been that way for years now.” He touches his jacket and the tekko at his side. “I miss them… it’s actually why I’m here, to get where I need to be to find them, wherever they are. That, and ‘cause I’ve always loved the thought of being a Huntsman. So… here I am.”

Baramus surprising took to the news of her being once an active member... quite well which was a nice change of pace for Gricelda.

"Vale is... pleasant. Mild climate for most of the year and the city itself is quite and modern and clean.  Well most parts least.  There are some shadier areas in the City of Vale if one knows where to look.  The sympathy is appreciated but hardly changes the past.  Besides, most faunus I know suffered far more from human brutality and subjection than I have." plainly states Gricelda.  Then resumes eating more of her ham slices.

Statisfied with a few mouthfuls of Ham, she continues on.

"Anyway, it think you misunderstand me.  I did not fight with the White Fang just to survive.  I fight to make a change, a difference to this world.  Not just for me but for all the other faunus all across Remnant! If all I wanted to do was... survive... then I that would have to hide who I am away from the world the pretend that the hateful insults they say behind my back don't hurt when they very much do hurt.  But I am not that kind of person, I proud of who I am will not hide my ears or tail because they part who I AM just like everything else on my body." speaks Gricelda passionently

"Ughh... I wish... that more humans just... get it!" she exclaims, then sets her hands down and sighs.

"Well, at least you get it." she mummbles as she collects cuts apart several pieces of beef brisket and plops a single morsel in her mouth.  After consuming it, she opens up her mouth once again.

"Oh... and sorry to hear about your parents.  I know I know... hallow words anyone kinda just says something about the death of someone in their family die.  I mean... I can't empathized with that properly because I never your parents but I know my own parents mean a lot to me.  Sure they can get on my nerves from time to time but I still love them both so... I know if I would lose them both so suddenly that I would be forever heartbroken.  So... yeah... sorry to hear that..." speaks Gricelda in more... somber tone.  

She remains quite as she continues to finish up her plate of meat, eating all of her food in record time it seems.  Her faunus ears however, are still facing forward, listening to whatever Barzalai might have to say.

Barzilai puts down his fork, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean it like that… It sounds like the White Fang’s intentions were noble, and I’m glad you’re proud of who you are… Fighting for what you believe in, against injustice, is never wrong. I guess it’s just the way one may go about it than can be.”

He laughs, a bit awkwardly. He tries to picture Vale as Gris described it: he supposed it would be like Bellmuse, only even bigger. Now that was intimidating; He chews his cake thoughtfully.

“Honestly, I never saw Faunus as any different… some people are tall, some have green eyes, and some just happen to have wolf ears, heh… we’re all people, that’s that.” He drinks from his glass again before continuing. “And thank you, really. They’re the best, and I miss them… and your words aren’t hollow, I can tell you care, even if it hasn’t happened to you personally. And isn’t that all parents, what with the ‘getting on your nerves’ part? Heh, can’t help but love ‘em, can ya?” He nods, and keeps eating, finishing off the rest of his food in record time before covering his mouth and burping loudly. “Oops, sorry. That came out of nowhere.”

He smiles at Gris before laying his hands down on either side of his tray. “You want seconds?”

"Hmmm..." hums Gricelda as she listens to the human.  She didn't really mind this human's company.  Sure he was bit of dufus but her he never made her race an issue, seeing her a person and not just a faunus.

"Your alright for a human..." speaks Gricelda plainly as she stuffs her mouth with another peice of meat.

"Oh, and your welcome... I guess.  I know it didn't mean much from someone like me but at least you found the well meaning behind it." says Gricelda just as finished shallowing her food then taking a large gulp of her cool glass of water.

"Ahhhh... huh?  Seconds" snips Gricelda, who frowns a lot as she looks down to her plate of food.  She was mostly finished and more food is a tempting proposition.

"Errr... nahh!~" dismissively states Gricelda, waving Barzali off

"Anymore and I am going to start accumulating fat... and I have figure to watch." muses the wolf funus as she slups up the last remaining slice of ham on her platter.

Barziliai smiles; it seemed he was doing well and – thankfully – not screwing this up.

“Why thank you, Gricelda.” He bows at the waist, almost bumping his head on the table, but he laughs it off. “And trust me, it means more than you know, seeing as I’ve never told anyone even that much about it.” He scrapes up the chocolate crumbs and licks them off his plate.

“Aww, you don’t need to worry about that, you can just work it off in training. I could always use a good sparring partner anyway.” From the way Gris moved, her posture and muscle tone, she seemed like a pretty capable fighter. He gets up, excusing himself, and returns with more food, offering another brisket to Gricelda.

“You know you waaaannnnt it, plus it’s frrreeeee”, Barz says, teasing her but hoping she wouldn’t be offended. He didn’t want to lose his first potential friend over something so simple as a piece of beef.

"Hmmmhmmmmm" hums Gricelda as she stares hungerly at the beef brisket temptingly being dangled in front of her.  Instinctively she wanted to grab the beef with her mouth and devour it there but resists the urge to do so.  She does however smack her lips.  It was in that moment she caught herself shamefully acting like a starving animal Gricelda pulls her head back and leers at Barzilai with a hint of scorn in her eyes.

"Do... I look like  dog to you?" responds Gricelda in annoyance "Seriously... I fine with you offering free food but next time could you not hold it teasingly like I'm someone's pet?"

Gricelda growls a little and goes back to finishing eating another piece of meat that still remains on her plate.  She was annoyed by Barzilai teasing her but she was willing to overlook his inappropriate gesture this time.  Upon swallowing the chuck of meat, she resumes speaking.

"Anyway, sure... I'm always down for a sparring match but perhaps another day.  I hear its not wise to fight on a full stomach and its getting late regardless." says Gricelda grumpily.

Barzilai frowns, putting the brisket down quickly. “Oh man, no, no, of course not, sorry.” Really? Did he have to stretch out the words like that? Idiot. “Honestly, though, it wasn’t because of your wolf traits, I’d act the same with anyone really.” He eats a bit of his food cautiously, hoping he’s resolved that issue somewhat. He runs his hands through his hair, silver eyes flashing apologetically, before continuing.

“That’d be awesome! It’s been a while since I’ve fought another person, and I could really use the practice. And I agree, right now wouldn’t be the best anyway, I feel about ready to pass out; it’s been a long couple of days and a bed sounds nice… though I’d of course be willing to stay up and talk, if you’d like.” He didn’t want it to sound like he was trying to ditch her. On the contrary, he really enjoyed her company.

Barz ate some more, pulling apart a slice of ham with his teeth and eagerly awaiting Gris's response.