An Evening in the Sunset

"So we're agreed then," Veta mildly flirted despite the wind and her skirt not getting along on this side of the building. She gave him another mischievous grin. "That I'm definitely cute," she nodded. "And good at finding secret places." Which she found weird when she stopped to think about it. She liked people in general. Even if her own human experiences had been mixed at best. Maybe she liked going off on her own when she wasn't trying to show off and get noticed. She'd never really thought of herself like that, though.

"But now it's gonna be your turn to find something cool to show me~" she told him as if he now owed her. If nothing else, his agreeing ensured they'd hang out again. Not that he showed any signs of wanting to escape. Which was fine with her. Veta's ears stayed down out of the chilly wind the whole time - cold wasn't her most favorite sensation, after all.

"We are agreed, yes," Gabriel nodded with his catlike grin. He propped himself up on the railing by his elbows and closed his eyes. He seemed unfazed by the wind and cold. Instead, he seemed to relax even more than he was before. At her final statement, he opened one eye. "You want me to show you a place huh?"

"We'd have to go outside of the building," He warned her in a carefree voice that made it seem like he didn't care about his own warning. He continued as he pushed himself back into standing up right. "And well... I'm sure there's rules against stepping outside the dorms at night."

"If you're okay with that then follow me," He said in a singsong voice as he moved back into the center of the room. He then jumped back into the vent they'd come in from and offered her a hand. It seemed like he was fully intending to lead her somewhere...

Veta hadn't actually meant tonight... but what the heck. She figured one romp outside wouldn't hurt anyone. She was being trained to take care of herself, after all, right? With a grin, she nodded, moving out of the wind and finally letting go of her skirt. "Alright, you. Show me where your secret is then." she decided. They wouldn't have to be gone long, right? And she didn't actually remember any rules saying they couldn't leave. Just that it could be dangerous since grimm were often black like the night. But she was a faunus. That wouldn't be a problem. So, she happily followed this time, a small spring to her step. It was fun to forget she was a huntress for a bit, and be a simple student out to find excitement after a hard day. She wasn't sure she'd have a chance for that when classes were in full swing, and certainly didn't mind getting to pretend while she had the chance.

Gabriel let out a laugh and began climbing back through the vents until they were outside. Once more the wind blew, but he wasn't looking at Veta. Instead he was already moving. Cat like reflexes guided him as his tail helped him maintain his balance. Instead of returning they way they went however, he ran the opposite way all the way to the edge of the building. There he hoped down a full story onto a tree branch and turned back to face Veta.

"What's freedom to you?" He called out in a sing song voice from where he stood. He was waiting to see if she'd make the jump, or if she'd need help if she did. After all... he was leading her on an adventure, and not to her death. And they still had a small ways to go for where he was heading to. "Careful, It's easy to miss the branch~ But I'll catch you if you miss~!"

"What's freedom to me? What kind of question is that?" she asked as she followed Gabriel. He stopped, hopping off the ledge into a tree branch. Missing that branch would involve serious injury if you were lucky. Veta looked down for a moment, wondering if she should try it, but his words pushed her to do the stupid thing. She jumped, landing on the branch, but tipping a bit. "Woah!" She grabbed onto a higher branch though, and stayed where she was. Her lack of a cat tail meant her superior sense of balance wasn't as good as Gabe's amazing balance. "Freedom huh? You can't be free." she decided as she climbed down the tree.

"Not of everything." She did her best shrug as she finished her climb and dropped the rest of the way to the ground. "So!" her voice was cheery for her word choice. "You do your best to find a happy course in your life. The one that brings you the most satisfaction. For me, it's helping others and destroying the evils in the world. It's being a huntress."

Her answer was both expect and... unwanted. Gabriel had hoped to find another truly carefree spirit, but was instead met with more people who were responsible. This forced him onto an early crossroads... It was responsible people who wouldn't stick around. Their causes, the things they were responsible for would drag them off. And it also meant she wouldn't truly understand what he was about to show her. But a promise was a promise, and his word was something he stuck to.

"It's not too far now," Gabriel had reached out to steady Veta when she landed on the branch, but she'd caught herself mostly, so instead he lead her down the tree. From there he took her on a path that obviously hadn't been used for a very long time. This lead through some bushes and such. Then he grinned back at her. "That's a pretty auspicious goal. To help others by fighting. Some might say that doesn't solve anything, but they don't understand."

Veta followed, not all that concerned with how far away the secret area was. She was much more interested in seeing what it was. She wished she'd brought her jacket though, since it was chilly outside. But she tried not to think about it as she rubbed her arms to try to keep warm. "Where are we going?" she couldn't help but ask, her curiosity getting the better of her. Her ears rotated wildly as she listened to the sounds in the woods around her. She jogged forward to keep up with her friend, shaking a small bit from the cold. She wasn't going to complain though. She stepped through bushes and hopped over rocks, enjoying the exploration despite the cold night air.

After awhile, her ears were getting pretty cold too, and she placed her hands over them to try to warm them up. "Hey how far is it? I thought you said it wasn't far." she complained, hoping wherever they ended up was out of the cold.

"Places," He answered unhelpfully when she asked where they were going. She'd kept him guessing, so she could be kept guessing too. Fair's fair right? So he continued on wards. Eventually she complained, but as she did they came to a natural archway. The sound of a creek could be heard gurgling ahead, and this put a spring into Gabriel's step as he ran foward

On the other side of the archway, they looked as though they were standing in the middle of a crater. Running through it close to the northern edge was the the creek, the water bubbling down the side of the crater wall. Two lone trees sat at the west side, leaving the rest of the field as nothing but grass and flowers. The air felt warmer as well, as did the water in the creek if one was to touch it.

"This is the spot," Gabriel said as he walked forward. He moved to the middle of the spring and flopped back so he was laying on the still cool grass. "I came here a day early to explore around a little. I found this place and set up camp here the night before I started here. I plan to come here if I need to train... but it's a relaxing place."

Veta appreciated the fact that the area seemed a little warmer, and had mostly stopped shaking from the cold. It was very pretty, the large archway seemed old but still mostly intact, and the spring was a joy to listen to, like most steams were. She clasped her hands behind her back and stood next to Gabriel as he flopped down. "It's very pretty," she agreed, twisting her body around in various directions to see all of the area she could. She looked at him and gave a large grin before plopping down in the grass beside him. "I got here a day early too, you know. Except I spent it at Syne meeting this girl, Liona, who I guess you could say is my best friend now. She's a faunus like us. You'd probably like her. At least as long as you stay away from the humans. She's not very good with them. Probably because she hates them for some reason." As she got warmer, her ears perked up a little more, and she rubbed them one more time to help them warm up a bit. The bad thing about having a set of animal ears - they got cold so easily in the fall weather when the wind was blowing like this.

"Well... with the way we get treated, I can't say I totally blame her," There was a shrug, followed by closed eyes and a small sigh. "I just wish it didn't have to be like that, you know? There's good and bad humans, just like there's good and bad humans."

"Racial discussions and pretty scenery aside, that's not why I brought you here," Gabriel grinned and patted the grass next to him. There was excitement in his voice was he put his hand back behind his head. "I brought you here so you could see this."

"Look up in the sky," He said as he pointed up. The view was breath taking now that it was dark. Stars filled the sky, and streaks of blue and green could be faintly seen.

Veta looked up at the sky, her eyes opening wide. "Wow," she said, marveling at the sight. She had always lived around cities, where the stars weren't so easily seen due to the humans' need for lighting, even in faunus territory so they would feel safer. Of course she couldn't see the same in the dark as she could the light - it was just different. So she didn't mind light when she could get it. But in front of her view, the sky was brightened by one of the most beautiful natural scenes she had ever taken the time to look at. It seemed like everything was visible but the moon.

She sat down abruptly on her knees next to Gabriel, her ears pointed downward as if to help pull her chin up further to see more. She didn't have anything else to say other than that wow. She'd always appreciated pretty things... but she'd never really imagined such a clear view of the sky would be available.

"It truly is breath taking," Gabriel grinned back in response. There was a certain contentment about him as his tail lightly flopped in the grass. When she sat next next to him, his eyes drifted up to her awe struck form. However he was silent for a time.

"It's times like these that remind me that everything has it's place," He spoke softly as he reached up as if he was trying to grab one of the stars from the sky. His hand closed into a fist as he continued. "That there's someplace we can always go to so we can feel like we're doing the right thing."

"But... this ocean of stars reminds me that I choose what that place is," He said opening his hand with his fingers spread. "But, maybe I'm thinking too much again."

Veta was sprawled out on the ground next to Gabriel at this point, looking up at the stars as well. She thought what he had to say was very well thought out, and she looked over and gave him a happy smile. "Nah, there's no such thing as over thinking things. You know... as long as you're not hurting yourself by doing it. Then you might be over thinking things I guess."

Veta finally fell over into the grass and laid with him, enjoying that it was warmer here. And being with a new friend who seemed pretty smart. She stopped rambling for the moment, just looking up and wondering about what Gabriel had said. She had a choice too. And her choice was to do exactly what she'd set out to do: be the best huntress she could be.