A bad way to start a new chapter.

Panic. Small. Crushing. Loud. Escape! Malich sat in a private room on a train heading to what would be his home for the next few years. He'd been pacing relentlessly when he'd first boarded, but once the train had begun to move the erratic shaking of the floor had left him in a scrambling, undignified heap on the ground. Now his massive frame was squeezed into one of a handful of seats lining the walls of the small box room, his knuckles white as they gripped the armrests and his eyes clenched shut. Every sudden jolt or bump he'd let out a low growl. This was even worse than the "boat" he'd taken to get to the island. He just wanted this nightmare to be over.

He went over the instructions he'd been given again. He was to get out at the last stop: at Syne Academy. He was going to go find the admissions office. He was going to speak with someone there. He would give them the paper he'd been given. They would take care of the rest. He'd been told what a train was, but he'd never been told about the horror of it. It was like a rattling tube of metal death.

Then it was over. It was like a miracle. The train had pulled to a stop and the wall box told him in its metal voice that this was Syne Academy. He swiftly rose and snatched his small bag, Aufteilen sitting neatly in a sheath on its side. He threw the sliding door aside. Escape. He slipped through the crowd with surprising grace, though it also helped that many of the people moved out of his way as best they could. It seemed nobody was eager to get between the large growling man and the door.

He couldn't get out of the train fast enough as far as Malich was concerned, and he shoved the last few people aside as he bolted out of the train and into the open air of the station. He took a breath as if he'd been drowning and dropped to one knee, breathing hard. It was over. He was free from the death tube. He finally looked around, and his jaw dropped as he gaped at the area around him. He'd never seen such massive buildings! Or so many at once! To everyone else, it was just a simple train station near the Academy, but to Malich it was a marvel of metal and stone and glass. How was he supposed to find the admissions office in all of this?

He made quite an odd site - a small mountain of muscle dressed in simple leather and fabric clothing and furs who smelled like he rarely bathed seemed to be having a panic attack a few feet from the train rails. He was oblivious to the fact that he was still kneeling right in front of the train doors, forcing people to have to walk around him.

It was perfect weather outside, the sun was out but was hidden behind a thin layer of clouds which resulted in a slight warmth on the skin. It also a perfect day for doing nothing, lazing about and dodging responsibilities and so for the jaguar Faunus guy named Shio who was currently sitting up in a nearby tree it was a completely routine day. He had his eyes half closed but still watched the people walkabout near the plaza which was close to the academy, there also was a train station that seemed to be an alternative way to arrive at the school as opposed to the airship that normally took civilians and students to the gates. Shio had been out here for most of the morning and early afternoon, he was supposed to be in class but in his typical fashion decided not to go, he'd rather spend his day just watching other people go about their lives. He glanced up at the sun and noticed another hour had passed by which meant the train was on its way up the hills, a loud screeching was then heard as the train pulled into his vision.

"Nailed it..." the Faunus swished his tailed and balled his fist in a downwards pump as a reaction to his timing abilities. He cocked his half open eyes and he glanced down at the people exiting the metal doors of the transport. He had been watching different people, mostly humans, all day and he expected more of the same but pushing past all them and almost seemingly collapsing to the ground was a fellow Faunus which definitely caught his attention and what was even more strange was that he didn't get up, not even after several minutes and an endless swarm of annoyed people moved around him. A weird crossed look appeared on the tree-dwelling Faunus and he snorted. His fellow species brother was causing quite the inconvenience and typically he wouldn't have bothered to get involved, why should he? He wasn't in any way affected by the other's choice but frankly, it was kind of embarrassing. Shio looked around and found a small twig from a nearby branch, he mocked himself as he licked his finger and put it up to test the wind as if it would matter with his strength. He waited for the last frustrated person to step off the train, he took aim at the Faunus STILL on the ground and threw the twig, he wasn't trying to hit him, just snap him out of whatever the hell he was doing. Unsurprisingly, however, fate laughed at his aim as the twig hit the poor dude right on the noggin. Shio muttered a curse and then debated if he should go down or remained hidden. He tried getting up from his current position but his now asleep legs caused him to make it roughly 3/4ths the way to his feet before he failed to stand and fell off the sitting branched he had been using. Shio just let off an irritated sigh midair before flipping himself and landing on his feet.

"Cats always land on their feet..." he dusted himself off and smiled at the old myth that was proven once again. He moved his eyes towards the Faunus he had accidentally hit. He raised his muscled arm in a sort of greeting.

"Sorry about that!" he called out, Shio figured he might as well just take blame for his awful aim and move on because after everything was said and done he could just go back to doing nothing, it was the perfect type of day to do nothing after all.

He was a mute. Despite this, he was able to speak. But why waste words? This was how he had always been. A shy child who never bothered to try make friends as a kid. But it eventually got to a point where he just could not let words flow from his lips at all. It felt rather uncomfortable for him. It was unfortunate, it was nearly the same as losing the ability to speak. When he does though, he makes sure it has some sort of impact. But most conversations with him ae either typed out on a laptop when he is speaking to people, or he would end up playing a small game of charades. Despite this, he was able to make it in his grades, which brought him to the academy. Fighting skills were commendable, but could also be fine-tuned. All for Nikki, she needed to see how strong he could become, by all means necessary. He was neutral on moralities, and can lean towards either side. As long as Nikki was proud of him, he was fine. Cars… And trains… They were different, and he would not bother taking the train to get to the academy. Instead, he would walk over towards the academy, a half of an hour being spent to use this alternative. But in the end, he made it to the school with his hands in his pockets, a relaxed half smile on his face, and a black backpack on his back.

Meadows would witness the scene of the two beings in front of him, tilting his head to the side as his lips would end up forming a curious “o” shape. Looking to investigate further, he’d begin to listen to the man who would apologize to the other. Something had been thrown… A twig? For what reason? Was the aim to hit the man? Wait, no. He did say sorry for it.  Then what was the target? Andre would look over to the victim with cautious violet colored eyes, seeing how he would react. Just in case he would erupt and start some sort of fight. In this day and age, such caution for something such as that was not too far-fetched. It was actually interesting, how one could get used to such a thing.

Huge! Threatening. Gleaming! Blinding. New! Foreign. Malich was torn between conflicting halves. The Academy nearby and the station around him were filled with new sights, smells and sounds and he was amazed at it all, but the beast in him was frightened and overwhelmed. Such chaos! Such noise! How could people live encased in metal and stone like this and still keep their minds?

Something hit him in the head and he snarled in response, snapping to his feet and baring a set of canine fangs. He didn't draw the ax from the side of his bag, but he did hold out his hands from his sides as if he intended to claw someone, showing a silver gauntlet from under his left sleeve: the fingers of which ended in sharpened points. This entire reaction lasted a fleeting moment however, as the large Faunus glanced down and saw the twig that had struck him. The feral rage that had crossed his face faded as quickly as it had come, replaced by curiosity. He knelt down and picked up the twig, sniffing it. What was this smell? Cat? No. Close.

A voice caused him to look up, focusing on its owner. Malich looked at the other Faunus. He rose back to his feet and sniffed the air. It was faint, but he could pick up the feline's scent. He had thrown the stick. But why? It didn't seem to be an attack, otherwise why say sorry? Still holding the twig, Malich tilted his head ever so slightly. He finally spoke a single word. “What?” His tone said the rest: What do you want?

When the target of his twig throwing assault asked him "What?" Shio was kind of caught off guard. He fully expected to apologize and just kinda breeze on to whatever he needed to do next, which was nothing, as per usual. Shio had a slightly confused look on his face.

"Uh... yeah. You were just sitting, you know, in the middle of the walkway dude. I just threw that twig -- " he pointed at the piece of nature still in the other Faunuses hand "-- and I just wanted to un-trance you I guess." Shio finished his sentence and let off a nervous laugh and a goofy grin was plastered on his face. A small silence came over the pair and Shio's smile slowly faded as he nodded his head.

"Right, it's been real... Sorry bout that!" he gave the other guy a finger gun bang and turned on his heels and headed back towards the tree where the initial incident had happened. On his way back Shio passed a human who had been watching them, defiantly odd. He gave the dude an upwards head nod and reached the tree which he proceeded to quickly scale and get comfortable again on a slightly thicker branch than the one he'd previously fallen off of. He was still in view of both the people that were still on the ground. Maybe they would both just move on, he'd really like to just go back to relaxing and not giving a damn. It's the way he preferred to live, carefree and not stressing.

It seems like the first one, the one that had been hit by the twig, did not seem too amused with the acts of the second one, the perkier one. This was an interesting scene he was witnessing. Once special comment that must be tested out was that throwing twigs threw people off of a trance. Is that so? Andre was curious now if there was anything special to them if they were able to be used for some sort of weaponry in the future. Now with this newfound interest, he would pick up a twig nearby him. This meant that his focus would be compromised for the moment, looking away from the perky character for a moment. But once the item was within his reach, the being was no longer there... Interesting. How fast was it? Looking around, he'd look to the man that was still there but seemed to be doing not much else. As his violet eyes continued to scan the scene around him, he'd notice the other happier person up on a tree. Perfect! It seemed to be resting, which gave him one less controlled variable to worry about in this experiment. Gripping the twig in his right hand firmly, he'd close his left eye before flinging the twig towards the direction of the resting person on the tree. It was a light throw, nothing that should hurt hopefully, but enough to knock him out of his "Trance", using his own words.

This probably was not the best of moves, but maybe the quieter of the two other gentlemen would feel a bit of satisfaction from seeing such a throw be done. In a way, revenge perhaps? It was not the intention of Andre though, who just wanted to test out a theory that had been presented. Hopefully, he was able to hit his target. Though... Maybe not too hard, where it could knock him off of the tree. With that, the results shall show whether or not the twig made it. What would the other guy do anyway if it had hit? Or if it were unsuccessful even worse?